Chapter 12: Crimson Academy

" I wish I knew. We found you at the castle front when you were around three months old. Someone placed you there. I don't know if it was him who left you there. But when I looked at your eyes, it resembled Damien's, so much so that I thought I was holding him when he was born."

Lex said with a melancholic voice.

" So… nobody knows where he went…" Keith clenched his fists, sadness and anger mixed together erupted his hidden feelings. He was angry that his father left him alone and sad that he didn't know where he was. He wanted to know what circumstances forced him to leave the family and his own son behind.

" He was way ahead of everyone his age. I even believed that, given a couple of hundred years, he could've reached archduke level." Lex said while looking at Keith.

" Grandpa, why does the vampire council restrict vampires from learning blood qi. Isn't it making the whole vampire population weaker ?"

" That may be true, but there is a reason for this restriction. You see, this continent has a cold and harsh environment. Even though it doesn't affect the vampires much, due to the negligible sunlight, the humans can't grow here because of the lack of fertile land.

" If we allow every vampire to learn blood qi techniques, the demand for blood will increase greatly. And at that time, it will be harder to control all the hungry vampires. That is one of the reasons that only established vampire families possess the blood qi techniques, and the next leaders of the descendant families are allowed to learn advanced blood qi."

" What's the other reason ?" Keith asked in a curious manner.

" The other reason… Well, you could say, it has more to do with control than the wellbeing of vampires.

" Those at the top don't want any variables, so they gather all the future leaders and nurture them to serve the nation. The king is always elected from the top three descendant families. And all the positions are more or less pre-decided."

" Then, what's the point in going there, if they just want to control us?" Keith was furious after hearing how the vampire council controlled them.

" It's the way things are, moreover, if you keep up your progress, there is a chance you will be considered for the higher ranks. The academy evaluates your future potential and recommends where you will fit in the vampire hierarchy.

" The Academy is not a place for education, but a training and evaluation center for future leaders. If you refuse to go there, then they might revoke your claim to become the next count, and give that to someone else like Marvin." Lex said with a despondent voice.

"…" Keith was silent for some time.

Before this, he often wondered why there were not that many blood qi users, and nobody used blood qi techniques. Now he knew the reason.

" How long will I have to stay there ?" He asked lex.

"If everything goes right, about ten years," Lex said while nodding his head.

" What? That long." Keith said unconsciously.

" It's not that long if you know how much time it takes to rank up even once. They help you with all the resources and speed up your progress until you become a count. Ten years is nothing compared to the centuries of stagnation. You are still young so you don't know how it feels after spending centuries or even millennia without being able to improve your strength.

" The first hundred years are the growth period of a vampire, after that, it gets harder and harder to increase your blood core level. Do you understand ?" Lex looked at Keith.

Keith nodded his head. He learned a great deal about vampire society today. The council, the Academy, and the 72 descendant families. Thinking about all the things, there was something that he wanted to confirm.

" Grandpa, If someone goes to the Academy after they become a baron, then there will be different batches right? And if only the 72 students go there, the vampires that enter the academy at the same time will be very few."

" That's correct. The Academy takes in future leaders at different times, but they all stay in the same category. For example, if you join as a baron, you will be grouped with all the baron class vampires and so on. If your rank increases to viscount, then you will be transferred to the viscount group. If you can't rank up even after all of your batchmates have left, then you will stay with the new barons that enter the academy.

" So the only seniority in the academy is that of power levels, not the age."

" So what happens if I reach count rank in a few years." Keith wanted to know how the academy would handle him, if he ranked up too fast.

" Well, first they will assign you to the Marquis class, and if you rank up even higher, then Duke or even Archduke. Basically, you have to stay there for ten years. They will send you back after that, whatever your level may be. Even if you can't level up, they will assign you the count position. But you have to be at least a higher viscount."

" What happens if I rank up my blood core to the king level ?" The curiosity got the better of him.

" King… hahaha"

Lex burst into laughter. The thought of someone achieving king level blood core before fifty years of age was really an impossible achievement.

" No king in the history of vampires achieved king level blood core before fifty years of age, except for the original vampires, who were at that level from the start. If you reach king level before thirty, then the entire royal council might go crazy." Lex said while trying to contain his laughter.

" Hey grandpa, don't you believe in me? I can reach the king level in ten years." Keith said while looking at his palm.

" It's not about believing, boy. It's about understanding the nature of evolution. Do you think I didn't consider your progress? Even if you reach Archduke within a couple of years, reaching the king level is a hundred times harder. The amount of blood qi that needs to accumulate within your blood core is many times higher than that of the archduke level. I don't know how long it takes, but you need to at least spend many decades condensing blood qi in your blood core."

"Hmm… let's see then, how long it takes me to reach that level," Keith said while gripping his palm.