Chapter 62: We Meet Again

"There is still a lot of time, so don't worry about it now," Keith assured her.

"If you say so, I believe you." 

Her expression suddenly brightened and a smile appeared on her face. After asking her about the residence, he got a rough idea about how many students were staying here.

From her estimate, there were fourteen servants in this building. That meant, the same amount of students also lived here. Keith was on the first floor, and there were five such living quarters on his floor.

All of them were the future leaders of some family just like Keith. He didn't underestimate their capability and influence. He might be stronger than most vampires, but there might be some hidden geniuses who could take him down.

After hearing everything and discussing how she should proceed, he sent her off. He told her to keep her guard up and don't believe whatever they say. He also warned her to stay away from any vampires.

The rest of the day he circulated his blood-qi and practiced martial arts using his warrior frame. His proficiency increased after getting used to the warrior frame.

The next morning he got ready for the orientation, which was scheduled to be held at the grand hall in the middle of the academy. He almost forgot about it and kept condensing blood-qi all morning. If it wasn't for Rena, he would've definitely missed the event.

After getting ready, he headed to the entrance. Many students walked out of the building with him. They were chatting among themselves about the upcoming event and what they might expect.

Keith quietly walked out of the building and followed the path that led to the central hall. As he was walking, he felt someone following him. When he turned around, he saw a middle stage baron tailing him.

There were other vampires on the way, so it was easy for the pursuer to blend in, but Keith's senses were sharp. He noticed his movements and how he took turns after him and kept a fixed distance.

When Keith looked at the vampire, he was also looking back at him. With a sudden movement, he appeared in front of Keith.

"I come on behalf of master Jerim. He wants to meet you at the southern courtyard after the orientation is over." The vampire said while looking straight into Keith's eyes.

"I don't know any Jeremy guy, and why should I go to meet him there? If he wants something, he can come to me." Keith ignored him and kept on walking.

"You don't know who you're provoking. He is pissed at you for disrespecting him. If you keep disobeying him, he will do more than just beating you up. You have a chance to apologize to him. So don't act foolishly."

"Heh! Why would I act foolishly? I know very well what I'm doing. Besides, he can't do anything to me. Just ask him what happened yesterday, but I doubt he will tell you about this embarrassing event." Keith replied with a grin.

"What now? You are making shit up. First, you disrespected him and now you are slandering him. Wait till I report it to him. Today will be your end." The vampire turned around and left.

"Yeah yeah… go ahead, tell the whole campus. I don't care one bit. I've been hearing these death threats my whole entire life. Marvin was a pain in the ass." Keith shook his head with annoyance.

"Rough day?" A voice came from his back.

Keith recognized the voice as it was from the girl he met at the academy entrance yesterday. He turned around and smiled.

"Hey, Anny. What a coincidence. I didn't think I would see you here. Are you heading towards the central hall as well?" Keith asked.

"Why can't I be here? I also live in this residential area. This place is meant for the final stage baron, so it's no incidence. Why are you giving me that look?" Annica looked at Keith, who was looking suspiciously at her.

"I just noticed you were being followed, so I wanted to watch some drama. I have to say, you did put up a good show. Do you know who he was working for?" 

"I do. I had a minor skirmish with him yesterday. Turns out he doesn't like juniors ignoring him. He even threatened to settle his accounts with me." Keith said.

"I know that guy. He is from Clecia. His father is a count and the vice president of the Clecia chamber of commerce. I heard he is quite rich. Despite having very low aptitude and talent for blood condensing, he used many bloodstones to increase his blood core level.

"He is a tough opponent to tackle. Do you need my help?" Annica asked.

"It's fine. I can handle the matter myself. He may have a lot of resources on him, but he can't beat me with that. Regarding his subordinates, I doubt they can match viscount level strength." 

"Oh! You are so confident in your strength. I like it. Still, don't take him lightly. He is not as simple as he looks. Maybe he has high-level artifacts. You never know what you might encounter." 

"I hope he does have them. So I can take those away from him. I can't afford higher grade artifacts anyway, so it would be great if he could bring them to me."  Keith said with a smile.

"Interesting. I will be looking forward to the show. Don't disappoint me." 

"If you could, don't come to the place. The show is only for those who are going to be robbed by me. If you have some precious treasures, you can exchange them for watching the fight. What do you say?" Keith winked at her.

"How shameless? You want me to hand over the high-grade artifacts to you just to see you fight. You say it like it's a fight between elites. I don't even know if you can beat him. Why should I give you my artifacts without being assured of your victory? Or you want to cut your losses by scamming me?" She looked at Keith.

"What about a bet?" 

"A bet?" 

"Yes! A bet about who would win the fight."

"Sure! But do you have sufficient funds for the wager?" She asked.

"I do have something very precious." Keith took out the bloodstone from his pocket and showed it to her.

After looking at the faintly glowing bloodstone, Annica's eyes went wide.

"A high-grade bloodstone. Where did you get this" She asked with disbelief etched across her face.

"That is something I can't disclose. It was given to me by a very powerful vampire. So you should keep your curiosity to yourself, unless…"

"It's fine. I don't need to know. Looking at the size and purity of the bloodstone, it is not something you can stumble upon. It is carefully refined and preserved. So I think you got it recently. Considering the time it takes to reach the academy, you couldn't have brought it here from your home country.

That leaves me with one guess. Someone from this academy gave you that bloodstone if what you say is true. Or you could've just stolen it from someone powerful, but I doubt that is the case." She curiously examined the bloodstone as she explained her assumption.

"Wow! Spot on."  Keith looked at her in awe. 

With just a little bit of information, she was able to guess the origin of the bloodstone. She didn't precisely guess who exactly gave it to him, she must have some guesses. But she didn't voice them out.

"So now that I; 've shown you this, it's your turn to wager something of equal value." Keith looked at her in anticipation.

She nodded her head and took out a ring from one of her fingers. 

"You've shown me such a valuable treasure, so I will wager this." 

The ring looked ordinary but the intricate carvings of blood runes were immediately visible to Keith. They covered the ring from the inside and connected to the stone in the middle.

"This is a ring of projection. I'm sure you've heard of the four disciplines of blood-qi manipulation. This ring is a count-level treasure that can help you project your blood-qi outwards. I've been practicing with this for years and it has helped me gain valuable insight into the blood esper techniques.

"You know how rare blood espers are, so this is a very important artifact that can help you comprehend blood-qi projection and aid you to learn the blood esper discipline." 

Annica showed him the ring. 

"That is indeed a great treasure." Keith scanned the ring and found that it was powered by a high-grade bloodstone, but much smaller than the one he was holding.

"So, do you agree on the bet?" Annica asked as she looked at the bloodstone.

"Alright, it's settled then. If I win, I will take that ring. And if I lose, this bloodstone will be yours." Keith tossed the bloodstone into his pocket.

"That bloodstone will help me break through to the viscount stage." She glanced at Keith's pocket with a greedy look in her eyes.

"Hey! Don't keep your hopes that high, or else you will be very disappointed."

"Bah! I doubt you can take two viscount stage vampires while surrounded by dozens of barons." She said with a snort.

"What? You didn't tell me this before?" Keith was surprised.

"Now you know, why did I ask you to back down?"