Chapter 70: To the King's Layer

"Huh!" 

A vampire sitting in the first row looked at the test area with a frown.

"Are you seeing this?" 

Another vampire said from behind.

"How is that even possible? I thought he was activating a blood-qi technique." 

A huge uproar swept across the central hall and all of the students looked at the test area with stupefied faces.

Inside the test area, Keith was examining the changes that had occurred in the system. After the upgrade, the system was more informative and could analyze more information than before.

For example, before the upgrade, he couldn't detect the power levels above middle stage count vampires. Now with the upgraded system, he could read the blood core levels of the higher level vampires. In this case, he could see that Valencia was at the peak of the Marquis stage. 

She was the highest level vampire Keith could sense inside the hall. The professors and the dean were definitely stronger and had a more powerful blood core, but due to some kind of barrier, he couldn't sense a slight fluctuation in blood-qi.

Coming back to the students, he could expand his scanning and get all the information about all of them. It was different from his own senses, which only worked on close subjects and could only discern their estimated level if only they activated their blood-qi.

The system was also part of him, so in a sense, it was his ability as well. He could use it anytime he wanted, therefore it was kind of his unique ability. As he looked at the renewed interface which was more clearer and had level explanation up to marquis rank.

From what he could read, the baron stage was level 1.0 to 1.99. Then the viscount stage was level 2 to 4.99. Then came the count stage, which started from level 5 to 9.99 and it was the start of high-level blood cores.

Marquis stage started from level 10 all the way up to 20. It was such a huge gap in level compared to the stages below count, that Keith was surprised by the power gap. Only now he realized how powerful higher-level vampires were. 

The unfathomable aura that Keith felt coming from the student council president was closed to level 20. He couldn't imagine how much blood-qi was required to reach such a level. He thought each stage was probably one level apart and he could reach the count stage after crossing level 3.

But the reality was entirely different. He was just a frog in the well. Now that he entered the sea, the absurdity hit him hard. He needed to become more serious and also careful as not to get killed off by a powerful vampire.

No one was here to save him if the high-level vampires tried to snatch him. If not for the academy and the council, he would've been dissected even before he could return to his room.

These vampires were the pinnacle of all the nobles. They rarely cared about rules and the vampire council was there to serve their needs. It was true that the council put the restriction on the vampires against killing each other. But that only applied to lower-level vampires. Who would question if a duke-level vampire killed a baron? Unless the baron was in a significantly higher position, the council would put the incident under the rug.

This is what Keith was concerned about. He could still manage to flee in the case of count stage vampires, but to run away from the senses of marquis stage and Duke stage vampires was something he couldn't do at the level he was in.

[ This is why I don't show you all of the information. You are getting worked up about something that you have no control over. Did you think that way when you were at the blood condensing stage? There are always bigger fish in the sea, that doesn't mean you have to be paranoid all of the time. Your mortal mind still interferes with your thinking.]

'That…' Keith couldn't deny that his mind couldn't easily break out of the human shade of his psyche. It was the survival instinct of a prey animal that was surrounded by predators. His vampire side was not so afraid of all this but due to the influence of his past experience and the fragility he was used to, his mind ran on fight or flight after seeing the power levels. 

'You are right, I was thinking too much into it. If I were to be killed, there is nothing I could do to stop it. On the other hand, being anxious and paranoid will cloud my judgment and suppress the other ideas I could've had if  I was in a calm state.' Keith replied with a nod.

He took a deep breath and the heartbeat that was already running slower almost stopped. As the vampire's heartbeat was significantly slower than other organisms, they could live centuries in normal circumstances. So their heartbeat resembled that of a dead person if they were in a calm state, as the beats rarely registered.

When Keith's mind was clear, he looked at the place he was in. Surprisingly he entered the count layer of the test area and already walked several meters into the layer.

'How could I walk inside the layer without feeling any pressure?' Keith asked with a surprised expression.

[ While you were immersed in your paranoia, I was dispelling the count aura at the same time decoding the blood runes to lessen the effects of the pressure. You can thank me later. ]

Keith looked around the count layer and found that the runes were not so active where he was going. The pressure felt significantly lower than the viscount layer. Even his warrior frame was at ease and didn't exert its full power.

'Can you understand the blood runes?' Keith asked with a surprised face.

[Not really. It is more like tricking the runes. I created a fake aura presence around you using the blood stone's residue power. It can hold off the runes only for ten minutes. Then the energy will deplete and you have to supply the energy yourself.]

'I guess we have to advance through the layers before the residue energy depletes.'

With a fastened pace, Keith walked forward with a serious expression. 

[ If you use your blood core and warrior frame at once, we could theoretically reach the King layer for a brief moment.]

' Are you telling me to kill myself? Can you imagine what the pressure would be there?' 

Keith asked with an incredulous expression.

[Hear me out. After the upgrade, I can make the system undetectable from the blood-qi sense. It's possible because the bloodstone you gave me allowed me to integrate with the blood-qi signature and now I can even emulate the very blood runes we are walking on right now.]

With a surprised face, Keith could understand what the system was telling him. What this meant was, the system would mask itself as the blood runes and deceive the judgment pillar. Before that, they could reach the king layer with the help of the bloodstone's residue power. 

The stay will be short but if they can enter the king layer, Keith's rank would be unshakable. But that was not the most important thing. If he could become a disciple of a dean, then it was worth it.

Also, he could analyze the aura of a King which would help him in the future when he would try to breakthrough. In the presence of a king, he could sense their faint fluctuations if the system could get a sample of the aura and correctly analyze it.

'Alright, but we have to come back to the count layer when the bloodstone energy runs out, or I can't handle the pressure alone.' Keith warned the system.

[ I know, that's why I haven't used the maximum output. On my mark, activate all of your blood-qi along with the blood core. Ramp up the output of your warrior frame to the maximum. Keep them running for ten seconds at the minimum. I will fully activate the energy barrier.]

Keith nodded and prepared his body for the full-scale activation. It required a lot of focus as he needed to sync all the blood-qi inside his blood core and the warrior frame. He closed his eyes and focused only on the two parts of his body. 

The warrior frame was already running at 50% and his blood core was idle. He woke up his blood core from its idle state and slowly increased its output.

'Anytime now.' Keith said to the system.

[ Hold on a second.]

[ The barrier will be activating at 3…2…1]

BOOM! SWISH!

It was so fast that most of the spectators couldn't tell what had happened. It was a streak of red and purple that swept across the count layer and entered the marquis layer in an instant.

The young vampire boy who was looking at the scene stood up abruptly. His eyes were shot open as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was an incredible display of skill and power. Overall it was perfectly coordinated and timed with ultimate accuracy.

The shadow behind his ear flicked as if it was trying hard to analyze what was happening. The vampire boy heard a voice in his head and his eyes almost popped out.

"Even he couldn't detect his powers inside the strange layer." He mumbled.

At the same time, Valencia was looking at the scene with an unbelievable expression. She couldn't steer her eyes away from the test area. Her hands were twirling and fidgeting with incredible anxiousness.

'I must secure that boy.' 

A determined expression flashed across her face.