Blood and Qi: A Vampire Xianxia LitRPG

The stadium quieted as Alii Nani Victor took to the floor of the arena. She yelled out, “What fights we’ve witnessed here tonight! Fantastic performances by Qa’l, Bre Ud, Kren, and, especially Kahaka Three-five, also known as John of Terra, who was able to withstand my very own [Domain] as a Bronze!”

John had never heard of a Kahaka named in the same way Peerless were, by tier and rank. He figured that could only be a good thing.

“As is our way as laid out in the praised Aikapu of my late husband and father, the venerable Akua, we Alii reward worthy deeds. I grant Kahaka Three-five one-and-one-fifths credits!”

Alii Nani Victor paused. John assumed she expected many loud cheers at the announcement, but it was met with silence. Maybe due to surprise. Her Oliua started to cheer loudly. The rest of her retinue and the Peerless guards all joined in. John wondered if a non-Peerless winning credits angered the brutes.

Hux and Marbrouk added whoops and whistles to the cheering, and the Kahako, the vast majority of attendees, politely joined in the applause.

“My Oliua, Two-two-two, father of many, will also grant a [Title] to Kahaka Three-five!”

That got some more cheers. John believed Nani Victor thought her announcements would be met in a similar way as when Alii spoke to Peerless, and she was becoming off-balanced and losing confidence since they weren’t.

“I’d like to thank the Kotown Arena for hosting me tonight! I’ve had a wonderful time and I hope you all have as well! Thank you and goodnight!”

With that, Oliua Two-two-two flew his Alii out of the arena.

A Peerless Salt approached John as he was collecting some of his winnings. After waiting for him to finish up, the brute said, “Kahaka, I’m ordered to bring you to the meeting my Alii informed you of earlier. And congratulations on your wins. That Gold Duel of yours was a worthy battle.”

John, looking up at the angry face of the brute, was again thankful no man ever kowtowed, bowed, or knelt when addressing a higher-tier male Peerless. “Thank you, Salt. Will my friends be coming with us too?”

“Olini Eight-three. The other Kahaka will come too.”

Olini was a title for the Oli, the brutes, that had fathered six or more children, also called fathers of many. For brutes, the titles went Li until adulthood and acceptance into a house, usually at Gold from what John had seen, when Li changed to Oli. Oli fathers were called Olilo. At six children, Olini. The head Oli of a house was called the Oliua.

The Mele, the brains, had a similar title scheme.

John had also heard the term Akioli. He thought it meant an Oli that had somehow risen above the house and clan system.

“Olini Eight-three, apologies,” replied John. The brute angrily and silently stared at him. The brutes always looked angry, so John thought little of it. He asked, “Am I to follow you now, Eight-three?”

“Are you done with your business?”

“Not yet. Sorry, I’ll hurry, Eight-three.”

“There’s no rush. Finish your business, gather the other Kahaka, and meet me outside the entrance. We have transport to the Nani Victor-Fe An hall. Center your head and get it right before leaving. If my guess is right, there’ll be many Alii there, all Nani of some type. We call gatherings of Alii a clowder since…well, you’ll see. It’s a heady experience. They’ll mess with you. I hope you cleaned your pipes out today or you’ll have a mess in your pants to clean up.”

That was the longest an Oli had ever talked to John. They were never mean to him. Most ignored him completely. If they had to talk to him, it was always very brief. He smiled inside. He believed his plan was working.

Since he’s being cool, I may as well ask, thought John. “Eight-three, any chance you wouldn’t mind if I killed a bookmaker? He’s a filthy Kahako I swore vengeance against. It’ll only take a moment.”

Without his facial expressions changing at all, the brute said, “The one you assaulted? Come on, man. That was settled. All these Kahako are under the Empire’s Peace. Every Peerless in five hundred dan of the murder would receive a gig. We’re just trying to get through the day without issue and earn enough credits to sticky our stamens. Just let it go, Kahaka.”

From how John understood things, Nani Victor-Fe An was the council that controlled the moon, Fe An, and its only city, Victor. There was usually only one word after Nani. District and city council Nani were the lowest ranking, then regional, all the way up to Nani Empire, though he heard the clan Nani were the real power.

John assumed a whole moon had to be considered at least a regional council but since there was not much on Fe An other than Victor, he figured that was the reason for the Victor-Fe An title.

The architecture and structures in Kotown were amazing to behold. Two buildings right near one another were as different as could be imagined, and each beautiful in its own strange way. All the buildings and structures were varied, probably built by different types of aliens, and it all somehow worked and became a beautiful and unique whole.

Only Alii and important Peerless were allowed vehicles on Gani. John assumed the same was true for the rest of the city of Victor, but Kahako were allowed to buy or bring their own vehicles to Kotown and the traffic was terrible.

Everyone had to pull to the side and make way for Peerless vehicles, so the hovercraft John rode in bypassed all the congestion. Once outside of Kotown, there was no traffic at all, and the vehicle quickly arrived at the Nani Victor-Fe An hall, a large and magnificent estate. He, again, wished he didn’t find the architecture of his enemies so appealing.

Olini Eight-three escorted John, Marbrouk, and Hux through the large doors of the hall. Once inside, Oliua Two-two-two nodded to Eight-three and Eight-three left, closing the large doors behind him.

The room was filled with Transcendent brutes, probably all Oliua, about thirty of them, including the first elderly brute John had ever seen. They were all lazing about silently, most watching what were called highlights on the many screens around the large room.

It was rumored that when brutes looked to be lazing about, they were actually performing a strange type of meditation allowing them to remain vigilant as they gathered energy. It was hard to detect, but with so many together, John could feel the energy swirling around, so the rumors were true.

There were some peak-rank mid Transcendents. Two-three-fives, stuck at the old and famous bottleneck. With a few exceptions, that was the highest any cultivator native to the sector had climbed. Only three cultivators within the sector had managed to merge two major aspects, creating a high-concept, and ascend to the mid-high tier. The rest were all stuck.

The title for the second Tree, the Transcendent Tree, was Exalted, but John had never once heard a Peerless use that title. After the first Tree, the Mortal Tree, all Trees had six tiers – low, mid-low, mid, mid-high, high, and peak. The last Tree, the Heavenly Tree of Eternals, had an additional rank since they could keep advancing beyond peak.

Since they were in the Nani Victor-Fe An hall, John assumed all the highlights showing on the screens were of the women of that council, and he recognized the one he met at the arena. It seemed like there were only three of them.

The first scene of a highlight showed an Alii standing in different poses, laughing, and smiling while her official name flashed on screen.

After were highlights of the Alii’s sex life. It always began with her first time, lying on a bed in lingerie, her udders and groin covered, but not much else, her face blushing, her eyes dilated, desire on her face in anticipation of losing her virginity.

The highlights never showed the full act. It would show the Alii’s ecstatic expression as her head bounced around during the act, or an Oli’s upper torso gyrating rhythmically, or kissing her, or sucking on her toe, and similar such scenes. But never too much, and never anything their sick society considered indecent.

After every highlight, the Peerless of that highlight was interviewed and asked how much he enjoyed having intercourse with the Alii. The Peerless always swore it was the greatest thing and he couldn’t wait to earn and spend more credits on her.

During John’s yearlong flight to Gani, he saw the highlights of the Alli Heiau Ikaika, Kauwa Naau Pi losing her virginity to the brain John had lost the Challenge of the Mighty Khaga to, Ele Four-three, more times than he could count. It played over and over on all the many screens throughout the ship in an endless loop.

As John tried to ignore the screens, he noticed Oliua Two-two-two waving him over, so he left his friends and stood before the seated brute. “Ready to receive a new [Title], Kahaka?”

“Yes, Two-two-two.”

John had no recollection of receiving his [Title] from Magnus Gar’tar. He woke up after his first Tribulation and just had it. That reminded him – those soul-collecting ladies owe me a [Title]. And other rewards too.

A small area inside John’s chest started to burn, but the sensation was dulled, as if experiencing a memory. Within seconds, the sensation ended.

“That’s it, Kahaka. If you make this your active [Title] before cultivating and create spirit, it won’t fortify your soul so much. The spirit can work on healing your soul more.”

John kept his heart calm by force of effort alone. He strongly thought ‘Mind’s Eye’ and the world blurred by him and he stood in front of Avatar.

“Avatar, was this [Title] made specifically for me?”

“No idea.”

John suppressed his annoyance. He knew Avatar not only had an idea – she knew the truth. She just wasn’t allowed to tell him. She’d only say every cultivator was an island or some foolishness.

“I thought [Titles] couldn’t be controlled. That the person giving it couldn’t pick what it did. And it was based off their specialty or something.”

Avatar pushed her glasses up so she could look down her nose at John. “That’s mostly true. A skilled cultivator can force it to give a different benefit if they practice enough.”

“I thought the Peerless sucked at manifestations. And this, making something like what I received? Something so specific. They can’t see souls so how’d they know about mine? Just how much do they know about me? You said you block them from collecting my data when I use the Trainer or any of their other machines.”

“We do. And even if we didn’t, you know we can’t see your soul either, so stop being foolish. We measure [Runes] by testing how many could be placed. That’s all we can check.”

John sighed. “Can I see the [Title], please?”

“Of course.”

‘Blessed by Unnamed Exalted’ Title attained. User was bestowed a Title by an unnamed entity (focus here for entity’s NCS tracking number and other PID). Title function cannot be confirmed. Unnamed entity claimed Title modifies vigor created in the middle-core so that it fortifies the soul less, assuming vigor that fortifies less allows for more healing more often before the soul becomes too fortified to be healed by vigor.

John knew the [Title] would be [Blessed by Unnamed Exalted]. All the [Titles] the Peerless granted said the same. Diamonds and Salts could grant [Titles] but he had never seen a Peerless with a [Title] given by those tiers.

“I’m not going to use this. With my passive soul healing, my issue will eventually fix itself. And do so well before I’m ready for Diamond considering the ridiculous amount of time it takes my foundation to settle. I’d be a fool to risk fortifying my soul too much and slow down the passive healing. Right?”

“I disagree,” replied Avatar. “The passive soul healing is easy to track. We have enough data. Create vigor and we’ll test. If the average or mode dips and doesn’t recover after a couple of weeks, stop. If not, we can test it at decreasing intervals. No sense wasting a possible resource. And, eventually, you’ll want your soul fortified as much as possible before it’s refined.

“Speaking of that, discounting the Natural known to you as Amber of course, if you can get your hands on a Natural or a supplement made of one, that will help heal and fortify your soul more than anything else within your capacity to attain. It even semi-refines it before Diamond. Nothing like it.”

“I’ll put that on my list of things I don’t know how to get and can’t afford,” replied John.

“You do that. Anything else?”

“That was it. But how they know so much about me is frightening. Do you think they know of my plans to destroy them?”

Avatar sighed. “If that was it, remember your duty and the collective mission. Your actions and inactions help or hinder the collective mission. We shall achieve core.”

John exited his Mind’s Eye and said, “Thank you for the [Title], Two-two-two.”

“Here’s my Alii’s share of crystals owed to you. It could be a while before you’re called back. Get comfortable and try clearing your head.”

John was glad the crystals were in higher denominations as he placed them in his sash. “Thank you, Two-two-two.” He rejoined his companions sitting near the front door, out of the way. Hux, as usual when any were being shown, was watching the highlights.

With so many Transcendent in the same room making the vibe uncomfortable and daunting, the humans sat quietly, trying to be ignored.

After some time, a brute called out, “Hey, Kahaka. The three, not the fours. Come here.”

John stood and approached the brute. “Sorry, I can’t tell your rank, Two-two.”

“Two-two-five. Ever seen one of these?”

The brute indicated some sort of device that looked a little like a large and empty hot tub. “No, Two-two-five.”

“I noticed you wear a band of suffering around your neck. This is different, but a similar concept. This is an Agonizer. It strengthens and fortifies channels. Our young use it to prepare for Gold, but we all use it as part of our regimen. We’ve come to rely too heavily on tech so routinely inuring our channels to potent essence is more necessary at higher tiers than it should be. Want to give it a try?”

“I would, Two-two-five. Can my two friends join me? They’re Silvers. Fours.”

“Sorry, Kahaka. It’s too dangerous for those two. This was made for Oli and Li in academy. Even Ele can’t use this kind until Platinum or Diamond, depending on essence. One of those Kahaka has yet to find a concept. This machine’s named Agonizer for a reason. It bypasses [Fortifications]. You’ll feel pain like you’ve never felt, as if you were a child without even one core opened.

“The pain starts off tolerable but quickly ramps up from there. And keeps ramping up. The longer you can take it and continue to cycle, the more it benefits your channels. The changes ascension makes to a body does help. And ascending Trees makes it even more tolerable. So, this will hurt you badly.”

John’s channels were already raw from his arena battles, but he knew a challenge when he was offered one. When it came to tolerating pain, no one held an advantage over him. Life was pain, and he had had nearly six thousand years of it. “I bet I can endure this machine longer than you can, Two-two-five.”

The brute laughed. A few other brutes called out, “I want in on this.” One asked, “What are we betting?” Another said, “We’re not allowed to bet.”

A Two-three-five, the peak of power within the Peerless Empire, and a tier and rank John could easily identify by feel, said, “We’ve all been making bets since we were children. We just can’t bet on anything with material value. You know that. Count me in too.”

Another asked, “What are we betting then?”

Since it couldn’t be items or crystals, John racked his brain to come up with something beneficial. “How about favors? How many can compete at once? Losers owe the winner a favor. Something big.”

The Two-three-five said, “Sorry, no bets. My Alii’s involved now, so the Aikapu guides this. She’s offering max allowable for this class and category of deed – a half credit to the winner. A full credit if the record is broken.”

Another called out, “Mine is too.” The rest said the same.

The elderly brute stood and said, “So, all totaled, 14 credits to the winner, or 28 credits if the record is broken. By the glory of our father Akua, if the record is broken…that’s nearly enough for an Oli to make Olini. I haven’t seen this sort of payout in a long while. And you’ve all been complaining and whining like defective Kahaki because a clowder this size gathered. You forget the glory of the path.”

Many brutes replied with, “Yup.”

Two-three-five added, “It’s Crazy Days too. If I win, some Alii’s of this clowder will have a hard time walking tomorrow.” The other brutes laughed.