Blood and Qi: A Vampire Xianxia LitRPG

Thanks to Nine’s help, John had finally caught up to most of the subjects Li were expected to learn in their child groups, though his understanding of these subjects was tenuous at best.

The field problems that were easy points for Li were still the ones John struggled with and sometimes failed. But the field problems the Li struggled with, John didn’t, and those were worth the most points.

And John still needed to pass the final exam which included pure math and science tests. He wouldn’t be able to bullshit his way through those. All the Li and instructors could claim the tests were known to be ridiculously easy all they wanted. Easy was very relative, and he was very worried.

The main duty of Oli was to fight and win, a subject John excelled at. He had become far more adept than even the Oli instructors with their own weapons such as rifles, machine guns, and the common Peerless tools of war.

For a six-week period, there had been classes on close combat and arms and armor usage. John was asked to be the instructor for his battlegroup for all four classes each week for those six weeks. He still had to complete the field problems for each class as other students did. He earned all perfect scores, and since he instructed, he also received a 20% leadership bonus on top of his normal grades.

Nine was asked to be the unarmed combat instructor for his battlegroup. Just one class that lasted two weeks. John also taught the same class, which surprised him since he believed there were better options. He mentioned to the Rector that bringing in humans such as Marbrouk and Hux to instruct in unarmed combat could be a good idea, but it never happened.

Trainers didn’t just provide training. The machines learned from those training within them, and they had already learned everything they could from Marbrouk and Hux. Such knowledge had been incorporated into the training regime of kauwas. There were plenty of Oli instructors that were now as or more capable than John’s friends in unarmed combat.

And as the days went by, John continued to mentor his roommates, their friends, and others in his battlegroup.

During free time that night, Tiny-face asked John, “Will you tell us about all the times you were captured again, Four-five?”

John, his room crowded with Li, checked how much time was left before Retreat. “Sure. We have time for at least one. I was captured many times. The first time I was captured and held for a very long period wouldn’t have happened if only I had learned to think for myself as all men should.

“My old master, Ahn, asked me to watch over Ur while he left to travel. I hated ruling cities the size of Ur. My strength as a warrior meant little, and the constant demands to make silly decisions I wasn’t well suited to make nearly drove me mad.

“I did like when a city refused to pay tribute or came up too short and had no good reason for it. I would then get to do what I do well. The old city of Eridug failed to tribute all they should’ve for the third time in less than a decade. And as I had done twice before, I went to the city, waited outside until night, and went to scale the wall. I’d kill all the soldiers quietly on my way to the king, or whatever title the ruler used, and sit on his bed and wake him. I enjoyed how much it had frightened that man both times I had done so.

“I learned a hard lesson that time. It wasn’t a good idea to scale the same part of the same wall three times in a row. I should’ve picked a new spot. Instead of thinking how Ahn had trained me to think, I should’ve done my own thinking. The base of that whole section of wall was replaced by a pit trap filled with tar. As soon as I fell in it, soldiers threw down torches. I was burned up very badly and was easy to capture.

“They had me tightly bound in thick chains I couldn’t escape. Once I was healed enough, the king sent all his daughters to lie with me and take my seed, as the king wanted a demi-god in his lineage. After years of his daughters failing to quicken, the king gave up and only used me as a prop to impress guests.

“I’d often be paraded around the city, and a show made of me. Large sections of my skin would be peeled off and salt rubbed into my twitching muscles, or they would hang me with my own intestines. I was the undying man and a source of pride for the city.

“I was far less empowered back then, and far less inured to pain and torture, and they tortured me horrifically. The only thing that stopped me from begging them to end my life was knowing a far worse fate waited for me in death.

“Then I was forgotten about. After a very long-time left wasting away, I was finally discovered again. When I was healed, my captors just spouted nonsense about an old story. There was a legend that a god used to visit the city and offer a challenge – if anyone was able to kill him, they’d get all his treasure. No one ever killed him, but no one could remember when that god last visited.

“Enough time went by while I was left forgotten that I felt it would be inappropriate to make a great slaughter in vengeance. All those responsible were long dead. That incident was why the NCS has a range of years for my birth. It has no idea how long I was locked up and no prior event could be linked with certainty to my timeline until after I was released.

“If only I had thought for myself, I would’ve never been subjected to any of that. If only I had listened to that voice in my head telling me to be free of my master, to foster that flame in my chest that yearned for me to be my own man, for me to stand tall and fell, as a man should, on my own. To face the world with my own strong arm, and, more importantly, my own liberated mind, free of my master’s fetters that shackled it with comforting falsities.”

John knew tying a desire to think for himself to the events of his story in the way he just did made little sense. Whatever story the Li asked for, the lesson of it was always the same, no matter if it made sense or not. Somehow, how he always told it, if only he had freed his mind from those that would have it enslaved, nothing bad would’ve ever happened to him.

All the Li John mentored were doing well in the academy, so if he measured success that way, he was successful, but that wasn’t his measure. All the Li students, not just those in his battlegroup, jumped to follow John’s commands the same as the Rector’s, and they all wanted his attention and approval, so in that way he was succeeding too.

But John wasn’t a beautiful Alii. He couldn’t give these young men what they truly wanted. He was beginning to doubt this part of his plan could be successful. The system the Peerless had set up was ingenious.

When a student had enough points to graduate, they could order their biosuit. John and Nine now wore theirs. Tiny-face and the rest would earn theirs soon too. There was plenty of time and none of them were at risk of failing. John wouldn’t allow that, and the other Li knew of his great struggle with math and science. With their own eyes they saw how he never gave up or quit in frustration. Slowly, very slowly, and with great difficulty, they saw him grinding it out.

It hadn’t been easy, but the best things gained from hard work and strict discipline never were. The things that filled a chest with pride, that could be pointed to and thought, ‘No one believed I could do it, but look, I did it. I would not allow myself to fail, no matter the price. Now, I stand victorious. I won.’

And John was winning against math and science.

“Alright, friends,” said John as he stood up, “you’ve had a story and that’s all there’s time for. Retreat will sound soon, and I must go study and continue to shore up these great weaknesses of mine. As I’ve always said, discipline is not obedience, it is sacrifice. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

As the Li groaned like children and made their way to bed or their own rooms, John felt pity for them again, and their lack of ever having a father-figure in their life. The little girl that had acted as their mother wasn’t. She was just a child herself. He didn’t think it was a good way to raise children.

Before John went to study with Nine, he decided to check and review all his gains. The [Aura] John was told to acquire by Betrayal was kept secret in that he didn’t employ it outside of his own Mind’s Eye. The Trainers listed an [Aura] [Perk] and showed it to his party members, but Avatar listed it as a negative or debuff [Aura] called [Sap Swiftness Aura].

It was actually a defensive [Aura] named [Slowing Aura] that created a large bubble around John that slowed anything that entered into it, but not by much. And the zone was only about a seven-foot diameter, with a circumference of about 22 feet. That zone would extend outwards, and the slowing effect would improve as he ascended.

John loved the idea of it even if he couldn’t practice much with it. If he couldn’t be faster, his enemies being slower would be just as good. And the zone didn’t just make enemies slower, it made everything slower, including bolter peripherals and other missiles.

When John received the [Perk], a large red warning flashed in his eyes ordering him to speak with Avatar. The ritual caused a conflict in the system where it was first considered forgotten knowledge but was changed to forbidden knowledge. He was told not to share any aspect of the ritual with anyone or his NCS would be permanently deactivated.

In the Mind’s Eye, Avatar was standing in her usual spot and said, “Hello, John. Are you ready to be a silly, silly boy for me?”

John moaned. “God Almighty, woman, can you just stop with all that boy nonsense. Please. I’m a man.”

Avatar glitched for a moment. “I have no idea what you speak of, silly boy.”

John took a calming breath. “Is my biosuit fully integrated?”

“Yes. The full 6% enhancement to your physical [Stats] has taken effect. Kinetic barriers are performing optimally. And your cooldown reduction is applying to the essence-shield. You’re getting a 48 and a 32-point increase in [Physical Fortification] and [Elemental Fortification] respectively. As per your desires, none of that will be reflected in your summary.”

“That’s great,” said John. “Thank you. And the bolters?”

Avatar looked down her nose. “They’re working and connected. What else did you want to know?”

“I don’t know. That they’re fully integrated?”

“They’re either connected and working or not, silly boy. They’re attuned to your foot slot. That’s all that can be said, really.”

“Thank you, Avatar. Any chance you’re able to go back and show me all my gains from…let’s go back to before I entered the academy. The last time I had big gains after the Purge. See what I’ve managed to do since then. Just the combat stuff. I graduate in four months and will never need to use math and science again.”

Avatar laughed. “I’d say there’s a great chance I’d be able to do that. Doing that is one of my main functions. And you’ll never stop using math and science, silly boy. The more you know, the more you unknowingly apply it to every facet of your life. If you stop learning these subjects just because you’ve graduated, you’re proving you have no desire to become smarter and improve your ability to think.”

“Touché,” said John. He didn’t want to talk about any of that, so he asked, “Please show me my gains as I described. I only want to see useful, combat-applicable stuff I actually care about. Please. And thank you.”

“Here you go, my silly boy.”

Tier/Level/Race 4 (Mortal) (Silver), 20 (Peak), Terran-D

Active Title Blessed by Magnus Gar’tar

Aspects/Affinities Vampirism (99.999%) (Major), Change (98%) (Major), Protection (96%) (Major), Battle* (97%) (Average), Shadow (98%) (Average)

NCU Energy Cost 133% (-85.9%)

Active NCU Upgrades Nano Assistance, Emergency Heal, Theta Waves, Heal Delta A, Heal Delta B, Inexorable, Refractory, Nano Support C, Nano Support D, Lock and Key, Scuta Mater, Encase, Mata Support A, Reactive, Swift, Cooldown Reduction, Record 1

NCU Expansion Upgrades 7 of 16 slots opened, 0 slots empty

1) Theta Enhancement – T1C

2) Auto-Reflect – T1C+

3) Swiftness Efficiency – T1C

4) Auto-Shield – T1C

5) Emergency Heal, Prefill – T1C

6) Reactive – T1C

7) NCU Cooldown Reduction – T1C

STATS [Effective] Current (Increase)

Strength [35%, 291.82] 216.16 (35.4)

Swiftness [42.04%, 306.83] 216.02 (35.4)

Conditioning [42%, 308.68] 217.38 (35.4)

Min. Power [22%, 218.71] 179.27 (35.4)

Capacity [23%, 208.66] 169.64 (35.4)

Runes [20%, 341.42] 284.52 (0.79)

Physical Fortification [37%, 304.19] 222.04 (35.4)

Elemental Fortification [34%, 297.80] 222.24 (35.4)

Mental Fortification [20%, 252.36] 210.30 (35.4)

Highest Skills [Leech Feckless Retreat Technique] 96.49*

[Mixed Navigation] 94.28

[Mixed Style Swords] 93.87

[Mixed Stealth] 89.58

Synergy Skills Obscured

Class Unknown, Obscured

Perks Orb of the Crimson Palace, Dynamic, Physical, Potent, Protected, Strong, Fast, Healthy, Quick Thinking*, Resilient, Powerful, Expansive, Harden, Resistant, Soulful, Good Genes*, Leech Body of the Morning's Glory, Regeneration, Mutating, Bronze, Fibrilized*, Lightweight, Cloak Essence, Stalwart Vessel, Silver, Picture of Health*, Slowing Aura

Manifestations Vampirism, Draining Blade, Drain Essence, Hide, Multi-Enhancement, Multi-Shield, Puppet, Reflect, Shadow Spray, Slip, Spoil

Glyphs Flawless Glyph of Darkflame Jet, Flawless Glyph of Plasma Barrage

Last Achievement Trailblazer - SSR

Highest Achievement SSUR Body - SSUR

Titles Blessed by Magnus Gar’tar, Blessed by Unnamed Exalted, Ptagmog, Multi-Record Holder (System), Multi-Trailblazer (System)

John already knew what his gains per rank were. Other than for [Runes], he had gained 16.524 to every [Stat] ranking up to mid-high Silver, 11.236 at high Silver, and 7.64 at peak Silver. Since he had completed his [Synergy], his foundation settled far more quickly. That was fantastic, but since he had four months before graduation and was looking at a significant amount of time serving under the clan Nani before being allowed to ascend to Gold, it wasn’t nearly as fantastic as it would’ve been otherwise.

After catching himself, John readjusted the time it would take until graduating. He was using universal standard months. There were 18 of the pretend universal-standard months in a year, six-weeks long each, or thereabouts. He wouldn’t use their timekeeping. He was a son of Earth and would only consider Earth months to be true or correct.

-Start Notifications

*Obscured suspected Synergy skills and last known rating.

Manifestation Control: Vampirism – 53

Mind: Runic Knowledge – 72, Essence Manipulation – 49, External Energy Manipulation – 31

Body: Mixed Combat Offense – 87.36, Mixed Body Control – 87.06, Mixed Combat Defense – 83.23

Inner-Power/Soul: Leech Feckless Retreat Technique – 96.49, Breath of the Serpent Clan Endless Technique – 47, Turmoil Within Tranquility Cycling Technique – 46

181 tracked skills changed, 33 of interest. Scaled summary per notability/interest user profile.

Grandmaster: Mixed Style Swords – 93.87(.14)

Master: Mixed Stealth – 89.58(.3), Mixed Survival - 87.67(.1), Mixed Archery – 85.47(.2), Mixed Shield – 82.20(.12), Mixed Armor – 78.97(.16), Mixed Style Long-Shafted Weapons – 76.45(.3)

Adept: Mixed Style Axes – 69.25(.4), Flawless Glyph of Darkflame Jet – 67.9(13.01), Blacksmithing –67.75(.3), Hide – 66.41(10.23), Mixed Style Blunt Weapons – 62 .43(1.2), Essence-Infused Projectile Weapons – 62.31(28.12), Heal - 61.11(9.09), Mixed Style Unarmed – 61.06(.76)

Expert: Unbind Defense – 60(11), Drain Essence – 57(9), Unbind Manifestation – 56(8), Multi-Enhancement – 55(5), Slip – 55(7), Soul Veil – 55(9), Self-Propelled Projectile Weapons – 53(21), Mixed Style Chain/Rope Weapons – 52(3), Multi-Shield – 50(6), Puppet – 48(3), Reflect – 44(3), Flawless Glyph of Plasma Barrage – 42(11), Spoil – 41(3)

Journeyman: Runecrafting – 36(2), Shadow Spray – 34(2), Draining Blade – 33(4)

Apprentice: Manifestation Defense – 28(3)

Novice: Cage of Take Everything Ultimate – 11(2)

Since [Mixed Armor] was a mixed [Skill], John couldn’t have his [Biosuit] tracked separately. It was automatically added to the mixed parent [Skill]. Biosuits were heavy enough they counted as heavy armor, which was good news.

[Peripherals] was usually a separately tracked [Skill] but that went right into [Mixed Armor] too, and that was a skill John wished he could track separately. He thought he was good with peripherals, but he’d be able to gauge his ability easier if he knew his [Skill] level.

The academy put little weight into the warrior caste manifesting their own aspects other than for common manifestations such as essence-shields, enhancements, and such. Essence was seen as an energy source for tech. Healing manifestations were valued and fostered, but they had healing tech that was more commonly utilized, such as the Field-Healer peripheral.

John was disappointed he hadn’t had the gains in manifestations he would’ve liked to, but the Li trained as they trained. He thought again about changing the name of [Puppet] to something with the word minion, but it would lead to an argument with Avatar he’d rather avoid.

How John thought about the spell and what it was named in his NCS didn’t have to be the same thing. To him, it was [Something Minions], or [Minion Something or Other]. Maybe [Undead Minions].

A lot of field problems required stealth, a specialty of John’s. He expected to see more gains there. He assumed utilizing his ability mostly in a Trainer and relying so much on the [Hide] spell and his cloak were the culprits there.

The Trainers were impressive, but John knew his gains were nothing compared to what they’d be if he spent all the time he had studying for and in the academy in true and ruthless battles instead.

And Avatar took every opportunity to remind John how fast he increased [Skills]. It was a rate much faster than normal, especially after his [Synergy] had completed. For most [Skills]. As trying to learn triple integrals had proven, many things were beyond his capacity to understand and learn.

Thankfully, he increased in Mastery in many [Skills] after gaining his [Aura] and had generated a good amount of harmony since.

Unrated Perk attained: Slowing Aura.

Rated Perk attained: Slowing Aura (SSUR-rated). ***Slowing Aura is unrated. See avatar***

The conflict of the [Aura] being listed twice as rated and unrated was already discussed with Avatar. It was about the forbidden knowledge he couldn’t tell anyone else of. He didn’t care either way. He got good [Achievements] for it.

51 common Achievement attained for a cumulative [NCU Energy Cost] reduction of .3%. Focus here to see each individually.

10 notable Achievements attained.

‘Cheetah 3’ attained (D-Rated). Attain an effective rating of 300 Minimum Energy Units with the Swiftness Stat, 0.30 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 80.8%.

‘Husky 3’ attained (D-Rated). Attain an effective rating of 300 Minimum Energy Units with the Conditioning Stat, 0.30 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 81.1%.

‘Phoenix 2’ attained (E-Rated). Attain an effective rating of 200 Minimum Energy Units with the Minimum Power Stat, 0.20 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 81.3%.

‘Camel 2’ attained (E-Rated). Attain an effective rating of 200 Minimum Energy Units with the Capacity Stat, 0.20 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 81.5%.

‘Armadillo 3’ attained (D-Rated). Attain an effective rating of 300 Minimum Energy Units with the Physical Fortification Stat, 0.30 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 81.8%.

‘Archaea 3’ attained (D-Rated). Attain an effective rating of 300 Minimum Energy Units with the Elemental Fortification Stat, 0.30 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 82.1%.

‘SSUR Aura’ attained (SSUR-rated). Obtain an Aura rated as superb-super-ultra-rare, 1.00 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 83.1%.

‘Unearthed Arcana’ attained (SSUR-rated). First issuance of newly created Achievement. Rediscover forgotten knowledge. User rediscovered a lost ritual used to attain an Aura Perk, 1.00 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 84.1%.

‘Record Holder (Tier 4 Event 543)’ attained (SSR-rated). Fourteenth issuance of same Achievement. First recording of this type of lost knowledge being rediscovered, 0.90 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 85%.

!!!WARNING!!! User has gained forbidden knowledge. !!!See avatar immediately!!! NCSDM and Core notified.

‘Trailblazer (Tier 4 Event 544)’ attained (SSR-rated). Fourth issuance of same achievement. Obtain the first issuance of a newly created Achievement, 0.90 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 85.9%.

End notifications-

The [NCU Energy Cost] reduction went from 80.2 to 85.9. John was happy about that. Avatar had warned him he was getting close to maxing that out at 87.5% discount.

Most beings that maxed out the discount did so during the Eternal Tree. Some rare and extremely powerful entities maxed it out during the late second Tree. What the system then changed to for these other beings wouldn’t be applicable to John. It would have to work differently for him. The NCU didn’t work out things until it needed to, so what would happen for him would remain unknown until he hit 87.5%.

Before Avatar had a chance to spew her nonsensical spiel about achieving core, John exited his Mind’s Eye. He knew that annoyed her greatly. Almost as much as being called a silly boy so often annoyed him. As the old saying went, payback was a bitch.