Master Of None

While very stunned, Walker was not going to ignore this old man. He was a vampire that had struggled to survive for so long. Since he had done so against all odds, he deserved to have a listening ear. 

"I will gladly listen to you. My name is Walker. I am a true hero and helped found the Genesis alliance of all races. Your vampire race will be welcomed to join it once they are back on their feet." 

The warm tone in Walker's voice made the old vampire smile softly. While his face showed wrinkles that had been etched through years of struggle, they were still able to show hope and joy. The eyes were the same. A smile that proved that he had finally seen his dream come true. 

"The Alvon family was what we could say are our originators. They were the first vampires to carve out a safe place for our race to survive within the chaos." a distant look appeared in the man's eyes. "You will find those records on those shelves. Read them well." 

"I will. I promise I will copy and create a library full of your history." Walker would not deny that. He wanted that for every race. Their path to this point where they had joined the other traces to protect their world. 

"Good." a soft smile returned to Arnold's face. 

"That Alvon family lived almost eternally. The purest blooded vampires who controlled all. But as they grew older, they did as many did. They disliked their immortality. So they went in to eternal slumber of their own decision. A truly respectable end." This was a telling example of how the vampires saw a natural death. It was a choice when they had lived all they could and felt full. 

"Their descendants had many thoughts on the world as it changed. But the wars began. The immortal chasers, the angelic race, and other more odd races took their chances for power. For land. For whatever that guided them." 

This is the chaos that Walker expected to hear about as the old vampire looked sad. But it was the state of the world so many years ago. Even when the ancient monsters had begun to fade and became few and far between, there had still been struggle to fill that void of power. The world had just truly formed for the intelligent races to explore it. 

"As the wars became greater, the materials hidden away were becoming greater. Smaller families tried to fight for control and steal what they could. If they had stronger fighters, then they would be the best and purest of bloodlines. But they could not beat some of the strongest families no matter how hard they tried."

"Geniuses were born, and coming with that was arrogance. The beliefs that all other beings in the world were just different sources of power, of blood. An old man like me, has read what things were like. How some intelligent races even tried to trade time and time again with us. But it never worked for long due to the way of nature." 

Threats would certainly appear. Ancient monsters that could whip them all out would certainly make trade relationships hard. Any relationships with other races would seem impossible most of the time. Therefore, the vampires had every reason to fight a monster each other for the chances to survive in their families. That was the way to survive after all. 

"When it became worse, the war with the immortal chasers became the focus over everything. It forced us to the edges. To one last village and castle that you stand in now. Even though it crumbles." the sad look appeared again. But this was before Arnold looked at Walker again with more resolve and hope. 

"That was when the demon appeared. Made a deal from some knowledge regarding the restraints of the world. Many of our kind wished to research out existence because we lived for so long. We had great knowledge in some topics when the research was not buried by new families taking power." 

It made a lot of sense how their inner struggles would cause research to be lost. Then it would start again. Only to be lost years later. A never ending cycle keeping the vampires behind in a way. 

"After that demon left here with knowledge on how to go against the world as he had done before, we faced some of the last angelic race. We had broken three of their floating cities and sunken them to the depths of the ocean. We even learned to master a vampire elder whale that moved our city to the continent that those angelic race fled to after we beat them in that battle."

"Thos last many winged angelic race elders turned themselves in to pillars. White stone that forced us to weaken. That tapped us. Especially after they had seen our lord become a monster. I only know this due to my familiar. A small little fruit bat I discovered as a child." The memory before he lost this partner clearly made Arnold feel warm. But family always did that. 

"Las I saw, the armies of that elder… that monster, had been put to slumber while others burned their lives to beat on the seal for the remainder of their lives. For us, that was what we thought the end would be. The cost of their lives for the last of our race. But that was not what the world had in mind." 

"I sealed off this place myself and the greedy monster tried to get here. However, his seals did not beat mine. I was a vampire rune master at one time. But that's just part of the system I had before I grasped a little glimpse of the truth." 

"That fragment of elemental purity was what one researcher discovered. He found that the elemental planes were not cut off from us. That with strength, the vampire race could go there. That was what that monster wanted. But he would have just stained that great research that was once the pinnacle of vampiric knowledge."

"While that fragment was found when one of our elder vampires attempted to reach in to the darkness elemental place, we realized there was a space in between. A broken space. But the bridges that connected them. That is what we believe that shard to be. A pure and perfect realization of the true will beyond just the world." the room felt heavy, this was said. 

It was as if there was another presence within the room. One that wished for all of this to be held back. "The world knows I am soon to leave it in a way. To my own eternal slumber. It wishes that you do not know it all. I don't know it all though. Just that the systems we have are broken too." 

"They should all be one."

"The split and the changes you have seen and that woke me before you even got here."

"Those were all evidence of what you may already be thinking. A way that should be done differently. Something more united. Something called a class. Something clearer. Something that the elemental planes already use since it is the proper way. But even they are cut off in a way too. Nothing is complete right now."

There was a drop in Arnolds' voice toward the end. His body appeared to be fading. His body was not turning to ash or becoming light as some might think. Instead, it was being embraced by the shadows. As if the natural darkness affinity for the vampire race was welcoming him back to it. As if the vampire Walker had just met hadn't really had a body left in the first place. 

"Well, young man of multiple races unlike what I have ever thought, please help the vampire race. Please help the young ones learn a better way." Walker blinked and found that all that was left was him and Midnight standing still. Afraid to even breathe.

"I think we might have learned too much." Midnight's agreeing huff matched the stubbed feeling that Walker had. 

Years ago the demon lord had come here before ending the immortal chaser race. Before he had forced the immortal king in to his tower. He had gained knowledge. Had Learned what the vampires had. But not been overwhelmingly powerful yet. 

But he returned here for that shard. That fragment of elemental purity. It could be part of a bridge of sorts. A way to access that place in the middle of the elemental planes and the world they knew. It would mean dangerous things. 

But that could also be what Walker needed. He and the party could work together to perfectly balance the elemental planes and the world. Returning it to what it should be. Before the demon lord caused more trouble. 

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