The Crimson Reaper-Chapter 86: The Power of a Collective

"So, what did you want to show me?" Luciel questioned after Nosferatu led him to his personal training ground.

It was the only place he had missed.

The cave had a mystical feel to it with the water going along the walls.

Floating on top of the water, there were pink crystals of lotus flowers that illuminated the darkness. They gave off a gentle, calming glow.

The two water streams seemed to flow from the small lake with a medium-sized stone in the middle.

Behind the stone, there was a large waterfall falling from the hole in the ceiling.

Luciel closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the falling water’s sound. It was the only place he had missed.

While concentrating on the gurgle of the liquid, a scent of familiar honey-like aroma, mixed in with the moist air, hit Luciel’s nose.

He peaked and saw Nosferatu in front of him, holding the palm of his hand in the air with a horizontal cut.

"Remember this?" He asked him. A drop of dark red blood fell onto the ground before the wound healed almost instantly.

When they shook hands, Nosferatu used that moment to infuse a little bit of his Qi into Luciel and take some of his.

"I do..." Luciel glared slightly at Nosferatu. That memory was engraved into his memory, "You told me that it was just a normal handshake. A tradition, but I guess it’s much more than that."

There was an undertone of fury in Luciel’s voice, aimed both at Nosferatu and himself. He was manipulated and tricked that night.

He clenched his fist as it trembled slightly, but there was nothing he could do.

"Would you take it if I told you the truth? It’s the biggest power I could offer you, the power of knowledge, the power of Serene Clan. The only way you can get it is by joining us."

Nosferatu spoke with a flattering voice as he was going around Luciel, constantly keeping a hand on his shoulder.

He held him in his grasp, making sure to gaslight any doubts he might hold.

"The collective is a double-edged sword. Their desires and wishes will influence you. I believe you can already resonate with their desire to follow and serve me."

Nosferatu grinned as he observed the raging fire in Luciel’s eyes that tracked his movement.

He revealed his fangs in wrath, but no sound came out since he was trying to control his temper. But there was a hint of worry in Luciel.

He was concerned about just what would this mean in the future. Would he lose a sense of self? Become a puppet, a slave?

"I like the look in your eyes," Nosferatu started, stopping in front of Luciel and leaning closer, staring straight into his crimson irises, "want me to tell you a secret?"

Luciel refused to say anything, this was probably one more trap of his. He already recognized Nosferatu’s manipulative and cunning nature, but it couldn’t hurt to listen, right?

"What is it?" Luciel eventually asked, slapping away Nosferatu’s hand that was lying on his shoulder.

"Become stronger than me. Burn my Qi inside you and you’ll be free," Nosferatu whispered with a grin forming on his lips.

"Why?"

"Because I want a challenge," Nosferatu licked his lips, continuing to walk around Luciel before finally backing away.

Nosferatu lived long enough and saw everything there was to see.

The only thing where he could still find some joy was cultivating his body, to become something higher of an ordinary vampire, but he couldn’t break through the final, third stage.

"Alukah seemed like a potential challenger, but he failed and became a crazy, weak, Shadow Crawler instead."

’Hm... Simple, but makes sense,’ Luciel found his reasoning relatable. Nosferatu had power, but couldn’t use it to its full potential anywhere. ’And what’s a Shadow Crawler?’

The only thing that was displeasing was that Nosferatu designated him as his future challenger without consent!

"And how do you plan to make me powerful enough to rival you?" Luciel inquired, crossing his arms. Currently, he was so weak that Nosferatu could beat him only with a sneeze.

"I can guide you, but the knowledge of the collective will be the one to teach you."

"What exactly is that?"

Nosferatu kept repeating those few words, but he never went into explaining them in detail. Luciel was kinda getting annoyed by him because the anticipation for answers was getting stronger.

"It’s just as the name suggests. I am the pillar that connects all of these vampires! I hold samples of their Qi while mine runs through their veins! I connect them, creating a huge network. We can access each other emotions, thoughts, and knowledge!"

Luciel watched Nosferatu like he was a madman as he finally went to explain, gesticulating with his arms excessively.

He sounded proud as he spoke, making sure to emphasize that everything was possible thanks to his powers.

"And how do I access it?" Luciel wanted to get straight to the point. The whole situation started to bore him to the point he had to yawn.

"Glad you asked, come, sit here." Nosferatu pointed toward the middle of the training ground, right below a huge Yin and Yang symbol that was engraved on the cave ceiling.

The part that symbolized Yin was covered in thousands of glowing blue dots while Yang seemed to be made from pure white crystals.

Luciel sat down where Nosferatu gestured. He got in a lotus position and continued to track Nosferatu with his eyes until he told him to close them and to focus solely on his voice.

He placed his hands on top of his knees, trying to open up and clear his mind as Nosferatu had instructed him.

This step was needed only for those who were trying to access the knowledge base for the first time. Its purpose was to solidify a connection.

While Luciel was trying to concentrate, Nosferatu continued to ramble on how each vampire would visualize it in their own way.

"I, for example, see the knowledge as a huge, never-ending library," Nosferatu placed his hand on the chest, using the moment to talk about himself a little which infuriated Luciel even further.

"Will you shut up?!" Luciel shouted, clearing one’s mind wasn’t as easy as it sounds if you have an ancient relic just blabbering around.

"Of course, you only need to ask, young one."

Luciel huffed before closing his eyes again, getting back to the state similar to mediation.

It took him a little bit of time and struggle, but he finally did it.

Now when he finally didn’t need to focus on Nosferatu, he could finally visualize a grid, resembling that of an internet network, connecting vast information with yellow threads of light.

If Luciel was being represented like a computer, then the other vampires were servers, content providers for the user, the question was, what now?

"I think I can visualize it," Luciel announced, afraid to open his eyes, afraid to lose the progress he had made.

Nosferatu clicked his tongue in satisfaction. Luciel was learning fast. Some would take weeks, but he got it down in an instant.

’He has good instincts,’ Nosferatu thought, feeling proud of his little vampire, a creation of Alukah, a genius. It was such a shame that he had fallen.

"Nosferatu?" Luciel called out to him after no answer came. He was trying not to peak.

"Ah, sorry," Nosferatu shook his head after Luciel brought him back to reality. It was a little bit embarrassing.

’What was that about?’ Luciel found it awkward after hearing an ancient vampire apologizing to him who was nothing more than an ant in his eyes.

"Now, try to search the information about yourself. It will serve as the door for future information you might seek. You are free to open your eyes after that."

Luciel nodded, lowering his head a little and taking a deep breath.

He started to travel across the network, and he could feel a large majority of data being searched and analyzed, but it was taking a lot of time.

But he frowned after multiple attempts to find and gather only necessary information — details about himself.

His head started to ache and his body was being covered in sweat as he flinched a little.

Luciel was overwhelmed, unable to filter all of the incoming information. It was a whole mess out there.

"Come on, Luciel..." Nosferatu clenched his fist while biting his lower lip, making it bleed a little.

This part was always the hardest and if he fails, there are chances that he might die. No vampire or human alone would be able to survive if they tried to absorb all the information at once, it would fry their brain.

"Luciel!" Nosferatu shouted after seeing how one of his favorite vampires started to shake uncontrollably with white foam forming starting to appear on his mouth.

"Luciel! Open your eyes!" He yelled, rushing forward and grabbing Luciel’s head before it could hit the ground.

As powerful as he was, there was nothing that Nosferatu could do except wait.

"Luciel!!!" He panicked once Luciel’s body calmed down. There were no signs of life.

Nosferatu couldn’t detect even the tiniest heartbeat even with his sensitive hearing. Luciel’s chest didn’t seem to move either...

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