Bloodline Purification
Newborn Vampire are impulsive.
They cannot fully control their powers, especially after transforming from the living to the dead, and must face the choice of hunting humans to survive. Many newborn Vampire enter a period of madness during this time and are then forced to be imprisoned in coffins for a long period of time. This process is called "hiding," and they are usually guarded by other older Vampire. These older Vampire will nurture them for a period of time, which may be several years or even more than ten years, until the newborns gradually stabilize and their emotions are under control before they are released to roam freely.
This is a very difficult process.
Vampire appear powerful, but their growth cycle is extremely slow; it takes them hundreds of years to reach the fourth rank. This newborn before Sauron is actually only at the third rank. Its apparent strength stems from the Vampire's higher CR; they possess innate attribute bonuses, with agility and strength far exceeding those of ordinary humans, and they also possess Spell-like Ability. The one before Soren is a defector, meaning it deserted immediately after becoming Vampire, hence its lack of experience in Vampire survival.
If such defectors are caught, they will either be imprisoned and punished for a period of time, or they will be executed on the spot!
Because defectors are all uncultured individuals, they easily expose the Vampire ' tracks, and their uncontrollable bloodlust will attract powerful enemies, which would be a catastrophic disaster for any Vampire.
The woman before him now bared her fangs, all traces of her initial beauty long gone. She stared at Soren and said, "Help me? How can you help me? Can a mere human help me?"
Soren chuckled inexplicably and said slowly, "It seems you've overestimated the abilities of Vampire!"
"I'll stand here without moving. If you can force me to take a step back between three attacks, then you'll win. How about it?"
That's a very arrogant tone.
However, Soren now needs to increase the psychological pressure on his target. For a newborn who has brute force but little skill, what he just said is not an exaggeration.
The current Soren is not the Soren of the past; he has the ability to fight back even against Quasi-Legendary.
"Good!"
The newborn Vampire's face turned ferocious. Without hesitation, he launched his attack, leaping onto the wall and crawling along it before pouncing on Soren like an eagle hunting its prey. Sharp claws aimed directly at Soren's throat, seemingly intending to kill him in one strike. However, Soren's expression remained unchanged. He even closed his eyes, merely slightly opening his palms. Then, in the instant the vampire lunged down, he leaned back ninety degrees, narrowly avoiding the vampire's claws. At the same time, a cold light appeared in his hand, and with a thud, the newborn Vampire fell behind him.
Soren's hands remained empty.
The newborn Vampire stared in disbelief at her abdomen, where a half-foot-long gash appeared, covered in wisps of frost. She had almost been disemboweled. If Soren hadn't shown mercy, that cut would have ripped her open, severing half her body even with her Vampire Constitution. While the injury wouldn't kill Vampire, it was enough to fill her with awe. She bent down slightly, pressing her fingers against the wound.
Soren's expression was rather aloof as he said calmly, "Want to try again?"
The newly minted Vampire shook his head and said, "No need, Your Excellency. I already believe in your strength, but I don't know why you want to help me. What do you need me to do for you?"
Soren felt his acting skills had improved significantly, probably because he had more contact with women. Before, he had only interacted with men, which hadn't helped much with his acting. Now, his skills had improved by at least ten points. It was true that dealing with women required acting skills; this basic skill was surprisingly useful in many situations.
He gently flexed his wrist and said slowly, "It's just a coincidence that I ran into you. I need something useful. Coincidentally, the elder who's been hunting you down has it, so I plan to help you take him out. As for what kind of help I need, we can talk about that after your troubles are resolved."
"May I have your name?"
The newborn Vampire hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Yaliana."
A name that's a bit hard to pronounce.
Soren repeated himself, then said, "Very well, Yaliana. Tell me your story. I need to assess the strength of the elder who captured you. After all, someone who can turn you into Vampire is not easy to deal with."
Yaliana hesitated slightly, but a hint of hatred flashed across her face. She slowly said, "It was my Elder Sister, my cousin, who turned me into Vampire. My hometown is a town in Nasolad, a once-prosperous but now impoverished noble family. My mother died long ago, and my father tried to restore the family's glory, but he went on an adventure and never returned. Twelve years ago, my cousin married a Travel nobleman and then left with him. This year she returned home, and we were all very happy, but we never expected her to turn out like this."
"She killed everyone else, then turned me into Vampire, a servant of her master."
"I escaped, and then I escaped to the Shipwreck Bay."
What a melodramatic story.
Although the woman before him didn't explain in detail, Soren guessed what had happened. His cousin, now Vampire, had gone on a killing spree, seemingly murdering other family members, and then keeping the rather beautiful woman to turn into a new Vampire Servant. Vampire are typical members of the "looks-matter" club; they are rarely converted if they aren't handsome or beautiful enough, especially female Vampire, most of whom are of above-average appearance.
"Very good."
Soren nodded slightly and said, "It seems your cousin will be the one to take you back, or more likely, her master."
"But it's okay, I'll take care of them for you. You'll be free after that."
He stood up and walked around for a moment, then said, "You'd better rest. This kind of injury shouldn't be a problem, right? After all, Vampire have strong Regeneration abilities. I suggest you learn how to hunt properly; such poor hunting methods are too likely to attract trouble."
Vampire are a very strong biological template.
They have a natural defensive ability of +6 and a base Hit Points of 12, making them similar to Barbarian.
Furthermore, as Vampire increase their strength, they gain various Spell-like Ability, various resistances and Saving Throw Ability, and various Negative Energy Erosion abilities. In their advanced forms, they gain attribute bonuses of +6 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +6 Constitution, +2 Perception, and +4 Charisma, which in some aspects is almost comparable to the additional abilities of Dragonblooded Sorcerer. They also have a +10 racial bonus to basic skills such as deception, hiding, Listen, Stealth, Search, and scouting.
Vampire have a base CR of 8, making them naturally close to third-tier creatures.
These Dark Creature don't actually have many weaknesses. Many things from folklore are simply false. They have shadows and aren't afraid of mirrors. Garlic is merely an unpleasant smell for them. Their only fear is sunlight, which greatly reduces their strength and can even kill weaker Vampire. Their fatal weaknesses are their heart and head. High-ranking Vampire can Polymorph bats and gaseous forms, making them very difficult to kill.
The others are similar to Undead; Soren has killed quite a few of them before!
A very important part of Vampire's body is their spine, which is a special spellcasting material and a key item for the purification of Evil into blood.
The Bloodline Purification Ritual is a transformation of supernatural Hit Points, and it involves many special spellcasting materials.
These can enhance the effectiveness of Bloodline Purification Ritual without altering one's racial lineage. The core materials for Evil purposes are more numerous, originating from roughly a dozen sources, such as Vampire, Werewolf, Lich, Demon, Devil, Dragon, and so on. The simplest Bloodline Purification Ritual is a direct blessing from the Deity, and Soren is certainly not naive enough to believe that any Deity would willingly bestow such a blessing upon him. The next most convenient method is Dragon Blood, but it requires pure-blooded Dragonkind, with the minimum standard being White Dragon.
The story features many professionals who become Toughness after bathing in Dragon Blood; this is actually a Bloodline Purification Ritual.
They are still human beings.
However, these individuals have unconsciously completed the Bloodline Purification Ritual, gaining a boost to their Hit Points from Dragon Blood. This ritual is like a person who could have reached this level of Hit Points, but due to acquired deficiencies—such as insufficient nutrition in childhood, ineffective training, or other shortcomings—they didn't reach their peak Hit Points. This ritual aims to bring them close to their current peak Hit Points, and may even improve attributes that weren't fully developed in childhood due to other reasons (extremely low probability!).
Soren's goal was precisely this: he needed to unleash the potential of his Hit Points through a ritual. He wasn't confident in Dragon Slayer dragon, nor did he have the time to find one. Vampire could serve as a good alternative, and purifying his bloodline with high-ranking Vampire would grant him an additional [Toughness] Feat. Completing the Bloodline Purification Ritual would at least increase his Hit Points by two or three class levels.
In other words, his Hit Points will be equivalent to that of Warrior of the same level who has not purified his bloodline!
The night passed quickly.
The next day, Soren left the Inn and began preparing items to deal with the Vampire. Holy Water was the most effective, followed by other items that could counteract Dark Creature. From Yaliana, Soren learned a great deal and deduced that she had been transformed by a small Vampire family that used the innate control abilities gained after transformation to enslave their servants. In this respect, Yaliana's willpower was quite good; she actually resisted the mental control of her Vampire elder.
Now all we have to do is wait for her elder to appear, then lure him to a suitable place and kill him.
(P. S.: Extra chapter today. Please vote for the year!) (To be continued~^~)