First Battle with a Vampire (Please Invest!)

No matter how accomplished a vampire was in magic, when facing an enemy, the first thing they thought of was to crush their opponent with their extraordinary speed and strength. Barnabas was no exception. He vanished into the darkness in an instant, carrying a chill wind as he charged straight at Salomon.

A dull thud followed, accompanied by a sizzling sound like red-hot metal plunged into cold water. The vampire's sharp nails collided with the shield conjured by the Arcanist, bursting into orange-red sparks before Salomon's chest.

The sparks briefly illuminated the pitch-black corridor before quickly fading, and that fleeting brightness allowed Salomon to see the vampire's pale face. But before he could react, the vampire's claws struck the shield again. Sparks erupted once more, forcing the Arcanist to stagger two steps back.

Salomon drew back his right leg and steadied himself. He swiftly raised the Ring of the Ragador above his head. Sparks flew from the shield again as a violent blow like an ancient battering ram exploded with a deafening crash, making the wooden floor beneath his feet creak painfully.

The floor suddenly split apart, exposing yellowed, jagged edges and splinters. One of Salomon's legs sank into the hollow flooring.

He abruptly crouched and rolled forward, dodging the claws descending from above. Though he could not clearly see all of Barnabas's movements in the darkness, the reactions forged through long training allowed him to withstand the vampire's storm-like barrage. Barnabas might have been of an extremely high rank, but he had never received training, and the direction of his attacks was exceedingly easy to predict.

Without even looking back, Salomon threw the Ring of the Ragador behind him. He immediately sprang to his feet and turned around, his toes slightly inward and knees bent. His left hand stood palm-out before his chest, while his right arm slanted down toward the left in a defensive stance. Yet there was no one before him. The Ring of the Ragador had only smashed the decorative porcelain at the end of the corridor. The vampire had already vanished.

He secretly heightened his vigilance while slipping his right hand into his pocket. He pulled out a small pinch of dried carrots, stuffed them into his mouth as fast as he could, chewed hastily, and swallowed.

That had been his mistake, but now he had remedied it. The darkness before him was no longer an obstacle. He no longer had to rely on prediction like a blind man to judge the direction of incoming attacks—Darkvision allowed him to see everything within nearly twenty meters in an environment without light.

There was a reason he had chosen this spell instead of using an area spell like Burning Hands to force the vampire out—the vampire was incredibly fast and could easily evade it, while he had only one chance to recite a spell. By the time Salomon spoke another incantation, the vampire's claws would likely have already slit his throat.

Not to mention that his mage level was still low, and he did not have many offensive spells available. With other spells, even Positive Energy spells of Vishanti, he would first have to hit his target before considering whether they could break through its defenses. Under such circumstances, Salomon had no confidence that he could strike Barnabas with the vampire's reflexes. Even if those spells did hit Barnabas, they might not deal much damage.

Therefore, the most cost-effective choice was to use spells that enhanced himself and fight the same way as the other Kamar-Taj Arcanists. Before the spells he had learned from the Torruel Crystal Wall System developed sufficient combat power, Vishanti magic combined with transmutation and conjuration spells that enhanced his close-combat abilities would remain Salomon's primary means of attack.

Only a few seconds after casting the spell, Salomon heard urgent wingbeats and dense, scurrying footsteps coming from the corridor, as though a great swarm of creatures was approaching him.

He turned again, but this time only halfway. His right elbow knocked aside an arm reaching out from the darkness.

His right foot stepped forward half a pace behind Barnabas's right foot. His left palm clamped onto the arm's elbow, while the fingers of his right hand thrust diagonally toward the vampire's eyes.

Wing Chun, Biu Jee.

The turn had only been meant to lure the enemy into attacking. Salomon had learned that while watching Kamar-Taj apprentices practice Baguazhang. During self-defense classes, he had faced every kind of martial art, and naturally picked up plenty of experience fighting opponents.

But he did not possess a vampire's immortality. In an environment where he could be ambushed at any moment, close-quarters fighting was the best choice if he wanted to avoid being scratched.

A fight to the death was not training. Salomon showed no restraint, and his Biu Jee strike was incredibly fast.

But his opponent was not an ordinary human. It was an exceptionally fast vampire. Barnabas easily dodged the move, and it only sliced past the vampire's ear.

The vampire opened its mouth and bit toward Salomon's palm. The Arcanist suddenly clenched his right hand into a fist, and the semicircular Ring of the Ragador flared to life, blocking the vampire's fangs.

Salomon released his left hand and stepped his left leg forward half a pace, slipping around Barnabas's slashing claws. Then he swung his right hand hard outward, slamming it viciously into the vampire's face.

Barnabas was sent flying sideways toward the glass windows of the corridor.

Before the vampire could smash through the window, silver mist enveloped Salomon. He vanished from where he stood, only to suddenly appear above the vampire's flight path.

The Arcanist stood upon a magical disk that had appeared out of thin air, then punched downward again, smashing the Ring of the Ragador down.

Bang—!!!

The Arcanist smashed the vampire heavily into the floor. The dark wooden boards let out a tremendous crash and caved in at once, scattering a large cloud of splinters.

Second-circle conjuration: Misty Step.

Before the vampire could recover from the violent impact, the orange rings encircling Salomon's hands fully unfolded. He clenched both hands into fists and alternated them at extreme speed, hammering down on Barnabas's face. Every heavy blow drove the vampire's head brutally into the floorboards.

Thud—thud—thud—thud—thud—

Like the rapid drumbeats of a festival, the sounds echoed through the corridor. But there were no beautiful girls in yukata, no noisy tourists, and no children running everywhere. There were only two creatures standing in the dark corridor: one standing, face twisted in ferocity; the other lying down, fate unknown.

Besides them, there was also blood continuously splashing across the shattered floor, along with broken teeth flying through the air.

"Pant... pant..." Salomon stepped back half a pace and gasped violently, like a drowning man who had just been rescued. His chest heaved rapidly, his blood-covered hands hanging at his sides. Even the three Rings of Vishanti were smeared with blood.

All he felt now was aching in both arms. From turning to lure the enemy into attacking onward, that entire sequence of movements had been completed in a single breath. Even during Kamar-Taj's self-defense classes, he had never engaged in such intense hand-to-hand combat. Then he had thrown nearly fifty punches at a speed beyond his limits, too fast for the naked eye to follow. Lactic acid seemed to fill every inch of muscle in his arms.

In truth, he had not needed to do this at all. The shield Athena had given him could be used freely. Now, he had merely wanted to test the level of his own abilities.

Now, he had his answer—as long as he went all out, he could completely handle a young original vampire.

After catching his breath for a few seconds, he reluctantly raised his arms and opened both palms slowly like blossoming flowers. Then the wooden floor seemed to become a shattered mirror, and a sound like breaking glass rang out beneath Barnabas.

Salomon was not the Sorcerer Supreme. The Venerable One only needed an instant to unfold the Mirror Dimension, whereas Salomon still needed to chant an incantation and make gestures. Therefore, he had to subdue the vampire first before imprisoning Barnabas inside it.

As the mirror-like cracks widened, the unconscious vampire slowly sank downward. But before he could completely seal the vampire within the Mirror Dimension, the fluttering wings and dense footsteps rang out again.

Salomon looked up and saw a huge swarm of rats and bats rushing in from the other end of the corridor. Those disgusting little creatures nearly flooded the hall, surging through it like a wave in an instant and reaching Salomon's feet. Salomon had no choice but to abandon his attempt and retreat several steps. Thin flames erupted from between his palms, charring the rats and bats before him black.

The flames also ignited every curtain before Salomon, and the firelight swept away all darkness.

Yet those creatures did not attack Salomon. They flowed through the corridor like water, while the Arcanist stood like an isolated island upon its surface. Every bat and rat went around him. Once the little creatures had completely disappeared at the end of the corridor, Salomon looked over and discovered that Barnabas, who had been lying on the floor, had vanished.

In his place stood a woman wearing a vintage pale-blue gown. Her whalebone crinoline made her skirt appear quite wide, and the hem was decorated with intricate lace. In the firelight filling the corridor, Salomon saw her face clearly. Behind her floated a Ghost identical to her.

P.S.: So hungry~

Good afternoon.