The ancient prison

Night had fallen.

Feeling the chilly night wind against her face, Malin pulled her cloak tighter. It was already so late. If she hadn't lost track of time making snacks at a friend's house, she wouldn't have been heading home at this hour. She glanced uneasily around her. Beneath the dim streetlights, there wasn't a soul on either side of the street, and that made her uneasy. After all, it was so late. Perhaps she should have asked her friend to see her home, but...

"Sob... sob..."

A faint sob slowly reached her ears, giving her a fright. She looked around in alarm and finally spotted a girl sitting by a corner of the fountain, her face buried in her hands as though she were crying softly. In the streetlight, her long white hair reflected the faint glow of the silver moon, dazzlingly bright.

Had there been a little girl there just now?

Though puzzled, Malin walked over and hesitantly asked her a question.

"Little sister, what's wrong?"

"Daddy... Mommy..."

The little girl raised her head. A faint glimmer seemed to flash through her red eyes, and though Malin was a little surprised, the girl's sorrowful expression soon captured all her attention.

"Daddy? Mommy? Where's your family?"

"I don't know..."

The little girl shook her head. Her eyes were misty, and she looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment.

"I don't know where Daddy and Mommy went. They, they told me to wait here... But I've been waiting and waiting, and neither of them has come back..."

Looking at the little girl's sorrowful face, Malin couldn't help feeling a pang of sympathy. She reached out and gently stroked the girl's hair.

"Don't cry. Where's your home? Can you tell me? I'll take you back."

At that moment, Malin paid no attention to why a little girl had suddenly appeared here. Nearly all her thoughts were focused on comforting the poor girl. But when she asked, the girl merely shook her head sadly.

"I don't know either. We walked a really, really long way to get here, and then Daddy and Mommy told me to wait while they went to take care of something. But they never came back..." The girl looked up at Malin. "Do Daddy and Mommy not want me anymore? Did they leave me behind?"

Malin didn't know what to say to the little girl. Though she had thought of several possibilities, none of them would have comforted the poor child. At a loss, she sighed and held out her hand to her.

"Come on, I'll take you to the church. You must be hungry. How about I get you some bread and milk?"

"...But I have to wait for Daddy and Mommy... They still haven't come back..."

"I'll leave them a letter."

As she spoke, Malin took a sheet of writing paper from inside her clothes.

"When they come back, they'll see it and come find you. Until then, will you be a good girl and stay at the church? There'll be people there to look after you."

The girl hesitated for a moment at Malin's suggestion, then slowly nodded. She curled up her small body, looking a little cold.

"All right, come with me."

With that, Malin picked up the girl. Contrary to what she had expected, the girl was extremely light, as though she weighed almost nothing.

She's so light.

Malin was a little surprised, but the little girl's icy hands soon wrapped around her neck, making her heart ache even more. The girl had been outside so long that her entire body had turned this cold. If she wasn't taken to the church quickly, she might die. At the thought, Malin had no time to dwell on anything else. She turned and headed for the largest church in the area. Though it was late, surely the priest there would help with something like this...

The girl wrapped her hands tightly around Malin's neck and clung to her, curling up as though craving warmth.

"Big sister, your body is so warm..."

"Is it? You must have been outside too long..."

"Mm..."

The girl nodded slightly and drew closer to Malin's neck.

"Big sister, I'm hungry..."

"Just hold on a little longer. I'll take you to the priest right away..."

The girl never finished speaking. A slight prick came from her neck, and she felt her vision go black before she lost consciousness.

"Hee hee hee..."

Angela extended her little pink tongue and gently licked the soft, fair skin of the girl's neck. Warm, bright-red blood was slowly welling up from two tiny fang marks.

"What a lovely female. She fell for it so easily..."

She gave the blood a lick, then smiled down at the unconscious girl on the ground.

"Indeed, such sweet, delicious blood. I shall condescend to accept it. Besides, Master said that sometimes humans are better off for a little bloodletting. And a human such as thee should be honored to have been tasted by me."

She gently brushed a hand over the girl's neck, and the bite marks soon vanished completely. Though the girl lying unconscious on the ground was a little pale, she was still breathing faintly. As a member of the ancient and noble Vampire Species, Angela naturally wouldn't drink blood without restraint like those two idiot sisters. In fact, given her abilities, going ten days or half a month without blood wouldn't be a problem. Unless she was injured or had expended too much power, Angela had no need to drink blood like an ordinary vampire. But just as there was a difference between a drunkard and a wine connoisseur, Angela considered herself a refined connoisseur rather than someone who merely took what she needed. So whenever she saw a target that caught her fancy, she acted at once.

Of course, if she wasn't satisfied, her victims usually didn't come to a good end either.

"My thanks to thee, for letting me savor such wonderful blood, so pitiful and deserving of pity..."

Angela gently lifted the girl's head, an innocent, pure smile appearing on her face.

"Then, as a gift in return, let Angela take you home, big sister... Hee hee hee..."

Pitch-black shadows enveloped the girl's body. Then countless bats soared into the sky and vanished into the shadows of the night.

The street beneath the streetlights was empty once more.

Li Lin turned another page and rubbed his brow. Then he looked out the window and casually opened it.

A swarm of bats flew into the room from outside. They shrieked and circled before finally gathering into a human shape. Then they immediately flew away again, leaving only Angela standing there. Her eyes were particularly bright with excitement; she was clearly very satisfied.

"I smell a female's juices."

She wrinkled her cute little nose, as though she had caught a scent.

"What happened with those two?"

"They played around here for a bit, then went back."

Li Lin spoke casually, as though nothing strange had happened. In fact, after the sisters had finished drinking blood, they had quickly become lost in the pleasure it brought them. Perhaps it was because they no longer felt the resistance they had during the day, but they had been unable to stop themselves from caressing and comforting each other. Li Lin had said nothing. He had altered the memories of the poor woman, who had nearly died from losing too much blood, and thrown her out of the room with a gemstone before going back to his book. The sisters had enjoyed themselves immensely. Fortunately, there were few guests staying at the inn, so their cries hadn't disturbed anyone. Li Lin himself had been so absorbed in his reading that he hadn't paid them any attention. Only after the sisters had had their fill and come to their senses did they realize what was wrong. Then they had hurried back to their own room in a panic.

"Stupid trash. They could not even resist such temptation."

Though Li Lin hadn't explained in detail, Angela had been a vampire for so long that it was almost impossible to say how long, so naturally she could guess the answer.

"Master, why did you not partake of them?"

"You said to wait until you'd finished training them."

Li Lin turned another page and answered calmly.

"I'm waiting."

"As expected of Master. It seems I must work hard."

Angela smiled with pride and satisfaction. Then she looked curiously at the book in Li Lin's hands. The little one was clearly very interested in it.

"What does it say, Master?"

"Some things about the Magic-Banning Prison."

With that, Li Lin began explaining the origins of the Magic-Banning Prison to Angela.

A thousand years ago, the place hadn't been called the Magic-Banning Prison, but Wensains. In the ancient Magic Empire Language, it meant "place of punishment." Here, mages couldn't use magic—or rather, low-level mages couldn't use magic.

Wensains was a place the Arcane Mages had built to punish their students.

"But it wasn't a prison."

Li Lin explained to Angela.

"We cast a powerful magic-banning spell on Wensains, but we also specified its targets. Only low-level mages would be suppressed. Once they reached the intermediate level, the restriction wouldn't have much effect on them."

Mages were people too, and precisely because they were mages, they were exceptionally gifted. Naturally, there were plenty of arrogant ones, and there would always be apprentices who broke the rules. When that happened, the Arcane Mages would send them here as punishment. Of course, apprentices who truly loved magic would only work harder to explore the source of magic after losing their connection to spellcasting. The magical restriction on Wensains merely suppressed low-level mages' ability to cast spells; it didn't sever their connection to magic. As long as they kept trying, once they overcame that obstacle, they would naturally become intermediate mages.

After all, the Arcane Mages weren't idiots. How could they wipe out all the next generation's promising magical talents merely for breaking the rules?

And Wensains had indeed produced the desired results. Under such difficulty and pressure, the low-level mages split into two groups. One studied diligently and eventually earned a chance to leave. The other gave up entirely and spent their days idling away, waiting for death. The Arcane Mages didn't particularly care about that, because once a year Wensains held a ritual, activating a summoning array to invite devils to "pay a visit." Those with the strength of intermediate mages couldn't possibly defeat the devils, but since they could cast spells, protecting themselves wouldn't be a problem. As for those who had abandoned all hope and spent their days idling away, waiting for death—the Magic Empire didn't support fools.

Every year after the ritual, plenty of newcomers would arrive to fill the places left vacant. During that year, they would either idle away, waiting for death, or study diligently, awaiting the same fate they themselves encountered at the end of the year.

Of course, it was hard to say that such harsh punishment wouldn't draw criticism. But mages themselves were extraordinary people, so naturally there was no use saying such things to them. Later on, quite a few who were frustrated by their inability to improve even deliberately broke the rules, trying to enter Wensains to increase their strength. Of course, some failed and some succeeded; some regretted it and some were happy.

"From this paladin's memories..." Li Lin lightly tapped the tabletop. "I'm afraid they already destroyed the array that summoned the devils. That's not surprising. The God of Justice can just about be considered a benevolent god, and that array used plenty of profanities and demonic language, so it's only natural that the priests destroyed it. But the restriction is still active, and that's really a little strange. I remember sending my weapon to deal with this matter before I died. It seems... it wasn't accomplished."

That was a very strange thing to say. A weapon was a weapon; as the name implied, it was something like a dagger or a longsword, able to move only with its owner. How could it be "sent out"?

But Li Lin offered no further explanation, and after thinking about it for a moment, Angela also put it aside. She was clearly more concerned with something else at present.

"Master... it seems quite big..."

She giggled, knelt before Li Lin and gently stroked it.

"That's why I stayed up waiting for you to come back."

Li Lin closed his book and answered with a smile.

"You're warm. You drank quite a bit of blood, didn't you?"

"The blood of a young, innocent, pitiful and lovely girl always excites me so..."

The flames of desire visibly ignited in Angela's eyes.

"...It looks delicious... Then I shall not stand on ceremony."

She chuckled softly and opened her little mouth.

"Mmm... Master..."

Feeling Angela's gentle breath and the comfortable pleasure, Li Lin closed his eyes and began enjoying another kind of nighttime entertainment.