Chapter 308: Wait, that woman’s Vespera!?

"Huh..."

Lucian nodded in understanding as he noticed the structurally weaker blade, Aurelia noticed his expression and continued.

"Physical reinforcement, regeneration, blood techniques, every power a Vampire uses consumes blood in one form or another."

"And when the blood runs out?"

Lucian asked curiously and Aurelia—

"You dry out."

She answered as if it was natural.

Lucian glanced towards her.

"Completely?"

He seemed surprised.

"If pushed far enough, yes."

She nodded.

"Of course, there are signs before a complete dry-out, the body becomes weak, regeneration slows, control deteriorates, instincts start overriding thoughts and... hunger rises."

Lucian looked down again, another attack struck Vespera, she blocked it using both arms, she was still pushed back, her feet dragged across the floor.

Aurelia continued explaining.

"The closer a Vampire comes to depletion, the stronger the craving becomes."

Lucian very quickly connected it with his own situation.

The more energy he used, the weaker his self-control got.

The similarities were... uncanny.

"And if they keep going?"

He asked curiously and Aurelia—

"They become feral."

She shrugged.

"Huh..."

Lucian nodded again.

Feral.

A Vampire that gives in to his instincts and loses control, similar to a demon who loses control, the only difference between the two is that when demons lose control, they eat and once they have enough energy, they return to normal.

Feral Vampires, on the other hand, rarely return to normal, no matter how much blood they consume.

’No wonder they do not push themselves to their absolute limits.’

Lucian nodded in understanding.

But then he frowned.

"I don’t understand. I can see her losing her strength as she uses blood, that didn’t happen when I was fighting Varek."

Sure, Lucian might not have been in the best state of mind considering the extent of his injuries, but even then, Lucian was absolutely certain that if Varek’s strength fell, even a little—

He would have noticed.

Aurelia chuckled at those words.

"Vampires do not start losing blood the moment they fight, Mr. Cross. We have exceptionally dense blood.

Take her for example."

Aurelia spoke as she pointed at the woman below.

"She has been here for days."

"Days...?"

"At least a week.

This is also the reason she didn’t appear at the Gala yesterday."

"Ah."

Lucian nodded in understanding.

"According to the reports, Varek you fought was at his strongest. It would have taken you two days before his strength started falling.

Though your energy would have run out far before that could happen.

Vampires usually always outlast other beings when it comes to endurance."

"That’s... unfair."

"Well, unlike other beings, the consequences we face for running out of ’energy’ are far worse."

"I guess it does balance it out."

Lucian nodded as he continued observing the battle.

"If the consequences are so dire, why are they trying to drain her?"

Lucian asked as he pointed at the woman.

"They know what they are doing, they will stop before she completely loses control."

And just as Aurelia said, after about a minute, the woman suddenly staggered, slowly losing control over her body.

That was when one of the Vampires stopped, he then raised his hands, signalling the others to stop as well.

It didn’t seem like they were going any further.

"Still, why are they doing what they are doing?"

Lucian asked again.

Considering training like this needed this level of carefulness, there had to be a reason other than just pushing one to their limits, should there not?

And Aurelia nodded.

"They are preparing her."

"For what?"

"Her Third Crimson Ascension."

"What...? Third Crimson Ascension."

Lucian’s face changed.

Then, his mind quickly connected the dots and he—

"Wait, that woman’s Vespera!?"

"...you didn’t know?"

"How was I supposed to know? I’ve never seen her before."

Lucian raised his hands.

"You were watching so intensely, I thought you knew."

"I was watching because they were fighting and the fight was interesting."

"..."

Aurelia stared at him with a flat look on her face.

Then, she just sighed.

"She is Vespera Arcelis, the girl who is supposed to undergo her Third Crimson Ascension soon. This is the reason she is training like she is."

She explained.

"What does her training like this have to do with the Crimson Ascension?"

Lucian asked.

And before Aurelia could answer, Lucian’s senses picked up movement below. He stared at the arena, the battle that seemed like it had come to a halt suddenly shifted.

Lucian quickly noticed a change in Vespera.

Her eyes.

The Crimson glow that had dimmed had returned, only this time it looked... sharper.

It looked... hungrier.

She looked towards one of the Vampires surrounding her, for a fraction of a second, her gaze dropped towards his neck.

Lucian noticed that.

But he also noticed how she forced her gaze back up, he noticed her clenched jaw, how she closed her eyes, slowed her breathing and... he realised what was happening.

She was fighting against her instincts.

A few seconds later, Vespera opened her eyes again—

And Lucian noticed her eyes returning to normal, the hunger he previously saw disappeared. The Vampires around her saw that as well, the one leading them nodded, the rest of them nodded back and—

They attacked again.

The battle continued, this time, Lucian watched it with considerably more interest.

Vespera raised her hands again as six Vampires rushed her at once, her situation was getting worse, her movements, her reactions, her strength—

Everything was deteriorating at a considerable rate.

She, however, had not lost to her instincts.

Despite her condition, her mind was still on the battle, she could sense she didn’t have a lot of blood left, so she stopped forming large blood weapons or large barriers unless absolutely necessary.

Not just that, she also deliberately slowed down her regeneration, instead of instantly closing her wounds like she did before, she let several shallow cuts remain open.

"She somehow seems considerably better than before."

Lucian commented.

"This is what happens when you are forced to outperform yourself."

Aurelia chuckled and Lucian could only agree.

After all, he was the product of the very same method.