The Blood King 33 Imperial City 2

creakkk! levi finaly found the old inn and pushed the door before walking in. "ah, young master, you're back." the old inn keeper looked a lot more refined this time, as he didn't drink for the day. he had a broom in hand as he swept a mountain of dust towards the door. when he heard levi coming in he stopped. levi sat at one of the wooden tables silently. "what state is this city in?" he suddenly asked, startling the inn keeper. "ah, state?" levi silently looked at the old man before going to his room. "state of the city? that young master is so strange..." the old inn keeper could only mutter softly as he continued sweeping.

as levi walked into the room he stumbled. "what is happening to my eyes?" since yesterday, his vision would go dark before returning, but only in different fuzzy colors. "am i going blind?" he muttered. [these lapses in vision are probably caused by a new bloodline, or one that was still being absorbed.] avesta's voice rang out in levi's head. "a new bloodline? but i don't remember absorbing a bloodline recently...could it be from one of those corpses? but i don't think that is possible..." no matter how he thought about it, that wasn't possible. [young lord, in these few seconds, try to keep your vision in that state.] avesta's emotionless voice rang out. "hmm..." levi did as he was told without much thought. knock knock! "young master, i have brought your food." as he heard this, levi turned around to look at the door, only to see a ma.s.s of red, surrounded by a little bit of yellow and green, and a large amount of blue.

"leave it."levi said coldly. "what was the point of that?" levi asked. [you have absorbed the bloodline of a snake, have you not, young lord?] the emotionless voice asked knowingly. "what does that have to do with this?" levi asked, confused. [some snakes have developed heat sensing organs, making them able to hunt prey even in the dead of night. the changes to your vision should have something to do with your snake bloodline.] avesta said. "the purple snake's bloodline? but i absorbed that bloodline months ago..." levi said. [some bloodlines take time to be fully absorbed. sometimes even after absorption, it takes time for changes to be made to the body. this is one such case.] avesta explained. "..." levi stayed silent.

after a while, he decided to cultivate, since he didn't in a while. first, he checked his meridians. the little stand of qi was still tirelessly circulating, but it seemed pointless, because he was still far from a breakthrough. he sat cross-legged on the bed, and began circulating his own qi. "hmmm.." even after half an hour, he didn't feel any change. "am i not suited for qi cultivation?" he questioned silently. as he was about to stop cultivating, he remembered something, blood energy. "how do i cultivate blood energy? and what level am i currently at?" he asked aloud. [you are currently at the second blood stage, out of 100. every 10 stages, the blood gate will undergo a change. the previous lords believed that at the 100th stage, the blood gate would open, unlocking the secrets of blood, increasing their strength and lifespan beyond that of any normal martial artists.] avesta said. levi had sullen expression on his face. every time he asked this voice a question, it would go on about the previous bloodlords and the blood gate. i didn't ask for all of that information!, he thought.

[as for how to cultivate blood energy. absorb blood, that should be obvious. although you should practice controlling your blood energy, to raise the blood energy stages, you have to absorb the bloodlines of strong humans or beasts." avesta's voice held a trace of gloating. "..." levi listened to the explanation silently, before closing his eyes again. slowly, a spa.r.s.e red mist surrounded his body, becoming thicker every second. the mist began to gather at his back, forming the outline of an ancient gate that radiated a feeling of terror and death. as the gate became more defined, the wooden room started to tremble. but just as the gate was about to form, the mist scattered before disappearing. after trying a few more times only to see the same result, levi went to sleep.

...

morning.

levi got up and sat silently on the bed, his eyes closed. he opened his eyes, seeing blue outlines of his entire room. looking down, in the sea of blue, he saw a ma.s.s of red surrounded by yellow and green. he closed his eyes before slowly opening them again, the wooden room was brown again as his regular vision returned. he woke up early this morning to practice controlling his infrared vision, as it would be dangerous and annoying if it changed on it's own. after learning how to control it, he left for the clothes shop.

after walking for a while, he arrived at the clothes shop. dling! as he pushed open the door, the bell rang. "we're not open yet, go-oh it's the boy." the old tailor walked out from the back room, he was the only other person in the shop. "i remember telling you to come back in a few days, but whatever, come in." the old man lead levi into the back room. "so, boy, what did you come here for?" the man began working on a black feathered coat with a hood. "what is the state of this city." levi asked coldly. although he wasn't sure what, something felt off about the imperial city. "oh? the state of the imperial city? isn't it plain to see? in one word, prosperous." the old man said.

"...do you take me for a fool?" levi asked coldly. "what would make you think that?" the old man asked playfully. "just a feeling." levi said coldly. "a feeling huh, those aren't always right." the old man said as he flipped the hooded coat over. "oh? is that so." levi said, a trace of playfulness in his cold voice. "it is so." the old man smiled as he continued working on the coat. "..." levi kept silent. s.h.i.+ng! without another word he swiftly drew his saber and slashed towards the old man's neck. clank! the old man lifted one finger, blocking the saber completely. "hehe, what would you have done if i was just an ordinary old man, boy?" the old man laughed out coldly, as he glanced up at levi, a fearsome glint in his eyes. "you would be dead." levi looked down at the old man, his cold expressionless face causing the temperature in the room to drop.

"sigh, fine fine. don't young people these days have any respect for the elderly..." the old man grumbled. "so? why do you care about the state of the imperial city?" the old man asked. "i don't." levi responded coldly. "huhh? if you don't care, then why are you asking?" the old man asked. "because it might affect me." levi responded coldly. "you...hahaha! was that also just a feeling?" the old man laughed, levi kept silent. "alright. you are correct. something is happening in the imperial city." the old man said, as he face lost it's playfulness.