"Looks like you have a crush on her."
Renlo felt the heat surge up his neck to his face.
"W-what are you talking about! Me? No!" He shook his head quickly, like the very notion of what Malakai had just said was completely off.
"I'm more inclined to believe it when you act …" Malakai narrowed his eyes.
Renlo cleared his throat and turned away sharply. "Your words were just that shocking, is all…" He seemed to realize he'd overreacted and was trying to recover.
"There's nothing wrong if you like her. But don't forget she's related to you, no matter how you want to—"
"Good night, Malakai!" Renlo cut in and started walking back the way they came, like he needed to be anywhere else but here. "I hope the bed bugs bite!"
Malakai smiled and shook his head as he watched the boy scurry off.
After a moment, he turned and took a breath, now standing in front of the door to his room.
'Please don't be too bad.'
He opened the door and stepped in, eyes sweeping the space. It was a large room, but plain.
A king sized bed. A table in the far corner just beside a single large window. An empty shelf stood against the wall to the right of the table.
Malakai cared more about the condition of things than how basic they looked.
He approached the bed, the table, and the shelf, observing each from a safe distance.
'They're very clean.'
A bit of surprise bloomed in him. In a house this old, this level of upkeep wasn't what he expected.
'Someone must have been staying here before,' he concluded. There wasn't a single hint of dust in the air, something only possible with regular cleaning and care.
Malakai silently thanked whoever had prepared the room and stepped into the bathroom. Though the tub and shower were clearly aged, they'd been well maintained.
'Not bad for one night.'
With the money now in his possession, he wanted construction to start as soon as possible. This room was manageable, but it could be far better.
He undressed from his street rat clothes and stepped into the bathroom. Unfortunately, there was no hot water, just ice cold.
Still, he appreciated that water was running at all and quickly finished bathing. When he came out, he saw that Nyx had already changed the sheets on the bed. Lying atop it were his weapons, two short staffs, slightly curved at the tip.
He smiled and silently thanked her before climbing onto the bed. The moment his hand closed around his weapon, he felt safer. A thousand times safer.
'You're quiet,' Malakai reached inward.
'I am?' Valentine responded.
'Yeah. You haven't said anything. Did them making fun of your name affect you that much?'
Malakai could feel Valentine's scowl as the memory of the Red Maw's reaction to his name resurfaced.
'Those people wouldn't know a good name even if it hit them in the face.'
'So you are angry about that…'
Valentine went silent.
'Or is it because I tortured the Sudrex descendant?' Malakai asked.
There was a pause before Valentine replied.
'I already promised not to interfere in things anymore. It's just… I found his story pitiful, even though he's not a good person.'
'Hm. At least you're aware of that last part,' Malakai said, then decided to change the topic.
'What do you think about all of this?'
Valentine thought for a moment.
'I think they're very dangerous and you need to be careful. Extremely. They've tried to kill you openly before. Even when your clan moved to capture them for revenge, no one could find them.'
'I understand,' Malakai said after a pause. 'But there's a chance I can get the information I need from them. I can't rule them out. Not yet.'
'Just move with caution,' Valentine warned and went quiet again as Malakai nodded.
After that, Malakai glanced at his lifeguard.
'I'll unlock it tomorrow.'
Now that he was a Blood Knight, some features of his lifeguard could be unlocked. But after everything today, and the fact that the others were asleep, he'd wait until morning since he needed them to unlock it.
'I need to see where I stand in the Fresh Blood Rankings.'
He had chosen to continue on the Sovereign's Path, and to be granted an audience, he first had to rank number one.
One of the new lifeguard features would grant access to the rankings. He couldn't wait.
With the new sheets and his weapons close, Malakai drifted off. He woke early the next morning.
He closed the large window and checked that there were no open spaces. Then, bringing out one of his grade-three vita cores, he felt the spike in the air's density.
'They should've given me a smaller room,' he sighed. He could already see his vita core depleting too fast from the size of the space.
'I need to find another room to train in. A smaller one,' he resolved.
Malakai trained and absorbed until morning.
'It's 7:30, Malakai,' Valentine's voice called, prompting him to stop. He'd instructed the ghost to inform him once it was fully daybreak.
Standing, he headed to the bathroom to refresh himself.
'I've almost finished absorbing the vitaeon.'
The strain on his body had lessened, and his vita reserves had grown. Luckily, after that one night, he had found out that he could start absorbing Vita from the air now, even though the vitaeon still hasn't fully been absorbed.
After bathing, he changed into his battle attire: a tight fitting shirt made from durable material, reinforced trousers, a utility belt packed with essentials, sturdy shoes, and fingerless gloves reinforced at the palms and knuckles.
After confirming everything was set, he left his room and made his way downstairs to the reception.
"Good morning, Ninth Vein… did you sleep well?"
Malakai approached a purple haired woman waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Laila. She was already dressed for the day, clad in a tight fitting black top and loose black trousers, her crimson Bloodknight jacket worn over it.