"Why do vampires have their own hierarchy?" Zaroth wondered as he read the book he had picked up from the shelves.
In the book, the first thing explained was the way vampire society functioned—or at least how it was believed to function.
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Vampire Hierarchy:
Mortal Blood (Tier 1)
Nightblood (Tier 2)
Bloodbound (Tier 3)
Noble Blood (Tier 4)
Pureblood (Tier 5)
Ancient Blood (Tier 6)
Elder Blood (Tier 7)
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Vampires were demons, so shouldn't they be using the same measurements of power?
But at the same time, vampires were very similar to humans—unlike the other races of demons—so maybe it made sense?
Not only that, but from looking at the chart, it was clear that they ranked vampires by their bloodline.
Flipping to the next page, Zaroth saw drawn images of symbols that were supposed to appear on the back of a hand of an individual who had made a deal with a vampire, along with instructions on how to identify them.
There were seven images in total, each representing how powerful the vampire was that the person had made a deal with.
They were very similar in nature, but the difference between them lay in the number of dots in the center of the symbol.
Even though the man Zaroth had witnessed being stoned to death was far away, he recalled that the symbol on his hand had two dots. This indicated that the deal he had made was with a vampire ranked at Nightblood.
'So Midnight Bloodrose is not the only vampire that has infiltrated the empire. Does she know about that fact?' Zaroth wondered.
'Wait… I don't remember how many dots my symbol had.'
This was an important question to answer. Knowing that information would allow him to gauge how powerful Midnight Bloodrose was.
Shifting his gaze to the explanation on how to spot an individual who had made a deal with a vampire, he read that there were three ways,
First, The sinner could make the symbol appear at will.
Second If the hands of the sinner were cleansed with holy water, the symbol would appear on its own, whether the sinner wanted it to or not.
And third If a priest or an individual with a similarly high level of holy power came into close contact with the sinner, the person with the holy power would be able to sense it.
"Will it?" Zaroth raised an eyebrow as he glanced around, checking to see if anyone was nearby to spot him.
After confirming that he was alone, he shifted his gaze to his hand and tried to make the symbol appear.
A moment later, a crimson symbol appeared, with five dots visible.
'Does that mean that Midnight Bloodrose is Pureblood?'
All the signs pointed to that fact.
That meant she was pretty powerful…
'And yet she was scared out of her wits when she saw Luna…' Zaroth seemed to have stumbled upon a bigger revelation than he had expected.
He couldn't get rid of the grin on his face. It meant that he had managed to make a deal with a vampire high up in the vampire hierarchy.
After scanning through the book and memorizing the important information—such as the places and types of people he should avoid to hide the fact that he had made a deal with a vampire—he returned the book to its shelf.
"The book was useful, but it was missing information," he muttered under his breath.
It didn't specify how a vampire could rise in the hierarchy. Recalling Midnight Bloodrose's words, Zaroth remembered that for a vampire to gain power, they had to steal it.
Maybe that was why vampires drank blood. The more blood they consumed from a powerful individual, the more power power they would absorb—and, as a result, the stronger they would become.
So Midnight was trying to rise from Pureblood to Ancient Blood. Honestly, Zaroth respected that. After all, he was also someone striving to grow stronger.
'But why had she decided to join the academy?' He wondered.
Maybe it was because there were many people there who had yet to master their powers. She could be trying to hunt them before they did.
Zaroth would have loved to have another chat with her, but it seemed that she wasn't he—
"Hm?" He raised an eyebrow as his gaze fell on the table at the end of the room.
There she was, sitting calmly and reading her book as always.
'How did I not see her?' he wondered. 'Or maybe… she's able to make herself hard to notice?'
It was possible. She was a vampire with Pureblood, so who knew what she was capable of?
Putting on a friendly face, he walked toward her.
"Don't."
She somehow sensed his approach. It seemed she wasn't in the mood for conversation.
"But, I ha—"
"I don't care," she cut him off again without even glancing away from her book.
With a sigh, he was about to walk away, but an idea struck him.
The next second, Midnight raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
"A friend request? Why?"
"It may come in handy if I have to communicate with you."
"And what could you possibly say to me that would help me?"
Zaroth grinned proudly before replying. "For instance, that yesterday, a man was executed for having made a deal with a demon—most likely a vampire with Nightblood."
Midnight narrowed her eyes for a second, clearly surprised.
"Did the man say anything?"
"No. At least, I didn't hear him confess anything. He was just pleading to be left alive."
"I see," Midnight sighed.
A second later, Zaroth's bracelet glowed briefly, and a message appeared before his eyes,
[Midnight has accepted your friend request and started a chat.]
"Happy?" she asked.
"Very much so," he grinned as he finally left Midnight alone.
Once she was alone, Midnight couldn't help but grit her teeth as she cursed under her breath.
"Shit. So they've followed me all the way here? It seems I'll have to speed up my plans."