CHAPTER 37: GAURDS

The sun rose over the horizon, and their carriage came up to Blood Iron City. The walls were massive, concrete embedded with black metal. They rose for several tens of feet, and hard guards walked along the walls.

The city was the definition of a fortress. The road to the city was filled with people going in and leaving, carriages, adventurers.

Their path led to the main road; Ava merged seamlessly into the road.

Inside the carriage, Grey finally woke up, his eyes flickering open. He groaned as the light shone into his eyes.

"Someone is finally awake," Zane spoke. Grey shot up the moment he heard Zane’s voice, almost slamming his head into the roof of the carriage.

"Master," he called out.

"Calm down," Zane spoke.

"What happened, Master?" Grey asked.

"Well, you became starved of blood and went into a bloodlust state. We fixed you, so no need to worry," Zane said.

"I... I can’t recall any of it," Grey said.

"That’s normal. The bloodlust state is one you can’t control," Lucy said. She crossed her legs as she spoke. "We will need to train you. Vampires need blood, but if you constantly lose control, one day you’ll completely become a savage vampire beast," Lucy explained.

"That doesn’t really calm my mind down," Grey said.

"It shouldn’t, because you can’t take it lightly. No one can know about the existence of vampires until Master has gained his full power.

If you lose control too often and risk that status quo, I’ll have to put you down," Lucy said, her eyes glowing softly.

"That’s enough, Lucy. It’s not his fault. I’m the one that turned him, he is our responsibility now," Zane said. He looked at Grey. "Have a seat," he said. Grey sat down like someone about to be judged.

"I don’t really know how to train you to resist urges and whatever. I don’t have those blood urges, so Lucy will handle that," Zane said.

"I understand, Master," Grey replied.

"We are nearing the city. Get ready for a search," Ava spoke from up front. The noise around them got louder, people yelling and shouting.

But one thing stood out, and that was the fact that the guards were giving priority to Chosen, allowing them to enter inside without much hassle and holding up the people that wanted to enter as well.

Zane stayed inside for a while, ignoring it, but after a while longer and they still weren’t inside, he got pissed.

He got up to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Ava asked.

"To get us in," Zane replied. He jumped down and walked toward the guards that were there. They were clad in a simple black uniform and metal breastplates. They had swords strapped to their sides.

There was a depiction of an iron fortress on their chest and a sword stabbed through it from the top.

Zane also noticed that one of the guards had a shoulder pad with a single bar on it. He had never been to Blood Iron City, so he didn’t know if it was a ranking system or something, but just off looks, that man was the strongest there.

So without hesitation, he walked up to the man. His gaze was cold, his footsteps confident. Due to his size and physique, he had a domineering presence and face-turning beauty all in one.

Some of the players and citizens on the long list looked at him as he passed, their eyes holding different expressions. The guard that he was walking toward hadn’t looked up yet, so he didn’t notice Zane.

Suddenly, an arm grabbed him, stopping him in his tracks. Zane turned his head, his eyes met with a man. He looked like the average gym rat, bulging muscles, intense glare. He had a short buzz cut and a face filled with stubble.

He wore a lather and leather pants. Across his body was a strap that held his massive greatsword on his back.

"Who the hell do you think you are, cutting to the front?" he asked, squeezing Zane’s arm harder.

Zane felt his anger rise, but he quickly suppressed it. He looked at the arm. "You’ll lose that if you keep it where it is," he spoke, tone cold.

The man frowned. Did this NPC just threaten him? He gritted his teeth. "Be careful with your words. I wouldn’t want to damage your pretty face because you don’t know how to talk," the man said, squeezing Zane’s arm harder.

"That’s it, I’m taking the arm," Zane thought. He moved his free hand fast, taking out his blade. He went for the slash, but before his blade could get to the man’s arm, a sword blocked the blade.

The man was shocked, his eyes opened wide. He would have lost his arm just now and he wouldn’t have been able to stop it.

Zane looked up. He saw the guard that had the shoulder patch, he had blocked the attack just at the nick of time.

"I suggest you take your blade away," the guard said.

"His hands are still on me," Zane replied coldly. The guard frowned. He knew that Zane was a stubborn person right off the bat.

The guard looked at the man; he immediately let go of Zane’s arm and stepped back. Zane looked at the guards and smiled before taking his dagger back. The guards also slowly sheathed their swords, but kept their hands on the pommel, ready to pull the blade out in a heartbeat.

"Who are you, and why have you decided to cause trouble here?" the guard asked. By this time, everyone was looking at them.

Zane flashed a smile. "We want to get in, yet you decide to show Chosen special treatment and allow us to stand in wait.

I don’t care if they are special or whatever, special treatment is bullshit, and you shouldn’t be indulging in it," Zane spoke clearly. The people around nodded in agreement to what he said, while the players frowned, cursing Zane in their hearts.