Chapter 43 – First Mana Lesson

*** Countess Esmeralda Silvana ***

"Hello, Yuki, I'm here about your rogue vampire," I say. I had hoped to surprise this annoying little Kitsune, but they're too familiar with magic. She just looks at me with disgust through her mirror before focusing back on her face to clean off her make-up.

"She is fine. I'm not sure how you heard about her, but you don't need to worry," Yuki responds, still just cleaning her face.

"Oh, really? I just had a little conversation with Alzi, you see, and she was begging my family to help her. She made quite the offer, one I found too good to deny. You should be happy to have the oldest vampire family help train the rogue," I say while trying to find a chair. The petty girl keeps moving them into her storage when I look at them.

"What deal? I'm in charge of the vampire, so only deals I agree to are binding."

"I don't appreciate the implication that you can own a vampire so easily. Alzi is Mai's friend. If she asks us to help her, we can. Now, if I put in a little bit of effort, I can find Mai, but I would prefer not to need to go through that effort. It would be best for both of us if we worked together to help Mai. I'll even personally be a part of her training, I need her to grow strong, or it would reflect poorly on me and my family," I say, looking for a seat.

What have I done to this girl? Every chair but the one she is sitting on has been removed! Even her bed was taken out. "May I please have somewhere to sit? We are both well past the age to play these silly little games. As I've stated several times already. I want to help Mai. I won't be taking her away. She can stay where she is and come back here to work once she has control. I'll even try to find time to come here and train her some more after. The price Alzi is paying for the training is well worth the extra effort of going to Mai."

"What price?" finally turning around to look at me. Even without make-up, her face is beautiful; Alzi is a lucky girl. Well, as long as Yuki isn't this petty about everything. Oh! She finally gave me a tiny stool. This bitch.

"She promised my family kids. Whenever I ask, she'll get a woman in my family pregnant."

"Another rich snob taking advantage of her. That is hardly a fair price. Your family hasn't had a kid ever, so even the one she's given you now is worth a lot more than helping a vampire that has already mostly gained control of her blood lust."

"Aren't you as well? You could've convinced Mistress to sell to you forever ago, yet you've let her suffer so she sees you as her lifeline. The woman that keeps her sane in these dark places," I say, pulling out my own chair to sit on. "As you said, we haven't had kids before. We'll need to wait and see how this first one behaves. We'll likely be taking the kids slowly; both parties have plenty of time to have kids. Besides, she'll be the wife of the Princess. So we won't even be taking advantage of your house. I'm willing to renegotiate when you all leave the Princess's harem."

"How do you know all that?"

"Easy, Quintella is friends with the Princess. So the sale was directly told to us. Next, it is easy to tell what the Kitsunes want. You all have a much worse rate of male births than humans, so you occasionally send out a woman to track down someone with a strong seed to keep your realm going. So you obviously have a plan to get Alzi back to your realm; otherwise, you would move on from her. Don't worry; none of this will be shared with the Princess. No need to piss off the family that holds the chance for me to have kids," I explain with a smile.

"Fine, your current deal with Alzi only last while we are in the Princess's harem. After that, we will work out a new deal. I'm about to head to Mai now so you can join me."

"I'm willing to accept that. Now, let's get going. I'll bring Quintella as well so we can take our carriage."

"Thank you, I'm a little tired of walking all the way out there." We stand up, and when I put my chair away, all of hers appears. Maybe I should make her run alongside my carriage. Sorry Alzi, I will be using your seed a lot just to piss this girl off. My girls are pretty, so you shouldn't mind.

...

I don't get a chance to make Yuki run; Quintella immediately welcomes the petty bitch inside. The journey was a lot farther than I had expected it to be. The Kitsune must have set up some teleporting ruins to be making this trip everyday.

"Here we are," Yuki calls out. We're in front of a decent-sized house for the area. Just a single floor, but it should have a decent amount of room inside. Enough to train the basic skills at least. Quintella insists on coming inside; I worry a bit about the other Kitsune, The Crazy, as she is known. Well, her name should explain my worry. But I can't force her to stay no matter how much I want to. I'll just stay glued to her side. I do wonder how true Yuki's statement about how close Mai is to controlling her bloodlust, it would be nice if we didn't need to work hard to handle that and instead could just focus on the vampire aspects.

*** Mai, When Yuki and Vampires Arrive ***

Yuki should be coming soon, letting me be done with these stupid jumping exercises. The Crazy is even making me do them naked! Fucking pervert. My tits have even grown, making them jiggle a little with each jump. She's been taking notes the entire time. She better keep growing in strength cause as soon as I can overpower her, I'm starting up my own boot camp for her. See how much she likes mild sexual harassment while I claim to just be conducting scientific research.

"Mai! Nakuma! I've brought a few guests over. Alzi convinced them to help Mai learn more about being a vampire." I hear Yuki, my beautiful savior, her white tails showing her purity over this perverted nutjob, scream out. Immediately, I stop and run to the front room. My speed has increased a lot, but I can't really control it, so in the tight hallways, I can't go much faster than I used to be able to run.

Yuki has boarded up all the windows, letting me travel freely. She says after I get a few classes I'll be able to handle the sun, but for now, it will burn me. She has with her two women nobles based on their clothing and how they stand. I give them a deep bow for respect.

"Oh, someone who actually knows her manner. What a welcome surprise; I thought she came running screaming for our blood," the larger one said. I'm not talking about height; her chest is one of the largest I've seen. Even Alzi is smaller despite her several growth spurts this last month. "You can look up now; I know the floor isn't very interesting to look at."

Doing as she says, I get a better view of the two nobles. Both have a black dress, one with silver accessories. The other woman is a lot smaller in the chest, about the size of Yuki. Both are pale like I am now. But their eyes are brown, not my blood red. Silver hair with a nice shine. Both are looking at me with questioning eyes.

"Are you two Ladies vampires?" I ask hesitantly. Are they here to take me away?

"Good guess. I love your hair, and your eyes are quite sharp. Come here. Let us have a better look," The large one says. Will she let me touch them? Nakuma and Yuki aren't interested in fucking me right now, and I'm finding I'm a little too used to having sex every night. These two look wonderful to sleep between. Soft and gentle.

"Yes, My Lady," I say as I slowly make my way to them.

"Alzi recruited these two to help you. They'll go beyond just teaching you how to control your bloodlust. So be respectful and learn well from them. It'll help you grow. I'm going to go speak to Nakuma before she falls asleep. Thank you, Countess, for coming today," Yuki says, giving a small courtesy before walking into the back, leaving me naked in the hands of two vampires.

They spend the next few minutes quietly, poking and prodding my body, letting no place be sacred. Maybe I can get them into bed? No bad kitty, focus on learning.

"You're a pretty little thing. Now, come on, we need to see how your control is first, then we can make a plan. I haven't gotten to train a vampire for two centuries now, so I'll be stopping by often. Quintella here won't be able to visit as often. I'll have some of my other wives stop by as well to give you different perspectives. We'll continue the training even when you get back to the brothel, and if you stay in the city, we can continue there as well. Now take us to your room, please," the Countess instructs once they are done teasing my body.

"Yes, My Lady. Thank you for taking the time to teach this one."

"You don't need to be so proper. Vampires can speak equally to us in private," Quintella says with a cute little chuckle, playing with my soft ears.

"Are you sure? I'm a commoner, a prostitute, a whore. You're powerful nobles. How co..."

"Yes, in fact, you need to act as our equals. Eventually, you'll be invited to parties for vampires and their families. You'll need to act powerful; the better option would be to be powerful when you get there. Act like a servant, and they will work to make you one. I wouldn't mind a maid like you, but Alzi asked us to help you. She paid a price that demands we do our best," The Countess says. Should I ask her name, then? Calling her the big one seems a bit disrespectful, even if it talks about her power.

"Then may I know your name?" I gamble.

"Good, you learn quickly. Maybe they are right about you almost having control. My name is Esmeralda Silvana," she tells me. Esmeralda and Quintella look almost the same, with the only real difference between them being their chests.

"Why do you two look so similar?" I ask as I let them into my room.

"We are from the same family. She was born a few hundred years after me, but when I turned her, I excited her bloodline, giving her this look," Esmeralda let me know, pulling Quintella closer. I guess she is proud to marry her descendant. Alzi will likely get along with her well. "You should know Alzi has actually gotten her pregnant. A little girl, the first for our family," she continues.

"Congratulations. I'm happy your family can finally raise a kid of your own. It would be great if you let Alzi meet the child. She really wishes to meet all of her kids." Esmeralda sits down in the one chair in my room and pulls Quintella onto her lap. Quintella gives a little frown before cuddling up into the older vampire.

"Thank you. Don't worry; Alzi will have some opportunities to meet the child. Now, on to the reason we are here," She says. Then nothing happens; they just stare at me with a small smile as I stand across the room. Then it hits me, Alzi blood. They opened the bottle. It smells good, so sweet. Only Yuki has let me have any of Alzi's blood, and that is just a single drop. I will say the other blood they feed me doesn't take shit anymore, but Alzi is still leagues better.

It takes a lot for me to not sprint across the room for the blood. Nakuma says it's a great thing that I only shake a bit when she lets me smell the blood. But I hate it. I hate knowing I would attack my love and drain her dry if I smelled her.

"Good, I thought they were lying when they said you had some control over your blood lust," Esmeralda says, playing with her wife's hair, a carrying hand over her womb. "I'm glad I don't have to start at the very beginning. Now, for today, you'll stand over there and follow our instructions. We'll go through some simple exercises that will help you start controlling your new speed and reflexes. Running earlier showed you've been doing some control training, just not the best way."

"Dear teacher, here is some about mana first. Nakuma is doing a fine job in her physical training. I'll leave a few better exercises for her to do with Mai here. Tiring out the poor girl won't help her learn control over any of her abilities." Thank you, Quintella. I've got this blood affinity, yet nobody has said shit about it. They've just made me do perverted exercises!

"Ugh, fine. Do you have an affinity and class now?"

"Yes, blood affinity and ..."

"Don't share your class. That is for you and your family," Quintella interrupts me, earning her a harsh look from the Countess. Why didn't Yuki and Nakuma warn me? I'll have to ask that later. I didn't think classes were that secret. Yuki says that even two people with the same class can have wildly different abilities, mana, and skills even at the same level.

"I thought classes were just general overviews of what you do. Each class provides very different skills to each person?"

"They do, but they give people an idea of what you are capable of. This is fine when you have a sex class or other noncombat class. But in a fight, letting others know your class gives them some knowledge of your abilities. It's small, but when it is, your life is on the line; well, you should do everything you can."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. But how do you know my class is combat-focused?"

"All vampire classes have combat to them; it may not be the focus, but it will be a component."

"I see."

"First thing. Do not teach Alzi about mana. If her Mistress hasn't let her learn, but someone tells her about it, she'll lose the ability to use mana completely till her owner allows her to learn."

"Fucking stupid, but ok."

"Good. Now mana gets created all over the body, but mainly in the breast. Hence why, size matters for a woman. Men just create more evenly throughout their bodies. Men create less by a large margin because of this. Mana can be released freely if you wish, this is likely how Alzi does it currently. This will release a lot of what is called unrefined mana. It will have a hint of your affinity in it and will listen to your commands, but it will be weak, slow, and easily destroyed. Refining mana requires to circulate in the correct pattern. Starts in the head, down the left side, first through the heart, then the lungs, passing through the breast tissue, down to the womb, up the right side to the lounge through the breast tissue, and up to the head. Notice that this skips your arms and legs. Once you get stronger, you'll be able to add them to the path, but for now, you don't have enough mana to do that. Nakuma or Yuki can tell you when and the full path."

"Can you use the mana in the air?"

"I'm glad you're asking questions and not just foolishly acting. Yes, you can. But only a small portion close to your body. It will be wild and hard to control; as you are now, you likely couldn't make it do anything. You can try to force it into your body to supplement your supplies, but it takes years of practice to gain the control needed. Best to start with your own mana first."

"I see. Should I try circulating it?" I ask, wishing to use magic that has evaded me all these years.

"Yes, don't focus on a skill; just try to manifest pure blood mana about an inch from your nipple."

I try. I don't feel much mana in my head, but I'm able to make it move down to my heart. Past that, it runs rampant. It doesn't hurt me, but it does make me lose focus and smell that sweet blood I want so bad.

"Good, keep trying. The first turn is the hardest. You'll likely spend a week trying to get that part and then the rest will follow in a week after that."

"Ok, I won't give up. Thank you for the lesson."

"Happy to help a new vampire. Someone from my family will be around here tomorrow. Keep practicing, but don't forget to get some sleep." Quintella gets off her wife's lap, and the sweet blood disappears.

I keep trying as the leave the building, always failing just as I try to turn the mana.