“I knew my fate was sealed the minute I stepped into your domain, Paladin of Damnation…” The little girl softly spoke. As if understanding her fate was second nature.

  “Yeah, it’s right there. I am a freaking vampire. What the hell happened?” I paid no attention to the girl speaking to me, I mean who would at a time like this? When the hell did I become a vampire?

  “Sir paladin?” The girl looked at me quizzically.

  “I mean, maybe it was that bat? I have no idea, am I cursed now or something? Am I going to burn in the sun?” I started to panic.

  Without me noticing, the little girl stood up and got a stone and sat in front of me with her arms outstretched. It was though she was trying to offer me the stone.

  “I mean, I’m not burning now and the light is touching me. Maybe it isn’t like what I am used to? Hey, you –” Just then I noticed that she was trying to hand me a rock. A rock?

  “What… uh… what are you doing?” I asked, I hadn’t noticed anything she was doing up until this point.

  “You can use this to kill me. I just don’t want to suffer before I die.” The girl said without lifting her head.

  “Okay, so let me ask you this. ARE YOU STUPID?!” I startled her by yelling. “Why would I kill a little girl?!” I mean, the audacity here. Am I right? You just meet someone, help them, then ask them to be gentle when they KILL YOU? It’s outright absurd!

  “I stepped into your domain after I was released into this forest. I knew what fate awaited me if I were to meet you. I didn’t realize this was the fabled Castle of Damnation until I had already treated you and looked around.” The girl, who I could see more clearly this close, was actually shaking as though she was standing before an evil god or something.

  “Look, I don’t know what you think you know… but this is the Bastion of Ysmiro. The god.” I said, trying to sound empathetic to her feelings. I don’t want to scare her even more. Seriously though, who ‘releases’ their child into a forest?

  “I AM SORRY!!” The girl kowtowed against the ground, “I didn’t mean to offend you, mighty god Ysmiro!”

  “Now you’re just being a smartass. You did see me get my ass kicked by a bat right?” I said, narrowing my eyes at her.

  “I didn’t mean to offend you, I swear!” The girl said, sobbing.

  “Okay look, I am a Paladin to the god Ysmiro. I am not the god Ysmiro, or any god. Yes, apparently I am a vampire… but that is news to me. I wasn’t a vampire yesterday.” Trying to ease the situation, I spoke as plainly as I could in the given situation.

  “You are the Paladin of Damnation, right?” The girl said, looking up.

  “Honestly, this is my castle. It is devoted to Ysmiro, while it has seen better days nothing here is about damnation… including me.”

  The girl looked at me, from what I could tell it was a state of utter confusion. “So you aren’t going to kill me?”

  “No.”

  She stood up slowly, still on high alert even though I told her I don’t have any intention of doing any kind of harm to her. “Are you sure?” she whispered.

  “Yes, I am positive. Please stop acting like this. I do have some questions, though.” I started to think about the actual situation at hand. From the castle, I didn’t see any structures as far as I could see, besides mountains and other natural forms. Where did this girl come from? “What are you doing in the Forest of Turantia?”

  “I was released here.” She said plainly.

  “What does that mean? You were released here?” She isn’t making any sense. Was she an animal that got booted in the woods because someone couldn’t take care of her? That wouldn’t make sense, she might have cat ears but she's a kid.

  “I was a slave in the Holy City, they had deemed us problem items and threw us away into the Forest of Turantia. That’s what happens to slaves when they either can’t do their duties or are no longer wanted if sale is off the table. You don’t know that?” The girl looked at me concerned.

  How can she look at me like that? That is the most messed up thing I have ever heard. So someone can say ‘I don’t need you anymore, go die in the forest?’ That is messed up on so many different levels. “Sigh.” I look down at the ground, thinking about what to do here. Wouldn’t it be weird for me to have a child living here? What else could I do with her besides give her a job here or something? Wait…

  Could I actually be the guardian of a child as a paladin? As the thoughts rolled over in my head, the girl started playing in the courtyard, chasing small insects as they flew by. At Least she let her guard down a little.

  “Do you have anywhere else you can go?” I asked bluntly. I don’t want to sound rude, but I need to know if she has someone else that could be looking for her.

  “No, after we were released, I had no one left. My friend went into the forest with me, but we were separated. The monster’s in this forest are the most dangerous things in the world as far as I know. The odds of her making it are almost zero. I am actually surprised I made it here. I have been wondering for days now, hiding the best I could after it got dark.” The girl started tearing up.

  I can’t leave a child out here like this. “Look, if you want to stay… you are welcome to.” I said, still unsure if it’s a wise choice or not. The last thing I need to do is end up on some kind of list.

  “I’m defective, though. I can’t do my job right at all, so there’s no reason for me to exist. That’s why I was released. I don’t want to be a burden on you.”

  “What job was that?” I mean, she’s so small that I couldn’t imagine her job being anything THAT bad.

  “I was a miner in the coal mines.” She said plainly.

  “Ah…” A COAL MINER? A SEVEN YEAR OLD? No freaking wonder she couldn’t do her job, she weighs like 50 pounds and they want her to mine coal?! “Is that a normal job for your kind?”

  “Well, yes it is actually. We can sense when the oxygen is getting too low. So certain beast people make for excellent miners.”

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  “Okay, let’s just change your job then. I don’t have a coal mine.” Like I would ever send a child into one anyway. Who is ruling this world to let such crap happen? “How about, you can help me clean up the castle some. In turn, I can teach you some magic… or something?” Not really sure how helpful I will be there but I can’t really offer her money.

  Belinda’s eyes lit up, “For real?! I can stay as a maid?” She looked so eager that it was almost heartwarming… if it weren’t for the fact that she was just happy that she isn’t a coal miner anymore.

  “How about we try this out, then. I will be your guardian here and you can speak normally to me. I am nothing special. So please, do as you like but make sure to stay inside the castle. That is the only way I can make sure you are safe.” The more I think about it, the more angry I get. I don’t even care anymore. If someone comes looking for her, then I know who to take out my frustration on.

  “Deal!” The girl jumped, waving her hand in the air. “You can call me Belinda.” She bowed, “It will be a pleasure to serve you master!”

  “No master-stuff. I don’t want a servant. It’s like rent… if that makes sense. You can stay as long as you like and all you have to do is help out around the grounds. Please, call me Ken.”

  The days went by pretty well after that first meeting with Belinda. Even after becoming a vampire, I don’t really feel that different. From what I can tell, my eyes have turned a shade of red but that is about all that happened. Oh, and the cuts I suffered were healed before I removed the bandages. So I guess that is some trait vampires have.

  The best thing I have noticed so far though, is that even though the stories of vampires from my world show them as burning up from sunlight in a blaze of flames. Luckily, that doesn't seem to be the case here. The sun still feels fresh and crisp on my skin. Honestly, it might even feel better than before. It’s almost like my senses have heightened.

  Belinda seems to be doing better as well. The first day I met her was rough to say the least. Everything moved so quickly from her thinking I was going to kill her to me hiring her to work here that my head was spinning. Truthfully, she works really hard for her age. So much so that I make it a point to have her spend time playing and just be a kid. I honestly look at her like she was mine at this point.

  Being related by blood doesn’t make you family, I know that all-too-well from my previous life. My actual parents abandoned me, it was a couple of great people who took me and helped me get my footing as a person in the world. I wish I could have told them how much I appreciated it. I never built relationships with anyone else, but at the very least, they showed me what it is supposed to look like to be happy. And this feeling right now… I do feel happy.

  “Belinda! It’s time to stop working and go play. I don’t want to hear anything otherwise.” She waved her hand at me smiling, tossing her apron on the desk outside the room she was working in. Obviously I took the desk out, what kind of monster would I be to force a child to do that… even though I kind of am a monster now.

  I made my way back to the courtyard to work on my project. The days I have spent teaching Belinda have helped me, too. I picked up a couple of new skills that I need to try out.

  Ken Tigressi

  Half-Vampire (Age: 17)

  Level: 19

  HP: 70 Mana: 104

  Jobs: Apprentice Paladin, Vampiric Overlord, Master of the Home

  Titles: None

  Skills: [Locked] [Locked] [Locked] [Swords (2)] [Bows (1)] [Shields (1)] [Wands(1)] [Staffs (3)]

  Magic: [Locked] [Locked] [Locked] [Locked] [Locked] [Wind Cutter (6)] [Flicker(3)] [Fireball (1)] [Ice Needle (1)] [Life Steal (1)] [Blood Oath(1)]

  I got a new title too it seems. Master of the Home…

  Master of the Home

  Title given to one who builds home as the leader. Typically this is given to the father of a family, however it is also given to those who command servants.

  Title Effect: Better HP and Mana restoration of the entire party while in the confines of your own domain.

  That seems pretty cool– Father? I mean, I guess she could probably see me that way but that doesn’t matter right now. I did want to start a family in my old life, maybe this is the chance where I can do that? I am not going to be pushing that onto a kid, though. She has been enough as it is. For now, I’ll just be the kids’ guardian.

  Time to switch gears, I wanted to test out some new magic.

  Ice Needle (1)

  Converge mana into a solid ice needle and launch it at your target. Small chance to freeze your target on impact.

  Mana: 9

  Attack Power: 30

  “Ice Needle!” I hold my hand out, a magic circle appearing in front of my palm. The mana went from my hand and formed as though it came through the magic circle. Then, it launched with alarming speed at the tree I was aiming at. It blew a hole clean through the tree, and then stabbed into the tree behind it causing a large amount of ice to build up around the base of the tree.

  “Wow! So cool!” Belinda stood beside me clapping. I am not sure when she got there, but I did feel pretty good about myself after accomplishing that. Still, I need to be careful with this magic. It did just blow a hole big enough for me to crawl through in the tree I was aiming at. Luckily, the tree was still standing and it didn’t fall anywhere that could have hurt her.

  “Hey Belinda, I want to try something. Do you mind getting up on the ledge there so you don’t get hurt?” She gave me a pouty face “But I want to watch close! Please?” “Sorry, I want to try something that will be dangerous.” I kneel down and pat her on the head, “After we see what happens we will know going forward if you want to stand right beside me, okay?” She looked like she was holding her breath for a minute, then stormed up the steps to the ledge. She really is still just a kid at heart, regardless of how this world has treated her.

  Something I read recently while teaching Belinda magic, was something the previous paladin called magic combination. According to the notes, it looks like I can combine two or more spells and increase the output of them drastically as a new spell. Apparently, sometimes you can create a completely new spell that has never been done before. I don’t really care about that, what I want to know is how much it will cost me to use it.

  Looking at the fireball spell:

  Fireball (1)

  Converge mana into a ball of fire that can be shot at a target. The fire will explode on impact.

  Mana: 12

  Attack Power: 34

  I wonder what will happen if I combine fire and ice spells…

  The magic circle that appeared before is something new to me. Apparently, after so much use you begin seeing the circles form. Before, the spell just happened. Now even my Wind Cutter spells activate with a circle. If I remember the text right, I have to overlap the magic circles to create the spell.

  I am not sure if it’s the system, or if I am becoming more familiar with magic, but I can see the spell circle of the spells in my list with appraise if I concentrate hard enough.

  “Ice Needle.” I hold out my right hand, forming the ice magic from my right palm. “Now, Fireball!” I take my right palm and position it next to my right hand in front of me. The two circle grow in size, and vibrate violently between themselves. Then…

  New Magic Spell Acquired. [Magic Combination (1)]

  New Magic Spell Acquired. [Burning Sicle (1)]

  Whoa, so I learn the spell I create through using it? Nice! “Burning Sicle!”

  The spell circles pulled what felt like my entire life force from me before erupting toward the tree. The steam explosion that occurred was so much more than I was expecting, the force of the spell knocked me back.

  When I stood up, it was raining from the condensation of the spell. The tree was gone, completely. As was anything within 3 meters of it, only the scorched brick floor remained. I stood up and saw Belinda in awe on the ledge. “That was… AMAZING!” She jumped with joy. As I went to give her a thumbs up, I was hit with a dizzy spell that brought me to my knees.

  “What– What is going on?” A new screen appeared.

  Mana critically low. Entering restorative mode.

  The last view I had was Belinda racing down the steps towards me. I am so happy I didn’t have her down here, that could have ended so badly. Before she could make her way to me, I passed out.