Chapter 97: Rite of Noble Ascension (1)

As much as he was in pain, Anton reacted to Caius’ words. After all, this concerned him. It was about his Legacy. Sort of. With a wave of her hand, Athenodora caused the blood cocoon around Caius to gradually flake away into Mana, allowing him out for the first time since she began to fight in what felt like an eternity ago. "Ugh," Caius said looking down at the river of blood beneath him. Even being a Vampire, none of this blood appealed to him. It was all tainted by Anton’s blood experiments. Worse, it was liquid so he would sink into it the moment the Cocoon was completely gone. A horrifying thought. "Relax," Athenodora said and chuckled at his reaction and his wobbling before another wave of her hand made the surface of the river of blood solidify under Caius’ feet for him to stand on. "Thanks," Caius said. "You know about the ’Rite of Noble Ascension’?" Athenodora asked him. "I do," Caius answered simply. "How?" Athenodora asked again. Caius shrugged. "From my Father." That was a lie and the way Athenodora smiled told him she knew it was a lie. The Vampiric society in this world is fairly easily segregated. There are the Nobles and there are those who were not. The usual benefits of Vampirism—Peak Physical and Magical ability in your Circle, clarity of mind to study the Arcane Codex, increasing Magical and Physical strength through Feeding on creatures charged with your Evolution Trigger, and more—are all available to all True Vampires regardless of Nobility. You can also create other Vampires whether you’re a Noble or not. However, Vampire Nobles enjoy a number of special privileges that an average True Vampire does not. For one, they can command Spawns regardless of whether they were created by them or not as Anton had tried to do to Caius earlier. Or as Athenodora had done to one of the Consorts and what she had used to overwhelm Anton himself when he fell into the river of Blood. There are various ranks of Vampiric Nobility and they mirror the actual Noble Ranks in the Acheron Empire; Baron, Viscount, Count, Marquis, and so on. The higher up you are on the Noble Ladder, the more authority you command. The more highly regarded you are among your fellow Nobles as well as the ’peasant’ Vampires should you choose to flaunt your status. You can’t become a Vampire Noble by getting turned into a Vampire. You are either born into Nobility, a rarity because of how difficult it is for Vampires to have children, or you ascend to it with permission from a Vampire Noble in what is called the ’Rite of Noble Ascension’ which is almost as rare. "Really?" Athenodora said and looked hard into Caius’ eyes, "Your father, the Vampire Hunter, told you about the ’Rite of Noble Ascension’." Of all the secrets Vampires kept, this was probably the one they kept closest to their chests. Only Vampire Nobles knew of the ’Rite of Noble Ascension’ and that was because they had likely had it done to them to acquire their Noble status. Or they had been asked to perform it instead. Either way, Noble Ascension rarely ever happened and was so inconsequential with no real meaning to anyone who wasn’t a Vampire that the idea that a human would know about it and tell it to his Vampire Son whom he should have long killed, was ludicrous. At least as far as Athenodora was concerned. "Will you do it or not?" Caius asked. He knew he had been caught in a lie and saw no reason to double down on it or retract his statement. At this point, it didn’t matter how he knew. What mattered was whether Athenodora would accept his request or not. Vampires are a very selfish and power-hungry sort. It was their nature and the very reason they had come into existence in the first place and no one personified those traits more than Vampire Nobles. There were very few of them compared to the average True Vampire and they liked to keep it that way. Like a nice little exclusive club that they’d rather see become smaller in number of members than larger. "Why?" Athenodora asked suddenly after she spent a few minutes assessing Caius. "What?" He said, confused by the question. "Why do you want to become a Vampire Noble?" Athenodora asked as she walked across the river of blood so it rippled beneath her bare foot with every step she took. She still had an invisible hold on Anton’s handicapped form and he still dripped blood as he was made to float alongside her, while letting out the occasional groan of pain. "Why do you want to become a Vampire Noble," Athenodora asked again now standing two feet away from Caius, "Make your case and I’ll consider it." "Athenodora!" Anton yelled, taking a break from groaning in pain, "Him inherit my Title? He’s at the Third Circle for fuck’s sake." "Magic Circle has nothing to do with Vampiric Nobility," Caius said before Athenodora could even open her mouth. He smirked as he added, "Besides, I don’t think you cared what my Circle was when you were greedy for my Blood." "Bah! I went after you because of your Royal Blood! Royal blood you that it turns out you inherited from Athenodora. It had nothing to do with your merits of which you have none." Caius held a hand to his chest now leaning back as he said in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "Oh, I see. My ’Royal’ Blood is good enough to let me get captured and siphoned for all I’ve got but not good enough to inherit your Title and put it to better use than your wretched self ever could." Athenodora smiled and looked at Anton to shrug, "He does have a point there," she said. "Point—?!" Anton yelled, looking like he was so angry he forgot momentarily that he was in pain, and glared at Caius while raising his voice even louder to ask, "BETTER USE? WHAT BETTER USE?" "That’s a good question," Athenodora said with her eyes expectantly now on Caius. Caius scoffed and almost nonchalantly waved at Anton’s torso like he was making a point on what was left of the Vampire Lord, but his words were meant for Athenodora, "Do you really think I won’t do better than this piece of trash? Do you really think I’ll spend my life holed up in a Castle, experimenting and turning myself to filth or do you think I’ll perform deeds worthy of a Vampire Lord?" Athenodora’s smile grew wide. "You sure have a way with words," she said, "And you’re right. Anyone would be a better Lord than this thing right here." Anton looked from Athenodora to Caius and back more than a few times realizing where the decision was swaying and gritted his teeth in boiling rage that his legacy would indeed fall to this teenager. The ultimate insult to end this pathetic final episode of his life would be for this bait that was used to set a trap for him to become Lord in his stead. "Athenodora," he said in a pleading voice, "You’ve won. You’ve killed all my spawns. My consorts lie dead in the river of the Blood you wrought in your carnage. My arms and legs are gone and my life dwindles by the second. Please, don’t complete this humiliation ritual by giving your little brat what he’s asking for. He’s too much of a youngin to understand but you know. You know just how significant ’Noble Ascension’ is. You know it is not to be granted flippantly. Don’t. Do. This!" Athenodora looked to fall into deep thoughts. "Indeed, there’s so much to consider with Ascension. So many to please. So many to potentially displease and appease," she said in a dreary tone and then suddenly perked up and shrugged as her beautiful lips stretched into a grin, "Then again, I’ve never particularly cared what those old bags think. If it’s going to die with you, and if you care so much about it to sound so fucking pathetic, I might as well give it away. One last blow to your stupid pride for you to carry with you when your soul flies off into Nyx’s embrace." With that, Athenodora threw her hand forward and began to chant in a language that sounded so ancient, the very foundations of Vampiric existence reacted. "No—!" Anton yelled before his mouth was forced shut and he arched his back while an Arcane Circle appeared on his chest. An identical one appeared on Caius’ chest and his body was seized as all sounds he might have tried to make were stifled. The Rite of Noble Ascension had begun.