The Fallen Vampire

Contrary to what Taira and Aveena expected, the girls weren't as upset about her sudden addition as they thought they would be.

Perhaps the awkwardness of the last eleven days of depravity had yet to fully wear off, or maybe they had grown to like her a lot more than she initially realized, but no one really bothered to voice any objections.

As such, Aveena overcome the biggest obstacle of her marriage with no difficulty, and was now on to the next- understanding her husband inside and out!

Though he had already told her that he didn't require any special treatment from her, that didn't mean she didn't want to put her best foot forward!

So right now, she was taking a page out of her husband's book and trying to be as stealthy as possible so that she could observe him uninterrupted.

She had hidden her prescence to the best of her ability and even started to walk around with only socks on her feet to help erase the sound.

With a notepad in hand, she had documented his entire day and any observable habits.

While it could be said by most that nothing he did was particularly stellar or interesting, it did leave the bewitching Aveena slightly mesmerized.

Even now when he was doing nothing but reading through a stack of books in the library, she couldn't help but be captivated by him everytime that he turned over a simple page or crinkled his nose slightly when he read something troubling.

Every so often, Lucia would come and bring him hot tea with a little bit of her blood mixed in.

They would sit together for a while and she would be her usual kind and affectionate self before she would eventually run off and let him continue his reading.

This had been going on for a few hours now, and Taira was still moving through books at a rather alarming pace as if he was searching for something but never found it.

'My new husband is surprisingly cute.' Aveena quietly scribbled more notes into her notepad and ducked down behind the book case just a bit more.

Creak!

'Shit!'

Aveena felt her heartbeat speed up as she dropped her body to the floor in an instant and quietly prayed that he hadn't caught her.

Luckily, her prayers seemed to work just this once as no matter how long she waited, her husband never busted her.

She slowly and quietly climbed back to her feet and resumed staring through the peephole she'd created between the book case.

Just as she let out a sigh of relief, a piece of paper floated down beside her and landed on the floor.

'You would make a terrible assassin, my love.'

The note exploded and disappeared a moment later, and Aveena let out a cry of indignation.

"Argh!!"

Aveena finally stood up completely and ruffled her hands through her hair as she stormed toward the table where Taira sat.

"How did you know I was here? I concealed my presence perfectly!"

"You did not, but would you like me to list other reasons besides the fact that we share a marking that links our hearts, souls, bodies and minds?" He asked without looking up.

"…Yes."

"Your breathing is quite noticeable, your steps are lacking in grace and thoughtfulness, I could hear both your pencil and notepad moving, you're six foot three and your horns were sticking out from your position, I have thermal vision, and the soap you use is too fragrant for any sort of stealth or espionage. It does smell quite nice though."

"I-I can accept all but the last one! You smell nice all the time yet no one can ever track you!"

"I unconsciously siphon my scent through my pores when I'm working. I assume it was part of my training."

Eventually, Aveena gave up on a future of going with Taira whenever he had to do assassination work in the future and she pulled up a chair directly beside him.

For a while, the two of them sat in silence with Aveena only resting her head on his shoulder and watching him read.

"That thing with the paper… how did you do that?"

"Apparently the ability to create illusions runs in my bloodline. I've been practicing some mornings while you girls have been asleep. I wouldn't say that I am a master but I am somewhat proficient."

"Incredible… you become more dangerous by the day, husband."

"It is all for our family, love."

Aveena felt a warm feeling spread through her chest once again.

Nestling closer to her husband, she let her eyes wander through the stack of books he'd been studying and found that they were all different manuscripts on cultivation theory.

Their field of study was vast and varied… everything from the study of rare innate physiques to the high level utilization of spoken law.

"Is there… something in particular you are looking for?"

"…I've been having some problems lately." He admitted.

"Plural?"

"Yes… for one, I am utterly uncertain of what a primeval spirit might be or how to cultivate one. The late Abbess' library is very extensive but… there is nothing here pertaining to that particular subject."

Aveena grimaced as she looked around the library.

She wanted to help her husband but she had never expanded her literary search beyond the narrative works and even if she had, it was unlikely she would find anything like that in the public library.

"And… the second problem?"

"Well it's.. not really a problem per se but I'm looking for a way to enhance my efficiency."

"How so?"

Taira pulled out two cultivation novels from his storage ring and placed them on the table.

Aveena recognized them both as his prized breathing techniques, one of which focused on cultivation and the other that expanded his mind for the understanding and application of arcane.

"I want to combine these two somehow and create my own breathing art. I'm looking for the safest way to do that but it seems like if I am going to accomplish it I'll have to put my life in danger just a bit."

"Are… are you serious?" Aveena's shock was entirely understandable, and anyone else who heard what he was thinking would have immediately slapped him.

Cultivation is like a very extreme version of working out.

There are certain exercises that are time tested and provide the safest and most stable path to ascension so as not to hurt the body unnecessarily.

However, veering from those time tested ladders can have disastrous consequences for the one foolish enough to do so.

Death, mental retardation, the loss of mobility, and the least alarming destruction of a cultivation base are all common outcomes, yet they aren't even close to the worst.

And free styling with breathing arts is possibly the largest no-no that one could think of.

The absorption of qi into the body is a very delicate process if undergone haphazardly can make the entire body implode.

The only ones who have successfully created breathing arts were masters of the primordial realm who passed their techniques down eons ago before ascending.

What Taira was talking about doing now was no different from a ninety five pound middle schooler going into the gym for two days then deciding ' You know what? I think I am going to squat 900 pounds while wearing ice skates and with my entire body lathered in baby oil.'

He was just asking to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair or six feet under.

"Tell me… do you have any more stupid ideas that I should knock out of your head or is it just that one?" Aveena asked with a smile that was not a smile.

"Actually…"

"Oh come on!!"

Taira smiled wryly and placed his hand on his exposed stomach.

"I was thinking… what if my body had multiple cores? I could infuse each one with the elements I've received from you girls and connect them with some kind of circuitry to make them work seamlessly and even speed up the absorption of qi into different parts of my body and… what are you doing, wife?"

Aveena suddenly grabbed Taira by one of his fluffy ears and peered into it like she was looking for gold.

"I'm searching for a brain in this pretty head of yours… it is quite an interesting search."

"What've you found?"

"You know a lot of big words but your common sense is utter shit."

"Coming from you? That hurts."

"You jerk!"

Taira laughed and pulled Aveena into his lap despite the unfriendly glare she was currently giving him.

"Do you not think me up to the task, dear?"

"I don't think anyone is, husband..! The things you are talking about… they go beyond just being dangerous, hence the reason why no one has ever even attempted something like this before!"

Taira fell silent momentarily as he ran one hand across Aveena's muscled stomach.

"I get that… but I do not want to limit myself to only the things that others have done. I want to learn my true limits, not the limits of others.. and see what it takes to step over them."

"…May I ask why?"

"… I am unsure. If I'm honest, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I have you girls in my life now. So that no one will ever lay a single finger on any of you again, there are very few paths that I would not walk down."

Aveena let her husband's words linger in her mind for a long time without saying anything.

Eventually, she took his face into her hands and kissed him softly as if he were a sacred existence.

'Then… you have my faith and my support. But take heed to what walking down darker roads will make you. None of us will be joyful of the power you acquire if it means that we lose who you are right now in the process.'

'I promise… whether it is tomorrow or in ten million years, everything that I feel for you girls will never fade. And I will make sure that you know that.'

Smiling, Aveena broke their kiss before things became too intense.

"Well… you convinced me, but now you have to convince them too."

BANG!

The doors to the library were suddenly kicked open and Keran, Lucia, Enyo, and Vermeil all came striding in.

While the fallen girls seemed to know what was going on and were visibly upset, Vermeil still seemed a bit clueless.

She was absentmindedly eating a sandwich she made while looking around at everyone else.

"Don't really know what's going on but it seems like I'm supposed to be upset so… I'm just gonna sit this one out." *munch*