Chapter 15
However the tablet displayed 11:54 a.m.
“What the…”
“What do you mean by 11:54? But the clock…”
“Arhh… my butt hurts from walking. Wait why didn't it hurt in the subspace?”
“Damned Crow, troubling me even as compost.”
Asmodeus raised his head to check the clock. To his surprise, the clock pointed at 11:54.
“Wait but I remember that the clock showed a different time in the subspace.”
“Why is it different now?”
“Was I hallucinating? Is the timing of the subspace different?”
‘Maybe both are broken. Let's see if other clocks show the same time.’
Asmodeus got up from his bed. He got out of his room, in search of a clock.
He found a clock close by to his room, but it displayed 11:54 a.m.
‘Are all the clocks broken? No that cannot be the case. Does that mean the subspace runs on a different timeline?’
Asmodeus’ thoughts were interrupted by a nurse who had found him, wandering around.
“Sir? What are you doing out here? You should be resting.
Doesn't walking around hurt?”
“It does but… Anyway I'll just go back.”
“...Sure.”
Asmodeus reluctantly got back to his room.
He flopped onto the bed. The investigation had produced zero results. He kept staring at the ceiling as if it contained all the answers he needed.
“It's so weird…”
“The crow was supposed to answer me but he sucks a lot in staying on one topic.”
“I miss Lucy…”
“Will becoming a vampire cost me?”
“What even is Dr.Human searching for in my blood? Will my blood even match that of a human?”
“Is it really real?”
Asmodeus’ thoughts were changing rather rapidly, each generating more questions.
“I'll go insane at this point.”
“Oh right, the tablet!”
He turned to his side. With a few swipes, the tablet unlocked.
“What should I read? Oh right, no one's gonna come here so let's go with BL.”
“This has been on my readlist for long enough now.”
He was about to tap on the novel, but jinx took charge and a nurse entered.
“Sir I need to check your vitals.”
“I'm still alive, is that enough?”
“Yes, but we need to know how alive.”
“Very.”
“That is not a medical measurement. Now put your hand forward, I need to check your blood pressure, and oxygen levels.”
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“I hate this place.”
A cuff squeeze and a finger clip, the vitals were noted. It didn't take the nurse long to get the vitals but Asmodeus hated every bit of it.
Once the nurse left, Asmodeus sat there disheartened from being interrupted.
“And Crow thought vampires were bad.”
“What do I do now? Do I go to the subspace? Wait… if time there works differently, I can read my BLs without interruption.”
Asmodeus grabbed his tablet and spoke to his ring.
But he did take a quick glance at the time, and both the tablet and clock showed, 12:08 p.m.
“Great and I'll be back by 12:10.”
“Yo ring, take me there and include the tablet too.”
Within no time, the doors appeared before him, again. And this time, the tablet was with him.
“The doors seem to be always present. Maybe I don't need to try to confuse the ring and enter just one of the two.”
He entered the library and pulled one of the chairs and sat down.
“Great, let's read it now.”
The tablet was turned on and Asmodeus tried to open the novel. Unfortunately for him it didn't open.
“What the? Why??”
“The tablet turns on, the app opens, the novel cover shows up, even the chapter numbers show up. Then why can't I open the first chapter?”
He tried to switch the novel, turn the tablet on and off.
“Guess violence is the answer.”
He gave the tablet a few heavy taps, but there was no response.
“Guess violence is not the answer.”
“Maybe it needs WiFi? Can I bring WiFi here?”
“Crow can create subspace but not wifi. You are useless Crow.”
“Arhh… where did I spend my luck to be stuck like this?”
“I'm blaming Crow for all of this.”
“I'll have to read Crow-books now…”
Asmodeus took a walk in the library, trying to determine if any of the books were worth the time.
[Why one should stay away from vampires]
“What a passionate hater.”
[352 ways of drinking blood.]
“Are you crazy? Why are there so many ways? And how did you even come up with those?”
[Vampire physiology.]
“Oh this seems useful.”
When Asmodeus opened what seemed like a textbook, a tiny sheet fell from inside.
He picked it up to read.
[It's a bit lengthy but that's because
I tried to explain as detailed as possible.
~Christopher]
“You explain shit, Crow!”
Asmodeus crumbled the paper and threw it away.
He sat on a chair and started to read the book.
[When I became a human, the major difference I observed was my vision. I remember being able to see beautiful and colourful patterns on plants and flowers.
But now I'm unable to do so.
I believe that is part of what a vampire can see while a human cannot.]
“...”
“The what?”
“Wait, that UV thing on Internet, I thought it was some random information.”
“So vampires can see UV light? That explains a lot!”
“And I thought I was going insane…”
“Good to know I'm not…”
[When I first saw them, I…]
“Let's skip a bit. The UV explanation is getting longer.”
[Another thing I observed is that humans have blood producing body parts. They can produce their own blood.
But as a vampire, one doesn’t get that privilege.
So back in Velacia, we used to produce blood from a plant called bloodvein.]
“And where on Terris am I supposed to find it?”
[Alas, it's not present on Terris.]
“...”
“I guess black market is the only way now…”
“Anything else Crow?”
[Now the way to drink blood. You don't drink it like water but suck it through your fangs.
I don't know why but if you drink it directly, it won't reach any other body part. That was all I was taught.]
“So vampires have a bad education system?”
“I was right. The only difference between humans and vampires is fangs.”
[But I do have a theory. When one drinks blood like water, it loses its nutritional value. But I'm not sure.]
“Tell me you failed biology without telling me you failed biology.”
“If you drink blood and it reaches stomach, wouldn't it get digested? That's common sense.”
“But it still doesn't explain why the fangs work. Like does it have direct access to blood stream or something?”
“Well it doesn't really seem like a wrong theory. I mean fangs could function as biological straws.”
“Now this crow is going to jump to blood manipulation.”
[Oh that reminds me of blood manipulation.]
“I was right!”
[So you can bring out the blood through the pores in your palms and manipulate them however you want.
It is innate to vampires so you don't really need too much of explanation on it.]
“I wasn't born a vampire, old man. I don't know anything about it.”
[Though, as one goes higher in tiers, they learn how to control the amount of nether in the blood.
You'd currently have very little nether, so you don't have to worry about explosion.]
“So I don't have enough resources to cause a skill issue. Got it.”
“Now Crow, tell me about nether.”
[Now about nether, wait no for that read another book.
It'd be messy if I write everything here.]
“Damn, character development.”
“Anyway, let's try giving shape to blood.”
Asmodeus closed the book and put it aside.
“So there are pores in palms and I can use it to get my blood out.”
He opened his palms in front of him and kept staring at them.
Silence.
There was no blood floating above his palm like he had imagined.
“That's strange… should I be imaging it continuously or something?”
He tried again. This time too there was no result.
“Alright third time is the charm.”
Asmodeus stared at his palm.
There was a response—
*Grumble
—just not from his blood.
“I'm hungry…”
“Let's go back. Ring take me back.”
“Crow doesn't explain stuff properly and now I look like an idiot when trying to imitate blood shaping using fantasy knowledge.”
Once Asmodeus came out of the subspace, he quickly checked the time on his tablet.
The tablet showed, 1:03 p.m.
“What? But shouldn't it be 12:10? Alright, say I miscalculated it but, an entire hour has passed? That doesn't make any sense at all.”
“...”
“But then… wh-what are the rules of time dilation?”
“How do I calculate it?”
"The only explanation I can think of is that time flows differently from Terris.”
“Wait—”
“H-how do I even know that there is a time dilation? Crow never mentioned it anywhere…”
“DAMNED CROW! Why can't he explain anything properly?”
Asmodeus hit the pillow in frustration.
*Pat pat pat
Asmodeus’ ears perked at the sound of footsteps.
“Who wants my blood now?”
*knock knock
The door creaked open and Asmodeus was ready to fight whoever it was.
“Young master? I brought your lunch.”
“Oh William! Yay! Gimme my food.”
Asmodeus reached for the package in William's hand.
When he opened it, expecting his first solid meal, there was only disappointment.
“William, what is this?!”
“Porridge, young master. You aren't yet allowed to eat completely solid food.”
“But this is no different than poison.”
Asmodeus had deployed his puppy eyes, and stared at William pitifully.
“Young master, I've known you since you were a baby, those eyes won't work on me. Also the porridge isn't poisoned. Why would you think that?”
“Because it tastes like poison.”
William blinked.
“That's... not how poison works, young master.”
“Then why does porridge sound so close to poison?”
“Porridge doesn't sound anything like poison.”
“Try harder, William. You'll be able to hear the similarity too.” Asmodeus patted William's shoulders.
“...”
‘Why is young master trying to motivate me? Whatever, I've stopped asking questions long ago.’
Seeing William not budge, Asmodeus gave up.
“William, please, please, get me something more eatable.”
“I'm sorry young master, but we'll have to stick to the doctor's recommend food. So, please eat it.”
“How? There are no vegetables, there are no spices, it's so damn bland!”
“And that is exactly why we're trying to feed it to you so that you can digest it easier.”
Since his puppy eyes didn't work, Asmodeus sat there, hugging his knees and pouting.
“Young master…”
There was a long silence between the two. William let out a tired sigh.
“Very well young master, I'll inform Madam that you aren't interested in the lunch.”
William was about to dial, when Asmodeus interrupted him.
“Alright, alright, I'm eating. But I won't forget this betrayal, William”
“Understood, young master.”
Asmodeus made a disgusted face while eating rhe porridge. Nonetheless, he finished it.