Uche had collapsed.

He didn't even know how, but what he remembered last was Mr. Richard's strange smile, then he blacked out; he didn't know what happened next. And when he finally woke up, he found himself lying flat on his bed, while Eric could also be seen sleeping soundly on his broken bed.

"What on earth happened? How did I get here?"

Uche wondered, confused.

"Did that man take me here?"

He could still remember clearly that after all the students left the martial arts training room, he was left alone in the ring with the martial arts teacher, Mr. Richard.

Uche shivered as he quickly used his duvet to cover his body.

The thought of that man's name gave him chills.

He still remembered how the man had sent the students out of the training room, asking them to forget what had happened to him — how he had healed after getting injured. The man had told the students to forget it all and remember something else instead.

It almost sounded like he was editing their memory.

"What kind of power is that?"

Knowing that he couldn't get the answer just by thinking, Uche looked out the window and saw that everywhere was still dark, probably still the middle of the night.

"Great."

He quickly reached behind his bed and fished out the wristwatch Mira had gifted him, unlocking it with one swift slide of his finger on its screen.

He always kept the wristwatch behind his bed because he wasn't allowed to have it. Students were not allowed to have grade B citizen items; they could only have grade C items, which were the same as student items. Meanwhile, this wristwatch in question was an item belonging to a grade B citizen, so Mira had asked him to keep it well and not let anyone in the academy see it.

After opening the wristwatch, he found that Mira had replied to his previous message, but he didn't open it straight away. He quickly moved to the studies she had sent him and scrolled down to the one that talked about vampire mind control skills.

He read it.

"Compulsion."

"Compulsion is a mental domination ability that allows vampires to influence, command, or completely control the thoughts, emotions, and actions of others. It's often described as 'the voice that seeps into the soul.'"

"The voice that seeps into the soul."

Uche shivered, that sounded pretty creepy.

He continued reading it.

"How compulsion works:

The target's mind is forced to obey, even against their own will. The vampire can take over completely, puppeteering speech, actions, even memories of the victim, while the victim's consciousness is suppressed or forced into a dreamlike state.

But everything in this world has rules and limits, and the same goes for our compulsion. For vampires to compel others, they must make eye contact with the victim. And certain people cannot be compelled, Hunters and other vampires."

'These Hunters again,'

Uche thought.

'But wait, other vampires?'

If so, then how did Mr. Richard compel those students?

He continued reading:

"Vampires cannot compel Hunters for some reason we haven't found out, but only a vampire who's tasted the centuries can bend another vampire's will. For the rest, our minds are iron, unyielding, unless touched by something older than time itself."

"Makes sense."

Now he confirmed that Mr. Richard was not some regular vampire.

And lastly, the Originals are exceptions to these rules. They can compel everything, including Hunters, and can also take full control over body and mind, turning the victim into their vessel.

"These Originals are certainly scary,"

Uche muttered.

Now he knew Mr. Richard wasn't just any regular vampire. He probably, and somehow, knew about him, and still didn't do anything. He even helped him keep the students from spreading what they had seen.

"The man is fishy and scary,"

Uche muttered.

After thinking for a while, Uche came to the conclusion that he needed to confront Mr. Richard in a reasonable way, ask how he knew about him and his intentions for keeping the students from spreading what they had seen. He really needed to know.

He decided to check Mira's messages after that. It seemed she had replied to his last request on why he was failing to make any progress in using blood skills. He wanted to know if the problem was from him or what he was.

He read Mira's message:

"There are only three problems that might be stopping you from performing blood skills. One is age, which I'm sure is not a problem because you have long passed the age limit to perform blood skills. The second problem is blood, maybe you don't have enough blood in your body, probably due to hunger. But I'm sure they serve you at least 3 liters of blood each day, and that's enough for you to learn and perform any blood skills. And that brings us to the last possible problem.

This might be because you're slightly different, so I'm guessing you need to approach it in a different manner. What I'm trying to say is that you should try a different way of performing blood skills instead of the one your instructor teaches you.

I'm sure what they taught you is to feel the blood within you, command it out, and have total control of it. That's how your instructor teaches you, right? If yes, then try a different way. Instead of feeling the blood within you, why don't you unfeel it? The burning pulse that runs through your veins, the constant awareness of blood, why don't you ignore it all, as if it weren't there? Then maybe the other thing in you will stop fighting your vampire instincts and allow you to perform your blood skills.

If you succeed in doing it once, I'm sure it'll be much easier for you. Have a nice academy adventure."

The message ended there, and Uche couldn't help but give a long sigh.

"Now, that's a lot to take in."

He wondered how, in Arcane World, he could silence his blood awareness, that was like silencing what made him a vampire. But Mira claimed it would make the other thing in him stop fighting his vampire instincts.

"What does she mean, the other thing in me? Like some ancient demon?"

Uche thought. Then he sat down with his legs crossed and did as Mira explained.

Hi everyone, the issue in the last chapter has been resolved, I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, it won't happen again.

Thank you @Devil_Maleficient for calling my attention.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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