Chapter 196 The thirteen families
A whole load of information had just been given to Quinn at once. He felt like it was pretty relevant to the situation he was in and it would have been nice if he had at least hinted about it beforehand. The way the AI acted with the system was really starting to bug Quinn.
The lesson was coming to its end, so Leo decided to round up everyone to give a few pointers. This was Quinn’s chance to ask the system the questions he needed.
"Look, I don’t understand anything," Quinn said. "I understand maybe you didn’t want to tell me before. The less I know about it the better, hoping I wouldn’t get too involved but right now, Fex is here, and if I make a mistake and slip up he will easily be able to tell."
"I’m sorry Quinn." The system replied. "I want to tell you but sometimes I can’t. When the creator created me, he chose to make it so certain information was revealed only when necessary. There are things I wish to tell you but cannot."
"Then what can you tell me? Earlier Fex mentioned there being family leaders and then you mentioned that I was one as well, what does he mean by that?"
"The Vampires are controlled by a council. The council is split up into thirteen different leaders and a Vampire king or queen. These are also what are known as families. When you created Peter and made your family name, you automatically became a member of the council."
Quinn couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Just a second ago he didn’t even know a Vampire council existed and now apparently he held a high position of power.
"But then, why would they be after me then?" Quinn asked. "And wouldn’t this mean I would be safe if they found out about Peter?"
"Quinn, the Vampire race like to seem like they are working together but they are just as cruel and power hungry as humans. When the Vampire king or queen decides to go into eternal slumber, then a new king shall be selected from one of the thirteen leaders.
"While the current king or queen is still present they must do as they say, but once they disappear, it will turn into a cruel battleground. You are only a leader in name only. A shortcut was created due to the system. A lowly Vampire like you is too weak. To become a vampire leader one at least must have the rank of a Vampire lord. Although this isn’t the only reason why they will be after you, unfortunately, I can’t say anymore."
The Vampire leaders were at the rank of a Vampire Lord, but Quinn had never met a leader before so he had no reference for their strength. The only other Vampire he had met was Fex.
"What about Fex, do you know what rank he is at?" Quinn asked.
"Fex is on the cusp. He is not quite at the next evolution stage which would be a Vampire noble, but he is stronger than most Vampires out there. The ranks are as follows, you have a Vampire, Vampire Noble, Vampire knight, Vampire lord, and finally, the Vampire king or queen. There are also the subclasses such as Peter within these ranks, but they can never rise above their leaders or creators."
Quinn was hoping to hear that Fex was quite a high ranking Vampire, perhaps even one just below the Vampire lord. Instead, he just managed to get confirmation that there were a few more classes even above Fex.
It was as the system said, for whatever reason that the system wouldn’t tell him if they were to learn he was a Vampire leader they would try to kill him, and with his strength right now he wouldn’t even last a second.
"These families, why are there thirteen of them? Couldn’t all the Vampires just unite under one banner."
"The humans and vampires share more than they would like to think. Just how humans were selfish and decided to keep their abilities to themselves, it is the same for the Vampires. Each Vampire has a basic set of skills, however, the thirteen different families are each divided into the different abilities they have.
"This does not mean, they are all related by blood however, before learning an ability a Vampire must go through a blood ritual with that family, meaning they can never go against them. Only then will they teach that Vampire their ability. An example of this is the Sanguinis family that Fex is a part of, who have the ability to control string. Still, this does not mean a Vampire cannot learn an ability outside of the thirteen, but if they chose to do this, they will never be promoted within the ranks of the family they have chosen to follow."
This information disappointed Quinn a little. He was hoping at some point he would be able to find an ability for Peter to use, but it seemed like each family kept a lock on their abilities, not allowing outsiders to learn them. And what were the chances Quinn would be able to stumble upon another book that Vampires were able to learn? Thinking about this caused another question to pop into his head.
"Wait!" Quinn said. "Does that mean my ability belongs to one of the thirteen? Is that why they’re trying to kill me?"
"You’re shadow ability is not part of the thirteen families." The system replied.
This was the first bit of good news Quinn thought. If his ability wasn’t part of the thirteen families even if he used it, the Vampires wouldn’t know he was a Vampire and they could think he was just another ability user.
"But, I warn you to not use your ability in front of others, the only thing I can say for now is your ability carries history for the Vampires that they wish to forget, they would only target you more."
"Doesn’t that mean Fex is targeting me then?" said Quinn.
"I believe he may be too young to know about what happened in the past, they most likely do not teach the young ones about this either. This is all you need to know about this matter. Only when you are strong enough Quinn, I promise I can tell you then."
This whole Vampire business seemed like it was more trouble then it was worth at the moment. Just when Quinn thought he could finally stop hiding his strength it seemed like he needed to hide it even more.
Right now though he would have to deal with one problem at a time and the immediate problem in front of him was Peter and Duke.
*****
Over at the elemental training hall. They too were doing the same lessons as usual and as lessons were about to finish, they had free time to do what they wanted and once again Bones had come over with his two men and confronted Peter.
"Peter!" Bones shouted. "Well, will you look at that! You finally managed to reach level three. It looks like you’re going to make it to level four in time after all. What do you say to one more sparring match before tomorrow huh?"
Bones was frustrated after taking a beating from Vorden last time, and he himself was a level, four user. While Peter was still a level three, and a new one at that. Bones was confident he could still beat him. Even if he had the potential to be as strong as him with his earth powers, he couldn’t have learnt that many skills with the ability in such a short amount of time.
Peter turned around and took one look at Bones. "You’re too weak for me, P*ss off before I kill you."
****
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