Siderius nodded. "An apprentice is more than just a student. I will guide you and teach you our way. In return, you will give me the respect I deserve. I will become a figure like your father."

"But you are younger than me, Lord Satterblade."

Siderius flicked Rea's forehead. "I told you to not mention my real name on the road."

Rea pitifully rubbed the red spot on her forehead. "I'm sorry..."

"Well? What do you think about my offer?"

"Is this a permanent pact, my lord?"

"Yes."

"Can I be your lover once I become your apprentice?"

Siderius' expression froze. He couldn't help but cover his face.

"Right... How could I forget? She is after my body." Siderius thought silently.

"It's not going to happen, Rea."

"I'm just joking, my lord. But I do want to know what I'm giving up and what I will receive in return."

"You will have knowledge, power, and influence. In return, you must do what I want and listen to what I have to say."

"So... exactly like now."

"More or less. But now you can walk away and choose your own life. If you become my apprentice, you must walk the path I walk."

"And which path is that, my lord?"

"The path of making yourself an enemy of this entire kingdom."

Five bottles of Heart Rose extracted were gone in an instant. Siderius returned to the church afterwards and meditated for a few more hours.

[PSYCHOSIS -4]

[PSYCHOSIS LEVEL: 187/200]

This mutation was different from the previous two. The psyche of the vampire was stronger and more vivid. He would constantly hear random noises caused by the psychosis and seeing shadows in the corner that his mind made up.

His psychosis even had a sign of raising on its own.

Sideris finally understood why no witch hunter used any other species except beast for mutation. The risk was simply just too high.

Rea didn't accept his offer to become an apprentice right away. She said she wanted a few days to think about it. Siderius let her.

The pair decided to stay in Pannitha for a few days. They wanted to help the townsfolk rebuild the order for the town. Priest Xeros also needed a lot of help managing these villagers. He had experience in the church but managing an entire town was a completely different category.

Siderius helped him arrange everything and maintain the peace amongst the anxious villagers.

He also wanted to use this small down time to deal with the unstable vampire mutation.

A few days later.

Siderius sat in the woods and looked at his reflection in the calm water surface below. His golden eyes had changed.

He still had the vertical slit pupils but the golden sclerae of his eyes were now a blood red color. The eye color of a vampire.

Siderius scanned the thick foliage of the forest. He spotted a squirrel on a tree and its beating red heart deep inside its body.

Siderius could see the flow of its blood. The complex system of its blood vessels and where the blood concentrated the most.

Contrary to his expectation, the eyes of the vampire didn't give him the ability of hypnotism. Instead, it gave him the Blood Vision of a vampire. Another variation of Dynamic Eyes.

"The Blood Vision will allow me to spot weaknesses of my enemies and see them through walls and smoke." Siderius mumbled.

Originally, Blood Vision was just a hunting tool for vampire. It enhanced their bloodsucking nature and allowed for a more consistent hunting.

The witch hunter took out the Red Candy leaves and his trusty wooden pipe.

For the last few days, he had been focusing on meditating. The diminishing result was less than satisfactory.

For every point of Psychosis he lowered, two points returned. If it wasn't because of the initial Heart Rose Extracts, he would have experienced a second Mutation Collapse.

Right now, his Psychosis level was sitting at a very dangerous level.

[PSYCHOSIS LEVEL: 197/200]

Siderius was given no choice than to face the beast in the Alchemical Palace. He would use the combination of two Psychosis Techniques to try and vanquish the psyche of the vampire.

"It is also time for me to speed things up."

Siderius lit the pipe and took a huge puff. The doorway to his Mind Palace was opened.

He flew inside the castle and saw Nora standing there waiting for him.

"Teacher. We finally met each other again."

"Nora. Fetch me my weapon and armor."

In Pannitha, Rea sat in the church looking up to the statue of the Mother Tree. This statue was the Tree of Woe. One of the most ancient Mother Trees in all of Eldoria. People said that it was older than the land that Eldorian lived on.

"Something bothering you, Rea?" Priest Xeros sat down next to her. He noticed the confusion in her eyes.

"Not really. I just don't know what to do."

"What is this about?"

"It's Lord Nyx. He wants me to become... his student. He will teach me everything that he knows."

"Isn't that a good thing."

"You don't understand, Priest Xeros. It's not that I hate it. It's just... I'm afraid that I will disappoint Lord Nyx."

"It sounds like he wants to take you in like a squire for a knight, right? You will look after him and in return. He will teach you."

Rea nodded. "You are spot on."

"I have not known Lord Nyx for long. He is a ruthless man, Rea. He only cares about completing the task and any obstacles that stand in his way would be cut down. He was ready to kill me because I prevented him from attacking Milla."

"Lord Nyx did it for a reason."

"Relax, Rea. You don't need to explain. I know that I was wrong. My emotions got the better of me.

But the last few days helped me to realize many things. When you're a leader, sometimes you must make a hard choice. I pity Milla and Xonder. They didn't deserve to die. But the people they killed didn't deserve to die either.

It is as Lord Nyx said. It is just the survival of the fittest.

He is a wise man. Despite his bloodthirst. He knew that it was time to make the hard decision.

If he offers to teach you, this must mean that he saw something in you. Something worthwhile for him to teach."

Rea's gaze lost its focus. She stared at the statue in front of them.

"I was never good at anything. Not one thing. I'm always slower than most. I do not have any talents toward anything. What if I can't learn what he wants to teach me?"

"Maybe. Or maybe that you will regret refusing him for the rest of your life. No choice is the right choice, Rea. You can only choose what you think is best."

The neigh of a horse echoed from afar. Its hooves smacked on the muddy road of Pannitha. Siderius with his blood red eyes and vertical pupils had returned from the woods.

He stopped in front of the church.

"It's time to go, Rea."

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