All Chapters of The Broken Vampire System: Chapter 11
- Chapter 20
146 chapters
11
~Laurent The morning light broke through the cracks in the curtain, a pale stripe across my face. I groaned and rolled onto my side, blinking at the faint hum that always came before the shimmer. [Status Menu] It spread across my vision, neat and precise as ever. Name: Laurent Draven Level: 2 Strength: 29 Agility: 10 Endurance: 11 Perception: 6 Intelligence: 8 Skills: • Blood Instinct • Night Vision • Claw Manifestation • Fang Bite • Shadow Step • Blood Recovery Weapons: • Fang & Talon (Twin Daggers) I swiped the screen and a new icon blinked at the corner of my vision: [Inbox: 1 New Message] A familiar tension crawled up my spine as I tapped it open. [Daily Task Generated] Mission: Enter the Crimson Hollow and retrieve the Heart of the Abyss. Defeat the guardian, Gorath the Warden. Rewards: New weapon, +20 attribute points, possible rare skill unlock. Penalty: Loss of half current stats. Physical trauma. I stared at it for a moment.
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~Laurent I woke choking on air, lungs clawing like I’d been dragged up from a deep well. The room leaned in a little too close, the ceiling lines swimming until my vision steadied. For a long second I lay there listening — to Marek’s steady snore a bunk down, to Jonah shifting paper at his desk, to a dozen small dorm sounds that meant normal life was still stubborn enough to exist. I forced myself up, breath coming in short, hot pulls. My hands went to my ribs before my brain caught up; the skin there was a map of purple and yellow. Bruises threaded across my shoulders, one side of my jaw throbbed where Gorath’s fist had met it, and a cut along my forearm had scabbed already. I should have been dead. The shimmer unfurled across my vision as if it always knew when I’d wake. It washed into neat columns, cold and indifferent. [Status Menu] Name: Laurent Draven Level: 3 Strength: 35 Agility: 17 Endurance: 15 Perception: 10 Intelligence: 9 Skills: • Blood Instinct
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~Laurent I didn’t move right away. Her words just hung there, echoing. Did she just say she wanted me to join the competition? “Who? Me?” I finally managed to say, blinking at Serene like she’d grown a second head. “Yes,” she said flatly, arms folded. “Why is that so shocking?” I stared. “Because I’m an E-rank? What could I possibly do?” “Absolutely nothing,” she replied, not missing a beat. “I don’t expect you to do anything. I just need you to add to our numbers. We need ten people to participate and everyone else is too cowardly to join.” I arched a brow. “What makes you think I’m not cowardly like them?” “Because you went to Verdant Forest voluntarily,” she said, like it was obvious. “Even though you knew what you were. You could’ve stayed behind where it was safe, but you didn’t. That tells me you’re either brave or stupid. Either works for me. And besides—” she smirked slightly, “—I’m not asking you to fight. Just to stand there and look useful.” “Wow,” I mutte
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~Laurent The day was finally here. The Tournament of Systems — the event the academy had been whispering about ever since the director mentioned it— had come to life in full colour. The air around the arena was thick with excitement and magic, like every breath had been charged with mana. From my seat, I could see the entire stage spread out below — a perfect circle of polished stone layered with shimmering wards, built to withstand anything short of divine intervention. Every system had taken its place. The Celestials gleamed like miniature suns, their black uniforms trimmed with gold that caught the light every time they moved. Even their arrogance seemed to shine. The Arcanists were all precision — black robes lined with silver runes that pulsed faintly as if breathing with them. The Necromancers stood together in eerie stillness, their violet accents dull under the light, their eyes calm and unreadable. The Psychokinetics were harder to miss — streaks of pale blue running th
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~Laurent What the hell was she thinking? Going up against a B rank and not just a B rank, Hadrin Voss. If not that I knew how capable she was and wanted to have faith, I would’ve joined the medics in preparing the stretchers and first aid for when she loses. I swallowed hard and leaned forward in my seat, elbows on my knees. “Please don’t die doing something dumb,” I muttered under my breath. The referee raised his arm. “Match two—begin!” ⸻ Ciela didn’t hesitate. Her eyes flared faint blue and the stones beneath her feet cracked, shards of rock lifting into the air. She flicked her wrist and sent them flying toward Hadrin. They cut through the air fast, sharp—like she’d thrown a hailstorm. Hadrin didn’t even flinch. His body shrank in on itself, muscles collapsing, bones folding inward. In a blink he was gone—no, not gone—small. A gray blur darted across the floor. A rat. The stones shattered uselessly against the far wall, spraying dust into the air. Ciela’s head snapp
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~Laurent I pushed through the crowd, heart pounding. The medics were already lifting Ciela off the arena floor, her body limp, her hair veiling her face. I didn’t even realize I was moving until a hand gripped my arm. “Stop.” It was Serene. I turned, scowling. “But she just collapsed. I need to—” “She’s in good hands,” Serene said, calm as ever. Her grip didn’t loosen. “The medics are trained for this. You going over there won’t change anything.” I wanted to argue, but she was right. My presence wouldn’t help. And besides— “The Vampire system is up next.” I froze, staring at her. “What?” She released my arm and nodded toward the stage. “Pull yourself together. We’re on.” ⸻ The referee cleared his throat, forcing a professional smile over the uneasy hush that lingered after Ciela’s match. “Next match—Vampire System versus Arcanist System!” The crowd rumbled with anticipation. “Representing the Vampire System—B-rank Kade Varn!” Kade stepped forward, tall and sharp-feature
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~Laurent By the time the fourth match started, I realized I’d stopped actually watching. My eyes were fixed on the arena, but my thoughts were miles away — on Ciela being carried off, and on Sorin’s hand crackling with something that shouldn’t exist. I caught pieces of the fights like static between stations. The Necromancers versus the Titans — it should’ve been an even match. The Titans relied on brute strength and skin like steel; the Necromancers fought with strategy and summons. They didn’t actually fight, they just called on shadow creatures that took the hits for them and attacked in their stead. The crowd loved that one. Bones clattered across the arena, spectral soldiers rising from dust as the Titans charged through them. Every impact was thunder. I should’ve been awed, but the noise only made the whisper at the back of my mind louder. Ciela screaming. Kade’s body hitting the floor. That wrong hum lingering after both and that crazy pop up that detected an abnormality.
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~Laurent The Crimson Hollow hadn’t changed. The air was still heavy — thick with copper and damp heat, as though the entire place was breathing through rotting lungs. The red mist that crawled along the floor shimmered faintly in the dim light, swallowing sound with each step I took. Everything was familiar. The dark tunnels. The claw marks on the stone. Even the faint hum that pulsed through the walls. Only one thing was missing — the lesser monsters. Last time, they’d swarmed me before I’d even gotten close to the main chamber. But tonight, the path was empty. Silent. It felt like walking through a memory of a massacre. By the time I reached the final chamber, my pulse was hammering. The giant obsidian gate loomed ahead, carved with the same jagged symbols I’d seen before — all glowing faint crimson. I pushed it open. And there he was. Gorath. The Warden of the Abyss. He was larger than I remembered — a mountain of iron and molten muscle hunched over a broken stone throne
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~Omniscient The echo of the crowd still lived faintly in Director Calen’s ears as he walked the corridor toward his office. The long glass panes reflected the torchlight in restless fragments — gold against black, like the school itself was never quite still. He moved slowly, hands clasped behind his back, gaze distant. The tournament had gone well enough, at least to anyone watching from the stands. The students had cheered, the teachers had smiled, the academy had completed the first day of the yearly ritual of strength and spectacle. And yet— Something he didn’t expect happened. He replayed one fight scenes in his head: the vampire’s sudden command of shadows. Had he been underestimating these people? The last year, the students’ showcased powers that he expected, there were no surprises but this year? It was different. He saw new things. Were the students of Elarion getting more powerful? He couldn’t have that happen. Not yet. It would mess with what he was planning. He re
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~LaurentThe world slowed.The spears weren’t made of steel — they were light itself, shaped and alive, humming through the air as they came for me. Three of them, maybe four. My brain barely had time to count.I threw myself sideways.One tore through my coat, another grazed my shoulder, a third split the earth beside me and sent a shockwave up my legs. Heat licked my skin where it passed, like it wanted to brand me.The arcanist didn’t pause to watch. He just kept summoning more. They hissed into being above his head, hanging in a half-circle halo of death. His expression didn’t change — focused, bored, clinical.So this was what an arcanist could really do when they were fighting to kill and not because of a tournament.I didn’t think I stood a chance against him so I ran.Branches clawed at my face as I darted through the trees, the air screaming every time a spear missed me by inches. My heart was a drum in my ribs. I wasn’t even thinking about fighting back— just surviving long