*yawn*

That was the best sleep I’ve gotten in a while. I wonder if Maria is still sleeping. Contrary to my belief Maria wasn’t next to me in bed, she was changing into her working clothes. Isn’t in too early for that?

“Isn’t it a little early for work?”

“No, you just overslept.”

What’s with that smile on your face? I never oversleep.

“I think it’s still a little early; look it’s…almost 9 in the morning?”

That can’t be right, it’s almost 9 in the morning and this date, it’s Monday which means I spent one whole day sleeping…That can’t be right.

“Please tell me this is a joke.”

“What is?”

“Look at this.”

I showed Maria the watch.

“It says it is Monday, it means I slept a whole day.”

“You did, you looked so cute when you were asleep.”

Since she jokes around with me I take it that nothing happened. Maybe my body was just too tired after what happened.

“Thanks.”

I got up and went on front of the mirror. The sun isn’t burning my skin, I still have a reflection and there are no fangs; I look a little toned than before but that doesn’t mean anything. WOW, it’s really true, even with my Black Blood activated my eyes stay blue; it’s almost like my iris’s color was alive. The color was more captivating than usual, maybe it’s because of the vampire’s charm.

“I look at you and I just can’t accept the fact that you are human.”

This is a horrible thing to say so early in the morning; then again she is right. I’m thankful for my ability to scan myself. If I didn’t have it I wouldn’t be certain that I was a human. I hugged Maria, trying to reassure her.

“Maria, listen well: I was, am and will always be a human regardless of what happens to my body. These transformations will not change what I am.”

“Can I really believe you?”

“You can. Believe it or not it is impossible for me to be anything else, that’s how I was born.”

“Very well, I trust you.”

*peck*

After I let go of her she gave me a peck on the forehead and ruffled what was left of my hair a bit.

I was just standing with a confused look on my face. I was doing the most cliché thing a boy ever could.

“Come on, if you don’t hurry you are going to be late for class.”

Oh yeah, I have classes today……Wait wait wait, I know that smile; she was playing with me. I was standing here looking like an idiot and she just made fun of me. What’s the male version of that saying [toying with a maiden’s heart]? I remember, it’s called being a pussy.

“Come back here Maria.”

“I’m late for class, see you later.”

“OK.”

Maria hurriedly left the room.

Wait, that’s not the time to agree with her. She’s not getting away this time.

“Wait!”

When I opened the door it was too late, she was already gone; Shadow Dash really is a nice spell. I will figure out what to do with Maria later, for now I have to change and go to class.

My classmates got used to me skipping class but Jaden insisted that I explain why I was late. As usual he and Saya were glued to each other. That matter is to be discussed during lunch break.

After eating lunch with Jaden we went to the courtyard where Saya was waiting for us.

“A lot of things happened but the short story is that I spent my weekend with Maria and I was too tired to come to class.”

Saya who is usually serious was now red like a tomato; especially because I was keeping that rape face.

“I don’t believe you.”

Well Jaden is skeptical bitch. I just have to make him believe me.

“It’s true man! You should have seen her last night, nestling up against me like a cat. Sometimes her being on top of me really makes it difficult to sleep.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I don’t remember on top of you or maybe you are talking about two nights ago when I pulled you on the bed and slept on your chest.”

“WHA!”

“TEACHER!”

Maria appeared out of nowhere. Their faces when they saw Maria were priceless. They looked like they saw the impossible happen. Saya was bright red and Jaden was staring at Maria with his moth half open.

“Alex, you forgot your clothes in my room.”

Maria was holding my peasant clothes. I didn’t forget them; rather I thought I will spend another night with her.

“I thought I can stay another night; are you kicking me out?”

“I thought I told you, you can only stay during the weekends.”

She gave me the clothes and left.

The moment she turned to leave I started laughing. I laughed so hard I shed tears and even with her back turned I know that Maria is smiling right now.

“Ha…Ha…Now you believe me?”

“I…Yes.”

“Don’t worry Jaden, after you do it with Saya all the embarrassment will fade away.”

“Whatever…Let’s go back, class is about to start.”

“There’s no need to be embarrassed.”

Oh well, it looks like he is too embarrassed to talk about that.

Now that the classes are over I have some free time. I wonder if there’s somebody guarding Astrid. On my way to Astrid I bumped into Maria.

“Where are you going?”

“To the basement.”

“Are you going to see that vampire?”

Is it just me or does she sound a little jealous? I have to remember this; if it happens again then I will need to have another talk with Maria, I can’t have her getting the wrong idea or maybe it is me who misunderstood things.

“She tried to use me and now it’s my turn to use her; that said I just want to learn the demon language and get some information about Teufel.”

After parting ways with Maria I went on my way to the basement. I couldn’t sense anyone in the basement so I guess it isn’t guarded. Astrid was awake and most importantly unchained.

“They removed your chains but they didn’t bring you better clothes?”

“Good day young man; unfortunately the humans do not have second thoughts about letting a woman like me dressed in such an indecent manner.”

“I think this is about superiority; the humans have a superiority complex, that’s how we are.”

“I understand; they find pleasure in seeing me in this state.”

“Something like that.”

“What about you Alexander?”

“I don’t particularly care. Also I’m no position to help you so please don’t ask for my help.”

“I realize that. The reason you are here is to learn our language.”

“Yes. I want to learn your language so I can communicate better with demons.”

“Learning the demon language will not be an easy task; fortunately our language was created in such a way that even the less intelligent demons would be able to comprehend each other.”

So the demon language was created in a way that even idiots would understand. I hope I won’t need anything to write on.

“I will talk about the letters in the alphabet then I will say some simple words.”

“You can begin whenever you want.”

“There are twenty six letters in our alphabet. Fortunately our language is a phonetic one which makes it easy to learn how to write just by knowing how to speak.”

If what she says is true then their language will be easier to learn especially because the spoken language is almost the same as the written one.

“I see, that good indeed.”

“Then let’s begin with the letters.”

Since there was nothing to write on I will have to listen to what she says.

“The demon language’s alphabet consists of 26 letters, each having an uppercase and a lowercase form, and several punctuation marks. The letters are A, B, C-“

In other words it’s almost like the Latin alphabet.

“The letters go from A to Z, right?”

“Impressive, you are right. This might be a coincidence but you seem to know about our alphabet. Do you also know how to write?”

“No.”

“I will demonstrate how to write them down, follow my finger motions.”

“Ok.”

Astrid showed me how to write the letters by moving her index finger in the air. She is using her right arm which means that she is probably right handed. Most of the letters were written the same as those in English; the only difference is that the letters were made by piecing vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines together.

“Is there something you want me to show you again?”

“No, I got it.”

“I expected no less from someone like you. In my life I’ve rarely encountered a human who used polite speech. For someone like you who learnt this over complicated language of humans learning our language will be much easier.”

“Thanks for the praise.”

“It’s not praise; I am merely stating the truth. Regardless, it looks like this is the end for today.”

“Wait, what? Am I really that boring? I actually wanted to her more.

“But why?”

“Somebody is coming.”

My eyes aren’t as good as her so I don’t see anybody coming, then again neither could she, which means she heard somebody coming here. Okay concentrate…I hear footsteps, female footsteps. Judging by the almost lack of noise they make it should be either Maria or Liliana.

“Maria told me that you would be here.”

Yep, it was Liliana all right. There are only three people who are that paranoid or cautious and one of them is working for Jaden.

“Good evening miss.”

“Liliana, it’s unusual for you to come out yourself; is there something going on?”

“It might have something to do with the fact that you are here.”

“Well, it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“Act like a boy your age.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask this of you Alexander; how old are you?”

“I’m almost eight years old.”

“It is strange indeed. You look like a human adult.”

Well, what can I say?

“What about you?”

“I am 530 years old. I am one of the Lost Kind.”

Well, I don’t know how much a vampire is supposed to live but I think that she is quite old.

“What’s that about the Lost Kind?”

“She’s a survivor of the last demon war.”

“How many years ago was the last demon war?”

“The most recent documents state that the last demon war ended 500 years ago.”

“I see.”

“Okay, second question: Why is she here?”

“The paladins did not tell me the reason.”

“There was somebody I had to save. I planned to return home after I finished but your kind caught me and brought me here.”

“Well I guess it’s understandable. People learned to fear demons.”

“What about you Alexander, do you fear me?”

“Can’t say that I do.”

“HO, why is that?”

“Because I know that you can’t kill me.”

“I am currently locked in a cage, killing you is impossible.”

“I’m not an ordinary human, there’s only one way to kill me and that’s a secret.”

“Alex, it’s time to go. Some paladins will stand guard, if they catch you alone they will lock you up too.”

“Then I will see you later.”

“Good night.”

Liliana and I left the basement. On my way out we encountered two paladins. They tried to question us but Liliana brushed them off, this time they were on her territory.

“Alex, what time is it?”

“According to my watch it’s 11:30. Wow, time really goes by when you do something.”

“That’s the upper limit. I will allow you to visit the vampire but you have to make sure you leave by then.”

“OK, if that’s the only condition then it’s fine with me.”

“Well then, good night Alex.”

“Good night.”

The next day I went to visit Astrid again.

“Good day to you.”

“Hello.”

“Before I continue I want to ask you something; can you still see my true form?”

“Yes.”

“I see. Then let’s continue. I will tell you some words and their meaning: Rehtom.”

Rehtom, what am I supposed to understand from that unless…If I am right then that word actually means [mother] just said backwards.

“So what does it mean?”

“Mother.”

“I expected that much.”

“I take it that you figured something out from what I just said.”

“I think that I may know some words.”

“Then it will take less time than expected.”

Contrary to my opinions not every word in demon language was a word in English written and spoken backwards, just the majority. Astrid told me the common words and their meaning. There are words for certain events or action, for example there is a term, fairy dust, which means: a place devastated by elves and fairies.

“So tell me a little about demons.”

“The demon species are the most diversified species on the planet. Despite being stronger than other races the demon species possesses less intelligence than the other races.”

“I don’t think that you could say the same about you.”

“I am a vampire; our ancestors were humans who were transformed into half-beings. As a race we are unwelcome in Reich and Teufel alike.”

“I want to know; how does a demon increase its power.”

“Demons, beastmen, fairies and the fishkin increase their power by killing. I myself am intrigued by this phenomenon because it appears that humans are unable to increase their power this way.”

In this situation I’m supposed to say something to defend my kind but she is right.

“What about humans?”

“Humans possess a certain skill, adaptability. Humans can adapt to any situations faster than any other species.”

“I see. I want to know, is there a ranking system for demons?”

“There aren’t ranks but we do use titles. The highest title is the Demon Lord. The most powerful demon alive is the Demon Lord; a demon can become a Demon Lord if it succeeds killing the current one. Other than that there are Low Level, Normal, Advanced and Superior Demons.”

Okay. So the Demon Lord is the strongest demon there is but what’s the difference between the titles? What’s her title then?

“Astrid, what’s your title?”

“My title? I am a Superior Demon.”

Well I could have guessed as much, as expected from a demon I couldn't scan.

“What’s the difference between titles?”

“Demons are born with one of those titles. A demon has to evolve in order change its title. After certain requirements are met a demon will evolve.”

“Let’s say that a demon wolf wants to evolve into a black demon wolf; what title does he get?”

“A demon wolf is a Low Level Demon. Once a demon wolf evolves and becomes a pack leader he receives the title of Normal Demon.”

“Are there other titles?”

“Yes. Certain individuals from a race possess unique titles. Among vampires I am called a Temptress.”

So is she something like a slut or she just takes advantage of her beauty to get what she wants? Regardless it’s about time to move, I wouldn’t want to get caught by the paladins.