World of Alvarra: Rise of the Vampire Lord

Chapter 91 the Duel

As Van walked away from the group, he heard shouting from behind and many feet moving at once. So he suspected that Kella and Isa had things well underhand.

With that small amount of comfort, he walked over to the other side of the field where Luna and Anna were. As he got closer and the girls came into view, he stopped dead in his tracks in horror to see Luna sitting crossed-legged and covered in blood and Thea standing over her with a bloody dagger and what appeared to be a large needle.

Rushing over as fast as he could, he stopped mere feet away ready for anything, and in a slightly frantic voice asked, "what is going on here!" worriedly looking between Thea and Luna.

But the two didn't show any signs of worry or conflict. In fact, Luna actually just waved at him as if she wasn't covered in blood and shallow stab wounds. "Hey Van, how did it go with your new little army? I heard Kella was going to become a knight of yours, that's great news since we could really use someone of her skill and experience when we travel to the academy."

Van blinked, wondering if he was the weird one here or going crazy. "Umm... ya... we could really use someone like her. One of the hobgoblins didn't look too bad either, so... I gave her a name and blood bound her..." he said, feeling a little guilty for some reason.

Luna shrugged as if she expected this of him. "Not surprising, but I do want to be introduced to her later." she said firmly, "what's her name?"

"Isa."

"Nice name," she said with a gentle smile that was somewhat ruined by the blood covering her.

"Thanks..." he replied, trying to figure out how best to broach the subject. "So... why are you covered in blood?"

Luna blinked as if just realizing she was talking to her husband covered in blood. "Oh, this?" she asked, looking down at herself. "I'm training right now." then excitedly looking up at him. "Can you believe I'm already on the fifth form right now! Mom says I'm making some really good progress on my training!"

"... fifth form?" Van asked, confused.

Luna's expression widened as she seemed to realize that Van had no idea what her training entailed other than she was training. And began her explanation about studying proper martial arts and all the forms she learned up till now. "And the fifth form is called blood regeneration, in exchange for consuming my mana or aura, I can heal wounds. Right now mom's only giving me shallow wounds, but theoretically, once I become good enough, I can heal larger wounds and even regrow small limbs."

Then seeing Van's panicked expression. "Not that we are going to go that far of course," she said quickly, trying to soothe his worries.

Van relaxed, "that's good..." then looking at her and seeing her in a new light. "You know... I'm really impressed, I'm proud of how far you've come. I'm glad I got to marry such an amazing woman like you." he said with a smirk, laying it on thick because he knows how Luna would react to it, all the while helping convey his genuine feelings and wanting to give her a confidence boost so she could keep going at it.

Luna blushed heavily at the praise given to her, and it seemed almost subconsciously her wounds healed themselves quicker right before everyone's eyes. "If you want... you can join me in my training..." she said, not looking at Van directly.

"Oh? Are you going to cut me all up? Is this some sort of new play? That's quite kinky of you..." he teased, making her go completely red in the face and her wounds healed just as quickly.

Thea, who was just standing by the side with a small grin on her face as she watched the play, couldn't help but laugh at that last bit startling them both and making them both look and feel even more embarrassed than before. Then she started to tease the both of them, making Van regret trying to be playful with his wife where witnesses were around.