Chapter 32- A Woman Lost In Time

It was incredibly awkward, waking up a vampire that had been asleep for who knew how long. I was honestly surprised she hadn't attacked me yet, just stared at me with the same shocked look for half a minute. 'Might as well try to de-escalate while she's still on the back foot'

"I'm going to back up now, let you get your shit together." I said as I took a single step back, she twitched at my movement but luckily a metallic click stopped her.

"That was a warning" Ivar said from behind me a moment after the enchanted bolt firmly lodged itself a few inches next to her head.

She sat up immediately afterward but I was already out of range. My gauntlet poised and ready to blow her head off if I had to.

But she just sat there like a doll on a set of strings, the same shocked expression frozen on her visage. 

"I think there's something wrong with this one Ace" Ivar said as he arrived next to me, one of his fingers doing a spinning motion next to his head. Insinuating the woman's seemingly crumbling mental state.

I merely hummed in acknowledgment as I continued to wait for the lady to do something.

"Be silent" she hissed out and for just a moment I saw a fang poke out. 

Usually, I would've told her to shove it no matter what kind of monster she was, but it seemed like the vampire was one step away from going crazy.

"The year..." She whispered out and finally turned to acknowledge us. "What year is it?" She asked and I'd be lying if I said that wouldn't have been the first question I would've asked if I were in her position. It was really too bad we couldn't help her there. 

"No idea, I've been in this tower for a month and half. Before that, well…" I said as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Tower?" The woman asked as her eyes once again almost bulged out of their sockets. 'Well shit...'

"A hundred floors, monsters, and treasures abound…. Well, that's what we've managed to find out so far" I replied as it seemed like Ivar wasn't interested in talking with the apparent monster. He seemed more interested in keeping his crossbow trained on her.

"Fucking…. Asshole" she whispered under her breath to the point that I barely caught it. I was curious as to who she was referring to but my guess would be whoever stabbed her with the dagger and stuck her in here.

She remained silent after that revelation and she didn't make a move until she touched a tattoo on her right wrist. Neither Ivar nor I expected what would happen next.

The tattoo on her wrist was in the shape of a red lotus but it flashed blue once she touched it. In moments she was a few feet in front of us with two daggers settled into her palms. 'Fast!' She appeared as nothing more than a blur as Ivar and I jumped back.

A metallic click almost made me sigh in relief but I was shocked when the vampire merely tilted her head. A small almost imperceptible line formed on her cheek for a moment before disappearing. I would've sworn it was just my eyes playing tricks on me, well if I didn't know this was a vampire standing before me. 'Superhuman athleticism and regeneration'

If I wasn't sweating due to her speed I surely was when I noticed the blue ethereal glow that both of her daggers flowed with. Two rare grade weapons, making her the highest equipped warrior that Ivar and I had ever faced.

I almost let off a fireball due to her fast movement but I held myself back in hopes she wouldn't attack, we haven't got a single piece of information out of her it'd be a shame to let all that effort breaking her out of here be in vain. Or even more ironically lead to our deaths, but that was a bet we made.

"Everything makes sense thus far, everything except you two….." she said with a chilly voice as her red eyes began to glow ominously. "Why did you free me and where is the weapon that froze me in time"

Looking to Ivar next to me for any input I was disappointed as he just shrugged and withdrew his war hammer. Without waiting a moment my hand entered my enchanted bag and slowly pulled out a beastly spear almost as tall as myself.

The vampire across from us didn't seem to care that we were preparing for battle, either she thought she could take us both or she was more interested in gaining information before going for the kill. I was leaning toward the latter option.

"How about a trade then?" I asked the woman as I made a point to keep my spear's tip on the ground. 

She tilted her head slightly as her eyes trained only on me. She didn't speak further which I took as the go-ahead to put my negotiation skills to the test.

"Honestly the only reason we woke you up was for information" I replied as she continued to stare at me with her glowing red eyes.

"Ask" Surprisingly she was very compliant.

"It's going to sound weird and it might take a few minutes but please bear with me. We would like you to explain to us the outside world and anything you know about this tower." I said as I tried my best to not sound like a lunatic, it seemed my attempts failed as she simply squinted her eyes at me.

"Are you messing with me?" The vampire asked as she crossed her arms. It looked particularly funny as she was still armed with two rare-grade daggers. Now that I didn't she would attack us at the drop of the hat I took a few moments to inspect her gear.

One ebony dagger, around two feet long and covered by ominously glowing green lines. The first guess would be a poison-enchanted weapon. It held a lot of similarities to the envenomed longbow I saw back at the start of my journey.

The other looked to be made of cedar which was odd in and of itself. However, its odd material made it even harder to discern what kind of effect the weapon could have. Something to do with nature would be my first guess.

It proved that this lady was slightly more dangerous than I had anticipated. Two rare grade daggers and an uncommon grade leather gauntlet. Not even to mention the fact that she was a vampire that had already shown superhuman speed and regeneration.

Though I wouldn't say I was scared, the almost seven-foot monster behind me and my equipment as well as level gave me confidence. Though I did wish we built a Mortal Arc before coming in here. I surely had a few million essence just sitting in my….soul? Probably.

"No, explain to us as if we were amnesiacs or incredibly ignorant countrymen" I replied after a few moments of disguised contemplation.

She hummed slightly and began giving both of us another once over. Paying a few extra seconds of attention to the tribal tattoos that wrapped around Ivars shoulders.

Ivar and I both twitched and raised our weapons when the women blurred away again. Almost instantly to my perception she was sitting on the edge of the coffin, she moved fast but I could just barely predict her path.

"You both are extremely irregular, stuck in a god's dungeon with no knowledge of the outside world. Well if you're not lying that is" The woman trailed off as she looked at me specifically with a cunning smile. 'A what?'