Chapter 194 Lady Of The Night (18)

(Outskirts Of New Atlantic City)

(Castle Eden- Palace Library)

Humans are creatures of habit.

Despite her best efforts, Mary found herself getting used to the familiar and boring routine that her life had become over the last two weeks.

Her day would begin at around eight o'clock in the night. She would make herself breakfast and then spend an hour doing some light exercise.

Camilla her vampiric mistress would get out of bed around midnight. Mary would then be forced to bathe, clothe, and massage the beautiful female vampire until she was satisfied.

Honestly looking at her voluptuous naked body was still a bit difficult, but Mary was now able to avert her eyes and concentrate on the tasks at hand.

Still, she was fairly certain that Camilla intentionally swayed her hips whenever she got out of the bathtub…

Fortunately, the castle never seemed to get dirty or require regular cleaning so at least she didn't have to perform menial tasks.

Every day for around three hours Camilla would train her in swordsmanship as well as other weapons such as daggers, bow and arrows, brass knuckles and even a mace.

By far Mary's weapon of choice was the broadsword but her mistress wanted her future bodyguard to be proficient with all weapons.

Then as dawn approached, Camilla would return to her bedroom and Mary would walk towards the guest room that connected to her mistress' chambers.

This nocturnal schedule made Mary lose all sense of time, if it weren't for the phones and calendars in the castle… she would have probably never known how much time had passed.

Still her days were relatively peaceful and for that she was quite grateful.

Well… relatively…

Mary absentmindedly rubbed the bottom of her bruised lip as she wandered through the castle towards the library.

She had lost count of the number of times she had been kissed fiercely by her mistress and every time without fail…

Her heart would skip a beat.

Mary felt a bit guilty that her emotions were being so easily manipulated especially since she could not see any desire or love in the beautiful vampire's eyes.

But who could blame her?

Camilla was a sadistic bitch but… she was hot as hell.

Mary shook her head slightly and tossed those uncomfortable thoughts to the back of her mind.

She had an assignment to complete and hopefully it would take her one step closer to escaping this castle.

The young woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a bag of beef jerky strips that were sealed with a plastic wrap.

She ripped off the plastic seal and pushed the meat into her mouth.

The taste of the jerky was hard, uncomfortable, and quite salty but Mary forced herself to chew.

She was feeling too lazy to run back to the kitchen and cook so this was the only option to stave off her pangs of hunger.

Mary walked up a flight of stone stairs and eventually arrived at a heavy wooden door that was roughly ten feet in height.

A golden handle sat in the right corner of the door. Mary took in a deep breath to calm down her nerves and then slowly turned the knob.

The wooden door swung open, and she stepped inside to what could only be described as a reader's paradise.

A vast open space with dozens of bookshelves stretched upwards towards the ceiling. There must have been thousands or even ten of thousands of books inside this place.

The floor was covered by a white silk carpet and a fireplace sat in the corner of the room with logs covered in black ash.

There were a few tables and chairs scattered about and the only modern appliances were the electric lamps plugged into the sockets that ran through the walls.

Mary gasped in wonder as she felt as though she had been transported into a new world that was a treasure trove of knowledge and discovery.

She checked her other pocket and pulled out a strip of paper with words scribbled down on its surface.

'Section A-12, You must learn at least one technique before you are allowed to leave the library.'

Camilla's handwriting may be messy but there was a power that could be felt through the strokes of ink painted on the sheet of paper.

"Alright… let's get this done…" Mary muttered to herself as she read the paper one more time before putting it back in her pocket.

She felt a little bit excited at the prospect of learning vampire hunting techniques.

There was no way that ordinary humans could possibly match the enhanced strength of vampires so there must be some kind of secret.

The Hunter's Organisation required prospective members to pass a series of tests before teaching them and ancient human clans would never share their techniques with outsiders.

Therefore, the original Mary's only knowledge about vampire hunting techniques came from rumors on the internet.

Mary's lips gently curved upwards as she imagined learning the techniques and then putting that arrogant female vampire in her place.

The young woman smiled as she wandered through the library and looked at the different sections.

"Let's see… A-9… A- 10… A-11… there we go!" Mary excitedly spoke as she saw a blocked off section of the library.

There was a circular pattern of blood covering the floor of the isles where section A-12 was located.

It looked extremely creepy, and Mary could swear that the blood slightly moved as her shoes walked on its surface.

She narrowed her eyes and focused on the tags that were attached to the books on the shelves.

Some of the tags were written in languages that she did not recognise while others were in an ancient form of English.

Mary pulled one of the books off a nearby shelf and thumbed through the pages. Just as she suspected… she was unable to read what was inside.

The characters inside the book vaguely resembled Sanskrit but there were random dots and punctuation marks splattered across the symbols.

Mary put back the book back with a defeated sigh and then began the long and arduous process of searching through every book on the shelves.

Well, it made sense… most likely Camilla had gotten these books before her slumber and that had been centuries ago.

Some of these languages had probably died out while others had changed over the decades until they became barely recognisable from their original form.

It took around two hours but eventually she found a book that was written in relatively understandable English.

She opened the book and began to read the contents that were inside.

"Interesting…" Mary mused thoughtfully to herself as she read through the pages of the book and acquired new information.

Apparently, hunters gained their strength from channeling the light of the sun into their bodies and storing it over a period of time.

The techniques that they learnt were just variations that accomplished the same purpose. Of course, there were important differences.

Some techniques focused on providing the hunter with strength, others boosted their regenerative capabilities while others provided a variety of peculiar boons.

The technique inside the book in her hand was called 'Visha's Transformation Art' and it involved absorbing the light of the sun through one's pores and transforming the body.

This was an interesting technique.

Its benefits were not obvious in the early stages since it gave its practitioner longevity and mental willpower.

Mary gently placed the book on the ground and immediately went to work searching for others as well.

There was still some time before the night ended and she had brought enough snacks to last for awhile.

There was no need to rush and train the first technique that she found. Instead, Mary planned to explore all her options and choose the best one.