Blood and Qi: A Vampire Xianxia LitRPG

John could only patiently wait for Amber’s return, but his excitement made it hard to do. The Meleua was given CQ, command of quarters, for a farming region. Robots did all the farming. There were no people at all in the whole huge area.

To help Amber out and make her look good, John had been filling EBs for her to trade with other kauwas for points. While on the ship, he had also topped off Jim’s fuel, the ship’s fuel reserves, and whatever else he could. He knew Amber held back on using his essence for her benefit, but he wished she wouldn’t.

John had opened the eighth NCU expansion slot. There were certain bioware he’d love to get his hands on. Amber felt bad since Alii could acquire all the gear John could ever want with points, but she couldn’t purchase any of these special items until her kauwa successfully completed an assigned mission, something it had yet to do. And never would.

As an Oli and an official member of Kauwa Mara Pi, John had more access to explore parts of Jim that were previously restricted to him, but many areas were still off limits.

The part of the ship meant to house children was highly restricted. Only the Alii could enter, but from what John had heard, none of them ever did. When an Alii gave birth, one of the young girls, an Alia, would go collect the child and present it to the kauwa, then go right back to the child-group’s restricted area where all the kids would remain ignored by all adults.

Just thinking about how the Peerless raised children infuriated John. He thought it was wrong and a terrible way to do so.

Jim had Trainers aboard. All Peerless ships had them. What these Trainers didn’t have was an option for John to fight his clone as he did during the final exam at the academy. He quickly realized that if he touched the stuff the Meleua also had to touch, there was little the strange man wouldn’t agree to if it meant an end to John doing so, including coding that fight into the ship’s Trainer.

And that was how John spent most of his time aboard Jim – fighting himself. Since it was a normal Trainer, the fight wasn’t like it was at academy, but his clone still gave worthy battle, and every fight was better than the last.

After impatiently suppressing his excitement again, John wished he was aboard Jim and fighting himself. That would take his mind off things.

Most assigned CQs only needed a Mele onsite. Some important ones required the Alii and Oliua onsite or nearby, but not many since the Alii was available through the CSL. Very rarely did a CQ require Oli, so they were usually assigned guard duty in one of the cities, either on Gani or one of the other worlds belonging to the empire connected by portal.

John would love to see and visit these other worlds, but since Kauwa Mara Pi only had one Oli, he was always assigned as the portal guard for wherever the Mele had CQ. While on guard duty, he wasn’t supposed to meditate using any technique besides the nonsense half-meditation technique all Oli used. He still meditated using his good technique though.

And John was doing just that as he filled EBs until he was interrupted by the Meleua speaking over the Oli channel of the CSL. “All brothers of Kauwa Mara Pi, a mandatory mini-doc will start soon. Ensure you’re available and able to watch.”

Since Nine was accompanying Amber, John was the only brother. He was always the only brother. Why the Meleua always announced it like John was multiple people made no sense at all.

When the mini-doc started, John became extremely embarrassed. It was about him and Amber. He wondered how they made it so quickly. He had only been back on Gani for a month.

That the weekly recaps constantly showed an edited recording of John speaking to the Nanis Heiau and swearing to Amber was embarrassing enough, but that was nothing compared to this hammy mini-doc.

The actor playing John was far too short, nearly the same height as the woman playing Amber. And the pretend John said ridiculously corny things he would never say. Very ridiculous things. He was glad Hux and Marbrouk weren’t around to make fun of him.

The events depicted were modified beyond reason too. It started with John and Nine graduating First and Second in Class from Premier Grand Akua Koa Academy as bitter rivals and sworn enemies.

When called before the Nanis Heiau, both men were adamant they’d only accept Amber as their Alii. John said, “I don’t care if she cannot have sex. Just being near her is all the reward I need. Merely hearing her voice is like being awarded credits. The sight of her is like spending them.

“As I battled the demons, g’athu, and dark ones invading Terra as part of her subhuman kauwa, I knew there was a higher purpose for her. And myself. Then our saviors arrived to lift us up on high, and by embracing the Aikapu, we have both transcended the dirt and filth of our subhuman origins to become more. We are both now Peerless and stand above all others. I will be her Oli, and she my Alii. I feel as if the venerable Akua fated this to be.”

Nine supposedly fell deeply in love with Amber when he saw her interviewed by Cam Roderick, and he wanted to be only her Oli too.

Angered by the two Li refusing other offers, the Nani sent John and Nine to clean the filthy streets of Kotown in the city of Victor where they stumbled upon and foiled a terrorist plot hatched by an evil admiral of the Kaw’n Federation named Breaker of Rocks.

The terrorist plot was undone, but John and Nine were still kidnapped by the admiral and brought to Thecla to be executed in the arena. Some actual footage of arena battles was shown too, but not much, and John had no idea how they got it. He appreciated it though, as it gave him a chance to study himself in true combat and observe ways in which he could improve.

There was no Gnahad in the mini-doc. The evil admiral continued to be the main antagonist on Thecla. He became increasingly frustrated and unglued as John and Nine won more and more matches. The kaw’n would torture them for days after as punishment.

Nine never bought his freedom either. As John and Nine battled and suffered alongside one another as slaves of the evil admiral, the two squelched their rivalry and became fast friends. Both Li tried to escape together but John sacrificed himself so Nine could get away and warn the Peerless.

John struggled on by himself, barely managing to survive each match and only doing so due to all he had learned at Premier Grand Akua Koa Academy, the top Li academy.

But the evil admiral finally managed to set up matches John had no chance of surviving. That’s when Kauwa Mara Pi with its new Oliua swooped in to save the day, narrowly escaping with John in tow. Amber was played by the second most popular terran brought to Gani, the beautiful and large breasted Brandi.

Admiral Breaker of Rocks was furious that his evil plans had been foiled again by the Peerless. He went to his grand estate and got on his knees to pray. “Great Kazthun, the Peerless have thwarted us subhumans again. They are too superior. They can’t be stopped.”

Kazthun appeared and said, “Worry not. Soon I will be summoned to the planet Isb, and I will crush the Peerless Empire. Then I will return rightful rule of this sector over to you subhumans. Nothing will stand in our way.” The admiral and Kazthun laughed evilly together.

Back on the ship, Amber was reading the Aikapu when the giant ghost of the horned Akua appeared to her. He told her that the evil g’athu Kazthun was close to being summoned on the Tech 0 planet Isb.

If she was summoned successfully, Kazthun would destroy all Akua’s beloved children and the mighty empire he founded.

Amber called the members of her kauwa together. Once a message was sent ahead warning the empire, her ship changed course and headed to Isb at breakneck speeds.

The kauwa planning how to invade isb for free was the most accurate scene in the whole mini-doc, though it made John look foolish since it hinged on his inability to calculate a correct path free of the planet’s gravity. The Meleua even asked to see his Alii’s chest exposed after he came up with the new plan, except in the mini-doc, Amber agreed, though her exposed chest wasn’t shown.

How the conquering of Isb went was not accurate at all. Admiral Breaker of Rocks somehow appeared on the planet too. John somehow joined with the ghost of Akua to defeat Kazthun. The admiral narrowly escaped again, laughing evilly as he did so.

Even though the actual footage was shown every week during the recaps, the recreated scenes of John standing defiantly before the Nanis Heiau were changed beyond recognition to be far hammier and more dramatic.

All in all, the whole thing was ridiculous and terribly humiliating. John’s face was beet red with embarrassment from beginning to end.

That the actor playing John stood the same height as Brandi bothered him a tremendous amount. He stood much higher than Amber when she was in her human form. He had never seen Brandi in person, but he was certain he stood much higher than she did too. It was ridiculous and very insulting.

If John had real guard duty in a city, he’d be exempt from watching the screens. The CSL somehow knew if he really watched or not and would inform the officers of his kauwa if he didn’t, and every other member of Kauwa Mara Pi was an officer.

There weren’t any hard rules about it, but Amber having only one Oli in her kauwa looked suspicious. She had made offers to purchase more but did so very strategically. She wanted Nine as her Oliua for more reasons than him being John’s friend.

Nine was only a seven-one. It was rare for an Oliua to be below an eight-one, but since Nine was so powerful comparatively and a former Kahaka like Amber and John, no one thought it was suspicious.

Since the kauwa was supposed to be made up of only heavy hitters capable of taking on and surviving very tough and unique missions, Amber had only been making offers to exceptional Oli.

Regardless of how attractive they found Amber, younger Oli were not interested in the modified reward they’d have to agree to, and the Crazy Day prices for other Alii wasn’t a good enough incentive to change their minds. She avoided making offers to Oli with strange kinks in their file too.

A lot of older Oli didn’t mind that Amber couldn’t give the usual reward. These men had long lost their desire and only fathered children out of a sense of duty to their empire. But all these men were Oliua. They either wouldn’t accept a lesser position or were unwilling to serve under such a low-tier Oliua.

When Amber told John she had thought of everything, he didn’t really believe her. Now, he was just proud at how smart his wife was. And he hoped everyone would keep refusing, at least until his kauwa was deployed for its first mission.

The Meleua had previously been assigned more interesting CQ duties than this one, but not much more interesting. Being stationed on Gani and waiting for deployment was boring. But they had to wait.

John’s first night as an Oli and an official member of Kauwa Mara Pi hadn’t been boring, but once he spent those five credits Amber awarded to him on her, his wife became open game. So, he spent a lot more on her. The whole ordeal, what he and his wife had to do, and that it was recorded for highlights, made him feel embarrassed and filled him with shame.

The Nani wanted only the main Mele that had come up with the way to make Amber’s eggs viable and artificially inseminate her to perform the procedure. Amber hadn’t known he was deployed before John spent his credits. After a month of waiting, the Mele had just returned to Gani yesterday. Amber was being inseminated with all four of John’s children at that moment.

Amber had real highlights now John truly hated seeing. He hated that others saw them too, but that was the least of his shame.

Amber’s plan of having John’s children placed in her and then immediately escaping the Peerless hadn’t worked out as it was supposed to have, and it was killing John.

Besides the four children Amber was having put inside of her now, John was also slotted for the next four, though his wife would be far away from the Peerless by then.

The six children after John’s eight were slotted for her Meleua. He had a lot of credits banked since no Alii were willing to reward him in a way he could handle. Even after spending 30 credits for six children, he had many more and had been spending them on deuces.

And there were two additional children she was slotted for from two other Peerless – another Mele and an Oli.

Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of Peerless weren’t interested in spending credits and only getting Amber’s modified reward for them. Since she’d be so cheap during Crazy Days, maybe that would change. He was glad he’d never find out.

John was also thankful Nine hadn’t earned enough credits yet to further cuckold him. But three men other than her husband had watched Amber do what was only for him to see.

John had failed as a husband already. It was intolerable.

But John had to tolerate it. He would be a father again. Very soon, his wife would be far away from the Peerless. He was strong. He would grow stronger. He would come back and destroy them.

After spending so long with and pretending to be a Peerless, John’s plan had somewhat changed. Individually, he thought most Peerless were decent.

Like most people born into a culture and society, the Peerless just went along with how things were. They blindly accepted what they were taught as being right. Most people of every culture and society did the same.

John was no different. He questioned nothing about the culture and society of the people he was born into for a very long time. If he had a normal lifespan, he would’ve died never questioning it.

John’s own father slayed John’s mother and his siblings. His father truly believed he was doing a necessary thing, the right thing, and saving his wives and children from suffering and dishonor at the hands of enemies, just as John did at the time.

After reasoning it through, John just wanted to destroy the Peerless ideology and culture. Mainly.

John disliked the people of Earth – his own people. He thought they were weak and had grown to be far too sheeplike and obedient. But they were his people, and he was of them, so what was done to them reflected on him, and he would not have it. He had made oaths, and he would keep his oaths.

A great deal of the Peerless would have to be slaughtered to avenge Earth, and a good deal more to keep his oath to the ch’ran girl he had executed, but he no longer wanted to wipe his enemies out completely. The last time he did something like that was at the behest of his Lilitu and her lies about the people of Shekem. He had grown a lot since then.

Once John ended the Peerless and made them live in a normal society again, he’d return to Earth and shape his own people in his image. They would be strong. They would be warriors that stood both fell and tall. They would not be so weak, obedient, and sheeplike.

Ideally, John would get Amber and his future kids to safety, get stronger, win the contest of wills against Betrayal, get stronger still, then come back and fulfill his oath in a straight up fight.

In reality, John knew he had little chance of winning a contest of wills against Betrayal, so he had other plans too.

Since Betrayal never gave John a time limit, he could stay at peak Platinum for as long as he wanted. After ensuring his wife and children were and would remain safe, returning to lead the Oli in revolt wouldn’t be easy, but it wouldn’t be impossible either. He could lie and say the ship had been destroyed and he was the only survivor. Or something like that.

The structure the Peerless set up was ingenious. The most effective ways John could think of to lead the Oli in rebellion and fix their society wouldn’t work. The Alii’s system had no real holes.

On average, Oli were far more intelligent than humans. Everyone knew the more intelligent the dog, the easier it was to train. The same was as true for Peerless as it was for humans and dogs. The trained had a stake in believing in the lies they were trained to believe in. Their status, their power, their rewards were all dependent on ignoring the truth and continuing to swallow those lies.

John had some ideas to turn this training against the trained. Many. But none were great. For one idea, there just weren’t enough women for it to work. But if his good ideas didn’t work, there were other ways. If none of them worked, Betrayal had promised John a boon or two, depending. In the end, he would win and defeat his enemies. Somehow. He was certain of this fact. Oaths of vengeance were the most sacred of oaths.

Amber would understand. She had to. She knew how John was before she accepted him as a husband, and no reasonable woman would marry a strong man and then expect him to be a weakling without honor that let his world be conquered without doing anything about it.

Except John had a strong suspicion Amber wouldn’t understand. She’d want to get away from the Peerless and never look back. She’d have no care about avenging what her enemies had done to her or the people of Earth. Her own people. He suspected she’d want her husband to be a coward that ran from his sacred obligations.

How anyone could think like that would never make any sense to John. Vengeance was and always would be a key principle of any strong person or society. It was just a basic truth of life. When hit, hit back harder. An eye for an eye wasn’t the way. A life for an eye was. Enemies had to pay dearly for every transgression.

And the notes tab of the NCS made keeping score an easy thing. John looked at all the crossed-out names on his list. He was winning.