Unbound Mantra Chapter 6 (Patreon)

Vivian's attentiveness, to say the least, was... Rather off-putting as I expected to be the one having to pursue the life of joy that was having a bit titty goth vampire mommy.

Still, I had to ask what was going to happen now. "So how are you feeling now? Do you need to borrow my cellphone to tell your family you are safe or anything?"

Vivian's face turned pale before she looked down and whispered. "Ah I am feeling well. Much better due to your blood in fact. But as for my family... I belong to an old clan, I would very much rather they believe I was lost in that battle." 

I drew a hand across my face. What the hell did that even mean? 

And after a moment of thought, I decided I needed to know what trouble Vivian was going to bring onto me lap if she stayed another night or something. "What do you mean you belong to an old clan is bad for you? And why would you pretend to be dead instead of going back? Won't your accounts be frozen as well?" 

Vivian's already pale face turned pained before she took a breath and said quietly. "The Romanov Vampire House, follows the Tepes clan in its conduct of its clan members. Dhampirs and women especially aren't allowed in any form of leadership position and are thought of as little better than slaves for the men of the clan." 

She then shrugged and said helplessly. "I am both a Dhampir and a woman. My bank accounts aren't linked to theirs in any way, either. They would just laugh at the thought of a dhampire and woman at that, making any amount of money or collecting resources they themselves would covet." 

There was a moment of silence as I processed that heavy ass response. 

And finally, after a long moment, I just shrugged helplessly. "Alrighty, roomie. You can lay low here for a month or something."

Vivian's head shot up, and she threw me a bright smile as she giggled happily as I went to go make one of those stromboli's that I sure as hell couldn't afford with the cost of living in LA on my own right now.

Once I got my food done and in hand. I went to my lone crappy couch and sat down with a sigh as I got comfortable.

And I just ate while Vivian leaned against the wall of the living room as she looked between me and the window she had broken when she got yeeted through my apartment.

Until finally she spoke curiously. "Jake... Why are you letting me stay here so easily? I am a vampire, and you are a human even without much strength or a Sacred Gear. Are you really so easy-going?"

And with zero fucking shame I said calmly. "Better to have a vampire roommate who pays the bills on time and might take a little nibble while I am sleeping. Compared to a psycho who may try to harvest my liver to pay for their student loans, they took for bullshit courses like gender studies and such." 

Vivian sniffed at my reply with a slight giggle escaping her before she said slowly. "Then... You just want an easy life then?" 

I paused as I held the stromboli to my lips, and I lowered it before I said thoughtfully. "I would very much prefer the easy life yes. But I don't want other's to be able to walk over me with impunity. I also want to be strong, I want to have nice things... But right now, that is out of my hands." 

I shrugged and said helplessly. "Even with a grade four cultivation method. It is difficult to say the least. Anyway, once I do get a foundation of strength, I can go ahead and do a lot more to make my life easier."

Vivian seemingly just looked over me again and seemed to find something new. Something... She definitely liked as she flushed placing a hand over on one cheek before she coughed to clear her throat.

"Anyway! Maybe I could help you train to get stronger Jake!" Vivian said excitedly.

My lips twitched as I couldn't help but tease her. "Didn't you just get folded by a bunch of werewolf bikers a couple of days ago?" 

Vivian hurriedly shook her head and said defensively. "Hey! That's not fair! Those mutts had an old chieftain from the old tribes! He is an old monster escorting his cubs to do dirty work he shoudn't be involved in at his level!"

And I just chuckled as I said cheaply. "Skill issue, you lost to an old ass biker furry." 

Which made Vivian puff up with an adorable pout before I said more nicely. "But yeah, Vivian, if you have any suggestions on how to train. I would appreciate it."

As my Mantra methods of gaining strength were... To put it bluntly, in rather bare bones. I needed to indulge heavily in any of the methods of the Mantra paths. In order to lay a path to the proper cultivation of this technique.

Diving headfirst into any of the emotional paths of Mantra would be... Dangerous as too much of one things could twist you obviously.

Vivian smiled at my question before she placed a finger to her lips and said thoughtfully. "Hmm, in that case, give me a bit! I can make a membership at one of the gyms, and I can help you train there." 

I raised an eyebrow as I knew those supernatural gyms where hella expensive as they were built in mind with destructive supernatural beings throwing their weight around quite literally.

So I asked with some actual concern. "Is... That too much? I don't want to be mooching off of you, Vivian."

And in response, she just waved and said casually. "Bah, if you aren't a millionaire after living for more than a century, you should just stake yourself and save yourself the trouble. Don't worry Jake, it's fine!"