บท 6: Vampire

"A vampire? Like those edgy bloodsuckers from stories and games?"

"Yes."

Lucian looked at his reflection.

While outwardly he wasn't much different from before, her could feel changes in his body.

For one, he felt more… Complete.

It was as if was a puzzle missing a piece before.

Now that he had that last 'piece' he was finally whole.

Furthermore, he felt more alive than ever before.

He touched the mirror in front of him.

"Aren't vampires supposed to have no reflections? Yet I can see mine so clearly…"

"Not everything you hear on the internet is correct."

Lucian looked at Alecia with a deadpan expression.

'No shit sherlock.'

"Hmm if I really am a vampire now, I should find out any weaknesses that I may possess. Who knows? I might even find a way to turn back to normal."

The instant those words came out of his mouth, the blood inside Lucian seemed to react angrily.

As if it didn't want to separate from him.

*Ding*

A new rectangular box appeared before Lucian.

[New Quest Initiated]

[Quest: Drink Blood]

Quest Completion Requirements:

- Drink 100% of a mortal's blood.

Quest Duration:

- 24 Hours

Quest Completion Rewards:

- Victim's Ability (Warning: currently does not work on victims with abilities greater than E-rank)

Quest Fail Punishment:

- Death

"What is this? This looks like some kind of videogame…"

Lucian had played his fair share of games as a child.

Being the heir to a company as great as SanguineCorp, growing up he had his pick of toys and games.

He played many Leveling-based RPG games in the past, so this wasn't too new for him.

"So I need to drink someone's blood? Moreover 100%... Doesn't that just mean I need to kill them?"

Lucian had never killed anyone before, so he was reasonably shocked after reading the message.

However, he wasn't that against killing, viewing it as a natural part of the world.

Continuing to read through the quest box, he saw something that he couldn't believe.

Even resorting to re-reading it several times just to make sure he had the right information.

"Wait… I can steal people's powers? Do powers even work that way?" Hmm… It also seems that I'm going to die if I don't do it."

Lucian didn't want to blindly trust the words of a floating hologram only he could see, but if there was any threat to his life, he didn't want to risk it.

Moreover, he could use this…

Maybe this was just a blessing in disguise?

If he could use this strength to reclaim his family's company, he would do it.

All he needed to do was kill a few people with strong powers, and he'd become stronger himself!

Lucian looked into his reflection in the mirror, while a toothy grin formed on his face, exposing his enlarged fangs.

His red eyes glowed eerily with delight.

"It's time to feed!"

***

Lucian drove out of Golden Peak, heading towards one of the more urban parts of the city.

Letting Alecia take over driving his car, Lucian started exploring his new system.

After experimenting for a few minutes, he found out that muttering 'Status' would let him see some kind of in-game character stat list.

The only difference was that it showed him his stats in real-time.

"Status"

[Status Information]

Name: Lucian Sanguinis

Age: 15 years old

Race: Vampire

Lv.1

EXP: 0/100

HP: 25/25

STA: 12/13

ABILITY ENERGY: 15/15

THIRST: 36/50 (Gain one point in thirst every 30 minutes. WARNING: DO NOT LET THIRST REACH THE MAXIMUM VALUE)

DEF: 9

SPD: 16

STR: 14

CHAR: 25

____________________________________________________________________________________

Abilities:

Plunder Lv.1

Ability Description: Steal the abilities of anyone whose blood you completely drink. (Currently can not steal abilities that surpass E-rank.)

Ability Slots: 0/5

____________________________________________________________________________________

Titles: Prince of the Night

Title Description: ???

____________________________________________________________________________________

Skills:

- Blood Claw Lv.1

Skill Description: Coat your claws with a cover of blood, amplifying damage from slashing and piercing with your claws. (Warning: Will consume your own blood if not covering your claws in the blood of others before using this skill. Using your own blood will reduce HP.)

________________________________

- Charm Lv.1

Skill Description: Charm your target into becoming a slave to your will. The effectiveness of this skill depends on the level of your charisma.

________________________________

- Highspeed Regeneration Lv.1

Skill Description: Passively increase the rate of natural regeneration significantly, but increases THIRST.

____________________________________________________________________________________

"There's a levelling system… It's really just like a videogame!"

Lucian's inner gamer was thrilled at the revelation.

He was fascinated by the idea of living your life as if you were in a videogame, even wondering if some people had powers like that.

Sadly no matter how much he searched he couldn't find another person with this unique power, making Lucian one of a kind.

Lucian recognized some of these abbreviations, but not all of them.

"Lv stands for level, Exp stands for experience, HP and STA stand for hit points and stamina respectively, ability energy probably means energy to use my ability, but what does 'Thirst' mean? Is it how thirsty I am for human blood? I am a vampire after all?"

"Also… I can't let it hit the max value? What would happen to me if that occurred? Would I die from starvation?"

Lucian wished these kinds of things came with a user manual.

Most games he played had some kind of tutorial option, but that sadly didn't seem to be the case here.

"Def probably stands for defence, while SPD, STR and CHAR probably stand for speed, strength and character? Or is it charisma?"

Lucian didn't feel like the system would be quantifying his character as a human, so he was leaning on the latter.

He turned his eyes to the ability section.

"So I can steal up to 5 people's abilities? But it seems that the abilities need to be only E-rank and below."

Lucian's smile curved up into an icy grin.

"Having 5 abilities… There are people with multiple abilities, but none with more than 3. Even if all of the abilities are E-rank, having 5 different abilities would make me far stronger! But, where did my main ability go?"

Lucian looked over the abilities section numerous times, but he couldn't find it.

"Welp, I can just find another ability like it later on."

Lucian moved his attention to the title section, "What does 'Prince Of The Night' even mean? That name's so edgy that makes me want to cringe."

Sadly, there was no other information available about the title forcing Lucian to simply move on and worry about it later.

Finally, Lucian turned his attention to the last section of his status page, the skill page.

"Blood Claw, Charm, and… Highspeed Regeneration?"

Lucian looked at the last skill with a look of disbelief.

After all, that wasn't a skill, but an ability.

Namely, Lucian's F-rank ability!

"Wait… Why is my ability here? Also… Why does using it require me to drink blood now?"