Rakna looked on with an unusually serious look as Allan stood at the center of the crater, waiting for the Trial to start.
"What's wrong?" Higure asked, leaning awfully close to his side.
The therian's mouth twitched. 'She's doing it on purpose,' he thought wryly whilst glancing at the lioness' grin. He sighed. "I'm thinking about something," he said. "Don't you remember what kind of Path he has?"
"Oh…" Higure exclaimed, switching to a less frivolous tone. "If you're mentioning that now, does that mean you sensed something?"
"Yes and no. I took a peek at his status with Crystal Sight," Rakna said whilst watching the clouds swirl. "His race has changed."
"What?" Marie uttered in alarm. "What do you mean? I haven't noticed anything different."
"Neither did I at first. The only reason I used Crystal Sight on him was that Sonata had been acting up ever since he finished his Path Quest," the therian said with his hand on his scarf.
"Sonata?" Flavia asked in confusion. "How so?"
"Remember how I asked each of you for a drop of blood a while back?" Rakna replied and they all nodded. "Sonata has essentially locked onto your blood and can now track you down. But now, the 'signature' of Allan's blood has changed and Sonata noticed it."
"Are you saying his transformation into a creature of the Abyss has already started?" Higure asked with a somber frown. "What race did he change into? At this point, we can only hope it's something along the lines of a vampire. That's manageable. And since he doesn't seem any different, it seems we still have time to handle the transformation."
Rakna unexpectedly smiled at her words. At the same time, the meteor emerged from the clouds, and the topic of their discussion was looking at his clenched hand with a serious face.
"I don't think we'll need to be too cautious," Rakna stated and pointed at the blond.
Everyone focused on Allan who was straining his neck to stare at the meteorite, his arms not even raised in any form of stance. That didn't change even as it was getting dangerously close.
"What is he doing?" Evelyn asked worriedly.
Meanwhile, Natsu hummed and looked at Rakna. "My Lord, if you already know, what is the exact name of the Abyss Race he turned into?"
The therian snorted. "I didn't know what it was until I saw it today but maybe some of you do. The words written on his status are exactly this; 'Ichubyr Vapiria'."
"Oh, I see, Ichubyr…" Higure stopped herself and twitched. "Sorry, what?!"
"{Excuse me, what?!}" Fray echoed her.
"Allan!" Marie yelled right after and everyone saw the meteor finally crashing. In their eyes, there was only a split second where they could see the blond's immobile figure before it was swallowed by an explosion.
The barrier of the Trial confined everything to a limited radius and thus it was filled up with flames climbing upward and numerous rocks firing off in all directions.
"{The Ichubyr Vapirias are hailed as Ancestors among vampiric races,}" Fray started explaining as the blast reached its peak. "{But they are quite different from the true Ancestors widely known as Ambrogio and Vlad Dracula Tepes. Their name is derived from the reputation they gained as the Ichor Vampires; the bats that feed on the blood of Gods.}"
The flames eventually died down and before the dust could even settle, the clearing notification of the Trial rang. Higure smirked as she saw a silhouette through the cloud. "Hey, Devourer, since you used those eyes, then you should know, right?" She said and he calmly eyed her.
The dust fully settled and the silhouette was revealed. It was nearly four meters tall, bulging with muscle mass. It had dark skin and short black fur concentrated around the upper body, specifically around the neck like a lion mane.
It had wide and vertical ears, a short muzzle that was slightly pushed in but elongated like a canine, and intimidating rows of fangs, sharp and long. Its legs were bent forward as if ready to jump and, on its back, protruded a pair of translucent and reddish wings; just like a bat.
Amidst the destroyed environment, it was standing perfectly upright, its unicolor red eyes focused on nothing but the front, and smoke emitting from its body. It seemingly had survived the meteor impact with no injury whatsoever.
"Ichubyrs… are also called werebats," Higure grinned. "Hahaha, so we've got a third shapeshifter on our hands, huh?"
Rakna snorted and as soon as the Trial's barrier was down, Allan, now in the form of a humanoid bat, flapped his wings and swiftly landed next to the group. He silently looked at everyone with an unreadable gaze and after a short awkward silence, the werebat grunted.
"Um, I've got a problem. I don't know how to return to normal…" He muttered with a deeper tone of voice. "Also, I'm hearing a weird whistling and it's annoying the shit out of me… what do I do?"
"…"
"Oi, don't just look at me like that."
"…use your--"
"I swear to god, Rak, if you say 'instinct', I'm gonna punch you."
⠀
* * *
⠀
After five minutes spent trying to shrink his body back, Allan finally succeeded and patted himself in relief. "Thank God, I almost thought I was going to be stuck like that…"
"Sure, but put some clothes on now," Rakna deadpanned while almost everyone else had turned around when they realized the blond had lost his clothes in the process of his transformation.
"Oh, right. I didn't even think of that," he replied whilst wearing a change of clothes from his spatial ring. "Honestly, after seeing you transform so many times, I forgot it was a thing."
"Well, Allegro does automatically fit my werewolf form. But you can just ask your AI from now on to program the automatic action of storing your clothes whenever you transform."
"I guess I'll do that. Thanks," Allan nodded and anxiously glanced at Higure, who had not bothered looking away, and was now staring at him. "Um, something wrong?"
"Hm," the lioness hummed and alternated between him and Rakna. Then she made an exaggerated sigh whilst shaking her head.
"Hey, what the hell?!" Allan shouted. "What is that supposed to mean?!"
"Well, you really cannot compare to my Devourer's body after all," Higure casually said.
"…I don't even want to respond to that."
"More importantly," Marie spoke up with her arms crossed. "How do you feel? Do you have urges to kill or drink blood?"
Allan sweatdropped. "Come on, if I had those, I would have probably instantly told you. I'd be way too scared to be on the opposing end of Rak if I ever lost control or something."
"Haha, that's a very wise judgment," Higure chuckled. "But there is no need to worry. From what I know of Ichubyrs, they have a much tamer hunger. However, they are extremely attracted to holy or divine blood. Let's see; do you feel anything when you look at Nyx?" She asked and Allan glanced at the former goddess before shaking his head.
"No, nothing. I also was worried about that at first but it didn't happen."
"Is it because my divinity is low at the moment…?" Nyx tilted her head. "No, that shouldn't be the case. I have heard of your kind before; outside the System. When it comes to my 'ichor', I should be leagues above most Gods, even in my current state."
"{It's more likely that his conversion into a creature of the Abyss isn't complete yet,}" Fray butted into the conversation. "{Presumably, the change has yet to fully occur. For example, the color of your eyes, or the shape of your teeth, hasn't changed in your human form. If I had to guess, I would say that the more Path Quests you complete, the more you'll transform.}"
"That's what I figured as well," Allan shrugged. "Also, if I trust what the System is telling me, there should be no problem for me to feed on animal blood if needed. So, I guess I got lucky. I could have turned into a race much harder to satiate."
"That does intrigue me a bit," Higure remarked. "How did you even turn into an Ichubyr? That's not something you can transform into just by random luck. We're talking about a creature capable of being classified as Legendary such as me or the Nine-Tailed. It's not a typical occurrence."
"How the fuck am I supposed to know?" Allan shot back with a blank stare and she blinked.
"Uh… fair enough."
"What did you do for your Path Quest?" Rakna asked. "Maybe that can help."
The blond stiffened and rubbed the back of his neck. "My Quest…" He sighed. "Basically, I became a sort of Vampire Hunter in the scenario. It started with me encountering a little girl and it didn't take long for me to notice that she was a vampire. But most importantly… I also was one."
"So, the Quest changed your race before you even cleared it," Higure mused.
"After that, I followed the girl to something she called a 'banquet'. I honestly expected what it was before I even got there, but that didn't help me prepare at all. It was some sort of celebration full of vampires, drinking on the blood of hypnotized humans. Some were already dead too. When we arrived, the girl that I had been following nonchalantly joined in. I'm not going to lie, I was rooted on the spot," he said with a strained smile and Marie softly grabbed his hand.
"…did you attack them?" Rakna asked.
"Hah, as if I could. There were too many of them, so I could only clench my fists and hold it in. But that's not the worst part; I actually felt thirsty. The smell of blood was damn near-intoxicating."
Everyone fell silent at that. They could hear the sheer struggle in his voice. They didn't need any further details to understand what he must have felt.
"{What did you do?}" Everyone heard Fray ask. "{From my own experience, and the testimony of other Hosts, Quests like the one you had are tests. They influence your growth; the style, you could say, of your future abilities. If you had succumbed to the urges, you might have turned into a Thrall, a Ghoul, or a low-rank vampire.}"
Allan snickered at that and they looked at him. "What did I do? Nothing. It's not like Simulations have time limits. I could have stayed for as long as I wanted if I never accomplished anything."
"Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"I didn't move," the blond said with a sigh. "For two whole months, I did nothing but stand there where that girl had left me off. Day and night. Whether vampires or humans came to talk to me, I did nothing. I felt like if I moved even just an inch, I would lose control."
"I just endured the burn of the sun and fought the bloodthirst by channeling my Intent and internal force until I could perfectly control myself. I guess vampires are strong enough to survive that long without food," he uttered nonchalantly.
Higure scowled. "That would require inhuman amounts of willpower. How did you cope?"
This time, it was Rakna who let out a chuckle in his friend's stead. "This guy might be an idiot, but do not underestimate his mental fortitude."
Allan smiled wryly. "Thanks for the compliment, I guess," he said and glanced at the lioness. "This was nothing for me compared to the days where I would spend weeks without eating when I was not even ten years old. There's no better way to shape your mind than controlling your hunger for years on end. That's just what it means to be an orphan on the streets. I owe it to the old master and Rak for pulling me out of there."
"…"
Marie held his hand tighter but maintained her calm expression. "What… what did you do after completely reigning in the thirst for blood?" She asked to change subjects and he chuckled.
"Simple, I hunted them down during the day. One by one. Then when I got to the last and strongest vampire in the scenario city, I purposefully drank his blood. It was the only thing I could come up with to take revenge for all those people they killed. I gave them a taste of their own medicine."
"{I see…}" Fray's musing hum sounded. "{Admirable. That is why you got that race… Not only did you refuse to bow to the vampiric instincts, but you also defeated them. Furthermore, you drank the blood of your strongest target; an act that resembles the Ichubyrs in their proud hunt for the highest quality of prey.}"
"Well, honestly, at the end of the day, I'm kinda happy," Allan added chirpily. "Those two months were super useful to me. I advanced my Intent Control quite a lot and although I still have no idea how to use soul power, that Ki Foundation technique from Fray's library is quite nice."
"In summary, we don't have to worry about you anymore. Good to know," Rakna casually closed the discussion, and everyone almost face-faulted. "All right, who is going next?"
"Hey, Rak!" The newly born Ichubyr snapped in mock annoyance. "Don't brush off my struggles like that!"
"Don't worry, it's not like I don't care about it. But you took a bit too long to explain and we don't have all day," the therian retorted dryly, but there was a small curve in the corner of his lips.
"That's the same thing!" Allan promptly retorted but he also had a grin on his face. The rest of the group caught on to what was happening and smiled now that the mood had been cleared.