I quickly realized that breaking a person's neck was not a simple matter as she tensed up after I twisted as far as I could as she lay on her back. The strain on her neck only caused her eyes to flutter open and her hands to reach up.
'This is nothing like in movies!'
I had a moment of panic that she might fully wake up and start struggling at which point I was not sure if I would be able to bring myself to continue. Nothing I could think of would do the job quickly and hearing groans of pain coming from her clenched teeth forced me to lunge forward at her already exposed neck with my fangs in the heat of the moment. It was not clean in any sense of the word as my fangs more ripped and tore the skin and flesh rather than merely pierced, hot blood gushing into my mouth and onto the floor. An unearthly scream rang in my ears and I felt sure my tears would start pouring but none came, making me feel more beast than human.
What happened next was a haze as my body and mind conflicted. The taste of blood was heavenly and I felt a sense of power coursing through my body, a sensation unlike any other I had ever felt. It made me crave for more and my body refused to let go even as I felt her desperate struggle to push me off weaken and eventually stop. I ultimately surrendered to my newfound instincts not wanting to think of what I was doing and continued to gorge myself until a massive hand wrapped around my neck and chest.
I immediately froze and felt myself being easily pulled up to my feet, feeling as weak and vulnerable as the woman I had just killed despite whatever it was that was giving me strength. I was quickly freed and felt relief when I saw the werewolf lean in to seemingly smell the woman's face. I realized it was checking her breath when a slow, wheezing inhalation escaped her bluish lips. Despite it telling me to do so, it had stopped me just before I killed her, and seeing her condition from afar I knew that she would not last much longer.
"Leave." It growled without looking my way and I did not give it a second thought.
I bolted out of the pantry and the house itself as fast as I could without actually running before breaking into a sprint as soon as I was outdoors. I did not stop and did not look back until I was back in the relative safety of the farmhouse and collapsed on the floor with heaving breaths.
As I sat to catch my breath I wanted to grieve and have regrets over what I had done but my relief over my freedom and survival overshadowed any remorse I may have had. Ever since stepping into that pantry, I was terrified of never leaving even if I had a chance to escape thanks to Qubit and my regenerative powers. The bloodcurdling screams of the dying woman echoed in my mind, causing me to imagine myself ending up in a position to utter those chilling cries of pain. That thought alone drove me to prioritize self-preservation over anything else. In my mind I felt like I was more akin to the beast now as, even though I was forced, I still allowed my instincts, both survival, and vampire, to take over all of my actions. What somewhat terrified me however was knowing that I would have done the same again if I knew it would leave me with an outcome where my safety was guaranteed. I worried that next time it might not be a complete stranger where I could detach myself and try to rationalize my actions.
'Would I do the same then?'
I quickly pushed the hypothetical situation out of my mind and forced myself onto my feet, worried about what conclusion I might come to.
I stumbled into the bedroom and collapsed once more onto the bed. I turned around and laid on my back, staring up at my left hand covered in dried blood. I wanted to sleep off the weariness I felt and hope some good fortune would come my way when I woke up but it was merely wishful thinking. The blood I drank seemed to have beaten off any physical drowsiness or exhaustion I may have otherwise had, with the fatigue from my run already fading, and feeling unnaturally alert of my surroundings as I felt like my senses were picking up details far finer than I would normally bother to examine. The details of my hand that I could see even in the darkness were somewhat fascinating, of which I was glad to get my mind off of the dying woman who might have already passed, and I wondered what exactly I could do as a vampire. They have always been depicted with varying powers and superhuman abilities some of which I have somewhat experienced with my regeneration and dark vision. Turning into bats was a common trope but I was not sure how useful that would be to me right now. At the same time, I felt like it was not something I could do as other common takes on vampires prevented them from crossing running water or entering houses without permission, both of which I had done on numerous occasions. I was honestly not too familiar with vampire works and obviously did not have access to any right now but if I could figure out what I was now capable of, if anything, then I might be able to become stronger to not only defend myself but prevent anyone from forcing me to do anything. Of course, this would only be useful if I ever run into more messed up situations such as this, which I dearly hope not, but being what I am along with the mystery of Qubit's origin being prepared for anything might be for the best. That was when I remembered one of the windows Qubit had shown me, who had laid down on the bed with me.
"Can you show me that, uh, potential page you showed me?" I asked and received the enigmatic rankings listed next to the bluish humanoid outline.
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Physical Capabilities (Current (Temporary) / Potential)
Strength: 10B (10B-High) / 9B-High
Speed: 10A-Low / 9A
Constitution: 9C-High (9B-Low) / 7C-Low
Reflex: 9C-Low (9C) / 4C-High
Intellect: 10A / 1B-High
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I was surprised by the new values displayed as temporary and could guess they stemmed from drinking blood. I was immensely glad of this addition as it revealed the progression of the ranks. Considering I felt strong but not superhuman nor felt any faster my guess is that a ranking of ten was around the level of a human. My constitution, which probably depicted my regeneration, and the reflex, which I could only assume included my dark vision, were definitely much better than normally possible. Supporting my theory of the latter was also the fact that my vision did feel better now coinciding with the temporary boost. The letter seems to go from 'C' to 'A' and can only assume divides the spectrum of the number. It is possible it goes further than 'C' but considering that my senses did not seem superhuman besides my dark vision my reflex must be at the very bottom of what I will dub the superhuman category. The letter seems to be further divided into a low to high ranking which I am guessing do not exhibit an exorbitant change where the letter might be a more noticeable milestone as otherwise there should not be a need to divide them as much. There was only one way to test my theory and that was to test out my new constitution versus what it usually is but I had no desire for self-injury. Strength seems like it would be the most straightforward to both advance and test with given enough time but I did not need to know the specifics right now. What interested me was the listed potential, all of which was significantly higher if ten really was the human limit at which I was still mostly at.
The strength and speed interested me most at the moment and wondered what the score for the werewolf would be to compare with my potential. I could not imagine what sort of training I would need to do to what I assume is become faster and stronger than any human can naturally and felt daunted that I would most likely never reach that level. I was sure that the closer to the peak I got the harder would be to progress and I was never one for excessive exercise or peak performance.
Constitution and reflex gave me a bit of confusion on how to improve especially as their potential was significantly higher. With a high ceiling, I would hope that improvement will not be too difficult if I could figure out how. I merely hope that constitution does not include injuring myself but perhaps might be linked with stamina. I wondered however if for reflex I might need to block off one of my senses to practice using others. It would definitely be worth a shot at least.
Finally, there was the intellect potential for which I honestly had no words as I did not even have a clue what exactly it signified. It was flattering for it to be so high but could not even fathom what it actually meant I would be able to do. Whether it was like that because I was a vampire I was unsure and made me wonder if some of the others were possible potentials for humans that simply were never reached or were and I am overestimating what an improvement in the number meant. Whatever the case, that was a potential I had even more doubt I would ever reach than even the physical ones, if only for the sheer gap from where I was currently.
"Qubit, could you tell me anything about these rankings?" An immediate no flashed in my peripherals.
'Right. Now I really want to unlock whatever secrets are hidden.'
for the longest time, I simply stared at the holographic screen trying to keep my mind as empty as I can. It was not wholly successful and instead sought something else to occupy my thoughts. Instead of the screen, I focused on myself and each of my senses individually. As I went through them one by one, I once again felt that odd, otherworldly power within me, which I could only describe as strength coursing through me but not of the physical kind. It was a new, foreign sense the purpose of which I could not figure out outside of informing me something was enhancing my body in unnatural ways. I could somewhat feel this energy coalesce wherever I flexed my muscles, reinforcing my strength and in return diminishing slightly until a relaxed again. It was not a flow but rather an inflation where it was being used while it deflated in others. It seemed to automatically be spent where it can regardless of if I want it to and I had no way to influence the amount. I ended up playing around with this new sensation in my body where I flexed various muscles to get an understanding of how it functioned.
I was unsure how long this went on for but I eventually heard birds chirping and saw the far side of the house lighting up from the broken down entrance. Only after I stopped focusing did I notice that not only was my body sore but I felt tired and the holographic screen still displayed above me no longer showed any temporary increases. I felt like I was a step closer to understanding and uncovering the secrets of my new body, which not only left me satisfied but also with a sense of accomplishment that did not die down until I fell into my trance like sleep.