Sora walked through the streets without noticing the shadow figure that was following him closely.
After taking some turns, he arrived at the library.
He quickly chose a spot to put his things and went for a monster's encyclopedia.
Heller looked at the place where Sora was heading and messaged the other three people. After some seconds, he saw a foreign-looking woman, she seemed to be European, entered the library too.
Heller felt that something was amiss with that person, but couldn't pinpoint what was bothering him about her. He entered the library and sat on a spot that hid him from the eyes of Sora.
After some minutes of watching Sora read the book and seeing him making some notes in his notebook, Heller noticed someone sitting next to him.
"Does he only came to read? He is kind of boring," Finn said while "looking" at his screen and "checking" his stat points.
He hadn't used them after leveling up three weeks ago.
Heller looked at him speechless. He knew perfectly that Finn always tried to find time to read his books while he tried every time to pull him out of his room when they were still living at the orphanage.
"What? I just wanted to say something about his sudden trip to the library. Remember he went just yesterday to borrow some books for at least three days," Finn said quietly.
Heller slowly and simply nodded his head. He couldn't but exhaled a long sigh.
"Look! Someone is approaching the kid!" Finn whispered to Heller, "It is a beautiful lady!"
Heller looked up and saw that the lady that Finn was talking about was the same one that entered the library before him. They waited and watched in silence, after some seconds the lady left alone Sora, she likely asked him something and Sora gave her an answer.
*********
Sora was reading his book when suddenly he got a message from Sylgard.
######
Sylgard: We have arrived, Master. However, two hunters are currently watching you from a blind spot where you are located. Julieth will get close to ask you a question, so she can be sure who she is meeting with. This way it will be less suspicious.
Sora: Thanks for the information Sylgard, I'll try to find a way to lose them to talk with her.
Sylgard: Yes, Master.
######
At first, Sora thought it was his mind playing tricks, but after Sylgard's message, he was sure that someone was following him since he left the orphanage.
He began to trace the map of the library in his mind. After a year of visiting it, he finally gathered enough information to imagine a little map inside his head. He remembered that there was a Skill named cartography that could be useful for him once he began to build more and more dungeons.
Suddenly, a beautiful lady with dark red hair approached him.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for the owner, could you tell me where he is located?" The lady asked slowly. Her voice was nice to hear, but there was a coldness that was difficult to feel, but Sora didn't miss it.
"You are looking in the right direction. However, I have some unwelcome guests following me, we'll talk at the tables upstairs," Sora stopped reading his room and signaled her where to go.
"Thank you, you are a good boy," The red-haired lady smiled. Her smile was a charming one. But Sora saw her unnatural large canines.
She left in the direction he told her.
After she left, Sora found that he was able to notice the monster's features so he didn't get cheat by them. He felt that this was the doing of the System and his ~Observation~.
"Well, it's time to give them a big surprise..." Sora put his things inside his old backpack and returned the book to its shelf.
Then, he went towards Heller and Finn who were trying to feign ignorance.
"Hi, Heller! Hi, Finn! You came too to the library!" Sora greeted them with a slight smile on his face.
For some reason, Heller and Finn felt that something was amiss with the way Sora was smiling at them, but they returned the greeting with a smile again.
"Oh, yes. We got some free time from the guild and I thought of having time to read, Heller wanted to make me company," Finn quickly said the excuse they were going to use if for some reason Sora noticed them.
"Yes! That's right! You know how much he loved to read books so he usually forgets to watch the time. Talking about time," Heller looked at his watch like he was in a hurry, "WE are almost late! Finn, let's go. Rose is going to kill us if we are late again!" Heller seemed to recall something which made Finn paled.
At first, it was all an act, but it quickly went to reality when they remembered that the guild was going to announce some important news about the event, and they needed to be present.
"I see... Well, in that case, I hope that Rose doesn't kill you!" Sora continued to smile.
Heller and Finn felt... goosebumps?
They quickly left the library and went to the headquarters of their guild. After the announcement was made and they reunited with Rose and Jin, they finally caught what was bothering them about Sora that morning: he was smiling.
*********
Back at the library...
Sora looked at the two departing men and simply sighed. He was sure that he gave them a fright with his smiling face, but he couldn't help but feel sad and dejected because of the need of his family to spy on him for everything he did. Of course, he could understand their distrust, especially after the news revealed that a year ago, hunters were witnesses of a monster that could talk with humans, and now they found a similar one a week ago.
He knew that they suspect him of being a monster after the accident a year ago, but he couldn't hide the fact that he indeed changed.
Sora went upstairs and saw the red-haired lady sipping a glass of red "wine". He knew that she wasn't drinking wine.
"Lady Lendigtron, good to see you," Sora greeted her without a smile.
"You must be The Master those shadows were talking about, you are younger than what I imagined," Julieth looked at him from up to down. Her gaze gave him chills, but he tried to hide it.
Julieth was a bit surprise and displease after Arkon and Sylgard told her that that kid was their master. She felt that they were kidding. Her defensive stance quickly disappeared and was replaced by a sense of superiority.
She couldn't imagine that an eleven-year-kid was the boss behind those two dangerous shadows. Julieth observed him for some time: Black short hair, white skin but rosier than hers (more alive), big eyes but with a correct proportion with his delicate face. Nor thin nor thick eyebrows and long lashes that covered his dark brown eyes. His nose was perfect. His neck was a bit thin... he was thin for his age, but it seemed he wasn't anymore malnourished.
Julieth quickly changed her description of his neck to his whole body.
"Younger you say... Well, you aren't as I imagine a vampire was like. Your skin has a pale color that makes me think of recently dead people," Sora answered her with the same tone of arrogance.
Julieth was surprised by his sudden answer and, instead of getting angry with him, she smiled.
"Now I understand what does the title 'The Master' do to its owner," she continued smiling, but she began to show her fangs.
"You know about the title?" Sora's curiosity was picked instantly. He didn't notice the change that happened to Julieth.
Everything was too quickly for him to grasp the situation he was in.
Julieth attacked him but instantly, at the same she made her move, Sylgard covered Sora's body with hers while Arkon stopped Julieth.
"They are quite loyal to you," Julieth sat back and put up her hands in surrender to let know Arkon that she wasn't going to attack again.
Arkon looked at her for some time and then disappeared into Sora's shadow. Sylgard uncovered Sora's body but she stood next to him just in case the vampire tried to attack her Master again.
Sora was a bit stunned for a moment, but then he used ~Observation~ in Julieth.
He had some information about her, but he wanted to be sure that it was the same.
🐾🐾🐾
Name: Julieth Lendigtron
Level: 30
Age: ??? years
Species: Vampire
Title: King's Ambassador
Occupation: Assasin
🐾🐾🐾
Sora noticed quickly that her level changed. Also, he now knew her Title and Occupation.
"I want to know how you'll convince me that you are the one that wants our loyalty," Julieth entered her negotiating mode after the 'attack'.
"Convince you?" Sora was perplexed by the sudden change in the atmosphere.
"Yes, I can't go to my King and tell him that an eleven-year kid was the reason he sent one of his most trusted and capable warrior to the Earth," Julieth crossed her legs and took another sip of her glass.
"How can I prove to you that I'm that person?" Sora asked her while keeping her eyes locked.
"The myth says that The Master can order to anyone and even make the 'monsters' to bow to him. You can try it on me," Julieth was shocked that Sora could look her right into her eyes without problems.
At first, she thought that it was a prank of the Leader of the shadows and his second to make them, the vampires, leave their basement. But now, she felt that something was different with that boy's gaze.
Sora listened to her words in silence and began to think about what he could do. Then, he suddenly remembered one of his passive skills: Monster's Respect.
He quickly checked it and saw that the level had increased by four. A cold smile appeared on his face and he looked at Julieth.
"Alright, I'll 'convince' you".