Standing at 6 meters tall in a small clearing with a waterfall was an eye-catching Hellephant.
Hellephants were rare Class 3 magic beasts that were as dangerous as they were majestic. Deep purple skin littered with runic like markings covered the Hellephant's muscular body. Massive onyx colored tusks jutted out 10 meters near the elephant's spike lined trunk.
Lucy recalled from Amara's fragmented memories that the magic beasts of Aleria were arranged from classes 1 to 7 and that the class of a magic beast showcased it's potential and inherent species advantage. A magic beast's power level on the other hand was gauged by it's rank which was ordered from Rank I through Rank VIII and further divided into beginning, middle and peak stages.
Hellephants were coveted magic beasts of war that could wipe out an entire battalion on their own. In addition to their dangerous tusks and powerful trunk the Hellephant possessed three sets of stout and powerful legs as well as an annoying fireball shooting ability.
This and much more scenes of the beasts in action played out in Amara's memories as Lucy watched the beast from above.
'Attempting to feed from This beast is no laughing matter' thought Lucy seriously, 'If I get caught, I very well could lose my new life. But the benefits of feeding from such a powerful magic beast should surely be immense. I would be able to completely quench The Thirst as well as progress a bit in my vampiric cultivation... I must at least try'
Swooping down closer, Lucy circled the beast several times to make sure it was asleep. As she eyed the beasts from above Lucy realized this beast looked a lot smaller than the ones she'd seen in Amara's visions.
'Hmm I wonder what rank this thing is… No matter, this big guy is definitely out cold, and since it's laying on its side it's soft underbelly is completely exposed. Easy lunch' Lucy thought in her bat form.
'Well, it's either now or never' Lucy thought as she dived down into the grass less than 3 feet from the beast. As Lucy crawled closer and closer, she could feel the body heat rolling off the massive beast.
'Ok Lucy I have to make this bite as painless possible, so he won't roll over and squish me. According to my memories, vampires are able to customize the feeding experience for their victim, or at least the skilled ones can. Apparently, it can be a painful, painless, or even a pleasurable experience. I don't need this big thing stirring at all, so I'll make this bite as painless as possible' Lucy planned as she bit into the slightly thick underbelly of the beast.
As soon as Lucy's razor-sharp bat fangs managed to get through the thick hide of the beast, she released large amounts of numbing enzymes to the bitten area in hopes of negating the pain.
' 5…4…3…2…1' counted Lucy as her fangs were still inserted in the beast, 'Haha it worked the big oaf didn't feel a thing. That means it's dinner time!'
Wasting no time Lucy gulped and gulped huge mouthfuls of the delicious magic beast blood. Her little vampire bat body would swell full of blood before she swallowed, and it decreased in size.
Over and over again the little vampire bat gulped down the blood of the mighty Hellephant.
Lucy drank gleefully but made sure not to get lost in the delicious taste of the meal. One of her bat eyes was closed in pleasure from the taste of the beast's blood while the other was open watching the Hellephant's giant body in quiet vigilance.
'Mmm, oh my god this taste is delightful. It is even better than the nectar and ambrosia mother would have the cooks prepare for me every birthday! The only difference is this has a simply divine pop to it, almost like electricity! That's probably the magic in the beast's blood. Mmm truly a meal fit for a Queen'
Hour after hour passed and Lucy did not detach from the beast once. Her little vampire bat body continued to gulp down the very blood essence of the massive Hellephant.
After 1 hour of feeding the peak Rank III beast dropped a full realm in cultivation as it slept.
Of course, the magic beast felt this massive loss of cultivation and attempted to awaken but for some reason it could not. Its gigantic body was paralyzed as it could feel the very essence of its life being siphoned away!
By this point Lucy's thirst and hunger had both been satiated long ago, the gluttonous side of the vampire race was beginning to show.
As Lucy kept up her leeching of the beast's life soon enough the helpless Hellephant's deep purple skin tone began to fade to a pale lavender, it's deadly tusks turned brittle and ash colored, even its muscled body began to appear dilapidated and anorexic.
In this picturesque clearing complete with a waterfall, the hunger of a pureblood was on full display.
That next morning no creature on the island was up earlier than Lucy. As she detached herself from the now mummified looking Hellephant carcass she made her way to the nearby waterfall for a bath. Her footsteps lightly padded across the soft forest grass so smoothly , it appeared she was gliding.
Lucy felt absolutely amazing this morning. Thanks to both the quality and quantity of the blood she consumed last night, she was able to have a breakthrough in her vampiric cultivation.
'Mmm I'm at the peak of the fledgling rank now, with a little more blood I could definitely breakthrough to the acolyte stage!' Lucy planned as she bathed her creamy skin under the waterfall.
Thanks to last night's meal Lucy's body had completely recovered and gained a boost in power. Standing at 5'6 Lucy had slender limbs and nice curves. Her skin and facial structure were both flawless as porcelain and looked as if she was carved from a slab of marble.
Seemingly overnight Lucy's thick snow-white hair had lengthened down to her now perky and fit butt . And her bosoms had now returned to their former C cup glory of when Amara was alive. Even her previously crude and bloody fingernails, now looked clean and freshly manicured.
Lucy's body radiated power, nobility, and a barely restrained lust that seemed to ebb off her in small waves. Most eye-catching of all however were her bewitching gold eyes and top tier facial aesthetics.
"Wow Amara sure had an enchanting body! I don't think I've ever had breasts this big" said Lucy as she caressed her rather large chest in the water. "Or skin this flawless!"
'I wonder if I'd lived past 24 in my old life would my pitiful original A cups have grown as womanly as these…' she wondered with a sigh as she jumped out of the water.
"Ugh I really need to get some clothes" Lucy said as she looked down at her magnificent nude form " but more importantly I need to look around this island and find out just what dangers and delicacies there are. I want to build my kingdom as soon as possible"
Right on cue, Lucy's stomach rumbled, and she took to the skies in her vampire bat form.
'Thank you, Mr. Hellephant you were delectable,' Lucy thanked as she flapped away from the skin and bones lavender corpse.
After taking off from the Hellephant corpse Lucy enjoyed flying through the island's jungles without the constant Thirst spurring her on. Lucy figured because she had such a large meal her hunger should be satisfied for quite some time.
One thing that surprised her however was that any guilt she had thought she may have had over her first kill/feeding was nonexistent. In fact, after discovering the addictive taste of magic beast blood Lucy planned to have some more as soon as possible.
It was survival of the fittest after all.
Lucy spent most of the day traveling from one part of the island to another. In this way she found out that most of the humans lived in the southern part of the island.
The north east and west parts of the island were covered with lush greenery, staggering cliffs, and many magical beasts.
She also noticed a strange curiosity. The spot where her castle once stood was located at the center of the island, and strangely enough the strongest magical beasts were located in areas near the center.
But the magical beasts on the peripheral parts of the island were barely Class 1. She found this strange and figured it probably had something to do with the fateful battle years ago.
Lucy also made sure to remember the territories of the strongest beasts as running into them could prove deadly for now. Part of learning about the island in her mind was to also get a taste of everything. As such before evening Lucy had already fed 3 more times.
In the northern forests of the island she was lucky enough to happen upon an injured Class 1 Moon Wolf, as she explored the beaches near the humans a Class 1 Vile Eel was unlucky enough to try and eat her. But it instead became her lunch.
Lucy's most recent and favorite meal thus far had come from the western part of the island where she was able to enjoy the tangy blood of a peak Class 2 Scaled Deer.
Even though some of these beasts were powerful and could tear a full-grown mage apart, Lucy knew she was for the most part their equal. Throughout the duration of her hunting for the day, she was surprised at how much she relied on her vampiric instincts.
Lucy likened the instincts to a kind of muscle memory left over from Amara's life, because the way she killed with her hands was simply too familiar and practiced. They were the main reason she'd been able to survive so far.
However earlier when she was attempting to take down the Class 1 Moon Wolf it had managed to surprise her and get an attack in. As Lucy lunged forward to claw the beast instead of retreating like she expected it to, it also lunged forward and bit into Lucy's thin arm.
Immediately after clamping it's jaws around Lucy's arm the animal tried to gnaw it off. But in a surprising turn of events the teeth weren't even able to pierce Lucy's skin!
This experience was the most startling yet most reassuring one she had since being reborn.
'Hmm today sure was eventful, I learned a lot about this territory of mine. I had no idea that, Hellephant was also a ruler of these woods, I am even happier I ate him now. I gained food and a campsite until I have a new castle. The magic beasts and plant life on this island are strange and magical but nothing I cannot handle. And eating food besides blood does not seem to provide sustenance. I cannot even taste it, I guess an all blood diet is mandatory as a vampire.' Lucy thought to herself as she flapped around the afternoon skies.
'I wonder if there are more humans out and about now? I hadn't seen many this morning. Hmm should I check… why not? I will just be extra careful.' She decided after flying around for a while longer.
Lucy's wings turned a course toward the southern part of the island where the humans were located. According to her mental calculations it should only take her about 20 mins to fly there.
Lucy's plan was to just fly around to get a look at the humans of this world. She wondered whether they were savages, or had they already formed a semblance of society.
All of this was important to take into account if her kingdom was going to be reborn. Lucy knew that as she was now, she had no real power, backing, or subordinates but it couldn't hurt to plan for the future.
'Woah there's definitely a lot more out now. Their private areas are covered, that is more than I can say for myself right now haha. I'll do one more quick fly over before leaving, those spears on their back are making me nervous.'
Doing various activities were men, women, and children of all shapes and sizes. For the most part it looked to Lucy like they were all the same race of tan skinned islanders but judging by their crude clothing they are not exactly civilized but they are not savages either.
Lucy was halfway through her last surveillance flight over the humans when an unexpected voice appeared in her head.
'I can't believe he forgot to feed me… again. I haven't eaten all day and I am starting to feel sick. Some stepparent he is…' the unknown voice's complaints echoed in Lucy's head.
Lucy was shocked and thought Amara had returned somehow, but after a moment of inspecting the sound of the voice. She discovered it sounded nothing like Amara's in fact Lucy could feel the voice had been transmitted telepathically from the outside world, right under her to be exact.
Fearing the worst Lucy ceased all thinking in case whoever it was could read her mind. Amara's memories had taught her a few of the basics of psychic warfare, and as a pureblood she was adept in it.
'If I could just… die that would be great. I don't think that's too much to ask' the unknown voice sighed as Lucy was tracking it.
Lucy flapped faster and faster towards the source of the voice.
Lucy's lithe body penetrated through the canopy of some trees over the biggest cabins of the humans. She could feel the voice was dangerously close and definitely inside one of the larger cabins.
"There!" Lucy said and sent out a small echolocation wave towards the cabin where the voice seemed to come from. Once the echolocation came back, the information about the inhabitants of the cabin shocked Lucy.
"I-It's a teenager?! A human teenager?!"