Right after waking up, I looked around for a calendar. I don't even care where I am and whose room I am in right now.
'I need a calendar!'
I sensed a vampire not far from me. I quickly ran towards it and I saw Zein and Zello hanging the clothes.
They're both surprised by my sudden appearance and blurted, "You're awake!"
I ignored them. I quickly inspected their height and appearance. No changes. I blew a sigh of relief.
"How long was I asleep?" I asked.
"One whole day." Zein answered. I blew another sigh of relief.
Seems like they're finally back to their senses and quickly teleported in front of me.
"Are you alright? How are you feeling now?" Zein asked.
Matte…
I remember I did something really, really, REALLY CRAZY!
What the hell was it..?
That teleportation and… "The scythe!" I blurted out. They gave me a questioning look.
I looked at my hands. Was it all just a dream?
"W-what happened before I passed out?" I asked the two.
"You landed safely to the ground," Zein answered.
I and Zello gave her a 'shut up baka' look.
Zein awkwardly laughed.
Zello faced me seriously, "Everything that happened before you passed out wasn't a dream. You killed those bandit's leader." he answered.
'So it wasn't a drea⎯ how did he know I was thinking it was a dream?!'
Urghh. Nevermind.
"If I remembered it correctly, I was able to teleport and the blood coming from my body turned into a scythe… I mean, I can't remember anything so I don't know what abilities I have…"
I almost forgot about my little lie. Anyways, I have to find out if that's my magic.
"Let's eat first before talking about that," Zein uttered and walked past me. "I'm sorry about what I made you feel back then, I even put you in danger…" she turned back and sweetly smiled at me before continuing to go back inside the house where I exited.
"I also apologize and thanks… for saving me. Go, I'll follow you after this." Zello spoke and showed me the clothes he was hanging.
I just nodded and followed Zein.
'I should be the one apologizing and thanking them… I don't know what will happen to me if those bastards had taken me.'
I heave a sigh.
"I'm sorry too and thanks." I softly said to Zein while holding on to my neck and looking away. I feel my cheeks heating up. Fuck.
'Why am I feeling shy now?! Nah, it's more like I feel guilty…'
I heard her sweet laughter. "No worries. Feel at home, sit anywhere you want. I'll just cook something for us to eat." she said and started preparing the ingredients she needed.
I looked around the house. It's so small, the kitchen to the living room is already together in one space and everything⎯ even the house itself looks too old. Nonetheless, it's clean.
I was about to sit on a mini sofa when realization struck me.
Like a robot, my head slowly moved to see Zein. 'She's cooking… a food?"
Without realizing it, I teleported right beside Zein and scanned all the ingredients she was cooking.
"Goodness!" Zein exclaimed upon seeing me.
I ignored her. All I see are veggies and some fruits…
I looked at it again.
"H-hey, what's wrong?"
No meat, no human flesh or blood or anything.
I blew a sigh of relief. 'Wait, they cook foods?!'
"Hey―"
"Call me Azaria." I cut her off. "Sorry 'bout that. I… was… just… uhh… wanted to help?" I really am not good at making excuses.
She just laughed again and handed me a knife. "You cut the carrots then."
I took it and started cutting it.
"Btw, is Azaria your real name? Did you finally remember something?" she asked while putting the pan on fire.
'Weird… they can really eat cooked foods?'
"Nah, all I remember is my name." Azaria is actually my first name. No one calls me by it since it's a bit long. Why use this then?
'Cause Haven had long been dead.'
****
'Yabai! Yabai! Yabai! This is goddamn good! Naze?!'
"Slow down Azaria. The food ain't gonna run away… but it might if you continue devouring all of it in one go." Zein scolded.
I slowed down a bit.
I almost cried when I tasted her cooking. It's been so long since I last ate cooked food.
'What did she put in here? It might not be extravagant, but being able to eat like a normal person again just… makes me happy.'
In my peripheral vision, I saw how Zello's lips slightly rosed while eating but I ignored it and just continued eating. Who knows, this might be the last time I'll be able to eat cooked food.
After eating, Zello volunteered to wash the dishes.
Zein took me to their underground basement. This was the storage room where they took me when we first met.
We both sat on the floor and she lit up a black candle.
She stared at me straight up serious, "Like what I've said yesterday, don't go out for the time being especially around this time until midnight. There are many bandits that roam around by that time. I admit you're strong. But like what happened yesterday, once the cursed stone handcuffs you, you will never be able to break free and fight back no matter how strong you are. You're lucky that you were able to outpower that stone, but if it was a stronger one, either you get completely paralyzed or die by losing all your strength and power."
So it was really that stone that was draining my strength at that time.
"What's with that stone?" I curiously asked. I'm actually thinking of destroying its very existence in this world. If I get caught by that piece of crap again I might really die.
"It's a stone that the first vampire lord requested from the witches to seize rebelled vampires. The ones put on you were a low-graded stone that was made specifically for an ordinary vampire like us."
I nodded. That means there are high-graded stones for stronger vampires. Geez, I take back what I've said earlier. I ain't gonna get closer to any of that. The one put in me was enough to drain so much of my strength, anything stronger than that would kill me in less than a minute.
"Alright let's talk about the vampire's rank. Mainly, there are only 3, but 6 years ago, the system was changed. Currently, there are 5 ranks. Let me explain it from the top to bottom. First rank, the most respected and powerful vampires, royal blood. We call them the purest blood, aside from their great power, they can release their vampire form at any time. Next are the gifted vampires, noble blood. They're not born as royal blood but can release great power since childbirth. Below them is us, the commons. We're just ordinary vampires. Unlike royals and nobles, we commons can only release our form at night. We also don't have great power as much as they do, and without proper training, we wouldn't be able to fully release our abilities…" She sounded sad while telling about them. "Both me and Zello aren't trained so we can't also teach you or tell you anything about your ability or magic."
'That's too bad...'
"Why don't you go and train?" I asked.
She laughed bitterly.
"There's an academy that teaches young vampires how to unleash and control your abilities and magic, but of course, you have to pay a great number of golds to be able to enter such a great place. I'd be dead before I could even collect 10 golds. Let's not talk about that. Next to us, are fallen royals. They are royal bloods that had either broken a law or done something that can damage the palace. There might be other reasons but that's the most common reason as to why purebloods are thrown here. And that door," she pointed at the door that I destroyed. It's fixed now. "It leads to the forest of death that is also connected to the forest of Gods where fallen royals are commonly thrown. Anyways, whatever you did, it's probably not that big seeing that you're still alive right now…" she gave me a reassuring smile.
But it doesn't reassure me even the slightest bit. I'm actually nervous. What if real royal bloods smelled my blood and finds out I'm a half-human?!
"Lastly, Ghouls. They are an unknown type of vampire. No one had really seen one and no one dared to explain to us what they are. All we know is that they're rogue vampires."
╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬
After explaining to me about the ranking of vampires, Zello came. They told me they have to go to work or we won't have anything for lunch and dinner today. I asked if I could come with them but they totally refused. Tsk.
After they left, I looked for my original clothes. When I finally found it, I took my eye contacts that I remembered I put in my pants pocket.
I put on my eye contact and wore a cloak before dashing to the forest of death. I continued running until I finally found those five familiar disgusting scents.
I grinned, "Mitsuketa."