"AROKI! AROKI! AROKI!" He continued to scream wildly. He kicked her corpse and pounded his hands against the ground, creating a slight tremor that I could feel from a distance.
He was angry, frustrated, and inconsolable. I could understand the feeling. I couldn't be sure, but something terrible must have happened between them to bring him to this point of rage.
Taking this situation lightly could cost me dearly. Very dearly indeed.
After venting his anger on the body, he turned to the rest. His eyes fixed on the beautiful young woman, and his fury diminished.
He opened a huge smile and said something like, "You must serve." Of course, he was speaking in a completely different language.
The noble orc stopped hiding behind the others and joined the fight. He carried an extremely large wooden log.
"Damn it. I need to save Crystal and get out of here. How do I do that?" I tried to observe all sides. There were wooden huts, scattered orcs, wooden walls, and a dozen or so debris.
Nothing seemed to be able to help me. And it was too late, the nobleman attacked. He hit two other orcs with the wooden log.
They tried to defend themselves but could not resist. Their arms broke in two. Bones came out, blood stained the ground, and the log continued down, crushing their skulls.
Like a huge Juggernaut, he ran forward with his fat body. He broke through defenses, threw the remaining orcs with force, passing through them like paper, and finally reaching the young woman.
He grabbed her body, and she struggled to escape, but it was no use. When I saw his lascivious gaze, I understood what would happen.
"Maybe this is my chance to escape..." I didn't even have time to finish speaking.
Crystal gave a tremendous leap on the back of the noble orc. She bit, scratched, and tore furiously. She did not fear the strong opponent.
"Ah, shit!"
With no choice, I ran towards the battle. From my analysis, there were over 30 enemies; on the allied side, less than 10.
It was a lost battle. I knew it, my mind knew it, my body knew it, and the Serene Mind skill knew it...
❂❂❂
[Serene Mind Skill] Activated
❂❂❂
No! I can't...! Not now!
Suddenly, time seemed to stand still. The orcs fought each other in slow motion, and the young woman's clothes were slowly torn apart as I looked at the situation calmly.
As the milliseconds passed, time finally stopped completely, and I could look at the situation differently.
With a slow blink of my eyes, a figure appeared, someone I knew well.
He was thin - almost malnourished, a true scourge in the form of a person - with a tired look and large black circles under his eyes.
And the eyes... as lifeless as a fish drying in the desert.
He wore brand-name clothes that were dirty. He seemed not to have changed them for a long time, but also did not seem like someone who would care about that.
How did I know him? He lived with me. He was me.
"Hello, Kayn," I greeted.
"Hello, Kayn," he replied.
Our eyes met, and he raised a small smile.
"You're still the same person, even with this different appearance."
"If you say so... But who are you? The real you?"
The half-smile turned into a wide grin.
"I'm you, idiot. You, who apparently forgot. You before you entered Vangloria and started having thoughts. Those desires and wishes. The real you."
"You look more like a beggar, but okay," I mocked.
"Ah, Kayn. It seems that the sense of humor is something we never lose."
I was already impatient with the situation and went straight to the point.
"What do you want?"
"Me? I don't want anything. You want a solution to your problems, and I, the best version of you, am here to help you. I am the voice of reason. So as not to confuse you, you can call me The Serene Mind."
"How would you help me then?"
"It's simple. They haven't seen you yet. Turn around, go back to the dungeon, and pretend nothing happened. Tell any story in which Cristal becomes a hero who sacrificed herself for you." He said everything with that disgusting lack of empathy of his.
"Do you want me to be a coward? A coward like you?"
"Yes, I want you to be. I am you."
It was true. He wasn't my incredible self from Vangloria, but my inner self. A person who hadn't yet seen how incredible Vangloria was with their own eyes.
Someone I was afraid of becoming again. A creature I thought had died inside that game capsule.
"I want you to be smart. What good would it do to try to help if both of you are going to die? Is that what you want, to die again?"
"I've died once. Twice would be fun. Maybe the third life is the lucky one, isn't it?"
"Why are you acting this way? You and I are still the exact same person. Nothing has changed since you came here. You're still as trash as I am."
"One thing has changed." I stood up, my appearance identical to his, even the clothes, dark circles, and malnutrition.
"What has changed?"
"We can still be the same person, but I have someone to protect, and you're still alone."
He smiled disdainfully. To my eyes, he looked huge and untouchable. However, surprisingly, he took a step to the side, getting out of my way.
"Kayn, you're still alive today because of me. If you want to end your life alone, feel free. I'll be here waiting for you when you finally realize that without me, you are nothing. Let's see how far you can go without me."
"You, you, you, you. Can't you say anything else?"
"Then I'll say it. Good luck, Kayn. When the power consumes you, I'll be here. Do you still think that thirst for blood is normal?"
He disappeared, and with a snap of his fingers...
❂❂❂
[Serenity Mind ability] Deactivated
❂❂❂
...I was back in reality. Serene Mind was deactivated, and I could control my body.
The fear disappeared, everything still seemed a bit slower, and I could see what I couldn't before.
"Cristal, get down!" I yelled.
She listened and ducked. The blow missed her head, and she ran to another counterattack without hesitation.
I pulled a wooden spear and prepared myself too.
29 enemies.
I moved quickly among the crowd. I went between them like a shadow. My steps were precise and fast.
The dust rose, and my trail disappeared, leaving them confused. With the spear in my hand, I began my slaughter. I appeared behind one and cut off his ankle.
He fell to his knees, I ran to the other side as he tried to grab me with his hands. I hit his ribs with my spear, then struck his neck.
Blood flowed like a river, falling on me and the ground.
I was in a strange world of ecstasy. My fangs protruded, my eyes changed color to a blood-crimson, but I didn't realize it.
I moved on to the next, while a pain began to run through my skin burning in the sun.
Another orc came running and I simply faced him. He swung a powerful blow and I jumped back. The wooden club met only with the ground.
Dust rose as I began to climb the wooden shaft, climbing up the forearm of the pig man. He, desperate, tried to retaliate with another blow, but I jumped!
My spear created a white line in the air alongside my body. The blow hit one of the orc's eyes and the weight of my body threw him down in the opposite direction.
I rose with bare hands, the spear broken in half and the body under my feet completely painted red.
My skin became white, the gills, scales, sharp ears, and all other features disappeared. Only my tail, which was something unique to me, remained normal. Even my wings that I never got to use disappeared.
The more I burned in the sun, the more the thirst, that inherent desire to devour those in front of me, grew intensely. I was going crazy.
Blood and more blood painted me. I even drooled, breathing madly. This went on, until...
I became another creature.
A creature of darkness, a creature that haunted men's nightmares, an immortal and tireless monster.
❂❂❂
[Ability ❂❂❂❂❂❂] Activated
Lineage Unlocked
Vampire
All statistics increased by 5 permanently
[Ability: Vampirism] Acquired
[Ability: Monstrous Strength] Acquired
[Ability: Shadow Magic] Acquired
[Ability: Monstrous Strength] Activated
Strength Statistics Tripled for a period of 3 minutes
❂❂❂
My red eyes blinked, my sharp and shiny fangs gleamed, and my thirst for blood was voracious.
❂❂❂
[Information]
Name: Kayn
Race: Vampire | Level 6
Rarity: Special | Grade: 1
Class: Dungeon Master | Emblem: Vampire
[Statistics]
Strength: 63 | Speed: 21 | Stamina: 21
Dexterity: 21 | Intelligence: 31 | Mana: 51
[Abilities]
[Active]
Taming | Domination
[Passive]
Calm Mind
Spear Mastery
[Special]
Dungeon Creation
❂❂❂❂❂❂
[Lineage]
Monstrous Strength | Vampirism
[Magic]
Shadow Magic
❂❂❂
A lot had changed, but I didn't care to think about it. At that moment, only one thing came to my mind.
Power... it's... delicious!
An orc came running towards me. He used all his strength to hit me, but I simply endured it with my bare hands.
He seemed frightened by my reaction and tried to flee, but I didn't give him a chance.
Holding the opposite end of the club, I slowly lifted his entire body. The expression on his face turned white, it was sublime.
And then, I crushed his body against the ground like an insect. The force of impact was so powerful that it opened a small hole.
I grabbed my wooden spear and ran forward, crazed. My strength was so tremendous that I pierced through one, two, three, four of them in a row, and continued with a wide grin on my face.
My expression would frighten any child. Maybe I had become what parents said didn't exist in the closet.
A true monster.
Three minutes. During that time, I would make a feast. The strength I had was incredible! I felt like a god; invincible and unreachable.
Absolute power, but I knew I could have more and more... The thirst for blood never ended...
"I need blood!" I shouted to the sky.
An orc ran towards me to attack. I pulled my spear, cut to the left, hit the hand that held the bat and twisted my wrist. Like a snake, the spear moved to the chest.
It pierced through one side and out the other. I lifted the body up in the air and like rain, the blood fell. Below, I began to drink the warm liquid that tasted of iron.
❂❂❂
[Ability: Vampirism] Activated
Vigor will recover quickly.
Wounds will heal quickly.
+1 point in all statistics for a short period of time
❂❂❂
It was incredible. The taste, the texture, the warmth, and the power! The power was the best part.
Ability, talent, effort? Nothing could compare to that absolute strength.
My massacre continued and, in the next two minutes that followed, I was not just a mere man.
A man was made up of seven sins.
Inescapable sins that were part of human nature - capital sins - and at that moment, I felt Pride.
Arrogant, victorious, with an abysmal superiority complex, indeed, pride in person.
An intrinsic trait of mine that escaped, or something caused by the sudden transformation? I didn't care. Only time would tell.
And when I finally came to my senses, I was standing on a platform of bodies exactly two minutes after acquiring those strange new abilities.
I devoured even more blood, increasing my statistics for a short period of time. However, even on that pile of corpses, I still felt like something was missing.
He, pride, still corrupted me.
"There's still one left..."
My red eyes shone as I stared at the face of the last enemy. Blond hair, a fat, angry face, still fighting against a tired white wolf.
The nobleman was the last one!