The underbrush rustled under his hurried steps, his mind a whirl of thoughts.
'Nothing like this happened before,' he thought.
'Have I level up? I can ask who knew back at the academy, but I need to figure out on what I have done just now.'
Zed sat on the ground, thoughts drifting back in time, recollecting the sequence of his experiences.
The absence of such voice when he killed the brute indicated a specific moment that potentially marked the divergence.
'I slayed the bird, attempted to absorb it using the blood bank, then I taught the girl, and when I returned, I saw the bird's blood being absorbed...'
The realization was like a spark in the dark. 'Teaching the young girl?' How could that possibly be the key to the evolution of a vampire?
Zed glanced around, certain that he must have overlooked something. But that wasn't his primary concern for now. His immediate priority was to consolidate his breakthrough…
