The sun had just set in Eternal Realms as Alex logged into the game. It marked the beginning of a new day and a fresh journey for him.
With the first dungeon now unlocked, Alex was eager to dive right in and attempt to solo it for the incredible rewards. However, he decided to wait a bit longer. There was something else on his mind—the completion of his vampire transformation.
Alex had no clue about the benefits and drawbacks of being a vampire, but if his Shadow Bloodline was directly linked to a specific ancient royal vampire family, being both a Shadow Hunter and a vampire simultaneously seemed promising.
But how long would it take? That was not information Alex had, but one thing he was sure of: his hunger had increased, a lot!
"Maybe drinking human blood is what I need to complete the transformation?" Alex thought as he left the cemetery.
The idea of drinking human blood still made him want to puke, but what if that was the only way of completing the transformation? It made sense, so, with that idea in mind, Alex searched for his prey.
It was not prohibited to attack NPCs, but most NPCs were either powerful or were inside cities, so attacking them there would be suicide. Alex needed to find a secluded NPC to attack.
An NPC could still give quests, though, so killing them was not a good idea anyway. Alex wanted something else…
After a not-so-long search through the nearby forest surrounding the city, Alex found what he looked for—a group of bandits! These were enemies he could kill and were humanoids, so drinking their blood should be possible. At least Alex thought so.
The group of bandits consisted of three enemies, all at level 15, the same level as Alex. While his weapon was quite powerful, making the kill should not be difficult. However, Alex's armor set was not the best, prompting him to employ his invisibility ability to approach the bandits undetected.
[Shadow Cloak (LVL 1): Use the shadows to your advantage, completely blending with the ambient environment and turning invisible. Enemy detection takes into account factors such as range between you and the target, sound, smell, your level, enemy level, enemy's perception, and your Shadow Cloak level.]
[Cost: 1 Shadow Essence per second.]
[Cooldown: 0.]
His body vanished from sight, and with slow, deliberate movements, Alex made his way toward the bandits. Two of them were engaged in conversation near a campfire, while the third was positioned farther away, likely acting as a scout. This solitary bandit was the one Alex decided to target.
Alex approached the bandit, and initially, the instinct to use his signature move, Shadow Strike, and swiftly eliminate the threat came to mind. However, an unexpected urge disrupted his thoughts.
"Why not bite his neck right now?" Alex pondered.
Even though he hadn't gained any vampire-related skills due to the ongoing transformation, an irresistible impulse to sink his teeth into the bandit's neck took over, and Alex followed his instincts.
With his mouth open and teeth bared, Alex lunged at the bandit's neck from behind, sinking his teeth in with all his might. To his surprise, the blood tasted like water, devoid of any distinct flavor.
Transformation Completed
New Skills Learned
The initial text displayed after the bite was a damage number, small as biting was an unconventional attack and did minimal harm. However, subsequent notifications revealed that, with the completion of his transformation, his bite had evolved into a more potent attack, steadily draining the bandit's health!
Alex used his hands to firmly grasp the bandit, continuing to drain its blood until it succumbed.
300 EXP
While the experience gained was notable, Alex was more eager to observe the changes brought about by his completed transformation.
[Nickname: Shadowborn]
[Level: 15 (3300/46000)]
[Health Points: 400/400]
[Shadow Essence: 70/70]
[Race: Human (Royal Vampire)]
[Vampire Rank: Fledgling]
[Hunger (Blood Points): 100/100]
[Class: Shadow Hunter]
[Attributes:
[STR: 3 (+5)]
[DEX: 17 (+5)]
[VIG: 3 (+5)]
[INT: 1 (+5)]
[FTH: 0 (+5)]
[LCK: 50 (+5)]
[Free Points: 25]
Alex still had some free points to use, but what he wanted to see were the changes in his body. He gained some passive skills and one active skill.
[Vampiric Bite (LVL 1): Use your fangs to pierce and drain your enemy's blood. It will heal 10% of your maximum HP and restore some of your Hunger. It works on any creature with blood.]
[Damage: 10% of Target's Maximum HP.]
[Cost: 10 Blood Points.]
Alex began to understand how the hunger meter worked as a type of vampiric mana called Blood Points. Drinking blood would restore his hunger and Blood Points simultaneously. All of his vampire skills would certainly use Blood Points.
The only active skill Alex got was Vampiric Bite, but he noticed his vampire ranking in his character tab, Vampire Fledgling, indicating the possibility of ranking up and learning more vampiric abilities.
What caught his attention were the passive skills.
[Vampire Senses (LVL 1): Your senses are much better than that of a human. You can see better in the dark, hear, smell, and feel things others can't. The higher your skill LVL, the better your senses will be.]
[Moon Blessing (LVL 1): A creature of the night gets its power from the moon. You will gain 5% of all attributes during the night.]
[Vampiric Vigor (LVL 1): Your body is sturdy, and as an immortal being, you are hard to kill. Your HP is permanently increased by 15%, and you regenerate your missing health 100% faster.]
Another tab inside his status screen caught Alex's attention.
Current Vampiric Weaknesses:
[While directly hit by the sun, your attributes will be lowered by 5%. Using the shadows from other objects, clothes, or being indoors will negate this debuff.]
[The passive Vampiric Vigor will also stop working if the sun is hitting your body. Using the shadows from other objects, clothes, or being indoors will negate this debuff.]
[If your Hunger gets too low, you will get into a frenzied state, randomly drinking blood from others, not caring if you are inside a safe place or not.]
The downsides were mostly related to direct sunlight, which Alex expected. Still, the benefits were substantial, especially considering the downsides only occurred if the sun directly hit his body.
After attacking the bandit, Alex didn't kill the other two but decided to run through the forest. His body swiftly jumped from tree to tree, using thick branches as platforms to traverse the forest like a ninja.
His body was much more agile than before, and in no time, Alex found himself near a lake. He stared at his reflection on the water, noticing subtle differences in his appearance.
Alex's skin was flawless, and his blue eyes changed to crimson red if he wanted to or when drinking blood.
"I should keep the red eyes hidden as that could reveal my identity…"
Hiding the fact he was a vampire didn't seem much harder for Alex. With the added attribute bonuses, exploring the first dungeon would be much easier!
But before that, Alex returned to the city. His goal? Gather information about the cave Mikkel talked about and find him there for further guidance on his new vampiric path.