Veronica opened her eyes as the rays of the sun shone through the banquet hall. A soft breeze blew through the space. As she extended her arms, a putrid scent wafted through her nostrils. Realizing it was coming from her, Veronica recalled visiting the waterfall with an adventurer. Her stomach rumbled hungrily. In response, Veronica quickly transformed into her child form and waved her hand, dispersing the bats into the woods.
Veronica mumbled to herself, musing as she ran her hand through her hair. 'Maybe they can find something to eat while I take a shower,' she thought. Suddenly, she felt something strange atop her head, and she lifted a hand to investigate. Looking in the mirror, she saw two tufts of hair that stood up like bat ears. Her hair had transformed, with the top portion turning black while the lower half remained its usual white. After the altercation the night before, she felt a newfound strength, yet nothing had outwardly changed. The stink of the fight still lingering in her nose, she decided to disregard the hair and focus on the task at hand.
Veronica arrived at the waterfall and pond and considered using the waterfall as a makeshift shower. However, she soon realized that the water was too cold, so she opted to build a bench from her vines at the water's edge instead. As she kicked at the water she noticed that it was actually very warm. inspired, she attempted to construct a shower over the pond with her vines. Miraculously, a vine sprouted out of the water and a flower blossomed at the end of it, releasing a spray of water. As she ran her hand underneath it, she realized that the water was the same temperature as the pond. Excited, Veronica prepared to bathe and wash off the dirt of the past few days.
Veronica dried off as a swarm of bats surrounded her when she transformed back into her adult form. One bat stayed put, fluttering in front of her face. It chirped at her and she held out her finger for it to land on.
Veronica asked the bat, "What news do you have for me regarding the adventurer?" She brought the creature closer and the bat disappeared into her finger, sending a flood of memories into Veronica's mind. She saw Lilith running through the woods while bandits chased her, filling Veronica with a sense of worry and anger. Veronica quickly transformed into a swarm of bats and flew away.
Veronica dashed through the forest, attempting to catch up to the bandits. While Lilith had the highest level of training, Veronica could tell from her sight something was not right. Her wings flapped rapidly as the wind swept under her. She could make out two of the culprits in front of her. She materialized on a branch, unobserved by the bandits. As she geared up to strike, she could make out their voices faintly.
"Unbelievable - we're actually being paid for this!" The first bandit chuckled with delight.
The second bandit began to laugh, saying, "I know, and it should be easy to take out one person!"
The first bandit propped himself up against the tree Veronica was on and remarked, "The boss ought to be able to wrap this up fast. We're only pretending to be bandits after all." He cackled heartily.
A crimson fog hung heavy in the air around the two men, so thick that they didn't even realize they were entering a trance-like state. Then, Veronica emerged from the fog. She reached out and tapped each of the men on the head, and they collapsed. As Veronica walked away, the mist began to dissipate.
Veronica suggested, "Why don't you guys take a nap?" As she grew bat wings from her back, she thought, 'This is useful, although I prefer the bat swarm.' She then flew forward.
Veronica hurriedly flew through the forest, desperately looking for Lilith. Despite thinking it to be a dream, she felt she couldn't just sit back and let someone die. Coming to a halt under a tree, something caught her eye and she saw Lilith catching her breath. Veronica was immensely relieved to find her safe. She made her wings vanish as she moved closer to Lilith. Suddenly, Veronica heard a strange sound and saw an arrow coming towards Lilith, who was oblivious to it. Veronica quickly summoned her bat swarm to reform herself in front of Lilith just in time for Veronica to be struck in her shoulder.
Veronica collapsed onto the ground as she was overcome with shock. She had thought this recent experience was all a dream, but it had turned out to be her new reality. The pain was nothing compared to the realisation of what she'd been doing with her life. She let out a piercing cry as the tears ran down her face, remembering all the times she had taken risks without considering the consequences. Now that she knew the truth, it all seemed pointless.
Lilith, who was now standing beside Veronica, frantically rummaged through her bag. "How did you get here?" She questioned, taking out a bottle of green liquid.
A voice snarled from the woods, "How did that bitch accomplish that? Let's shoot them both and then get out of here!"
Lilith knew she had to act quickly, so she threw herself in the path of the arrows meant for Veronica. Both arrows struck Lilith in her chest and she began to cough up blood as she dropped to her knees. Veronica moved quickly to catch Lilith as she fell.
The voice growled, "You dumbass, you missed one of them!" Veronica scattered some of her bats in the woods to discourage the culprits. "We need to leave quickly," the voice exclaimed in exasperation, "these damn bats!"
Veronica was determined to go after the perpetrators, but she was aware that Lilith wouldn't be able to hold up much longer. An alert window suddenly appeared right in front of her and it reminded her of the same video game in which she had seen the manticore. As she read it, she noticed the main point: 'The first step to becoming a vampire is to turn someone into a vampire larva. If they follow another vampire they will become one themselves.' Veronica comprehended what she had to do to save Lilith, but in order to do so, she would have to allow her to drink her blood. As Lilith lay weakly, some of her blood splattered onto Veronica's face.
Lilith ran her fingers over Veronica's face as she said, "It seems like I know you from somewhere."
Veronica declared, "I'm the kid from the waterfall The other day. I'm Veronica Dracula, the queen of vampires. I'm able to help you out, but that mean you will need to walk the road of becoming a vampire."
Lilith exclaimed in distress, "I'm in trouble here with these wounds. I'm not sure what a vampire is, but if you can help me, please do!" Tears streamed down her face.
Veronica was apprehensive about drawing her own blood, as she had no problem with animal blood but was repulsed by the sight of human blood. She began to shake at the thought. In order to avoid this, she quickly cut her tongue with her fang and kissed Lilith, sharing her own blood with her. Afterwards, Veronica felt guilty for the impulsive kiss, as she couldn't think of a different way to avoid seeing her own blood.
Veronica stated with discomfort, "It's strange, but I can't stand the sight of my own blood." She removed the arrows from Lilith with agility and speed. Lilith screamed in terror. Veronica then said gently, "Let me take you somewhere to rest." She then lifted Lilith's unconscious body.
Veronica gently placed Lilith on the petal she had been using. In place of Lilith's ears were now two fuzzy bat ears. Veronica sat next to her and summoned a holographic screen that hovered in front of her. She quickly perused through the contents before sending out a flock of bats into the forest.
Veronica expressed her dismay as she assumed her child form, musing, "My shape is depends on the size of the swarm, and even some of my abilities require blood rather than purely magic." Her countenance clouded with regret as she went over her powers.
Veronica stood up on the petal and declared, "I have something called bat storage. It's just like the item boxes in anime and video games. If she wakes up and sees this, she'll think I'm a monster. I'm sorry everyone, but I'll make sure to find a good place for you to rest." Then, in a flurry of wings, the bats flew around the room, leaving no bones behind. "Let's store this flower thing too, while we're at it." Once the bats had done their job, they returned to Veronica.
Upon transforming back into her adult form, Veronica noticed that her storage was filled with blood. Upon further inspection, she realized that the amount of blood was enough to sustain ten people for three lifetimes. She was taken aback, wondering where such a large quantity of blood had come from. She sat down on the petal that remained and pondered the situation.
The fairy hovered down through the roof and declared, "This is your payment."
Veronica leaned back and stared at the crumbling ceiling, remarking, "I assume you knew I thought this was a dream, so you could have just skipped out. Many people in my old life would have done that without a second thought."
The fairy descended to the ground and spoke, "I am aware of your predicament and humans are indeed peculiar creatures. Nevertheless, I have a word of caution for you, Queen of the Forest." The fairy approached Veronica. "I cannot accurately discern what you are now, but it is certain that you are not human any longer."
The fairy gave a deep bow to Veronica and presented her with a radiant orb. "As the ancient queen and ruler of the magic forest dungeon, I hereby recognize you as the new ruler. Go as you please and the dungeon will take care of itself."
Veronica shouted in shock, "What do you mean?!"
Before Veronica could receive an answer, the orb shot into her. As she was overwhelmed with fear, the fairy vanished and her dress started to change. She was wearing a delicate gothic dress that hugged her body, and the skirt resembled petals that flowed down. Although she didn't want to, Veronica felt she had no other option but to summon her mirror. When she saw the reflection, she was taken aback by the beauty of the woman in it. She started to admire her, then suddenly realized that it was her own reflection. The realization of what she had done to herself finally hit her.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as the realization that she had truly become a female set in. She yearned to go home, yet the thought that she had died in her original world kept coming back. Accepting the fact that there was no way back home, she knew she had to start a new life. While staring into the mirror, a message suddenly appeared which read, 'The magic forest fairy dress; enhances magic power, special defense skill: fairy's grace, vampire form: special race skill; skills that cost blood is cut in half.' Veronica was shocked that she hadn't noticed the notifications before, and she wondered if this was a gift from the angel.
Another alert appeared before Veronica, a winking tongue emoji displayed on it, which confirmed her suspicions. "Are you a child?!" She shouted.
Lilith was startled awake by the sight of Veronica sitting at her feet and seemingly shouting into thin air. She asked, "Is everything OK?"
Veronica said nervously, "Oh, it's nothing!" She realized that Lilith thought she was talking to herself, she had to come up with an excuse quickly. "The spell I was hoping to cast didn't work out as well as I thought it would."
Lilith rolled out of bed and exclaimed, "Oh!" Her stomach growled, and her cheeks reddened as she added, "You saved me, so let me go hunt something for us to eat."
Veronica spoke, showing off her magical ability with a flock of bats that gathered around her hand. "No need to worry, I've got this taken care of."
Lilith perched on the bed, inquiring, "Are you certain? My sister and my party members have told me how delicious my horned rabbit dish is."
Lilith was astonished to see two glasses with a bat-like design materialize out of the cloud of bats. Veronica handed her one of the glasses and the cloud of bats split into two. When Lilith held her glass underneath the bat-filled sky, an intense red liquid began to flow into it. After drinking the liquid, her hunger was gone and it was the most delightful drink she had ever tasted - her face lit up with delight.
Lilith's face bearned with delight as she inquired, "What was that?!"
Veronica looked confused and asked, "What do you mean by that?" She then explained, "Since you haven't completed the transition to becoming a vampire, you can only consume blood."
Lilith queried with an expression of neutrality. "So you're telling me I just drank blood?"
Veronica took a sip from her cup and replied, "Yes, that's part of the package when it comes to being a vampire. You're not a full vampire yet, though."
Lilith was still in shock and incredulously exclaimed, "A vampire?! What is that? I'm a seasoned adventurer, but I've never heard of such a creature. The only being I know of that sustains itself on blood is a Blood Rose – and those things are hard enough to kill!" She felt like her brain was about to shut down from all the new information.
Veronica was taken aback by the sudden realization, "Could it be?" she uttered, her mind whirring. She began to march in circles, her already complicated situation becoming more convoluted. Then, she remembered the present from the angel. "How could I, a newcomer, be crowned as the ruler of all vampires?" she pondered aloud. "It's simple," she concluded, "If I'm the only vampire." Turning to Lilith, Veronica declared, "I am Veronica, a vampire from another dimension. The being who sent me here not only gave me my name, but also made me the queen of vampires. To put it simply, you can reduce your need for blood if you serve another vampire." Veronica reflected that this wasn't the first time she had her vampire status questioned. "From what I can tell, there doesn't appear to be any other vampires here besides you and me."
Lilith's expression shifted from confusion to rage as Veronica mentioned the other dimensions. "Are you serious?" she exclaimed, standing up in anger. "As if I would believe any of that crap..." At that moment, a mirror emerged from a pool of blood in front of Veronica. Lilith was stunned to see two bat ears in place of her own. She reached up to touch them, feeling the extra sensitivity in her newly heightened hearing. "This is really real," she whispered. Lilith began to worry about what her sister would think of her transformation. "If I have to drink blood, I don't want to hurt her!"
Veronica interrupted as the mirror began to sink into the pool of blood. "I've been living on animal blood for the past week," she said, "What the servant does is protect their master, and I, as the master, would share a portion of my power with you. Right now, you're a vampire larva, but if you agree to serve me, you'll gain ears similar to mine and only need to consume blood on the full moon. I don't want to force you, so let's make a deal. If you're willing, we can form a pact, but you don't have to actually serve me. All I ask in return is that you teach me a bit about common sense and help me find a job. What do you say?" Veronica looked somber.
Lilith was still absorbing what was going on, but Veronica seemed to resemble her sister in some way. She wasn't going to commit to helping someone unless she knew their morals and principles. "At the moment, I can't accept," Lilith said, placing her hand on Veronica's back, "but it takes roughly two to three weeks to reach Dwaf burg, so once we arrive, ask me again and I'll consider it then."
Veronica felt a sense of relief. She had been reincarnated into a different world and for the past week, she had thought it was a dream. She was now looking forward to seeing civilization again, although she accepted that it wouldn't be as advanced as on Earth. Suddenly, Veronica remembered Lilith mentioning something about a blood rose. She turned to her and asked, "Is a blood rose worth a lot?"
Lilith pondered aloud, "Yeah I suppose so. A peasant could survive off the income the corps generates for a long time. As for an adventurer we'd probably spend it pretty quickly though." She chuckled.
Veronica released a swarm of bats carrying the dead flower. When the flower fell to the ground, she inquired, "Is this the flower?"
Lilith was astounded at the sight before her. A creature that would require a team of highly skilled adventurers to take down was sitting right there. "Wow," she uttered, still in shock. "You could get at least a thousand gold crowns for this."
Veronica's face lit up with a smile as she contemplated the idea. She then released her bat swarm to store the flower and began to skip joyfully towards the exit, calling out to Lilith, "Let's go! Let's make our way to Dwaf-burg!" She stood in the doorway of the banquet hall.