The sunlight peeked through the curtains bathing Nathan with it's warm light. He opened his eyes groggily and gazed at the curtain. Memories of his conversation with Siena flashed in his mind making him remember his current situation.
"Good morning," Siena said.
"Morning, so how do I prepare for the welcoming speech?" Nathan asked getting straight to the days activity.
"The academy's uniform is in the wardrobe. It is made to fit the wearer immediately it is put on."
Nathan stood up from the bed and started walking towards the wardrobe but he felt a sharp pain in his leg. He looked down and noticed that it was a shard of glass from the broken jug.
But the cut was slowly closing and he wasn't surprised because Siena had told him yesterday that healing was one of the perks of vampires.
He opened the wardrobe and found some clothes that she had bought during the one year that she was in control of Nathan's body and at the far end of the wardrobe he found a black trouser and a green long sleeve shirt. That was the academy's uniform. The shirt had a sword Logo on it's left side and a single star was at the back of the shirt.
"Why is there a star at the back?" He asked.
"Because of the ranking. When abilities came to light, it was noticed that some gifted had more skills related to their abilities than others."
"So, a ranking system was made. The more skills you have, the more stronger you are," she replied.
Suddenly the system displayed a message.
GIFTED RANKING
[Two skills: Low rank]
[Four skills: Middle rank]
[Six Skills: High rank]
[Eight skills: Rare rank]
[Ten skills: Special rank]
[Twelve skills: Legendary rank]
[Ultimate control]
"The ranks are represented by stars. That means that you are currently a low rank gifted because you have just two skills."
"So can a low rank gifted not just wear the uniform of a middle rank gifted"?
"No, because every gifted has a unique energy of their own. So, the energy of each gifted is bounded with the uniform."
"So, if a different gifted tries to wear another uniform, the energy in the uniform will react and might cause a grave injury to the gifted."
"Woah, so you can't just wear the uniform of another gifted," Nathan thought
"I registered you as an earth ability user because that's the only element you've unlocked now and also the elemental manipulation ability has never been seen before in the history of gifted, it might cause unwanted attention," she continued.
Nathan walked into the toilet with a towel on his shoulder. He couldn't help but think he was special. He has an ability that no other gifted has. But he still couldn't get one thought out of his head.
"How did you get the elemental manipulation ability," he asked
"Well, it's a long story, I'll tell you about it later."
Nathan just shrugged. It was evident that she didn't want to talk about it now. The toilet had a mirror and it was painted with white all through. He looked at himself in the mirror. A gasp escaped his lips as soon as he saw himself.
Blue hair that reached his eyeline with red eyes that seemed to stare into the depth of someone's soul. His body became more buff and he looked more handsome.
Nathan remembered that Siena also had blue hair and red eyes.
"Your appearance changed because of me," she knew that Nathan was about to ask that question.
He quickly freshened up and wore the uniform before walking towards the door. He took a deep breath and opened the door.
There was no one in the hallway. He went to the elevator and pressed the number one button.
After getting to the first floor, he walked outside without even minding the sun.
Siena told him that his ability energy covered his vampire energy, so the sun won't affect him. Sun affects the energy of the vampire directly not the vampire himself. So if the energy is covered, the vampire won't be affected.
Nathan was greeted with the majestic sight of the academy. It was surrounded by a large fence that seemed to be made with glowing stones.
He didn't need to ask for directions because he could see all the students walking towards one direction.
After some minutes, they reached a large hall with alot of chairs.
"This hall is huge," he thought.
He sat down on one of the chairs at the back. The hall was slowly getting filled up.
Nathan looked at his nails that were long and sharp but were not noticable.
"Thankfully I don't need blood all the time and I can also absorb the blood of beasts."
According to Siena, vampires absorb blood once in a while and they can also absorb the blood of beasts.
The hall finally became filled with students. Some were chattering and some just say down quietly.
A middle-aged man wearing a black suit and black trousers with short black hair walked into the hall. He stood at the platform and cleared his throat.
"Good morning students of Vina academy," he said in a booming voice.
"My name is Orion Blake and I'm the principal of Vina academy. I welcome you all to this great academy."
The principal kept talking about how great the academy was and the rules in place.
To be honest, Nathan was not paying attention and was just thinking of how to get clues on the whereabouts of his family.
Nathan noticed that some of the girls were staring at him and he knew why. He was just too handsome to be ignored and that was because of his new race as a vampire.
Three boys sitting behind Nathan noticed this and began discussing among themselves.
"Hey Dan, don't you think we should teach that boy a lesson?" The first boy asked.
"Yes, he's getting all the attention from the girls and they aren't even glancing at us," the second boy said.
"Maybe if I give him a beating the girls will notice us," the boy called Dan replied. The only noticable thing about him was his huge lip which made him look somehow.
Dan got up before walking up to Nathan then he tapped his shoulder.
"Hey you, let's have a talk outside after this speech," Dan said
Nathan looked at him and saw that he was smiling.
"Get your hands off me, you big-lipped idiot," Nathan said with a cold voice. He was already getting angry, something he has been trying to control.
"Huh, how dare you talk to me in that manner," Dan said furiously. Then he noticed that Nathan had one star at the back of his uniform.
"How about we make a bet? Let's have a duel, if you win I'll give you hundred energy stones and if I win you'll apologize to me in front of the hall," Dan said. He needed to restore his pride and this was the only way.
After the situation on earth changed, energy stones became the new currency for everyone on earth. They are formed from the concentration of energy in the air and the distribution of energy stones are regulated by the Earth economy department (EED).
"You need energy stones to buy weapons to kill beasts, so I think you should accept this duel moreover I'm sure you're strong enough to beat him," Siena suggested.
"That's true, this dude is getting me annoyed to the point that I feel like breaking some of his bones," Nathan said.
Dan couldn't hear them because if their mode of communication.
"Alright, I accept the duel," Nathan said with a little smile on his face. He looked at the back of Dan's uniform and saw one star and a half Star.
"That means he has three skills already," Nathan thought.
If a person has a half Star, it means that he or she has stepped halfway through the next rank.
Even though the speech was still ongoing, the both of them left the hall. Moreover, Nathan was tired of sitting in the hall.
They walked towards the forest that was a few distance away from the hall. They planned to have the duel there.
"Okay, let's start," Dan said with a sarcastic smile on his face.
Suddenly, a system message flashed in front of Nathan's eyes.
[Quest]
[Defeat the enemy and absorb his blood]
[Reward: 50 points]
[Points needed to level up: 0/100]
He needed 100 points to reach level two and if he completed this quest he will get 50 points.
A white sticky substance started oozing out of Dan's palms. Suddenly, the substance took the shape of a spear.
"You should have just rejected this duel," Dan said before thrusting the spear towards Nathan.
Due to his high agility, Nathan was able to move to the right on time. He raised his hands and two earth spikes appeared above his head.
Dan quickly retracted his makeshift spear and it instantly turned into a sword which he used to deflect the earth spikes.
*CLANG*
Sparks flew as soon as the sword made contact with the spikes.
Dan was too focused on deflecting the spikes that he failed to notice Nathan who was already beside him.
Nathan clenched his right fist and threw a punch towards Dan's head.
At the last moment, he managed to raise his left arm to protect his head.
*BAM*
Dan staggered backwards after taking the punch. If one looked closely, they would notice that the sticky substance covered his left arm like an armor.
"So, that's what reduced the power of my punch," Nathan thought after noticing the substance.
"How dare you lay your hands on me? I'll kill you."
Dan raised his hands and the sticky substance turned into spikes which he hurled towards Nathan.
Nathan stomped his right leg on the ground summoning an earth wall. The earth wall wasn't too big but it was enough to protect him.
*BOOM*
The spikes collided with the wall creating a dust cloud.
"Hahaha, now you see that you're an ant in my presence," Dan said with a smug look.
"Damn, you talk too much, I guess I'll just make your lip bigger," Nathan said.
"I have an advantage over this guy because of my agility," Nathan thought.
"Wa-Wait, how did you escape that. I made sure I targ~" Dan wasn't able to complete his sentence because Nathan was already delivering a punch towards him.
*BAM*
This time Dan couldn't protect himself because the punch was too fast.
The punch landed on Dan's face making him fly backwards. He landed roughly on the ground.
Nathan walked up to him and started searching his pockets.
He was not dead just unconscious. His already big lips were swollen.
Nathan found a pouch in his pocket that contained energy stones. They were shiny and blue in colour.
He stored the pouch in his pocket and diverted his attention to Dan.
"Are you prepared for this?" Siena asked.
"As far as it will make me stronger I will do it," he replied.
Nathan looked at his nails or rather claws, he took a deep breath before digging his claws into Dan's neck.
Dan's blood started entering Nathan's body through his fingernails. He could feel the blood rushing into his body.
"Wh-What.....What is this feeling?" Nathan couldn't describe the kind of pleasure he was feeling.
"So this is how it feels like."
His claws were still in Dan's neck absorbing his blood. He didn't even notice that he was smiling.
*********************************************************
"Nathan, Nathan, NATHAN!!" Siena called out.
"Huh, what is happening? He finally came back to his senses.
"Do you want to kill him?"
Nathan looked around him. He saw that his claws were still in Dan's neck. He quickly removed them and checked his body.
"He's still alive" Nathan said with a look of relief.
"Well, I won't blame you. New vampire's tend to get lost in pleasure when absorbing blood for the first time."
"Will I be able to control it?" He asked.
"Yes but think of how to get out of here first," she replied.
He looked at his hands, they were covered in blood but luckily there was none on his uniform.
"I'm pretty sure his friends will be here soon so it will be best if I leave now."
Nathan put his hands in his pocket to cover the blood then he started walking towards the dorm building.
He went directly to the last floor after entering the building. There was a fingerprint sensor on the door handle for recognition.
He put his hands on it and he entered immediately the door opened.
A system message appeared but he ignored it and cleaned his body first.
After freshening up, he looked at the system notification.
[QUEST REWARD]
[You have gained 50 points]
[50/100]
At least I gained two rewards from this. The points and the energy stones.
"You will meet more people like this and they will be stronger. The strong rules, that's what the world has become now," Siena said.
"Well, if they stand in my way I'll crush them."
His tone made it clear that he was serious.
"You can do that if you gain enough power," she replied.
"Become powerful to the point that no one will stand in your way."