Declan's eyes widened in shock as he looked at Nathan who was draining the gorilla's blood with his claws.
Nathan groaned as he tried to hold on to his consciousness.
He could feel strength returning back to his body.
His eyes snapped open and he removed his claws from the gorilla's body.
He looked up to see Declan looking at him without moving.
Nathan swiftly picked up his sword and instantly appeared in front of Declan.
The cold blade of his sword touched Declan's neck.
"What happened to you? You can tell me," Declan said calmly which surprised Nathan.
Before Nathan could reply, he heard footsteps coming from the end of the cave.
Joey carried Lena with tears streaming down her eyes.
"She's still alive but she's in a critical state," Joey said.
Declan helped Joey to drop Lena on the ground while Nathan went to the end of the cave and picked up the teleportation orb.
The orb had cracks on its body and even the button was damaged.
"Damn that gorilla," Nathan cursed.
He tried pressing the button but it didn't work.
Joey didn't stop shedding tears. Declan even tried to calm her down but it was to no avail.
Nathan looked up and saw the hole they fell through.
"It's too high," he thought.
Joey suddenly glanced at Nathan. It looked like she was trying to say something.
"Is there anything you can do?" She asked.
Declan also looked at Nathan. After seeing him absorbing blood, he knew Nathan wasn't normal.
"No," Nathan muttered.
Joey closed her eyes and little sobs could be heard again.
"Is there any way to save her?" Nathan quietly asked Siena.
"There's no way, her injuries are internal which is critical," Siena muttered, her voice laced with sadness.
She was also sad that Joey's friend was about to die.
Even though Lena was a bit annoying, Nathan didn't want her to die.
Suddenly, the system screen appeared in front of him with a message displayed on it.
[Do you want to save Lena Ash]
[Yes] [No]
"What's going on?" Nathan asked.
"I don't know," Siena replied with confusion evident in her voice.
Nathan tapped the yes option and another message was displayed on the system screen.
[Follow the instructions given to you]
Suddenly, weird patterns appeared on the screen.
"I'll have to do it," Nathan thought.
Following the system's instructions, Nathan walked towards Lena and bent down.
"There might be a way to save her," Nathan said to Joey who nodded frantically.
Nathan made a small cut on his hand and blood seeped out.
Joey and Declan watched in surprise as they saw Nathan drawing some weird patterns on Lena's forehead using his blood.
The pattern contained a huge circle with two smaller circles inside and some other weird markings.
After Nathan finished drawing it, he dropped his blood on the first smaller circle.
Then he touched the wound that was on Lena's arm and dropped the blood on the second smaller circle.
For some seconds, nothing happened making Nathan confused but suddenly, a bright red flash of light was produced from the patterns making them squint their eyes.
After the flash reduced, Nathan slowly opened his eyes and saw a small glow on the patterns.
Lena's body started shaking uncontrollably, making Nathan hold her tight to the ground.
"What's happening?" Joey asked in a panicked tone.
Nathan didn't reply but he had an idea of what was going on.
The injuries on Lena's body started healing and the shaking was slowly reducing.
Her black hair grew longer, fangs sprouted from her mouth, and her nails turned into claws.
Without anyone telling them, Joey and Declan understood what was happening.
They could only watch in silence as the transformation took place.
Lena's body stopped shaking and she opened her eyes.
Nathan could feel that he and Lena were now connected.
"Lena, are you alright?" Joey asked while slowly moving towards her.
Without warning, Lena suddenly leaped towards Joey with her claws outstretched.
Nathan's eyes widened in shock but he knew he had to do something.
He felt the connection he had with Lena and unknowingly to him, his eyes glowed red.
"Stop!" Nathan said sternly.
Lena immediately fell on the ground and didn't even move a muscle.
She knew it…she could feel it...Nathan was her master and he must be obeyed.
[Lena Ash has successfully been turned to a vampire]
Nathan saw the message displaying on the screen.
"Just like I thought," he muttered.
"Something is going on with the system," Siena said.
Nathan now had another problem on his hands, Lena.
They all sat on the ground in silence for some minutes.
Lena still didn't move and Declan was still digesting all the things he had seen.
Even though Lena had changed and wasn't saying anything, the fact that she was alive made Joey relieved.
"So how're we going to leave here?" Declan asked, breaking the silence.
"We'll have to wait for the teleportation orb's damage to be noticed in the ASC," Joey said.
"Wait.. they can tell when a teleportation orb is damaged?" Nathan asked.
"Yes, they'll send someone to the location of the damaged teleportation orb to check the situation," Joey said.
"That's pretty good," Nathan said.
"Yeah, but sometimes it's only limited to students," Declan said.
"So, someone might arrive very soon," Nathan thought.
He looked at Lena who was still sitting on the ground without moving.
"I have to handle this," he thought.
Nathan saw Declan glancing at him from the corner of his eyes.
"Just listen to what I'm about to say," Nathan said with a sigh.
He told Declan about him being a vampire and of course he left out the part about the realms, the system, the artifacts and Siena.
"I trust you, Nathan," Declan said.
"You saved our lives by defeating the gorilla and you've even saved Lena," he added.
Nathan looked at Declan before asking.
"Can I trust you?"
"Yes, you can trust me," Declan said.
"There's a skill you can use if you're not sure," Siena suddenly spoke up.
"Huh? Which skill?" Nathan asked in his mind.
"Open your skill tab," Siena said.
Nathan opened his skill tab and saw a new skill among his vampiric skills.
[Blood oath: Using blood as a medium, an oath can be formed that cannot be broken under any circumstances]
"Now this is a good skill," Nathan said with a light smile.