"Why were you so worried like that?" Alex asked with a chuckle.
"Didn't you hear?
I'm immortal now, so you don't need to worry.
Look, I can even regenerate from this."
Alex wanted to show her a demonstration to ease her worry.
He took out a knife and was about to give a small slash over his finger.
But Emily stood up and held his hand with the knife.
"What do you think you're doing?
I believe you; there's no need to do that."
Alex scratched his head.
"Oh, that...
Can I just not tell you?"
Seeing the silly grin on her brother's face, Emily felt the urge to smack his head.
Her lips then curled into a sarcastic smile.
"Sure, brother."
Her grip on his hand started to tighten, making Alex wince in pain.
Even though he had endured a lot of pain before, it didn't make him immune to it.
"Let's stay like this until you answer, then."
"Ouch, alright, I'll tell you."
But Emily didn't loosen her grip and continued to look at Alex sternly.
Knowing she wouldn't stop until she was satisfied, Alex continued,
"As you heard, it's the vampire race, although it's not like in the movies where we get pain from sunlight.
We need to consume life force energy.
And I've been neglecting it since I came here, so I went berserk from the hunger."
"You!
How could you be so careless?
What if that happened when you were alone with Mom!?"
"I know, I'm sorry, I screwed up…"
"You're always like this.
How can you be so clumsy despite your abilities?
Isn't it weird?
Forget it...
What happened next?
Did you consume my life force?
Was it enough?"
Hearing his sister's words made Alex's heart clench; even now, she was asking about him, not even worried about the life energy that had been drained from her.
"Aren't you afraid?
I've absorbed so much of your life energy.
You could be dead, you know."
"I know, but it's just temporary.
It's not like you would let me die.
I'm sure you'll find a way.
Isn't that why I have this rune on my body now?"
Feeling his sister's unconditional trust made Alex feel warm.
"Yes, I will make sure to recover all your life force," he said with determined eyes.
Alex then continued,
"Try to control your energy usage.
When you feel it starts dwindling to half, don't go on any missions.
Meet up with me to refill it first."
Emily turned silent for a moment; her grip loosened a little, and her tone became solemn.
"What did you pay for it?
You told me Vesa is recovering.
If it could have been done without any cost, you would have told me you would use it on Mom and me even before your hunger.
I can feel it; this rune doesn't just extend my life.
It even enhances my strength and can help me regenerate when I'm wounded."
'Is that true, Vesa?
Can it help her regenerate?'
[Yes, King.
The rune will use the life force energy just like how you regenerate your body, but she is not a real vampire.
So, she won't be able to recover if her brain is destroyed or turned to ashes.
But as long as part of it remains, there should be no problem.]
Alex felt relieved reading Vesa's explanation; this would ease his worries even more when Emily went out on missions as a hunter.
Seeing Alex seem to be daydreaming, Emily tightened her grip again.
"Answer me."
Alex winced and then looked at Emily, his lips curling into a smile.
"Nothing much.
It's something I need to do anyway."
"And that is…?"
Alex sighed and answered,
"I need to kill a Category Five dungeon boss."
"ARGH!"
Alex swore he could feel his bones cracking.
Emily then released her grip, and her sapphire blue eyes started glistening with tears.
Looking at her expression, Alex knew why she felt like this; the words "Category Five" always reminded them of the incident with their dad.
He wiped her tears, then patted her head.
"You're already a two-star hunter now and still a crybaby like this.
Don't worry.
I'll build up an army before I go there, and you also know I can regenerate from any wound now."
"Do you think I'm a child?
Your regeneration consumes life force energy, and if it runs out, you're dead!
And that doesn't mean you can just go on your way, taking all the damage and regenerating over and over.
That kind of pain..."
Her voice trailed off as realization dawned on her.
With her understanding of life force, Alex's situation before, and his lack of combat experience, there was only one possibility for how he gathered all this life force.
Emily knew there was no way Alex would kill someone innocent for it.
"You..."
The words stuck in her throat because Emily realized there was nothing she could say.
What should Alex do?
Let her die?
There was no way he would allow that, and Emily still wanted to live.
Her eyes turned determined.
"I will go with you."
"But..."
Alex wanted to retort, thinking she was too weak.
"No buts.
To enter a Category Five dungeon, you need to be at least a three-star hunter and have one four-star hunter leading the expedition.
You need me either way, and I will bring the guild members with us.
Since we're going there anyway, you should know which one we should go to."
Seeing her eyes, Alex knew she wouldn't back down.
"I don't plan to tell the association about this, Emily.
I will sneak inside."
"Sneak inside?
That's impossible, Alex!
You need many people to enter the area, and the border is heavily guarded."
"There are many reasons to go outside the border.
As long as it's only a few people, I'm sure getting permission to gather resources would not be hard.
They won't suspect a few people dare to enter a Category Five dungeon."