Abel then began to form his demonic face, looking at Zeke.
"You're just like me. What am I? What are you?" Abel asked, with deep curiosity and eagerness.
"I'm a vampire, and you seem to be a rare mixture between a werewolf and a vampire. A hybrid." Zeke said, with fascination as he gazed at his eyes.
'Amber eyes and black sclera. A pureblood hybrid? How could one of those ever exist?' Zeke wondered, with even more amazement.
His eyebrows raised as he had this thought, then he brought himself back to the present moment.
"Anyhow, we need to leave, and we need to leave fast! Being seen around his body could be life-threatening for the both of us." Zeke claimed.
"Life-threatening, why?" Abel asked.
His curiosity was only deepening as he heard more from his friend. The frail orphan that he thought was just like him was much stronger than he expected.
He was opened to an entirely new field of power, and Zeke seemed to be someone that knew all about it. He had to know more so that he could utilise his power to grow stronger.
"Just wait, I'll answer any questions once we get behind the city walls. Do not tell anyone about what happened today, I absolutely promise you it's for the best. People will try to kill you if you reveal that you are a hybrid." Zeke asserted.
The two reaches the city walls and saw numerous students also returning to the city. They had heard of what had happened, and many students looked gravely injured. The crunching of healing pills and the like reverberated around the area surrounding the walls as the students collected back up together.
"Thanks students, but we are afraid that we have had to end this event on short notice once again. We would still like to see the crystals that you had gained during that time to assess your performance. We thank you for your efforts." Master Klemens said with praise for the students.
Following this event, the students were redirected back to the academy and it was around lunchtime break.
Abel and Zeke were stood next to each other, and Duncan had given them some time to talk. He had seen what they were, but realised that he wasn't going to be in their talk. He wanted to learn more about what his friends were, but understood why they decided to remain covert about their identities.
"So, I'm a hybrid. What sort of abilities do I have?" Abel asked.
"The standard. You have super speed, strength, durability and things like that. You also require human blood to remain immortal and gain power from the full moon and transform into a full on 9-foot wolf-man. Have you transformed yet?" Zeke asked.
"Yes, once. I can barely remember what happened, though, I just remember the agony I went through before transforming." Abel said, before almost shivering.
He certainly didn't want to have that feeling again, but now that he was a werewolf he knew that would be a certainty.
"How long have you had your vampire powers?" Zeke asked.
"Not long at all. It was after Nikolas tried to attack me, I drank his blood and it transformed me somehow." Abel replied.
Zeke didn't even move upon hearing this and was almost too stunned to reply.
'So you're telling me he's a pureblood werewolf AND a noble?!' Zeke thought to himself, physically zoned out.
"What is it, Zeke?" Abel asked.
"Oh, don't worry about it. It's just surprising to see a hybrid like you. Where I'm from, you don't see many people like you." Zeke stated.
"So, where are you from? Are you even an orphan?" Abel asked.
Zeke tried to reply but then stopped himself. It was clear he had a lot to say and was struggling to think of where to even start.
"Well, my real name is Zeke von Carstein, from the von Carstein nobility." He explained, while Abel was still confused.
He had never heard of the von Carstein family, and nobility even from different cities and unions were still well-known. Noble families had strong warriors, and strong cultivators had the privilege of being able to venture past the city walls.
So, it wasn't uncommon to see nobility from different unions in one's own city from time to time.
"I hail from one of the noble vampire families of Nudra. I am son of Elder Zoltan, the head of the noble family. Being his firstborn, I was the heir apparent to the throne." He explained.
Abel looked shocked upon hearing this, while he was also quite puzzled.
It felt weird, looking back to his memories that he had with Abel. He also saw him as the shy commoner type that didn't really have much going for him, just like himself.
That's why he felt he could relate to him so much, but now he could see that that was just a ruse.
"The way life was as an heir was... it was terrible. It must sound weird, for me to have given up all that luxury to live the life that I currently do but now I feel free. Before, I constantly had to uphold the expectations of people that looked up to me. I had to be perfect, and my dad wouldn't have any of it when I wasn't."
Abel could see the sadness looming over his face as he talked about this. His eyes had dropped to the floor as he continued to explain his previous life, and whenever he talked about the life that he had now he somehow seemed relieved.
His father would beat him restlessly and train him to get stronger. His talent was very low for an heir, and he was ridiculed by the other heirs to the thrones of Abryssia, the Vampire District of Nudra.
"So, what is Nudra? Is it like a different planet or something?" Abel asked.
He was constantly talking of this Nudra, that was clearly filled to the brim with supernaturals. However, he hadn't heard of anything like that in his life before.
"It's not a different planet. Nudra is a different realm entirely, locked away from humans. Only trusted individuals are allowed to see the place and I tell you, it's beautiful. That's one of the only things I miss about that damn place." Zeke said, looking back up to the sky as he was deep in thought.
"It consists of various districts. The supernaturals don't communicate or breed much and agreed to almost remain far from one another. That's why I was so surprised to find out that you were a hybrid. Most hybrids are shunned away by their respective families and treated as scum." He further explained.
Abel was fascinated by this entire world that he had entered. What he knew now was that, at some point, he wanted to go to Nudra to see just what it was like. To him, it seemed like a great place to visit.
"Enough about my life, I need to tell you what to do next. From what I've noticed, you've been taking blood from humans in the open, and confidently. That will have to stop from today." Zeke demanded.
"What, why?" Abel asked.
The elation he felt from drinking blood was something he wasn't willing to just lose, his quick reply made Zeke lift his hands and jerk back in reaction.
"Alright, I'm not saying you shouldn't drink human blood anymore. You could survive without it, but that's not the point. I'll get human blood for you in safe, covert ways, so you won't be suspected." He stated.
"Suspected? Suspected by who, it seems like nobody even knows who we are in this place." Abel replied.
"No, you would be surprised. Along with supernaturals are another supernatural species that are deadly to us. Hunters. They are individuals given divine power and an undying will to kill people like us. They view us as demons that taint the Earth, with our impure souls." Zeke replied.
Just as he said souls, Abel's eyes almost lit up.
"Souls? Can we still form dantian?" Abel hastily asked.
Thinking back to his training, his progress was now almost totally gone, it was like he literally didn't have a soul.
Maybe, just maybe, there was still hope for him.
"Of course we have souls, they are just referred to as tainted souls. You can't form a dantian with our type of soul in the same way that humans can. We have our own unique path of cultivation, the demon path.
"Humans have their human path, and we have our own path. There is also the dark path, but no one really talks about that."