Tom felt only stronger and more agile, nothing else at first. In the bathroom, however, a chilling realization struck him.
His brown eyes, his normal, unremarkable brown eyes, were slowly, agonizingly turning blue. This was unprecedented. Never in his lineage, never in their history, had anyone possessed blue eyes.
Panic clawed at him. This, he knew, was connected to the stranger, the enigmatic savior. But there was more. A primal urge, a dark hunger, pulsed within him, a voice whispering demands for... sustenance.
He fought it back, desperately, terrified of what might unleash if he succumbed.
Meanwhile, Tyler sat before the chief, an old man whose white hair and beard formed a striking contrast against his weathered skin.
"Tell me," the chief began, his voice a low rumble, "what brings you to our humble village?"
Tyler, unsure of how to explain his presence in the town, stumbled upon by accident, decided against revealing the truth. He feared it might make him appear strange. Instead, he opted for a seemingly plausible excuse, claiming to be on a tour and having visited numerous places before settling in this particular town for a while.
The chief, finding the explanation reasonable and authentic, welcomed Tyler and encouraged him to feel at ease. With that settled, Tyler made his way back to his motel.
"Waking him up from sleep was a notification.
⟨[19 hours left before the full moon]⟩.
He groaned and wondered what could have been my story if I was never turned into a vampire, and why does the universe so much want's me to be amongst these vile creatures from necromancer, a forbidden ability to blood necromancer, something the vampires had never heard of, to Vampiricwerewolf, an abomination to both creatures, why him, why not everyone else. This was what was going on inside his mind.
He soon felt the aggression he had over nothing and wondered could this be the effect of the full moon's energy. This was the question he knew he couldn't answer till another notification rang in his mind
⟨[you are authority is being threatened subdue the threat and become an alpha or you lose and become a beta]⟩."
Such a warning sounded plausible in his ears. 'Which authority do I have here?' he muttered, chuckling. 'It seems my system has some glitch.'
He opened their door to grab breakfast when he bumped into one of the hotel waiters. Although the waiter apologized, he suddenly became agitated and rushed the man, pounding his face against the wall with brute force.
The waiter lay unconscious, blood spewing from his nose. He was awestruck; he didn't understand why he had acted that way. It was an inexplicable, sudden outburst.
'When did I even get there?' he wondered. He decided to consult his system.
'System, what is the cause of my immense bloodthirst and aggression? Is it from the coming moon?'
The system responded:
⟨[The blood moon is the coming available moon, and you are in luck, for it matches your prowess. This means not only will your werewolf genes become purer and stronger, but also your vampiric abilities, if you please or pass the test that shall be bestowed upon you in mere hours.]⟩
This answer resonated with his own suspicions about his aggression, but the rest of the system's message seemed outlandish. "Nope, I think by the ū seriously need breakfast," he grumbled, scrolling through his phone, which had no network connection.
He approached a table at the bar, waiting for the bartender to approach him.
"While sitting, a tingling sensation prickled his skin. Looking up at the sky, he felt it – the rays of the upcoming moon. The sensation was surreal, exquisite, and utterly captivating, pulling him out of reality. Soon, he drifted off to sleep, his head resting on the cool surface of the table."
A soft thud against the edge of the table startled him awake. He had no idea how long he had slept. More thuds followed, and as he groaned and looked up, he saw a waitress urging him to move. Before he could respond, a massive horn impaled her, piercing the table. Acting on instinct, he leaped out of the way, narrowly avoiding a similar fate.
The sight that met his eyes was horrifying. The town lay in ruins, ravaged by a horde of beasts, each more terrifying than the last. They were below the demigod tier, yet their rampage was relentless, leaving a trail of death and destruction. The scene was a chaotic, gruesome spectacle.
Anger surged through him, his heart pounding with a ferocious intensity. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, pushing him to the brink. Then, a notification appeared:
⟨[Your heart rate has surpassed its limit. Force bond has been activated. Forced mark has met a criteria to be unlocked. You have marked a Minotaur.
Creature's marked can be traced when you use mark on them. Killing them during the full moon will provide extra exp.]⟩
This notification, appearing on the holographic screen, momentarily distracted him, allowing his racing heart rate to begin to subside.
He decided to take action, using his enhanced sense of smell to locate survivors. To his relief, the chief had managed to shelter half of the town.
Another notification appeared, this time persistent and unavoidable:
⟨[4 hours to the full moon]⟩
Following the scent trail, he discovered a group of survivors huddled together in a dark cave, waiting for the chaos to subside.
Meanwhile, in a different cave,
Tom ,Squatting on the damp cave floor, drenched in sweat, he felt a strange transformation wash over him. His senses heightened, allowing him to see the ants scurrying across the cave floor as if through a magnifying glass. He could hear the terrifying stampede of beasts approaching from the east, drawing closer to the town.
He yearned to warn the others, but a chilling voice within him whispered that they deserved their fate. They had treated him with cruelty, and this thought, echoing through his mind, pushed him to the brink of madness. He began to tear at his own skin, the pain intense but strangely exhilarating.
His blood dripped onto the cave walls, leaving strange, cryptic markings. Soon, his wounds healed, replaced by sharp, wicked claws.
Just then, Tyler entered the cave. "I see you made it, young lad," the chief greeted him. "I thought the beasts might have gotten you. Have you seen my stepchildren, Tom and Dorothy? I can't seem to find them here."
"No offense, sir," Tyler retorted, his voice laced with anger, "but those two were your kin."
"Yes, they are," the chief confirmed.
"And you allowed them to live in that… that mess they called a home?" Tyler's voice boomed, his eyes flashing gold. He was not naturally a cruel person, but the encroaching lunar influence was twisting his emotions.
He grabbed the chief by the throat, lifting him effortlessly into the air.
The villagers, though numbered, rushed forward to restrain him. They couldn't subdue him entirely, but they managed to pry his hands from the chief's neck. The chief, released from Tyler's grip, stumbled towards the edge of the cave. He glimpsed his own demise reflected in Tyler's eyes, a chilling premonition that sent fear coursing through him. He collapsed to the ground, his bladder releasing in terror.