Kate listened quietly as Damon laid out everything that had happened since the ga began. He skipped a few details, but he was surprisingly open. Mark, on the other hand, looked like he’d been hit by a truck. He kept blinking, like he was waiting to wake up and find out it was all a dream.
"You’re telling you got so kind of legendary soul weapon... that talks to you?" Mark asked slowly. "And then what, it turned you into Dracula?"
"Not Dracula," Damon corrected. "Sothing worse. Sothing older. A primordial."
Kate raised an eyebrow. "And then you beca my hero, lord, and savior."
Damon gave her a flat look.
"Okay, okay," Kate laughed, holding up her hands. "I’ll stop teasing."
Mark glanced between the two of them like he was the only sane man left. "I don’t know what’s crazier—that this ga lets you beco a vampire in real life, or that my sister is laughing about it while calling you Master."
"I am never calling this doofus Master!" Kate huffed, mock offended. "Besides, I’m clearly the cooler vampire now. So, what class did you pick up, huh? I need to know how strong I have to get. No way I’m letting you stay stronger than ."
Damon grinned, sothing wicked dancing in his eyes. "You’ll see soon enough."
The three of them shared a laugh, and for the first ti in a long while, Damon felt sothing warm settle in his chest. Like, just maybe, he was exactly where he belonged. He did not know how the world was going to change tomorrow, but no matter what, he would fight to protect this small world of his.
Damon’s mind wandered to Phoenix and what she said. She talked about a rumor that the President of the United States was personally going to log into the ga with a God’s blessing but he already knew that it was not a re rumor.
During their conversation, he did not reveal any shock, but he was definitely shocked to find out that it was the President who started with God’s blessing. In fact, it was not just one person. In about 6 months ti, there were going to be ten players who would enter the ga with ten different God’s blessings.
These ten players would then beco the backbone and strength of ten powerful guilds collectively called the super ten.
The thought made Damon’s expression harden, his smile fading as the weight of what was coming settled on his shoulders again. The Super Ten.
He rembered that na well from his past life, the ten pillars of chaos that had reshaped the ga and, eventually, the world itself. Entire nations would align themselves with those players.
A player like the President. Probably the other ten players were other influential political people from around the world, from different countries.
The identities of these players were always kept secretive, but from the way the nations aligned with them and the massive waves of recruitnt of talented players, now Damon could join many dots.
All of this made him wonder. Did these people know sothing beforehand? About how the ga was going to change the world?
Damon’s thoughts spiraled.
The President of the United States. World leaders. Titans of influence quietly entering a ga that, at the ti, was marketed as nothing more than the most imrsive virtual reality MMO ever made.
But looking back, how had they known? How had they prepared so thoroughly? Was it just foresight... or had they been tipped off?
Or rather, who was it who tipped them all off?
A na entered his mind. All these players had what they called a God’s blessing. So maybe the person who tipped them was a...
He clenched his fists slowly, his eyes losing focus as paranoia and clarity warred inside his mind. Were the gods real? Were they watching? Had they chosen vessels in advance? And if so, what did that make him? A rogue variable? A mistake?
Or maybe... a threat.
"Hello! Earth to Damon! Earth to Damon!" Kate flicked him on his forehead playfully. "What are you thinking about?"
Damon blinked, pulled back from the depths of his spiraling thoughts by the light tap of Kate’s finger on his forehead. Her mischievous grin was in sharp contrast to the storm that had been brewing in his mind, but it grounded him. Reminded him of the now. Of the people he had to protect.
"What are you thinking about?" she repeated, tilting her head.
"Nothing," Damon lied, offering a small smile. "So what class do you both want to pick?"
Kate narrowed her eyes imdiately. "That’s a deflection," she said flatly. "You are lying. I know when you are lying, Damon!"
Mark didn’t say anything and shrugged.
Damon raised both hands in surrender. "Fine. I was thinking about how the world’s about to go to hell, and that we’re all standing on the fault line. Happy?"
Kate smiled. "We’ll deal with it. Together."
Mark, still looking like he was waiting for an alien mothership to beam them all up, scratched the back of his neck. "Well... if the world is going to hell, then I am going to need a strong class to stand next to you."
Kate grinned. "You should go Necromancer. Then we can start a band. Blood and Bones."
"Hard pass," Mark muttered.
Damon chuckled. "Honestly, it doesn’t matter what class you pick. If you both stick close to , I’ll make sure no one touches you. But... you should choose sothing that matches your nature. Let’s first take care of your Awakening ceremony and then worry about picking a class."
"What’s that?"
"Mmm. I will tell you about it. First, let’s go to Nierra City. I have the maximum influence there and might need so help from the vampire base." The three of them started walking into the forest.
Damon summoned his clone, and Kate spent the next few minutes examining it, completely shocked. While she was ssing around, Mark pulled Damon back to talk in private. "I have no idea how to thank you."
Damon waved him off casually. "Don’t. Just stay alive. That’s enough."
But Mark didn’t let it go so easily. "I an it. You saved my sister. You could’ve walked away and let her die... but you didn’t." He glanced ahead at Kate, who was now poking the clone’s face and laughing like a child with a new toy. "She’s the only family I’ve got left. You risked everything to save her. I can never repay you for that.
Damon didn’t say anything for a long mont. His jaw tensed, his gaze fixed on the horizon. He didn’t know how to deal with gratitude, not when it ca from a place so raw. Not after the way his last life had ended, drowning in betrayal. Finally, he gave Mark a short nod.
"Don’t get sentintal on ," Damon muttered. "You’re going to make think I’m a good person."
Mark snorted. "Too late for that. You were always a good guy, Damon. Better than , at least."
"Have you read the forums?" Damon chuckled.
"Fucking hell. Ya, how are we not talking about that? Blood God! Dude, you are famous!" Mark started laughing.
Damon groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "I hate that na."
"Oh, co on," Mark grinned. "You massacred a guild mid-event while farming elite monsters and players like it was a weekend hobby. You’ve got a blood-red na, the MVP title, a bounty on your head, and your own forum gathread with fifty pages of people arguing if you’re a bug, a dev, or an actual demon."
Damon groaned louder. "I don’t want to know."
"But you are famous now," Mark said with a smirk. "And I gotta admit, it’s kind of cool knowing the guy terrifying half the server is my childhood friend. You’ve always had that main character syndro, man. Just embrace it."
"Yes, Blood God, my lord, and savior." Kate laughed as she walked back to them. "Hey, do we need to bow to you every ti we see you now? I an, we are amongst royalty."
Damon’s face twitched. "You know what, Kate? It should be anyti now."
"Anyti what?" Kate looked confused.
"Aren’t you feeling a tad hungry?" Damon smiled.
"Hungry?" Kate’s eyes instantly froze. Fuck yes, she was feeling hungry. Very hungry. Hunger was all she could think about now. She looked at Damon’s wicked smile and slowly asked in disbelief. "Don’t tell ..."
"Yes, my dear Kate. Vampires drink blood."
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