The dust of our recent dungeon raid had barely settled, but two worries clung to my mind like shadows.
“First, there’s that guy who escaped the dungeon and ca to us for help,” I ntioned, glancing at my squadmates. Most of them seed indifferent to outsiders, but this man was different—he’d managed to break free from that dark place. How? That answer would have to wait until he woke up in the ammunition battalion’s base.
“But there’s sothing else…” I took a breath, trying to shake off the feeling of unease. “What was that insane regeneration ability I had?”
It still felt surreal seeing my wound close—the gaping hole in my abdon healing right before my eyes.
“Wait a minute. Are you telling you turned into a vampire?”
Ariella chuckled, and her laughter only deepened my confusion. “Look, this is all a bit alarming for you, isn’t it?”
“I’m just trying to understand what’s happening to .”
She waved her hand dismissively. “Is it the word ‘vampire’ that freaks you out? Should I call them ‘nobles of the night’ instead?”
“No, it’s not that!” I retorted, though I wasn’t all that reassured.
Ariella sighed and teasingly extended her fingernails. Instinctively, I tightened my grip on the knife in my hand, anticipating a strike. But her sharp nails stopped just short of my skin, halted by so invisible barrier.
“Relax, I can’t hurt you without your permission. It’s part of my oath as your vassal,” she said playfully.
“So, what’s up with this regeneration then?” I pressed, locking eyes with her.
“Hmm, I might have a theory,” Ariella replied, tilting her head. “If I’m right, that regeneration might be a result of your own decision.”
“Decision? What do you an?”
She raised an eyebrow, amusent glinting in her eyes. “Oh, you really don’t get it, do you? Do you know how I create a vassal?”
“From what you told last ti, you drain their blood and fill the void with yours. Right?”
“Exactly! So, think back to how you subdued .”
“I—it’s a little fuzzy,” I admitted, the chaos of that mont crashing back. I vaguely rembered the overwhelming thirst that had driven to drain her blood in a frenzy.
“Oh! You sucked my blood, and then I also drank yours, didn’t I?” I suddenly exclaid.
“Ah…”
A light bulb went off in my head. “So, your human blood transferred to , and my blood—infused with magic—filled you. It’s similar to creating a vassal, isn’t it?”
“Precisely!” she said with a triumphant smile.
I rubbed my forehead, trying to sort everything out. I rembered a system notification from when I drained her blood: *[Warning! Excessive blood sucking can cause bodily transformations.]*
“Are you telling that you didn’t just take a little of my blood? You drained everything just before I was about to beco a noble?”
“When I gave you my blood, nothing changed. Why would that happen now?”
Ariella shrugged. “You can eat all the nutritious als you want, but you won’t see results overnight, right? Maybe the changes are just starting to manifest.”
A throbbing ache began to stab at my temples. “So, does this an I’m becoming your vassal? What happens to our master-servant relationship then?”
“Oh, I wish it were that simple. But it’s a bit different from creating a typical vassal.”
“Different how?”
“To create a servant, I infuse my magical energy into the absorbed blood. But all the blood you consud was mine.”
“So even if I was influenced by your blood, I wouldn’t actually beco one of your servants?”
“Right. It’s disappointing, isn’t it? It would have been wonderful if you beca my servant!”
Her excitent was palpable, and I couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. “Hold up—I’ve been a bit too lenient with you lately, and now you’re acting out again.”
I decided to set that aside for the mont. “I heard from your associates that there wasn’t any magic energy in this world originally?”
“That’s correct.”
“Even looking at other humans, they seem unusually low in magical resistance. Given that magic has mixed so thoroughly with powerful blood, it seems to enhance that sensitivity.”
With a smirk, she said, “You may be closer to a noble than just a re human now. Want to test that?”
She pulled at her collar, revealing her neck teasingly. “If you just took a little more, you might change your very race. What do you think?”
“Absolutely not.” I cringed at the thought. Yes, gaining power through blood would be enticing, but I’d pay a heavy price—sunlight vulnerability and a need to feed regularly? No, thanks. I had no desire to abandon my humanity.
“Beco a vampire? What a terrifying idea,” I muttered under my breath.
As I considered the profound boost I’d felt from her blood, I daydread about it again. Would it be worth trying again later to enhance my stats once she regained her strength?
“Almost slipped into a huge disaster…”
If I tried that again, it would lead to erasing my human identity, replacing it with Shin Young-joon, the noble.
“Isn’t it odd to say that drinking blood would change soone’s race?” I pondered aloud. “Especially if it’s the blood of a being tied to blood-related traits?”
“As I ntioned, humans in this world have particularly weak resistance—”
“But based on that logic, I’ve eaten countless monster cuisines, right?” Most of my als had co from monsters, and I surely would have transford by now if that were the case.
“Ah…”
Sothing wasn’t adding up. Just as I searched for clarity, Ariella interjected, “Isn’t there a difference?”
“A difference?”
“You’ve cooked monster at, but when you drank my blood, you guzzled it down without restraint.”
That made think. We’d talked about a comrade of Chang-Su’s who had lost his humanity after consuming monsters and had begun consuming humans too.
“The devourer of the absurd…”
I felt a sudden insight. Humans are vulnerable to monster magic. If consud recklessly, they risk their own transformation into sothing monstrous.
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Heyo readers,
Regular release will resu from tomorrow onwards and I’m happy to announce 20 more chapters are on the way.
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