Chương 12: (12) B1 C12: Lucia Corvini

"But enough about me. How are you? Your wound isn't hurting? You're okay?" I asked once again. Lucia nodded, though she rubbed her abdomen carefully as she regarded me with a suspicious look.

"I remember being brought to a dock. Then it was attacked, and some of those attackers turned their weapons on me and my friends. But… I don't understand… were you among the attackers?"

"No, I was not. I wasn't involved, I swear!" I answered immediately.

"Then who are you? You may have told me your name, but I know nothing else about you," Lucia asked, "Why were you there? What happened after I fell unconscious?"

"Well… the docks were attacked by a group of elves. I'm sure you remember at least that much. I was in the forest when they first struck, though I didn't join the fight as I wasn't aligned with either side. The elves made their way through the defending slavers easily, most of them were killed within the first few seconds, and eventually surrounded your group. I couldn't hear what was said, but one of the slaves stepped forward and joined the elves."

"Laura…" Lucia sighed, "What happened next? I… I don't remember." I leaned back, a frown growing on my face as I took a deep breath. Were the other slaves her friends? If so, how was she going to react to the news of their deaths? I looked into her eyes, already dreading how she'd react, before I slowly answered her question.

"You were shot. You and the rest of the slaves that were left behind. The elves turned their weapons on you, I think to keep you all silent," I answered, "You were the only survivor. The others were already dead by the time I got to you—you barely survived, yourself," I answered, "That wound in your stomach would've killed you if I hadn't gotten to you in time."

"They're all dead?" Lucia breathed. Her eyes fell to the ground, and only after a few moments of thought did she finally continue, "... I see. It is unfortunate, but not surprising. As painful as it is to admit it, many of them wouldn't have survived the winter. What perplexes me, however, is why I will."

"What do you mean?"

"You saved me. It must've been dangerous to try, yet you saved me all the same. Why?" I couldn't tell her. Truthfully, I almost didn't. If Lucia had been older, or if Crimson Instinct hadn't canceled at that exact moment, she would've been among the dead. I wasn't going to be revealing that to her, obviously, though the knowledge still felt heavy in my heart,"Well, you were still alive," I lied, "It felt wrong to not save you."

"I… see," Lucia nodded, "That is a rare philosophy you have—not seen often. Most would've demanded some form of payment, or perhaps loyalty or a favor to be honored at some point in the future." The alternative would've been far worse, I thought to myself.

"Well I guess I'm just different," I said aloud.

"I suppose so," Lucia smiled. Then, to my surprise, Lucia lifted herself to her feet. She gave me a small nod as she put her fist against her chest, "Let me introduce myself once more. My name is Lucia of House Corvini, daughter of Ser Corvini the Golden. I thank you for saving my life, Evelyn of House Moore. If it wasn't for you, I would've joined my ancestors in the Great Hall—a fate I do not deserve just yet."

"Ah… that's… you're welcome, I guess." I replied awkwardly. Lucia sat back down, rubbed her stomach with a grimace, and leaned against the wall.

"Now, I must rest. It is late at night, is it not? I assume, from the fact that we are not moving through the forest even now, that you are waiting until morning to set out? Do you have a destination in mind to leave this damnable forest?"

"Sorry, I don't. I also… oh, how to say it…" I sighed, "I don't move around when the sun is up. I won't even go outside."

"Oh? Why?"

"Religious… reasons…" I hastily replied. Hopefully that excuse was good enough. I wasn't entirely sure how Lucia would feel about sharing a cave with a blood-sucking Vampire, but I had the strange feeling that she probably wouldn't be happy about it, "It's all quite boring, honestly."

"I see. Though I am curious, I won't pry," Lucia nodded, "Although I fear I'd only become a burden, I am not strong enough to hold my own just yet. If it isn't too much trouble, may I join you in your endeavor to leave this forest? I wish to return to my home in Veilarus, and I cannot do so on my own."

"Would you be willing to take me with you, then? I… well, I'm kind of homeless right now."

"I would be honored," Lucia smiled, "I assume, then, that we will be spending the entirety of the day within the cave?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"I guess I'll just have to look forward to it," Lucia sighed, "Though food might become a problem." … It didn't take long for us to come to the understanding that both of us needed each other. She needed me to protect her, as she simply wasn't strong enough to defend herself, and I needed her to give me directions and keep me company. It'd been a full week and a half since I'd seen a friendly face, and I was beginning to miss human interaction.

After Lucia had gone to sleep on the other side of the cave, I finally turned my attention to my status screen. It had been a few levels since my time hunting rabbits, so many of my attributes had received a significant change. Over the last week and a half, I continued with the 'fast and agile' build that I'd originally planned for. Most of my points had gone into my Thirst attribute, which left me with a staggering Bite Capacity and Critical Devour Damage, yet I hadn't entirely ignored my other attributes.

I kept my Undeath value at a healthy number and made sure my Malice and Profanity didn't drop too low. It was only my Heresy and Authority attributes, both of which I didn't really use, that I ignored. I continued that trend as I climbed up to level eight. Although I had enough points to move up to level nine, I didn't want to reduce my complexion to a state that left Lucia afraid of me. So, with only 50 stat points to spend, I directed 30 of them to Thirst and the rest to Undeath.

I didn't have enough points to put enough into the other stats, though I made sure to keep a mental note to focus on them when I had the opportunity. For now, though, I'd keep myself with a healthy amount of Blood Points, even if it meant I was ultimately weaker because of it.

Evelyn Moore Untitled Vampire Fledgling - Level 8 VP: 1000 / 1000 (+90 /Min) BP: 925 (+1800 /Bite) BB: 200 / 200 (+20 /Min) CE: 550 / 550 (+40 /Min) 575 Blood Points Required to Reach Level 9 Attributes Menu MALICE: 45 113 Devour Damage Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

90 /Minute VP Regen HERESY: 10 25 Hex Damage 20 /Minute BB Regen UNDEATH: 100 1000 Vitae Points (VP) -180 BP Cost for Devour Abilities AUTHORITY: 20 200 Blood Barrier (BB) 40 /Minute MP Regen THIRST: 180 1800 Bite Capacity 1350 Critical Devour Damage PROFANITY: 55 550 Curse Energy (CE) 413 Critical Hex Damage Equipment No Equipped Weapon DMG: 0 CRIT DMG: 0 No Equipped Amulet No Equipped Left Ring No Equipped Right Ring - Total Defense: 10% Fortitude, -10% Resilience I felt a smile as I stared at my new status.

The climb from level seven to level eight might've been a small one, but even a small increase in strength would give me an easier time in this new world. I didn't even need to throw away my pale complexion either, which was a plus that I'm sure Lucia would appreciate, even if she didn't know it. And, with only one level away from level ten, I was incredibly close to my first skill point.

Skill points were rewarded every ten levels, which inherently made them much more rare than stat points, and were used to either acquire a brand new skill or upgrade one of your pre-existing ones. Using a skill point, I'd be able to upgrade one of my skills, both of which were still at Rudimentary proficiency, to the Practiced proficiency. They'd gain a possible cost decrease or a damage adjustment, which were nice, but the big bonus was that they'd receive a new effect.

Crimson Instinct, for example, might gain an effect that allowed me to see things other than blood quality. Maybe it'd allow me to see through illusions, or maybe I'd be able to see the diseases people had. I couldn't even predict how Vampire's Bite would evolve, and as my mind explored the possibilities awaiting me, I couldn't help but become more and more excited.

Of course, both the choice of acquiring a new skill and upgrading one involved a preset 'unlock' requirement, almost like a set of instructions, that I had to do in order to make the unlock or upgrade available. If I wanted Crimson Instinct to be able to see through illusions, I'd possibly need to have the ability to cast such illusions myself. I turned to look at Lucia. She was sleeping soundly, her body curled up against the wall in a defensive position.

Her wound had already fully healed, though the cold blood coating her raggedy outfit left her shivering. She was asleep, and would remain asleep for the next few hours. I stood up, my eyes gazing at the cave entrance with a fierce look. I wanted to hunt. Lucia was going to be hungry in the morning, and with my inability to go out into the sun, now was the best time to prepare for that. … I returned to the cave with the dry remains of a silverlight rabbit an hour or so later.

My hunt had been extremely successful, though I'd taken too long to return and had only got back half an hour before sunrise. When I arrived, Lucia was waiting for me. She must've only woken up a few minutes ago, as her eyes were still blurry and her body was moving sluggishly.

"I got you food," I told her as I ducked into the cave's belly, "I trust you know how to start a fire? Also how to prepare this?"

"But that is not enough for the both of us?" She asked, her eyes glaring at the rabbit in my hand, "It is small—not enough meat on its skinny bones. What will you eat?" I already ate, I thought to myself. The rabbit was dry for a reason, "I'll eat whatever you don't—though don't worry, my stomach can take a few hours with nothing in it. Go ahead and eat up. Though, uh… you'll have to cook it yourself."

"I see," Lucia replied. She stood up, her eyes glancing at the cave entrance, "Will you help me gather firewood? I was taught how to hunt and cook by my father, but it has been some time since any… practical application."

"Can't, sorry," I told her, "The sun's rising soon, so I'll be stuck in the cave for the rest of the day. Try not to wander off too far, okay?" Lucia cocked her head, obviously curious about my 'religious practices', but she said nothing more. She gave me a quick nod, took the rabbit from my hands to set it upon the floor, and moved out into the forest to collect her firewood. Meanwhile, I settled into my spot in the cave and waited for Lucia to return.

While I waited, I thought back to the fight at the burning docks. Not only had I nearly killed Lucia after being driven purely by my instincts, but I'd ruthlessly killed the slaver woman that had threatened her. I didn't want to, in the beginning, yet something within me snapped and… well, that had been a moment of true self reflection. I didn't want to be a monster, nor was it my intention to become one in the first place, but something in my very nature simply felt like I was supposed to be that way.

My brutal acts of killing and drinking blood would've been inconceivable only a month ago, yet now I wasn't able to imagine myself without them. I couldn't deny my nature, but I also didn't want to, and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be terrified or not that I felt that way.