Chương 27: (27) B1 C27: Identity

Ismena retreated back into the center of her barrier, then crouched down and closed her eyes to focus on maintaining her spell. Hamund stood in front of her, his eyes glaring into my own as his shield rose protectively over his companion. I scoffed, then brought my gaze away from the pair as I turned toward my own companion. To my relief, Lucia hadn't taken the opportunity to run away. Even as my eyes met with hers, her entire body shook with fear, but the girl remained in her place.

I took a step forward, hoping to close the distance between us so I could have a proper conversation with her, but Lucia immediately took a step back as soon as I did so.

"Sorry…" I said after a brief pause. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. What was I supposed to say now? Hey, sorry about drinking blood in front of you, but it's no biggie? No, that was dumb. I needed her to trust me, and the way to do that was to be as honest as possible.

"So… I'm sure you have questions," I said. Lucia gave me a short nod, though her eyes were wide open and watching my every movement. Her body was tense, as if prepared to bolt at the first sign of trouble. She obviously didn't trust me, and I felt a sigh escape from my lips as I searched around for a chair. If I were sitting down, perhaps she'd be more willing to listen to me? I moved to the campfire the slavers were using, then sat down on one of the fallen logs surrounding it.

Lucia followed me, yet chose to remain standing.

"You're not going to… kill me?" Lucia asked me with a frightful expression. I shook my head as I attempted to hold back the sudden gutwrenching pain stabbing at my mind.

"I promise I would never even think of such a thing," I replied, "Over the last few days you and I have become allies. I do not hurt my allies. Go ahead and ask your questions, Lucia. I'm sure you have many." Lucia slowly nodded, then took a step closer to me. She didn't quite sit down, but her mere proximity was more comforting than the distrustful distance she'd put between us prior.

"What are you?" Lucia asked me. I nodded, appreciating that she was willing to be the one leading the conversation. I took a look back to the slavers behind us. I didn't like the idea of being overheard. My secrets and weaknesses weren't things I wanted spreading around, after all, though I doubted either of them would survive after tonight. Luckily, both of them were having a hushed conversation of their own, so I doubted they'd hear us so long as we kept our conversation quiet.

"I doubt you've heard of my kind. I'm what's called a Vampire," I answered with a voice only a bit louder than a whisper, "I drink blood to survive."

"Blood? So that was what you were doing with…" Lucia glanced at the bloodless corpse of the Paladin a few meters away from us, "You're a Monster? I've heard of some Monster species who can take a humanoid shape, but I've never heard of any who can bridge the gap between our species like you have. Are you some sort of construct, like a Golem or an Automaton?"

"Ha," I chuckled as I shook my head, "It's not that simple. Here, I'll clarify: Have you heard of the Undead? Skeletons, zombies, and the like?" Lucia replied with a slow nod.

"I'm one such Undead," I told her as I held my palm against my chest, "My organs don't function, I don't need to breathe, and I do not age."

"Undead? How?" Lucia shouted, taken aback. Contrary to my expectations, she seemed more confused than afraid, which I figured was a good thing, "The Undead are all brainless monstrosities! The vast majority of them are only strong enough to serve as fodder for beginner adventurers. They don't even have the ability to communicate, socialize, or think! But you… you're just like a normal person!"

"No, you're wrong about that. Intelligent Undead do exist, they're just rare. Take liches, for example. Have you ever heard of a Lich?" I asked. Lucia shook her head, so I went on to continue my explanation, "Liches used to be regular wizards, but they sacrificed their mortality for the opportunity to practice their magic forever. Now the process to become a lich is incredibly difficult, and very few even survive it.

I can count on one hand the few liches that I've actually heard about, let alone have personally met." There were a few players in FFO who had gone that route, of course, but being a Lich didn't grant the player a race change, as being a Vampire did for me. Instead, they'd gained an additional skill tree so convoluted that almost everybody considered it inefficient and a waste of resources.

Although the flavor text explicitly mentioned how Liches were immortal, so long as their phylacteries weren't destroyed, the only player I knew who'd actually dedicated himself to the build stopped playing FFO maybe a year before Azkazan's raid.

"But that doesn't make any sense! I've never even heard of a Vampire!" Lucia complained, "I think an intelligent undead would've been world-class news!" This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"The reason for that would be because they didn't exist a month ago. Or at least I'm pretty sure that's the case…" I told her. I was still unsure if the other five vampires had appeared in this world at the same time as me, so I couldn't guarantee that other parts of the world weren't thoroughly experienced with my kind, "The last one's been dead for five centuries. I've only been a Vampire for two weeks. Before that I was a regular human."

Lucia folded her arms, then stared down at the ground in thought for a moment. I stayed still, hoping to allow her to swim through her mind on her own, before she looked back up at me with an inquisitive expression. Then she finally sat down on the log opposite mine, having relaxed a little throughout our conversation.

"And you drink blood to survive?" I nodded.

"Human blood?"

"Doesn't have to be," I shook my head, "You have a status system, right?"

"Yes. Doesn't everybody?"

"Mine functions a little differently. When I drink blood, the HP value of whatever or whoever I killed turns directly into Blood Points. Those Blood Points are used up at a rate of one per hour simply to keep me 'alive', so to speak. So something weak, like a Mundane Silverlight Rabbit, can keep me alive for several days. Somebody with actual levels behind them, like the slavers I've been fighting over the last few days, can keep me running for months."

"I see," Lucia nodded, "So you'd be just fine hunting Monsters, then? You don't even have to hunt down humans?"

"Technically, it's more effective if I do. The vast majority of sentient creatures have levels, yet that's not the same for beasts. And I figure so long as I go after the truly despicable of them, nothing's wrong with it, y'know?" I told her, "And it's not just sustenance that I use Blood Points for. I also use Blood to get stronger. Like how you… you… what class are you?"

"Knight-in-Training," she told me.

"So you probably get XP for doing knightly things, right? Drills, spars, and the like?" I asked. Lucia nodded, "Well for me, I can't do anything like that. My actions have no direct effect on how I gain levels—its just the amount of BP I have. So the more I have, the more levels I can climb."

"But you don't have to hunt down humans, right?"

"Lucia, do you honestly think this world would be a better place if I didn't?" I asked her, "Think about it for a second. Can you honestly say that Slavery isn't something you'd appreciate being struck down and destroyed?" Lucia took a deep breath, then shook her head.

"It's too difficult to fight back against such a large system. Slavery is soaked into the government more thoroughly than water is within the ground on a rainy day," Lucia told me "A world without slavery is too perfect, Evelyn. The level you'd need to even dent this sort of infrastructure is nearly impossible to achieve."

"Hardly. You said it yourself, the truly dangerous fighters they have at their side are in the level two hundred to three hundred range, right?" I asked. When Lucia nodded, I couldn't help but let out a chuckle, "That's midrange, at best. That Vampire I was telling you about was level seven hundred. That's a whole lot higher, don't you think?"

"Wait, level seven hundred? Doesn't that make him a deity?" Lucia choked, "And he's dead? What… what sort of person would be capable of killing something like that…" My involvement in his death probably wasn't something I wanted to reveal to her. If her reaction to somebody being level 700 was shock and awe, she'd have a heart attack if I explained I used to be a level 700 Vanguard before turning into the weak Vampire before her.

"Who knows?" I said with a shrug instead, "All I know is that my status page tells me that his name was Blood King Azkazan. Now imagine: If he was able to get to level 700, what's stopping me from doing the same? Being as strong as him would mean nothing—no slavery organizations or crime rings—would be able to do a thing against me." Technically my racial screen didn't tell me his level, but that also wasn't something I needed to reveal to her. Lucia leaned back and gazed up at the canopy above.

Her gaze tore through the leaves as they drifted to the stars overhead. Her expression was relaxed, yet her brows were furrowed. Lucia pondered in silence for a moment, then sighed and brought her attention back to me.

"Do you remember that knight I told you about?" Lucia asked me with a somber voice, "The one who trained me?" I nodded.

"He was my father," She brought her knees up to her chest, then hugged her arms around her legs, "When I said my birth was nothing more than a 'Contractual Obligation', I was lying. In truth, my parents were deeply in love with each other, but something in their relationship broke the day I was born. My mother turned to her work and my father poured all of his attention into making me the most powerful knight he could. He was obsessed with it—he spent almost every waking moment teaching me everything he could.

I learned swordsmanship, archery, horseback riding, and just about everything else he could think of. I was holding a sword before I knew how to read." I sat silently and listened.

"He taught me everything I know, but our relationship never reached what you would call a 'father-daughter' bond. He was my mentor, my sergeant, and my commander," Lucia continued, "While my mother was in charge of the family business, my father was in charge of a group of soldiers that specialized in hunting down dangerous Monsters. I joined them when I was eleven. We weren't quite Paladins, but my father always acted like we were.

He taught me that the greatest evils were found in the beasts and monstrosities that plagued our realm. To him, it was impossible for his fellow man to hold that same evil in their heart, and I followed along with that belief for most of my life. But after seeing what these people are capable of, I don't know if that belief is still with me." Lucia turned her attention to the slavers contained within their golden barrier.

"Can you guarantee that you'd never lose control of yourself?" Lucia asked, "That'd you'd be more righteous than the filth I've met over these last few days, despite what you are?"

"Yes."

"... I'll hold you to that."