Chương 664: The Lord of Snow

Charlie seemed more cheerful again. Sitting beside Luke on a fallen log, she ate a sandwich while looking at her system screen. Two vampiric skill options hovered there. [Vampiric Sleep I (Ancient)]: The vampire enters a deep sleep unlike the ordinary rest of living races. In this state, the body drastically reduces its energy consumption and recovers mana and stamina far more efficiently. For a vampire, sleep is not merely rest, but a return of blood, soul, and mana to their natural balance.

Even as a creature that does not depend on sleep the way mortals do, a vampire understands the value of shutting out the world for a while. During that rest, however, awareness of the surrounding environment is greatly reduced, leaving the vampire vulnerable if surprised or interrupted. A good vampire knows that even rest requires caution, because lowering one's guard at the wrong moment can be just as dangerous as entering battle with no blood left in the veins.

[Hematic Surge I (Ancient)]: By controlling the circulation of their own blood, the vampire can draw more from the body and improve the use of stamina in bursts of movement, whether to run, leap, or launch themselves at an enemy in an attack. Even though they do not need their organs to function in order to remain alive, a vampire understands that there is power in forcing part of the body to its absolute limit. In addition, this skill makes the vampire more resistant to bleeding damage and hemorrhaging.

A vampire's blood is as valuable as life itself. These skills aren't that aggressive when it comes to changing her biology. I get why she took so long to choose, though. She was nervous because of the beasts. Charlie still had a bit of a complex about her appearance after once being a skeleton. Sometimes she would ask Luke if she was really beautiful. She did not really understand the concept of beauty. The choice here is pretty obvious. Is she really waiting for me? Charlie looked at him with quiet determination.

Okay, she really is waiting for me. Of course she is. She's Charlie. She pointed to the first option. Luke gave her a thumbs-up. [Charlotte Vespertilio acquired the Race Skill: Vampiric Sleep I (Ancient)] Charlie gave him a thumbs-up back and smiled. Now sleeping is actually going to be useful for her.

Charlie stood looking up as snow drifted down from the sky. She reached out, catching flakes on her fingers, feeling them melt against her skin. It was the first time she had ever truly seen snow since becoming a vampire. She had seen it during the tutorial, but back then she had no sense of touch to feel it, no body to know the cold it carried. Luke was high above with Evangeline on top of one of the taller buildings, deciding which tower they would head for.

Anne was perched on another structure, watching the forest. Master Luke is so busy he hasn't even realized this is basically my first time truly touching snow. Charlie smiled and pressed the snow in her hand, savoring the chill.

"You're smiling again," Eleanor said, watching her. Charlie had been so absorbed in the moment she had not noticed her.

"Master Luke talked to me, and I'm alright again." And he had kissed her too. That alone had been enough to wipe away every one of her worries. She touched her lips for a moment, remembering the feeling, and then felt herself flush. She wanted him to do it again.

"I was... worried about some things. I'm not anymore," Charlie said.

"He's good for you, then. And you for him," Eleanor said, glancing toward Luke and Evangeline, who were still high above and a little farther off.

"Sometimes that surprises me. Makes me curious too, about how someone that dense actually works. He told me once he accidentally asked you out without realizing it, or something like that." Charlie smiled at the memory of how they had met.

"Master Luke doesn't seem like it, but he's actually very affectionate." He had a side of him that truly cared for her. Even so, Charlie wished he were not just twice as affectionate as he already was, but something far beyond any number that existed. She wanted to be spoiled by him even more.

"Were you the one who started all this, or was it him?" Eleanor asked. Charlie blinked, caught off guard.

"Um... I don't know." Technically, he had been the one to save her from the coffin when she was trapped inside it, waiting to die. He had reached out first, awkwardly at the beginning. The two of them had survived a dungeon together, and in that life-or-death madness he had even asked her to marry him, only for her to realize later that he had not meant it that way. Then they stayed at each other's side. Later Charlie became a vampire and confessed her feelings.

Time passed, and Luke kissed her, accepting those feelings, in a moment when Charlie had already resigned herself, sadly, to being nothing more than his friend. She honestly could not say who had made the first move. Both of them had stepped forward, just at different times.

"I think... it was me," she said.

"Oh. I see."

"Why are you asking?" Eleanor let out a slow breath.

"There's no easy way to say this, but... I liked him."

"And... why are you telling me that?"

"I don't know, Charlie. Maybe I've wanted to talk to you about it for a while now. It's strange, traveling for months with a guy I like and his ridiculously pretty girlfriend." Ridiculously pretty? Am I really that pretty?

"At first it bothered me a little. Actually, no, it bothered me a lot. And it was strange, because he and I never had anything, right?" Eleanor said.

"But I don't know. I think it only hit me that hard because a lot of things happened that tied us together. And then it was just... weird, realizing that the whole time, the guy I liked already had a girlfriend. I felt fooled. Not fooled by him, fooled by myself. Like an idiot. Like I'd shown up to a party where nobody wanted me there."

"I don't know how I'm supposed to advise you, or even what I should say to that. Part of me is happy someone else sees Master Luke's worth, but... another part of me isn't. What do you want me to say, telling me this, Eleanor?"

"I don't know. I just wanted to say it out loud. It's not like I can tell him, right? I'd feel pathetic. So that's all, Charlie. Don't screw things up with the guy I like."

"I would never do that. I love Master Luke."

"Just saying, because if you do, I'll steal him from you." Charlie turned and looked at her, serious.

"I'm joking. Relax," Eleanor said, putting a hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"I want to be your friend, and I want to help you. That guy is way too dense about some things."

"Thank you for trusting me enough to say it."

"But maybe I wasn't joking." Charlie gave her another serious look.

"Relax. Joke. And by the way, don't take Evangeline's slightly perverted nonsense too seriously. She doesn't mean any harm. She just has a very... free spirit."

"I know." Eleanor paused.

"Actually, no. Do take it seriously. If we give her too much room, I have a feeling none of us will be able to control her."

Luke and the others were moving through the city while snow fell without pause. Charlie walked among them, using her [Flame] power to keep the air around them warm.

"What's that?" Eleanor raised her bow at something ahead and loosed an arrow. When it fell, it turned out to be a body. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"I thought it was someone hiding."

"Well, it is a body," Evangeline said as she stepped closer. The whole street was buried in white.

"Is this someone from this world, or..." Charlie began.

"No. Someone from our world who got transported here," Luke said.

"I know it's snowing hard, but not hard enough to turn people into blocks of ice," Evangeline said.

"And there's more than one," Eleanor said. The shapes littering the street were not just ruined stone and city debris. They were frozen people.

"Ever since that tutorial, I've hated snow," Evangeline muttered. Charlie crouched near one of them.

"This one is alive."

"Alive?" The ice exploded apart. Something lunged out of it. A knight emerged, clad in red armor. He came at Charlie with both hands. She blocked, but her foot slid on the snow.

"I only needed a little warmth," the creature said. He was a tall man in crimson armor, though he wore no helmet. His skin was unnaturally pale, his black hair long, his canines sharp, his eyes glowing red.

"He's a vampire," Luke said. At that exact moment, Eleanor's arrow struck the creature in the chest. The vampire smiled.

"Oh, darling. That won't work on me," he said, glancing down at the arrow. He raised his hands, and his nails lengthened into claws. Vampiric Claws. More arrows came. The vampire batted them away with those claws while charging straight at them.

"Stay... back," Anne said. Green spheres slammed into the vampire, and a dome formed around him, trapping him. A green circle lit up beneath his feet. Anne's healer skills.

"It burns, but not as much anymore," the vampire said, his voice tight with pain.

"You'll make a fine meal." With one burst of force, he shattered the mana dome. In the next instant, he moved with terrifying speed and seized Anne by the throat.

"Anne," Evangeline shouted. The vampire bit her, then immediately spat.

"What is this? Your blood tastes wrong." He stared at her.

"You're not even human. You're trash."

"So... are you," Anne said. She raised her wand and blasted healing magic directly into his face. He threw her aside. Luke came in with a kukri.

"He's looking for someone to feed on." Then the vampire vanished. Teleportation.

"I found someone appetizing," he said, reappearing with Eleanor in his grip.

"Take one step, and I snap her neck." In the very next second, he sank his fangs into Eleanor's throat. She screamed. Blood ran. He was drinking. Charlie appeared above him in a flash, teleporting in, and came down with her sword, severing the vampire's arm. Eleanor hit the ground. Luke slashed across the vampire's back, and Charlie followed with a free-handed punch. The vampire was hurled backward and skidded across the snow.

"A Blood Familiar," the vampire said, staring at the little bat circling Charlie.

"How adorable, releasing something like that. You're like m—" Luke's knife slammed into the vampire's face and exploded. He was already aiming another one. The vampire was thrown backward. Luke kept firing [Shadow Ball]. The vampire's upper torso was charred, chunks of it burned away, but in the next instant the blood pooled on the snow pulled back in on itself and flesh began to reform. Luke pressed the attack, but the vampire rolled across the snow, dodging as he moved.

When he got back to his feet, he shoved his half-broken jaw back into place.

"That hurt."

"You used Vampiric Regeneration, didn't you?" Luke murmured, barely above a whisper. The vampire heard him anyway.

"And if your core's running low on blood, you don't have that trump card anymore."

"A hunter?"

"And you're a Count?"

"A Count? No." The vampire smiled.

"I'm only a humble baron leading my men." Then he vanished in a teleport. Luke spun, catching the slash of the vampire's claws on his kukris. The two of them traded blows in a blur.

"If you know that much, then it's dangerous to let you live long enough to become my meal," the vampire said. His claws hardened. His movements turned heavier, more brutal. [Demonic Predator Hands activated] Luke's hands were coated in black blood, becoming monstrous. His kukris were bathed in that same dark acid, and with one cutting motion he slashed across the vampire's eyes. The acid burned.

"You miserable son of a bitch!" the vampire screamed, one hand flying to his face. Luke spun again and went for the head, but at the last second the vampire staggered back. The neck was nearly severed, but not completely. The vampire tried to teleport again. Charlie hit him first. Her body was wrapped in flame as she drove a punch into him, launching him across the snow. [Ignite] triggered too, setting him ablaze. Luke was on him before he could recover. The vampire landed still upright, and Luke cut off both arms.

Then, with another turn, he took the head. The body tried to fall toward it. Charlie dropped from above and punched. [Charlotte Vespertilio has slain Vampire - Lvl 95] The vampire was dead.

"Is everyone alright?" Luke asked.

"I'm in one piece," Evangeline said.

"I... mostly am," Anne said. Eleanor had a nasty wound on her neck, blood running down over her collar.

"This fucking hurts." She leaned back against a rock and tossed her bow aside.

"I really wanted to kill that son of a bitch myself." Anne stepped over to her and raised her wand.

"Don't tell me I got one of those cursed bite wounds."

"No... it's normal," Anne said. The wound on Eleanor's neck began to close.

"He only bit to feed," Charlie said, watching it. He didn't want to waste time using offensive bite skills. He was desperate.

"He must've been here for a while," Charlie said. Luke looked over the frozen bodies around them.

"They're probably all vampires. No more fire abilities near them, Charlie. We kill them while they're still immobilized," Luke said.

"And I'll enjoy doing it," Eleanor said.

"I think I finally understand a little of why the hunters hate vampires so much. That bite burned like hell." Evangeline was standing beside her.

"Right when we're this close to the tower. Anyone got a shovel?"

"I'm not dying, you know," Eleanor said dryly.

"Good. Then let's get out of here," Luke said. He looked at Anne.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes... Lord Luke." And they kept walking.

"There are two towers. I'm going up the hill to check them out, then I'll come right back. Get some rest. Especially you, Anne. That shoulder wound is serious," Luke said as he started walking. Charlie hurried to his side.

"Can I come with you, Master Luke?" He glanced back.

"Relax, the two of you go," Evangeline said.

"There's nothing else here, and the frozen bodies are all back on the street behind us. I should've offered, but I'm feeling lazy. I'm getting old."

"So now you're old?" Luke asked.

"I said getting," she replied. Luke and Charlie started climbing the snowy hill with their weapons drawn.

"That ninja woman can be unbelievably lazy sometimes. Did you know she made me carry her when we climbed that last structure?" he said. Or maybe she just enjoyed messing with him.

"Master Luke... about that vampire."

"You noticed what he said? What I whispered to him?"

"Yes. He's a baron. The frozen vampires are probably his soldiers."

"He could have woken the others, Charlie. But he didn't. Can you guess why?"

"He underestimated us?"

"No. I think he was desperate."

"Desperate?"

"Partly he underestimated us, sure. But I think desperation was the bigger factor. They've been there for days, half-frozen. Their Blood Cores would've kept working, burning Blood Energy every day. How long can you go without feeding, Charlie? Worst-case scenario, ten days?"

"Yes. You think his Blood Core was running low?"

"Maybe. I'd have to ask Eleanor how much HP he drained from her too. It happened fast, but even so, he still managed to use Vampire Regeneration, and that costs you fifty Blood Energy."

"Maybe some vampire paths can... substitute HP for it. Or lower the cost," she said.

"I still don't fully understand how my vampire powers work either."

"That's a fair point, Charlie. But his situation... it's a strange and very practical way to deal with an army of vampires. Freeze them in place and wait for Vampire Hunger to kill them off. Disturbingly efficient."

"But they still... have HP."

"Then you just wait longer. And that's exactly why he didn't want to share his hunt with the others. He wanted to feed completely and do the same thing they did with William. Take one of us and turn them into a blood farm."

"You really think so?"

"If I were a vampire, and I were acting with zero conscience, it's what I'd do. I'd always keep a human slave at my side. A living blood bank." Charlie stopped walking.

"That's very cruel, Master Luke. I don't like it when you show that side of yourself."

"It's just strategy, Charlie."

"Yes, but... I'm a vampire, and you're my husb... I mean... my half-human boyfriend. I don't think that way about you."

"I know you don't." Luke stopped walking and looked toward the tower.

"But Evangeline was right. This place is cold. Not cold enough to freeze someone solid into a block of ice, though. That looked more like magic."

"Magic?" Charlie asked. Something came at them fast. For a fraction of a second, Luke saw it. He did not think. He just threw himself at Charlie and shoved her down. A heartbeat later, the spot where they had been standing erupted in an explosion of water, and then the water flash-froze into ice.

"Charlie, are you okay?"

"I-I'm okay." More shots came flying at them, and pushing [Sariel's Eye] to its limit, Luke saw what they were and where they were coming from. Arrows. He dodged, conjured a knife, and threw it. [Telekinetic Impulse activated] The knife flew toward the structure where the arrows were coming from and detonated with the power of [Shadow Mana Explosion]. Then suddenly a figure dropped down in front of them.

"You come to my home and still have the nerve to destroy it?" the man said. And Luke recognized him. It was Rhiannon's man from the Citadel. Allison's relative.