To Reach Down and Pick Something Up (Rayne’s POV)

I rushed. There really wasn’t a need to rush this much, since I was already much, much too late, but I felt the need to. What am I rushing for, you ask?

There’s a lot of blood in this alley. As a vampire, I realized I could somewhat sense the mana in blood much, much better than mana in anything else. Even from this distance.

I arrived. The alleyway was filled with 4 people, not including myself. 3 boys were ganging up on a single girl. This brought a memory to my mind which I would have rather been kept down. After all, now I was angry.

Mana was pushed out of me, forming letters. ‘Get away from her.’ a single sentence that took up 14 points of my mana.

“Why should I? So you can have her to yourself? Get lost, pretty boy. She’s ours.” The man on the left growled. My vision was slightly tinted red by now.

‘Just go.’ I put two points of mana in each one, to make sure my pressure got by. Almost like bolding it.

They sneered at me. This time, it was the one on the right that spoke. “Think you’re the shit, huh? Seems like before I have my fun, I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”

Makeshift weapons were brandished. A sharp metal blade, a stick, and a slingshot.

Such primitive weapons cannot even graze me. But I’ll let you suffer before I kill you.

They sprinted forwards. My letters turned into small balls, compressed even further from solid mana. They were a millimeter in diameter, spinning at abnormal speeds. I sat down, focusing as much as possible. A blast of mana exploded throughout the alleyway, setting a slight pause in the footsteps approaching me. Not that they were going to get much further anyway. Having focused, I opened my eyes and began the fight.

The Slaughter (Another power’s POV)

Rayne looked to the three figures coming at him with a slight disinterest. The rest was pure hatred. The 15 mana balls circling him stopped, rotating to all be in front of him in a ring. The two weapons whirled at him, much faster than they should have been able to. Not that it mattered much to the super compressed balls of mana. One went to each weapon, one burrowing itselves into a small knot in the wood of the stick. The other simply hit the core of the blade, halting it. Sharpening them forced them much further into each makeshift weapon. After less than a second, they were burrowed far enough into the weapons for them to be no longer visible. With that singular action, the armaments were thrown against the walls of the alleyways, creating a large clattering sound. The mana balls extracted themselves from the sword and stick. A stone shot down with much force unto Rayne.

It was shot down with twice as much force. Rayne slowly stood up, looking at the three boys with only fists to defend themselves. Then he grinned, giving them hope that he would let them go.

“I’m sorry, please spare me! I won’t d- AHH!”

Ten minutes later, all three boys were on the ground, quivering in pain and fear. For ten minutes, Rayne had assigned 5 mana orbs to each one of them and had been torturing them all individually. Hitting kneecaps, elbows, collarbones, shoulders, ribs, and their foreheads until each and every bony part of their bodies were bleeding profusely. Even then, Rayne continued. He still had the same small smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes.

But Rayne finally decided it was enough. Any longer, and he might lose the girl. So he knelt down to each boy, all of which were having trouble standing. Three mana. A measly price to pay for making each of these rapists pay. Grabbing one of the boy’s arms, and a mana ball, he placed it on his wrist. It sharpened, before burrowing into his arm, eliciting a large scream of pain. He calmly let the boy drop to the ground, gripping his wrist in agony.

Rayne stood, slowly walking to the next boy in line. The sequence repeated twice.

The mana orbs were transmitters. They would tell Rayne if the boy’s got too lustful, or too many shockwaves (Like if they were hitting something) occurred while stopping the boy with unbearable pain.

Rayne turned to the girl with intentions to help. But he wasn’t sure if he could anymore.

The Discovery (Rose’s POV)

My name is Rose. And I think I’ve entranced a demon.

Let me explain from the beginning. I was born into a loving family. The main difference was my dual colored eyes, the left one being a meadow grass green and the right being void purple, deep and mysterious. That didn’t matter to them, and they gave me all the love they would have otherwise. I was perfectly happy with my situation.

Until my father was wounded by a stray demonic beast. I asked for help from the city’s doctors, but the hate for my race, beastkin, ran deep and strong. They refused to take my father, calling it a miracle that something else killed him before they did.

I cried long and hard at their words. I wasn’t really used to such treatment, my parents doing a fabulous job at hiding those types of things from me. But if I didn’t do anything, my father would die. I worked hard on studying as much as I could about healing magic.

But it was too little, too late. 3 days later, I had learned nothing about healing magic and my father died. I wasn’t even able to see him in his final moments.

Knowing this, I had lost all purpose in my life. I didn’t come home the next day. I wandered throughout the city, looking for something. Something to tell me it was alright. I accidentally wandered into an alley, and I was taken from behind. I was only a ten-day-old, so I couldn’t stand up to them at all.

When I woke up, the three people who took me were in front of me, boasting and argueing over who was going to ‘have’ me first. I barely noticed. I had already given up on everything. They began to walk towards me, apparently having come to the conclusion that they would all have me at the same time. No light shone in my eyes as they reached for their belts.

But then a clatter was heard from behind them, making them curse as they fastened their belts again. Even I tilted my head a bit to see who was there. A boy, my age probably. I felt the last shred of hope I didn’t even know I had left fade away. A minute passed without him moving. But the three still seemed to understand him and respond. For a bit I wondered why. But then the horror began.

They charged him with weapons brandished. I tried to call out for him to run, but I was too late once again. I tried to stand, but looking at my legs, crooked and unaligned, it seemed that was simply a fantasy. The boy was going to die, and I couldn’t even help him.

Those thoughts filling my mind, I passed out.

When I came to, the three were on the ground and the boy was in front of me. I focused my gaze on him, and he gasped. He was looking at my eyes. I was looking back at his. His golden eyes were filled with so much emotion, it made me feel insignificant. I shrank away from him slightly, but he grabbed my hand. His hand was cold against my burning skin. It felt soothing, like cold water on a burn. Calming, like a small brook.

I looked back to his intense eyes, losing myself in them. I don’t know how long I stayed like that. He brushed a bit of my white hair out of my face. I’m not sure why, but it felt sticky as he pulled it. That thought was shoved out of my mind, as if by force. I didn’t think twice about it. His golden eyes took all of my focus. Those gentle eyes, they robbed my will of anything but looking at them. I wanted to dive into them, find their bottomless secrets.

They turned red. One moment they were gold, the next they were deep red, like blood. These eyes were filled with ferocity. A deep regret. Rage. All these emotions swirled deep in these red eyes.

“Beautiful…” Him and I both said at the same time. Forgetting about how in sync we were, I turned away at the compliment. I caught a glimpse of red walls before a small pressure on my cheek brought me back to his eyes, but this time I was focusing on his face in general, memorizing every detail. I would find him eventually, no matter how long it took.

His lips met mine. A foreign object entered my mouth as his hair turned from blonde to silver. One of his hands caressed my earlobe, the other caressing my side, slowly moving upwards. I couldn’t resist if I wanted to. His hands had changed their positions. His right hand on my cheek. His left hand on my neck, massaging the flesh. His eyes, so close to mine, showed a gentleness unseen before.

“I’m so sorry…” He whispered into my ear, making me shiver slightly, barely hearing the words.

Then he moved his head downward… and bit into my neck. The scene behind him, of the three boys, was finally seen by me. Blood poured from all their wounds, pooling beneath them. The blood had splattered onto the walls, drenching them red. A silver ball was embedded in each of their wrists. Truly a horror movie scene.

The boy on my neck began to suck my blood. I didn’t know what a vampire was at that time, but the feeling of him inside of me rocked my body. I couldn’t hold back my voice as I pulled him closer, reveling in the ecstasy.

Nearly five minutes passed before he stopped. Both of us were panting heavily, for our own reasons, I’m sure. My eyes, no doubt, had a slightly crazed look to them. But if you had felt what I had felt, I’m sure nobody would want it to end. The only thing in my mind at that point in time was him. I could feel him on my skin. I could feel his ragged breaths on my face and neck. I could still feel the sensation of his lips on mine. I could still feel him, even after I had gotten home and was attempting to fall asleep.

My previously broken legs being healed didn’t come into my mind for quite a few days. But then I realized that he had helped me, and vowed to find him. The golden eyed vampire that stole my blood and my heart.

The Aftershock. (Rayne’s POV)

I managed to heal her. Following my vampiric instincts while showing them what I wanted to accomplish, I knew the only way for her to survive was to put enough of my saliva into her body. Of course, my vampiric body wanted her blood in return, but that was a small price to pay for healing her. I almost lost myself when I saw her condition. Two broken legs, a large gasp on her forehead, her right arm missing, blunt force trauma, concussion, and so many cuts she was pretty much just a dead man walking. Well, not walking with two broken legs, but you get my meaning.

I left shortly afterward, the memory of her eyes never leaving my mind. Looking for the sun, I realized that I had spent much, much too long with her. It was already almost noon. Which was really surprising, considering Avalina and I came into the city at nearly ten in the morning.

Did it take me two hours just to help somebody? I’m losing my touch… Well, nevermind. I spent most of that finding her, then some torturing the three troublemakers. I need to upgrade my mana sense. I’ll work on that as a new goal, for now.

I’m still tempted to go back and do some more to them. After what they did to her, and they were planning to rape her? They deserved so much more. Think of it as my mercy for not torturing them more. They barely deserved to live.

A growl escaped my lips, attracting the attention of Avalina, who was sitting across from me. We had just entered a small little restaurant, and were waiting to get served. Avalina had spent the entire time looking for me, so she didn’t get to eat her breakfast. She didn’t ask what happened when I found her. She just asked if the girl was safe. Realizing that she recieved my message, I told her that the girl was safe. That much, at least, was true.

Our food came, two delicious yellow omelettes and some toast. A plate was set in front of both Avalina and I. We glanced at each other, wild grins on our faces, before digging in. With this childish body, I could only finish half of mine in the thirty minutes it took for me to eat, but Avalina just shrugged it off, saying it was fine. She waved to one of the waitresses for the bill, or tab, or whatever it is. I don’t know. Some weird fantasy method of saying you need to pay.

Avalina dug into her pockets, pulling out a few coins. Copper, silver, and gold. Real fantasy money. I was quite excited, enough to steal one before the waitress could grab it, and examine it with all my strength. Avalina could be heard sighing, and the clinking of more coins. Another copper was placed on the table as a glare was directed towards me.

What? At least I didn’t steal a gold one…

I thought, glaring back. The coin in my hand became a coin in my pocket. Then I thought of something else.

Inventory

And… Nothing happened. Supreme disappointment rang true as the coin returned to my pocket. A sigh escaped my lips as I thought of other ways to make an inventory.

A devious grin split my face as I thought of something. Mainly, I saw something on my status when I was playing around with some of my mana. Specifically 8 mana orbs.

Name: Rayne

Level: 1

Experience needed: 150 (0%)

HP [110/110]

MP [9/16]

SP [19/19]

Race: Vampire

HP [0.1/sec]

MP [0.008/sec]

SP [0.1/sec]

Blood [98%]

Strength

6

Endurance

8

Luck

8

Perception

13

Dexterity

14

Agility

9

Intelligence

17

Wisdom

16

Leadership

0

Vitality

11

Faith

4

Willpower

63

Skills:

Blood Drain (Max)

Gain stats based off of amount and quality of blood drained.

Persuasion (8/10)

40% chance to persuade people to your side. Lessens if they know about the situation.

Mana Sense (2/100)

Sense mana. Higher levels allow more detail and range.

Meditation (6/100)

Recover mana quicker, regain stamina at astonishing rates.

Bewitching Gaze (2/10)

Stare into people’s eyes and activate their libido. Every Vampire needs a harem.

Effects:

Sunlight Weakness

5% less Strength in sunlight.

Disease Immunity

Immunity to any disease debuffs.

Blood Drinker

Grants Max level skill [Blood Drain]

Mana Body

All Spells deal 20% more damage.

Vampiric Body

Sets Hp/sec to 1, if over 1, 120% increase.

Blood Drain Update

100% chance to increase stats based on quality and amount of blood drained.

Strength +0

Endurance +2

Luck +0

Perception +1

Dexterity +2

Agility +3

Intelligence +1

Wisdom +1

Leadership +0

Vitality +1

Faith +0

Willpower +3

I grinned as I realized that my mana regenerated while I had the balls out. Finished with my meal, I crossed my legs on the chair as I dived into meditation. But I kept as little of my consciousness out as possible, needing to make sure the small mana orbs didn’t dissolve. Two of them were gone before I could stop them, so I focused my mind on meditating. My mana began to vibrate, slowly beginning to shift on its way through my bloodstream. As it moved, it slowly pulled more and more mana from my cells, the cells immediately producing more to satisfy themselves.

Once I had felt the slight twitch of my entire body, signifying that my mana was full, I expelled all of it, focusing it into more orbs. A bit more effort than I had originally assumed it would be, I somehow managed.

I opened my eyes to check on my progress, and was amazed. A total of 42 different sized orbs circled slowly around me, fluctuating in size. When I focused on one, it stopped fluctuating, keeping its size. I threw out a wave of a tenth of a mana point. The wave wrapped around each and every orb, to tell me when they had gotten to a certain point.

I heard three slight dings, and I swiveled my focus to them instantaneously. They stopped fluctuating at their largest point, holding nearly 1.5x the amount of mana they started with. My feelings on the matter clearly showed on my face in the form of a devilish grin.

Nearly 20 minutes later, I had overcharged my maximum mana. I had just over 80 mana to spend. While meditating, it seems that any update windows don’t appear, so I was spammed with them as soon as I stopped.

Status update(s)

Due to special actions, you have discovered the skill, [Mana wave] (2/50)

INT +1

Due to special actions, you have discovered the skill, [Mana Condensation] (1/5)

PER +3

Due to special actions, you have discovered the Effect, [Overcharged]

WIS +2

[Meditation] has leveled up! (7/100)

[Meditation] has leveled up! (8/100)

[Meditation] has leveled up! (9/100)

[Meditation] has leveled up! (10/100)

[Meditation] has reached level 10, evolving to [Advanced Meditation]!

[Meditation] has leveled up! (11/100)

[Mana sense] has leveled up! (3/100)

[Mana sense] has leveled up! (4/100)

[Mana sense] has leveled up! (5/100)

Calculating experience gained…

Experience gained: 457

Congratulations! You’ve leveled up! (2)

Congratulations! You’ve leveled up! (3)

I grinned, forgetting my surroundings as I picked through all my rewards and what they could mean. I tried to find some way to get more information on my three new skills, and it seems all I need to do is want some, and it’ll give me it.

Mana wave (2/50)

Sense anything within your mana as it spreads outwards.

Higher levels allow more precision.

Current diameter: 10 feet

Mana condensation (1/5)

Condense mana from the air into your mana orbs, making them fluctuate in density.

Higher levels allow higher maximum densities

Current maximum density: 1.5x

Overcharged

Overcharge your mana capacity, increasing it permanently by 1/100 of the overcharged portion.

Grinning wildly, happier than I should be, I practically skipped all the way back to the carriage. My body was shivering in excitement to get back to meditating by the boulder. I wonder what the multiplier on the boulder is? I should try to figure that out. Isn't it that characters in this situation have some skill for it? Like inspection?

I stared at the floor for a second, inspecting every detail I could about it. I put some mana into it, to see the inside of it. My mana went through the wood, soaking into it like water. It expanded, filling every pore of each piece of the carriage. I closed my eyes, ‘seeing’ with my mana. [Mana Wave] was unconsciously used, as was [Advanced Meditation]. The entire structure I was in poured into my mind.

It was made of some sort of springy wood for the seats and framework, while the important parts like the wheels and axles were made of a wood that was nearly half as sturdy as stone, with less than an eighth of the weight. Leather covered the top of the cart, mostly to keep out water. The horses walked at a slow gait, pulling the cart forward.

Status update

Due to special actions, you have discovered the skill, [Inspect]

PER +4

Inspect (1/9999)

This honestly doesn’t need a description.

Higher PER stat increases the efficiency of the skill.

Another grin split my face even wider than the last one. Now that I had [Inspect], I immediately used it on everything I possibly could.

Name: Avalina Gold

Level: ??

Experience needed: ?? (??%)

HP [1,500]

MP [40,000]

SP [600/725]

Race: Human

HP [5/sec]

MP [1-10/sec]

SP [5.4/sec]

Satiety: 100%

Strength

1,564

Endurance

6,348

Luck

104

Perception

9,096

Dexterity

7,305

Agility

24

Intelligence

?

Wisdom

?

Leadership

286

Vitality

150

Faith

609

Willpower

67

Skills:

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

Effects:

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

Carriage

Just an ordinary carriage. Drawn by 2 horses.

Name: Angel

Level: 4

Experience needed: 48/1200 (4%)

HP [2,030/2,035]

MP [10/10]

SP [900/1450]

Race: Horse

HP [0.06/sec]

MP [1/sec]

SP [10/sec]

Satiety: 85%

Name: Slick

Level: 3

Experience needed: 552/600 (92%)

HP [1,804/1,960]

MP [12/12]

SP [1,1056/1450]

Race: Horse

HP [0.05/sec]

MP [1.1/sec]

SP [10/sec]

Satiety: 72%

Mana orb

Made by: Rayne

Amount of mana: .8270322/1.5

Status update

[Inspect] has leveled up! (2/9999)

A grin spread across my face. Not from the status update, although that was also great, but from the mana orb details. If it tells me who made the orb as well as the amount of mana in it, I could cheat so much in telling things. Then again, I don’t precisely know if it tells me I made it because I know I did, but at the moment I have no way of knowing.

I asked Avalina to make one really quick, and she held up her hand.

Mana orb

Made by: Avalina Gold

Amount of mana: 3/3

I asked her how many more of those she could make with my mana letters, but she only laughed. Even as I was about to ask her why I got yet another pop-up.

Status update

Due to repetitive use of an action, a skill has been created.

Please name this skill.

[____]

A keyboard popped up and everything. Unsure of what it was talking about, I looked for a way to determine it. A small window appeared to the side of the status update, showing my letters. Then it showed it in battle. The letters turned into missiles, shooting forward with amazing speeds. They hit a target and exploded, silvery mana splattering on the target like the missile was made of glue. So many uses of this popped into my head. Tapping a few times on the keyboard, I came up with a name for it.

Confirmation for the skill name [Mana Construction]

Are you sure you want this name?

Yes

No

It’s actually confirming it. Yes.

I tapped on the ‘yes’ button. The window disappeared, only for a different one to replace it a second later.

Mana Construction (1/~)

A skill with many, many uses. Shape your mana into anything. Upon breaking, the mana that made up the shape will last on the object for up to a day before evaporating into the atmosphere.

This skill has no definite maximum level.

This skill can evolve and branch off.

Evolutions found so far:

None

I nodded, understanding. After all, just seeing the little demonstration of the skill allowed me to come up with three different uses of it, or branches of it as the description says. I would have to test them out once I got to the shack.

As I thought that, I realized that I was already there. I mentally cursed at myself, bothered how lost in thought I was. Since my eyes were closed most of time, Avalina probably assumed I was sleeping and didn’t want to wake me. I got up and out of the carriage. I walked over to the boulder in the middle of the living room.

Inspect

Boulder

A very, very old boulder. Old enough to slow down time around it, allowing for all stats to regenerate faster.

Effects: 2x regen. Mana regen is 4x.

I had no words. This boulder was really damn OP.

Nerf, please.

Mana regen x4?! That would mean if you had 1 mana/sec, near this boulder you would have 4/sec! Health regen and stamina regen are both multiplied by 2 as well!

This boulder is my new best friend. I’ll never leave you, boulder.

I sat down to meditate, working on increasing my mana capacity until dinner. After lunch, I could work on my new [Mana Construct] until tomorrow. tomorrow, I could ask Avalina to teach me new spells. She did say that she would do that eventually. So all I should have to do is ask.

My aim, for now, is to be able to see my mother’s stats. Then I will get as much mana as she has. Then I can see what else I can learn about this world.

It wasn’t until much, much later that I remembered my deal with the chained God of Vampires.