The Shadowfang Wolf.
It was a creature that could rival top-tier assassins. These wolves were masters of stealth and assassination, incredibly difficult to detect.
"Blurgh!" Suddenly, Damien vomited a mouthful of blood as he slammed into a nearby tree. Everyone turned to look at Damien in shock.
But then, they heard a low growling sound.
Instantly, the wolf howled: "Awooooooo!"
"Ah, SHIT! The wolf is calling its allies! Kill it and RUN!" Kain shouted, already sprinting towards the wolf, intent on ending its life.
Eren, Damien, and the others snapped out of their reverie. Avery and Jace quickly recomposed themselves. Eren rushed towards the wolf as well. Avery began chanting, and Jace loosed an arrow imbued with enhanced speed.
The wolf pounced at Kain, but he dodged, slashing near the wolf's stomach. Soon, Eren appeared and slashed at one of its legs. The arrow struck another leg, followed by a fireball that hit its head.
Kain then closed in and stabbed it in the neck, killing it instantly.
Immediately, everyone received a notification:
[!Ding]
[Killed 1x 'Shadowfang Wolf']
[Received 50xp]
[Level Up!]
Everyone leveled up, and all of their stats increased. Kain also leveled up and opened his status. What he saw shocked him:
[Vampire Status]
Name: Kain Family: [No Family]
Talents:
Retain (Unique)
[Stats:]
Level: 2
Agility: 6
Perception: 10
Intelligence: 5
Strength: 4
Vitality: 50
[Path Abilities:]
The Sin of Pride (Locked)
The Sin of Greed (Locked)
The Sin of Wrath (Locked)
The Sin of Envy (Locked)
The Sin of Lust (Locked)
The Sin of Gluttony (Locked)
The Sin of Sloth (Locked)
[Bloodline Abilities: (Locked)]
[Other Abilities: ]
Kain, very confused, decided to ask the system.
'System, why did my stats not increase even after a level up?' he asked.
[A Level up in the Vampire System is only used by the user to walk the path of evolution into higher ranks.]
[If the user wants to increase their statistics, they need to drink human blood.]
'What is this bullshit? Why am I even forced to drink human blood?'
[...]
'...'
Kain shrugged as he spoke: "Guys, take the valuable materials from the hide and let's go, we need to—" Kain was about to say something, but then he suddenly froze.
From the depths of the fog, more glowing eyes appeared. One, two, three... until there were seven pairs of eyes, all circling the party. The howling had summoned a full pack of Shadowfang Wolves, each one larger and more menacing than the last.
The wolves wasted no time. With a chorus of snarls, they lunged at the group from all directions.
"Form up! Defend!" Kain shouted.
Chaos erupted instantly.
Damien raised his shield, blocking the first wolf's pounce. A second wolf leapt onto his back, tearing into his armor.
Avery tried to cast a barrier, but a wolf crashed into her, sending her flying into a tree.
Jace lost arrow after arrow, but the wolves were too fast. They weaved through the fog and shadows.
Eren fought desperately, slashing at a wolf that lunged for his throat. He managed to wound it, but another wolf clamped its jaws around his leg, dragging him to the ground. He screamed as blood sprayed across the mossy earth.
Damien roared, swinging his shield and crushing a wolf's skull. But two more tackled him. Their fangs tore into his neck and chest. He fell, gurgling, as the wolves ripped him apart.
Avery tried to crawl away, chanting a healing spell. A wolf pounced on her, its jaws closing around her head. Her scream was cut short.
Jace managed to kill one wolf with a perfectly placed arrow. But another wolf leapt from the fog and bit down on his arm, snapping bone. He tried to fight back, but the pack overwhelmed him, dragging him into the mist. His last arrow fell from his trembling fingers.
Kain and Eren were left, surrounded by blood and bodies.
Eren, bleeding heavily, tried to stand. A wolf lunged and tore off his arm at the shoulder. Another wolf bit into his leg, ripping it away. Eren collapsed, barely conscious, his eyes wide with agony.
Kain, driven by desperation and rage, fought with everything he had. He slashed at the wolves, his movements a blur. One wolf bit down on his left arm, crushing bone and tearing flesh. With a scream, Kain ripped his arm free, blood pouring from the wound.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the last wolf fell, its throat torn open by Kain's blade.
The fog was silent once more, broken only by the ragged breathing of the survivors.
Kain fell to his knees, clutching his bleeding stump. Eren lay nearby, missing an arm and a leg, barely alive. The rest of the party was gone, their bodies torn and broken. The battle was over, but the cost was almost too much to bear.
...
"A-Avery... Damien... Jace... No... Why..." Kain whispered, his voice trembling as he stared at the carnage. He felt something inside him snap.
[System Alert]
[Blood Points lower than 5%]
[Activating Mode: Bloodsucker]
All the blood flowing from Kain stopped as his limbs started to regenerate. Kain's eyes turned deep red, wide and bright as if without eyelids. His pupils expanded to unnatural levels, and his corneas were blood-red. The bloodsucker had long fangs and a very long tongue, even longer than a dog's, like a lizard's. Veins bulged from every part of his body, looking as if black blood flowed through them. His body moved on its own, jerking and twitching as if a puppet master was currently itching his hands.
The bloodsucker crawled towards the nearest corpse—Damien. His mouth opened wide, far wider than a human's should, as he sank his fangs into Damien's neck. Since it had not even been ten minutes since Damien died, his blood was still fresh. After all, blood would usually stay fresh for three to four hours.
Sounds of sickening flesh-tearing and greedy slurping came. Kain's throat worked as he drank, draining Damien dry in seconds.
He staggered to Avery next. Her lifeless body was still warm. He bit into her arm, drinking deeply, his hands clawing at her skin as if trying to squeeze out every last drop.
Jace was last. Kain's monstrous form loomed over him, and he tore into Jace's throat, blood pouring down his chin and soaking the ground. The world was red. The hunger was endless.
He turned, eyes wild, and crawled toward Eren.
Eren, barely conscious, could only watch in horror as Kain approached, blood dripping from his mouth, fangs bared.
But just as Kain lunged, his body seized up.
[Blood Points: 100%]
The hunger vanished. The monstrous red faded from his eyes. Kain collapsed beside Eren, unconscious, his face smeared with blood.
...
After ten minutes, Kain finally woke up.
[System Notification]
[Vampire Mode 'Bloodsucker' has ended.]
"Bloodsucker?" Kain thought, but then a sudden flash of memories hit him. Initially, he didn't remember anything, but now he does. After Kain remembered everything, he puked instantly. All of this was against his previous human nature. Although he didn't find it disgusting anymore, he still puked because he used to be human. After all, it had only been a few days since he became a Vampire.
[System Quest]
[Title: Become a True Vampire]
[Status: Completed]
[Do you wish to start your Evolution?] [Yes]
Suddenly, a notification appeared in front of Kain, but Kain was not in the mood to look at it.
"I should've known. I should've known that we could die here. If I had only led the party better," Kain spoke, regretting everything.
"Eren? Where's Eren?" Kain spoke as he looked around. He then saw a figure lying on the ground.
"EREN! No! OH GOD! PLEASE! NOOO! I DO NOT-- NO PLEASE IT MUST NOT BE HAPPENING!" cried Kain as he ran towards Eren. He quickly checked his pulse.
One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes.
No pulse came even after three minutes. He checked his breathing; no breathing could be seen. He checked his face; there was only an expression of horror. He had heartlessly killed.
"Nooooo!" he screamed in agony. He screamed, cried, and moaned nonstop for hours upon hours. It was evening when all of this happened; now it was about to be day, and he had not stopped.
[The System Detects Extreme Emotional Changes in the Host's Mind.]
[The System asks for the host to enter their problem, and the System will provide a solution if possible for the host to achieve it.]
[Enter: _______]
Kain looked up at the screen as he saw a holographic black keyboard appear before him.
"W-what? Can you do that? Heh, if you can even do that, then tell me a way to revive Eren," Kain said in a sarcastic tone.
[...]
"What? Is that all? You cannot do it, right? Haha! Ha ha ha ha!" spoke Kain as he started laughing like a maniac.
"This man, this man was the CLOSEST THING TO FAMILY I EVER HAD!" shouted Kain as he pointed his finger at Eren. "And you are here, joking about 'Helping' me with my problem? Heck, this System is the problem! If it all just didn't exist, then my Brother would not have died!" cried Kain, finally calling Eren his brother.
[...]
Eren's images flashed through his mind: his smile, the way he looked when they first met, and them getting bullied and laughed at everywhere in school. He could remember everything.
"Why... just why did it have to happen?"
[System Operation Complete.]
The Solutions to your problems have been found. The system will reveal the solution if the host promises with a condition.]
[Condition: Climb the Tower of Evolution and Save Humanity]
[Accept: Needs to climb the tower; the system will provide the best possible solution.] [Decline: Humanity would be destroyed by 'The War of the Nine Realms' in the soon coming war; no solution shall be provided.]
Boom
It was as if a bombshell had dropped. Kain never planned to climb the towers. After all, if someone ever started to climb the towers, they could not stop until they reached a 'Safe Zone'. A Safe Zone is a place where Humanity has decided to settle itself. The four billion of Humanity's population that lives inside the tower lives in the three conquered safe zones. And if they ever died on a floor, they would truly die. That was it.
And, the people of the trials could not take the items of the trials away. They could only take away the skills they acquired or any beast they might form a contract with. This was it. This was all the information about the trials outside of the trials. Nothing less, nothing more.
What was truly shocking was the term 'The War of the Nine Realms'. It was something he never knew about before; there was no such data online. But if the system talked about it, it could not possibly be a lie.
After contemplating for a while, he had finally decided.
As he chose the option, he clicked a button as the system screen disappeared, and a different panel showed up.
The Panel told...