Nightmare System 15 Instilling Fear

"I see now," Virgil said. Trying to clean some of his own blood off his shirt. "You are indeed not an opponent most Vampire Lords could take on."

"Good," h.e.l.l said. "Well, since Theperes vouched for you, do you want to wait here for us to kill the Djinn? We can let you go afterwards. Of course, I'll have to remove all your limbs as you wait, rea.s.surance, you know?"

Virgil was taken aback, but even his top speed didn't even get close to this man's. He was barely able to follow him with his eyes, but it was a speed which had surpa.s.sed the limits of mortal races, vampires and even demons. He considered the proposition, he would get to keep his life after all. Aurus was shocked to hear such impudence, awaiting any further commands from Virgil.

"What if I helped you instead?" Virgil said.

"You would help me kill your boss?" h.e.l.l said.

"I would rebel at one point, nonetheless. She is a cruel tyrant that doesn't care about the lives of her minions." Virgil said. "But will you be able to resist her charm?"

"Her charm?" Leon asked.

"Anyone seen by her is immediately under her control," Aurus explained. "She commands all breathing creatures. This is why it's impossible to go against her."

Virgil then spoke again: "I have been developing an enchantment that can protect you for around 3 seconds. If you can get close enough during-" Virgil was interjected by h.e.l.l's laughing as he sternly asked:

"Is this funny to you?"

"She is the type to depend on her charm?" h.e.l.l asked with a grin. "No combat abilities?"

"She may not have much personal strength but you don't-"

"I am unaffected by mental attacks," h.e.l.l said. "None of them can affect me."

"Is it a skill?" Leon asked.

"No," h.e.l.l said. "It's an innate quality, or something along the lines, I believe."

"Are you sure it's not resistance but definitely immunity to mental attacks is what you have?" Virgil asked. This was a terrifying power for Virgil who had his friends enslaved by the spell of their mistress.

"Yes. Do confirm it in any way if you can."

"I can't use any such spells. I specialize in melee combat as you have seen. However, there is another Vampire Lord you can test that on."

"My lord, do you mean…"

"Yes, it'll be Dmiria h.e.l.l should attack next to test his theory," Virgil said. "He specializes in mind attacks."

"So if I can endure his attacks perfectly, I pa.s.s?"

"Yes," Virgil answered.

"It'll be not too far from my own base, I can have you guys as my guests there."

"And your vampire buddies would be fine with that?" Leon asked.

"How insolent, no vampire in our base would ever think of betraying or disobeying Lord Virgil." Aurus suddenly said with fervour.

"Brother," Leila asked for Leon as she stumbled out of the tent.

"I'm here!" Leon said and rushed up to Leila.

"Turns out her system accepted the transition," Virgil said. "Congratulations."

"All your lives still depend on if she hates you for this or not," h.e.l.l said. "I care about my friends more than you can imagine."

"You should probably give her some blood. A full transition requires some more blood to be completed." Virgil said, unbothered by h.e.l.l's remark.

h.e.l.l nodded and walked up to Leila, asking her: "Do you want more blood?"

"Blood? What do you mean?" Leila said.

h.e.l.l took the initiative to explain the events unfolding up to that point. It had only been a few hours but her whole life had changed. She was flabbergasted and couldn't believe her ears as she heard she had become one of those creatures. Although she didn't want to admit it, she liked the sound of it.

"What will happen to me now?" She asked.

"Nothing. You have been liberated by the bounds of ageing." Theperes said. "Aside from the need to drink the blood every once in a while."

"What happens if I don't drink blood?"

"You can't fight the hunger then, you will drink at any cost," Aurus said. "It's like putting a delicious steak in front of a man who had been starving for weeks. You'll want to eat the meat. Even now, in the first stages of your awakening, do you not thirst and hunger for it?"

"No," Leila said as she looked away from Leon and h.e.l.l who were closer to herself.

h.e.l.l slashed open his wrist and offered his pouring blood. The red crescent at the top of her eyes shone momentarily as it began spreading to the sides of her eyes. "What are you doing?!" She said as she was unable to look away from the blood.

"Won't be the first time for you. Drink it." h.e.l.l said.

"Oh, it won't?" Leila said as she looked to be hypnotized by the pouring blood.

"You are wasting it," h.e.l.l said as he slashed his wrist again after it was healed using his skill.

"I won't waste it," Leila said as she opened her mouth, held h.e.l.l's arm and bit through his arm as everyone looked at her in silence.

"It's bad manners to watch a girl while she is feeding," whispered Aurus, dispersing everyone as only h.e.l.l and Virgil stayed side by side, watching other people get busy with any other thing as Virgil sent Aurus himself to converse with h.e.l.l's party.

"What do you want to do?" asked Virgil.

"I will have people I like happy, no matter what," h.e.l.l replied. "Other than that, I'll become stronger."

"Just as your innate quality, as you said, Djinn Mistress has her own. I believe even if your immunity is to the extent you believe it to be, you should be careful."

"You believe I'll lose?"

"I don't believe you'll lose a fair fight. Your speed exceeds even that of Lucifer."

"Lucifer?" h.e.l.l asked. "You mean the Demon of Pride?"

"That is also what he was called in the past, yes," Virgil replied honestly and without interruption. "Lucifer will be a strong opponent if you are bent on attacking him, too."

"I'll try my luck."

"You are not from this dimension, are you?" Virgil asked.

"No," h.e.l.l replied as he healed his wrist again, which was again punctured by the fangs of Leila. h.e.l.l then asked: "Is this reversible?"

"No. She is no longer human."

"Do vampires have any of the fabled weaknesses such as sensitivity to sunlight, not eating garlic and stake to the heart killing you?" h.e.l.l wanted to inquire.

"A vampire's senses are more sensitive similar to that of beasts. I have never heard a stake to the heart killing vampires, but silver does burn, if you are asking for a weakness." Virgil said and added. "Vampires don't specifically require solid foods, so I guess we don't really eat whatever this garlic is."

"I see," h.e.l.l said. "How much blood do you require in a day?"

"Not as much as she is drinking right now," Virgil said. "Perhaps a litre in total 3 meals would be fine."

"You require 3 meals in a day?"

"You don't?"

"Leila, b.l.o.o.d.y stop, will you?" h.e.l.l suddenly said. "How much blood do you need?"

"Sorry." She said.

"It feels weird when your blood is sucked out of your veins. It hurts, too!"

"Don't be a baby," Leila said as she went back to her tent to sleep.

"What else do I need to know about your kind?" h.e.l.l asked.

"That should be it. Vampires aren't much different from other humanoids. In fact, many of them aspire to be one of us. Then again, you become one of the ghouls you have seen before if your system rejects the transformation."

"Tell Leon about where we'd have to head to reach your base. I'll dispatch any attackers to our team. We'll be there around dawn if we can." h.e.l.l said and sat down, looking at the dried blood on his arm.

"All right," Virgil said and left h.e.l.l's side. h.e.l.l didn't hate this man, he truly seemed to be a decent person. Of course, everything would have to depend on his friends. Leon, now using his Telekinesis more efficiently, they were stronger as a team. h.e.l.l was thinking Leila could receive a boost as well, but feared the mental blow she may also receive in the meantime. It would be a shame indeed. h.e.l.l took out the sword again, it was silent, so he put it back. He would remember to take it out every day as Player Killer said. Receiving this inventory from the system upon reaching level 40 was immensely helpful. He tried to test the extent of what could be put in his inventory. As long as he held it, any object could be put there in moments. He tried this with a liquid that was pouring out of a flask however and he had seen that the water had continued spilling in his inventory, he was unable to properly take the liquid out. So it wouldn't be possible to store bombs after their pins were pulled either, as the stored objects seemed to not be stuck in s.p.a.ce and time. It felt more like he had a separate dimension as large as a 25 square meter empty room where he could teleport items to.

"She specializes in mental attacks while I'm supposed to have complete immunity, huh?" h.e.l.l said. He was wondering if she'd have a skill that could bypa.s.s immunity and turn it into resistance at the very least, or maybe even completely ignore it. He was hoping it would be an easy match, but would the system have ever made him such a favour? He'd nap for a few hours and they'd leave this place. Even though the night was dangerous, with their current line-up, it was probably impossible for even multiple T-Rexes working together to take them down to succeed. h.e.l.l then called for Theperes.

"What is it, my lord?" Theperes again, seductively said. h.e.l.l cursed her charms, but he didn't bring himself to send her away. "Watch over me while I sleep. Wake me up as soon as something happens."

"Of course," Theperes said as she sat next to h.e.l.l, gazing at him. She aimed even higher. If she could stick around this man further, it would only benefit her. If he cared this much for his friends, it was unknown what he'd do for someone who captured his heart. She smiled as she thought about it and gazed at the stars beginning to appear in the sky.

It was night-time when h.e.l.l woke up. He was welcomed by Theperes, who seemingly really have been waiting for hours next to h.e.l.l. "h.e.l.lo, my lord," Theperes said.

"Just call me h.e.l.l, like everyone else."

"If that is your wish, h.e.l.l." She said, met by an eye-roll from h.e.l.l.

"Are you hungry?" He asked.

"Yes."

h.e.l.l lifted his wrist up without getting up, signalling Theperes to drink his blood.

"Thank you," Theperes said as she bit down. How delicious this man's blood was! She had never tasted blood so good neither in her life as a ghoul, or would she ever think that something would taste so good. She could feel that his blood was indeed full of nutrition. Great for vampires. She fed for around 30 seconds, thanked h.e.l.l again and got up.

"Let's wake everyone else up." He said, motioning her to wake Vaun up who was sleeping not so far from h.e.l.l and he moved toward the tent of Leon and Leila. "Wakey wakey!" h.e.l.l was yelling as he saw Leila creeping up to Leon. Frowning, he signalled her to come with him outside as he told Leon: "Get ready, we're all waiting for you to leave!"

"We'll really go in the middle of the night?" Leon said, commenting on the lack of the sun.

"Come on, get ready. Five minutes!" h.e.l.l said and got out of the tent.

"What the f.u.c.k were you gonna do?"

"I… I was gonna ask him for some blood," Leila said.

"Really? It seemed to me that you were about to eat your big brother."

"No!" Leila said, slightly raising her voice. "I would never actually harm my brother, it's just that you said I was a vampire and I have to feed… I wouldn't drink him dry!"

"I am sick of being a blood bag, but I'm the safest option we have," h.e.l.l said as he gave her his wrist. There were patches of dried blood all around on his wrist.

"Thank you," Leila said as she began sucking some more blood from h.e.l.l. She also thought about how delicious blood was. It was addicting. She had also noticed she was stronger, tougher and when she accidentally cut her finger, it was feeling in a moment. One thing that bothered her was that her Occupation had changed to "Shadow Vampire" now.

Theperes watched her feed as she stood next to h.e.l.l without a word. She had decided h.e.l.l would be her own, so she felt annoyed to an extent, seeing another woman suck his blood. She would offer to prepare some vials and store h.e.l.l's blood in them for her. She was sure it felt awkward for them both as well. Theperes was one who had the demeanour of a lady, she would only be interested in a lord.

"Done?" She asked playfully after some time. Theperes was puzzled beyond words when she heard Leila loudly burp and say. "Done."

Theperes couldn't hold back her laughter. "Good." She said. Leila was only a young girl after all, she was overthinking it, worrying too much. "Shall we leave then?" Theperes asked, pointing to Vaun and Leon, showing that they were already prepared to leave.

"Yes. Let's leave." h.e.l.l said. "Theperes, I want you to accompany Leila throughout the trip and help her understand what she's going through better."

"Of course," Theperes answered as she got into one of Leila's arms. "Let's have some lady talk." As they opened up some distance between the party and themselves, not getting too far and following them from behind.

"Where are they going?" Leon asked.

"I told Theperes to talk to her about vampirism. I believe this is all we can do to help her at this point. Let's lead the way, they should follow." h.e.l.l said as he also took the sword out again, receiving an order this time.

"My minion, your first challenger is on his way. Kill him and steal his skills. He will arrive in 3 days."

The voice reverberated in h.e.l.l's brain. It seemed he really would have to follow through. He wondered what his purpose was.

"Did you hear anything?" Leon asked as h.e.l.l was momentarily dazed again.

"Nope. Let's go." h.e.l.l said and put the sword back.

"Will we get the inventory on level 35?" Leon asked.

"40," h.e.l.l answered. "It is incredibly useful" He added and took a fruit out, biting into it. The fruit was similar to an apple, he began eating it and offered one to Leon and another to Vaun. "Quite delicious, try it."

Vaun and Leon took the fruit, smelled them and right before they bit into it, Leila saw them have some fruit and asked Theperes about It, who immediately yelled behind them: "Don't eat those fruit!"

"Why? What's wrong?" h.e.l.l said while chewing the large bite he took. "They are great."

"They are poison!" Theperes said, immediately rushing over to their side. "How many did you eat?"

"Like 10?"

"10?" Theperes was shocked. The fruit was used by some tribes to make efficient poison arrows. It was quick to paralyze their enemies and higher doses killed them in mere minutes.

"I can absorb poison, too. No problem." h.e.l.l said.

"What a Mary Sue. You can't be serious." Leon said.

"Big risks, big rewards."

h.e.l.l learned they were called Deathbells and continued eating them throughout the road. They saw a rather small structure, it seemed it was built into the earth, rather than upwards. h.e.l.l was greeted by a vampire unit who all looked very nervous around him.

"Thi-This way please!" One of them yelled and bowed to h.e.l.l.

"I can get used to this," h.e.l.l said, enjoying the feeling of being treated like royalty.