Getting to Clara’s house was easy.

With bicycles, they made it in less than five minutes. It was around a kilometer away at most but Sean never bothered to measure it so he didn’t know for sure. The sun was up above, basking the world in its golden light. It was noticeably warm and the wind that should have cooled them off blew hot.

As someone who’d lived for nineteen years, Sean knew how to ride a bike but that didn’t necessarily mean he was good at it. Liz was. She was faster and better, pedaling like a madman so she could catch up to him within a few seconds even if he left her in the dust. But as she didn’t know Clara’s place, Sean was at the front and Liz followed.

She also lived in the suburbs —that was where they’d met. Rather, that’s where Sean noticed her, just the two of them standing at the bus stop, waiting for the last bus. Then they started talking and the rest was history.

“We’re here,” said Sean as he stopped. They were near a white, two-story house. It was the simple kind, with nothing extra. There was the garage and the house. All its curtains were shut and nothing inside could be seen.

Liz made a quick circle around him and stopped as well. They were on the surprisingly empty road. There weren’t many people around these parts but some could be seen in the distance —too far to matter.

“I’ll wait,” she said, keeping her bicycle up by standing on one leg, slightly tilted to the side.

Sean got off the bike. It was easier than getting off a horse, that much was for sure. The backpack was more a nuisance than anything else despite its weight so he put it on the ground. The dagger was in the backpack now. He couldn’t really put it in his pocket as it was too large to be put there and he couldn’t ride a bike with one hand.

“Here goes nothing,” said Sean and breathed out. His heart was thumping like a basketball bouncing on the ground. Except, this was from inside him. He slowly walked toward the door. Each step he took made him more excited. Deep inside, Sean knew that she wasn’t home but he hoped.

He stopped before the door and hesitated.

Should he open it?

“Hurry up!” yelled Liz from behind and Sean turned to look at her. He nodded his head and turned to the door again. With sweaty hands, he tried the handle.

It opened.

It was the kind that opened inward and it creaked as it slowly but surely hit the wall with a small noise.

It was dark. The design was quite similar to Chris’ place —most of the houses here were uniform in the neighborhood.

He could barely make out anything past the sunlight let in by the door but his olfactory senses picked something up.

It was a disgusting odor like shit, but sweeter.

Sean’s thought process halted and his eyes widened. His hands clenched themselves almost automatically till it strained and teeth were clenched.

No… that couldn’t be…

She couldn’t have died.

Then he breathed.

One, two, and…

On the third, he shouted —it was loud, more a roar than anything else. It echoed across the neighborhood. His throat was strained but he didn’t care. He felt his blood rush and it felt hot, much like when his Heart Factor was awakened. Except this was more feral and primal as if it was meant to be.

Then Sean heard movement from upstairs.

Sean lunged at the sound, not even caring enough to pull the dagger out of his backpack.

He had his Magic and no dagger was better than that.

He’d killed giants and could slaughter humans like sheep if he wanted to. He wouldn’t. Usually, that is. Now?

He wasn’t his usual self.

“Wait!” shouted Liz from behind but Sean didn’t hear her. Rather, he did. He just didn’t care. His brain refused to react.

He scaled the stairs in 2 large leaps. At the top, he saw it. It was pitch black but he could see two red eyes glowing in the dark very much like smoldering embers. As Sean’s eyes met the orbs, he felt his body tense up and started to be replaced with fear. It was a primordial on —a fear of the unknown.

His body was afraid, shivering, and ready to escape.

His mind wasn’t.

Skill ‘Presence’ has been activated!

Skill ‘Killing Intent’ has been overpowered.

Status Effect ‘Fear’ has been inflicted upon the target.

Sean felt the effects of Presence bleed into reality.

The world was quiet, even quieter than before as if his Research was active.

There was a deep hum. It came from nowhere and everywhere and the very air seemed to distort as if it was near a flame.

There was no flame.

The figure with eyes of red stepped back —it was audible with a wet squelch.

Then the smell came, even stronger than before.

It had stepped on a corpse.

“Where is Clara?” asked Sean. His voice was deep and loud, as if he was using a microphone in a large hall, echoing. After a moment, he roared, “Where is she!”

The creature took another step back.

“You… Sean. You… fre-… grrrrargh!” started the creature with a raspy voice, but before it could finish the sentence, its head was peeled away. The eyes disappeared from his vision and Sean heard movement.

Sean created a Mana Ball.

He was calmer now. Not in the sense that he wouldn’t do something stupid. In the sense that he would do it, but he’d do the stupid thing in a smarter way.

So he shot a Mana Ball into the air. Computation made it automatic. He didn’t think —didn’t need to.

The room was lit up with an arcane glow, the blue light bathing everything in the room. It revealed the corpses on the ground. Before, he’d have vomited. Rather, if he was calm, he would have.

Now?

He didn’t care and wouldn’t care until he killed the creature.

The creature was large and had a hunchback, standing as tall as him despite its back making him shorter than he should be, completely naked, showcasing its sickly gray skin. Its face was disgusting and there was not much hair to speak of, two pointy ears sticking out of the sides of his head. Blood dripped down its mouth and he could see its black teeth.

“Blood,” started the creature, then his head snapped upward. There was an audible crack but it didn’t seem to care. Each word was followed by deep breaths, “Sean… Morris.”

It roared after finishing its short sentence.

“Hunter…. Must kill!” the creature shouted and glared at him.

A Mana Ball struck its face and forced it to move its head back. Then it exploded, the blue smoke covering the entire room. The smell of magic overtook the stench, making it easier to bear. Sean was invigorated by that, as any Mage would be.

He flicked his wrist and a Mana Ball shot at the creature. He flicked it again, and then again. Again, again and again.

There was no boom, only a hollow sound, like a muffled gunshot. It was loud but it wasn’t dramatic.

Before he even realized it, he’d cast ten Mana Balls and he noticed his Mana Pool growing smaller. There was a mental reminder of sorts, like a pop.

That was when Liz came in, blade in hand. Sean turned to look at her from among the smoke, his eyes empty but blazing with magic. The smoke made his eyes glimmer blue but he had no means to know it himself.

Her eyes widened.

The awkward boy she’d seen before was gone. It was different now. He seemed almost badass.

Skill ‘Indomitable Will’ has been activated!

You have resisted the effect of ‘Presence’ with pure willpower. You will not be affected by the awe-inspiring effect of the Skill.

Then the veil faded away. She could see him again —the awkward boy, standing there with eyes glowing a light blue.

The smoke cleared, disappearing into nothing rather than flowing out. The soft glow of the blue magic ball was something she’d seen before —there were mages in the Goblin Stage, ones that she had to work with to complete her one hundred goblin quota.

She could see the corpses and scattered limbs on the ground. Nothing she wasn’t used to. The Serpent Stage was a survival scenario, the Giant Stage was the same, but the Goblin Stage? It was a battlefield, fought with swords and magic.

Blood had stained the walls and the floor, but she saw movement. There was blood on the ground, but it seemed to be moving away from her and toward the corner of the room. Then she heard slurping. Very loud slurping.

Sean turned to look at the creature again. It was on the ground, lying sideways. Half of its back was gone, both arms had been blown off —the area of the shoulders had exploded and one of its legs was lying a meter away. It licked the blood on the ground, greedily slurping it.

“Die,” whispered Sean and shot yet another Explosive Mana Ball at it. Its head was pushed to the floor and the wooden floor slightly cracked. It was a layer but the actual building was concrete so the creature didn’t fall down.

Sean could see half of its head was gone.

“What was that?” asked Liz, blade held with both hands. She was calm but wary.

“A monster,” said Sean. He looked at the ground and spotted a slender arm of a girl. But it wasn’t Clara’s. He’d recognize it. There was no whole corpse, all of them half-eaten and shriveled, only some of the bodies still with blood. Sean could only assume she was fully eaten or one of the shriveled-up corpses lying aside. He started to breathe loudly as his calm guise disappeared.

He punched the wall.

It made a sound but nothing happened. He was durable enough his hand wouldn’t break easily. Not with how his Strength was far lower than his Durability.

“Fuck!” he shouted, “I’ll find out whatever that shit is, and I’ll hunt each and every fucking one of them.”

“Watch out!” shouted Liz and before Sean even realized what was happening, he was pushed aside and into the wall.

Then he heard something hit metal, with a clang.

Liz was knocked away, her armor dented. Its claws didn’t penetrate the steel breastplate but forced her to fly several meters away.

They were in a narrow corridor barely with a width of two meters. There were various doors at the sides of the corridor and the stairway connected to the second floor from the side as well, right in the middle of the corridor. Liz was near the stairs and Sean stood next to the creature.

It seemed to be fully healed, even its head.

“Morris… kill!” it roared and then slashed at Sean.

He felt the pain after a few seconds. There was a large gash across his right shoulder, the Mage Cloak torn in half. The pain hit him a second after. It was sharp. Breaking your arms was a dull pain but a scratch was sharp —but that didn’t compare to what Helthur had done to him. He was chewed to death and his arm was flicked off. So he recovered almost instantly.

Sean shot a Mana Ball at its head —this was an explosive one, condensed and small. Sean felt the skin of his hands get shredded as he grabbed the ball but he pushed it into the creature’s mouth regardless and pulled his hand away just in time for its head to explode, splattering all across the room and his face. The clothes weren’t spared either.

But he was swept away, tossed toward Liz. The creature’s neck started to grow again with immense speed.

“The heart,” said Sean, panting. His father had told him bedtime stories. The heart had to be pierced. Even the smallest prick would force them to bleed to death but nothing else would work. He just hadn’t processed that it was a vampire until now.

Everything else died if you cut their head off if his father’s tales were to be believed.

Liz charged at the creature and stabbed her blade into the area adjacent to its heart. With its head gone, the creature couldn’t see nor feel that she was coming toward it. And finally, it fell to the ground, its lifeblood leaving its body.

It didn’t bleed before but now blood oozed out of every orifice and injury he had, mostly from its neck —its head had been cut off, after all.

There were fragments of skulls, brain matter, and blood everywhere.

“That was awesome!” Shouted out Liz, her entire body trembling with excitement. Her stoic facade was now gone, replaced with a large grin as she looked at the ground, “This is great. Way better than killing green toddlers or giant bugs.”

System Notification

You have leveled up to Level 3!

Reward: +5 Intelligence, +5 Wisdom

Sean looked at Liz cackle like a madwoman.

Was she alright in the head?

“We just killed a monster, Sean,” said Liz. She sheathed her blade and walked over to him. She then extended her arm at him, offering to pull him up. He took it. Her grip was strong and she effortlessly pulled him up, “We killed a monster! Cheer up. We’re badass.”

Sean… felt nothing. Rather, he felt empty.

The anger was gone and so was Clara.

What else did he have now?

His family was always there, metaphorically looming in the distance, waiting for him to reach them but the one thing that had spurred him on to become stronger was gone. Rather, the one person that made him want to become a better human being was dead, at the hands of a vampire.

“You said you’d kill them all, right? Let’s do it! I’m in!” she almost shouted, but then suddenly grew quiet and the grin disappeared. She coughed into her clenched fist, now composed, “Ah, sorry about that… I acted a bit creepy. But if you’re going to hunt them, I’ll help is what I meant.”

Sean looked at vampires through a filter now. The same filter that he’d put on the giants to justify his actions —he told himself they were monsters, that they deserved no redemption and that they should die. That they were evil. That they were meant to be killed.

And he’d kill them all, just like he’d done to the giants.

The remorse was gone.

“I will,” said Sean. He’d kill all the vampires and everything else that went bump in the night —they’d taken his beloved from him.

“Dating Chris might’ve been the best choice I have made yet,” said Liz and pat him on the shoulder. With the small smile —the same one from when Sean first met her, she asked, “Should we keep wearing our bloody clothes so we can bait out more vampires?”

They shouldn't do that.