Sean soon got a Notification that made him raise an eyebrow.

He’d restored Mana to petrol…

That implied something, but it wasn’t something he wanted to let the others know just yet. He had to read the Spellbook and find out more about what that meant. Otherwise, he might end up looking like a moron. He had to find out more before making a move. At first, he was assuming that he could just have it run off of pure Magic by filling the tank with fuel, but somehow he’d done something more complicated than he first assumed.

System Notification

You have gained the Status ‘Prometheus’ for restoring Mana to the substance ‘Petrol’. You have gained the right to be summoned for the Planetary Summit of Planet ‘Earth’. You may now choose which Status to attend the Summit as.

Reward: Prometheus (Status)

And it seemed that a Status, whatever it was, granted him the right to be summoned for the Planetary Summit. He didn’t know anything about it at the moment but these Statuses dictated what they’d do there? He didn’t know, but having more than one was probably a good thing.

When the time to choose it came, he would.

But that wasn’t now.

“You’re full of surprises,” said Liz, with a grin. It was directed at Chris and she was leaning on him with her head, “Who knew you could drive a boat?”

He was silent.

That was his idea of cool —being broody.

The engine was loud, but not too loud. One thing was for sure, and that was their arrival wouldn’t be a secret. The bridge was in sight. It was one of those tiny ones that were built more for aesthetics than any real purpose, with the width being at most three meters. It was tall and climbing up there from the water would be basically impossible.

Rex and Liz were now onboard as well.

As for Sean?

He was holding on to the wall for dear life, afraid of making even a tiny movement. It was partly because he was afraid of all the wobbling and partially because he felt sick. It was like traveling on a bumpy road, but worse.

With impressive speed, they barged into the thin canal that led to the pond in St. Lucas’ High School’s backyard. It was an artificial one that they had paid a lot to build. Before it was a school, it was a sort of church, if Sean was remembering it correctly. They’d simply fixed it up and turned it into a high school, which came in the form of destroying the old building and building a new one in its place.

But everything else stayed, including the pond and the overgrown gardens.

When they stopped near the pond, a few meters into the water, Sean was as relieved as could be. They rarely spoke on the ride and for that, he was grateful.

“Are we done?” asked Sean, finally conscious enough to look around. It wasn’t to appreciate the scenery but to look at the people there. There were people there, standing near the shores as if awaiting commands.

“They’re the goons,” said Chris, eyes-wide-open, “I think they’re brainwashed.”

The faces of Mr. Ishida and his family flashed before his eyes. The sweet old man and his family didn’t deserve that. And their little girl…

There were three vials of whatever had saved Liz left.

“Did we come before them?” asked Marie, staring around uneasily.

“I hope,” mumbled Sean.

The only other alternative to it would be them already being captured. Or maybe, they were just louder than them and caught their attention.

“Chris, any ideas?” asked Liz, finally unsheathing her blade.

“We shouldn’t kill them,” started Rex but toward the end, his voice faded off, “They’re just victims to the vampires. But them being here means…”

“It means what?” asked Sean, looking at the others.

It felt like Liz and him were the only ones that didn’t know anything. But that wasn’t true. Sean knew what that meant but just didn’t want to face the truth. Rather, he didn’t know that it was a bad thing to run into them.

“It means there are Nobles here,” said Chris, finally.

“Is that bad?” asked Liz —that was the only question Sean needed to have answered.

“Yeah, very bad,” said Rex, confirming his worst fears.

But they were monsters.

No, they were vampires.

And it was their duty to kill them. It was only right. Especially if they brainwashed people like this to turn them into fodder.

“Then we just have to be a bit more careful,” said Sean slowly. That wasn’t him speaking. Rather, that wasn’t his logicspeaking. It was the exact opposite —that was his emotions speaking, “We see monsters, we kill them. That’s what we’re supposed to do. That’s how we can save people.”

“Has anyone here learned how to breathe like that?” asked Chris. No one answered. Sean knew what that meant. Everyone did, other than Liz.

“I feel like it’s a bad idea,” he continued quietly. No one heard that, though, including Sean. They were too busy preparing, all in their own way. In Sean’s case, it came in the form of slowly breathing in and out.

Nobles… His father was preparing him for this. He had to learn how to breathe like that to resist their mind-controlling powers. But that wasn’t what he was afraid of. If it was anything like the lesser vampire’s, then his Presence would do the heavy lifting.

What he was afraid of was their ability to control anything with their mind. They’d turn him into a ball of flesh unless he breathed like that. And breathe like that, he couldn’t do. Not yet. They’d been too hasty.

“We’re almost out of fuel,” said Chris and the gravity of their situation hit them like an anvil on the head of a cartoon character. They’d rebound, but they were realizing now. It wasn’t unlike the fear many adventurers would feel before entering a difficult dungeon.

Rex was praying now, drawing an invisible cross across his chest. Sean never took him for a religious person, but he didn’t take Rex for anything other than a bully. He was too young then and hadn’t cared enough to know more about a menace. He was changed now, different and bright, like a natural leader.

Liz uneasily looked around at the people standing on the beaches, ready, holding her dagger with a white-knuckled grip. Sean knew she could become a psychopath when the time called for it, but she froze, her eyes fixated on a spot to the left. Sean could recognize him. It was her father.

Chris wasn’t breathing hard, but his eyes were narrow, both hands holding his crossbow that had been put aside on the front of the motorboat when he was driving. He was loading it now, with a bolt that had silver at its tip. Only the ones that had gotten proper training knew of that fact, which was most of them —everyone excluding Sean and Liz.

Marie was breathing hard, but silently. It wasn’t controlled, unlike that of Sean’s. She was ready to shoot a spike of ice at whatever moved first, be it human or monster. Through the window, even. But whether her Magic would go past or be stopped, no one knew.

Max was quiet, his expression unreadable. There were two daggers in his hand. One of them looked green toward the edges and the other was a Cruciform Dagger, the Damascus steel that was forged from iron and silver glimmering in what little of the moonlight made it past the dark clouds up above.

They were all preparing, in their own way.

The moon was larger as if it was a special occasion. Maybe it was a special occasion for the world and the monsters, but it was no less special for the group of six. They’d gone through different challenges, both in the Calibration and past that.

But they were similar in one regard —they’d all killed monsters.

They were simply of a different kind, spawned by the System.

And they were the same in yet another regard. All of them had run into monsters, whether that be in controlled environments or not. Liz and Sean had killed the Nosferatu at Clara’s house, and the others had run into one of the many Nobles summoned by Carmilla.

In fact, half of them had killed real monsters.

Their odds weren’t bad.

At least they thought it wasn’t.

They wanted to think it wasn’t.

They were all thinking of a variation of that. Different variations of ‘We can probably do this,’ but the concept and meaning were the same. It ended in them prevailing by some means, miraculously or naturally —but they had a single belief: victory was possible. And when victory was possible, at least in their minds, hope was what drove them forward.

There were too many people to count, standing by the shores. There wasn’t a single inch not covered by people. It wasn’t very much a challenge given the fact that the pond itself was small. At least in width, a mere half-circle with a length of twenty meters. The people that were lining up for the gate when Sean passed by would be able to cover the entire area.

That didn’t make them feel better.

“So… how do we knock them out?” asked Liz.

The chances of a bunch of teenagers armed with knives and swords and Magic knocking them out without doing damage was small, immensely so.

“I say we just push them away,” said Rex and took a seat on the now vacant driver’s seat. He put his hand on the pedal that could be pulled back and breathed in, “Everyone, brace for impact. We’re about to drive on land.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” asked Chris, holding onto the metal pole that was meant to be held with one hand. He had a black shirt but Sean noticed his wide build. The military had changed him a lot, turning him from the nerd he knew into someone more competent.

“Better than killing them,” said Rex and they started to move.

Sean held onto the poles for dear life. He didn’t even notice what the others did. His priority was surviving this impact.

It was smooth at first until the bottom of the ship scraped the ground, but the motor was strong enough to propel them into the people and several meters past them. They were thrown aside or were pushed away by the cabinet and the front of the boat, uncomfortably so. Broken bones, for sure. Better than being hit by a car but certainly worse than a small bump.

But none of them made a noise. Not a yell, not a shriek, not even a scream. There wasn’t even a grunt. They were like machines, completely incapable of perceiving the pain and reacting to it. Simply hit and moved away.

“Now!” roared out Chris as he jumped out the back of the boat. It was standing, thankfully, and it was disappointing. Sean was waiting for a crash, eyes closed shut, but that didn’t happen.

Everyone followed but Sean and Rex were last. Sean, because he hadn’t recovered fast enough. Rex, because he was the furthest from the exit. He was helpfully dragged out the door and fell to the ground.

He took a deep breath in, appreciating the stillness of the Earth.

They were past the people that stood by the pond but they were running toward them now, sprinting with great speed at them.

But Sean recovered quick enough.

He wasn’t on sea anymore and they were here to kill the vampires that were there. If the adults were down, they’d help them. If they weren’t there yet, then they’d try to do it themselves.

“Quick!” shouted Marie, a few meters ahead of Sean, “I can freeze the exit once we’re in.”

Sean flicked his wrist and a trio of Expanded Mana Balls appeared. They were almost as tall as walls, with a radius of one meter. They wouldn’t be very durable nor would they damage whoever touched it a lot. But it’d buy them a second or two —they needed that.

The school building was close, only twenty or so meters from the pond. The buildings were new and the architecture was nothing impressive. It was a plain white building with four floors. It was wide and the back entrance was wide enough to fit all of them, made of glass with one door for an exit and another door for the entrance.

They didn’t care about that now. Couldn’t bother to.

Sean was inexhaustible but slow, that reality was obvious when he started to run. Rex, who’d started out right next to him, was almost at the exit. Sean threw a quick glance behind him and saw the people chasing them like a herd of zombies. The Mana Balls he’d thrown as an obstacle were easily evaded.

They were conscious and their minds were there.

Simply, their intentions were wrong.

Sean knew that they were alright. Otherwise, Liz’s father wouldn’t have been able to talk to her.

But he was faster than the people, thankfully.

He bolted right past the stairs that led to the entrance and dashed into the open door, kept open by Max. He fell down to the ground, partially due to relief and partially due to tripping because of his hurry.

Sean wasn’t the fastest, far from it, but he was faster than Marie. He’d managed to run past her and stood inside.

Marie waved her hand past the gaps in the door and it started to glisten, the ice covering it. Both the exit and entrance were connected with a small compartment outside the building, allowing them to freeze the gaps between both the entrance door and the exit door.

Not a moment sooner, they made it to the door. They pulled at the handle, yet it wouldn’t budge.

The ice was strong enough to do that, at least.

It wouldn’t last long, Sean knew that. Everyone knew that. But after trying to open it, the people outside simply stopped. It gave off a bad vibe as if whatever they were walking into was worse than them. As if they didn’t care. They walked into the main part of the building —it was the school, the building in the middle.

And then they stopped…

There was no one inside the building. It was completely empty as if everyone had been vacated. It seemed like everyone who was inside the main building was outside now, locked out of it.

“That’s ominous,” mumbled Sean as he looked at the empty school. He’d seen his fair share of horror movies that features schools during the night. There was something so utterly wrong with an empty and quiet school seen through a blue filter.

Classrooms were empty, their doors shut neatly. As it was a back door, there was nothing fancy. It was like they were straight in the middle of the school, with classrooms dotting the walls as well as trophies in glass chambers and boards with portraits on them. Then, to their front, was a corridor.

It was pitch black and nothing could be seen. It’d be lit by lights even during the day, but none were working now after the System came.

Then Sean heard it —it was an all too familiar growl. He’d heard it back at Clara’s house and it was a sound he knew to detest.

It was a vampire.

And there was more than one. There were several of them. Their eyes like glowing embers were clearly visible in the dark corridors. That was when he realized it. The people didn’t follow them not because they couldn’t. No, they simply stopped because they knew that the vampires would come out.

The people looked like a herd of zombies with how they were chasing them moments ago but these monsters werezombies. Or at least they seemed quite close to that.

They came closer with blinding speed, their movements swift and their feet noiseless. Sean knew what their claws could do and he knew to stop them. His mind was ready. He wasn’t absorbed by the anger this time. He used and embraced it. He was angry at them and he used that to justify murder.

Angry for Clara. Angry for the friendly old man Mr. Ishida, Oliver, and the child. Angry for Liz and her parents.

But Chris made the first move, a bolt launched straight at one of their foreheads. It glimmered in what little moonlight came in through the windows. The sound of a falling body could be heard.

How did that thing die without being shot in the heart?

Sean didn’t get enough time to ponder that. He raised his right palm up and created a Mana Ball, the brilliant blue light now making it possible to see the environment as it hovered a meter above the group. There were many sights to see but Sean’s attention was on the vampires —there were ten of them at the very least and more were coming.

They were like a landslide, charging forward with no regard for whatever was in front of them and they stumbled and fell when they met the corpse of their fallen ally. They did not speak nor did they have the time to.

Their growls were drowned out as Rexford roared out and charged with a blade in hand. It was a longsword, large and burly. He protected himself with the blade as a vampire slashed at him, the blade not giving in. Neither did Rex. He even pushed back.

Max waited. No, he hesitated for a second. Then he charged in as well, quietly so, following Liz. She screamed bloody murder as she went for the kill. They had an effect on each other. If they had been alone, they might have been discouraged and afraid. They were afraid but that didn’t overpower their hype.

Every child would dream of becoming a hero and saving the people of the land —that was happening to them. They were fighting monsters that were undoubtedly in the wrong and they were in the right.

It was almost cool.

He shot Condensed Explosive Mana Balls at the mindless vampires that came out of the tunnel, zipping right past the frontlines where the trio fought. Next to his own balls, he saw shards of ice zipping right past them. They weren’t faster than his own but they were projectiles nonetheless, stabbing into the flesh of the vampires and slowing them down or pinning them to the ground.

Sean’s own exploded after hitting them, all of them rigged to explode after a second. And explode, they did, splattering blood and guts of the vampires that it struck all across the room, forcing the stench of iron to hang over the battlefield. But his attacks weren’t killing them. It was simply mutilating them and forcing them to slow down to block the surge of monsters.

But the ones at the frontlines?

They were like a blender met with meat, cutting and rending through whatever came their way. Rex was more a tank than anything, his blade failing to cut through much, forcing him to stab at their hearts to deal any real damage to them as he charged stood in the middle. Liz and Max, on the other hand, armed with their Cruciform Daggers, were cutting through their flesh as if it was butter, both of them at the sides.

Then inevitably, the vampires landed the first strike, knocking Rex away to the wall. The clang of metal on metal sounded out as Rex was knocked aside, his armor barely protecting him, now dented.

Their Strength was bad news and Sean knew that a single swing from them could kill any of them if it landed at the wrong spot. So he turned his attention to not decimating the ones coming out into the open and instead offering support, shooting Condensed Mana Balls to help the group not die and to not get hit.

Rex got up at some point and joined the fray again, but Sean’s mind was focused solely on helping them stay alive.

And before he even realized it, there were no more vampires standing.

Sean could cast almost twenty-five Mana Balls of the explosive variant and he’d cast at least fifteen in the battle. His mind was exhausted and tired but his body said it wasn’t. It was pumped full of adrenaline, his palms tingly.

He summoned his Character Screen and noticed that his Mana Points were low —too low for his liking.

Character Screen

Name:

Sean Morris

Class:

Blue Mage Level 5 (21 / 80 XP)

Status:

Conqueror

Title(s):

Practitioner of the Arcane Arts, Big Eater, Legend

Health Points:

447 / 450 (+11.6 per minute)

Mana Points:

198 / 920 (+6.9 per minute)

Attributes

Strength: 28 (???)

Intelligence: 77 (92)

Agility: 15 (???)

Perception: 44

Durability: 45 (???)

Endurance: 43

Vitality: 36 (116)

Wisdom: 54 (69)

He couldn’t even cast 7 Pushed Mana Balls now…

Given his rate of regeneration, which had now increased to 6.9 per minute, he could recover to full power in around a hundred minutes —not much of a change from before, quite frankly.

But the question was… did he even have an hour and a half?

He wasn’t covered in blood, but a generous amount of it had managed to make its way onto his clothes, now staining it brown and making him feel sticky. The corpses dotted the ground and the blue smoke from his Explosive Mana Balls had long since settled. There was a good amount of blood on the ground and the corpses often twitched here and there.

But more importantly, he’d leveled up twice from the battle. How XP was calculated wasn’t important to him, but what he knew was that they’d managed to survive the onslaught and they’d grown stronger.

Sean counted them —there were sixteen of them in total, now dead.

“Fuck,” said Max as he held his left arm with the hand from his other arm, the daggers now sheathed. He stumbled toward and collapsed on one of the benches that lined up the walls of the building, laying down on it.

He couldn’t think well. It was as if his mind was getting sluggish.

Then a notification popped up.

System Notification

You have gained the title ‘Monster Slayer’ for defeating a monster native to your world with drastic physical differences. Damage against monsters native to your world increased by 10%.

Reward: +10 Strength, +10 Agility, +10 Vitality

System Notification

You have gotten access to Class Skill ‘Essence Absorption’ by fulfilling condition ‘reach level 5’.

Essence Absorption (Class Skill)

Mages pursue many paths to power and many of them belong to the curious. You are one of the few who practice the absorption of Mana from creatures that have lost their lives via ingestion. It is made far more effective than would be otherwise. By ingesting a vital organ of a creature that has died in the last ten minutes, you are now able to recover 5% of your own Mana Points. This is not considered a Metabiology Skill.

Skill Rank: C-Rank

Skill Type: Auxiliary

Sean had seen this title on his father and on Chris. It was the exact same as his own Giant Slayer title back when he had it. Nothing impressive, just a title like any other. It would be visible to people and he’d gotten a large amount of stats thanks to that. He couldn’t get so many of them even by leveling up. When he did level up, he only got benefits to Intelligence and Wisdom.

The new Skill was a welcome addition to his arsenal and exactly what he needed —a way to recover his Mana.

Sean’s eyes turned to the dead creatures.

It said vital organs but he knew that their hearts wouldn’t work —but what else would?

Then he realized it. He had a tool that could do just that. His Mana Sight would let him see the important organs, or so it said on the label.

Mana Sight (Class Skill)

There aren’t many that seek to make sense of the illogical, but it is but one step of a thousand for any competent Mage that wishes to further their studies to reach the heights of wizardry. You are able to see the very Mana in the air, the Mana Circuits and vital organs of beings as well as the enchantments and spells that have been at play since the dawn of time.

Appraisal Benefit: Mana Points

Skill Rank: C-Rank

Skill Type: Magical

Skill Mastery: 12%

So he activated it.

Sean didn’t wish to waste much time appreciating the wonders of Mana now. He could see them. The Mana within the dead vampires was fading now, leaving their body and the light that coursed through their Mana Circuits growing dimmer by the second. There was a core of sorts, right underneath their left lungs —or at least the area adjacent to that.

“Chris, give me your dagger,” said Sean, holding his hand out with his palm facing upward. He felt something cold placed on his hand and knelt down right next to one of the dead vampires. Then he stabbed it into its body with a wet squelch. But he didn’t see that. His Mana Sight was active and he could only see the lights.

After making a large enough hole, he pulled out something wet from within the guts of the creature. When he felt a headache make itself known, he deactivated his Mana Sight and was met with the grizzly sight of him holding something fist-sized in his hands.

Before they could even question anything, Sean pulled it close to his lips and bit into it. It didn’t tear easily and the cartilage kept it together. So he pulled it away from his closed teeth and the meat was left in his mouth. The texture was what he expected from raw meat and the taste wasn’t the best —but it was necessary.

He tried not to taste it, but if someone asked him what it tasted like, he’d say it tasted like blood.

The moment it hit his stomach, yet another notification appeared.

Skill ‘Essence Absorption’ has been activated!

You have devoured Organ ‘Spleen’ of a living being within one hour of its demise and have recovered ‘5%’ of your Total Mana Points.

He let go of the rest of the spleen, letting it plop down to the ground, and turned around to the others. They were staring at him quietly as if he was doing something wrong.

Right, only he saw his System Notifications.

“It’s my Class,” Sean said awkwardly, “It gives me Mana if I eat it.”

That was true. He’d regain 5% of his Mana, which would take almost ten minutes to recover passively in one fell swoop. He instantly felt his mind lighten up when he did so, the exhaustion caused by a lack of Mana disappearing bit by bit. He even found an intact heart or two.

Then, he got another notification. Three of them.

System Notification

The Race ‘Vampire’ does not have the Skill ‘Passive Regeneration’. Heart Factor will not increase.

System Notification

Your title of ‘Monster Hunter’ has been upgraded to the title ‘Messy Eater’. Bonus damage against monsters native to your world has increased from 10% to 20%. Upon the consumption of a vital organ of a monster native to your world, you recover 10% of Total Health Points.

Reward: +5 Strength, +5 Agility

System Notification

Your title of ‘Big Eater’ has been merged with title ‘Messy Eater’ to create the title ‘Glutton’. Damage against those larger than your race or monsters native to your world is increased by 20%. Upon the consumption of a vital organ of sapient beings larger than your race or monsters native to your world, you recover 10% of HP. This title will integrate all other titles with the classification of ‘Eater’ and will combine their bonuses.

He’d gotten another Eater title and apparently, they merged to become Glutton? Regardless, he also got Health recovery on top of Mana Recovery. And it was for any vital organ, not just the heart, meaning he could essentially… regenerate?

He didn’t understand how Health Points and healing worked, but it couldn’t be bad. He opened his mouth to recommend the others to eat the vital organs of the monsters but he stopped.

Finally, he noticed the bad shape they were in.

Maybe later…

Max was lying on the bench, bleeding from one of his arms. Rex sat quietly, his head facing down, but Sean could almost feel his pain from his erratic breathing. Liz… she had a large scratch across her arm but that didn’t bleed.

Chris looked alright, having done the least amount of direct fighting among the ones that did —he’d joined later after he realized the crossbow was taking too long, which was lying on the ground now. Marie was physically unhurt, as she was slinging spells from the backlines like him, but she was holding her temples with one hand and her eyelids looked swollen.

One thing was for sure, though.

They were in bad shape now and if they had to fight another horde like this, they wouldn’t survive.

It was definitely a bad idea to barge in like morons.

But they were here now, and they had to figure out a way to survive this shit…