Chapter 135: Vampiric Fears

Excerpt from the book “Basic building” By Strig

Let me tell you the tale of the fool and the house. There once was a fellow, 3 hairs between his head and his knees, barely a man. Leaving his origin in haste, a girl to chase. Thought it fun to build with wood, not a stone to spare. If only he had known, the land he chose was the roost of a beast; House complete, happy as could be, all for it to burn down. Down it swooped, lizard of crimson, it burned his home to the ground.

The lesson to be learned? We live in a dangerous world with firebreathing lizards, explosive abominations, and the occasional rage-addeld cow. Use wood sparingly, smartly. It is the cheapest resource for a reason, it is the simplest to destroy. I always advise stone to be the bones; wood the skin. It might light easily, but it won’t burn down.

I did attempt to draw on that crimson power. It didn’t go well, causing me to feel sick and crave blood. With my poor energy control, touching that energy is a bad idea.

While being a vampire, it is a good time for Cassie to level. Sending her an ender letter in hopes she is awake. It may very well take a little while to reply, so I check my mailbox.

At one point, I recall having gotten a letter from the winner of the parkour. Spending a short moment searching for it, I can’t find it. “Crap, what was it.” Wracking my head for any memory of it. Eventually, I had to give in.

Checking my actual mail, Jengal sent an invite for a holiday trip to the capital; it’s in 3 days. Interesting, I would love to visit the capital.

It is definitely something I’ve put off for far too long. Something always seemed more pressing; this is a good time for a holiday.

The only major thing I need to do is keep an eye on the Elves. A self-appointed job, but alas, I must keep an eye on people I brought to a foreign dimension. It is unlikely that they will intentionally harm such a closely related dimension, but it is better safe than sorry. Well, I can always teleport back and forth.

The second letter is from Average, my only other close contact.

Aeternum, I would like to request you attend a small ceremony tomorrow. It is a silly thing, but your attendance is of great importance. It is the official ceremony for releasing the recipes to the general public. As the discoverer of said recipes, you can imagine we would ideally prefer you there.

It takes place at the 14th bell, on the podium at the market. You can’t miss it.

P.S You may have to speak in front of a crowd, be prepared.

“Really knows how to be a pain,” I say, shaking my head. I should get out of the wilderness, the warmth of home calls to me. Grasping my dislocator and disappearing home.

I am welcomed by my jiggly companion, “hi Sling, how are you?”

Jiggling in response, they jump into my arms. Still don’t know if they are domesticated or just stupid. Either way, the gelatinous companion is appreciated. Walking into my living room, I leave my ender mailbox open. Patiently waiting for a reply while reading a book.

With an eerie whoosh, I look over and see the letter. Opening it, Cassie will be here in 10 minutes, within her vampiric body. “Okay, good start.”

And just on time, she appears. “Cassie, hey.” Standing up and approaching. As I get closer, she seems nervous; sweat pooling on her forehead.

Stopping in my place… “Cassie… You okay?”

“I am fine.”

“You look like a ghost, not a vampire. What is wrong?”

“I am just nervous, alright!”

“Is this about what happened when you were turned?”

“Yeah, obviously.” She says dismissively.

“You need to learn how to use the body, it is okay.” Slowly I approach her. She looks at me with an angry glare, but she doesn’t stop me as I pull her into a hug.

She murmurs, “do we really have to do this? This body scares me.”

“Hey, who else got the offer of immortality without giving up food,” I say with a raised eyebrow.

She just sighs. “Okay, what do we do?”

“Well, to level up, you need to drink exactly half the blood from 5 people. But first, I think we should walk through some crowds.”

“Okay.” She says fist clenched slightly.

Taking her into town, we begin to walk through crowds of people. Intentionally finding denser and denser groups of people. Holding her hand and feeling how her muscles clench every time some walks passed. During the moments between groups, I speak. “It is okay, I am here. You won’t harm anyone while I am around; just focus on keeping control.”

“It is hard; they all smell good.”

“I know, sweety.”

After some time, I bring her to an alley. “Okay, you will get to thirst unless we get you some food. Are you ready for your first meal?”

“Is there no other sources of food?”

“Large animals work, but it is like drinking sewage.” Handing her a bag of silver. “Slip a silver inside their pockets after you feed.

Slowly we walk towards the residential district. I guide her towards a home with a single person, a middle-aged woman who sleeps like a rock. Slipping inside and approaching her room.

“Focus, exactly half.”

She nods, biting her gums until they bleed.

Slowly approaching the woman, Cassie stands by her side. Brining her fangs to the person's neck, she hesitates before bitting. Trembling just above, like a broken guillotine.

Approaching, I place my hand on her back. “You can do it.”

She plunges her fangs inside. It is my task to watch how much she drinks. She approaches half rapidly, lightly tugging on her back to indicate she should stop. With great difficulty, she pulls away. She breaths deeply as bloody saliva slowly drips from her mouth. Turning away, she quickly walks to the door. Having left a mess, I slip 2 silvers under her pillow.

Catching up to Cassie, “well done.”

“Tha… Thank you; It scares me how good blood tastes.”

“You get used to it. You don’t have to be a vampire often.”

Nodding, “It will take a while.” A smile breaks through her anxiety, bringing some life back to her.

“We should go for more, but are you okay to continue?” I ask her.

“I think so.” She nods weakly.

We find the next person, repeating the process. Each time a little easier for her. Upon the 5th, I stop her before she bites.

“After this, you will power up. You will feel the thirst strike you like a bomb. You need to be prepared and hold back with everything you have.”

She nods confidently, bitting into the young man before us. Keeping a close eye, I watch as she crosses that bridge. Her face twists in pain as she struggles to pull away. Taking a little longer than she should of, but she manages to let go. She looks awful, pain evident on her face.

Quickly, we go to an alley for her to breathe. “So… Thirsty.” She says. Mesmerizing a guard, I bring him to her. This fixed her thirst, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Are we done?”

“Yeah.”

“Finally.”

Heading home, she crumples onto the sofa.

“Sorry about that; we can’t have you running around without being able to control that vampiric body.”

“I understand the why, but you are still in my bad books. That sucked a lot, and I now feel like shit.”

“Will a date make it up to you?” I ask and hope and the same time.

“It’s a start.”

“How about two, first one right now. And in three days, I am heading to the capital. When I am there, I will bring you, and we can have a date.”

“Okay.”

I then quickly drag her back out. “Midnight visit to carnival island, followed by a moonlight walk along the beach.”

Quickly reaching the island, we head towards the carnival area. It is a little quieter here at night than during the day.

“Let's play shoot the bottle.”

“How do you play?” She asks.

“Aim the cork gun and attempt to knock the bottles over for prizes.”

Without further explanation, she takes a gun and instantly knocks a stack of bottles down. I attempt the same feat, failing horribly. Cassie walks away with a fluffy teddy bear.

“How did you do that?”

“What? I shot it.”

“Okay, next, basketball throw.”

Taking turns to toss the ball, we came out about equal. “You are really good at these games, Cassie.”

“Thanks.” She says with a smile.

We spent a good while playing through the different games, just enjoying the activities. I never came here expecting to win, but to my surprise, we left with quite a few prizes.

Sat on a bench, we would be eating some greasy market food if we weren’t in our vampiric forms.

“Do you think I made a mistake bringing the elves here?” I ask, leaning back.

“Maybe. But, you would have regretted it if you didn’t help. Given you are immortal, regret would cause you more harm than others.”

“I see, thank you.”

“I do hope they don’t do some serious damage.”

“If they do, as much as I don’t wish to, I will deal with it.”

“Good.”

Quietly I speak, leaning forward and looking at Cassie. “I am sorry you know, about upsetting you.”

“I got a lot from you. It was unreasonable for me to be so dramatic. It was just upsetting. Taking blood like thieves, hurting people; it just scares me.”

“That is why I always try and repay them with money. When you have reached your peak, we can turn to an animal-based diet if you wish.”

“Don’t they taste horrible?”

“If you wanted us to, I would do it.” But I sure as hell would look for the best-tasting animals on the planet.

“Thanks, Aeternum.”

“Race you to the exit,” I say while a smile, quickly getting up.

“You're on.”

I didn’t use any bonuses, just stamina. I won, but not easily.

“No fair.”

“Sorry, I am just faster,” I say as she pouts in defeat.

Walking through the door, waving the gate guards goodbye as we leave.

Having enjoyed our time, we head home. Slipping out of the instinct-riddled shells we call vampires and returning to a more human form. Having not eaten any carnival food, we were craving something fatty. With that in mind, I prepare some greasy meat shishkabobs, split with tomatoes. Lightly roasted over a fire, the fatty meat drips with oil. Seasoned with salt and pepper before we devour them.

I nearly ate the wooden skewer, they were that nice. “Definetly a good end to the date, wouldn’t you agree Cassie.” As she licks the remains of her skewer.

“Wait, the date is ending here, how boring.” She sighs.

I just smile a toothy grin at her.

The next morning, I wake bright and early. With a beaming smile on my face; I head towards the kitchen. Cassie quickly follows, groggy with messy hair. “Good morning, sleeping beauty.”

“Uh hu.” She says, rolling her eyes.

“And here I was thinking that saying would fly over your head.”

“Snow White?” She says, shocking me.

“Yeah…” Head spinning with ideas as to why the story exists here too. Coming up with nothing, I use my trump card. “Blame Felix.” Which got a bewildered look from Cassie.

“Don’t look at me like that, come and get some eggy bread.”

With food on the mind, she sits down without complaint. I serve her 3 slices drizzled in a diluted syrup. I should get some maple sap when I get a chance. The season for harvesting is coming up, and bees, I still need bees.