Heavily breathing with wide, trembling eyes, Ren, and in extension Luck were both frantically running through the dark depressing forest. The noises of howling beasts filled their ears from every direction sounded more like hungry demons, Ren tripping and hurting as he traversed the dangerous, spiky terrain of the somehow dark forest that seemed to have glowing eyes looking at him from every direction.

Yet, in his already injured, frantic and chaotic state, that was the absolute last thing in his mind as there was something far more scarring and pertinent engulfing his entire focus.

That was when he heard the first voice in seemingly forever enter his ears, that of a little boy.

"Lord Alucard! Come here!"

It took him a second to remember who that voice belonged to before the answer struck him immediately in the head as he followed Luck in a deep, dark cave away from the outside forest.

There… For the first time in a long time, Ren sat down leaning back on a rock, blankly looking out into the sky outside the cave with half-dead eyes and began to think, finally properly taking everything that had happened to him that day...

Yet, the only thing on his mind was that staring contest he did with that woman… They were eyes that no doubt would be forever branded into his mind. It was by far the hardest, most painful thing he had ever done in his whole life. Nothing even came close… That was the moment that pushed him over the edge...

Not waking up in a dungeon half dead and naked with every bone broken… Not being tortured by holy light in an interrogation, not seeing thousands of innocent villagers being mercilessly slaughtered… Nothing… Absolutely nothing…

However, when he thought about if it was more impactful than his father's death, he was not able to allow himself to say it.

Her gaze… It was like staring into an endless void filled with nothing but grief, death, and despair… That girl… He had no idea how she was living with such pain and demons residing in her soul. She was a survivor from birth… That was what it took to survive in this new world… And even if he only succeeded to match her gaze for a few seconds, he still managed to do it in the end…

It was an incredible, self-validating experience. If he had failed, he was not sure how he could even live with himself, and simply accept himself as a weak, cowardly boy who would go nowhere in life.

He could not help but softly smile, unsure how he was even alive but right now he did not care. He had been considering things for a long time now, and he had come to many conclusions.

*Grrrr…*

That was when another sound entered his ears, something other than his own panting and the howling beasts of the outside woods.

It was the sound of his own stomach.

Ren was a vampire. So by nature, he did not require any nutrients other than blood. Yet, even still, there he felt hungry for some odd reason despite knowing he did not need it.

It must have been his human nature and instinct he had yet to shake off— which must also explain why he was reliant on breathing as well.

His mental turmoil was so great that he only just noticed that he was on the verge of dying… He could not take it anymore… He needed food… He needed… Blood.

Slowly, standing, his nose picked up on something deeper into the cave…

"My lord? Where are you going?" He heard the silhouette of a serious yet still shaky voice enter his ears. But, it was completely filtered out like everything else in his hazy mind.

There, as he walked further and further into the cave, his dark vision flickering in every now and then, he forced and pushed his body forward.

That was when he picked up on the sound of snoring which made him know he was going the right way. And, not too long after, following his nose and his ears, he came across a sleeping figure of a baby bear, the flickering of his dark vision revealing its lime green colour and what seemed to be a smile on his face.

Ren had always appreciated animals and the very few that did survive back in his world. Yet, now, in the face of his own survival, that admiration was no more. In front of him, the baby bear looked like nothing but a steak… A juicy… Blood-filled steak…

Slowly ducking down with his piercing red gaze, he went to go biting at its neck, only for his eyes to suddenly turn soft contemplating what he was about to do. However, that was when in that instant, he shook those thoughts away and the pure look of a predator returned to his eyes.

'survive… I must SURVIVE!' He mumbled to himself in his subconscious as he bit into the bear's neck, making him struggle and let out a piercing, pain-filled cry.

*ARRRGGGRGRGR*

Yet, even through the struggle, Ren did not falter nor bat an eye as the sweet, less than delicious blood began entering and filling his system. It did not taste even half as good as that of humans, if anything, it felt almost disgusting, yet it was more than enough to do its job to refuel his body.

The more he sucked and bit, the more and more the baby bear's screaming and squirming that echoed throughout the entire cave began to quiet down, and, the more rejuvenated he felt and the more and more his dark vision began to return to him, making the previously dark cave clear once more.

[+5 XP]

That was when at one point, he had stopped gaining energy and the bear stopped screaming… Ren removed his bloody fangs from the baby bear's neck and simply looked at its shrivelled, bloodless corpse like it was simply meat, his stomach still growling…

He had tasted the bear's flesh as he bit into it and it was still less than pleasant… His pallet had yet to adjust to raw meat so he needed to cook it up.

With cold, distant eyes he picked up his dead prey and looked back towards the entrance of the cave.

If someone had told him a few days ago this is where he would be at: as a wildly hated race, fighting for survival in the wilderness after running into unquestionable pain and death over and over again, forced to eat and drink human blood and kill baby animals to survive, he would have simply laughed it off as a sick joke as the situation seemed too unreal. He would have never imagined himself doing anything like that.

But now, this sick, cruel joke was no joke at all, but his new reality...

If this was what it took to survive, then so be it… If he had to throw away some of his humanity, then so be it… He was not even human anymore after all… He needed to throw away what he deemed as useless and could only hinder him and leave the important.

Alucard… That was only a cool name he had wanted to call himself yet never saw himself as in reality…

From today onwards… He was Ren yet Ren no longer… The Ignorant Ren should have died as soon as he entered his new life… He never had anyone holding his hands his entire life... Like he always did, he needed to evolve and adapt to his new reality.

So...

Alucard...

Yes... From today forward, he will be… Alucard…