This was on a Thursday evening, five days after the incident with the vampire nest. I was training with Alexei when a wizard barged into the training hall.

"Sir Alexei, this is an emergency report. The nest that had been attacked by you on Saturday has started kidnapping people once again. The Director asks for immediate extermination of this nest by any and all mages available."

That nest again? Alexei seemed to ponder upon it, then replied, "I shall move out immediately. Send word to Natasha to have the report ready at the Mages room." The wizard nodded and made haste to Natasha, as he was ordered. Natasha herself did not go on extermination quests often, as she was more of a scout than attacker.

Alexei turned to me and asked, "Will you join us too?" Last time I was nearly overwhelmed, and I wouldn't have been able to escape if I didn't pull off that overpowered spell. However, this time I assumed that since the nest is fresh, there wouldn't be too many goonies. With that in mind, I decided to go ahead and help Alexei.

For some reason, I wasn't hesitant to kill monsters anymore. Probably after figuring out that in a battle, it was kill or be killed. The only thing human about monsters was their appearance.

Having convinced myself that, I went back to my temporary dorm to prepare anything I would need.

After 15 minutes, we convened at the Mages room. Natasha had a few pages in her hands, and she was reading their contents out to Alexei, who was sitting there with a serious face.

The reports said that there weren't really many vampires in the nest, however the few vampires that were present seemed to be physically fit. These were likely kidnapped people who were transformed into vampires after the two escapees from last time set up base.

Alexei said, "They probably sought out stronger people so that they wouldn't end up recklessly slaughtered by the same spell that you cast last time." The reports also stated that these 'elite' vampires were seen kidnapping people too.

"Weren't they human just a while ago?" I asked the gathered. I mean, could they really just slaughter and kidnap people so unhesitatingly when they knew that these were likely their friends or acquaintances?

"They have no semblance of humanity left in them," Alexei said. "Their memories of their past lives had been erased when they became monsters. Now they are nothing but loyal dogs of the vampire boss. If you think you can save them, you cannot. There is no way to reverse this transformation, even with magic."

Alexei not only answered my question, but addressed the thoughts I would very likely have while fighting them. 'If that's the case, then I should stop them before they cause harm to any more people,' I thought. Thinking of them as former humans would only make me hesitate during the battle.

Alexei then stood up and started pacing around the room, deep in thought. He was likely thinking of ways to attack this nest and save whoever we could. Last time, we had a few days to scout, and then to consider how we were to act. This time we only had eyewitness reports on what the inside looked like from outside. We had no idea what their numbers were. We were going in pretty much blind.

Alexei turned to me and asked, "Can you cast that spell you cast last time again?" I shook my head and said, "I doubt. I'm not sure I can replicate what I felt when I cast it."

I was told a little bit about the spell I had cast, Exterminate. It was a mage-level spell that would exploit an enemy's weakness to deliver a lethal blow. In my case, I was facing a vampire, so the spell took the form of an extremely bright light. It just so happened that since there were other vampires there, the effect spread to them. Unlike the name suggested, it didn't exterminate a group; it exterminated your enemy as if it were a pest.

Naturally, it wouldn't always work against a strong monster or mage, as evidenced by the boss who still lived to tell the tale after taking the brunt of this spell. This was probably what was concerning Alexei too - if he wouldn't go down after a mage-level spell, then what exactly is one to do to defeat him?

Just as I finally understood what Alexei had been thinking about this whole while, his face lit up, as if he had an epiphany. I wondered what plan he had come up with, to make him so excited.

He turned to me, with a big wide smile on his face, placed his hands on my shoulders and said, "Roma, I will leave the aide to you."

'Excuse me?!' I was nearly about to shriek, but regained my composure and phrased my surprise in a better way - "What the fuck?"

Hey, my words were justified, okay? There was me who only got into this magic business just over a week before, and now I was to kill the only person my first mage-level spell didn't affect? Exactly what "magical prodigy" did he take me for?

Besides, this was supposed to be something that I could watch from the sidelines if I wanted to. Sure, that wasn't practical in a battlefield, but to leave the queen piece to a mere rookie!

Alexei didn't want to hear any of my opposition. He shut me up with a, "If you could pull it off once, you can do it again," and set me off to prepare (even though I already did). Exactly what did I do once, and what am I to do again?

Maybe I could try using Exterminate on the aide too. However, if she really was a human, and the spell took effect in an area, I would probably die too. I needed to think of some other way.

However, no matter how hard I thought, I couldn't think of a suitable means. I hadn't learned much magic, and I had just been practicing basic attack and defense spells. Nothing that would land an attack on a relatively powerful magic user.

You would wonder why I was thinking so heavily about this when I was resistant to attacks in the first place. Unfortunately, this ability of mine had some pretty disappointing limits. With the practice sessions I'd been having with Alexei, we figured a few things out about this mysterious ability.

First, it wasn't all-powerful. It could only really block spells upto moderate wizard-level. Any above that and the spells would start hurting me. I learned that painfully when a complicated wind spell nearly broke my ribs.

Second, it ran out of juice after some time. It seemed to have some sort of stamina of its own; the more attacks it absorbed, the less powerful it became.

This meant that in battle, if I did not defeat my opponent quickly, I would start to take damage even from the simplest spells unless I defended against them.

I went down memory lane to recall some of the first spells cast against me. I recalled the first Amnesia that I was hit with. I recalled the Teleports that knocked me out at first. And then I recalled a spell that at the time, seemed insignificant in comparison to everything else. And then I came up with an idea.

Just to confirm, I ran down my suggestion by the mages. They giggled, but gave me the thumbs up.

I had come up with a plan to kill the mage.

---

My memories begin with waking up at the feet of my master. He had asked me to fetch him worthy pray, and I immediately complied. I instinctively knew, for some reason, that I was at the mercy of this man. Nothing good would come of opposing him.

I was inexperienced as a vampire, and I found it difficult to find a victim at first. The world around me was new, but felt familiar. The language I spoke, I did not remember learning.

While hunting, I had come across a street with lots of people on it. Most were men, wearing tattered clothes, quite unlike what I saw on my boss or on myself. In the group, I had noticed a few burly men deep in the jungle of brats. As soon as my eyes lay upon them, I knew they were worthy pray.

I approached them from behind, trying to be as quiet as possible. However, I was not good at being sneaky, as I was discovered while still a far distance away from them.

The brats encircled me and looked at me with filthy eyes. The burly men I had noticed earlier approached from behind their group of bandits. "What's a hottie like her doing down 'ere?" I hissed at them, and they approached me, trying to restrain me.

And restrain me they did - I ended up pinned down on the ground due to the sheer strength of the men. However, a voice spoke inside my head, and told me to say a sentence aloud. I felt the sensation of a stick form in my hands, and I spoke the words.

I did not know how it happened, but there arose a deafening explosion in the distance, causing all the men to reach for their ears. I used that moment of confusion to instead pin down one burly guy, and bit into his neck. He shivered for a moment, then awoke to look at me with eyes of complete submission.

I told him to capture the strongest man present and bring him with me, and the newly turned vampire obliged, without any regards to those who were once his companions.

Ever since that day, I had a voice in my head that occasionally told me what to say. On many occasions, it provided me with a distraction to make a move; on others, it directly affected an enemy. Each time, however, I was left feeling drained of energy, as if the strange lines took my energy as a toll.

One day, I had just returned from a mission to fetch someone to feed on. Our pack had grown to ten, full of strong people who could likely break a wall with naught but a punch.

We were in the middle of feeding, when we heard from one of the men standing as guard, "Intruders!" Shortly after, I heard the sound of people collapsing. Hushed footsteps followed. Although the footsteps seemed to try and make their presence dull, it felt half-hearted. Either the enemy was a weak fool, or one who was so confident in his abilities that he felt no need to mask his presence.

The enemy walked into the room. I noticed that there were not one, but two enemies now standing, facing our pack. I also recognized the clothes they were wearing - I seemed to know them as robes. Something told me that a long time ago, it was people in robes who sheltered me, who lectured me, who helped me. I thought that we had gained ourselves allies, and all that was left was to bow their heads to the boss to be granted a bond of eternal servitude.

Yet the men I placed my hopes in reconciling with raised sticks in unison. They spoke words, and a bright light took form on the ceiling of the room. The light was too bright for my eyes, and I would have been blinded, had I not worn dark glasses to protect my eyes. Unfortunately, only me and my boss had them - the rest of our pack was on the ground, writhing, with blood escaping from their eyes.

I wondered why they had attacked our pack. Were they not here to protect me and support me, like they did all those years ago? Why did I find myself on the receiving end of their assaults?

I was, however, not granted enough time for contemplation.

One of the men charged towards our boss, stick in hand. He seemed to be in the midst of chanting another set of destruction. I moved to save my boss, but the other man caught my attention with a ball of flame to prevent me from being at my master's side. He seemed to tell me, 'I shall not allow you to disturb my ally.'

I decided to cripple him first, and then rush to my master's aid. The voice in my head spoke again, and the stick appeared in my palm. I launched a storm of fire at the man, hoping that it would destroy him.

I was about to turn away when he emerged from amidst the flames, missing his robes, or in fact any semblance of clothes. 'So that is what a male's anatomy looks like,' some part of me thought. It seemed that my storm had burned away all his clothes, but had not even charred his hair.

It also seemed like the man did not realize it initially, as he then hastily covered his nether regions with his left hand.

However, that moment's distraction was enough for me to pounce. I had done this many times already; cause a distraction with the words that appeared in my head, then bite while the enemy was dealing with consequences. This was prey that walked into the lair of its predator.

And yet it seemed that the man knew that this was to happen, jumping out of my way while I was in the middle of the air. I went tumbling into the wall behind him, amid the sea of flames. However, as if to protect me, the voice told me of another sentence to speak, and the flames ceased before I could end up in the same situation as the man before me.

The man looked at me and asked, "Are you human?" That was a question I had least expected. Of course I was not - I was one who hunted humans, a vampire. Asking me such an obvious question was probably a sign of stupidity. And yet he looked at me with eyes of pity, as if he were hoping to hear some kind of answer. It made me hesitant for some reason, but I replied, "I am a vampire, in blood and soul."

It seemed I had given him the answer he did not want to hear. His eyes turned instantly from that of pity to of malice. A person who you could call a mere boy had instantly turned into a fearful creature full of killing intent.

As if to throw me a last chance at redemption, he asked me, "How many have you killed?" I replied, "I have converted eight, and killed twenty three." The pack of brats who I stumbled into on my first day of life contributed largely to that number.

His eyes grew even more full of malice, as if sealing my fate as his enemy. Was I doomed to remain on the other side of these robed friends? It seemed that a wiser choice was to fight for my life than to depend on hazy memories of a past that was not mine.

I made ready to pounce for the man, however he spoke words. This time, it was different. He spoke so quickly that I could only pick out bits and pieces from them. Had I mastered speaking so quickly, I was sure hunting prey would become a lot easier. However, this was not the time to daydream about the future.

The man finished his sentence, and I lost control of my body. I dropped limp, unable to speak. The stick in my palm appeared, the voice in my head started speaking, but I could not say anything.

The voice grew faster and faster, as if it were panicking. However, at the same time, the man started speaking too, this time at an understandable pace.

"「Hear me, O Spirits of the World,」" he said. The voice in my head froze for a second, then started speaking even faster, clearly at the verge of despair. Those emotions rubbed off on me too - I instinctively realized that this was a preface to destruction so large it would bring an end to our pack all at once.

"「The one before me has committed an unforgivable sin, and he deserves to be punished.」" The voice in my head at this point in time was speaking so fast that it sounded more like noise than speech. And yet, the man persisted in his own speaking. Something told me that this was not my first time hearing these words.

"「The time of judgement is now. Bring upon him your wrath, and let him regret his sins for all eternity.」" The voice grew octaves higher in pitch, and I felt like I was able to mumble something. A ball of fire emerged from my wand, yet it was aimed so terribly that he was able to dodge it in the midst of his own chanting, without even stopping for a breath.

"「Execute him once and for all, as his status in this World is naught more but a pest feeding on the World's everlasting love.」" At this phrase, the voice in my head abruptly stopped. Either it had grown so far in pitch that I could not hear it, or it had simply given up on saving me from my inevitable death.

The eye's of the man shone with rage, as if I had committed a crime so unforgivable that the only price I could pay was with my life. I realized then, that I was killing his own people. I was enraged seeing my kin fall; maybe I had once hurt his own kin without realizing?

"「May not even God show you mercy. Exterminate!」" he yelled, while pointing his stick at me.

A light erupted from the tip of his stick.

A light so bright that it robbed me of my sight in an instant.

I was unable to protect my boss after all. And yet I wondered, was there any meaning to my servitude? These robed men had protected me once, in a life before this one. My master had done nothing but send me to hunt, as if I were his dog.

With the light so bright that it began to pierce my head, I contemplated, 'Maybe I could have had a different end if I had asked these men to save me like they did before.'

Not until my end did I remember who I was before, and why I became who I was now.

But it was all too late as by the next moment, without much of a life to flash by my eyes, I ceased.

---

I had miraculously cast the same spell that I had cast before, and at my feet lay one dead aide.

It seemed that my suspicions were wrong - when I had asked her if she was a human, she said that she was not, and worse, she seemed to have killed a lot of people too. I steeled my resolve then and there, and the words to the spell appeared in my head.

Unfortunately, mage-level spells being what they are, I collapsed a mere two seconds after confirming that the aide was dead.

I woke up in my dorm room in the University to a sleeping Natasha once more. I vaguely remembered that the flames that had not affected me in the battle left me stark naked, and I pondered on who was the one responsible for the night pajamas now on me.

It would have been great if it were Natasha but... the pajamas were a little too big for me, so it was probably Alexei's. What a shame.

Without an alarm to wake her up, Natasha remained asleep on the lone chair in the room. I only had to call her once to wake her up, though.

"Oh hey... good morning..." she said drowsily. "Good morning," I replied. "Hold on, isn't it noon already?" I said after looking at my phone. "Ah, my bad," she giggled. Cute as always.

We went to the Mages room to talk to the others. Alexei was in the room, and he looked much more energetic than me, even though he too had quite the fight last night.

"Hey, Roma," he waved at me. "Thought you said you didn't know how to cast Exterminate, huh?" I nervously laughed. I did tell him that I had no idea how to cast it, after all.

"By the way, where's Lena?" I asked. "No clue, she's been off on some business she doesn't wanna talk about," said Alexei. I left it at that, to not prod any further.

"Are the vampires all exterminated, at least?" I asked. I hoped that we wouldn't have to go on yet another fight against the same nest. "Yep, they're all dead," Alexei answered. "What about the people?" I asked. "Whoever we could save, we did. They converted most of the people they caught so we had to kill them."

That was sad to hear. Though from what I was told, there was no way to convert them back, and monsters couldn't exactly live among people. It was for the greater good.

With that, my (second) extermination mission was complete.