I feel like my body is fading, falling apart into dust that is sucked up by a swirling vortex of mad colours and impossible shapes. I´m being pulled through a jagged tunnel of light. Time is stretching into a blur, oddly fluid losing all meaning. I´m inside the night sky. Stars are falling all around me, like vertigo inducing raindrops spiralling into the void. My body is rearranging, reshuffling, stretched into impossible positions.
Everything snaps back into place and I find myself standing in a musty cave. I feel at home, in the comfortable embrace of the penumbra, only illuminated by the soft glow of some strange bioluminescent moss.
I take a deep breath, tasting the air. There are living beings here, somewhere. My hunger stirs, possible prey.
Something blurs in the corner of my vision. I feel a hard impact, a piercing stab and I´m suddenly flying towards the walls. Old reflexes kick in and I turn in the air like a cat to absorb the shock on bendable joints. Even so I can hear something crack on impact once I reach the hard stone. I stumble to the ground in a heap of limbs.
Some kind of small green man armed with a rusty sword looks at me with wide open eyes, like not believing I´m still alive.
*Goblin scout, level ???*
Pesky windows, not now, go away.
There is prey right before me. A wilful offering. I can smell the blood, rich and intoxicating. Swollen veins waiting to burst. I squat down, ready to pounce. But the green man blurs again, and his sword carves a deep line into my belly, nearly disembowelling me. I take a step back ignoring the throbbing pain, dodging a clumsy follow up strike.
I dodge another strike, surprised and alarmed. How can this little man be so fast? That shouldn´t be possible. He is faster than me, faster than any of my fallen companions. I take another step back, reassessing. Trying to clear my head, to reign in the madness. I need to focus. Observe, find the weakness, wait for the moment, strike.
Well, he may be faster and stronger than he should be, but his technique is that of a toddler. He waves and whirls his ice picker around like a stick, hoping to hit something with the pointy end. Almost like he has never seen a sword before, always overextending, leaving himself wide open to a counterstrike, if I had a weapon and was fast enough. I´m suddenly very aware that I lack everything, even clothes. I have only my fangs and half broken claws to defend myself.
He blurs again and I sidestep, the point of his short sword just barely nicks my arm this time. I smile. Maybe I´m the predator after all. I can see his muscles tensing, preparing to rush me again. This time I step even before he has started to move. Anticipating his telegraphed strike. We start to run and dodge around the cave in a lethal dance, like dog and cat. He is still way faster than me, but his hit’s barely scratch me anymore. I am growing tired, though, and the bloodlust numbs my senses. I need to end this before I lose control. The green man blurs at me again, annoyed and enraged from missing this much. He jumps leaving the ground to try to stab me in the throat. I duck down to dodge the strike, softly catch him out of the air and embrace him from behind, baring his jugular with the soft caressing touch of a lover. He is so light, almost like a child. His rusty iron chimes and rumbles against the ground. He flails his arms around and tries to kick my shins, desperate to shake me of, but he lacks leverage, his feet don´t even reach the ground. I bite down and he screams. I moan in pleasure.
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What is this? So thick and tangy, intoxicating. I´ve never tasted any blood that tasted this good. He keeps screaming, his strength slowly fading. I release the hold of my bite to lick up the flighty vital elixir starting to spill down his arm. I tear, deeper and deeper, ripping at his throat. He screams. He screams and I scream with him, laughing like a maniac until his voice gurgles out.
*Agility +1
You have received the skill Dodge.
…
Dodge has reached level 9.
You have received the skill Unarmed fighting.
Prior knowledge detected.
Unarmed fighting assessed at level 47.
Your bloodstarved state has lessened.
You have received 5768 exp.
Special bloodline detected.
Would you like to use the received experience to increase your level or to further refine your bloodline? *
What is this? Another of those pesky windows that refuse to go away. It wants me to choose again. Will it leave me in peace if I do?
*Would you like to cease receiving all non-essential notifications*
Yes?
*Non-essential notifications disabled.
Please choose between increasing your level or refining your bloodline. *
Why is it still there if it is disabled? Well, whatever, bloodline, I guess. Blood is life, blood is nourishing.
*You have chosen to divert your incoming experience to refine your bloodline. Current progress, 0,307%.
Bloodline of the Ancient Vampire (A): When you completely drain your victim, you have a 40% chance to absorb a very small portion of its highest attribute. *
Finally, the window closes.
I can hear steps closing in from somewhere, echoing around the tunnels that reach the cave I´m in. Rushing in search of the source of the noise, the disturbance, the monster in their midst. I watch around a corner, down a steep incline, into another maze-like cave of shimmering polished columns and dripping stalactites. A horde of little green man swarming towards me like disturbed ants.
*Goblin scout, level ???
…
Goblin skirmisher, level ???
…
Goblin pebble thrower, level ???
…
Goblin warrior, level ???
…
Goblin clubber, level ???
…
Goblin hammerer, level ???
…
Goblin rogue, level ???
… *
My bloodlust spikes, yearning for more. Nearly overwhelming me. But I reign it in. If there is something I learned in my millennia of imprisonment it is patience. I need to be a cunning fox, not a valiant but stupid lion. The shadows are my friends. There is all the time in the world. Haste is death, slow is fast. I pick up the bend and rusty long knife, the dead green man called sword and slide in the opposite direction of all the noise.