Heat. Heat and humidity were all that was awaiting me on the eighth floor. Before my eyes was a vast jungle. I can already feel the heat and my black pseudo dress/armor is not helping at all. I take a few steps, looking at my surroundings when I start to feel chills. It’s a cold that seems to be freezing my nerves and slowing my blood. I start to feel deathly sick and my vision is starting to blur slightly. I start to vomit and dry heave bracing myself on a tree.
“I feel like shit. I need to find shelter.”
I slowly wander off glancing around at the trees. I finally find one that has some vines and handholds I can use to assist me in climbing. I know that since this is a jungle the trees are probably just as dangerous as the ground, but I don’t really have a choice right now. If I were to continue any farther, I would simply collapse, which is what I do once I get to my branch. This mana sickness is worse than usual, did I really push myself that much? I feel myself shivering and I can, in fact, start to see my breath as if I was cold. Then, sleep takes me.
I awake finding myself sitting on a couch in my old apartment. The silence is broken by a burst of loud laughter. Looking at its source I can see Teona doubled over on a recliner holding her sides, tears coming down her face.
“Anything you want to share with the rest of the class?” I ask giving a visibly annoyed look.
*Snrk*
“I’m sorry. But you were just too funny. Never in my life have I seen such misfortune and fortune from one person at the same time.”
“And what is that supposed to mean!?” I say angrily crossing my arms.
“It's just that people are calling you a Demon Lord and you almost became that vampire's plaything only for you to end up killing it in mid feed.”
“That's what you're laughing about? And what's this about being a Demon Lord?”
Finally calming down from her fit of laughter, Teona straightens herself up.
“First things first. People are only calling you the Demon Lord because of that 6th level spell you dropped. It had enough mana in it that it was felt probably everywhere in the world or at least the continent you are on.
“Wait...It had that much power?”
“Yeah, it did. You also might want to work on suppressing your aura as well from now on.”
Damn, I am complicating my life now.
“As for the vampire, she was in the middle of turning you, but you had stopped her and then killed her...sorta.”
“Because of that you only partially turned. That is why you are sick as a dog. Since you did technically kill her you also absorbed the experience from her like you normally would from killed creatures.”
With a look of dread, I stand up. “Wait so I am a vampire now!?”
“Not quite. Before I can explain what happened to you. I need to explain vampires first.”
“Vampires are incapable of creating children much like how humans do. They can only reproduce by turning other living creatures into vampires. Never once has a vampire only partially turned someone, it's just unthinkable to vampires.”
Now I really have a look of shock on my face.
“So, you mean to tell me...I’m the first?”
“Yes, at least in this world. I don’t quite know what you are and neither will the system as it is based on my knowledge. By the way, I’m digging the new look.”
In a panic, I run into the bathroom to look in a mirror. Huh? Odd I can still see myself at least. Looking at myself I still see my long black hair. My eyes are still green...wait, they have a much more emerald green sheen to them. They look quite mesmerizing. I check my teeth are next and I see my canines are a bit sharper but they still look human. Looking at my face I seem to have lost my tan and is now a little paler, but nowhere near what that vampire had.
I walk back into the living room where Teona was waiting.
“So? What do you think?”
“I don’t know what to think...am I a monster now?”
“No, for all intents and purposes I suppose you are still human. Well, a human with vampire qualities.”
“Do I need to like drink blood and stuff now?”
“To be honest I don’t know, but you probably could. Vampires drink blood because it is mana rich and that is what they need to survive. So, you probably could drink blood or you could just siphon mana out of stuff. Also, I have detected you have some new abilities such as regeneration, darkvision and mana sense. You might have more”
“So, I am a monster.”
“Allynna honey, you have been a monster ever since you learned magic. Nothing's changed there. To humans, you are still human and vampires will recognize you as their own. I guess you could be like a sub-race of both humans and vampires. I guess that kinda technically makes you the first vampire with the ability to bear children. There is also a possibility of having an increased life span, but that needs some verification.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Oh goody...yay”. I say with as much enthusiasm as a dying weed.
“You also got the favor of the Moon Goddess. I'll have to have a conversation with her later as well.”
“Anyway, how about we play some games until you wake up and get you out of your slump.” Teona says offering me a controller as she sits down.
“Yeah...I think I would like that.”
I glance over at Teona as she brushes a strand of hair out of her face and smiles. I almost wish she was a normal girl instead of a goddess. We spend our time playing as mortals in epic combat until I wake up.
.
.
.
I woke up several hours later. Trying to get up and steady myself I grab the tree trunk in front of me. With an audible crunching noise, I look up at my hand and find my fingers have dug into the trunk some.
“Holy crap! What?”
I look down at my hand and see no visible injuries. Then looking back at the trunk, I realize I am a lot stronger than I used to be. I feel so nimble too. Like I could dance along the treetops. I start walking along the branch testing my balance and find it is quite exceptional as well. I look down at the ground judging how far of a drop it is.
It looks like I am about 12 meters from the ground. Glancing down I start to pump myself up.
“Alright, you can do this. If you hurt yourself, I can just heal it.”
I then jumped from the branch and fell to the ground...that was all that happened. I landed on my feet while only slightly bending my knees from the impact.
“Holy shit! I am like a damn superhero now!”
I take off in a sprint testing my new body. I can't gauge how fast exactly I am going but I am easily doing at least 60 km/h. I stop once my stomach starts to rumble and I realize I need to eat some food. Deciding to give some of my new found abilities I begin to sneak through the jungle looking for any prey.
As I am trekking along, I notice that if I focus, I can see some things have a blueish glow to them.
“Oh...so this is mana sense. This is what mana looks like...it does look tasty.”
I shake my head and continue on my original goal of finding some food. A few hours in my hunting I finally spot something that piques my interest. Lying atop a boulder is what appears to be a panther of some kind. It had black fur with some dark green patterns running along its body, it also had two tails. Silently, I put away my bow and draw my knife. Since this is to test my physical capabilities, I won't use magic unless I need to. I would also be lying if I said I didn’t want to test my regeneration.
Using my newfound abilities, I scale a nearby tree and move along the branches until I find one above my target. I slowly crawl along the branch with my knife blade in my mouth. Once I am above the panther, I steadily shift my weight so my body is hanging underneath the branch. In position, I carefully release my hands with my legs supporting my weigh and I then hold the knife back in my hand.
Now is the moment of truth. I start focusing on my task waiting for my opportunity. A few minutes go by and I finally attack. Releasing my legs, I drop down and land on the panthers back. With no hesitation, I quickly stab my knife into its neck trying to deal a fatal blow.
In a terrified rage, the creature jumps and starts to run and roll around trying to get its attacker off. With my legs hooked and my arms around its neck, I hang on. The wound on its neck is occasionally splashing me in the face with blood which is increasing my hunger.
[Why does this smell...good? No, I should stop.]
Fighting my urges, I try to pull the knife out and strike again, except the knife comes loose in its thrashing. I am now seeing all that delicious food leaking from its neck. As if in a trance I crane my neck and bite down on the creature. The feeling of the warm liquid was some of the best food I ever had. The panther finally slows down and collapses due to blood loss. In a daze, I continue my meal.
About 20 minutes had passed when I was finally done. The rush of mana was kind of euphoric and I sat there processing what had just happened. I look at my blood-covered hands and Imagine my face is probably in no better shape.
“Ha...I really am a monster now”
After sitting there for a few moments, I decided to finally get up. I store the panther in my inventory and search for my knife. Luckily, I can track it with my minimap. I continue to wander around looking for a body water I could wash myself in. It wasn’t too far, I guess that is why the panther was on that rock.
Putting my clothes in my inventory, I take a dip in the river I found. It does feel really good to just relax especially after a meal.
[I suppose I will just have to get used to my new self.]
With that thought, I brought up my stats.
Information
Name: Allynna Vassedras
Age: 11
Level: 58
Race: Human?
Class: Arcane Curseweaver
---------------------------
Attributes
HP: 2360
MP: 5278
STR: 47
END: 50
AGI: 50
INT: 51
WIS: 40
----------------------------
Skills
Alchemy LVL 6
Arcane Spellweaver LVL 10
Archery LVL 5
Climbing LVL 5
Crafting LVL 8
Language [Arcane] LVL 8
Language [Basic] LVL 3
Mana Absorption LVL 2
Mana Manipulation LVL 3
Mana Sense LVL 3
Mathematics LVL 9
Nature Magic LVL 7
Neutral Magic LVL 8
Darkvision LVL 1
Regeneration LVL 2
Spearmanship LVL 8
Stealth LVL 10
Survival LVL 9
Swordsmanship LVL 8
Throwing LVL 6
-------------------------------
Titles
Arcane Spellweaver
Bane of Monsters
Demon Lord
?????? Origin
Disciple of the Goddess of Misfortune
Disciple of the Moon Goddess
The Most Unfortunate One
----------------------------
Blessings and Curses
Goddess of Misfortune
Moon Goddess
Soul Curse
After seeing my stats, I immediately start choking.
“What the hell is up with these numbers? And my titles...Moon Goddess blessing? Why did I get that? Did I attract another deity? Does this Demon Lord title mean I am evil or a monster now?”
There are too many questions. I close my stats and start rubbing my temples. I don’t actually have a headache but it feels like I should. I get out of the river and start to dismantle the panther. Anything that could possibly be used for any kind of crafting I store in my inventory.
I pull my combat dress/robe out of my inventory and I start to examine it. I have been a girl now for a while but it has never really sunk in. I am already used to being in this body, but if I think about it, I am not used to actually being a girl. Do I need to dress like one once I rejoin society? What is actual life as a girl in society? I never experienced this stuff before.
With all my random thoughts done, I get dressed and store away everything I want to keep. It was getting darker, but my darkvision kicked in and I was able to see everything with ease although I could only see in shades of varying grays, it was still way better than not seeing at all. Actually, seeing in the dark made it less scary.
My life in the jungle continued for twelve days. I have fought some dinosaurs and some merfolk. This floor so far is definitely my favorite. It was like the perfect obstacle course for testing my abilities and the monsters here were fun to fight. One of my favorites were these winged velociraptor-like creatures. I could keep pace with them easily and it was fun picking them off one by one while in a pack. The larger dinosaurs were also fun, I just pretended I was in that one game about those colossuses.
Mermaids were alright, I found that underwater combat was very difficult to do. It was still fun though plus I tanned on the beach...or at least tried to, don’t know if I can tan anymore.
It wasn’t until my thirteenth day I discovered I was being followed and it wasn’t by any monsters. It was something intelligent.