The night breeze drifted through Aldrin’s curly brown hair as he jumped rooftop to rooftop. The magical fumes rising from the vents from the Alchemist below, brewing their potions obscured his jumping form. Following the tug of whatever called out to him, he stopped, watching as another duo of level 45 High Guards patrolled the empty streets below. When they turned the corner, he waited until the light from their lantern faded. He had been at this game of hide and seek after waiting for the people to turn in for the night. It was an ominous feeling to see a city so vibrant during the day become a ghost city after a certain time of night. Still, learning new things about his Race, he found he made no noise when he landed on the flat rooftops of the factories.

Ignoring the hissing from other vents dotted along the top of the buildings, he hurried along, getting a running start and leaping across another gap. The tug in his chest grew as he came upon a walled off area of the city with a gated entrance manned by two High Guards. Beyond the gate, from what Aldrin could see, lined the Research District. The pull was the strongest there he felt when he looked for a way in.

His hearing picked up something being dragged on the cobbled road further away headed for the gated entrance. Aldrin waited and soon he met with what made the noise to begin with. A group of five heavily armed and armored men each dragged someone in chains. The captives wore silky black sacks covering their heads, but judging from their clothing, they were a mix of rich and poor.

With his eyesight enhanced beyond human limitations, he saw that each of them held an insignia depicting a clawed black hand somewhere on them. Still taking advantage of his eyesight, he used Inspect.

Name: Unknown

Race: Human

Class: Slaver (Tier 3)

Level: 38

Grimacing, Aldrin watched them walk up to the entrance. “Got another shipment. They should be expecting us,” A Slaver said, rattling the chains of his captive.

One of their captives tried to break free, one of the nicely dressed ones to be exact, but was met with a brutal punch to the head, knocking the captive senseless. Now held and carried on the shoulder of their captor, their resistance stopped altogether. The Slaver promptly returned to the stare down with one of the High Guards who starred with equal contempt.

Letting the tension build a little longer, one of the High Guards took out a small silver marble and concentrated on it. Aldrin guessed 10 minutes had gone by and during that time another of the captives fought back and tried to escape. Their resistance was short-lived when they held him down while one Slaver cleanly chopped off his hand. During that entire ordeal, Aldrin came to the conclusion that the silky black sacks over their heads were enchanted to keep them silent no matter what.

The sight of the blood from the severed hand made Aldrin grip the edge of the roof tightly as he tried to control himself. Thankfully, the gate soon opened up, allowing for High Elf to strut through. He was tall and thin with golden skin, blonde almost white hair was elegantly done in a topknot to accentuate the trademark features of all High Elves, their high cheekbones. He wore a long draping purple with black phoenix motifs at his shoulders that seemed to meld into one while his hands were tucked inside his robe. The lower part of the robe held black flames that flickered under the dim light when he came to a stop. His robe fluttered briefly in the wind as he looked down from his nose and sneered at the Slavers.

Aldrin used Inspect on the newcomer,

Name: Unknown

Race: High Elf

Class: Exotic Sequencer (Tier 5) Level: 81

“You’re short a couple,” His voice was sharp and to the point, his golden eyes observing the group in front of him.

“Something recently destroyed one of our camps in the area so we had to diverge our resources a bit,” A Slaver coolly replied.

The High Elf contorted his face, baring his perfectly white teeth, “You will get half the payment then!” He challenged, throwing a pouch of coins at their feet.

Looking at the pouch of coins on the ground then back at the High Elf, the lead Slaver shrugged, “We will have a shipment of fresh ones next week if you’re still interested then,” he said, turning around to walk back, ignoring the bag of coins on the ground.

That infuriated the High Elf more as his hands glowed and white glowing sigils began to appear in the air. Goosebumps flared along Aldrin’s body as the magic in the air sucked in towards the glowing sigils. The Slavers barely had a chance to defend themselves before the sigils unleashed beams of light from them that vaporized their intended targets.

“Grab them and bring them to my study,” The High Elf demanded and walked off.

The High Guards obeyed and grabbed the captives that were too fearful to move. Aldrin watched as they all disappeared behind the gate leaving it unattended. Seizing the opportunity, he jumped from the rooftop, landing gracefully as a feather. Once he got close to the barred entrance, he used Shapechange turning himself to fog enabling himself to flow in between the railings. He reformed on the other side, gaping in wonder at the mimicry of a University from Earth.

Manicured stone slab paths with magical lamp posts dimly lit the way. Trees and artfully designed hedge bushes interceded along the walkways. The buildings themselves were constructed of stone that looked to be white marble as each were designed to be functional in their shapes much like the rest of the city. From the gate, down the center path stood an octagonal building with a glass roof, to the right a single floored medium sized square building with one light illuminated the doorway, and to the left an oval-shaped arena of some sorts made its presence known where he saw the guards from the gates leading the prisoners along.

However, the tug in his chest pulled him towards the direction of the lone single floored building. Deciding he could always follow the tug to lead him back, he however could not lose sight of the prisoners. Using Shapechange for his fog form, he trailed along the ground, keeping his distance. He kept a watchful 360 degree view of his surroundings, which was disorienting at first but like him no longer needing to breathe, the view felt natural.

The looming doorway of the arena-like building opened automatically once the guards got closer, allowing Aldrin easy passage. Inside the building, doors of different make lined the corridor, creating intersections at every fifth one. Aldrin could sense magical enchantments oozing off the floors and walls of the place. Blending in with the shadows of the dim lighting, he followed along, passing two intersections and then making a left. They got to the end of the corridor and went up the stairs, with the next floor being the same layout.

One of the guards suddenly stopped, fishing out the silver marble from before. He stood still for a moment before looking at his fellow guard confusedly. “We have an intruder? One of the enchantments got triggered?,” He said, making Aldrin’s lifeless blood chill.

“How? The enchantments at the gate should have alerted us the moment it happened?” The other guard asked.

“Dunno, probably just another issue with this new system being implemented,” He shrugged his shoulders.

Groaning, “Let’s just drop these off to Master Tanyth’s study and then deal with the alarm,” the guard suggested.

Figuring that’s all he could learn for now, Aldrin backtracked towards the entrance, flowing underneath the door since they didn’t open automatically. Before leaving altogether, he went over to the single floored building to take a quick peek inside. As he got closer, the tug in his chest became stronger, but so did an uneasy gnawing begin in his stomach. Reforming in front of the door since there weren't any seams to enter through, Aldrin pushed it open, revealing the inside to be a library with rows and rows of bookcases. In the center of it all, there was a staircase leading downward to a second sublevel of the library.

Aldrin followed it, descending three floors while keeping his senses on high alert. Figuring everyone would either be asleep or cooped up with their experiments, he still took no chances. He keenly listened for any heartbeats or sudden movements in the surrounding air.

By the fifth sublevel of the library, there was not another set of stairs to descend. Instead, he was met with magically locked doors. The tug directed him onwards away from the staircase to his right, deeper inside. It reminded Aldrin of what his grandfather described what a storage building would look like on the inside. Traversing the underground maze with the help of the pull, voices were soon heard.

“The Queen demands results on your experiments, Tanyth!” a nasally voice threatened.

“I need more time, but I am close. I am just missing one last piece of the puzzle, and I think this new shipment might help.” Tanyth’s sharp voice answered.

“Need I remind you that the crown cannot keep sweeping these Slaver raids under the rug much longer?” the nasally voice whispered.

Tanyth’s perfect eyebrow twitched, “And need I remind you, Councilman Roventa, that should any of these creatures be loose upon the city we will have a situation worse than Vaultsrand?” He hissed back

“I have taken the necessary precautions, but I still need time to perfect it if we intend to end our Queendom’s enemies once and for all,” Tanyth huffed.

“I shall convey to the Queen that you are close, she will not be pleased about the matter so I suggest you make haste before she tires of you and wipes any traces of you from existence,” Roventa warned before strutting in the direction of Aldrin.

Reforming into fog, Aldrin drifted upwards to hide in the shadows of the corner. Watching a short, gaunt looking Dwarf draped in a cloak that hid his features walk by, Aldrin’s worst fear had been realized. Lor-Vold had Undead being kept somewhere and the worst part of it all was that the Queen had a hand in it. Drifting down, Aldrin listened for Tanyth, but quietness greeted him instead. Feeling that was enough for one night, he backtracked again after waiting a few minutes for both culprits to be gone.

Once he arrived back on the surface, the grounds were crawling with High Guards running around looking for the intruder. Given this much action for one intruder, Aldrin concluded that the city of Lor-Vold desperately wanted to hide something sinister. Worried that switching to a swarm of bats would attract too much attention and with the lack of clouds in the night sky, his fog form wouldn’t be able to pass for a low hanging cloud due to the lack of clouds to begin with and because his fog form were like shadowy tendrils, he would need to do this with care. Sticking to being a fog, he stuck to the shadows, hoping to use the shadows on the outskirts of the grounds to get by.

“It got loose!” A High Guard came running from the arena looking building that housed the Alchemist studies.

Aldrin heard the loud crashing before he saw it. Adjusting his vision upwards, the glass shattered from one of the windows on the top floor of the Alchemists study. A humanoid fell through the air, twitching and snarling on the way down. It landed on the pavement on all fours, as if gravity forgot to impose its will at the last second. Its clothes were tattered and ruined, much of how Aldrin assumed he looked after his initial Race change. Its skin was as pale as the full moon, and its fingers ended in blackened, dirty claws. As Aldrin looked at the appearance, it too gazed in his direction, making the pull of his stomach react.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The wispy white hair strands struggled for dear life when the breeze blew, revealing a gaunt face that looked like a bat and a human combined. Large fangs extended out of his mouth, adding another layer of horror to its sunken red eyes. Aldrin instinctively knew what exactly stood yards away, he chose to Inspect it anyway since he was dealing with Alchemists.

Name: ??? Race: Newborn Feral Vampire

Level: 5

Lore: A newly turned Vampire that has lost its humanity by embracing the bloodlust it craves.

“Kiinnn. . .” It wheezed out, reaching for Aldrin.

Something deep inside Aldrin resonated with the word it said, shocking him to the core. Before he could resolve the conflict that dwelled inside of him, one of the High Guard pierced it through the brain, killing it instantly. The flicker of familiarity between them faded away as more of the High Guards assembled around the slain Vampire.

Tanyth rushed out from the library, rushing over to the group.“What happened?” He demanded, coming to a stop when he saw the body.

“Master!” A young man with a shaved head and pointed ears came rushing out of the building dressed in a dark purple robe much of the same color as Tanyth.

“It bit one of the guards and killed the other!” The apprentice answered quickly, hoping to appease the tightly wound High Elf.

That news immediately improved Tanyth’s mood as he let go of the apprentice, gesturing for him to lead the way. “Clean this mess up before someone sees what they aren’t supposed to!” Tanyth ordered as he walked away.

The High Guards whipped into action at the order, allowing for Aldrin to sneak past. Reforming a few blocks away in an alley, he let himself slide to the ground. Reeling from the fact that this may be worse than a zombie outbreak. A Vampire outbreak would be ten times as worse.

He had only killed one Vampire before, but he had never experienced the sensation he felt when he witnessed the execution. Not only had he felt the flicker of life in the Feral Vampire vanish. It left him feeling hollow on the inside. Now he wondered what he would find at the end of the tug in the locked rooms of the library. Would he find more Vampires or would he find zombies instead? Each could be catastrophic events, especially given the location. He needed to return to the inn and inform Jared and Pierre about the dark underbelly of Lor-Vold and the potential corruption of the Queen herself and her Court.

He hoped that Pierre would gain access to parts of the Research District to uncover the secrets held within after acquiring the Profession. With a new threat on the horizon again with hope for a cure as well, Aldrin dreaded if he would have to save the city or save himself. That permeated his mind on his way back to The Gleaming Marigold, pondering the choice presented to him. He thought of what his parents would do and what his brother would do. Both of those thoughts brought painful memories with them, memories Aldrin buried.

After avoiding the patrolling guards by traversing the rooftops again, Aldrin made it back to the inn in record time. The sunrise began to crest the horizon, announcing the new day ahead. He paced in his room, thinking about the implications. Soon there was a knock on his suite door. Something inside told him it was Pierre.

Opening it, he ushered them in and closed it quickly behind them, getting confused looks from the both of them.

“It’s worse! It’s so much worse than we realized!” Aldrin began, fumbling with his words.

Pierre frowned, “Slow down, what are you talking about?”

“If they get loose or they can’t be contained, this city is doomed! The world is doomed!” He rambled, the reality of the situation lightly breaking his mind.

Pierre smacked Aldrin, making Jared gasp at the action, but it got Aldrin to focus as they both stared at each other for a long moment.

“Thank you,” Aldrin conveyed, blinking a few times.

Pierre nodded, “Now what happened?” settling to stand next to Jared again.

“Feral Vampires,” Aldrin said, making both of them stand more attentive.

So Aldrin explained his nightly escapade that resulted in the discovery.

“What do we do then? We can’t trust the Queen to do something since she’s in on it and we can’t trust city officials because they might be in on it too,” Jared reasoned.

Aldrin shrugged, “We probably can’t trust anybody.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions here. It may only be a select few and all the guards at the Research District who know,” Pierre placated their thoughts.

“I’m pretty sure there would have been a huge revolt if the entire city was working on it,” He added.

Jared crossed his arms, “And if they are?” He seeded doubt again.

“This country’s leader is letting her people be subjugated into slavery AND allowing crazy Alchemist run experiments on Undead! Vampires nonetheless! You and I have seen firsthand what one can do already! There is no telling who supports her and who doesn’t!” Jared argued, jutting his head in Aldrin’s direction.

“No offense Aldrin,” Jared quickly added.

“None taken. If I was in your shoes, I would be worried too. No, scratch that, I am worried actually,” Aldrin admitted, running his fingers through his curly brown hair.

Pierre sighed, rubbing the bridge of his slender nose. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t do anything. I’m just saying we are the small fish in the ocean right now. Yes, if push came to shove, Aldrin is strong,” He pointed to him, “We’re strong,” he then gestured to himself and Jared.

“But we aren’t taking on a nation strong or even taking a city strong either. It’s out of our hands and I’m sorry. The best we can do is alert someone official who can get it to the Lord or Lady of this province.” He finished as each of them looked on.

Jared still looked heated at the mention of turning this in, but he understood that they had no power to make a change. Still, Aldrin felt the remnants of a pull from the Research District, but something else, something off in the distance further out from the city, pulled along too. He had wished that being a Vampire came with instructions and how-to’s because he was flying by the seat of his pants hoping for the best when it came to being one.

Snapping his fingers, “We tell Adeline, my sister!” Aldrin brightened up. Jared perked up as well at the thought as Pierre took the time to think about it.

“Would she believe it?” Pierre skeptically asked.

“In a heartbeat! She fought at Vaultstrand with my brother when the first outbreak happened,” Aldrin winced from the memory.

“That’s - What? The third time you mentioned your brother? What happened to him?” Jared cautiously asked.

“He died. That’s it.” Aldrin clammed up.

Pierre walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, “We understand it’s hard to talk about it but when you’re ready we will listen,” He sympathized.

“We just can’t let this be another Vaultstrand,” Aldrin quietly said.

“And we won’t let it. I’ll go see about getting your sister to come while Pierre gets his Profession. I should be back within a few days if I take one of the horses we escaped with,” Jared offered.

“I’ll learn more about this tugging sensation while you both are gone,” Aldrin said.

With goals in mind, they set out, “Oh! Here you go!” Jared threw another blood vial at Aldrin, who caught it and gave him a grateful smile in return.

Now with an empty suite again, Aldrin figured he would need to leave the city in order to tune out the hustle and bustle of it all. Donning his cloak, ventured downstairs to the rest of the inn where he spotted the Bugbear and Giantess from before. Seeing Aldrin come down, they both raised their mugs to him before resuming their hushed conversation. Aldrin caught the brief action of the Bugbear’s hand brushing against the Giantess’ hand when he placed his mug back down on the table.

A small smile graced his lips at the intention as he walked past the two, giving a wave to Thakheam on the way out the door. Pulling his hood up to block the uncomfortable burn from the sun, he ventured through the Residential District and onto the busy production streets before finally being let out of the city by the High Guards at the main entrance to the city.

He kept his head down as he walked past the various groups of people, eagerly awaiting to get into the city. A few dogs barked at him as he passed a merchant caravan coming to restock on potions. The owners of the dogs apologized to him for their behavior after calming them before going on about their business.

He came to the intersection and read the signpost that was pointed in each of the four directions. The sign that pointed back in the direction he came from labeled Lor-Vold. To the left was the village of Karvendal. The right was to the provincial capital of the Western region, Yeshur, and if he were to keep straight, it would be the shortcut to what used to be Bonehills.

Closing his eyes, he focused on where the second strand pulled him, which directed him to Karvendal. He needed to see where this strand led him, so he walked along, rationing the blood vial Jared had given him. Luckily, the village wasn’t that far from Lor-Vold and he guessed it was the city’s food production based on the endless fields. A few Farmers were out and gave him a friendly wave, which he returned. As the village entered eyesight, the tug angled in a different direction off to the side, where the rolling plains and hills rolled into one among the horizon.

“Why can’t anything ever be easy?” Aldrin groaned, dropped his head after looking at the miles of plains and hills before him.

Stepping off the path he walked, encountering a few Level 10 Horned Wolves that ran off after getting a good look at him. Unsure if he should be happy or sad that the wildlife didn’t bother him, the pull he was following suddenly stopped. Now more alert, he looked around, only to see nothing but mounds of dirt. Parts of the earth looked disturbed, as if something or someone had been trying to make a hole. There were a few of them all placed at random places to make it look more natural, but whoever attempted to do so failed miserably.

Looming closer to one of the mounds of earth on the ground, the tugging pull now began to scream at him that wherever this was, this was where he was supposed to be. Bending down, he touched the earth, feeling that it was still soft after being dug up from the moisturized ground. Hoping that the advantage of having Daywalker active would allow him some protection with the help of the sun, he began to scoop away the dirt mound with his hands.

That proved to be unneeded as the mound began to move, forcing Aldrin to jump back in surprise. Not only was the dirt mound he touched moving, but the rest started to move too, forcing Aldrin to call for his steel sword from his Inventory.

Being away from the city allowed Aldrin to breathe in fresh air along his little walk to this location. The very same air he enjoyed was soon overlaid with a horrid stench that made his eyes water, forcing him to quit breathing again. A rotten human hand punctured up from the mound first, struggling to find purchase among the earth to drag itself further out. Another hand rose, then another, and another, and soon the mound of dirt was now a pit of wandering rotten hands.

The mound of dirt began to shift more and sink inwards, revealing a cesspool of zombies all intertwined. Moans and groans accompanied them as they started to haul themselves out one by one. All of whom were in various states of decay with milky eyes that were clouded over from death. Aldrin lost count after the fifth mound he could visually see, became hidden behind the sea of bodies that dredged themselves out. Flies were soon upon them as they grazed on the flesh of the dead, some of which housed maggots that squelched with each step the zombie took. The tug in Aldrin’s chest quieted down as the zombies looked at Aldrin with interest.

“The horde greets thee Midnight Lord,” A chorus of voices echoed in Aldrin’s mind, making him Inspect one of the zombies in front of him.

Name: Zombie Runner

Race: Zombie

Level: 13

Lore: Those brought back either by a lingering resentment, fell magic, or a curse these common Undead can be born anywhere.

“We have come for our losst brotherss and sisterss!” The horde’s unified voice groaned again in his mind.

“Will you aid us my Lord?”

Quest Given!

Rouse the Horde!

As a member of the Undead Race, and a powerful one at that, this Zombie Horde wishes for your aid in freeing their kin.

Reward: 2,000 EXP and 3 Skill Points

Aldrin stared at the new Quest in front of him, sneaking glances at the tamed Zombie Horde that stood at attention. Soon, the ground began to shake. Aldrin turned to see what he thought was a small hill move as dirt fell off in clumps, revealing the form of a sleeping Zombie Giant rising to wakefulness.

Name: Zombie Juggernaut

Race: Zombie

Level: 56

Lore: This one used to be a Giant until it was infected, once an unstoppable force for the living has become a powerhouse for the dead.

Aldrin gaped at the Giant Zombie that was missing half the flesh on its face as it peered down.

“I lead the horde,” it spoke into the mind of Aldrin.

Aldrin took one look at the horde arrayed in front of him as another, Giant Zombie unearthed itself further back, standing tall amongst the horde.

“More of us come every day, growing the horde,” it spoke again.

“How?” Aldrin only managed out.

“Something changed, thoughts clearer, you,” The Giant said, grappling with the mass of thoughts from the horde.