Finston collapsed along the road as he fought to keep air in his lungs. His legs burned and blisters formed on the bottom of his feet from running throughout the night. His mind kept replaying the moments from the massacre of his friends as sleep tried to lure him into its embrace. Each time he felt himself drift off as he got control of his breathing, the brief glimpse of fangs welcomed him in his mind jolting him awake.
“Gotta keep running,” He told no one, he willed himself up as his body protested the movements.
Thundering hooves came barreling down the road alerting Finston to them. He quickly stood and flagged them down. Joy and relief flooded through his body as the realization that the nightmare had come to an end.
“Halt!” One of the armored riders said to Finston as he rushed up to meet them.
“Please sir! I need to get to the Holy Order! I have urgent news!” Finston replied.
“Well whatever it is you can report it to me as I am a Knight-Templar Seeker,” A woman with green eyes and dark hair done up in a bun said as she strode forward in between the ranks.
Finston had never laid eyes on anyone he thought more beautiful than the woman in front of him. His jaw went slack and his eyes went wide as his brain turned to mush at the sight of her. She held a no-nonsense aura about her as she stared down at Finston waiting for him to answer.
“Well Bard? Say your piece,” Adeline said.
“Well… uh, there was this… uh vampire?” Finston stammered out.
“A vampire? Where exactly?” Adeline’s hard reply shook Finston out of his trance as she sat forward on her warhorse.
“My companions and I were attacked by a vampire that came from the direction of Bonehill Barrows Dungeon,” Finston said.
“It slaughtered everyone I knew,” He quietly added as the horror from the night began to replay in his mind.
Adeline looked to Ingram who sat astride his own massive warhorse. The same train of thought could be seen circling in his mind when he looked back at her and then at Finston.
“How long ago was this?” Ingram asked this time.
“Last night sir,” Finston said as he subconsciously tucked what little was left of his muddy black cloak for protection and comfort.
Ingram nodded at Finston then turned to signal a few men behind him before they all raced forward on their horses. Finston watched them go by, paying no mind to Adeline that continued to stare at him.
“You are safe now,” Adeline finally said, making Finston's soul nearly leave his body for the countless time less than 24 hours apart.
Finston solemnly nodded as he held his head down. The fear from last night finally leaving his body but not without leaving a little present behind in the form of uncontrollable shaking. Adeline dismounted from her horse to place a hand on Finston’s shoulder. A light from her hands followed by a warm feeling rushed into Finston as the adrenaline abated. He felt the aches and bruises he accumulated throughout the night subside until it felt like they were never there to begin with.
“We make camp here until Ingram reports back!” Adeline bellowed out, “You, what is your name?” Adeline asked him.
“Finston ma’am but Fin for short,” Finston said, a lopsided grin replacing his gloomy features from the touch of her hand on his shoulders.
“Sit with me and tell me exactly what happened and leave nothing out,” Adeline said as she guided him towards the rest of her unit as the men began to dismount their horses to look for a suitable campground off the road. Finston’s giddiness was replaced by the fear that overtook him again.
“But that would surely take all night and an important woman like you must have important matters to attend to then to talk with me,” Finston tried to avoid reliving the nightmare again.
“No matter is more important than the sighting of a Vampire on the main continent. It could cause trouble for us all if I let it fester,” Adeline said, not missing a step.
“Then I will pull out some wine and we can discuss it in your tent tonight?” Finston said with hope.
“No, we will discuss it here and now without the wine,” Adeline said as two men were finishing moving a fallen log into a makeshift seat. She unclipped the sword at her side, unclasped the cloak she wore and sat it down on the log before sitting down herself and crossing her arms and legs.
“Begin,” Adeline said expectantly.
“Shall I sit next to you then?” Finston asked with hope.
“You are a Bard no?” Adeline shot back, a frown beginning to form.
“Well, yes-” Finston wrung his hands together.
“Then you are accustomed to being the center of attention?” Adeline pressed.
“Yes-” Finston meekly replied.
“Then we will sit across from one another so everyone within earshot can hear your tale. Begin please if you would,” Adeline said without no room for argument.
“Can I at least get some food and water then?” Finston tried to argue.
“Yes, someone will bring you food and water BUT you will stay here and tell me and everyone what happened while they prepare,” Adeline gestured towards one of her guards who then ran off to find the stores of food and water.
Finston sighed then sat down on the forest floor across from her and began to tell her the events of last night.
*************************************************************************************************************
Aldrin awoke to insects crawling over him in the cave he found. He brushed them off of him as a pounding headache threatened to hammer his head in two. Worry coursed through him as the thought of having to go through another mindless killing spree plagued his mind. Slowly standing, he felt great, better than how he was originally. However he knew that was because of his newly altered self.
Begrudgingly, Aldrin braced himself for the slew of system alerts that were waiting to be released. He opened his System Interface checking to see if there were any changes to it. However everything remained in the same order luckily, Notifications, Character, Skill Trees, Inventory, Quests, and Settings With a shaky breath, he willed the system alerts to pop up in his vision.
Enemies Defeated: Four Level 5 Tier 1’s killed, One Level 11 Tier 2 killed
Total EXP Earned: 273
NOTE: 5% ADDED EACH KILL DUE TO ANATOMY PERK
CONGRATULATIONS! 5 Levels gained in your Race and 1 level in your profession!
RACIAL LEVEL 5: 27 EXP OUT OF 120 NEEDED FOR LEVEL 6
PROFESSION LEVEL: 24: 0 OUT OF 5,000 NEEDED FOR LEVEL 25
WARNING! EXP deferred until a Class is chosen!
NOTICE!
CLASS SELECTION AVAILABLE!*
Skill Points available!
Skill Unlocked: Shapechange Level 1: Able to change into a fog/mist or into a swarm of bats.
Unique Skill Unlocked: Blood Rage Level 1: Boost your stats by 2x for 30 seconds.
Vampire Skills Granted:
Thirst - Passive Ability
Level 1: Vampires lust for blood, even more so the newly turned vampires as they are slaves to their thirst.
Bite - Passive Ability
Level 1: Returns 25% damage as health or mana.
Claws - Passive Ability
Level 1: Your claws are now able to rend light armors such as those made from cloth and leather.
Undead Body
Level 1: Bodily functions are turned off i.e. hunger, sleep, energy and the need to breathe no longer affect you.
Regeneration - Passive only out of combat
Level 1: A newborn vampire is able to heal small cuts and bruises since their body is still considered mostly mortal due to their transition to immortal.
Vampiric Awareness
Level 1: Night vision is granted; hearing and smell is improved.
Vampiric Agility
Level 1: Ability to jump further than your pinnacle human.
Shapechange
Level 1: Able to change into a fog/mist OR a swarm of bats
Blood Rage
Level 1: Boost your stats by 2x for 30 seconds, leaves you craving for blood
Quest Chain Issued: Return of the Night(Tier 6): At last, the prophesied Vampire Progenitor has been born and with him comes the return of the night. Reach level 10 Racial Level for the next step. Reward: Vampire Progenitor Skill Tree Unlocked, Experience: ???
Aldrin took a deep breath as he read over the notifications from the prior events. He sat with himself as he read over the notifications back and forth, the tier 6 quest chain issued sticking out the most. His mind couldn’t comprehend what had happened to him as he then stared at the quest. Dreading the next part, he opened his status to figure out what to do next.
Name: Aldrin Ravindra
Skill Points: 55
Natural Defense(Vampire): 100
Race: Vampire Progenitor Level 5(Newborn) Class: Please Choose Your Class* Profession: Lore Seeker Level 24 Health: 2000 Magic: 2000 Stamina: Infinite
Titles:
First Vampire
Chosen of Kilinos
Traveler of an Archdemon’s Domain
Strength: 20 Dexterity: 25 Vitality: 20 Intelligence: 20 Wisdom: 20 Charisma: 20
Titles Expanded:
First Vampire: Everybody has to come from somewhere and you are where Vampires come from
Reward: +10 to all stats, Vampire Progenitor Skill Tree Unlocked.
Chosen of Kilinos: Few have dared to reach to a demon and even fewer have had a demon reach out to them and have been granted their favor.
Reward: Immune to fire, Grants a 20% boost to spell power, Class Mutation at Tier 4
Traveler of an Archdemon’s Domain: You carry the mark of a person who has been to one of an Archdemon Prince’s domains and back.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Reward: [Intimidation] and [Dread] waft off you subtly helping you in social situations.
Active Boons:
Vampire Progenitor: +10 to all Stats
Chosen of Kilinos: Immune to Fire, 20% Spell Power boost, Class Mutation at Tier 4
Traveler of an Archdemon’s Domain: [Intimidation] and [Dread] are active
Undead Body: You no longer need Stamina
Exploration: 10% more EXP gained for new places
Anatomy: 5% more EXP gained for killing beasts, monsters, and humanoids
Biologist: 10% more EXP gained for discovering new monsters
Botanist: 5% more EXP gained for new plants discovered
Book Smart: 10% more EXP gained for turning in Quests
Traveler: 25% Dexterity Boost
Aldrin whistled when he got to the end of the notifications.
“Maybe there is a cure for me?” Aldrin said to no one in particular as he looked onwards.
Personal Quest Issued: Find a cure for vampirism: You have awoken to a new stage of your life, well un-life to be exact. However, you have hope to rid yourself of a disease you fight so hard to eradicate. Reward: ???
Aldrin blinked at the personal quest notification wondering why he had never received one before. He added a mental note to ask around about it after he had found a cure for himself. Brushing himself off, he chose not to invest his points into himself knowing that it would be redundant when he learns the whereabouts of a cure.
He continued to look at his status in disbelief, more so at the 55 Skill Points he had accrued. He did the math knowing full well his Profession netted him 1 Skill Point, SP for the short version per level which made up for the 24 Skill Points. He knew he had bought both Shapechange and Blood Rage for 4 Skill Points total taking that away from his Profession level. That left him with another 27 Skill Points unaccounted for. His Racial level was at 5 meaning that it gave him 7 Skill Points per level.
Aldrin whistled to himself again after doing the brief mental math. “If I didn’t have to eat people to survive this wouldn’t be half bad to have,” He said as he continued to stare at his character sheet. He moved to the third tab of his system interface titled, Skill Trees.
Race: Vampire Skill Tree*
Sub-Race: Vampire Progenitor Skill Tree(Locked until Racial Level 10)
Class: Null
Profession: Lore Seeker*
Unique Skill Tree*
Resistances(Locked until Racial Level 10)
Opening the Vampire Skill Tree first, he perused through the skills, letting reality sink in once more. He didn’t realize that unlike Humans, Vampires have their own unique skill tree.
Vampire Skill Tree - 7 SP Per Level:
Thirst - Passive Ability
Level 1: Vampires lust for blood, even more so the newly turned vampires as they are slaves to their thirst.
Level 2: As vampires transition from newborns to adolescent vampires their bloodlust lessens(4 SP)(Must be Juvenile Rank or higher)
Bite - Passive Ability
Level 1: Returns 25% damage as health or mana. Restores 2 Blood Counts
Level 2: Returns 50% damage as health or mana. Restores 4 Blood Counts(4 SP)
Claws - Passive Ability
Level 1: Your claws are now able to rend light armors such as those made from cloth and leather.
Level 2: Your claws are now able to rend medium armors and below such as chainmail and hardened leather(4 SP)
Charming Gaze(Chance to pass increases with Charisma and Willpower)
Level 1: Subtly influence sentients and creatures minds(Requires Racial Level 10)
Strength of the Elders - Passive Ability(Reach Racial Level 50 to unlock)
Level 1: 5% increase to all stats per level(Locked)
Undead Body
Level 1: Bodily functions are turned off i.e. hunger, sleep, energy and the need to breathe no longer affect you. Stamina no longer affects you.
Level 2: Resistant to slashing, bludgeoning, and pierce from non magical weapons(4 SP)
Regeneration - Passive only out of combat
Level 1: A newborn vampire is able to heal small cuts and bruises since their body is still considered mostly mortal due to their transition to immortal.
Level 2: Small appendages now grow back as the vampire ages into a Juvenile(4 SP)
Supernatural Reflexes
Level 1: 2 second time freeze if you are about to be killed instantly(2 SP)
Vampiric Awareness
Level 1: Night vision is granted; hearing and smell is improved.
Level 2: Able to feel minor shifts of displaced air 10 feet around you(4 SP)
Vampiric Agility
Level 1: Ability to jump further than your pinnacle human.
Level 2: You are now able to stick to any surface(4 SP)
Shapechange
Level 1: Able to change into a fog/mist OR a swarm of bats
Level 2: Able to shapechange into the form of a direwolf or direbear(4 SP)
Blood Curse
Level 1: Create Zombie(2 Skill Points to unlock)
Master of the Night
Level 1: Grants communication with creatures of the night(2 SP)
Aldrin began to detest the skills presented to him as he read through them all. It only elevated the further reality that Vampires could not be left alone otherwise their gains in power would become a snowball effect. He shuddered to think about choosing a class and the nasty skills that would come with whatever class he chose let alone whatever the Vampire Progenitor Skill Tree presented itself with. Closing out of the Vampire Skill Tree interface he mentally opened his profession skill tree.
Profession: Lore Seeker - 1 SP Per Level
Exploration
Level 1: 10% exp gained for discovering new places(50/50 places found)
Level 2: 15% exp gained for discovering new places(52/100 places found)
Anatomy
Level 1: 5% exp gained for killing monsters(250/250 slain monsters, beasts, and humanoids)
Level 2: 10% exp gained for killing monsters(373/500 slain monsters, beasts, and humanoids)
Biologist
Level 1: 10% exp gained for discovery of new creatures(30/30 discovered)
Level 2: 20% exp gained for discovery of new creatures(44/70 discovered)
Botanist
Level 1: 5% exp gained for discovery of new plants(25/25 harvested)
Level 2: 10% exp gained for discovery of new plants(28/50 harvested)
Book Smart
Level 1: 10% exp more for turning in quests(100/100 completed)
Level 2: 20% exp more for tuning in quests(166/200 completed)
Historian
Level 1: 12.5% more exp gained from solving mysteries of Grenora(0/10 solved)
Traveler
Level 1: 25% Dexterity boosts for walking and running (1,000/1,000) steps
Level 2: 50% Dexterity boosts for walking and running (3,788/10,000) steps
Aldrin breathed in a sigh of relief as his profession skills didn’t reset since to gain the perks of a Profession required actual usage of the perks you wanted. With his Profession being a gatherer, he needed to venture out into the world to gain the perks whereas someone who holds a crafting Profession, a Blacksmith for example only needs to work in a workshop to level the perks wanted. Next on the list was looking at the new sub-tab called the Unique Skill Tree
Unique Skill Tree
Blood Rage
Level 1: Boost your stats by 2x for 30 seconds, leaves you craving for blood
Level 2: Locked until Racial Level 10
Aldrin blanched when he opened it and read the skill. His stomach chose that time to make itself known as the pinprick feeling from before it started to rear its ugly head again. Without anything around, Aldrin was scared to lose control again to whatever plagued his mind. He wanted to chalk it up to him being a newborn vampire but a part of him knew that whatever lurked beneath his subconscious was always going to be there if he didn’t find a cure.
Trying his best to ignore the rising pin prick feeling that was forming in his stomach he moved onwards to view his inventory. His heart froze and despair took hold as he looked at his now empty inventory. Nothing was left, no money, no food or water not that he needed it, none of his own weapons and armor, and to top off the kick in the balls there were no spare clothes to change into from the bloody rags he now wore.
“Fuck!” Aldrin banged his head back against the cave wall he was sitting against closing out of the Inventory screen.
With a deep sigh, he opened Quests from the tab, enabling him to see his two quests he had which were to Find A Cure for your Vampirism and the Tier 6 Chain Quest, Return of the Night.
Without a concrete idea of where to start and the quest given to him didn't have any clues where to begin. He debated on contacting his sister and grandpa to let them know what happened. On the other hand, the more he thought about roping them in he did not want to put them in a position that would ultimately put them in danger; more specifically he did not want to lose control and kill them or have them make the choice to kill him. He sighed into his hands as his first goal was to cure himself and then contact his sister at least.
Another realization of horror struck him as the feeling of the cold silver band around his finger was no longer there. Meaning the Enchanted ring that was meant to let each other know if someone was in danger or dies had crumbled leading to the realization that he really did die and was reborn in the body of a monster that looked like him.
"Adeline is definitely on her way here and if she finds me or her men find me I am dead for good," Aldrin resigned himself.
The system chime alerted him again to a choice he had to make, snapping him out of his depressive thoughts that had begun to spiral and consume his mind.
Please Choose Your Class!
Out of sheer curiosity and nothing more, he chose to view the disgusting new variants of Classes.
Choose your class path; Class paths altered due to your Race change.
Fighter ---> Bloodletter: Ah, the Bloodletters of vampire-kind, they are considered the lowest ranked melee combatant and are often associated with newborns; however once the Bloodletters prove themselves worthy and advance they have the potential to become nightmares for those that stand against them.
Preferred Equipment: Heavy Armor, Medium Armor, Light Armor, Blades, and Blunt
Preferred Stats: Strength, Dexterity, Vitality
Minor Stats: Charisma, Willpower
Preferred Use: Health & Stamina
Rogue ---> Stalker: The Stalkers are the vampires that embrace their heritage of being nighttime apex predators and take great delight at being the thing that goes bump in the night, however it will take time to get there if the Stalker survives long enough that is.
Preferred Equipment: Medium Armor, Light Armor, Blades, Thrown weapons, Ranged weapons
Preferred Stats: Dexterity, Vitality, Intelligence
Minor Stats: Strength, Charisma
Preferred Use: Magic & Health
Mage ---> Acolyte: The vampire Acolytes are those who take the beginning steps of mastering their vampiric magics that are granted to them upon awakening, growing into the Lords and Ladies of the Night that we have all come to fear with their legions of minions and undead that heed their call. Be warned, the budding steps of the Acolyte path are hard but well rewarded in the end.
Preferred Equipment: Light Armor, Blunt Weapons, Staffs, Wands, Spellbooks, Talismans
Preferred Stats: Intelligence, Willpower, Charisma
Minor Stats: Dexterity, Vitality
Preferred Use: Magic
"Oh definitely rest in pieces to me, I'm a dead-er man for sure with these options," Aldrin lamented as he closed out the Class option.
Throwing himself a pity party for another five minutes he slapped his cheeks to regain focus. He recalled a city that housed many of the world's Potion distribution, the floating city of Lor-Vold. His best bet would be to at least start there but the worry of traveling during the day had caused him pause. He would have to wait for nightfall tomorrow and hopefully make it to the nearest outpost town to "grab" some clothes and a weapon.
He stepped out of the cave glancing at the three moons that loomed above. His breath caught in his throat as he could see the clarity of distant space and the stars that dotted the dark expanse. Unable to contain it, he began to laugh at the absurdity of it all as once again he was reminded that this was far, far, far, away from the Earth he knew. Judging from the direction and orientation of the moons he assumed it to be at least 3 in the morning. Grumbling to himself, he stomped back into the cave debating with himself if he should scout for the next cave or wait.
The burning gnawing sensation in his stomach made the choice for him. He needed to hunt and feed, a thought that made him flinch at the thought of draining someone. He has killed people before, bandits mostly but it was over as quick as it started without much fanfare.
The idea struck him as his mind went back to bandits. Aldrin assumed that a few bandits dead wouldn't harm anybody but instead help as they wouldn't be causing any problems. His mind set on hunting bandits in the area, he strutted out of the cave with a new found purpose only to be struck with the sudden horror that he had no idea what to do with his new abilities.
"I guess it would be just like riding a bike?" Aldrin thought aloud as he explored the new abilities his new race granted him as he began walking away from the cave.