“What is it you ask of me? Aldrin asked the Black Unicorn.

Regalas huffed, “I am in the hunt for a heart that will elevate me amongst my kin so that I may finally wretch control of the mob I am part of. Help me find it and I shall let you consume the beast that houses it. Do we have a bargain, fellow Lord of the Dark?”

System Alert!

Dungeon Quest: Change of Hooves

By encountering another creature of the night, they have sought your help with their own desire. Regalas wants you to help him obtain a heart. He will help weaken it, allowing you to slake your blooming thirst on a hardy victim so long as he gets the heart.

Do you accept?

Aldrin thought for a moment, then thought better of it. “If you could wait for my team, then we will help you. For now, I will offer the help I can give myself,” He said, subconsciously beginning to tug on the strings of the Servant bonds.

“It is agreeable, Progenitor,” Regalas said, slight amusement ringing in his mental voice.

“In the meantime, what can you tell me about this Dungeon?” Aldrin asked.

Regalas shot his head up. “So, it has happened then...” he said mournfully.

Aldrin’s eyes widened, and his jaw hung open slightly. “You-You didn’t know?” he carefully asked.

“No, but that would explain why sometimes I feel like I have lived the same days over every time I wake.” He answered.

“Do you know what happened?” Aldrin tentatively asked.

“I. . . I can’t seem to remember, trying makes my thoughts grow hazy. The furthest I can remember is running through these exact woods with my mob and then a white light washed over us. Ever since, I feel like I repeat this day over without the sudden white light, but now, since you’ve told me, it would make sense.” Regalas answered as best he could.

“White light?” Aldrin furrowed his brows. “But then that wouldn’t make sense since the people of Earth were summoned. Or were we just separated along the way? Did pieces of earth get turned into dungeons on a different planet? On this planet?” He asked, more to himself as thoughts of what could and couldn’t be raced through his mind.

Regalas regarded Aldrin, watching him work through many emotions that he did not know the names of, but he understood when the two strips of hair above their eyes angled downward meant something bad and the occasional shift to wide eyed meant something less bad.

Aldrin‌ had a newfound look upon his face. The knowledge of what Regalas had told him added to pieces of the puzzle about what happened with Earth. Something everyone had been trying to figure out since people started appearing here. From what his parents had told him, and even the Holy Order he was once part of, was that people started appearing around areas with heavy populations close by. Whether that population was welcoming determined a lot of fates. With this news, he needed to get the information out there to others somehow.

He closed his eyes, taking a breath to calm himself. Granted, breathing was no longer needed, but it had been a habit for so long and in this moment, it fit. “I’m sorry. I got off track with the information you told me.”

Regalas regarded him. “Was it at least helpful?”

Aldrin took a breath. “I am honestly not sure, but it’s a start to a bigger mystery.” He rubbed his forehead. “Now, what are we hunting?”

Regalas huffed, “Not a dragon or phoenix, that’s for sure. Your kind hunted those to near extinction long ago for the idea of being immune to the sun and fire.”

Aldrin filed that bit of information for later to ask of Evie to see if it held any truth. “I sure hope not, as I would die before I could even make a move against one of those beasts.”

“Something more tame, a Peryton. Its heart will allow me to gain wings, elevating me above the others.” Regalas said, turning and heading deeper inward to the dark jungle.

Aldrin followed closely behind, “They are here? Among all this? Even with the golems patrolling?”

Regalas eyed him. “Yes, usually at least one and, at the most, three closer to the mountains, where they make their nests.”

“Wait, are these variant Perytons?” Aldrin asked suspiciously.

If Regalas could laugh, he only huffed a few times but did not deign to give an answer. They strolled in silence for the time. All the while, Aldrin kept tugging on the Servant bonds, subtly pulling the three in his direction. He understood it was working, judging by the distance and small tugs in response to him. Regardless, he figured they would be here within a day or two since they weren’t able to fly unless Evie had another trick up her sleeve to get them here faster. Knowing her, she probably did.

Regalas trotted through the jungle with confidence, making Aldrin have to run alongside him to keep pace. It made him wonder how fast he actually was if he could keep pace with a trotting horse, instinctually knowing he could currently outpace Regalas if he wanted.

“So many things to still experiment and try,” Aldrin mused to himself.

Catching the quiet comment with his perceptive hearing, “In what way?” Regalas mentally probed.

Unsure if Regalas would have any helpful information, Aldrin let his thoughts fill the air between them. Filling in Regalas of his origin and his age along with his levels.

“Surely you jest? No?” Regalas amusedly asked.

Aldrin used to wish he was, but he was coming around to being a Vampire now. “Unfortunately not, friend. I am still learning all I can do with the freedom to do so here in the dungeon.” He replied.

Regalas was quiet for a moment before finally saying something that made Aldrin quirk his eyebrow and a wry grin bloom.

“Do you want to race, then? It’s been a long time since I have raced a creature not of my kind,” Regalas asked, coming to a stop.

“Where to?” Aldrin asked, his grin never faltering.

Regalas dipped his head in the direction they were heading, pointing with his spiraled black horn, “The jungle ends when the rocks jut into the sky closer to the mountains, where we will find our prey. The mountain base is where the finish line will be. However, because I cannot and you want to test your physical abilities, flying isn’t allowed. Are the terms acceptable Night Lord?”

Aldrin’s grin grew into a smile, “They are fellow Night Lord,” he bowed.

Regalas chortled in their connected mind space, “I am no Night Lord yet, but soon I shall be and then we will really race to see who’s the fastest once I gain my wings.”

They took their places next to each other, Aldrin getting down into a runner stance, startling Regalas. “Do you aim to run on all fours? That is peculiar. Has it really been that long in the outside world?” Regalas asked, warily side-eyeing him.

Aldrin tried to suppress the laughter that threatened to escape. “No, it’s better for me to start out this way. I will still use my two legs to run.”

"Ah, you had me worried that time had really slipped away from me," Regalas said, holding his own chuckles.

“Ready,” Regalas started, prancing back and forth in anticipation.

“Set,” Aldrin said the next part, deepening his stance, and bunching his muscles that felt renewed.

“Go!” they both said, ‌bolting off in a straight line.

Aldrin laughed at the freedom as the jungle blurred around him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Regalas slightly pulling ahead, his black mane whipping in the wind from the speed they were going. Not wanting to be outdone, Aldrin pushed himself harder, and he closed the slight gap beginning to form. Joyous laughter escaped him once he was neck and neck with Regalas, who looked surprised at first but then became determined.

Aldrin’s undead heart beat once, which felt foreign to him, but in doing so it gave him a burst of speed as his vampiric nature rose to the surface. He roared, the sound scaring all the onlooking critters back into their hidey-holes. The burst of speed allowed him to overtake Regalas as they both streaked out of the jungle into the rocky obstacle course that was the beginning of the mountains.

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Aldrin had to make a last-minute jump over a boulder, easily clearing it without losing any speed. Regalas chuckled in his mind. “I might have forgotten to mention that the rocks are more like obstacles.”

Aldrin looked over his shoulder in time to see Regalas gracefully leap over another boulder. His stride never breaking. Feeling inspired, Aldrin used the boulders as another form of practice. He jumped, flipped, and kicked off the boulders that were in his way, using them to his advantage. He cackled to himself, realizing he could now do effortless parkour.

The base of the looming mountain came into view, obscuring them in deeper shadows as they approached. Aldrin was the first to get there, but only by a second since Regalas was hot on his heels. Both of them skirted to a stop, Aldrin making shallow furrows in the ground to stop himself. Regalas seemed to stop on command, which Aldrin found interesting.

“How did you stop like that?” Aldrin asked.

Regalas regarded him for a moment. “By simply commanding my body to stop?”

“How?”

Recognition bloomed in Regalas’ eyes. “You still believe yourself to be human in some areas when you are entirely not. You have a greater degree of control over yourself than you would have when you were living.” Regalas approached Aldrin. “Things that would normally cause an enormous strain on your body are now a thought. For instance, you could have stopped yourself by willfully cancelling all of your momentum without tearing your muscles or breaking bones.”

“So I could swing as fast as I can and still be able to stop it without even harming myself or anything?” Aldrin asked.

“Precisely, Night Lord. It is a significant benefit to utilize once you get the hang of it. It would save you from bulldozing your way through something thin or becoming a paste on an immovable object unless it is your intention to do so,” Regalas informed him.

Aldrin looked down at his hands and formed them into fists as promises of power subtly flowed from his arms down to his fingertips. His whole body flowed with untapped and unbridled potential that seemed to be limitless once he learned to feel it whenever he harnessed himself more. It was something he wanted to throw himself into without a care in the world, but the world, his world to be exact, had many cares he needed to deal with at the moment.

“Come, Night Lord, our prey awaits at the top,” Regalas said, walking over to the mountain that loomed over them now.

His acute hearing picked up screeches of monsters above and a quiet rumbling from within the mountain. The things that went bump in the night greeted him, but now, where he stood, he was one of those things that would join, and soon, they would learn to fear him, too. Relishing with the thought, he took the opportunity to fully grasp his latest addition to his abilities. The ability to stick to any surface to ascend the mountain. Aldrin wondered how Regalas was gonna traverse up the mountain and was about to ask how until he saw his black spiral horn ignite with a black flame.

Regalas tapped his flaming horn close to the ground, making the flames jump from his horn to his hooves, bathing them in the same blackened fire before receding to a faint, deep violet glow. “Ready?” He asked Aldrin, not bothering to wait for a reply as his hooves found purchase among the rocky outcroppings.

Aldrin shrugged and trudged to the mountain. He tentatively placed one foot on the base, not needed to use his new ability yet. He figured he wouldn’t need it until the upward slope became vertical at some point if it did. Slowly but surely, they traversed the mountain. Aldrin’s strength aiding him in the endeavor while Regalas seemed to walk along as if there wasn’t a care in the world.

“You do not use your ability to ease the journey?” Regalas finally said, breaking the silence.

“I’m not sure if it will tire me or something yet, so I’m saving it until I actually need it.” He answered. “I used it once when fighting Toad Golems, but not long enough to know the effect on me.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to get a test of it now before we come upon enemies that use this environment to their advantage?” Regalas fired back.

Aldrin thought it over for a moment before shrugging and answering, “I’m a quick learner.”

Regalas chortled. “Another benefit of your kind. I am slightly jealous.”

“On the surface, or outside world, I should say, any information about Vampires is strictly about how to kill them or what to do if encountering one. So I’m still figuring out my limits.” Aldrin said.

“That’s a shame your kind has fallen so far,” Regalas said wistfully.

Grasping at any bread crumb of information, Aldrin pressed, curious at what he could learn this time, “What do you mean?”

“Vampires were guardians between life and death. Shepherding those close to death to a peaceful transition that was quick and painless or the most excruciating pain possible on their enemies.” Regalas started.

“Jealousy among the Races had turned your kind from the most feared and respected to the most hunted within a century. From the little of what the Earth spoke, it was a band of Races that formed to wipe out all traces of your kind on the continent.”

Aldrin huffed, “Well, that isn’t something I haven’t already been told.”

“From what I remember, a few Ancients, some Elders, and their progeny fled the continent to some distant land, their birthplace, if I am correct.” Regalas added.

“The Forbidden Continent?” Aldrin asked.

“If that is what it's called, then it is more than likely that you will find your kind there. What remains of them, I am unsure of.” Regalas said.

"I was already on my way there, but thank you for confirming it for me." Aldrin nodded gratefully.

“Anything for a Night Lord. You would be amazed at the unexpected friends you will find in the dark when you need them most. Remember that, and it will save you if you ever need help.” Regalas sagely said.

They chatted back and forth about mundane things. Aldrin learned Regalas was a treasure trove of knowledge about his time outside preceding his Dungeon transition. He had told him of kingdoms that once existed, while Aldrin told him of the new kingdoms that took their place. Creatures that roamed the planet that are now myths of legends told to scare children into being good and doing what they are told.

Aldrin then informed Regalas that Vampires are considered to be myths of legends themselves once they got onto the topic, as at one point they could walk through the night unhindered. He also learned how they handled the bad ones, which was swiftly taken care of by other Vampires who wanted to remain in good standing with the public. After all the information told to him, the picture of what he was filled out more in Aldin’s mind as he was told the two facts. Regalas then asked what his plans were for after the Dungeon.

“My friends and I are going to a mercenary port town called Ebira. From there, we hope to charter a boat to take us across the sea to the Forbidden Continent,” Aldrin said.

“What do you wish to find there?” Regalas asked, gracefully jumping over a divot in the mountain.

Aldrin thought about it before answering, “Truthfully, in the beginning I was hoping to find a cure, but now I just want to learn how to live with this and possibly control it more so than I already do. Maybe find some of those Ancients or even Elders to help teach me.”

Regalas chortled again, “You would end up dead if you were to come face to face with an Ancient. Progenitor or not, Vampires follow a strict hierarchy and if you choose to lead them, then you must beat their leaders into submission or impress them enough to follow you. Some would bow to you, but I would not advise that until you are an Elder yourself. A few of your abilities, from what you have told me, grant you the strength necessary to be one Tier above your own. Although it is only as someone who had just reached the Tier and not someone in the middle or end of the Tier.”

“Are the Ancients really that fearsome, then?” Aldrin curiously asked.

“Do the Ancients not roam still?” Regalas asked in surprise.

“No? At least I have never heard of one.” Aldrin answered truthfully.

“Count yourself lucky then. Depending on their specialty, how many under their command, and their goals. Within three weeks, they could conquer our continent if they wished,” Regalas said.

“Then why did they leave if they were so fearsome?” Aldrin asked.

“They had no time to scheme and plot. Like all long-lived races, they became complacent with the status quo, a fault that all seem to share once reaching past a certain age. Their self superiority blinded them. They thought that none would challenge them. That way of thinking became their weakness, that lessened their hold and brought them toppling down. Their blindness that led them to not notice was ‌happening until it was too late. Then, when the other Races rose up, their once trusted allies, and friends betrayed them, too.” Regalas said, quieting at the end as a memory bloomed.

“I remember when I was still young to be around my mother, she was friends with a Kor’Tal, one of the more beast-like vampiric bloodlines. He came to her wounded and in need of aid, but his injuries were so severe that nothing could be done. So my mob gathered around him in his last moments to bring him some form of comfort. When he died from his wounds, he turned to ash, and the wind scattered his remains. My mother mourned to herself for days, as did most of the mob. He befriended us, treating us as equals, not as beasts he would dominate or consume. He was the last I saw of any Vampire before the news of them being hunted down and killed or fleeing got around to us,” Regalas said, letting the memories replay at the forefront of his mind.

Aldrin felt the deep sadness and pain that formed in Regalas’ voice. It was a pain of losing something precious, something that he knew well, with how many he has so far. Yet in the back of his mind, there was always the voice saying that he would only lose more. “I am sorry for your loss, Regalas. Truly I am,” Aldrin said, stopping his ascent.

“It was a long time ago from what you have told me about the passage of time,” Regalas said.

“It may have been long ago for anyone else but for you, it still was years ago?” Aldrin gently asked.

“Unfortunately,” Regalas said in a clipped tone, signaling the end of the topic. “Come, we must hurry before the sun rises and my abilities will be diminished.” He hurried along the ascent.

Aldrin followed closely behind, pondering what could have been so wrong that the Races turned on beings that co-existed in what seemed like harmony with everyone else. More questions than answers were beginning to pile up concerning who and what he was meant to do now as the Progenitor. Not to mention the issue with the current Queendom kidnapping its own people for whatever reason. He even went a step further to think about who else was involved in the kidnappings or if it was just the Humans.

“I need to get stronger and quickly,” Aldrin whispered to himself, looking down at his hands than at Regalas, who confidently strode forward ahead of him.