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CHAPTER 7: DEAR DIARY
4th February. It's a Tuesday.
Dear Diary,
I picked you up from a dusty corner at the back of a closet so I probably shouldn’t hypocritically call you “dear”, yet everybody does it so there you have it.
I’m not too sure what I expect of you, but maybe laying down my thoughts on paper will help me sort them out. I’m facing a couple problems as of late, and the voices in my head are proving exceptionally unhelpful. Though it’s just that one voice really. See, she’s complaining again.
Okay. This is about it for today. I probably should get to school. I didn’t hear anything (or anyone) coming from Mary’s flat tonight, so I can hope I won’t find any more trash in the hallway.
Sincerely,
Nick.
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Still 4th February, but it's the evening.
Dear Diary,
Today was quiet...er than yesterday. I dodged a few question about the dark spot on my face, but otherwise rather uneventful.
Steph was busy, so I couldn’t ask her more question about makeup. Maybe it’s for the best. I don’t want to come out as too pushy. I don’t know what I’ll do it she starts thinking my interest is anything but purely casual and intellectual.
I tried checking out the library again, but I couldn’t find Eva. Not sure why I wanted to find her again. I think I feel like I’ll lose if I don’t at least get a word out of her.
I think I need to come up with a schedule for this. Maybe I’ll write every day when I come back from school, before going into VR. Seems like a good time as any.
Sincerely,
Nick.
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5th February.
Dear Diary,
I saw Eva again. Purely by coincidence. By some miracle, I was early today. I think she arrives at school earlier and leaves later than everyone else, which is why I never noticed her until now. It would make sense for her to avoid the morning rush. Given she reacts so...explosively to males. I don’t want to believe I’m the only one she would club in the face.
She comes to school by car. She drives a grey Mini Cooper and...that’s about the extent of my knowledge about cars. But it's cute and kind of fitting for her. I’d imagine her with a more flashy and...bloody colour. Like…I don’t know…red? But grey does fit her discreet attitude. Grey’s quite a nice colour now that I think about it.
I’ve taken a picture of her license plate. I know someone at the police station who might be able to help me track down her address. But I don’t think I should. Mostly because I can’t think of a good, morally acceptable excuse to justify asking my friend.
Also I’m not a stalker.
Still not going to delete that picture though.
I wanted to explain to you why exactly I was early at school this morning, but I think I might find a solution during my gaming session tonight. I’ll let you know how it went.
Sincerely,
Nick.
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6th February.
Dear Diary,
I still haven’t found a solution to my problem.
See, this curse I’m suffering from wiped all my spells from my spell list, and also regressed nearly all my skills (at least the ones that are not purely intellectual, like [Ancient Language Mastery]) down to lvl 1. Actually that’s not really the issue. What bothers me, are the new skills I gained.
First, there's a bunch of “princessy” stuff like [Ballroom dancing] or [Etiquette]...but that’s not the issue either.
Second, there are the ones related to being a vampire, like [Night Vision] or [Echolocation], but that’s not it either.
The ones I’m frustrated about are [Bat Shifting], [Bewitching Eyes] and [Hemokinesis (Higher)]. The “Higher” is important.
[Bat Shifting] is about as straightforward as it gets. But at my level I can only stay in bat form for about one hour, and it only works at night. Can’t do much about that yet though, so I don’t really mind. The problem is...
I CAN'T FLY!!!
I have no idea how to and I’ve spent the past few days slamming into walls and furniture. The system assist is very limited too. Sure there are flying races, but all pixies or bird-kin have are wings on their back. With the system’s assistance, it’s about as easy as shrugging.
Flying with your whole body is much, much more difficult.
Well, I can only practice.
I’m tired, so I think I’ll skip playing today and just go to bed.
Oh. And I saw Eva today too. I stayed later at school to see if my hypothesis was correct. And it was. I was talking to André in the lobby when she finally walked out, almost running. The time was about one hour after most people left. Which is why I’m so late.
André is the janitor btw. I finally asked his name. He laughed at me. But it’s okay. I like him, so I’ll kill him last.
As for Eva, I don’t see why she comes to school every day, when she never seems to go to class, but I guess she has her reasons.
That’s all for today...
Tiredly,
Nick.
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7th February. It's Friday. Weekend. YEAAAAH!!
My foot hurts. Yeaaah... The left one. I tried to blocking a door with it. Bad decision. I should already know Eva has more muscles than she lets on. Although she really didn’t need to slam that door into my face. I was only saying hello.
She looks kind of cute when she’s terrified though.
Well, I won’t let that get me down! It’s week-end! You know what THAT means! 48 hours (quasi-)nonstop gaming! And grinding...Aw damn. I don’t like grinding. I usually train my skills as I go along. It’s much more fun that way.
But I’m trapped in that tower, so I don’t really have a choice. And I’m not even a smidgen closer to breaking that curse. Although I found one of Ambrose’s old grimoires on soul magic that looks promising. Yeah...apparently the Corbin family was big on soul magic. O the irony. Anyway, I’ll get back to you on what I find.
I just realised I forgot to talk about the two other skills last time. Sorry. I wasn’t all there.
So, the problem with [Bewitching Eyes] is both the simplest and the most unsolvable. It’s a sort of hypnosis skill, or maybe it’s more akin to suggestion. Either case, I don’t have anyone on whom to practice. And it doesn’t work on myself. So I’m stuck.
[Hemokinesis (Higher)] is a little more tricky trickier. It’s basically blood bending, but it’s the “Higher” makes it tricky. Normally with any bending-type ability, you’d get a few subskills you can unlock as the skill gains level, a few set moves and techniques, but...here? Nope. I think it means I’m unlimited in what I can do with blood (the skill descriptions are really vague in this game) but I have to do it myself.
Sounds simple enough to imagine the blood flowing like water-bending in Avatar, but in practice? It’s like I'm trying to move a whole new limb. A whole new limb that isn’t even attached to my body! You try it!
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
And you know the most ridiculous? I only have my own blood to train. That stupid cup isn’t even good enough for that. And since I’m half-undead (how does that even work?) I regenerate blood slower than a normal human. I fainted from anaemia twice before I figured out what the issue was. Stupid.
On a side note, I found not one, but TWO naked men, both in their fifties, in front of Mary's door this morning. The situation turned a little awkward when I recognised my electronics teacher. He recognised me too. Class was pretty interesting this afternoon.
Sincerely,
Nick.
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9th February...or 10th. It was almost midnight last time I checked. It's…Smunday.
Dear Diary,
Sorry I didn’t wrote write yesterday. I was kind of engrossed in gaming. I think I’m figuring out this blood bending thing, and I don’t crash into walls nearly as often as I used to. I've managed to re-unlock my [Death Addict] title though. Not sure how I feel about that.
Ambrose’s grimoire is both great and a disappointment. Nothing on how to break Victoria’s curse so far. But it did contain that one soul-binding spell, which is pretty awesome. It’s a bit like a familiar contract, but it only works with undead. Doesn’t summon them though. It’s soul magic, not necromancy. The line is a fine one, but it does exist.
What is even more awesome is that after I learnt the spell, because of my new BloodSoul class (which is sort of an upgraded Soul Mage, basically...I think) the spell...what is the right word...mutated. Now it can bind both the dead AND the living. Pretty neat.
Other than that, pretty much nothing happened...Oh. Right. Except I finally spotted one of those guys. You know—Right. You don’t.
Well, there’s this rumour about a secret dungeon, and this dungeon happens to be the valley where is the castle where I’m trapped.
Follow till here? Great.
People (only males so far, I think it has to do with how the curse work) have been randomly zapped into the valley for the past week, which in the game amounts for a whole month. And just recently, the first one made it to the castle. He died against the goblins though. They have been getting much more organised lately, under Ru and Mia’s leadership. They’re a pair of hobgoblins. Cute couple. For goblins.
How do I know this? Well, turns out, that big cheval glass in my room? It works like a CCTV monitoring the castle and its direct surroundings! Awesome, I know. I can’t wait for the next challenger to come! I feel like a dungeon boss or something! Though I have no control over what’s going on...and technically I suppose I’m the prize...and the boss really is that [Ancestral Soul of the Eden Dragon “Kalameet”] in the throne room below my room.
Darn it.
I don’t know what I’ll do if one of them gets here though.
Oh. And Mum called. She asked if I was taking my meds. I lied and told her I did. We talked a bit and she invited me home Tuesday evening. Pretty usual.
Well, that’s all for today.
See you.
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10th February, for good this time.
Dear Diary,
I finally got to talk to Steph again! Last week was pretty hectic for her for some reason. She only works part time at school and apparently, there was some trouble at her other job at the hospital. I didn’t pry though.
We continued with our lesson on makeup, and really I’m starting to wonder if I didn’t bite more than I could chew. Even discounting all the stuff I can skip because of VR, I’m more than a little overwhelmed.
We talked about Eva too, whom I didn’t see today. I get the feeling Steph knows more about her than she lets on, but that woman is tighter than a bank vault when it comes to others’ secrets. Which is a good thing, I suppose, because I tend to ramble about myself a lot in her company.
Thankfully, she also seems to buy my excuse I’m only interested in makeup because of a passing whim. I have a history of being whimsical enough for that to believable...which I’m not sure is a good thing, in hindsight.
Well, that was a pretty dull Monday.
See you,
Nick.
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12th February. Wednesday thus.
Dear Diary,
I’m worried. McLeon didn’t come home this morning. I let him out yesterday’s evening, like every day, and I haven't seen him ever since. It’s the first time this happens. I hope he didn’t get beaten by some supervillain cat or something. Because McLeon is secretly Batcat, you see? Does this make me Alfred? Catlfred? Makes no sense.
Yesterday I was at my Mum’s. Good thing the bruise on my face had somewhat faded and I'm getting better at applying concealer. I managed to cover up the incident with some half-assed excuse.
Mum and I have a pretty good relationship I’d say. With this being only the two of us for as long as I can remember, it’d be a little sad otherwise. Well, we’re cool as long as she doesn’t start asking about my treatment anyway. Then things get a little awkward.
I’ve never quite understood why she wants me to take all these pills. I mean, I know I get a little more into talking to myself than most people, but I’m not crazy or anything. She’s always quite vague about it too. Something about hereditary depression in the family and preventive medication, I think?
In any case, it was a pretty sweet evening, though Mum’s not a great cook. She’s better at peeling open people's mind than peeling carrots.
Nothing much to report at school. I caught glimpses of Eva, but couldn’t find any opportunity to try and initiate contact. I’ll do better tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Nick.
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13th February.
Dear Diary,
Still no McLeon. Where is that cat?
I’ve learned two valuable lessons today.
One, you shouldn’t startle an androphobic girl when she eats macaroni Bolognese.
Two, even a plastic fork will hurt you if stabbed into your cheekbone. That was a little too close to my eye for comfort. And her two friends looked at me like I was the one at fault! Well, I’m glad she has friends. I always see her by herself, so I was a little worried. I wonder what I can find out about these two?
In the game, nothing happened that differs much from the other days. More training my powers, failing to understand the curse and watching challengers get butchered and eaten by the undead.
See you,
Nick.
PS: I kept the fork.
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14th February.
I want to die.
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15th February. Saturday evening.
Dear Diary,
I apologise for my distressing message Friday evening. Here’s what happened:
I was sitting in the nurse office after my last lesson of the day had ended and Steph was showing me how to properly define lip shape using both lipstick and concealer applied with a brush.
She’s been getting into it lately. Steph I mean. She sure does love her makeup. I’m also pretty sure she is using me to test out new cosmetics by this point. But I’m digressing.
We’d lock the door, of course. I’ve watched too many anime to be that careless when my face is covered in cosmetics and I look like a denizen of the Kamabakka Queendom. However, I hadn’t predicted Steph had given Eva the keys.
I KNEW they had some sort of relationship, but I didn’t expect to find out like this.
As it has apparently become the norm when we meet, Eva froze upon seeing me. I braced myself for some random act of violence, but it never came. She simply stepped back out with a murmured “sorry”, then locked the door behind her.
I think it took me about an hour to unfreeze. Steph had to finish me with a hairdryer. Just kidding. But saying I was shocked is an understatement.
After that, I managed to squeeze out from the nurse that she’d lent Eva the keys to the infirmary for when she wanted some time in peace and Steph wasn’t present. I couldn’t get her to tell me why she treated the girl preferentially, though.
I came back home still rather shaken. Hence yesterday’s grim message.
To make things worse, McLeon is still missing. Should I put up those “missing pet” posters? Do those things ever work? I don’t have any picture of McLeon though. And just writing “big one-eyed black cat the size of a small Labrador” isn’t likely to be taken seriously.
I’m worried.
Nick.
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16th February.
Dear Diary,
McLeon came back! He had a big ugly gash on his back, but otherwise, he seemed fine. I still brought him to the vet.
Well, first we had to FIND a vet. Because the only one I knew around here had told me to have McLeon put down the day I'd brought him after first finding him half-dead in a ditch. McLeon, not the vet. Douche.
We ended up at a nice lady’s veterinarian clinic. She wasn’t put off by McLeon's imposing appearance at all, nor his multiple scars, or missing eye. She did, however, cast me several worried glances. It took me some time to figure out I’d rushed out of the apartment without putting up any concealer on my fading bruise. I wonder if she was worried both the cat and I lived with some abusive guardian or something.
Nope. We’re both self-responsible adults perfectly able to hurt ourselves of our own initiative!
Well, with all this emotion…commotion…whatever…I didn’t spend much time playing UT this weekend. I’m also still waiting for ElricFollower1’s report on Night Walkers and Dusk Lord.
Come to think of it, did I ever tell him to send me reports?
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18th February. Tuesday.
Dear Diary,
I am now crippled.
Okay, no, I’m exaggerating. But my leg is broken. Really broken this time. I tried to find Eva to explain to her what she’d seen on Friday. I’m not sure what I was thinking, hoping she’d simply listen to me. I found her in the library again, and when she tried to run, I caught her shoulder.
Well, her foot caught my leg. And like a rehearsed stunt, she managed to kick the exact same spot still weakened by Yasmin’s “sparring session” from a couple weeks ago.
I went to the hospital yesterday. The doctor looked very embarrassed when he asked me if someone had done this to me. Like the vet, he probably assumed I was being beaten or something. I answered truthfully, even adding a gesture to show Eva’s height. I didn’t mention her name though, only “a girl about this size”. The doctor was visibly relieved by my answer. I bet he thought I was joking. Mentioning my Mum’s name also helped alleviate his concern. Although I’m not sure I liked the look of pity in his eyes. What has she been saying about me?
Back to Eva, I'm sure that girl does martial arts of some kind.
Now I have a crutch and a nice plaster cast.
I wonder if I can get Eva to sign it.
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19th February.
Dear Diary,
Steph told me I really should stop trying to talk to Eva. I agree, but I can’t help it.
It’s like a game. I don’t think I'll stop until I either get her to talk to me, at least one full sentence, or if she renders me completely unable to move.
People say I can be stubborn sometimes.
Am I?
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20th February. Thursday.
Eva’s not at school again. I know, I’ve looked everywhere. Even in the teacher’s lounge. Took me some time because of the broken leg. Damned stairs.
I didn’t go to class. Couldn’t focus.
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21st February. Friday.
Still no sighting of Eva.
It’s the weekend but I can’t muster any enthusiasm. I’m bored and have explored about every nook and granny cranny of that damn tower. Now I’m mostly just watching the players come into the castle and try to make their way through while I'm playing darts with my hemokinesis. My control has gotten quite good, at least with small quantities of blood. I can move up to five little needles around.
Maybe I should reconsider tracking down Eva’s license plate. At least that’s something I could get enthusiastic about.
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23rd February. Sunday.
I want to get back to school. Maybe Eva will be there today?
I think I’ll stop writing this dairy. It hasn’t helped me at all and I’m getting bored of it too.
Farewell,
Nicolas Siegel.
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