"..."

"..."

Either everyone was silently waiting for Hiro’s answer, or some were not trying to interact with him at all. Ryan was on the latter side. He was so engrossed in the conversation with Yoona and Ellianna that Ryan completely forgot about Hiro and his antics.

Ryan can only imagine what cringy trope Hiro is pulling off now.

'Fuck me! He better not be thinking about enslaving the demi-humans.' Ryan dreaded the thought that the other dark elves would lump him in with Hiro. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion and Ryan couldn't do anything to stop it, besides waiting to see if his prediction was right.

All he could do was close his eyes while rubbing his temples with his fingers to hold back his headache that was starting to form thanks to Hiro drawing out the suspense.

"I will become a Vampire, so I can smite all those who dare oppose me! Mountains shall crumble, and rivers will flow with the blood of my enemies! This world shall tremble once it knows my name, Hiro Death Fang!" He yelled out loud like a third-rate villain in an anime. He was brooding in a way that made him look more juvenile than menacing.

"............"

The silence was so deafening in the dining hall that you could hear a pin drop from a mile away. Ryan couldn't help but feel embarrassed in proximity to him. If he could, he would crawl under a rock to escape this awkward atmosphere.

'God! How can someone be so stupid as Hiro, can come from my world?' He groaned internally. 'Does he want to be a fucking vampire warlord? What cliche bullshit is this?! GAH! I think I’m going to die from 2nd-hand embarrassment.’

Ryan slowly cracked open his eyes, in dread, to see how the Dark Elves' were reacting to Hiro's idiocy. And to Ryan's surprise, it looked like most of the elves had a confused look on their faces than that of disdain. They were confused by Hiro’s logic, or lack thereof, more than anything else.

After a while of not getting a response, Hiro's confident demeanor faded when he didn't get the reaction he was hoping for.

"W-What? You don't believe me?" Hiro stuttered as he broke the silence.

"Well…. The thing about Vampires is, that you can only be born into that race. It's not something you can turn into. I heard it has something to do with their bloodline, but that's the extent of what I know about them." Ellianna spoke out in a matter-of-fact tone.

"B-But I thought I c-could be turned into one if I d-drank their blood or something?" Hiro said with his confident facade crumbling before our eyes.

"Hmm. You seem to be confusing ghouls with vampires, Hiro." Yoona stated as she seemed to regain her composure and she continued, "It's a fate worse than death. You would be an undead serf to a vampire, with no free will of your own. You would barely be one step above a zombie. And I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy."

The whole table was silent as they all looked at Hiro like he was an idiot, which in fairness, he was. But for the first time, Ryan was starting to feel bad for Hiro's idiocy, but only a little. Ryan could remember a time when he declared something that he believed was a fact, only to be completely wrong in front of a large crowd of his classmates. Like when he thought a kid stole his comb from him only to find out that he had the same one as his. Ryan felt like an idiot that day, but he was ten years old when he did that, instead of being nineteen like Hiro was.

‘At the end of the day, Hiro needs to learn from his mistakes. And that’s something I can’t help him with.’ Ryan thought as he decided to help clear up the confusion about Vampire lore from Earth.

"Ahem... Yoona? I can help explain why Hiro is confused about the Vampire thing. Where we are from, there's folklore about vampires and it seems they are a lot different than the ones here. For starters, to become one from our world, a human has to be bitten by them, and it turns a human into a vampire, over time, like a sickness. They're immortal and drink human blood to survive. So, Hiro thought it would be a simple thing to do. But like all things, he assumed too much," Ryan said as he tried his best to not make himself look like an idiot as well. He hoped to clarify Hiro’s strange statement for the elves.

All the dark elves started whispering to themselves and nodded at each other after hearing Ryan's words. They all seemed to understand why Hiro was confused.

"Hmm... I didn't know that, so I apologize. We were all just surprised by your declaration and didn't know how to react. So, we can't blame him for his idiocy, he knows nothing of Vampires in our world. What's important is we get the Chosen One some lessons, so he doesn’t accidentally become someone's slave. He's got to be taught how to survive on Tertius." Ellianna says as she stands up with her hand on her hip.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Hiro looked annoyed at the fact that the Dark Elf was referring to him as an idiot, and the other elves seemed to agree with Ellianna's suggestion. Ryan couldn't help but feel like he was already a slave to the Dark Elves, no matter how many times they referred to them as the "Sommoned Ones" or the "Chosen Ones" it didn't change the fact that Ryan was forced to live in a world where he didn't want to be.

‘Well, it kind of feels like we are already serfs to the Dark Elves. They aren't telling us the truth about why they brought us here and I don't know if their motives are just. I can't trust them fully yet, at least until I learn more about this world.' Ryan thought as he felt unsure of what the dark elves truly wanted.

"Orcs are Unholy, Vampires are Holy, and Dark Elves are Holy, so that means humans are Unholy too!?" Hiro said in his weird mumbling voice. "This world makes no sense." He just shook his head in disbelief.

"You're confused, Chosen One. We will teach him more about this world as soon as possible," Ellianna says as she walks over to Hiro's side.

‘Pfft!... Best of luck to you, Ellianna.’ Ryan thought as he didn't believe anyone would be able to teach Hiro anything.

"Whatever, I'll learn as I go," Hiro said as he waved his hands dismissively.

Yoona sighs and stands up. "You're such an idiot, Hiro. It's unbefitting of a Chosen One to dismiss our teachings so lightly."

She then walks away towards the door. "I'll be retiring for the night. And you two better do the same. So, you can be well rested for your next trial."

Ryan then turns his attention to Hiro as he continues to mumble to himself with a grim look written on his face.

"Let's go, Hiro," Ryan said with a smile trying to help lighten the mood, for some reason.

Hiro was still staring at the ground. It looked like he was daydreaming about something. Occasionally, Hiro would move his body like he was beating up imaginary creatures or people.

'Goddammit... I hope he can ease up on his antics. Things are already difficult as is.' Ryan thought as a guard came up next to him.

Ellianna and a couple of guards escorted them back to their room. They walked down the hallway, then down a set of stairs until they finally arrived in front of the familiar door that led to their room. They walk inside and Ellianna stops then turns to look at Ryan.

"You and Hiro better rest for now. It's going to be a long... day for you two," She said in a coy tone. Then she nodded to the guards, and they left them alone.

Then Ellianna closes the door behind them and walks up to Ryan. "Get ready. We need to make sure you are prepared for tomorrow."

"W-What are you doing?" Ryan asked with confusion and fear.

"Don't worry, I'm here to make sure that you have a good night's rest. We can't have our Chosen Ones tired for tomorrow. It would displease, Lady Yoona if you're not prepared for the next trial," Ellianna says with a reassuring smile.

"We'll make sure not to disappoint Lady Yoona," Ryan said while trying to fake a smile. At the same time, he tried to mask how uncomfortable he was when Ellianna came in close to him. He could smell the faint scent of the perfume she was wearing. It had a floral aroma that was pleasing to the nose.

'Dammit. Now what?! This woman is too close for comfort and she wants to help prepare me for tomorrow. She better not get any funny ideas.' Ryan thought. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, but not from excitement, but rather, apprehension.

“Hehe... You're so, nervous? It’s like you've never been around a woman before.” Ellianna was playfully teasing Ryan. He didn’t know why she was coming onto him so strongly. Sure he was okay in the looks department. But she was on a whole different level than him. He couldn't see why someone like her would find him interesting.

But the thing that was bugging him the most was the fact he had a very pretty girlfriend back on Earth. She wasn't on Ellianna's level with her strikingly, gorgeous, blood-red eyes, petite nose, luscious lips, short blond hair, hourglass figure, big breasts, that defy gravity, nice round butt, and long, elegant, legs. A class S beauty that can turn any man into putty in her hands. And Ryan had a rule about women of her caliber flirting with a guy of his caliber, and it was simple. They wanted something from him that didn't have to do with him being an attractive male specimen. She was exploiting him for something, he was sure of it, but he couldn't figure out what. He didn't want to cheat on his girlfriend, but she was making it hard for him not to be tempted.

Ryan could feel sweat dripping down his brow as his mind raced. He knew he needed to calm down.

‘I’m flattered to get the attention of a beautiful woman, but what’s the catch?’ Ryan tried to put a little distance between him and Ellianna, but she wasn’t giving him the opportunity.

“Hey, why are you hanging with that loser baby,” Hiro said with a shit-eating grin. “You should get with your true hero.”

Ryan grimaced at Hiro’s cringy pickup line, while Ellianna paused for a moment. She showed a hint of disgust before she recovered.

‘Oh boy! Is she pissed?’ Ryan thought while trying to get a read on the elf.

She then turns to look at Hiro with sharp predator eyes and says, “Oh? There’s more than enough of me to go around, little boy.”

“L-Little BOY?” Hiro retorted with dissatisfaction. “I’m three times the man that Ryan could ever be!"

“Hmm, we’ll see about that,” Ellianna said while she turned her attention back to Ryan when her red eyes began to glow as she whispered some incantation for a second.

It was hard to describe but Ellianna multiplied right in front of their eyes. It took only a few seconds before there were six of her in their room.

‘I’m not sure what she’s planning to do to us. But I’m sure it’s not going to be good,’ Ryan swallowed once he noticed how dry his throat became upon witnessing the strange situation unfolding in front of him.