And so, I received my class.

[Vampire Lord] read the helpful blue screen.

Role: Support/Guardian/Damage Dealer.

Job Rating: Five-stars. S-class.

Rarity: Mythical.

Leveling potential: 100+

[Would you like to accept your Job?]

“Why, yes, I believe I would,” I said with a delighted smile.

A mythical level of rarity, was it? Well, that made sense. I didn’t want to sound arrogant or anything, fate forbid I should be too pleased with what I’d been given, but I think we all know that in comparison to all the other monumentally less interesting beings currently cluttering up creation, vampires were life's obvious winners. There was no need to go into great detail about why that was so. It was an obvious truth.

Yes, the fact that my title would be unobtainable to the vast majority of the soon-to-be envious masses felt only right. Why wouldn't it? That's the sort of satisfaction that comes with being a born winner.

All the other descriptions didn’t really mean much to me, but I’m sure they were wonderful as well.

“I apologize for not being able to restore you to the level of power you enjoyed in your previous life,” the Alpha Administrator said. “But by leveling regularly and using the skill selection option that will unlock for you at level ten, you’ll quickly be able to regain everything you lost. There’ll be no need to wait another thousand years to become a notorious threat to humanity!”

“Now, why would I do that?” I grinned. “I’m a human being myself, now. Why resort needlessly to old habits?”

Yes, this was the aspect of my new life I believe I would enjoy the most. “Vampire Lord” was my class title now. Not my race. That meant that despite having all the perks that came with the role, such as enhanced strength, speed, vision and hearing, I could bypass all its infamous weaknesses simply by deactivating the title. No more fearing holy symbols or dreading the light of day. I could take walks on a sunny afternoon and drink consecrated water from a wine glass if I felt like it.

I was now free from the chains of darkness. Forever.

It really did feel like a win.

I know I didn’t deserve such a wonderful gift. If anything, I should have been locked in a silver lined coffin and left to rot at the bottom of an ocean. But what we deserve in life isn’t always what we receive. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. In this case, something good happened to a monster. All we can do is accept it and move on. Such are the vagaries of fate.

Speaking of fate, there was one more twist to this rollicking little tale.

“So, this was the weapon that destroyed me?” I asked as I gestured toward my spear. “It looks nothing like what that woman, Sophia was wielding. And yet…as soon as my hand closed upon it, I felt such an overwhelming sensation of familiarity.”

“That is indeed the replica spear of dawn,” said the Administrator. “It would appear that the two of you are now joined at the hip.”

“How?” I wondered. “Shouldn’t it have been destroyed by the detonation?”

“That spear is crafted from divinely wrought materials and is also ensouled. Destroying it outright might be physically impossible.”

“Ensouled, you say? You mean this thing is somehow alive?” I asked.

“As strange as that may sound, yes. The process of creating such powerful weaponry involves the use of a heroic soul being voluntarily bonded to a new form to continue aiding in the struggle against evil. It’s an honor bestowed upon only the most deserving and dedicated champions of the past.”

“An honor, eh?” I said with a sly little grin as I closely examined the spear. “Perhaps not so much anymore, though. Hmm? But that naturally begs a question; if this spear was created in this world, then how did it wind up in my old home, killing me?”

“A mystery I resolve to seek an answer for,” the Administrator promised. “In the meanwhile, are you certain you wish to keep it? It could become dangerous for you if someone were to recognize it for what it truly is.”

“I think I will,” I decided. “Why part ways after a single night’s company? We’ve hardly begun to learn about each other.”

“Very droll, Lord Stragos. But do be careful. I’m afraid the intelligence that dwells within the spear has become very resentful of you.”

“Of course, it has,” I said ruefully. “Why should it be any different from anyone else in my life?”

“I’m on your side, Lord Stragos. Know that I’ll be cheering you on from above,” proclaimed the Administrator. “But for now, I must return to my many duties. I hope you understand.”

“I do and I appreciate your candor,” I said, sad that our brief time together was now concluding. “Will we ever speak again?”

“We will! And sooner than you think,” she assured me. “You need only survive this dungeon. Either defeat the lord of this place or find another means of escape. Do that and I promise to try and explain everything.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“If that’s the case, then your challenge is accepted,” I said with a flourish of my spear as I bowed. “You may look forward to my victory.”

“You really are too much, Lord Stragos,” she said fondly as her voice faded away. “Oh, I forgot to mention I included a little bonus with your class. I think you’ll find it quite enjoyable. Stay safe for now! I look forward to our next conversation.”

“And I look forward to learning your real name,” I said. But there was no response. The spear and I were now alone.

“Seems as though it’s just the two of us, now. What do you say to us getting along?” I asked it amicably.

The spear began vibrating menacingly in my hands after I spoke. It did so with such force that I nearly jabbed myself with it. “Stop that,” I said in annoyance. “You’re only embarrassing yourself.”

In response, the spear began to shake even harder. The motion was so powerful that gripping it soon began to feel painful. “I said to stop that,” I said sternly. “Making your master repeat himself is beyond childish. Your actions will only harm yourself in the end.”

Now the spear was thrumming with such violent power that I nearly struck my own face. I’d had enough of this willful behavior. “Fine, have it your way,” I said. “As your master, I forbid you from utilizing your free will until I say otherwise. Now obey.”

Suddenly the spear grew perfectly still. I felt a powerful sense of confusion emanating from it, which in turn fueled my mockery. “Oh, you’re wondering how that happened, aren’t you? How do you think I corrupted you to begin with, you silly thing?”

A flash of deep resentment was sent towards me; I had to roll my eyes at the sheer drama of it all before continuing.

“Think about it. In the moments before I died, you were immersed in my blood as I was feeding off your mana. Don’t you know? That is a very similar process to transforming someone into a vampire. Which makes you no different from any of my other progeny. As the one who gifted you with vampirism, you’re welcome by the way, that means you have no right to refuse any command I give you. I urge you to quickly adjust to your new circumstances. We’ll be having no more of your little tantrums today.”

The spear sent a final surge of hateful resentment toward me before falling into sullen silence. I nodded, amused by its impetuous personality. “Whatever you say, my friend. We’ll talk later.”

__

Making my way through the goblin lair was much easier now that I had access to my vampiric form. Although thanks to the loss of my many powers it was hardly stronger than my human self, it still carried with it several key advantages. One of them was perfect night vision. I needn’t worry about stumbling in the dark or walking into a trap.

The other was undeath. As my vampiric self, no wound that would have killed a mortal being could truly harm me. So long as I had access to blood, I could recover from any injury in moments. I could also move in perfect silence because I didn’t need to breathe, making it easy to ambush my prey…which there was surprisingly little of.

There were many lifeless goblin bodies scattered throughout these ruins. The few living ones that I came across were dispatched easily enough, allowing me to reach level two, but the fact remained that they were outnumbered by their dead. Someone else was in this dungeon, killing them. A group of them.

The Administrator explained to me earlier that this dungeon was a place that existed inside a dimensional anomaly known as a fracture. A sort of portal to another world that existed temporarily. It could only be entered by a handful of people at a time. No more than five. It would last until the one who ruled this place was defeated, then it would cease to exist after a day had passed. One of the chief duties of ascended beings, or hunters as they were commonly known, was to seal these fractures wherever they appeared to prevent monsters from spilling forth from them and attacking the earth.

It sounded like a lot of work.

The thing that was bothering me about the presence of a team of hunters being here was the fact that the previous owner of my body, Mr. Kyler Evans, had been murdered here. I say murdered, and not killed, because it was obvious none of the goblins here had committed the deed. Everything I’d seen of those miserable creatures suggested they were far messier with how they went about things.

By which I mean that after killing me, they would have immediately eaten my body. Or done other things to it, which I choose not to dwell on. That meant I’d been killed by someone other than them. And the only other people that were here were the hunters. Kyler Evans must have been their porter.

Which means that for whatever reason, they decided to kill him, strip him naked, and leave his corpse behind.

That was all a little disrespectful, wasn’t it?

This was problematic for a few reasons. The first was that other than coincidentally sharing his name and inheriting his body, I didn’t have any of the other Kyler’s memories. Which meant I had no idea why his allies had decided to dispose of him. That meant that thinking of him as a victim wouldn’t necessarily be correct.

He may have had it coming. He could have been a bad person.

He wouldn’t have been the first Kyler to go wrong in life, now, would he?

The second problem was that they believed Evans was dead. If he turned up alive and perfectly sound of body, that would raise more than a few questions. It might even spur them to make a second attempt on his life, which would be bad. These wouldn’t be ordinary humans. They’d be experienced warriors wielding powers that were unknown to me. I couldn’t just haphazardly take them on, not without more information.

This left me with fewer options than I’d like. I had not the slightest interest in avenging Kyler Evan’s death. He was gone now, and he had taken his memories with him. I had no impetus to seek justice on his behalf nor any desire to. What would be the point of make his killers my enemies? If anything, I’d benefited from their misdeed. In a strange sort of way, that meant I was indebted to them.

But even so, if they became hostile towards me, I wouldn’t have a choice in the matter. If I could convince them I had no memory of what had occurred, perhaps they’d back off. If not, then what choice was there other than to kill them?

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Fortunately for me, luck was on my side when the outcome was eventually determined. There was an outside factor I hadn’t even considered while trying to decide what I should do. And that was the dungeon lord himself. As I neared what I presumed to be his lair I heard the terrible sound of screaming coming from a short distance away.

“Please! Please, please, pleeeease!” I heard a man’s voice beg, followed by a deep voice grunting in cruel laughter and more screams, These in turn were followed by wet snapping sounds and the unmistakable scent of fresh blood.

I quickly pushed the massive stone door open and stepped inside. Before me, I saw a young woman in armor, huddled against a wall, staring forward with wide unfocused eyes, with a small line of drool trickling down her lower lip.

I’d seen expressions like that before.

It was the sight of a shattered human mind that had seen too much, too soon.

As to what the sight was that had broken her had been, well, it might have had something to do with the pieces of her companion decorating everything around us.

Everything.

Not pleasant. Not pleasant at all. And yet…if you really think about it, wasn’t this wonderfully convenient? I mean, yes, what happened to that girl’s mind is clearly terrible, oh bless this poor child and her friends, how awful, how truly, truly, awful, oh why do the young have to suffer so much in this cruel and unjust world?

Buuuut, if you were to look on the bright side, which I could do now since I could walk in the sun, you could say that I’d just been given a real opportunity for personal renewal here. And it wasn’t as though these kids had been completely innocent, right? Sometimes you got away with your misdeeds and other times you got devoured alive by monsters.

Hey, let’s hear it for the monsters, everyone.