Having turned into a dhampir Zero used his chaos transfiguration skill to hide his vampiric traits. What he found out is that when he used the skill to disguise himself as a human his stats lowered to match those of a normal human. This was quite fortunate as he wouldn't have to go about his daily life trying to control his strength every waking moment. He would learn to control his strength over time but for now, he was glad.
Today was a weekend and Soma came to visit Hakuba Shrine and see Mina. Although he came he had missed her as she had gone out earlier on an errand for her father. Soma then asked Zero to take a walk with him to kill some time until Mina returned.
As they walked there was a tense feeling in the air. It seemed like Soma had something to say but was unable to say it. They continued to walk for about 30 more minutes before he blurted it out. "I'm going out with Mina and I'm sorry I didn't tell you until now!" Soma had apparently felt like he betrayed his friend by not telling him this secret.
"Yeah, I know. I'm glad for the both of you and I wish for the two of you to be happy." said Zero with a smile
"You knew! How did you know?" asked Soma
"Well it's pretty obvious and I'm sure even uncle Yuto knows too. Although you might want to tell him face to face today." said Zero advising his friend
"Ah, I can't believe everyone knows! I was such a wreck just trying to figure out how to tell you." Said Soma as he crouched down and held his head. He had been agonizing over this for a day and had practiced how to break the news. However, when the time came he became too nervous and couldn't find the right words.
"It's okay you two make a cute couple I guarantee it. So when's the wedding?" said Zero trying to cheer up his friend
"Hey stop making fun of me. Rather than that when will you get a girlfriend?" asked Soma
"Do I need one?" asked a surprised Zero
"Well no but it's nice to have someone to share your life with." said Soma
"I already do that with my family so it's fine." responded Zero
"That's different. At some point in life people go out and create our own families with someone that they love." said Soma
"So I need to find some to love and one day become a family with them?" asked Zero
"Yeah in the future. Are you interested in anyone?" asked Soma
"The only interesting person at that school is Mrs. Yoko Belnades." answered Zero not knowing that Soma was asking in a romantic sense. This caused Soma to stop walk and stare at his friend.
"You know that she's our teacher and that she's 7 years older than us?" asked Soma
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"Yeah what does that have to do with anything?" asked Zero in response. 'Although technically she's 24 years older than me not 7.' Zero corrected Soma in his mind.
"So long as you are aware of the difficulties that will show ahead." said Soma as they continued to walk back to the shrine. Arriving Soma went straight to Mina's Father Yuto and let him know that he wants to officially date his daughter. Yuto agreed on the condition that he did not hurt Mina or that he would kill him and make sure his soul wondered this world forever.
Soma was asked by Mina to join them for dinner and he said yes. The atmosphere was a bit awkward at the beginning but as they started eating and talking it started to loosen up. It turned out that this was the first time Soma had eaten Mina's home cooking. As they were finishing up dinner Zero received a notification that he had been wait for since he arrived in this world 4 months ago.
SKILL POWER OF DOMINANCE GAINED
DUE TO INCOMPATIBILITY SKILLS WILL BE RECONSTRUCTED TO FIT THE USER'S SOUL WAVELENGTH
SUCCESS SKILL RECONSTRUCTED
SKILL SOUL MONARCH DERIVED FROM SKILL POWER DOMINANCE
SOUL MONARCH: A SKILL DERIVED FROM DRACULA'S SOUL ABSORPTION ABILITY. THE ABILITY OF A KING WHO RULES OVER SOULS. THIS ABILITY LETS THE USER CONSUME AND ABSORB THE SOULS OF THE DEFEATED AND USE THEIR POWERS AS THEIR OWN.
THE SOULS CAN BE USED IN FOUR WAYS.
ABILITY GAIN: CONSUME THE DEFEATED SOUL TO GAIN THEIR SKILLS
KNOWLEDGE GAIN: CONSUME THE DEFEATED SOUL TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE OF SPELLS AND TECHNIQUES ALONG WITH THEIR MEMORIES
STAT GAIN: CONSUME THE DEFEATED SOUL TO ADD THEIR STATS TO YOURS
STRENGTHEN SOUL RANK: CONSUME THE DEFEATED SOUL TO INCREASE YOUR SOUL RANK
'This is better than Power of Dominance. System start copying of the other skill I need from him.' thought Zero
UNDERSTOOD BEGINNING PROCESS
SKILL COPY DURATION 6 MONTHS
'Well I expected it but I had hoped that because of my skill getting stronger it might not take as long. Since I've got the skill now it's time to test it.'
As night fell and the two humans fell asleep Zero snuck out of the house. Once outside he released his chaos transfiguration and his skin became slightly whiter and his canines grew longer. 'System track that vampire from last time.' Zero wanted a guinea pig to test his power on.
Follow the tracking direction Zero found himself back in an alley in the city. Last time he was too weak and had to avoid getting seen but this time there was no need for that. He walked down the alley and came across a man attacking a new victim. The vampire Zack Inés turned and faced Zero while sneering. "A dhampir what are the chances of running into a weak filthy half breed here." said Zack as he dropped the half-dead woman onto the floor
"Well haven't you heard to never judge a book by its cover." Said Zero while smiling coldly
Zack moved to attack Zero without responding with his claws that he gains through the use of the shapeshifting skill. Zero waited until the last second to dodge as to fool Zack into believing that he could barely keep up with his speed. "Looks like you're not as weak as I thought kid." said Zack
Zack rushed Zero again but this time after Zero dodged he pulled out a gun and shot him in the leg. Zero could have dodged the bullet but he allowed it to hit him to test his endurance for the future. The bullet penetrated his skin and lodged into his leg. The bullet was pushed out but the wound didn't heal as he would need blood to trigger his healing. Zack now overconfident approached Zero while laughing manically. He now stood in front of the kneeling Zero and raises his claws to end this battle.
As Zack was about to deliver the final blow Zero disappeared and he began to look around for him. Moments later a clawed hand pierced through Zack's chest and was holding his heart. His beating heart crushed by the clawed hand was the last sight he saw before he died.
As Zero dropped the crushed heart and pulled out his hand the vampire Zack dropped like a sack of potatoes. Afterwards a black orb floated out of the body and headed directly into Zero's hand. As he stared at the orb he thought about eating it then a purple aura flowed from his body and consumed it and a system notification appeared.
LESSER VAMPIRE SOUL CONSUMED CHOOSE
ABILITY GAIN: UPGRADE PASSIVE SKILL DHAMPIR RAPID HEALING INTO SKILL LESSER VAMPIRE REGENERATION
LESSER VAMPIRE REGENERATION: GAIN THE ABILITY TO SLOWLY REGENERATE WOUNDS AND MISSING LIMBS
KNOWLEDGE GAIN: NO SPELLS ARE GAINED AT THIS TIME BUT WILL GAIN MEMORIES OF THE VICTIM
STAT GAIN: INCREASE STRENGTH: +72, SPEED: +68, MAGIC ENERGY: +800, VITALITY: +1,000
STRENGTHEN SOUL RANK: UPGRADE SOUL RANK FROM F+ TO E-
'Ability Gain'
UPGRADING PASSIVE SKILL DHAMPIR RAPID HEALING INTO SKILL LESSER VAMPIRE REGENERATION
COMPLETE
'That's good now I can heal from wound faster. The dhampir healing only stops me from bleeding it doesn't regenerate new skin.' thought Zero as he walked to the half-dead woman. He remembered that vampire blood is said to be able to heal wounds and this was the perfect time to experiment.
He pricked his finger on his canine tooth and dropped two drops of blood into the woman's mouth. The woman slowly opened her eye and scream as she saw Zack's dead body. Zero look into her eyes and commanded her to stop screaming, forget what happened today, and go home. Looks like his blood can be used to heal people if he needs them to live.
'Although I didn't get enough practice. System find me more creatures of the night to hunt' ordered Zero as he walked down the dark alley.