“My name is Conner,” The Gladiator player introduced himself, his hand extended to have a handshake with Vlad. “I’m glad we were able to find more players.”
Vlad stared at Conner’s hand, his face remaining neutral, yet inside, he couldn’t help but feel annoyed by him and the others. It was like their mere presence in front of Vlad bothered him. What was this feeling? For a moment, the vampire pushed the thought in the back of his mind as he reached over and shook Conner’s hand, attempting to make a good first impression.
“Ah, likewise,” He faked a smile. “My name is Vlad.”
The pair shook hands for a few moments before they finally let go. As they did, Vlad glanced over at the rest of Conner’s group, to see what he was dealing with. From the farthest right, there was a woman with long black hair, and wore a similar leather armor to Vlad’s, though she also had a green cloak to compliment the attire. If he had to guess, she was likely a Hunter. Vlad felt slightly jealous that he didn’t have a cloak, but he ignored his jealousy and focused back on the group.
Next to the Hunter woman was a short guy wearing a classic red magician robe while also wielding a magic staff with a curved top that was in the form of a hook. That one was obviously a mage-class player. The one in the middle wore all black and looked like your typical rogue or assassin. Vlad could even see its duel daggers strapped to its side, its main weapon for killing monsters.
As for the last one, it was a woman wearing light armor and wielded…a gun? Upon closer inspection, strapped to her side were two duel pistols. Judging from the rotating barrels, they were revolver guns. So, was this person a Gunner? A gunslinger? Was there even a class like that, or is she just an Archer that can use a gun?
Vlad continued to stare at the group for a few moments, which prompted some more panels to manifest in front of him in an instant. He was now seeing their stats.
[Conner Brown – Class: Swordsman – Level 15]
[Jessica Boyer – Class: Archer – Level 13]
[Richard Faust – Class: Mage – Level 13]
[James Conroy – Class: Rogue – Level 14]
[Ashley Porter – Class: Archer – Level 13]
He realized he could do this after talking to Flint while they were roaming around the city. Not only were players able to see the stats of monsters, but they could do the same for other players.
At first, he was terrified that other players were capable of appraising him, but thankfully, much like how Vlad was seeing the other players' stats, only their names, Classes, and levels were shown. Not their Race. This meant that Vlad’s vampire race wouldn’t be shown to them, so he didn’t have to worry about his identity being revealed.
As for the group…
This group was the literal embodiment of your typical RPG party. If it wasn’t for the fact that Vlad could only view them as blood bags due to how hungry he was, he would’ve chuckled at this sight. However, he simply remained impassive toward the group, not letting anything slip for them to see.
“So, what exactly are you guys doing here?” Vlad asked, a bit curious regarding the players’ sudden appearance.
“Ah, that,” Conner said. “We were sent out by our leader to patrol the area and wipe out any monsters we came across. That and also find any other players to take in. Like you!”
“Right…” Vlad nodded his head.
So, they were tasked with finding other players and bringing them to their base. That made things easier for Vlad since he could now find shelter and prepare for the Blood Moon. However, he still had issues with being in the presence of humans and or Players. Just being in front of these five was making his stomach agitated and hungry. If he didn’t get away from them, he feared that he’d lose control of his instincts and attack them.
“By the way, you said your name was Vlad, right?”
Vlad tilted his head at the question, expressing his confusion. “Yeah, why?”
Conner hesitated to answer as if he wasn’t sure if he should continue the conversation. As if he assumed something about Vlad, and wanted to confirm it.
“You…wouldn’t happen to be Vlad Stoker, would you?”
Hearing his full name from the player, Vlad became defensive. His face turned stern as he flexed his fingers, prepared to deliver a [Blood Strike] attack at a moment’s notice.
How did they know who he was? While pondering this, Conner noticed Vlad’s reaction and raised his hands in an attempt to keep the vampire from fighting them.
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“I-I only asked because your name sounded familiar,” He reasoned. “You see, there are some people we know that are looking for someone named Vlad. And I was curious if you happened to be him.”
Vlad’s eyes widened before he marched over to Conner. The other players were startled by this and readied their weapons as if a fight was about to occur. Instead, Vlad got close to Conner and placed his hands on the player’s shoulders.
“Are you talking about Chloe, Arthur, and Lucy?!” Vlad questioned intensely. “Are those the people you were talking about?!”
A bit relieved that Vlad wasn’t attacking him, Conner gave a slight sigh while smiling. “Y-yeah, I am. T-they’ve been looking for you ever since they got back to Earth after the Class Selection. So, for two days now.”
A wave of relief washed over Vlad as he finally managed to get a clue regarding the whereabouts of his friends. Since these guys know where they are, Conner and his group can guide Vlad back to their base, since that’s likely where they’ll be at the moment.
“So,” Conner spoke up, slowly backing away from Vlad. “Is it just you, or are there other players with you?”
Hearing this, Vlad is reminded that he had another person with him. That was Flint, who was still currently hiding in the diner nearby. He was so excited that he was getting close to his friends that he completely forgot about the other person he was with. If it weren’t for Conner mentioning Flint, he would’ve left the guy behind in pursuit of his friends.
“Ah, yeah, there’s another person with me. He’s in that diner over there, so I’ll get him and introduce you guys.”
“Oh, we’ll come with th-“
“No, you guys should stay here,” Vlad hastily stated. “My friend is…a bit shy. He ran into some players before, but they turned out to be criminals or delinquents causing a ruckus.”
Although Vlad said this, he was lying. Sure, Flint was a bit shy and meek, but that wasn’t the real reason why he was not letting the other players accompany him to go meet the mage. While talking to Conner, he took a look at his BP to see how low it was, and thanks to his previous attack that killed the two Orcs, he was below a hundred again. It was thanks to this that he was having a hard time controlling his vampiric instincts in front of humans.
So, while explaining the current situation to Flint regarding the other players, the vampire planned on recharging his BP with some human blood vials. He wanted to save the blood as much as he could, but it seemed that the situation wouldn’t let him.
Leaving the players behind, Vlad hastily made his way to the diner to talk to Flint. He took a glance behind him, noticing that none of them were moving and were staying in place, just like he wanted them to. Though, that in itself was somewhat suspicious. Regardless, once he got to the diner, he vaulted over the broken window and entered the building. Up ahead, thanks to [Blood Sense], Vlad could see Flint, who was currently cowering under a table.
It was like he was preparing for a tornado to hit or something. Just witnessing this sight made Vlad chuckle a little as he walked closer to Flint.
“Hey, man, I took care of the Orcs, so you can stop hiding.”
Flint poked his head out from the table in surprise and relief. “Y-you’re already done? Wasn’t there a level fifteen monster among them?”
“There was, but I managed to take it down. It was either that or let the other players take my kill.”
“W-wait, other players?!” The mage instantly shot up from the ground upon hearing this information. “W-where are they?”
Vlad raised his hands and tried to calm down Flint in his excitement. “Easy, man. They’re currently outside waiting for me to bring you out there to meet them. And from what I can tell, they seem to be good people, so there was nothing to worry about. At least for the moment.”
Vlad could tell from his conversation with Conner that he or the rest of his group weren’t a threat. He didn’t sense any malice from them, so at the moment, they were in the clear. Plus, if Conner knew about Chloe and his other friends, then that was an even better reason to trust them. Of course, if they were planning on hurting him and Flint, then Vlad knew what needed to be done to protect themselves.
“B-but wait, how come they're outside and not here? Isn’t it sa-?!”
Before Flint could finish his question, he abruptly paused as Vlad reached into his Hunter’s Pouch and pulled out two blood vials. The moment the mage saw the vials, he came to a realization and sighed. “Ah, right…”
Vlad said nothing to this comment, and simply pulled off the tops and instantly gulped the blood in an instant while also having more message panels appear in his face.
[Human Blood has been consumed! 70 Blood Points has been Obtained!]
[Skill [Hemophagia] has been activated! An extra 14 Blood Points has been obtained!]
[Human Blood has been consumed! 70 Blood Points has been Obtained!]
[Skill [Hemophagia] has been activated! An extra 14 Blood Points has been obtained!]
Vlad felt a bit satisfied after replenishing himself, but that didn’t last long after he checked his current stock of blood. He already only had five vials left. He wanted to take some blood bags with him, but not only would they get spoiled if he didn’t keep them refrigerated, but he also didn’t want to be seen walking about with blood bags. There was no excuse he could give to explain the situation except they were for people losing blood…only Vlad wasn’t going to give them away. If he kept draining the vials as he had been, he’d run out in no time and be forced to feed on monster blood to maintain his BP and hunger. Either that or…
He quickly shook his head, not even entertaining the thought of drinking the blood of other humans that weren’t in a vial. Flint noticed his facial expression and grew worried.
“A-are you going to be okay with your current stock of blood?” He asked nervously.
Vlad hesitated for a moment before answering. “Yeah…I think so. I just need to avoid using my skills like before. Thankfully, we had other players that could assist us in taking down the monsters.”
Despite what he said, Vlad still felt a bit hesitant to allow players to help them take down monsters. He could feel his greedy desire to kill all the monsters he saw and take their XP for himself, not wanting anyone else to get in his way. However, he pushed this feeling down deep within himself, making sure to keep it buried so it doesn’t become a problem in the future. The last thing he needed was acting like a greedy monster that hordes all the kills.
“Alright, let’s get you caught up by seeing the others,” Vlad declared, gently pushing Flint forward out of the Diner.
First, he gets Flint introduced to the rest of the group, and then…they get the hell out of there and find a base to take shelter in. That and Vlad will finally meet his friends after being gone for two days.