“You must be Flint,” Conner greeted the mage with a handshake. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“A-ah, yes, likewise…” Flint returned the shake while stuttering.

After Vlad guided Flint outside, Conner and the rest of his team stayed where they were. They didn’t even attempt to approach the diner even when the vampire and mage were talking inside before. Vlad made sure that they were alone thanks to [Blood Sense] and was still surprised to witness the group remain in the same spot the whole time. Honestly, he was waiting for the Rogue to try and spy on them, to see if they believed that the pair were enemies, yet they respected their privacy.

Although Vlad was relieved that they weren’t spied on, he found that action in itself suspicious. Were these guys just naïve or were they up to something? Sure, they found out that Vlad was acquainted with Chloe, Lucy, and Arthur, but they should still be suspicious of him. At least a little bit, right? These kinds of thoughts swarmed Vlad’s mind as he watched Flint introduce himself to the other players.

“Alright, then,” Conner spoke up. “Since we managed to find you two, we’ll take you back to our base and meet our leader. We need all the help we can get to prepare for this stupid blood moon situation.”

“Lead the way,” Vlad stated, allowing the players to guide them back to their shelter.

Once everyone was ready, Conner led the rest of the group through the ruined city and made their way to their base. While traversing through the streets, Conner’s group formed a defensive circle around them. All of the members except for Conner were part of the encirclement, doing their part in protecting the group from any danger that could come their way.

While within the circle, Vlad relaxed, seeing how he didn’t have to participate in the fight. Yet, he also felt anxious, since he also knew that he was going to leave fighting to the other players. Which meant…they would take his XP. Realizing this, the vampire could no longer feel at ease, and was now anxiously scanning the environment for enemies, pondering how he could steal the XP from the players without them noticing…

“So, how long have you two been roaming around the city?” Conner suddenly questioned Vlad and Flint, causing the pair to jolt.

“I’ve…only recently just got back to Earth,” Vlad confessed.

“Wait, seriously?” Hearing this, Conner spun around to look at Vlad, his face filled with surprise.

Glancing around, the other players were just as shocked, likely believing that all the players that survived the initial apocalypse returned moments after being transported away. And yet, they had encountered someone who had just recently returned.

“What caused you to take two days to get back to Earth?” Conner inquired. “Was the Class selection that difficult, or was there more to it?”

Vlad hesitated to answer. He wasn’t certain that he should give away all the information regarding his Fable Trials. There was also the part where he turned into a vampire. He couldn’t let that info slip unless he was prepared to get killed on the spot. How much could he tell the group? That was when it hit him…

“I…was given a special opportunity to obtain a Unique Class.”

“A unique class?” The Hunter woman suddenly chimed in the conversation, turning her head to the group to face them. “Those exist?”

Vlad casually shrugged his shoulders. “I managed to obtain one, so I guess so?”

This was the best he could do. Since he didn’t want to talk about his vampirism, his other option was to inform them about his unique Class, Blood Hunter. All he really had to tell them about the class was that he had to do some trials to obtain it; nothing more.

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“Was it difficult to get it?” The mage asked though he didn’t spin his head to face him like the Hunter.

“I had to do a couple of life-threatening trials that nearly got me killed, so yeah, it was definitely ‘difficult’.”

“Wow,” Conner whistled in amazement. “And here I thought all we had to do was choose some class we were offered and we could go back home. I’m honestly glad that I just got a normal class since I don’t have to go through what you did.”

“Yeah, trust me,” Vlad urged. “You don’t want to go through what I did.”

His mind went back to the hellish trials he endured. Each trial he was forced to do nearly killed him from the Ethereal hunters to even Cerberus itself. Then there was the fact that to complete the trials and go home, he was unwillingly turned into a vampire. And while his new abilities were quite useful in this newly apocalyptic world, there were still certain issues that he wished didn’t exist. Like his hunger for instance.

Just remembering all the hell he suffered through made him visibly angry. Whoever it was that did this to him, he planned on showing them his full “gratitude”. With his fists, that is.

That also posed another question. Why was Vlad chosen in the first place, anyway? It didn’t make a lot of sense. For normal players, all they had to do was select a class they were offered, and that was it. Then they receive a small tutorial where they test out their skills and such, and afterward, they’re teleported back to Earth.

But for Vlad, he had to go through a trial to gain the opportunity to select his class. In the back of his mind, the vampire believed that there was more to the trial than just the Unique Class selections. If anything, those Fables…seemed more like a process to turn Vlad into what he was now. A blood-sucking monster.

But why? What would be the point of turning Vlad into a vampire? What exactly was the purpose behind the trials?

“Anyway,” Vlad glanced at Conner, pushing aside any questions he barely had any answers for, and decided to focus on something more important. “Who exactly is your leader? Is it some Military Officer or something?”

Before actually meeting their leader, Vlad thought it would be a good idea to gather as much information about them. That way, he’d have a better grasp of the type of person he was going to meet. If Chloe and the others were following this guy, then they must trust him.

“Well, his name is Tyler Barron. He used to be a college student before the apocalypse started. Afterward, he returned to Earth as a player and soon started gathering other players to prepare for the Blood Moon Event. He managed to assemble over a hundred or so players during the first day along with finding us a base where we can set up our defenses. Without Tyler, we wouldn’t have made as much progress. He’s an amazing leader.”

“Tyler, huh…” Vlad mused over the information.

Why did that name sound familiar? Could it be someone that he knew?

“Hey, was Tyler a Student Council President or something?”

The Hunter glanced at Vlad while looking surprised. “Yeah, he was from what he told us. He said that he was working on some kind of student festival before the world got invaded by monsters.”

Well, that confirmed Vlad’s suspicions. This Tyler Barron was the same person who was student council president at his college. He actually met and talked to Tyler before, but aside from that, they weren’t that close. Still, a student from the same college was the current leader that he was meeting. What were the odds of that?

This also explained why his friends decided to team up with him since those three encountered him a couple of times on campus as well.

“Oh, it looks like we’re close!” Conner stated, pointing his finger ahead of us. “Look over there! That’s where our Base is.”

Following Conner’s finger, Vlad and Flint looked on and saw a large building up ahead. In front of the building was a massive parking lot with dozens upon dozens of mismatched cars, stacked on top of one another, forming a wall of vehicles, tall enough to keep anything below fifteen feet from vaulting over it. Each vehicle stacked was different than the other. Some were budgies, others were sports cars, and then there was a variety of different Truck brands. At the very top of the wall of automobiles were jagged razor wires; a countermeasure for any monsters or players desperate and or bold enough to attempt and climb over the wall.

And behind the wall was…a shopping mall?

Vlad's eyes weren’t deceiving him. Just over the vehicle fortification was a popular mall building that many people in the city would travel to, on a daily basis, to buy a multitude of items. Even Vlad has occasionally been to this mall with his friends, so he recognized the building instantly.

“Come on,” Conner declared while picking up the pace, marching his way over to the wall of cars as the rest of his group followed suit.

Because of this, The vampire and mage were forced to catch up, and they hastily made their trek toward the Mall Base. It was time to meet the leader and finally see his friends.