“Vlad?” Tyler called out to him. “What’s wrong?”
“…They’re in the warehouse.”
A hint of fear manifested on Tyler’s face as he slowly realized what Vlad was saying. His eyes trailed over to the warehouse, sweat beading down his face as he slightly trembled.
“Y-you mean…they’re in there with all the monsters inside?”
“…I’m afraid so.”
According to the distance panel that showed his friends and sister’s location, all three of his friends, Chloe, Arthur, and Lucy, were inside this very warehouse. The place where there was apparently a horde of monsters was also dwelling inside. It was one thing if there were only a few, but a nest-size horde of enemies was beyond what they were capable of.
Now that Vlad thought about since this place looked and felt like a monster nest…could it actually be one? It was a hasty thought, but for some reason, Vlad couldn’t help but believe that this warehouse was a genuine monster nest, the very thing that the system told the players about that would be involved in the Blood Moon event.
For the next five days, monsters would gather together and form a nest, building their numbers for the big day that was the Blood Moon. And during that time, the system would give players a quest to find and take down the nests to lighten the difficulty of the Event. The only problem with Vlad’s theory regarding this was the system itself. None of the players received a quest regarding a monster nest extermination. If they had, then Chloe, Arthur, and Lucy wouldn’t have been the only players to do this quest.
Which meant one of two things. The first one being that although this warehouse had a lot of monsters, it wasn’t a nest, thus, the system wouldn’t inform the players of the place. As for the second one…Vlad feared the possibility of what that was.
Vlad kept his eyes trained on the warehouse. “Tyler, I think it would be best for you to head back to your base.”
The knight leader whipped his head to face Vlad while looking offended. “You’re seriously telling me to run when the people I trust are in danger?”
Tyler’s outburst was valid. Vlad could tell that he was a kind and generous leader, putting his trust in others and would do whatever it took to protect them. However, the reason why he was telling the leader to leave was different than he thought.
“With so many monsters inside the building, just the two of us wouldn’t work. We need more players to help out and raid this building. That’s why you need to head back and gather some players to assist us. Otherwise, our chances of leaving the building alive will be zero.”
Tyler hesitated once he heard this. He tried to make a rebuttal, but couldn’t come up with anything. He bit his lip in frustration, conflicted with his options. Vlad noticed this before turning to face the leader.
“Listen,” he sternly said. “This building has the potential of being a monster nest, the very thing that will be involved in the Blood Moon event. In a situation like this, we need to be smart and do whatever we can to get rid of the nest, and we can’t do that without more players. So, get your ass moving, and head back to the base to gather as many players as you can, alright?”
Tyler was startled by Vlad’s blunt approach to persuading him, but he slowly shifted gears, realizing the gravity of the situation as he wore a stern expression and gave the vampire a firm nod.
“Yeah, you’re right…” He admitted. “If this is a nest, then we need more players. But what are you going to do? You’re not planning on going in there on your own, are you?”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Vlad turned back to the warehouse, his expression remaining neutral. “I have a skill that can allow me to sneak around undetected. I can go in there and look around while also searching for friends and whoever else is with them.”
With his [Stealth] skill, sneaking into the building won’t be much of an issue for Vlad. He did need to find a place to get inside other than the front door. There were likely guards near it, and he’d get caught the moment he passed through the entrance. Because of the number of monsters inside, he had to play this smart.
“You should get going,” He told Tyler. “The faster you get the players, the faster and easier it will be to raid this building.”
“Right,” Tyler nodded before turning his back to Vlad, ready to depart. “Try to stay alive until I get back. The same goes for the others…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll do what I can.”
Without saying anything else, Tyler kicked off the ground and sprinted away, rushing back to the mall. He didn’t even turn around to take one last look at Vlad before he left, but that didn’t bother the Blood Hunter all that much.
Once the Knight Leader was gone, Vlad focused on scanning the warehouse. He eyed the place up and down, using his [Blood Sense] skill, and tried to look for a blind spot that didn’t have any red silhouettes. Starting off with the first floor, the entire place was completely red to the point that it was blinding. The second floor was no better, so Vlad moved on to the third floor. The third level was a little lighter in terms of monsters, several parts he managed to see from outside were very much clear of them, but when he glanced at the entrances that he could use to get to the floor, they were unfortunately highlighted red.
The vampire clicked his tongue before moving on to the final floor, making a slight prayer that one of the entrances was clear of monsters. The moment he laid eyes on one of the windows, his lips peeled back, revealing a toothy grin. There was an entrance free of monsters, allowing him to safely enter the building.
With his goal in sight, Vlad pondered over how he was supposed to get up there before remembering one of his skills that could assist him. [Blood Dash] allowed him to move around as blood in an instant. All he needed to do was get close to the window and activate the skill to get inside. Once his objective was clear, he rubbed his hands together while taking a couple of steps back, putting a little distance between them.
Taking a deep breath, Vlad then rushed at the wall before leaping toward it. Getting close, Vlad clung to the brick wall, easily digging his fingers into the red block as if it were made of putty. Pouring some power into his arm, he pulled himself up, making his way to the window. Once he leaped up the wall, he instantly activated [Blood Dash], hurling himself through the window. His entire view was tinted red as he watched himself zoom toward the entrance, easily getting inside in an instant.
Making it inside the warehouse, Vlad scanned his surroundings, making sure that the coast was clear. The entire area was dark with barely any light except the natural illumination from outside. From what he could roughly make out in the dark, there were a lot of racks that contacted sheets of metal among a variety of other metal objects like poles and rebar. Thankfully, there were no enemies.
Before he could scope out the floor a little more, a sudden message panel manifested in front of him.
[Warning! You have entered an Underdeveloped Monster Nest!]
[Yggdrasil System is now recalibrating changes regarding Monster Nest Quests!]
[Recalibrations are complete! New Quest has been created!]
[Side Quest – “Underdeveloped Monster Nest” – You managed to come across a Monster nest that hasn’t been fully developed yet! Lucky you! Since you were able to locate one, your goal is to now exterminate the nest, including the Monster Boss that resides within it! Until Quest is complete, players are not allowed to leave the area or send out any message to call out for help.
Reward – [Rare Item], [Extra XP]
[Side Quest – “Save your friends!” – You found your friends, but none of you are out of the clear yet. To leave this building alive, you must locate and protect your friends from danger and safely get them out of the warehouse!
Reward – [Uncommon Item], [Extra XP]
Vlad’s eyes widen at the sudden stream of messages. What’s worse was that he was afraid that this would happen.
Aside from the warehouse having a lot of monsters, Vlad also suspected that this warehouse was an underdeveloped Monster Nest. And the message panels floating in front of him gave him all the proof he needed to confirm his suspicion. Though, in the back of his mind, he wished that he was wrong. Especially about the part where he couldn't leave the warehouse until he completed the quest.
As the vampire let out a heavy sigh, he muttered only one word that explained how he was feeling.
“Give me a break, dammit…”