After the vampire left, Ryzen claimed a mat in the corner and largely ignored his fellow students who were frantically chatting with each other. He had a few people try to approach him but each time he gave vague responses giving them the hint that he wanted to be left alone. He didn’t have much interest in wasting time talking with people.

Ryzen quickly brought up his status and took some time to study it deeply.

Ryzen Litfield

Race: Otherworlder

Class: Shadow Soldier

Level: 1

Hp: 30

Mp: 100

Strength: 6

Dexterity: 8

Agility: 10

Vitality: 6

Endurance: 4

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 9

Skills:

Disguise: 1

He didn’t feel much of a change when he saw it for the first time so he assumed that these were his inherent stats. Also, it seemed like his Hp was multiplied by a factor of five and his Mp by ten. This left him with thirty Hp and one hundred Mp which didn’t seem like a lot but Ryzen didn’t want to assume anything. He didn’t know this world's standards and didn’t want to risk anything.

There was also the matter of his skill and the class he had. Ryzen knew that most other people didn’t have classes yet. He wasn’t sure why he and perhaps a few others came in with them. He wanted to see if anyone else had a class but Ryzen had no doubt that the people who did were no longer alive. He had just happened to get the perfect situation to allow him to live.

“Hey, are you alright?” a petite voice interrupted Ryzen’s thoughts.

Ryzen frowned as he came face to face with a rather cute black-haired girl. Still, Ryzen’s frown remained true as a slight feeling of discomfort came about him. If Ryzen remembered correctly, this girl’s name was Analith. The only reason he even knew of her was because she introduced herself to everyone in the class. He remembered giving her a few words to satisfy her greeting and was thankful when she walked over to the next student.

“I’m fine,” Ryzen muttered, hoping that she would accept his answer.

Unfortunately, Analith clearly didn’t as she stared back with a frown. “Well, I just wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help. We may be in a shitty situation but that doesn’t mean we can’t still make the best of it!”

“Thanks, but I really am ok.” Ryzen had no intention of sharing his feelings or his thoughts with this girl. Despite her outward kindness, he really didn’t like her much.

“Well… Okay.” Analith continued to frown at Ryzen but he ignored it until she finally walked away and engaged with somebody else.

Truthfully, Ryzen was not okay at all. Yes, he had remained calm and calculating but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t feeling anything. Currently, he wanted to punch a hole in the stupid wall and force those damn vampires to send him back home. He wanted to see his family and tell them he loved them. Yet, he knew that such a thing would be impossible for him.

“What are you doing!” Analith screamed, snapping Ryzen out of his thoughts.

“I’m telling you guys, there isn’t even a single guard out there! The exit to this shitty room is wide open! These shitty vampires are dumber than a rock. I’m getting out of here!” One of the students sprinted towards the exit.

Ryzen sighed as he watched the man run to his death. He was well aware that there wasn’t a door locking them in here and he instantly knew why. The vampires didn’t need it.

After a few minutes of complete silence, a wailing scream could be heard in the distance, no doubt sourcing from the student who ran off.

Not even a second later a shadow went by everyone’s head and a dried corpse slammed into the back wall of the room. The vampire who had caught him had simply chucked him back in here from who knows where. Their strength was truly invincible.

Another round of screams pierced the air as the surrounding students frantically moved away from the body. Ryzen simply stayed where he was, unphased.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Analith seemed to be trying her best to get the mood back up, although she seemed affected as her face was much paler than usual. After a couple of minutes, everyone seemed to calm down and loud whispers filled the air. Ryzen went back to thinking about his status and eventually his thoughts went to his family.

He was blessed to have a fully functional one, with a mother, father, and a little sister. Unlike many other modern couples, his parents managed to stay together and with little arguments at that. Although he didn’t show it, he was thankful for them daily. There weren’t many that Ryzen cherished and even fewer that he loved so naturally his family meant everything to him. He swore that he would get back to them no matter what. He couldn’t imagine the amount of pain his mother would be going through with him missing. It was nearly unfathomable.

After a few hours of thinking, the room became dead silent as the permeating sound of footsteps approached. A few moments later, a vampire emerged with a grin on his face.

“Everyone line up. It’s feeding time.” The vampire motioned for everyone to start behind him and no one dared to disobey. The vampires had made it exceedingly clear that everyone was but a plaything to them.

Ryzen once again managed to get in the back of the line and silently started moving with the line. The vampire led them through various tunnels ranging from tight to rather large. Despite this crude living space, it was clear that the vampires didn’t live too badly. Some of the caverns had spaces the size of a football stadium and Ryzen was convinced they had only explored a small part of them.

Soon, the vampire led them into a crowded dining room filled with vampires. As soon as they entered, nearly all of the vampires turned to them with greedy eyes. The vampire leading them ensured that everyone lined up as if they were being sold as slaves and soon left.

Moments later, vampires soon crowded around them and started bickering with each other. It seemed they were arguing over who got who. Gradually, each of them began to choose. Some students were instantly bitten as soon as they were chosen while others were taken somewhere else.

The idea of being bitten and used as food deeply annoyed Ryzen. He wasn’t such a fool as to resist; however, his pride certainly gave him some foolhardy ideas. Unfortunately, they were unlikely to ever happen in the way he imagined.

A sickly hand tightly grabbed Ryzen’s shoulder, promptly ripping him from the line. He then felt himself being dragged away from the dining room and entered into a dark hall.

“Ooooh, you look sooooo goood. I am going to enjoy this!” a crazed voice said sending shivers down Ryzen’s spine.

As Ryzen continued to be dragged around, a sharp voice caused the vampire doing so to snap his head.

“Hey there, Menoth. You got what you owe us?” the leader of a trio of vampires spoke.

“Oh… uh Keran. J-Just give me one more day? After that-” Menoth quickly tried to draw a knife but was rapidly slammed down so fast that Ryzen couldn’t even comprehend how it had happened.

“I’m tired of your shit you fucking cockroach,” the attacker roared as he pulled his fist back for another punch.

Menoth tried to fight back but was quickly pinned down by the two lackeys. Suddenly, another large boom shook the tunnel as the leader slammed his fist into Menoth with the force of a truck.

Menoth moaned in pain as the leader scoffed and walked away. “You have one more day before I rip your heart out and take everything you own by force.”

One of the lackeys longingly stared at Ryzen but the other one just shook their head.

“Resist, Cheroth, you know it is forbidden.” Cheroth scowled at the words but reluctantly stood up and followed their leader out.

Ryzen shakily got up and looked around cautiously. The mangled Menoth came into his sight and he nearly grimaced at the sight. His arms were twisted in odd ways and his body seemed to be warped. All in all, Menoth looked like he shouldn’t be alive with how badly he was beaten up. Yet, he was still breathing strongly and the vampire who left him in this condition seemed to expect Menoth to be just fine.

Ryzen sighed and turned to leave but a glint of metal entered the peripheral of his vision. The knife that Menoth had tried to fight back with was currently sitting at the side of the tunnel and the limited light that dimly lit the tunnel allowed Ryzen to see it.

He quickly stopped in his tracks and stared at it for a couple of seconds. He looked back at Menoth to find him groaning in pain and seemingly unable to even move. Ryzen looked back towards the knife and slowly moved down to grab it. As soon as he did, he felt a wave of power wash over him and he nearly gasped.

Blood Knife (Common)

A knife forged by the power of blood.

+5 strength

Ryzen nearly doubled his strength with this weapon. This may not have been a lot in the grand scheme of things but was certainly a huge increase for someone at such low strength. He once again glanced at Menoth who seemed to be visibly improving by the second. He was still in horrible condition but his breathing seemed to be stabilizing and the dent in his chest seemed slightly less detrimental.

Ryzen took a step forward. He knew that this may be the only opportunity he may ever get to do something like this. The situation was almost too perfect to be real. Despite this, he wasn’t without doubts. He wasn’t even sure he would level up from something like this. He just assumed he would because of books and TV shows. Hell, he already knew that vampires were different from how his world viewed them why wouldn’t the leveling system be?

Ryzen shook his head and took another step forward. He hated doing it but he had to take risks. There was no other way. He refused to live the rest of his life as food and if it meant having to kill then he would do so.

He tightened the grip on the dagger and stared at Menoth’s heart. Ryzen wasn’t exactly sure how resilient the vampires were but one thing seemed to line up in his head. Their weakness was their heart. He wasn’t one hundred percent on this but the earlier vampire’s words about tearing out Menoth’s heart led him to believe he was right.

Ryzen held his breath and readied himself. Despite his calm demeanor, he was actually quite conflicted inside. He knew what he had to do but he was still reluctant to do it. It would be difficult to kill a sentient being for the first time, no matter the reason. However, Ryzen’s resolve was strong and he now calmly walked towards Menoth.

Menoth soon realized what was happening and weakly growled, “The hell do you think you’re doing? Do you realize what I am? I can kill you with or without moving!”

Ryzen continued to walk towards him without hesitation. He was positive Menoth was bluffing as he showed no such skill against the other vampire. It was possible he simply hadn’t had a chance to show it but if that were true, Ryzen wasn’t sure he would still be alive.

“Did you not hear me rat! I said I’ll kill you!” Menoth said with a hint of panic in his voice.

Still, Ryzen moved, now with confidence in his steps. He was now sure that the vampire was bluffing otherwise he wouldn’t have been worried. Ryzen stepped over the vampire and slowly brought the knife up to stab him.

“Stop! You fucking mongrel! I’ll kill you!” Menoth screamed as his body twitched.

Ryzen ignored him and steeled himself for what he was about to do next. Then, without warning he slammed the knife as hard as he could Menoth’s heart.