“What a nice woman you got there kid. I believe I will be taking her,” the man groping Enancia whistled.

She was glaring at the man holding her; however, she made no move to get free. Ryzen was wondering if she was acting or if she really was just that weak. Either way, Ryzen was not intimidated by these punks and was more so astonished they would even try this. This inn didn’t give the impression of being cheap.

Actually, Ryzen noticed the men in front of him didn’t just look like thugs. They both had expensive-looking armor and had an aura of confidence surrounding them. They were used to doing stuff like this.

“Let go of her,” Ryzen hissed as he stood up from the table.

The man besides the person groping Enancia stepped in front of him and put his hand on the sword as his waist. “Unfortunately for you, Sir Nerlic has decided that he will be taking this young woman for himself. Resisting will only be met with death.”

Ryzen caught Enancia’s desperate eyes looking his way and he sighed. He had a few ways of going about this but ultimately he knew there was only one real option. He could grab Enancia, take her into his shadow, and run. However, Ryzen hated this idea because it would show many of his trump cards and there was a good chance this Nerlic person would chase him down. The other option was for Ryzen to take them out. Before he did such a thing, he would try to talk his way out of this. He didn’t know who these people were or how much power they had.

“So? I am not acquainted with anyone named Nerlic?” he asked, trying to glean information.

This time, Nerlic spoke himself, “Impossible! Everyone knows that I rule the sector ten portions of Vampirneck! Now stop with this insolence! This woman is to be mine and you are to do as I say. Speaking again will only result in your death!”

Ryzen shrugged as he disappeared. Not even a second later, Nerlic let go of Enancia and fell to the floor clutching his heart.

“What have you done?” his guard screamed in disbelief. “Do you know what you have done?”

The guard nearly teleported and appeared next to Ryzen. Ryzen had already gone back into his shadow and soon, the guard also fell to the floor, dead.

The commotion caused a small crowd of vampires to form around them and gasps could be heard as they realized who the diseased were.

“Is that Nerlic? Venus’s favorite nephew?” one asked in shock.

“It is… these poor chaps' lives are over…” another responded.

Ryzen looked at the disgusted Enancia and motioned for her to follow him. They were leaving this shitty inn and finding somewhere else to stay. As they did so, he noticed someone following them and inwardly groaned. As he walked by the attendant for the inn tried to stop them but he ignored her and continued on.

He purposely walked to an alleyway and waited for the perpetrators to show themselves. As Ryzen expected, a figure dropped down from the roof of the nearest building and Ryzen readied himself for battle.

“Wait! I am not here to fight.” the figure with a shake of their head.

Ryzen glared at them, clearly not buying whatever they were saying. “Then why follow us all this way? It seems clear to me that you want to avenge that Nerlic person.”

“No, quite the opposite actually. I had planned on taking him out myself but you beat me to it.”

“Why?” Ryzen questioned.

The figure slowly pulled off their hood and revealed themselves to be a young man. “I am actually human.”

Enancia’s face morphed into a frown as she glared at him. On the other hand, Ryzen was shocked at such a development. Why would the man trust such important information with Ryzen, someone he had just met? Ryzen didn’t buy it.

“Show us your status.” Ryzen figured this would be the best way to figure out if the man was lying or not. He knew that there was a small chance that the man could edit his status screen like him but based on his class details, he doubted it.

The man hesitated but nodded his head and walked slightly closer. Enancia’s body tensed up as she prepared for any sudden movements; however, Ryzen stood there relaxed. He could instantly enter his shadow before the man could remotely try anything.

A blue screen popped up in front of Ryzen’s face and he could clearly see the words “human” etched onto the race section. The man was also an assassin class which lined up with his story of killing Nerlic.

“How do I know you haven’t edited it?” Ryzen asked suspiciously.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The man looked at him with a face of genuine shock, Ryzen doubted he could fake. “The status is the one way to truly show ones self. There is simply no way to fake it.”

Enancia seemed to agree as she nodded her head in agreeance. This left Ryzen with way more questions than he had before but unfortunately, he knew that now was certainly not the time.

“I see… well, then what do you hope to gain by telling us this, uh…” Ryzen quickly took a look at the status and saw that the man’s name was Jarek Mar. “Uh, Jarek.”

Jarek gave them both a look of desperation and sighed, “Well, you two do realize you are enemy number one in Vampirneck now right?”

Ryzen groaned aloud as Jarek said this. He had already assumed it was as such but hearing it out loud just seemed to make it worse. So much for remaining incognito.

“I guess you’re right but there isn’t much we can do about it now. Wouldn’t it be better for you to be as far away from us as possible to avoid attention?” Ryzen knew Jarek wanted something and wasn’t just risking his neck to say hi.

“That may be true but it would be a waste to let someone of your ability to simply die. I am here to offer you guys an invitation to join the Lightcloaks. It’s full of people wronged by Venis, including humans, vampires, and a few others from various species. The humans we have willingly donate their blood to keep us going and honestly, we have more than enough. The catch is that we don’t have enough fighters. Most of our people are just looking for a place to escape but want nothing to do with battle. In this world, those two don’t mix.”

Ryzen appreciated Jarek’s honesty up front as it made things much simpler for him. He wasn’t going to lie, he was interested. A chance to help his fellow humans and hunt down the vampires? A chance to figure out more about this damned world and perhaps a way to get back to his? Ryzen knew there was a chance of betrayal but there was a certifisable human in front of him! Seeing how the other races thought of them, it didn’t seem likely that they would ever stoop as low as to use one for deceit.

Following this thought process, Ryzen decided to take the risk and nod. “We’ll join…”

“Absolutely not!” Enancia snarled as she glared at Jarek.

Ryzen frowned as he turned to face Enancia and asked, “Why not?”

“Alex they’re humans! Humans! Do you not understand that? Teaming with them would mean certain death!” Enancia yelled angrily, upset that Ryzen would even consider the proposition.

“What other choice do we have? We seem to have angered someone important,” Ryzen countered. Truthfully, he wasn’t actually worried about evading Venis or his minions. He just wanted to see what the supposedly pathetic humans had done for themselves.

“I don’t know! Maybe skulk around in the shadows or fling overpowered shadow daggers like you’ve been doing! It’s worked for you so far!” Enancia shouted but paled instantly as Jarek looked at them curiously.

Ryzen simply didn’t know what to say. She had literally just confirmed whatever suspicions Jarek may have had when he saw Ryzen take out Nerlic. Although he was open to Jarek’s idea, he certainly didn’t trust him.

Enancia could see the amount of frustration on Ryzen’s face and meekly said, “Well, it shouldn’t be too big a deal if we just check it out…”

“Enancia…” Ryzen sharply said.

“I’m sorry! I have a big mouth! I promise if you forgive me I won’t argue with you for a whole day!” Enancia cried.

For the first time Enancia had seen, Ryzen smirked at what she said. Somehow, this didn’t make her feel much better.

“Fine then… but you better keep your word…” he left off ominously.

Enancia gulped and nodded her head. She didn’t know what she had just got herself into but she had a feeling she would not enjoy it.

“With that settled, I think it is about time you show us where your base is,” Ryzen said.

Jarek nodded but hesitated before he showed them. “Just so we are clear, being shown means joining us. You will… not be allowed to leave. At least for the time being that is.”

Enancia looked alarmed at this but Ryzen nodded his head. Enancia was about to say something but a single look from Ryzen forced her to swallow her pride.

“That’s fine, let us go then,” Ryzen responded.

Jarek nodded his head with a smile and turned to show them the way. He took them through a path consisting of various alleys ways and streets and finally stopped at an abandoned building. They entered and walked through it until they found themselves at a door that led further underground.

Jarek went inside and they entered what seemed to be some sort of basement. One of the walls had a large bookcase over it and Jarek pushed it out of the way revealing a large tunnel. They entered it and kept walking until they found themselves in another open cavern. It wasn’t nearly as large as the one where the sector ten city was but still the size of multiple football stadiums.

“Here we are. We were fortunate enough to find a place between sectors ten and nine to call home. We have access to every other sector through an intricate tunnel system. All of them besides sector one anyways, that one is too heavily guarded as the exit to the city is located there.” Jarek said as he continued to walk.

Ryzen’s ears perked up at the mention of the exit as he had been curious as to where it was. Just this information alone made coming here worth it and Jarek had mentioned it as if it were nothing.

As they neared where many of the buildings were, a woman ran up to them and frowned. “Jarek, who are these people? Haven’t we talked about bringing more people here? They are a risk.”

“Marilee, relax. These people here killed Nerlic without me even interfering. It would have been a waste to leave them be. Besides, it’s not like going back will fare well for them.” Jarek said but Marilee still looked angry.

“It doesn’t matter Jarek! They should have thought about their own actions! Besides, have you even checked their statuses?” Marilee asked in exasperation.

Jarek flinched as she said this and sighed, “I didn’t think it was necessary.”

Marilee’s face visibly went red with anger as he said this and she looked about ready to punch him. “Jarek we will talk later! You two, your statuses, now.”

She focused her rage on Ryzen and Enancia; however, neither were eager to comply.