The moon scattered on the beautiful pale rocks decorating the Elven training ground. Pillars as wide as a tree and just as tall stood in three rows, alligent at an equal distance from one another. A soft breeze rustled the leaves, blowing the dust off their delicate surface. In the middle of a circular stone platform covered in vines, Kai stood in a horse stance. His face, red as a tomato dripped with sweat as pants escaped his trembling body. The beautiful silver hair adorning his head flowed loosely down his back, slightly protecting him from the moon’s rays. Euphridia watched him like an eagle, wearing a serious expression as she played with a long stick between her fingers.

“Straight! Your butt lower, I want to see a ninety-degree angle!” Her commanding tone boomed in the serenity of the night, making Kai flinch as he followed the orders.

“Miss Euphy… I- I’ve been doing this for the past two hours….” He said in a coarse, trembling voice. However, as soon as the words escaped his lips, his barren back met with the silent whistle of the branch. Groaning softly, he bit on the lower lip until it bled, but he kept holding that position.

“Fifteen more counts and you’re down, isn’t that good?”

Fifteen counts… he repeated in his mind, converting it into a time he was more familiar with. Thirty minutes… Unable to let out a sigh, he focused on a single point in front of him - a small hole in a tree, within which stood a sole bird. It slept with its head between its wings, unaware of the eyes observing it. Sometimes its wings fluttered, or spasmed, whether because of a nightmare or because of the cold wind remained unknown, but it returned to stillness soon enough. If one didn’t know better, they’d assume it had died peacefully, dreaming of the large skies it would travel. The unknown lands and kingdoms it was about to see, or the oceans it wanted to traverse. The sun shone upon its golden wings as it soared into a phoenix. But none of that happened in the bird’s dreams. Instead, Kai’s imagination got the better of him, seeing and morphing images he had seen in his previous life, creating a story for the unaware bird.

“Enough.” Just like that, the fifteen counts passed as Kai dreamed. Upon hearing Euphy’s words, he collapsed onto the cold ground, which embraced him as his body cooled down. A small puddle of sweat formed around him as he stared at the moon and stars, the light of which softly tickled his skin. Soft burning sensations suddenly appeared on his skin, making his heart skip a beat. However, the sore and tired muscles only allowed him to squirm slightly as anxiety began to overtake his body.

Euphridia scoffed, observing the situation. Her pink lips parted, this time saying in a much gentler tone. “Calm down. Breathe in slowly… in and out… exhale… good. Keep going, you’re doing great. The moon cannot harm you as much as the sun, the scars aren’t long-lasting so just learn to embrace this pain. Unless you plan on feeding often, that is.”

He did as she said, taking control of his breathing under her guidance as the feeling of anxiety started passing away, even as she finished her sentence. However, her final words struck a cord, and realization dawned upon him. So that’s why… I- No… no way….

“It’s not the end of the world kiddo.” Aina’s voice rang in his ears, and, although he couldn’t lift his head, he knew Elizabeth arrived together with her. A light chuckle barely escaped his lips as a soft, green light hovered above his body, causing the fatigue within his muscles to lessen. “People would pay good money to get a few hours of training from Euphy. Good job, by the way.” Aina said, turning toward Euphridia toward the latter part of her sentence. The guard’s face reddened and exploded in happiness, her trembling hand flying to her forehead as she shouted,

“Thank you, ma’am!”

A soft smile creased Aina’s lips as she looked at Euphridia, however, a contemplative expression quickly replaced it as she turned to Kai. He groaned as he got up, helped by all three women, and skipped toward a nearby bench. Its cold surface embraced his blazing skin, sending a shiver throughout his body as he let out a light sigh of relief. There’s no point in thinking about that now… if my parents found a way to get it… harmlessly then I should be able to as well.

“Here, how are you feeling?” Elizabeth handed him a bottle of water as she sat down next to him, inspecting his pale body with a soft glow in her eyes. Kai immediately downed the bottle in its entirety, letting out a satisfied moan as he placed it to the side.

“I’m doing fine now that the torture is over…” He touched his lower lip, a bit of blood staining his finger. A light chuckle escaped between Euphy’s beautiful smile.

“Truth be told, this is just the beginning… Euphridia’s being very gentle with you right now…” Kai’s expression immediately darkened upon hearing that, and he could only silently accept the situation.

“Right, Kai,” Aina said as she handed him a yellow paper sheet. Drew on them were the schematics of the gym equipment he decided to try building, accompanied by a bunch of text written in Elvish. “Our engineers said they don’t fully understand the weights and proportions based on what you drew, said you should visit and explain a bit better.”

“I- I don’t understand Elvish…” Kai said as he glanced at the foreign language, finding it slightly familiar yet unfamiliar. “But yeah, I’ll pass by tomorrow morning…”

“I’ll accompany you.” Euphiridia suddenly said from the sidelines, intrigue clear in her eyes.

The three of them silently agreed although Kai felt a bit weird having someone babysit him all the time. Rolling it up and placing it in his back pocket, he leaned back and stared at the night sky. The stars sparkled as they stood untainted, a wave of nostalgia spreading through his body as he looked at the familiarly unfamiliar carpet.

Elizabeth healed him all the while, and after a short break, his aching muscles returned to a normal, healthy state before he could even relax properly. “This magic… is scary.”

“Pfft…” Euprhidia chuckled, picking up a wooden sword and throwing it to Kai. “That’s only because your muscles are too under developed. Come on now, show me what you can do.”

Scoffing, Kai grabbed the sword mid-air, and gripped it tightly as he walked toward the center. Euphy stood barehanded before him, and she took on a stance he found familiar. Is that… kickboxing? However, he quickly shrugged off that Nah, it has to be something similar…

“Stop staring, get in position,” Euphy ordered as she eyed him like a hawk. Grabbing the sword with both hands, Kai took the stance taught to him by his grandpa, the one even Léandro made fun of back then.

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What an old starting pose… where did this brat learn it from? Unlike Léandro, however, Euphridia didn’t look down at the technique but instead grew more cautious. Although his combat experience is close to zero, considering who his parents were…

Despite her thoughts, she couldn’t help but look down on Kai, who rushed toward her with the stance of an amateur. He ran with the sword leaned forward, his feet wobbling as he swung it toward Euphy’s chest. She let out a light scoff, and took half a step backward, completely dodging Kai’s foolish attack.

“Is that all?” Euphridia asked with a disappointed tone. “I’ve watched you swing that sword countless times, but you aren’t even capable of doing a vertical slash? Again!”

She yelled with an imposing tone, flicking Kai backward. Taking the same stance again, he took in a deep breath and rushed toward Euphy again, this time doing a vertical slash which she easily sidestepped.

“Too slow, Again!”

“Too fast, too clumsy! Again!”

“Not good enough! Again!”

Hours passed as Euphridia’s words rang in his ears like a sharp knife. Criticizing him every day with more and more vigor. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she walked toward a sword rack and picked up a wooden long sword. Holding it parallel to her body, with a shape forty five degrees angle pointing toward Kai, she moved her feet to a perfect distance to improve balance.

“Watch me carefully.”

Before the last of her words had even left her body, the distance between her and Kai already closed by more than half. His eyes widened in surprise, unable to understand how she achieved such speed without any magic enchantments. In just a few more light steps, Euphridia already stood before him, swinging vertically at an unfathomable speed that didn’t leave Kai any room to dodge.

The blade stopped inches away from his forehead, which dripped with cold sweat as he looked at her with trembling pupils. “Short movements, shorter swings, but more powerful. Got it?”

Kai nodded, dumbfounded, by Euphy’s sword mastery. “How… did you do that?”

“I’ll teach you tomorrow, we’ll stop for now, you’re exhausted. The chief’s healing magic isn’t as powerful as you think… you’ll feel the backlash soon enough.

“Backlash?” Before Kai even had time to ponder the question, however, a wave of fatigue rushed over his body, making him fall to the ground almost immediately as he groaned in pain.

…

Compared to daytime or evening, traveling through Evicario’s Main Gate city at night seemed like a completely different city. The bustling street like paths were now filled with the clamor of songs and chatter. Soft, warm light permeated the air around the inns and bars. Customers of different races in a multitude of shapes and forms exited and entered the pubs, both drunk and sober.

“Looks like it’s the same everywhere, huh?” Kai commented as they glided through the air, jumping from platform to platform, past countless different buildings.

“Yeah, there’s a few things that races have in common, but one of them is our love for alcohol,” Aina said casually, however, Elizabeth and Euphridia looked at the passing drunkards with slight scorn on their faces.

“I don’t think alcohol does any good, why people like it is a mystery.” Euphy’s rhetorical question remained unanswered, as everyone present knew the true reason people would choose to lose themselves in the intoxicating world of alcohol.

The journey back to the manor remained silent, with only the wind whooshing past their ears. Countless eyes turned toward them as they landed on the main platform, however, the locals had already gotten accustomed to their presence. Despite that, the crowd’s whispers became more and more intense as they walked toward Aina’s house, and they couldn’t stop themselves from hearing despite doing their best to avoid it.

“Looks like the chief cares a lot about that kid…”

“Not only the chief, look, even the captain of the guards… and the chief’s daughter…”

“Who could that vampire brat be?”

“I’m not sure, but I don’t like him. Sooner or later he’s going to have a taste of us…”

“Shut up, there’s a reason our race had it easier during those dark times!”

“Yeah because our blood-”

“Shh, that’s taboo talk, idiots!”

The crowd’s malevolent whispers raised a hint of intrigue inside Kai, as the few sentences he could hear spoke about something he had always found weird. For some reason, elves didn’t detest vampires to the same extent as the humans and the other sentient races.

He pondered it for a few minutes, and the small hint the chattering people gave him led to a bizarre, yet logical conclusion. Their blood isn’t as good… A weird smile creased Kai’s lips, and he could not help but stare at Euprhidia’s neck as curiosity got the better of him. However the curiosity gradually turned into a fixation, his pupils dilating as a deep hunger seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Staring at Euphy’s pale neck, he felt his fangs grow sharper, and her main artery seemed to stand out as fresh blood rushed upwards. A little bit of saliva dripped down his chin, landing on his clothes.

Unconciously approaching the guard’s neck, his mouth opened slightly, revealing a pair of petruding fangs. His heart raced as his primeval instincts slowly took over his body. However, his pupils constricted before he could do the unforgivable. He quickly bit down on his lower lip, forcing himself awake from the trance with cold sweat dripping down his body. Low, heavy pants escaped his lips, causing Elizabeth to immediately run to his aid. “Kai!” Her eyes swiftly ran across his body, inspecting every inch of his muscles as she nervously took his hand.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with him…” Aina concluded after a similarly quick inspection. “Must be the exhaustion…”

“Yeah…” Kai replied, holding his chest with the other hand. “I’m just… let’s hurry to the manor, I still need to finish the training…” He quickly changed topics, doing his best to sit straight as he walked.

Aina’s furrowed eyebrows as she looked at Kai left a lot for interpretation, however, her age, experience, and gut made her think that he had lied about his condition. As for Elizabeth, although her eyes hid a hint of suspicion, she masked it with genuine concern, turning toward him every so often. Out of all of them, Euphridia was the most excited. “Good idea Kai! I had planned to let you rest but since you want more training, how could I refuse?!” A half-sadistic smile creased her lips as she looked at Kai, a shiver running down his spine.

I should have kept my mouth shut! He cursed inwardly, however, it was too late to regret now.

Quickly reaching the manor, Kai flopped on Onyx, who stood just outside the gate. “Awooo” He let out a light howl, licking Kai’s face with a toddler’s excitement.

“Boy, I’ve only been gone for a few hours, what got you so riled up?” Kai chuckled, patting his companion’s huge head, who continued snuggling against his bare body.

“To think this is the Obborik of the legends…” Elizabeth said in an almost incredulous tone. “Wasn’t he supposed to be… scarier?”

“Tales do not reflect reality, but in this case, the tales do not give them justice. I have no idea how Kai managed to tame ‘Furiosul Alb’. Even my Dad trembled upon seeing one and yet… here before me lays a dog in the shape of one.”

Onyx’s ears twitched, and his large yellow eyes snapped toward the three women as he let out a scoff.

“Well, he matches the attitude…” Elizabeth said, which prompted another muffled scoff to echo in their years, making them let out light laughter as they watched the duo snuggle.

“I think he can skip the rest of the training tonight… let the boy rest,” Aina said with a soft smile. Euphy nodded in response, waving her goodbyes before heading toward the barracks.