Aina’s heart threatened to jump out of her chest, and a cold bead of sweat dripped down her cheek as she stared at the man standing before them. Glancing at Elizabeth, she could see the panic setting in her eyes. Her gaze switched to Kai, who remained almost petrified in response to Zarman’s sudden change of attitude.

What’s going on? Wha- He thought, feeling a hole form in his stomach. Turning to Sverik, he didn’t notice the same amount of panic as the other two, but the fear in his eyes was obvious as he quietly put down his glass.

“You should know better than that!” Zarman raged, “Have you forgotten just what… what they’ve put us through!?”

His anger-filled voice hid a hint of fear, however, he took a passive stance, careful about jumping directly into a confrontation. “Me, my father, grandfather, and the man before him! What did we fight for?! What about Maria?! What did we sacrifice so much for?! Three thousand years of war, three thousand years of suffering!”

His lips trembled, sweat running down his spine as he clenched his fists, the rage within him growing stronger as he spoke. “I can still hear the sound of my friends, perishing, getting sucked dry by these… by these creatures!” His voice, pupils, arms, and legs trembled, his entire body shaking in anger as a screeching sound reverberated from his teeth. His ring shone with a soft light, and he instantly clutched the sword that appeared out of thin air.

He took small, careful steps toward Kai, who froze as the man’s robust stature shadowed his. “You… how dare you…!” Barely managing to moan those words, he raised the sword and slashed toward the boy. However, even before it could get close a sudden, ferocious force grabbed his arm and flung him backward.

“Zarman, you need to calm down,” Aina said in a soft voice, staring at him in front of Kai. “Kai isn’t at fault for what happened all those years ago! We lost people too, we lost good people. Friends and families!”

“But you weren’t used as livestock! You weren’t… you-”

“That’s true,” Aina interrupted him with a sigh. “But Kai wasn’t even born back then, why should we reject a child because of the mistakes of his ancestors? Without us, he has no one…”

“But you still brought him into my house! Have him eat my food and drink my wine!” Zarman cried, his eyes filling with anger.

“Aina, I thought you knew better than that. The horrors I had to go through in my youth because of his people… We still celebrate the day their king retreated from our mountains every goddamned year… I thought I knew you better.” He said, disappointment evident in his voice.

Elizabeth’s quivering voice resounded amongst the man’s heavy breaths and the sound of racing hearts, its soft tone seemed to calm everyone’s nerves. “Kai is orphaned, Zarman.” She turned to him, tears dripping down her cheek. “His parents died not so long ago. He walked all the way from the Vampire Kingdom to Evicario because I was the only other person he knew.”

“I was terrified…” She confessed, a light hiccup escaping her body. “I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t turn him away and when I heard his mother - Elena - died… I… I was so devastated-”

“Elena?” Zarman’s shocked voice interrupted her. “This is Ray’s child? Elena and Ray… were vampires?”

“That’s right…” Aina interjected, “They were, but no one could ever tell because of their disguise magic, not even you, Zarman. Only Arthur and a few others could see through them.”

“This… but how-” His pupils constricted and he fell to the ground, the sword following with a muffled thump as he let go of it. His arm flew to his forehead, trembling as it ran through his hair. “They were invincible! A Dragon and a Phoenix amongst men, dead?!” Cold sweat drenched his back as he looked at Kai with a flabbergasted expression, and he in turn stared at the man with intrigue.

This man knew my parents personally… I get that they were legendary figures but… how is this possible? He thought, barely feeling the burning gaze focus on him. Ah, this has become messy, who even divulged my identity?

“Child,” Zarman whispered. “Take off your mask, let me see your face.” He pleaded, the tense atmosphere, so thick that you could cut it with a knife, suddenly melting away before this old man’s trembling voice.

Kai exchanged glances with Aina, who gave him a slight, approving nod. Seeing that, he reached for the mask, slowly undoing its hold and placing it on the table, revealing his features. The crimson eyes he shared with his parents glowed with a faint light under the crystal’s light, and his father’s small nose twitched as he glanced at Zarman. His lips, plump yet rosy like his mother’s moved slightly, however, no words came out as he waited for the man to say something.

“You look…” Zarman whispered, his shaky voice breaking as his face reddened. “You look nothing like them…”

A tear fell on the hardwood floor, breaking apart into hundreds of pieces as soon as it hit the ground. Then came another… and another… and another, and then a dozen more as Zarman’s sorrow created a small puddle in front of him. He grit his teeth as he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. “Were their smiles fake too? The times we drank and laughed together, was it all an act? - What’s going on… Ray, how could you…” He questioned, however, that the dead cannot speak, and neither can they repent.

Aina looked pitifully at Zarman and shook her head slightly. Sverik stood silent, Elizabeth too, and even the wind seemed to have stopped, allowing the man to grieve. Complete silence, broken by nothing except the dwarf’s soft sobs and the crackling of the fire. “My father…” Kai’s sudden voice echoed, “How was he?” The question, simple in nature, shocked Zarman as it entered his ears. He looked at Kai, tears still dripping down his cheeks, and his lips parted.

“Your father…” He repeated, “He was great… Joyful, always the heart of the party wherever he went. Nothing and no one could beat him in a drinking contest, or a chattering contest. His voice was always the loudest, he liked to be heard, although that didn’t last long as your mother would always put him in his place.”

“Right…” Kai said with a soft chuckle, images of his father roaring with laughter at every occasion, his booming voice and flamboyant attitude flashing before his vision, which turned hazier as a tear formed at the corner of his eye. Zarman straightened himself, a soft, almost impossible-to-see smile creasing his lips before he continued. “He was handsome too, no matter where we went there would always be someone flocking over him, and he didn’t want to be impolite so he could barely tell them to leave. However, he was always just and never went past joking with them, even when your mother wasn’t around. Although the smile on his face always gave away how happy he was to be given attention.”

Hearing that, no words escaped Kai’s mouth, no quip or joke, he stood there solemnly as he listened to Zarman’s speech. He held back tears as his father’s face appeared in his mind, his bright smile and confident behavior, and then his mother who’d always be there to ensure he didn’t do anything stupid.

“Whenever he fought, though… he felt like someone else. The happy-go-lucky Ray disappeared, and he seemed almost possessed as he hunted down demons. His sword flowed like water, but it was no louder than the whispering wind.” Zarman recounted, the tears in his eyes turning rarer as he did so. “I was always jealous and impressed whenever I got the chance to see his swordsmanship. He cut down enemies in mere instants, and even the higher ranking demons turned tail when they saw him… ha…” He wiped his face, trying to catch any fugitive tear.

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“And your mother too… her beauty didn’t do her justice. Whenever she cast magic it seemed like a scene out of a book, her hair flying wildly about, as she cast healing spells and barrier spells one after the other. She was powerful… very powerful, and yet all she did was protect your father from harm’s way. I never understood that woman… and I guess I never will.” He whispered with regret.

Hearing that, Kai’s eyes filled with tears as he recalled the scene he saw that fateful day when he lay hidden behind the rubbles of his house and watched his parents fight Haniard and his army with all they had. His father, moving and advancing, killing and tearing through anyone who dared be in his presence, and his mother protecting him from anything, healing even the smallest wound.

I thought they looked like they had done that before… they looked so amazing, so strong, so-

“And yet they died…” Zarman said, summoning a pint of alcohol and gulping it down, his swallowing accompanied by Kai’s softened sobs. Placing it down, he looked at the boy, whose tearful face still showed a smile despite everything. “Kid, tell me, how did they die?” He laid against the wall as he asked.

“Haniard,” Aina replied, barely allowing herself to say that name. “He killed them both… and we have no idea what he’s planning.”

“Planning?” Zarman immediately stood up with a racing heart. “What do you think he could be planning?”

Aina shook her head, refusing to speak another word.

“Could he be thinking of starting another war?!” Panic immediately set in his voice, and he quickly took a seat on the couch. “Oh, Lumiera!” He exclaimed, “Why are you allowing this to happen?! Haven’t we suffered enough? If he’s strong enough to kill Ray and Elena, there are only a few people in this world who can match him!”

“Don’t jump to conclusions… not yet,” Aina reassured Zarman. “Kai and his parents dealt him quite a huge blow, wounding him badly enough that he didn’t turn over the Dark Forest to look for Kai, and only placed wanted posters in Aravia. He must think he’s going to the human, after all, it’s been far too long since he last fed on blood.”

Hearing that, Zarman twitched and rubbed his neck as he grew slightly defensive. “Don’t worry, it seems that his instincts are… weird.” Aina continued, talking as if Kai wasn’t even in the room. “I don’t recall how many years it’s been since he last drank blood, but it’s definitely more than the instincts of an Awakened should have allowed. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, but he isn’t thirsty, for now.”

Awakened? Kai asked himself, trying to recall information as the two talked, Zarman’s nerves calming down as Aina reassured him. Awakened… from what I can recall, it refers to vampires who’ve developed a mana core after ingesting blood, or rather, at the same time. Apparently doing that isn’t easy, it’s a sort of privilege. I never paid attention to it, but I don’t think it ever said anything about… ‘thirst’. Although it’s true I didn’t feel any craving for it… I wonder what the reason could be. My soul? Maybe my body isn’t synced with my consciousness so I don’t feel it? It’s possible, after all my… I am broken. I don’t remember everything, so who’s to say my body isn’t either? Well… for the better, I don’t know if I could handle drinking blood from an innocent man…

…

As he thought about all of that, Sverik had gone to the kitchen, letting the three adults talk it out while Kai himself slept with his eyes open. Snapping out of his head, Kai slowly made his way toward Sverik, whose pale complexion made Kai worry.

“You alright Sverik?”

“Ah-” he jumped slightly, surprised by Kai’s presence. “Yeah, I am… for the most part. I think.”

“You think?” Kai repeated, “What’s wrong?”

Sverik hesitated, his lips smacking together, but no words came out.

“Are you there?” Kai placed his hand over Sverik’s shoulder, shaking it gently as to get his friend to come back to it.

“It’s my fault…” His soft voice echoed in Kai’s ears. “I- I’m the one who revealed your identity. I think I- had too many drinks. I’m sorry, Kai. I-”

“Ah, man it’s… look.” Kai smiled, “It’s alright, all’s well that ends well, alright? And it seems like they have other things to talk about now. I think the news of my parents… shocked Zarman quite a bit.”

“Ah yeah… sorry to hear that, yknow, about your parents. I didn’t know-”

“No worries, it’s been, what? Almost a year since it happened… no big deal, alright?” Kai said, his smile turning less sincere, and he let out a light cough as he turned around. “Let’s go somewhere else, I want to lay down.”

“Mhm.” Sverik nodded silently, and led Kai upstairs in the attic, in his room. The stairs were tight and steep, every step they took causing them to moan as if they were threatening to break. “Don’t worry about it, it’s been like this since even before I came here. That’s what Zarman said anyway…”

The door to his room creaked open, revealing a spacious yet empty room, with a large window looking directly into the courtyard. A beautiful, intricately detailed rug covered the entirety of the floor, in the middle of which was a diamond-like shape shoe softly. Above it hung a chandelier with a dozen blue crystals and a dozen red crystals which sone in perpetuity whenever the moonlight hit them.

On the right of the room side was a bed which lay glued to the wall, besides which a night shelf with a few crystals lit up Sverik’s little corner. A desk stood a bit away, on top of which mountains of books and textbooks threatened to fall with every step they took.

“This place is huge,” Kai remarked, mouth agape. “You have all this to yourself and you haven’t used it all?”

“There’s nothing much to do with it.” Sverik said, “I have a bed, and I sleep on it. I have a desk and I do homework and study on it.”

“Ah-” Kai exclaimed, remembering that this world didn’t have the luxury of modern distractions. This room would have been used for a huge gaming space filled with TVs, consoles, and a VR playspace back in his old world. That, or a walk-in closet. But here, the best distractions one can have are training, playing outside, or prostitutes. “I guess you’re right. It’s a very nice place though, I could see myself spending all my time reading in here.”

“That’s what I do when I don’t train or serve Zarman alcohol… though lately I haven’t had the luxury. Well, not until now at least. Now that I broke through… I can take it easy, well, easier. I don’t think I thanked you for that by the way… or if I did, well, thank you anyway.” Sverik said awkwardly. “Even if I knew the risks, I would have still swallowed it without a second thought. It allowed me to somehow breakthrough… and I’m grateful for that.”

“Why were you so desperate for that anyway? I didn’t get the entire reason.”

“Ah well… if I were to be sent into the mountains, I’d lose one year of quality training… and resources. Whilst I would become a better fighter, my chances of entering the Magic Academy would be slim to none.”

“Magic Academy?” Kai remembered Artur and the supposed letter Aina had gotten from him. “Why do you wanna go there? Isn’t it full of humans?”

“For the most part, yes. They make up eighty percent of the campus, but the rest are other races, like dwarves and beast people, elves and some other… interesting ones.” Sverik explained, albeit with some restrain. “There are no vampires though, not that I know of…”

“Hmm…” Kai fell into silent contemplation, losing himself for a minute. I want to go there to become stronger, and I assume Sverik wants to do the same. That means we’ll also meet if we go at the same time… I hope things won’t be too awkward then.

“Kai…?” Sverik called out to him, waking him up from his thoughts.

“Uh, yeah, sorry what is it?”

“I asked you, like, what are your plans for the future?”

Kai remained silent, taken aback by this question. Such a question would be asked to an eight-year-old by an adult, yet here he found himself in this same situation, barely able to answer. “I want to become stronger…” That is all he could say, not wanting to reveal his true plans.

“That’s kinda vague but… I won’t pry. I’ll say the same, I want to become stronger and slap the faces of everyone who thought less of me, and of people like me.” He clenched his fists as he emphasized the latter part of his sentence, a bit of hatred seeping through his gritted teeth.