XKARNATION
Usually, MC's inner thoughts are shown in italics but not in this chapter otherwise the entire chapter would be in italics...
Damien lay down in the bath while deep in thought.
What is wrong with me?
Damien casually glanced at the pale-faced woman on the cold bathroom floor. Scarlet blood streamed down her exposed neck from two small holes, forming a small pool on the white tiled floor. Her chest rose and fell as she took small and shallow breaths. Her face was so pale that Damien was genuinely surprised she was still alive.
After healing my hand, I felt hungry again, and when she leaned over to replace the bathwater, this happened. The primal urges of this vampire body and the traits hard-coded into this body's DNA are no joke.
Damien ran his finger down his inch-long fangs that were still trickling blood while pondering his new body's desires.
I have the old Damien's memories, traits, impulses, and fears. Instead of taking over this body, it's almost like my memories were transplanted and merged with the old Damiens. I'm a Vampire and always have been, yet I know my mind is not from this world. This body feels even more comfortable than my previous one.
'Right, let's go over the death flags.' Damien sighed while enjoying the feeling of the fresh bathwater caressing his skin.
Raising his hand from the water and counting off his fingers, 'In my first playthrough, I died on the second day in my sleep, murdered with a silver-coated weapon by this woman over here… so just kill her, right?'
Oh boy, I was wrong with that idea. In the second playthrough, I killed Fay the moment the game started. I made it to day three before my body became incredibly frail, and I could barely move.
Since it was just a game, I couldn't feel my character's hunger. But from the multiple debuffs like [Hungry] [Fatigued] [Blood Deficiency], I could tell I needed to feed on blood.
But where to obtain blood when my blood slave, Fay, was brutally exterminated a few nights ago? Unfortunately, Damien has almost no money at this point in the game, so buying a high-quality human slave is impossible.
I tried buying a cheap beastkin slave in the second playthrough, but she barely decreased Damien's endless hunger. As it was just a game, I assumed beastkin blood lacked mana or something, but now that I inhabit this body, drinking blood from those filthy animals makes me want to gag.
A young virgin female human's blood can have various exotic flavours such as roasted meat or pudding, yet a beastkin's blood tastes like rotting milk and eggs mixed into some cursed soup.
I know since the old Damien had drunk the blood of a random beastman while travelling to this city to sate his endless hunger. Just the memory makes me shudder.
Damien rolled over in the bath to find a more comfortable position and continued his train of thoughts.
Damien didn't like the taste of beastkin blood in the second playthrough, so I decided to kidnap a random woman from the street for blood as female human slaves are way too darn expensive.
Everything was fine for another week until the city guard became alert after many human females went missing. Of course, people went missing all the time in the medieval era. Yet, unsurprisingly, when a specific group goes missing every day for a week straight, that raises some alarm amongst the populace. People started to spread rumours that the city's nobles captured female commoners to have fun with.
After another week, the commoners rallied together and forced the city guard to commence a search of the nobles' estates. When the guards entered a house supposed to be owned by a Baroness, they found a vampire with many women tied up in the basement, blood dripping from their delicate necks, and many headless corpses scattered around. Let's say it was not the best look.
The Greentail family rules over the country of Kassinki. The current King, Edward Greentail, is known across the land as a big advocate of anti-discrimination and has a human and elf wife.
Are vampires included in this? Not really. If someone knew I was a vampire, They wouldn't kill me on sight, but everyone would avoid me like the plague, so it's best to keep it a secret.
Let's say no amount of anti-discrimination was going to save me when I was literally caught red-handed… blood was dripping from my fangs. I was immediately arrested, dragged to the city square, and publicly executed with a silver-coated sword by Edward Greentail himself.
So if I don't kill the girl, I get murdered in my sleep. If I do kill the girl, I have no way to satisfy my vampire urges, and I either starve to death or get killed by the city guard.
Fight back against the guard? Not a chance. I tried before with other characters, but just like the guards in Skyrim, they are stupidly over-levelled for no reason.
Despite this being a relatively small country on the continent's edge and considered a 'starting' zone, the guards all have at least one skill like [Swordsmanship] at [C] grade or higher.
Damien already sold all the items left in the mansion to bribe the university's dean to get him a job. Why?
To answer that question, we have to talk about the third playthrough.
This time, I locked Fay in a cage and only fed her and let her out under my supervision. This way, I had food and never got hunted down by the city guards. Perfect!
This time, I survived a full two months into the game. But Damien has one massive death flag always looming over his head.
Nightshade isn't any common family name. He's a [Noble Vampire] for a reason. Damien Nightshade is the 3rd in line to the throne of Vampires, and let's say his brother, who is first in line for the throne, sees his existence as an eyesore.
Why allow his little brother to gather influence when he can simply kill him now when nobody cares? Damien is seen as a worthless Prince by the Vampires. He would have already died if he didn't escape to the human realm. Therefore, in the third playthrough, I was assassinated by the first Prince's assassins in this very room. In the fight, I used my [Pyrokinesis] and managed to kill one of the five assassins, but since I only managed to upgrade it to [D] rank, I could only do this much. At the cost of my entire right arm too! I tried to use [Pyrokinesis] with my other arm, but my aim was horrible, and I only managed to burn part of the wall. With both arms dangling at my sides as charred messes, I was defenceless and quickly beheaded with silver-coated daggers.
Damien knew of this threat and decided the only place with enough security was the Mage Tower in Kassinki. If he could get the position of Head Professor, he would obtain his bedroom and office within the tower. The tower's security was almost perfect, as it contained many state secrets and important figures to national security.
But due to Damien's poor credentials and teaching ability, he was never promoted and had to stay off-campus, ultimately leading to his death.
While deep in thought, Damien had been manipulating the pocket watch in midair with Psychokinesis when he felt a sudden change wash over him. His control over the pocket watch improved, and he thought it was far easier to command it.
"What happened?" He exclaimed in surprise.
Damien beckoned the watch to fly closer, and he inspected it all over, "It's the same… how can it feel lighter all of a sudden?"
He snapped it open and looked in the mirror.
Psychic Magic [D] → [C]
Psychokinesis [D] → [C]
Damien snapped the pocket watch shut, and with newfound motivation, he quickly rose from the bath and kicked the woman on the floor.
"Wake up, you useless woman; we have items to obtain, knowledge to gain, and people to slay! Also, I have no idea how to wear these fancy clothes! Dress me already!"
"W-what?" The barely conscious woman stuttered while trying to stand with shaky legs. Why was her master so aggressive with everything today? Usually, he just slept the days away and occasionally woke up to feed.
Damien smiled, his situation might be a bit fucked up, but that makes it all the more interesting, right?
XKARNATION
Usually, MC's inner thoughts are shown in italics but not in this chapter otherwise the entire chapter would be in italics...
Damien lay down in the bath while deep in thought.
What is wrong with me?
Damien casually glanced at the pale-faced woman on the cold bathroom floor. Scarlet blood streamed down her exposed neck from two small holes, forming a small pool on the white tiled floor. Her chest rose and fell as she took small and shallow breaths. Her face was so pale that Damien was genuinely surprised she was still alive.
After healing my hand, I felt hungry again, and when she leaned over to replace the bathwater, this happened. The primal urges of this vampire body and the traits hard-coded into this body's DNA are no joke.
Damien ran his finger down his inch-long fangs that were still trickling blood while pondering his new body's desires.
I have the old Damien's memories, traits, impulses, and fears. Instead of taking over this body, it's almost like my memories were transplanted and merged with the old Damiens. I'm a Vampire and always have been, yet I know my mind is not from this world. This body feels even more comfortable than my previous one.
'Right, let's go over the death flags.' Damien sighed while enjoying the feeling of the fresh bathwater caressing his skin.
Raising his hand from the water and counting off his fingers, 'In my first playthrough, I died on the second day in my sleep, murdered with a silver-coated weapon by this woman over here… so just kill her, right?'
Oh boy, I was wrong with that idea. In the second playthrough, I killed Fay the moment the game started. I made it to day three before my body became incredibly frail, and I could barely move.
Since it was just a game, I couldn't feel my character's hunger. But from the multiple debuffs like [Hungry] [Fatigued] [Blood Deficiency], I could tell I needed to feed on blood.
But where to obtain blood when my blood slave, Fay, was brutally exterminated a few nights ago? Unfortunately, Damien has almost no money at this point in the game, so buying a high-quality human slave is impossible.
I tried buying a cheap beastkin slave in the second playthrough, but she barely decreased Damien's endless hunger. As it was just a game, I assumed beastkin blood lacked mana or something, but now that I inhabit this body, drinking blood from those filthy animals makes me want to gag.
A young virgin female human's blood can have various exotic flavours such as roasted meat or pudding, yet a beastkin's blood tastes like rotting milk and eggs mixed into some cursed soup.
I know since the old Damien had drunk the blood of a random beastman while travelling to this city to sate his endless hunger. Just the memory makes me shudder.
Damien rolled over in the bath to find a more comfortable position and continued his train of thoughts.
Damien didn't like the taste of beastkin blood in the second playthrough, so I decided to kidnap a random woman from the street for blood as female human slaves are way too darn expensive.
Everything was fine for another week until the city guard became alert after many human females went missing. Of course, people went missing all the time in the medieval era. Yet, unsurprisingly, when a specific group goes missing every day for a week straight, that raises some alarm amongst the populace. People started to spread rumours that the city's nobles captured female commoners to have fun with.
After another week, the commoners rallied together and forced the city guard to commence a search of the nobles' estates. When the guards entered a house supposed to be owned by a Baroness, they found a vampire with many women tied up in the basement, blood dripping from their delicate necks, and many headless corpses scattered around. Let's say it was not the best look.
The Greentail family rules over the country of Kassinki. The current King, Edward Greentail, is known across the land as a big advocate of anti-discrimination and has a human and elf wife.
Are vampires included in this? Not really. If someone knew I was a vampire, They wouldn't kill me on sight, but everyone would avoid me like the plague, so it's best to keep it a secret.
Let's say no amount of anti-discrimination was going to save me when I was literally caught red-handed… blood was dripping from my fangs. I was immediately arrested, dragged to the city square, and publicly executed with a silver-coated sword by Edward Greentail himself.
So if I don't kill the girl, I get murdered in my sleep. If I do kill the girl, I have no way to satisfy my vampire urges, and I either starve to death or get killed by the city guard.
Fight back against the guard? Not a chance. I tried before with other characters, but just like the guards in Skyrim, they are stupidly over-levelled for no reason.
Despite this being a relatively small country on the continent's edge and considered a 'starting' zone, the guards all have at least one skill like [Swordsmanship] at [C] grade or higher.
Damien already sold all the items left in the mansion to bribe the university's dean to get him a job. Why?
To answer that question, we have to talk about the third playthrough.
This time, I locked Fay in a cage and only fed her and let her out under my supervision. This way, I had food and never got hunted down by the city guards. Perfect!
This time, I survived a full two months into the game. But Damien has one massive death flag always looming over his head.
Nightshade isn't any common family name. He's a [Noble Vampire] for a reason. Damien Nightshade is the 3rd in line to the throne of Vampires, and let's say his brother, who is first in line for the throne, sees his existence as an eyesore.
Why allow his little brother to gather influence when he can simply kill him now when nobody cares? Damien is seen as a worthless Prince by the Vampires. He would have already died if he didn't escape to the human realm. Therefore, in the third playthrough, I was assassinated by the first Prince's assassins in this very room. In the fight, I used my [Pyrokinesis] and managed to kill one of the five assassins, but since I only managed to upgrade it to [D] rank, I could only do this much. At the cost of my entire right arm too! I tried to use [Pyrokinesis] with my other arm, but my aim was horrible, and I only managed to burn part of the wall. With both arms dangling at my sides as charred messes, I was defenceless and quickly beheaded with silver-coated daggers.
Damien knew of this threat and decided the only place with enough security was the Mage Tower in Kassinki. If he could get the position of Head Professor, he would obtain his bedroom and office within the tower. The tower's security was almost perfect, as it contained many state secrets and important figures to national security.
But due to Damien's poor credentials and teaching ability, he was never promoted and had to stay off-campus, ultimately leading to his death.
While deep in thought, Damien had been manipulating the pocket watch in midair with Psychokinesis when he felt a sudden change wash over him. His control over the pocket watch improved, and he thought it was far easier to command it.
"What happened?" He exclaimed in surprise.
Damien beckoned the watch to fly closer, and he inspected it all over, "It's the same… how can it feel lighter all of a sudden?"
He snapped it open and looked in the mirror.
Psychic Magic [D] → [C]
Psychokinesis [D] → [C]
Damien snapped the pocket watch shut, and with newfound motivation, he quickly rose from the bath and kicked the woman on the floor.
"Wake up, you useless woman; we have items to obtain, knowledge to gain, and people to slay! Also, I have no idea how to wear these fancy clothes! Dress me already!"
"W-what?" The barely conscious woman stuttered while trying to stand with shaky legs. Why was her master so aggressive with everything today? Usually, he just slept the days away and occasionally woke up to feed.
Damien smiled, his situation might be a bit fucked up, but that makes it all the more interesting, right?
