Husband? What does she mean she’s always called me her husband?

  While Luke was trying to wrap his head around that, Charlie’s system screen had been flooded with skill notifications, each one with its own loading bar. Her evolution into a vampire had triggered the avalanche, and both of them watched as the windows blinked into existence, each promising to reshape her in ways neither of them fully understood.

  [Charlotte Vespertilio has awakened the Race Skill: Night Eyes]

  [Charlotte Vespertilio has awakened the Race Skill: Blood Sensitivity]

  [Charlotte Vespertilio has awakened the Race Skill: Enhanced Senses]

  [Charlotte Vespertilio has awakened the Race Skill: Disease Immunity]

  [Charlotte Vespertilio has awakened the Race Skill: Poison Immunity]

  [Charlotte Vespertilio has awakened the Race Skill: Vampiric Reflexes I]

  [Charlotte Vespertilio has awakened the Race Skill: Vampiric Aura I]

  [Charlotte Vespertilio has awakened the Race Skill: Weak Vampiric Charm I]

  [Charlotte Vespertilio has awakened the Race Skill: Vampiric Leap I]

  [Charlotte Vespertilio has awakened the Race Skill: Vampiric Softfall I]

  [Charlotte Vespertilio has awakened the Race Skill: Vampiric Strength I]

  [Charlotte Vespertilio has awakened the Race Skill: Vampiric Regeneration I]

  [Charlotte Vespertilio has awakened the Race Skill: Vampiric Bite I]

  [The Bloodline Skill has been successfully awakened!]

  Then the rest of her skills appeared all at once, exploding across the interface like an avalanche of pop ups on a shady website. Each description was darker than the last, but before Luke could read any of them, something made Charlie’s body jerk violently.

  [Charlotte Vespertilio’s Blood Core is awakening…]

  “Charlie? Are you okay?” Luke said.

  She arched forward as something surged out of her. A red energy, bright like crystallized blood, spilled from her skin in glittering particles. It gathered in the air, shaping itself into something egg like or heart like, a red tear encased in jagged crystalline spines. Then it evaporated, dissolving into the air. A brief crimson glow pulsed from inside Charlie’s chest before fading completely.

  [Charlotte Vespertilio’s Blood Core has awakened successfully!]

  “Charlie? Talk to me.” Luke shook her gently, panic creeping in.

  Her expression softened. The pain drained away, and she pushed herself upright, pressing a hand to her temple.

  “I’m fine, Master Luke. I just… feel strange,” she admitted.

  “It’s probably that Blood Core thing. Or maybe your body’s trying to handle every skill hitting you at once.”

  Luke also noticed another change in her.

  “Charlie… your eyes are red,” he murmured, leaning closer.

  Her eyes, once a pale blue, had turned a deep, vivid crimson.

  “Really, Master Luke?” She touched her face as if she might feel the difference.

  Another notification floated to the top of her interface.

  [Blood Core: 0/100]

  The bar flickered, then settled neatly beneath her HP on the profile screen.

  [Warning: The Blood Core requires Blood Energy. Consume blood to prevent the effects of Vampiric Hunger.]

  A final message appeared, stark and merciless.

  [Vampiric Hunger will begin consuming HP. If HP reaches 0, the vampire will die.]

  Luke and Charlie stared at each other in silence.

  Charlie finally had a real body… but along with it came a problem neither of them were prepared for.

  A massive one.

  “Master Luke…” she murmured, eyes lowering, her voice slipping into something small and uneasy. “I’m hungry. Really hungry… and my body knows… it’s not for food.”

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  Luke immediately dismissed the barrage of skill notifications, closing them out without hesitation. His focus snapped to Charlie’s HP bar.

  Name: Charlotte Vespertilio

  Level: 50

  Race: Vampire

  Rank: E

  Class: [Blood Death Knight (Lvl 60)]

  2nd Class: [Black Ash Fighter (Lvl 60]

  Title: [Servant of the Dark Lord]

  Bloodline: [Bloodline of Vespertilio]

  Health Points (HP): 5080/5080

  Mana Points (MP): 4350/4350

  Stamina: 4950/(4950)

  Blood Core: 0/100

  Stats:

  Strength: 911 (981)

  Lethality: 401

  Agility: 357

  Dexterity: 187

  Endurance: 455 (495)

  Vitality: 508

  Toughness: 485

  Perception: 300

  Intelligence: 435

  Wisdom: 435

  Intelligence: 196

  Willpower: 402

  Free Points: 0

  Class Skills: [Basic Weapon Handling (Common)], [Heavy Strike (Common)], [Basic Spectral Charge (Rare)], [Crescent Slash (Uncommon)], [Whirlwind Strike (Uncommon)], [Spectral Chain (Rare)], [Spectral Barrier (Rare)], [Doomblade (Rare)], [Mark of Doom (Rare)], [Force Infusion (Rare)], [Doom Explosion (Rare)], [Spectral Soldier (Ultra-Rare)], [Blood Familiar I (Epic)]

  Second Class Skills: [Advanced Hand-to-Hand (Uncommon)], [Steel Fist (Rare)], [Stunning Punch (Uncommon)], [Battle Roar (Uncommon)], [Concentrated Kick (Uncommon)], [Power Punch (Uncommon)], [Pugilist’s Leap (Uncommon)], [Muscle Reading (Uncommon)], [Movement Echo (Uncommon)], [Flame (Common)], [Flame Fist (Rare)], [Flame Aura (Rare)], [Basic Levitation (Ultra-Rare], [Berserker Ashen Flames I (Ultra-Rare)], [Twin Meteor Fists (Epic)]

  Race Skills: [Demonic Servant Perception (Uncommon)], [Basic Bone Regeneration (Rare)], [Bone Endurance (Rare)], [Iron Bones (Ultra-Rare)], [Night Eyes (Uncommon)], [Blood Sensitivity (Uncommon)], [Enhanced Senses (Uncommon)], [Disease Immunity (Ancient)], [Poison Immunity (Ancient)], [Vampiric Reflexes I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Aura I (Ancient)], [Weak Vampiric Charm I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Leap I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Softfall I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Strength I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Regeneration I (Ancient)], [Vampiric Bite I (Ancient)]

  Bloodline Skill: [Path of the Vampiric Beast (Ancient)]

  All the new race skills were listed on her interface, along with the warning about the Blood Core.

  [Vampiric Hunger has consumed 1 HP]

  The notification pulsed across her screen.

  [Health Points (HP): 5079/5080]

  It had begun. Charlie had lost a single point of HP to that strange anomaly the system called Vampiric Hunger. Luke stared at her HP in silence. It didn’t drop any further. Not yet. He waited, watching the number, counting the seconds. Charlie watched too, hovering close, just as tense.

  “It didn’t tick down again… yet,” he said quietly. “Are you hungry?”

  She nodded, shy and guilty.

  Luke sifted through everything he knew about the system. A debuff that didn’t drain HP continuously meant one thing, the damage happened on a timer. A regular interval.

  At least it’s only one point each time.

  But that didn’t make the situation any less serious. Charlie wasn’t a skeleton anymore. She wasn’t undead in the same way she had been. She was a vampire now. And vampires… feed on blood.

  His mind drifted to the other problem.

  “The sun,” he muttered. “You said you felt a pull… like you wanted to recoil from the sunlight when it came through the window.”

  Charlie lowered her head, cheeks flushing, and nodded again.

  “I… I’m not a monster who wants to hurt you, Master Luke,” she whispered.

  He was starting to understand what she meant, the hunger, all of it. She wanted to feed on blood. Luke needed to stay calm and think through everything he knew about vampires. The System was a cosmic force that, for centuries, had influenced his society by planting knowledge about magic and other races. It had done so through composers, writers, and even cinema. Before appearing in a universe, the System echoed fragments of its knowledge through culture as a way of preparing people for its arrival. Because of that, Luke did have knowledge about vampires, even if distorted.

  His mind was scrambling, going through everything he had ever heard, vampires sleeping in coffins, being afraid of garlic, dying in sunlight, feeding on blood, or draining virgins, or whatever else. Some stories even said they sparkled in the sun.

  But there was one thing every depiction had in common: vampires always fed on blood, and when they didn’t, they died. The information provided by the System might have been twisted by writers and creators of the vampire genre, but there was still a clear denominator. Feeding on blood was crucial for their survival.

  He didn’t waste time. He tapped on the skill notifications. The only way to truly understand how vampires worked was to gather the clues hidden in Charlie’s newly awakened abilities.

  The first one was…

  [Night Eyes (Uncommon)]: The vampire sees perfectly in darkness, perceiving detail even in the total absence of light.

  “Don’t worry, Charlie. There should be something here that helps us understand how this works,” Luke said gently.

  He knew what a vampire was supposed to be. Charlie, on the other hand, had no frame of reference. Everything was new to her, every sensation, every instinct. And that hunger gnawing at her, that wild, feral hunger for blood, was probably what frightened her most. Like a starving lion that instinctively knows what it must do, she understood, deep in her bones, what she needed to survive. Being this close to him while feeling those urges probably wasn’t helping.

  Another notification slid into view.

  [Blood Sensitivity (Uncommon)]: The vampire can detect wounds, injured creatures, or nearby beings purely by the scent of blood.

  A trait that fit a predator perfectly. Just like sharks could smell blood from miles away in the ocean.

  Luke’s options were narrowing into a single conclusion, she needed blood, and he was the only available source. But he needed to be sure. Was it safe for her? He wasn’t entirely human. His blood had magical properties. Could it hurt her?

  [Enhanced Senses (Uncommon)]: All five senses are heightened. Vision and smell reach absolute precision within a radius of up to 2 km.

  Enhanced senses.

  Night vision, blood detection, sharpened senses, simple on paper, terrifyingly effective in practice. Luke knew exactly what that meant. In tracking and hunting, Charlie had just become better than he was.

  She sniffed the air again.

  “I can smell you from far away, Master Luke,” she said, a small smile forming.

  At least her expression had softened a little. She leaned closer, pressing her nose against his chest. Luke froze, unsure what to do with that.

  “But up close… your scent is even better, Master Luke,” she whispered, delighted.

  “That’s… good, I guess?” he muttered.

  More notifications flashed.

  [Disease Immunity (Ancient)]: Your vampiric lineage grants immunity to common and magical diseases. Only illnesses above the Mystical or Soul level may still affect you.

  [Poison Immunity (Ancient)]: Your vampiric lineage grants immunity to common and magical poisons. Only poisons above the Mystical or Soul level may still affect you.

  Those had been part of her undead kit before, but Luke realized something, she’d never actually had immunity as an undead through a system skill. She simply couldn’t be poisoned or infected because she’d been nothing but enchanted bones. Now that she had a living body, organs, flesh, blood, these immunities actually mattered.

  From that point on, all the skills had vampiric names.

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