Chapter 50: Awakened

  The evening was turning into night while Lily flew across the darkening landscape in the direction where Vessikar should be. Inwardly she was tense, and a quiet frustration sat deep in her mind like a knot she could not untangle. Jesus, where had everything gone wrong in the last few days? she thought. This day alone, with everything that had happened, had left her more mentally exhausted than a night shift at the 7-Eleven after a full day at university in her former life. It had been an up and down of emotions, mistakes, instincts, and rushed decisions, and in the end, ironically, the exhaustion almost helped her think a little clearer.

  Maybe it was because her mind was already overloaded and her new demonic self had sunk somewhere into the background for a moment. Maybe it was the cold air sweeping around her armor as she cut through the sky. Or maybe she had simply started to adjust to this world in ways she had not noticed until now. In the end it could have been a mix of everything, or she was imagining things again, but she could finally see that something had gone completely wrong during the last hours, or maybe even days.

  She had conveniently ignored the fact that everything from the game came with more than just mechanical function. Her skills, her items, even her money were not just numbers anymore. They had real weight, and real consequences. Yes, she knew how her skills worked, but she had already noticed it earlier yesterday in the inn, when she had pulled out the [Silverwind Striders] in front of Gideon, and later in the bank. The effects were real here, and even the flavor texts carried meaning. And she had ignored that. Maybe intentionally. Or at least unconsciously.

  Yeah, because if I had accepted it, if I had acknowledged it directly, I would have had to acknowledge that everything I can do and everything I am is fucking evil.

  She pressed her lips together behind the helmet. Owning a nuke is not evil by itself, she argued silently. It is only evil when you use it, right? Except… she had used it. Or at least the closest thing she had.

  Her first doubts and her first real self-awareness had been muted, pushed aside, or simply buried too deep, and they had come far too late. When she had cast [Blight of the Demon Moon], she had seen with her own eyes how real everything truly was. And she had freed actual demons. Bound, yes. Controlled, yes. Loyal by contract, yes. But demons nonetheless.

  The difference between them and someone like Igrath was the origin. Igrath had been a former NPC, something created for a game system, something she could still rationalize. But these demons had lived their entire lives as real beings in hell. They had histories, instincts, agendas she knew nothing about.

  Yeah, what could possibly go wrong? she thought bitterly.

  The biggest issue was maybe that I didn’t acknowledge at first that they are more than just grunts who follow every order I give. I mean… that’s wrong, right? She groaned inwardly. Ah, damn it. But I mean… I’m a freaking demon too?

  At least they were under her control and should do what she said, but the thought did not comfort her as much as it should have.

  But… I cannot doubt every single thing I do. I am too deep into it anyway. Also, I’m glad how it was going with the town in the end… and also…

  Her thoughts were interrupted as she suddenly felt the mental connection to Vessikar re-establish itself. Since she had been flying in his direction the whole time, she had kept trying to reach him through the bond, but nothing had answered her. When it finally snapped back into place, it surprised her how different it felt when it happened consciously. It was like a thread tightening in her mind, sharp and unmistakable, pulling her attention away from everything else.

  “Vessikar?” she called through the bond. Her wings adjusted automatically as she slowed a little in the air. “Where are you?”

  After a short moment the Demonbound finally answered, his mental voice strangely energized through the bond. “Princess? We are hunting!”

  Lily paused mid-air. “…Wait, what? With ‘we’ you mean you and Tessa? Did I not order you to watch over the girl?!”

  “Yes, Princess,” Vessikar replied without hesitation. “Lady Tessa is awakened, just like you predicted, my lady!”

  “Just like… what?”

  She felt the direction of the bond sharply now, the [Track] instinct tugging her focus downward. They were close. Very close. She descended toward the treetops beneath her and slowed to a hover above the edge of a vast forest.

  Oh, are they fucking kidding me? she cursed silently.

  She sent a sharper impulse through the bond. “Just stay where you are. And I really hope for your sake that you have a good explanation…”

  She flew maybe less than ten minutes from Tiara to this place, but the sky had already changed completely from the reddish evening glow to a deep night scattered with stars. The air grew colder as she descended, and before she even reached the treetops, she could already smell blood. A lot of blood.

  When she landed, Vessikar came sprinting toward her with surprising excitement, his movements almost too eager. He dropped into a low bow the moment he reached her.

  Great. A few hours away and even the Demonbounds change their behavior, Lily thought with irritation. When she had first summoned them they had been mechanical, almost puppet-like in their obedience. Now Vessikar was… developing.

  “Welcome, Princess!” Vessikar said, practically vibrating with enthusiasm. “It is great! Come, come, the child of the Demon God is still feeding!”

  Lily groaned at the phrasing. “I am not asking any questions yet. Just bring me to Tessa. And I swear, Vessikar, if you hurt her—”

  “Oh, of course not!” he said with an even bigger grin, clearly pleased with himself. He hurried ahead, leading her only a few steps deeper into the forest, through a cluster of trees and behind a thick bush.

  And there Lily saw Tessa.

  Even after everything that had happened in the last days, this sight struck her harder than anything else. Lily froze. Her mouth opened. Closed. She took a step back. Opened her mouth again. Closed it again. Her brain simply refused to process the scene.

  Then she pulled off her helmet and shoved it into her inventory, her crimson eyes locking on Vessikar with a look that could have killed a mortal ten times over.

  “Vessikar,” she said, her voice dangerously calm. “Could you please kindly explain why the girl I told you to watch over—so no one would harm her—is no longer human and is currently bowing over a dead animal and eating it raw?”

  ???

  After Tessa had changed, everything had felt different. The whole perception of the world had shifted in a way she could not describe. Even the colors seemed slightly off, as if someone had adjusted the saturation of reality. And there was so much noise inside her head, so many strange instincts and sensations she could not make sense of. She kept asking herself how this had happened, why it had been her, and what she had become. Was she a monster now? Had she really killed her boss?

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  The demon at her side had been excited, almost proud, and he had congratulated her several times. He insisted that it was a gift and that she was now a chosen one. For Tessa it was far too much to process at once. She tried to think, but her thoughts kept folding back into each other.

  At the same time something else crept into her mind, something that grew slowly but steadily. It was the strange realization that she had become something more than she had ever been before. She now carried something people across the entire world would probably kill for, a unique class. Tessa could barely grasp the thought. It felt unreal and yet painfully real at the same time, because it pulsed inside her like an unfamiliar warmth that did not belong to her. And despite the claws, the fangs, and the cold skin, she still felt almost like herself. That alone made her think again about the promise she had received from the Demoness. The favor Lady Greenwood—no, Lady Nocturne—had mentioned. Could this transformation truly be the favor she had meant? And if it was, why had she chosen Tessa of all people? The question circled in her mind again and again without moving any closer to an answer.

  While her thoughts spiraled like that, something new appeared in her awareness. It came slowly at first, almost gentle, but it grew with every breath she took. Hunger. It was a deep, hollow ache in her chest and her throat. It made it harder and harder to concentrate on anything. She felt hungry, and she knew instinctively what she needed. She needed blood.

  The moment she realized that, she remembered the first horrible seconds of her awakening, and how she had been consumed by bloodlust and had killed the first person she saw. The memory terrified her, and she grew concerned that it could happen again. She saw the alignment on her status, [Evil] staring back at her, and she wondered what it was even supposed to mean. She did not feel evil. No, she did not feel like a monster. She only felt overwhelmed and afraid of losing control again.

  And Tessa did not want to kill anyone else, definitely not, especially not some random innocent person just because she could not hold herself back. The idea alone made her feel sick. So, she turned to the demon beside her. He had told her his name, Vessikar, and he seemed to understand far more about her new condition than she did.

  “I need help,” she said quietly. “I do not want to hurt anyone again. I do not want to lose control.”

  Vessikar nodded as if he had expected the question. “You need to feed. Hunger is normal for what you are now. We can go into the wilds. There are Monsters that can satisfy your need. I hunted them many times in the Ashen Plains.”

  Tessa had no idea where that was, but the suggestion made sense. It was the first idea that did not involve another human dying. “So, I can feed on animals?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said with absolute certainty. “I heard about your gift from the elders. Sometimes the Demon God recognizes a soul when his gaze falls upon it. Since he gave you this gift, it means that the last one who carried it has already left the realms. But to answer your question, you can feed on any living being, and blood will keep your mind clear and prevent the frenzy.”

  It was not comforting, but it was enough. She nodded slowly because she could feel her resolve slipping the longer she waited. “Then let us go,” she said. “Before I cannot stop myself anymore.”

  Vessikar gave a pleased nod, and together they slipped through Tiara’s streets. Strangely, they did not encounter a single person on their way. The streets were empty, and even the city gates stood without guards, as if the entire place had quietly retreated behind closed doors. Something big must have happened while Tessa had been inside the inn.

  As soon as they crossed the first line of trees, the scents of the forest washed over her. The damp earth. The leaves. The faint musk of distant creatures hiding between the bushes. It was overwhelming. It was intoxicating. And then the hunger hit her harder than before. It felt like someone had placed cold hands inside her ribs and was pulling her forward. The next breath brought a new smell. A warm one. A living one.

  Her vision sharpened instantly.

  Something moved behind a fallen tree. She did not think. Her mind drowned in the blood rush before she could resist it. Her instincts took control of her body faster than she understood, and she lunged toward the source of the scent. A rabbit had been crouching in the shadows, small and fragile, and before it even realized she was there her hands had closed around it.

  Its heartbeat throbbed wildly in her ears, and the sound was almost hypnotic. She sank her fangs into its throat, and the warm blood flooded her mouth. The moment the first drop touched her tongue, Tessa froze. She had expected metallic bitterness or something foul, but instead the taste bloomed across her tongue like warm honey. It was impossibly sweet, richer than anything she had ever tasted, almost silken in texture. It rushed over her tongue and down her throat with a softness that made her tremble.

  Her body reacted immediately. Strength surged through her limbs, and a strange, warm pressure spread through her veins, as if something old and powerful had awakened inside her. The world sharpened around her, and her senses expanded even further, bright and vivid and overwhelming.

  She dropped the limp body without looking at it. Vessikar stood a few steps behind her with a pleased expression on his face, but she barely noticed him.

  It was the beginning of her hunt through the forest. With every kill Tessa grew more addicted to the taste of blood. Strangely she did not remember how the blood of her boss had tasted, probably because she had been in a complete frenzy then, but perhaps that was better. If even the blood of wild animals tasted like this, she did not dare to imagine how the blood of humans or other sentient beings would taste. The thought alone frightened her.

  Her hunt continued as the hours passed. She knew instinctively that she needed a great amount of blood after her awakening to strengthen herself and to fill the hollow ache inside her. The forest became a blur of movement and heartbeats, each one calling to her with irresistible intensity. Every creature she caught filled her a little more, yet each taste made her hunger sharpen again. She felt her strength grow, her senses heighten, and even her levels rise with every kill. After a few hours she reached [Level: 12]. She would choose her new skills later, once she was finally full.

  Vessikar continued to walk behind her with silent satisfaction, but she did not look at him. She paid him no mind at all. The forest was her entire world now, and the rhythmic sound of blood-filled hearts around her drowned out everything else.

  Her last prey was a deer she found as the sun was beginning to set. It stood in a small clearing, unaware of her presence. The fading light fell softly across its fur, and its breath formed little clouds in the cold air. She could hear its heart clearly. It was steady and strong, and her hunger locked onto it with absolute focus.

  She stepped forward quietly. The deer lifted its head, sensing something, but it was too late.

  Tessa launched herself at it with far more speed than she believed possible. They rolled across the grass, and she pinned it beneath her. Her fangs sank into its belly, tearing through fur and skin, and the warm blood spilled into her mouth in a rush so intense it made her tremble.

  It was sweet again. Sweet and warm and impossibly rich, running down her throat like molten sugar and filling her with a brightness that made her entire body shake. She drank deeply. She drank until her limbs felt heavy and strong and her senses hummed with clarity. It was the strongest prey she had taken so far, and the blood felt deeper and fuller than any before it.

  She felt that she would finally be full after this deer, so her entire focus stayed on it while she continued to feast. The last glow of the sunset faded behind the trees, and night settled over the forest while she kept drinking. For the first time since the transformation, she felt close to whole.

  Then a voice interrupted the silence behind her.

  “I see you have already accumulated quite a bit.”

  Tessa froze mid-breath. She pulled herself back slowly from the deer, her lips stained dark red and drops of blood sliding down her chin. She turned her head and saw Vessikar standing beside someone else.

  The Demon Princess.

  This time she wore no helmet. Her crimson eyes glowed faintly in the darkness, and the moment Tessa’s gaze met them she felt small again. The strength she had gathered from hunting scattered inside her chest, and the weight of reality came crashing back over her as if a thick fog had lifted.

  “Ah… yes… I…” Tessa stammered, unable to form a proper sentence.

  “It is fine,” the Princess said softly. “Vessikar told me what happened.” She let out a quiet sigh, her wings folding behind her with a tired flutter. “I am sorry. It was my fault that things turned out like this. I have no way at the moment to change you back, but if you want it, I would—”

  “No.” Tessa interrupted her before she even realized she was speaking. “I… I feel whole somehow. Like I never did before. I do not want to trouble you.”

  “Oh.” The Princess’s expression changed for a brief moment, something almost sad flickering through her eyes, though Tessa could not be sure if she imagined it.

  Then she said, “Yes, that is how it should be, mortal. Since it was not my favor that the Demon God has seen you and found you worthy enough to gift you the gift of vampirism, I will offer you instead a place for now. Until you find your place in this world, I will guide you until you can stand on your own legs.” She paused for a moment and murmured more quietly to herself, “Let us say, until level five hundred…”

  Tessa’s eyes went wider. She bowed again, still overwhelmed. The situation was strange beyond anything she had ever imagined, yet inside she felt that accepting the offer was the right decision. She needed more time to process everything, and she knew she could not do it alone. But at least her fear was gone. She had always been someone who carried all kinds of fears through her life, and after her time in the forest, this was the first moment where she felt no fear at all. And she loved this feeling.

  She lowered herself deeper into the bow. “Thank you so much for your offer, my lady. I will accept it.”