The moment Leo stepped beyond the barrier, the guardian's blessing vanished.
It wasn't abrupt. It crept back into him.
A dull pull in the chest. A dryness at the back of his throat. The familiar ache he now recognized as hunger, not for food, but for blood.
High above, the sun cast a fractured, sickly light through the interlocking branches of the Umbral Expanse. Around him, the forest was a graveyard of the previous night's madness. Trees were gouged by massive claws and stained with the dark, drying ichor of monsters that had slaughtered one another during the surge. Strength was the only thing that mattered here, and hesitation was a debt paid in blood.
As Leo stepped further into the wild, his heightened senses became a liability.
The smell of iron and rotting flesh was thick enough to taste. The sounds were even worse; the distant, mournful howls of beasts and the frantic buzzing of insects sounded like they were right next to his ears. Everything felt too loud and too bright. It was overwhelming.
Malphas loomed behind him, a calm presence in the chaos. ''My lord, since this is the first time, your vampiric senses are being overwhelmed. Close your eyes. Do not fight it. Let your senses run free, and your blood will filter the rest for you.''
Leo took a deep, steadying breath and surrendered to the instruction. As his eyes closed, the world shifted. The overwhelming noise and stench began to sort themselves into distinct layers. The chaos became information. He was finally gaining control.
''Thank you, Malphas. Let's move,'' Leo ordered, his voice taking on a sharper edge.
They cut through the undergrowth with predatory grace. Any stray beast that dared to lung from the shadows was met by Malphas's blade, reduced to pieces before it could even snarl. After half an hour, the cursed hound let out a low, vibrating howl, its snout locked onto a trail in the distance.
"Lead the way,'' Leo commanded.
They hadn't gone far when a rhythmic thudding reached Leo's ears. He signaled for the hound to go silent.
''Bipedal scouts, my lord,'' Malphas whispered, moving to the front. ''Three of them, likely a patrol.''
They moved through the blackened brush without a sound. Ahead, three lizardmen moved in a disciplined formation, their emerald scales shimmering under the filtered sun. Leo watched them from behind a charred trunk, his vampiric vision highlighting the heat signatures of their blood through the thick foliage.
Malphas observed them with a critical eye. "Uncommon E-ranks. However, their discipline suggests they aren't strays. There is a fortified nest nearby."
They waited with the patience of true predators. The lizardman trio patrolled the perimeter for a full hour before their captain finally hissed an order. ''Retreat.''
'A common tongue, or perhaps the system's translation,' Leo mused as they began to tail the group.
The lizardmen were cautious, doubling back and masking their tracks, but they couldn't hide the frantic, rhythmic drumming of their hearts. The patrol soon blundered into the territory of a massive forest bear, and a skirmish broke out instantly.
''Their camp must be within reach for them to be this bold,'' Malphas noted. ''Your orders, my lord?''
''Let them exhaust themselves,'' Leo replied with a cold chuckle.
The lizardmen fought with savage efficiency, using their numbers to wear the bear down. The beast was a mess of gashes, letting out a final, rattling roar as it prepared to charge. The captain snickered, his tongue flickering. ''Finish the vermin.''
A scout stepped forward to deliver the killing blow, but Leo moved first. With a sharp flick of his will, he seized the bear's spilled blood. The liquid surged upward, defying gravity to crystallize into a jagged, crimson spear. Before the lizardman could blink, the spear drove through his throat.
KEKKKK
The captain barely had time to roar before a flash of red light claimed him. Malphas moved like flash, severing the leader's head in one clean sweep. Leo finished the final scout with a wave of his hand, the remaining blood in the clearing turning into lethal needles.
''Are you holding up, my lord?'' Malphas asked, stepping over the corpses.
''Ha... I'm fine,'' Leo said, wiping a droplet of sweat from his brow. 'I'm starting to get the hang of this.'
Leo stood over the dying bear and ended its suffering. ''Rest.''
[Warning: Hunger State Active.] [SE Gained: 40]
He allowed his body to draw in the essence, satisfying the gnawing ache in his throat before storing the carcasses in his inventory. Following the scent trail for another twenty minutes, they arrived at the mouth of a jagged cave. Malphas's familiar circled once before returning. Seventeen heartbeats pulsed within the darkness.
''The plan?'' Leo asked.
''A D-rank chieftain likely waits within. I will take the head. If you can manage the crowd, I will finish the leader,'' Malphas proposed.
''You think I can handle seventeen?''
''Do not fight like a human. Fight like a vampire. Let your instincts take control. The blood in your veins is the most precious treasure in the cosmos. Let it guide your hand, and it will show you how to dominate,'' Malphas said, his voice thick with reverence.
'Let my instincts take over,' Leo repeated to himself, the words igniting a spark in his mind.
They entered the cave, weaving through the jagged stone pillars. At the center, the lizardmen had established a crude camp. Some were honing their weapons, some were tearing into raw meat, and others were brawling for dominance. A massive tent stood in the center, clearly belonging to the chieftain.
Leo took a slow breath and shut his eyes. He stopped fighting the dark urge he had been suppressing since his transformation. The human part of him that feared the darkness stepped aside. But now, he let the leash go.
His blood roared with primal joy. A visible red aura began to seep from his skin, swirling around him like a mist. The hound cowered in the shadows, whimpering as it felt the crushing weight of the bloodlust radiating from its master.
Malphas's grin widened. 'Just what I expected from the ancient bloodline.'
The bloodlust was so heavy it felt physical, filling the cavern in an instant. The lizardmen shrieked in fury, grabbing their weapons and charging toward the intruder.
A massive, seven-foot-tall lizardman burst from the large tent, his scales like black iron. He bared his teeth and roared, ''KILL HIM!''
As the first wave reached Leo, he snapped his eyes open. They were burning with a terrifying, deep crimson light.
The lizardmen froze mid-stride, their bodies locked by a primal fear they couldn't understand. To Leo, the world had become a deep shade of scarlet. Time seemed to grind to a halt. His crimson sense was heightened tenfold.
In a blur that defied the eye, Leo moved. He flowed between the lizardmen like a shadow. Within seconds, five of them slumped to the floor, their hearts torn from their chests and discarded.
RIP
Even as E-ranks, they were merely cattle before him. In the presence of a Primordial, the soul does not fight; it surrenders. This was the terror of the first of the vampires.