The cold, damp surface of the smooth river stone pressed against Lucius’s bare skin. He sat near the edge of the rushing water, completely naked save for a single, crude cloth draped carelessly over his lower body to maintain a shred of his lingering human decency.
The humid air of the forest clung to him, smelling of fresh pine and the metallic tang of the stagnant swamp they had left behind.
Hovering directly in his line of sight, the ethereal blue glow of the Supreme System illuminated his pale, hardened features.
[Host Name: Lucius Moonwalker]
[Origin: True Vampire]
[Level: 2]
[Blood Points: 67]
[Strength: 70]
[Agility: 85]
[Vitality: 75]
[Blood Purity: 100%]
[Unique Abilities: A Vampire’s Talent, Supreme System]
[Core Abilities: Mindless Blood Conversion, God’s Bite]
[Subskills: Undead Vitality, Enhanced Senses]
[Faction Grid & Milestones]
[Mindless Blood Capacity: 0 / 10]
[Willing Blood Kin Capacity: 1 / 5]
[Milestone: Complete the limit of the willing blood kin capacity and unlock a new skill called Skill extraction.]
Lucius let his glowing crimson eyes scan the brackets of text, his predatory calmness absorbing the sheer magnitude of his newfound power.
Not too far from where he sat, the rhythmic, rushing sound of the forest stream filled the quiet clearing. That was exactly where he had taken his own bath just a few moments ago, washing away the foul mud of his exile and the grim residue of his first kills in this unfamiliar world.
Now, the feral girl he had just subjugated with God’s Bite was having her turn in the freezing water.
He had originally commanded her to wash herself first, disgusted by the thick layers of dirt and dried slime coating her skin.
But the wild girl had stubbornly refused, insisting with absolute, fanatical devotion that she needed to keep watch and protect him while he bathed.
Lucius sighed, the sound escaping his lips in a long, tired breath.
He did not need protection, especially not with his enhanced senses constantly monitoring the perimeter for the heartbeat of any approaching beasts or Eldian knights, but he allowed her the small victory to cement their new master-and-servant dynamic.
His gaze remained glued to the floating blue screen before him. He did not need the system to over-explain the data for him to understand exactly what he was seeing.
Not only had his level increased multiple folds since his arrival in this harsh world, but his base stats had exploded exponentially.
Furthermore, he was now sitting on an abundant reserve of 67 Blood Points.
’It is highly calculated,’ he thought. ’The system heavily rewards the act of turning living, capable targets into Willing Blood Kin far more than it rewards the mindless transformation of corpses, or even simply slaughtering D-rank monsters.’
With a single, dismissive swipe of his pale fingers, the glowing interface vanished from his sight, returning the forest to its natural, dim lighting.
’This simply means I have to find more willing candidates to fill out my capacity,’ he reasoned internally, his mind already plotting his next moves. ’But that is not going to be an easy task. I have exactly one right now, and I do not even know what to do with her yet.’
"Master! I am done!!!"
Upon hearing her loud, enthusiastic voice echo over the rushing water, Lucius turned his head to the side.
There, standing completely exposed on the muddy riverbank, was the girl. A huge, incredibly proud smile stretched across her newly cleaned face.
Without the thick, smeared layers of forest mud and grime hiding her features, her physical transformation was absolute.
The ancient True Vampire blood pumping through her veins had healed her feral scars and softened her hardened edges. Her skin was now a pristine, flawless pale shade that rivaled his own.
Her wild red hair cascaded down her shoulders in wet, heavy strands, dripping crystal-clear water onto the stones beneath her feet.
Even more jarring was the absolute fact that she was entirely naked. She stood tall, her hands resting confidently on her hips, thrusting her chest out and revealing every single curve of her bare body for him to see without a single ounce of human shame.
Lucius’s expression immediately dropped upon seeing her display.
Normally, as a former ordinary salary earner from Earth, he would have instantly averted his eyes in a panic. But the cold, predatory nature of his blood kept his heart rate steady. Still, something about this girl’s complete lack of civilized boundaries just made him want to shake his head in deep exhaustion.
"Standing naked in front of a man is not something you should be doing so freely," Lucius stated, his voice flat and authoritative.
The girl paused.
She blinked her glowing red eyes, taking a full second to look down and scan her own bare body as if checking to see if something was broken.
Finding nothing wrong, she raised her head back up to look at her master, completely unfazed.
"Is master bothered seeing me with no clothes?" she asked genuinely, tilting her head to the side like a confused animal.
Lucius sighed even more heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Refrain from doing this when we finally get to the city," he ordered calmly, forcing himself to maintain eye contact with her face rather than letting his gaze wander. "Not everyone would be so calm in this exact situation. You will draw unnecessary, dangerous attention to us."
The girl did not question him. Without a single moment of hesitation, she smiled brightly and nodded her head in absolute submission.
"As you command!"
Lucius stood up from the wet stone he was seated on, his bare feet pressing into the damp earth, and began walking slowly toward her.
His glowing crimson gaze remained entirely fixed on her face the entire time, pointedly ignoring the water droplets tracing down her pale collarbone.
As he stopped right in front of her, he willed the system to appraise his first living subordinate. A smaller, condensed blue screen popped into existence right beside her head.
[Stats on vampire.]
[Name: Not given.]
[Race: Vampire.]
[Class: Blood master.]
[Talent: S rank.]
[Blessing: Vampire God.]
Lucius blinked for a long while, staring at the floating text.
He did not expect her stats to pop out as impressively as they just did. Though he had a lingering feeling that his God Mark would make her stronger, the reality of the numbers was still deeply shocking.
To think that a feral, dirt-covered girl who survived by eating raw water slimes would suddenly possess an S-rank talent was absurd. The heroes summoned by the King of Eldia were treated like royalty for having similar talents.
He heavily suspected this massive spike in her potential was entirely because he was now the one directly giving her his blessing as the Vampire God.
He grabbed his jaw, deep in thought.
’Does that mean any capable person I manage to defeat and turn into a Willing Blood Kin immediately gets my divine blessing, and also receives an amazing stat boost?’ he wondered in his head, his mind racing.
If that were true, he could build an unstoppable army of S-rank elites.
The girl looked up at him, tilting her head to the opposite side as she watched his eyes dart back and forth, silently wondering what profound thoughts her master could be thinking about.
Lucius caught her curious stare and shook his head slightly.
’There is absolutely no point in thinking about it too much right now,’ he decided. ’For now, I should focus on what needs to be done to survive the night.’
So, he turned his full, undivided attention back to the naked girl standing before him.
"I should give you a name," Lucius declared quietly. "Since you do not have one."
The girl’s red eyes flickered with a sudden, overwhelming excitement, causing her to lean forward eagerly, completely ignoring her lack of clothing.
"Really?!!!" she gasped, her raspy voice pitching up. "Master wants to give me a name?"
Lucius leaned back slightly, a nervous, slightly awkward look breaking through his calmness.
"Umm, yeah. It would be incredibly weird talking to you all the time if you do not have a name to answer to."
"Yes! Give me a name master!!!" The girl leaned forward again, her hands gripping his bare arms in pure anticipation.
"Lets see..." Lucius muttered.
His crimson eyes flickered back and forth as he searched his memories for something fitting. He needed something simple, something he could call out easily in the heat of a battle.
Then, one finally came to mind. It was the name he had given his loyal pet dog once, back in a life that felt like it belonged to a completely different person.
"Dori," he uttered softly into the quiet forest.
The girl’s eyes widened a fraction. Slowly, a huge, trembling smile flickered onto her pale face.
"Dori?" she repeated slowly, testing the syllables on her tongue as if they were a rare delicacy. Her eyes began bubbling up, the crimson glow entirely softening as heavy tears threatened to drop from her lashes. "I-i finally have a name... Dori..."
Lucius could not help but smile a bit himself, the harsh reality of his exile fading for just a brief second upon seeing her so genuinely, profoundly happy over something as simple as being given an identity.
Then, the familiar chime of the system echoed in his mind, and a flurry of notifications popped up directly between them.
[Congratulations on granting your vampire a name.]
[Dori has unlocked the evolution features. She can now unlock new skills and keep growing stronger the more her loyalty grows and the more blood she drinks.]
[You have gained a new Unique skill.]
[Name Seer: Getting the full name of a person allows you to access important parts of their lives into memories.]
Lucius stared at the glowing blue screen for a long while, absorbing the incredible utility of his new power.
’No shit,’ he thought, a dark thrill running through his veins. ’Making a vampire is really rewarding.’
"Master?" Dori called out to him, her voice pulling him back to reality. She was looking at him with absolute adoration, entirely ready to follow him to the ends of the earth.
"Its nothing," Lucius said smoothly, dismissing the interface. He turned around, walking back toward the pile of stitched animal skins resting on the rocks. "Get dressed, Dori. We need to head to the city before it turns completely dark."