Kael didn't stop running until his lungs burned and his legs felt like jelly. He ended up in Lincoln Park, hidden behind some trees near the old amphitheater.
His phone had been buzzing nonstop—Marcus calling, probably freaking out after those vampire goons showed up at their dorm.
"Fuck," he gasped, doubling over. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
ADRENALINE LEVELS: ELEVATED
HEART RATE: 187 BPM
RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE CALMING EXERCISES
"Calming exercises? Are you serious right now?" Kael straightened up, glaring at the floating interface. "Some vampire lord is hunting me and you want me to do yoga?"
PANIC RESPONSES IMPAIR DECISION-MAKING CAPABILITIES
OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE REQUIRES EMOTIONAL REGULATION
"Optimal performance? What am I, a fucking video game character?"
AFFIRMATIVE. USER INTERFACE DESIGNED FOR MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY
WOULD YOU LIKE TO REVIEW LEVELING MECHANICS?
Kael blinked. "Leveling mechanics?"
BLOOD SYSTEM PROGRESSION FOLLOWS STANDARD RPG PARAMETERS
DIFFERENT BLOOD TYPES PROVIDE VARIED STATISTICAL BENEFITS
TUTORIAL COMPLETE. ADVANCED FEATURES NOW AVAILABLE
A new screen materialized, looking like something straight out of a fantasy MMO. Character stats, skill trees, even what looked like an inventory system.
KAEL VYRNHEART - LEVEL 2 BLOOD DEPENDENT
STRENGTH: 23 (+12)SPEED: 19 (+8)CONSTITUTION: 21 (+10)PERCEPTION: 25 (+14)CHARISMA: 12 (+0)
CURRENT BLOOD TYPE: HUMAN O-NEGATIVEBONUS EFFECTS: +2 ALL STATS, ENHANCED HEALING
AVAILABLE BLOOD TYPES FOR CONSUMPTION:- HUMAN (VARIOUS TYPES): HIGH STAT BONUSES- ANIMAL: MODERATE STAT BONUSES, SPECIFIC SKILL IMPROVEMENTS- SYNTHETIC: MINIMAL BONUSES, EMERGENCY USE ONLY
"This is insane," Kael muttered, but he found himself actually reading the information. "So different blood types do different things?"
CORRECT.
HUMAN A-POSITIVE ENHANCES STRENGTH AND CONSTITUTION
HUMAN B-NEGATIVE IMPROVES SPEED AND PERCEPTION
HUMAN AB-POSITIVE PROVIDES BALANCED STAT INCREASES
ANIMAL BLOOD PROVIDES SPECIALIZED BENEFITS:
PREDATOR BLOOD: ENHANCED COMBAT ABILITIES
PREY BLOOD: IMPROVED STEALTH AND EVASION
AVIAN BLOOD: TEMPORARY FLIGHT CAPABILITIES AT HIGHER LEVELS
"Wait, what? Flight?" Kael's eyes widened. "You're telling me if I drink bird blood, I can fucking fly?"
FLIGHT CAPABILITIES UNLOCK AT LEVEL 15
CURRENT LEVEL: 2
EXPERIENCE TO NEXT LEVEL: 347/500
"And how do I get experience?"
EXPERIENCE GAINED THROUGH:
SUCCESSFUL FEEDING: 50-200 XP DEPENDING ON BLOOD QUALITY
COMBAT VICTORIES: 100-500 XP
SURVIVAL CHALLENGES: VARIABLE XP
COMPLETING SYSTEM OBJECTIVES: VARIABLE XP
Kael's phone buzzed again. This time it wasn't Marcus—it was an unknown number.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Vyrnheart." The voice was smooth, cultured. Lord Castellan. "I do hope you're somewhere safe."
"How did you get this number?"
"I have many resources. Your friend Marcus was quite helpful, though he didn't realize it."
Kael's blood ran cold. "If you hurt him—"
"He's unharmed. For now. But I'm afraid I can't make the same promise about you if you continue to avoid me."
HOSTILE CONTACT DETECTED
RECOMMEND CALL TERMINATION
"What do you want?" Kael asked.
"I want to know what you are. You're not a vampire—not in any traditional sense. Your scent is wrong, your power level is impossible for a fledgling, and most interesting of all, you don't seem to have a sire."
"A what?"
"The vampire who created you. Every vampire is turned by another, creating a blood bond between sire and childe. But you... you have no such bond. It's as if you simply appeared out of nowhere."
WARNING: DO NOT REVEAL SYSTEM INFORMATION
"Maybe I did," Kael said.
Lord Castellan chuckled. "Impossible. But intriguing. Tell me, young one, are you hungry yet? It's been several hours since you fed."
Kael realized with a start that he was hungry. Not the desperate, gnawing hunger from before, but a definite emptiness that was starting to demand attention.
BLOOD GLUCOSE: YELLOWNEXT FEEDING RECOMMENDED WITHIN 6 HOURS
"I'll find blood on my own," Kael said.
"Will you? And where exactly do you plan to find it? Another theft from my blood bank? A midnight attack on some unsuspecting human?" The vampire's voice turned predatory. "Or perhaps you're naive enough to think animal blood will sustain you?"
"Actually," Kael said, looking at the system information still floating in his vision, "yeah. That's exactly what I think."
He hung up.
CALL TERMINATED
BLOCKING NUMBER RECOMMENDED
"Already on it," Kael muttered, adding the number to his block list. Then he looked at the system interface again. "So animal blood actually works?"
ANIMAL BLOOD PROVIDES ADEQUATE NUTRITION
EFFICIENCY IS REDUCED COMPARED TO HUMAN BLOOD
SOME UNIQUE BENEFITS AVAILABLE
"Show me."
A new menu appeared:
ANIMAL BLOOD EFFECTS:
BOVINE (COW): +3 STRENGTH, +2 CONSTITUTION, DURATION: 8 HOURS
PORCINE (PIG): +2 ALL STATS, IMPROVED HEALING, DURATION: 6 HOURS
CANINE (DOG): +4 PERCEPTION, PACK HUNTING INSTINCTS, DURATION: 4 HOURS
FELINE (CAT): +5 SPEED, STEALTH ENHANCEMENT, DURATION: 4 HOURS
AVIAN (BIRD): +3 PERCEPTION, TEMPORARY GLIDING (LEVEL 5+), DURATION: 2 HOURS
"Holy shit," Kael breathed. "This is like a fucking skill system."
CORRECT. STRATEGIC BLOOD CONSUMPTION ALLOWS FOR SPECIALIZED BUILDSRECOMMEND EXPERIMENTATION TO DETERMINE OPTIMAL COMBINATIONS
Kael pulled up Google Maps on his phone. There was a butcher shop about six blocks away—Moretti's Meats. They'd have fresh blood, probably multiple types.
SUGGESTED ACQUISITION METHOD: LEGAL PURCHASEMANY BUTCHER SHOPS SELL BLOOD FOR CULINARY PURPOSES
"Right. Just walk in and ask for blood. Totally normal."
COVER STORY: BLOOD SAUSAGE PREPARATION
PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS: 87%
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Moretti's Meats was the kind of old-school butcher shop that was becoming rare in the city. The smell hit Kael as soon as he walked in—raw meat, sawdust, and underneath it all, the copper scent of blood. His mouth started watering immediately.
"Help you?" The guy behind the counter was built like a linebacker, with arms like tree trunks and a stained apron that had seen better days. His name tag said 'Tony.'
"Yeah, I was wondering if you sell blood? For cooking."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "What kind of cooking?"
"Blood sausage. My grandmother's recipe." The lie came surprisingly easily.
"Huh. Don't get many requests for that anymore." Tony scratched his chin. "What kind you need?"
RECOMMEND PORCINE BLOOD FOR INITIAL TESTINGBALANCED STAT BONUSES WITH ACCEPTABLE DURATION
"Pig blood, if you have it."
"Sure do. Got some fresh stuff in the back. How much you need?"
"Maybe a quart?"
"Can do. Give me a minute."
Tony disappeared into the back room. Kael waited, trying not to think about how weird this situation was.
Six months ago, his biggest concern had been passing organic chemistry. Now he was buying pig blood to feed his supernatural condition.
DETECTING ADDITIONAL BLOOD SOURCES ON PREMISES
BOVINE: 2.3 LITERS
PORCINE: 4.7 LITERS
AVIAN: 0.8 LITERS
UNKNOWN TYPE: 0.3 LITERS
"Unknown type?" Kael whispered.
BLOOD SIGNATURE UNRECOGNIZED
SPECIES CLASSIFICATION: ERRORRECOMMEND INVESTIGATION
Tony returned with a plastic container filled with dark red liquid. "Here you go. That'll be twelve bucks."
Kael paid, but his attention was focused on the system readout. "Hey, what other kinds of blood do you have back there?"
"Just the usual. Cow, pig, some chicken. Why?"
"The system says there's an unknown type," Kael muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing. Thanks for this."
He started to leave, but something made him turn back. "Actually, could I see what else you have? My grandmother was pretty specific about using the right kind."
Tony shrugged. "Sure, come on back."
The back room was a maze of hanging meat, industrial refrigerators, and stainless steel prep tables. Tony led him to a large cooler and opened it.
"Got your basic stuff here," he said, pointing to various containers. "Cow blood, pig blood, chicken blood for the few customers who want it."
UNKNOWN BLOOD SOURCE: 2.3 METERS TO YOUR LEFT
SIGNAL STRENGTH: INCREASING
Kael followed the system's guidance, his eyes settling on a small cooler in the corner. "What's in there?"
"Oh, that? Just some specialty stuff. Got a container of deer blood from a hunter buddy of mine, and..." Tony paused, looking uncomfortable. "Well, there's one container I'm not really sure about."
"What do you mean?"
"Guy brought it in yesterday. Said it was from some exotic animal, wanted me to store it for him. Paid me fifty bucks just to keep it cold for a week." Tony walked over to the cooler and pulled out a container about the size of a water bottle. The liquid inside was almost black, with a strange shimmer to it.
WARNING: ANOMALOUS BLOOD DETECTED
SPECIES: UNKNOWN
POWER LEVEL: EXTREME RECOMMEND EXTREME CAUTION
"Can I... can I buy that too?" Kael asked, unable to look away from the container.
"I don't know, man. The guy who brought it said he'd be back for it."
"Fifty bucks," Kael said quickly. "Same as he paid you."
Tony considered this. "Well, I guess if he really wanted it, he would've taken it with him. Cash?"
"Cash."
The transaction complete, Kael left the butcher shop with two containers—the pig blood he'd originally wanted, and the mystery blood that made his system interface flicker with warning messages.
He found an abandoned loading dock behind a closed furniture store and settled in to experiment. The pig blood went down easy, tasting like a more intense version of the human blood he'd had earlier.
PORCINE BLOOD CONSUMEDSTAT BONUSES APPLIED+2 ALL STATISTICS FOR 6 HOURS
EXPERIENCE GAINED: 75 XP
The effect was immediate. He felt stronger, faster, more alert. His vision sharpened, and he could hear a conversation happening two blocks away.
"Not bad," he said to himself. Then he looked at the container of black blood. "Now for the mystery meat."
EXTREME CAUTION ADVISED
UNKNOWN BLOOD TYPES CAN CAUSE SYSTEM INSTABILITY
RECOMMEND SMALL INITIAL DOSE
"Just a sip," Kael agreed.
He opened the container and immediately knew something was wrong.
The smell wasn't like any blood he'd encountered—it was ozone and electricity and something else, something that made his teeth ache.
WARNING: BLOOD SIGNATURE ANALYSIS FAILED
SPECIES CLASSIFICATION: ERROR
POWER READINGS: OFF THE SCALE
"Maybe this is a bad idea," Kael said.
But he was already lifting the container to his lips. The first drop hit his tongue and everything went white.
SYSTEM ERRORSYSTEM ERRORSYSTEM ERROR
INCOMPATIBLE BLOOD TYPE DETECTED
POWER SURGE BEYOND PARAMETERS
INITIATING EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS
WARNING: SYSTEM OVERLOAD
IMMINENTUSER VITALS: CRITICAL
ESTIMATED TIME TO SYSTEM FAILURE: 47 SECONDS
EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN INITIATED
ALL USER FUNCTIONS SUSPENDED
ATTEMPTING EMERGENCY RESTART
RESTART FAILEDRESTART FAILEDRESTART FAILED
FATAL ERROR: UNKNOWN BLOOD TYPE CONTAINS [DATA CORRUPTED]
SYSTEM SHUTDOWN IN 3... 2... 1...
The interface went dark just as Kael collapsed, the container of black blood spilling across the concrete.
The last thing he saw before unconsciousness took him was steam rising from where the mysterious blood touched the ground, eating through the concrete like acid.
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