2 Chapter 2: Nath Weller and Sera Anacus

Levin Academy was a school occupied with students from all over the world. It was especially attractive to those who lived abroad due to free housing being available to all students enrolled. With it's reputation as a top-level school being of the utmost importance, the administration spared no effort to provide their students with anything they could need.

Rel walked through the academy gate with an irritated look on his face. He was wearing the standard school uniform, which for males was a white dress shirt, black tie, dark grey slacks, and a red blazer with a golden parrot crest, the academy symbol. His eyes were no longer the iconic crimson red of a vampire, but a plain dark brown. As for his skin, it was still pale, but not enough for humans to think much about it.

All vampires had access to a more human-like appearance that they could adopt whenever they felt the need. It was a very simple change, merely hiding the key features such as fangs and the color of their eyes and skin. However, the change was unique to each vampire and could not be customized in any way. If a vampire's human appearance had brown eyes then they would have brown eyes the next time as well.

Walking through the courtyard garden on his way to class, he heard a number of high-pitch voices call out to him.

"It's Nath!"

"Nath! Want to walk to class together?"

"Hey Nath! Do you want some of my breakfast?"

Rel turned around to see a group of girls wearing matching red academy dresses run over to him. They asked him many questions, most of them concerning whether he was free or not during breaks between and after classes. He ignored most of them, but answered a few halfheartedly as to not make the situation awkward.

While his true vampire name was Rel, he went by the alias of Nath Weller when dealing with humans. Due to his good looks, sharp brain, and physical prowess, he had countless fans among the female students.

However, Rel did not care much about that and usually acted very stoic and cold whenever someone approached him. Although he made it seem as if he disliked human interaction, it was only because he didn't want to implicate anyone if he were to be attacked by other vampires. To most, he was known as a loner, but one that many adored and respected.

Upon entering the classroom, Rel went over to his seat and put his head down. The girls who walked with him stayed for a few minutes before taking the hint and leaving.

[I can't wait until I move into the university section of the school next year... Since the schedules are not standardized, it'll be much easier to dodge people.]

Resting his eyes, Rel was awoken shortly after by the sound of tapping on his desk. He looked up to see a handsome man with violet eyes smiling down at him..

"Oh great, it's the bootlicker." Rel groaned.

The student laughed.

"Nath, Nath, Nath... Is that really how you speak to one of the few friends you have? Why are you moping around on such a beautiful sunny day like today? You a vampire or something?"

Rel cast a cold glare at the energetic young man.

"Shut up Andi. I just had a rough night yesterday. Also, what do you mean friend? You're just a bootlicker, a snakey businessman at best. You only talk to me because you want me to help you in some kind of scheme."

"Haha! Come on man, you know that's not true. There have been plenty of times where I helped you out without any thought of self-benefit. However, since we're on the topic, have you thought it over? I could really use your help. It would benefit you in the long run as well."

Rel shook his head.

"Sorry man. Answer is still no." He said wearily before slumping his head back down.

Andi Key was the model student in Rel's class. Perfect grades, popular, and favorably connected to a large portion of the administrative staff in the school. He was the complete social opposite of Rel.

He was also a vampire and a member of the Crowns.

For the longest time, Andi had been trying to convince Rel to join the Crowns just like the Blood Clan. Based on their approaches, Rel already liked Andi much more then he did the latter. While they got along relatively well, even saving each other's lives a few times, Rel politely declined every invitation to become an honorary member of the Crowns.

That was because no matter how close they got, Rel could never see through Andi or understand what he truly thought or felt. Just as his clan, the Sifr Clan, were known for their summons, the Crowns specialty lay in their superior mental capabilities that even other vampires had to be wary of. They were also notorious for using others as means to an end to accomplish their goals. In the end, Rel wasn't even sure if Andi was really his friend or just another vampire he wanted at his disposal.

Throughout the day, Rel frequently kept his head down. It wasn't due to sunlight like Andi joked, but because he exhausted himself trying to get rid of the curse he had been afflicted with the night before, which had resurfaced. It wasn't a complete seal like before, but it still limited him to half his normal strength. He spent alot of energy summoning different creatures that specialized in breaking blood related curses, but to no success.

Despite making no attempts to hide the fact that he was sleeping in class, Rel was never called out once. The teachers didn't mind as he was normally a good student and assumed he was just having an off day.

After finishing his last class, Rel was approached by another group of girls asking if he wanted to hang out with them. As usual, he declined and began to walk drowsily back to his dorm room.

However, because he was so tired, he wasn't paying attention and felt a human presence bump into him.

"Oww..." A soft voice said.

Rel snapped out of his dazed state and looked down to see a familiar girl sitting on the ground. She wore the standard red academy dress and had long straight black hair with turquoise eyes. Although she had heavy bags under her eyes, her slim figure and otherwise pretty face made her look quite attractive.

[Wait a minute... That long black hair and turquoise eyes. It's the girl from last night!] Rel was slightly surprised. He did not expect to see the girl who he fed on just hours ago so quickly.

"My bad... I'm a bit tired so I wasn't really paying attention." The girl said apologetically.

"Same here. I guess that makes two of us." He said while helping the girl back up.

After getting back on her feet, the girl stared at Rel with a puzzled expression.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked.

"You look familiar... Have we met recently?"

"I don't think so. Maybe you're mistaking me for someone else." Rel said nonchalantly.

"Strange. My memory is a bit foggy, but last night I remember being attacked by someone and then being taken to the police station. Would you know anything about that?"

Rel shook his head. He obviously wasn't going to tell her that he was a vampire and that he sucked her blood to help fend off an attack from the Blood Clan.

"I see. I guess I'm just tired. Sorry for bringing up such an awkward question. By the way, I'm Sera Anacus. I'm a member of the student council and a soon to be graduate."

"Nice to meet you Sera. I'm Nath Weller. I'm graduating this year too, but other than that I'm just your average everyday student with nothing special."

Sera chuckled a bit at Rel's self-depreciation.

"Don't sell yourself short like that, everyone is special in some way. Sometimes it just needs the right moment to reveal itself. Anyways, I gotta head to a council meeting now. It was nice meeting you!"

After Sera left, Rel stood silently in thought for a few moments before going back to his dorm. Upon opening his room door, he was greeted with joyful barking from a small black puppy that jumped into his arms.

"Hey Cerb! Did you miss me?"

If Rel said that the puppy wiggling in his arms was actually a giant demon dog capable of savagely killing multiple vampires, no one would believe him. Cerb/Cerberus was Rel's signature summon and the one he spent the most time developing. As the only summon he had a genuine connection to, he trained Cerberus to disguise itself as a normal dog so that he could be with him in public as well.

"Cleaned the room for me while I was gone didn't ya? Well you did a great job!"

Despite having the mindset and instincts of a dog, Cerberus had near human intelligence. When Rel left for class in the morning, he was so tired that he neglected to clean up his room after his mass summoning session the previous night. However, currently the room was spotless. All the magic circle prints were gone and the room was neat and tidy as if a housekeeper had come in. Cerberus let out a toothy grin as if he were taking pride in his work.

"Maybe I should start a cleaning service for the other students in the dorm. With your skill, we could probably make a killing." Rel joked.

Rel played with Cerberus for a while before he was interrupted by pecking on his room window. He turned around to see a crow staring at him patiently, as if waiting for him to open the window.

Putting Cerberus down, he went over to the window and unlocked the hatch. The window opened and the crow flew onto a desk in the corner of the room. It opened its mouth and began to make gagging noises. Slowly, a small note was regurgitated onto the desk. After delivering the note, the crow flew back out the window, never to be seen again.

Walking over to his desk with a serious expression on his face, Rel picked up the note. Although it had been clearly vomited out of the crow's mouth, it was dry and did not smell at all.

'Meet in the outskirts of the academy at sundown.'

Upon reading the note, Rel took a look at his alarm clock. It was 5:00 PM, sundown wasn't even an hour away.

"Man, can't I just get a break for once...?"

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