Chapter 27: A Good Blood Source

The Flemo currency was the official legal tender of the kingdom of Flemero that couldn't be used anywhere but the kingdom.

It was just like the currency knew from his former world as the notes were decomposed into five parts, namely; A hundred, fifty, twenty, ten, and one.

There were notes for all the aforementioned numbers and to go lower than that, there were the Inos coins which were rarely ever in use unless they were stacked up to make at least a Flemo.

Neo wasn't so naive not to know that a lot of the trouble people had in the world could be easily solved by money. It was just that since he rarely ever went out back when he was in the mansion, he never had the need to carry any around but things were different now.

He was able to get some good pieces of information from the barbecue vendor after using the money he got from the robber to purchase two sticks, he could tell what the man told him wasn't everything he knew because he wanted him to come back but he was satisfied with the little he was able to tell him.

By the time he got back with the money, the other vendors were already gone, their lights along with them allowing more darkness to creep into the deserted street.

There was no one else there for him to ask any questions so he decided to head back to the warehouse.

"I guess my insurance paid off after all." He muttered as he exited the town, his gaze shifting to the lamp post which marked the entrance to the town.

Unlike the oil lamps the vendors inside the town were using, the white light from the lamppost was somewhat similar to florescent light, that was the reason why he could tell it was being powered by beast essence core because all the light in the home in his memory were like that.

He stared at the light for quite a while, something about its glow reminding him of a warm feeling which was something he desperately needed at that moment.

"Lucky you." He muttered, his gaze on the insects hovering around under the light.

He breathed a heavy sigh after that before he turned and began to head down the road, bringing both of the barbecue steak-filled sticks in his hand up close to his face.

The smell coming from the meat was still very much nauseous to him but he didn't want to just throw them away.

'Can vampires even eat normal food?' He wondered. 'Well, I don't think Mom ever had any problem eating them, however, I feel like eating this will make me sick.'

He was just a few distance away from the warehouse now but instead of derailing off the road toward the left, he took a right turn, slowly walking into the woods like it was where he intended to go in the first place.

There was a huge tree standing at the entrance and although he could see it clearly, it was only after he had almost run into it did he shift off its path toward the right brushing across it with his left hand.

He turned toward the left and walked straight, his foot crushing the dry leaves scattered on the ground and the sound giving some semblance of life to the mostly lifeless forest.

With rifts randomly appearing wherever they chose to and otherworldly beasts spawning from them, it was hard for the normal beasts in the forest to survive, the only ones still alive were those who had adapted to a style of always hiding in plain sight.

Neo walked through the forest without stopping for almost five minutes before stopping in front of what appeared to be some kind of dead end.

The area was sealed off by numerous vines woven together in such a way that made it look man-made.

All it would take to get past that was just a little flame but unfortunately, that element wasn't accessible to him be it through his body or an artificial means.

"Hmm." He mumbled, his gaze slowly moving from left to right.

He heard the sound of crushing leaves behind him at that moment causing him to quickly turn around to find a strange man in black standing there, he had been following him.

"Who's there?" He asked with a shaky voice, pretending not to see the man right in front of him.

The man had almost panicked for a second there but now convinced that he had not been spotted yet, he took another step closer to Neo who was frantically looking around, his accelerated breathing suggesting that he was terrified.

"Hehe, foolish boy." The man mumbled with an evil grin on his face.

He pushed his hand forward just after that, aiming to send a devastating blow down the boy's gut and immobilize him.

It was a sure and easy deal for him which was why when he ended up hitting nothing but air, the puzzled expression on his face knew no bounds.

"Huh?"

He was so focused on the rewards he would get from the boy after knocking him out that he didn't even realize when he stepped to the side.

With a swift upward swing, Neo connected his foot with his face crushing the night vision goggles that were greatly aiding his eyesight in the absence of any light source.

"Ugh…." The man groaned, staggering backward. His mind completely disoriented.

His night vision goggles were mangled now, rendering him blind instantly not just because the dark zone lacked natural light, his eyes took most of the brute force from that kick and were bleeding now. Under those conditions, he was completely overcome by great fear.

"What have I gotten myself into?" He muttered, his left hand on his bleeding eyes. "My flashlight."

With his hands trembling, he quickly reached for his pocket and pulled out a flashlight but just as he turned it on, he felt a devastating force thrust down his gut pushing him back and the flashlight off his hand and into the air.

"This wasn't how this was supposed to go." He grunted as he slowly crashed down to the ground, the falling flashlight providing him a blurred view of Neo's face.

__________ __________

A few minutes later, the man shot his eyes open to find himself sitting somewhere with his back against the wall. In the absence of any light source, he couldn't tell exactly where he was but he could guess he was in a room of some sort.

He wanted to be grateful that he was still alive until he realized that his hands and legs were bound with ropes making it impossible for him to move.

"Did that kid do this to me?" He muttered, trying to shake himself free from the ropes but that obviously wasn't working. "Just who the…."

He paused for a moment there as his nose suddenly caught a whiff of something, something spicy and nice.

"Barbecue steak?"

Just after saying that, he heard the sound of a switch getting pushed up, and to his greatest surprise, it turned out to be the flashlight he grabbed before he was knocked out.

The thing was being held up pointing upward to light up the area, the boy he was following sitting beside him holding it up.

He was staring straight into the darkness where the flashlight's light couldn't reach but his gaze seemed to be detached from the real world.

"Huh?" The man gasped as a shrill quickly ran down his spine.

There was something about the current atmosphere that spiraled his nervous system into a wreck, a sinister aura filled with all sorts of negative emotions mostly hatred.

'He was sitting beside me all this while? Just who is this person?'

Neo pretended not to notice him for a while before he picked up something from beside him with his left hand, what he picked up was the barbecue steak the man had smelled earlier and without hesitation, he pushed the stick of steak toward him.

"Want some?" He asked, his voice as calm as the breeze.

The man felt a lump sink into his stomach at that moment as he stared at what he was being offered, contemplating what to do in terror.

He could instinctively tell that the person sitting beside him was very dangerous so he didn't want to say anything that would put his life in sudden danger.

"Umm….okay." He nodded nervously, afraid that failing to answer quickly would also get him in trouble.

"Good," Neo uttered before stuffing the whole thing into his mouth.

The man gasped for air with his eyes popping out but Neo didn't care and just pushed the thing further down his mouth.

"A good blood source has to eat after all." He remarked before slowly letting go of the stick.

That statement echoed in the man's mind over and over again as he slowly pulled the stick out of his mouth, his eyes sinking in horror.

'What does he mean by a good blood source?'

******

Hey, Author here. If you've managed to get this far then I hope you're enjoying the journey so far.

Anyway, I would appreciate a review or comment of what you think so far.