CH6: The Smell of Iron

Leaving the cafeteria, Ken headed back to his room, feeling slightly relieved after eating. The system messages now appeared less frequently, popping up only once every ten minutes. However, the hunger percentage remained unchanged.

[Hunger: 50%]

"I wonder why it's still showing this," Ken thought. "It should have lowered after I ate."

That wasn't the only thing, he also noticed that despite eating, he still felt a lingering hunger. Though it wasn't as much as when he hadn't eaten at all.

He laid on his bed as he stared at the roof.

"Do I really have to drink blood?" Ken wondered, shaking off the thought. "No, there's no way I'll do that."

He convinced himself that his hunger will soon dissipate, probably in a few minutes. And once that happens, there will be no need for him to drink any human's blood. With nothing else to do, Ken had momentarily shut his eyes, as he fell into a deep slumber.

Minutes turned to hours, but all through his sleep, Ken kept on having series of nightmares. His usual sweet dreams was plagued by nightmares of himself transforming into a bloodsucking monster, chasing people to suck their blood.

The episodes of nightmares continued until eventually he woke up, panting heavily as he glared at the dark ceiling of his room. It had gotten dark outside, as the stars and moons were seen visibly in the sky.

He hadn't switched on any lights, so the only light seen in his room was the illumination coming through the window from the building beside the dorm building.

However, he couldn't be concerned about that since at the moment, he wasn't in his right state of mind. The pounding headaches had returned, and a hazy vision impaired his thinking, hindering his mind from functioning properly.

He got off his bed, all tired and sweaty, with a great feeling of hunger in his stomach.

Exiting his dormroom, he started heading towards the cafeteria. But before he got there, he had to pass through the school park which was surrounded by thick bushes and large trees.

Due to how late it was, most of the students had resumed to their respective dorm rooms for the day. So it was pretty much empty in the park.

Besides, there's a rumour about an incident that occurred a few months ago, before the 1st level students arrived; every morning, dead bodies of people were found in the park, as they seemed to have been dumped on the night before.

The perpetrator of the incident was yet to be found even till now. Not that the school was trying to find them anyway. The security measures that was placed, was to keep everyone at the academy calm, and also to stop the matter from being discussed further.

Among the corpses they discovered, were those of known teachers and students, and it had caused quite a stir in the academy.

So, a security measure was placed to ease everyone's worry, and that was night curfew. Stating that once it was 10pm, no one was allowed to be outside.

If a person were to be caught at that time, especially a student, they would be dealt with severely by the disciplinary committee. As for teachers, they would be suspended and placed under serious investigation if found suspicious.

Luckily, it was yet to be curfew at the time Ken woke up. Though it remained just a few minutes to the time, yet many students, due to the widespread rumour, had decided to go in, an hour before the time. Mostly due to the fear of being killed or ending up as a corpse the next day.

Still, the park's eerie atmosphere and shoriuded mystery didn't even bother Ken, as his hunger and fatigue had dominated his thoughts.

As Ken journeyed down the narrow path of the park, though it was done half-consciously, a faint iron smell had wafted his nose, causing his eyes to glow reddish. He stopped on his track as he attempted to trace its location.

That was when he found the scent coming from a particular angle on his left, it appeared so strong that his stomach couldn't help but rumble at it. Without wasting much time, he turned sidewards as he dashed towards the location.

As he head off to the location, the perceived scent kept on getting stronger as he inched closer. He skimmed through the bushy path till he eventually arrived at the spot. His heart racing with anticipation.

Ken pushed through the thick foliage, his mind shrouded in a haze. The iron scent wafted through the air, drawing him in with an irresistible force. His senses clouded, and his thoughts grew foggy.

As he emerged into a small clearing, Ken's gaze locked onto the source of the scent: a 1st-level student, cowering on the ground, with blood trickling down his arms and forehead. He had a bloody shirt and seemed to have been injured in a lot of ways.

However, standing before him was a 2nd level student with an ice dagger in his hands. He had a sinister look on his face as he stared at the 1st level student, but the sudden appearance of Ken had interrupted his little fun.

His eyes were locked on the stranger, as he looked at him from the head to toe. Noticing that his uniform had a single arrow sign on the shoulder part, he realised that Ken was just another one of the freshman that arrived today.

This had caused him to sigh out with relief. He thought the person was a teacher or a higher level student like him. But seeing that Ken was just a 1st level student with no powers yet, he felt like he could deal with him.

"Well, I don't usually do this. But I'll have to get rid of you. I can't have anyone know about this." The 2nd level student said.

Since he already dealt with the other student to the point of death, he felt more confident that he could get rid of Ken too.

Moreover, he noticed that this person's gaze wasn't focused on him but instead at the student behind him, which had caused a smile to appear on the student's face.

"Is he your friend? Well, too bad he won't be able to make it, just as you won't be making it either." He taunted as he sneered at Ken.

While he kept on babbling about, Ken wasn't even listening to his words, his only focus was on the source of the iron scent. With his vision blurred, his thoughts were consumed by hunger, which had caused his stomach to growl loudly, and his fangs to ache.

At that moment, he dashed off towards the 1st level student, but before he could reach the student, the 2nd level student had stepped into his path, his eyes flashing with aggression.

"Trying to save your friend, Huh?"

Ken's instincts flared, and his muscles tensed. The 2nd level student's presence was an obstacle, a barrier between Ken and the blood he craved.

"Get out of my way," Ken growled, his voice barely human, a low, menacing rumble.

The 2nd level student sneered, his fists clenched as the ice spear in his hands turned into an ice dagger. Yet he was unaware of the danger lurking before him.

"You think you can take me on, freshman?" he taunted.

Ken didn't hesitate. With his supernatural speed, he lunged at the student. Before he could react, his fangs had sinked deep into his neck, causing his grip on the ice dagger to weaken as he fell into Ken's arms.

He sucked the 2nd level student dry, the blood coursing through his veins like liquid fire. And Ken didn't hesitate to suck it all.

The 1st level student, still fully awake to witness what had just occurred, couldn't help but scream in horror, though his scream hadn't gone a long distance due to how weak he was.

Terrified, he scrambled to escape with the little strength he had left, tripping over his own feet in his haste.

When Ken finally came to his senses, he stumbled back, horrified. The 2nd level student's lifeless body slumped to the ground, eyes frozen in a permanent stare.

"What did I just do?" He muttered, with his mouth and hands bloody.

Ken's gaze fell upon the blood-soaked wound, and his vision wavered. His stomach churned, and his mind reeled with the implications of what he had done.

"Blood…" He said as he looked at his bloody arms and uniform. But he became more dazed as he saw the state of the student in front of him. "I drank a human's blood… I can't stand… blood."

Fear gripped Ken's heart, and he stumbled, collapsing to the ground. The scent of blood overwhelmed him. His weakness of fainting at the sight of blood currently taking effect.

However, sitting on the branches of one of the nearby trees, a certain person had witnessed it all. From the part where Ken had arrived to the point where he had collapsed to the ground.

"He's one of us, that's for sure." The individual said. "But which vampire faints at the sight of blood?"