Leveling

I followed Marlin upstairs, still confused about what actually happened. They talked about "gods" and "leveling," and I felt like I was an outsider in this situation. But one thing is certain, the demon race that will invade is a threat that we need to face.

We got outside and met Lancey who was ready to fight, "There's a demon race group approaching the city. We have to stop them before the guards arrive," he explained

Marlin added, "We will fight together. Kratia, we will explain more once we deal with this threat. Now, prepare for battle!"

I nodded, ready to fight alongside them against the demon race that would invade. Although I still have many questions, right now the main task is to protect the city and stop this threat.

We moved quickly towards the place where the demon race was expected to approach the city. When we arrived there, we saw a group of demon race that had started attacking the residents of a small village located at the edge of the city. They looked very fierce and were not affected by enemy attacks.

The sight we saw was truly terrifying. The demon race had attacked the residents of the small village viciously, and the houses had burned down, while the residents were trying to escape from their invasion.

Marlin, Lancey, and I quickly formed a defensive formation in front of the remaining residents. We knew that we had to stop this demon race as quickly as possible before more lives were taken.

But suddenly something jumped above me and it was Lancey with a face etched with a thirst for war

"Hahaha!"

Lancey's sudden action took me a bit by surprise, but then I realized that he was ready to lead our attack. He descended with lightning speed and started fighting the demon race with overwhelming power.

The battle progressed quickly, and although these demon races were strong, we managed to defeat them one by one. Marlin showed off his skills with very powerful magic, while I… could only watch because I didn't have any weapons at all.

Treng! The sound of something falling caught my attention

I looked towards the voice and saw a small sword lying near my feet. Then, my eyes turned to the direction that threw it, and up there, I saw Lancey who was hugging the devil from behind.

"Take that little sword and kill him, you have to level up."

Level... that word again. I'm always confused about what it actually means. But I nodded, understanding that this was part of this battle. I grabbed the small sword that Lancey threw and approached the demon captured by him.

I raised the sword towards the demon's chest, but…

Trembling, I raised the small sword towards the demon's chest, but then I hesitated. "I... I can't..."

Lancey looked at me with an impatient expression. "Naive!"

Shortly after I hesitated than Lancey quickly took over and with one sharp movement, he thrust the small sword into the demon's heart. The demon grimaced and immediately let go of his life.

I stared at the scene with wide eyes. This was my first experience seeing death directly, and it felt very real. Lancey pulled his small sword out of the demon's heart and threw it at me.

"This is war, Kratia," he said seriously. "You must learn to survive and fight. Life in this world is never easy."

Then, a glob of saliva came out of my mouth after seeing the blood dripping from the demon's body.

Lancey looked at me with a shocked face, "You… why are you drooling? Usually, the first thing people who have never fought and seen blood see is that they vomit, but… you," he paused for a moment to catch his breath, "Your face is like a hungry monster."

The screen appeared in front of my face:

[Warning! Warning! Warning!]

[Your Hunger Level is increasing: 'Find raw meat to eat']

After looking at the screen, my eyes focused on the demon corpse with a hunger that tormented me. The hunger felt so strong, as if I hadn't eaten for days.

I felt something strange happened to me. It felt like there was a mysterious force pushing me to eat the demon's flesh. Even though I was very troubled by the thought, the desire to eat grew stronger.

Subconsciously, I grabbed the demon's body and bit it. The demon meat tasted strange, but also very satisfying. This was a completely new sensation for me, and I felt like I couldn't stop.

Lancey and Marlin who saw what I was doing looked surprised. They tried to pull me away from the demon corpse, but I couldn't stop. It felt like I had lost control of myself.

"Come on, Kratia, strengthen yourself!" shouted Marlin.

They tried hard to stop Kratia, but… it was in vain.

Crunch! Crunch!

Chomp! Chomp!

The demon's corpse had now become bones.

[Level up to 2!]

[Level up to 3!]

[Level up to 4!]

[Level up to 5!]

In my confusion, I had unknowingly eaten the demon's corpse. It felt like I couldn't stop it, and my body continued to move on its own.

However, something extraordinary happened. Every time I swallow a piece of a demon's body, I feel new energy and power flow into me. I felt a profound change in myself, as if I was becoming stronger and tougher with every bite.

Lancey and Marlin who saw what happened looked shocked. They realized that I not only ate demon flesh, but also experienced a tremendous increase in level. The battle against the demon race became much easier with the new power I gained.

"What just happened?" Marlin's voice was in a frightened tone

"H-Hey, Marlin..." Lancey called

After being called Marlin looked at Lancey, "W-What's wrong?"

"Where did you get this Vampire…?"

"What do you mean vampire? Isn't he human? Or… cannibals."

"No, Use 'User Scan' to see Race Kartia."

Marlin looked at the screen that appeared before him after Lancey used the word 'Screen':

[User Scan: g̷̨̧̡̨͇̜͖̩̻̥̙͎̞̘̲̖̦͍̭̃͋̆̽̽͗̅̈́̄͂̑̂͑̓͆ạ̸̛̛̟͕́̃͛̀̀́̀͠b̶͍͊̋̏̀̓͆̚͜ͅr̴̨͑̑̈́̈́̄̂̈̋́̑͛̿̀͛̈̑̂i̵̖̼̤̠̋́̏̓̎̉̈́͆̌͘ẹ̶̛̪̮̪̭̥́̓̈́̎̔̈̇̽̈̚l̴̛͓̦̙̦͎͙ ̷͖̮̩̥̬̗̗̌̇͒̓̅͛͆̕m̵̢̢̧̡̜̙̼̻͍͉̪̯̂͒͛͜ͅa̶̧̡̨̱͓̖̯̤̙̥͍̟͖̖̤̠̖͊̂̍̃͒́͛̕h̷̡̭̝͎̪̤̼͕̖̩̫̺͎̊͊̅͑͋͌̉̿̋̍̽̑͘ͅà̷̰̘̫͖̰̹̻̪̳͇̺̼͔͑͆̈́̾̊̉̂̓̋̆̐͜͠͝r̵͈̱̯̼̖͚͔̱͔̭̣̜̭̽̽͜ä̶̧̢̭̲̼͙̭̖̥̼͙͚͖͙̘̮́̇͜ͅj̴̢̺̞͎̠̥̖͂̾̋̂̄͊͊̒̆̊̊̿̉̈́̓͑͆̕̕͝ã̵̢̧̛̙̟̗̮͊͆̓͂̆͒͊͜͠]

[Race: Vampire]

[Level: 5]

Marlin was stunned to see the scan results. "No way... Kratia, he is a vampire!?"

"Furthermore, the name cannot be read, this has never happened…"

Shrek! Shrek!

When I finally regained my senses, I was standing amidst the chaos. My face was messy with demon blood, and there was a bit of flesh stuck between my teeth. My eyes opened wide, as if trying to process the fact that I was now a vampire.

"…"

Nobody spokes or even moved. We were all stunned in a state of shock, trying to understand what had just happened.

In the silence that enveloped us, thoughts began to swirl. I remembered Orteg's words saying the same thing: "A vampire?"

That question tickled my mind. Am I really a vampire? How could this happen? Part of me felt afraid, but there was also a feeling of curiosity and desire to understand more about the power I had just acquired.

We all need to talk and plan our next steps. What does this change mean for my role as part of the "Prophets" alliance in guarding this kingdom? That is a question we must answer.

Shrek! Shrek!

The sounds of the knight's steel armor could be heard approaching quickly. Without words, Marlin and Lancey immediately jumped up and ran away, leaving Kratia alone in a state of shock and confusion.

The knights arrived outside the royal walls and were immediately shocked at the sight before them. The village that was previously filled with demons, was now empty except for Kratia who stood with her face covered in blood, chewing on the remnants of demon flesh. The knights looked at each other, confused and surprised by this sudden change.

One of them, the bolder one, cautiously approached Kratia. "Who are you? What happened here?"

Kratia looked at them with her eyes still wide open, blood on her face, and shook her head in confusion. "I... I don't know. Everything changed so fast."

The other knights looked at each other in confusion. They didn't know what to do with Kratia who suddenly appeared in this state.

The knights looked behind Kratia and saw piles of bones scattered on the ground. They regarded them as human bones and their faces were full of anxiety and anger.

One of them exclaimed, "Look, he killed all these villagers! He is a murderer!"

The other knights joined in the call, and the atmosphere grew tense. They accused Kratia of being a criminal responsible for the massacre of the villagers.

Kratia tried to speak, but her words were slurred. "No... It's not like that. I don't know what happened. I just..." he spoke while opening his mouth showing his fangs.

All the knights were shocked to see the fangs.

"H-Him! Vampire! Kill him!"

The knights' cries filled the air, and they became more and more determined to attack Kratia. They didn't want to listen to his explanation, but only saw him as a threat that had to be eliminated.

Kratia saw that he was in serious danger. He looked around for a way to escape or fight, but he realized that he probably couldn't fight all these knights alone.

As the knights drew closer, Kratia felt despair creep in. What will she do? How can he prove that he is not a criminal?

"Wait!" shouted from the rear group of knights.

Then the knights opened the way for him, it was seen that the woman who spoke was a woman with long blonde hair and sharp eyes that radiated authority. He wore sparkling clothes and seemed like he was the leader of these knights.

The woman approached Kratia with steady steps. "All of you, stop!" he ordered in a firm voice. The knights lowered their weapons and made way for the woman.

< Chapter 10 > To Be Continued.