Depletion

When Gerard came back to his senses, he heard laughter.

"Brilliant. Blood frenzy, was it?"

Addis held a journal in his hands while he scribbled furiously.

Gerard shifted his body. His restraints were looser than before. He looked at the chains. Several links were stretched and almost broken.

"I thought I was going to die for a minute there. That's some absurd strength! Subject has exhibited strength similar to a minotaur or ogre for approximately thirty seconds..."

*Sprite?*

[30/30 MP]

Gerard smiled.

*Compel.*

Gerard felt his body grow heavy. His head pained, and nausea assaulted his senses. His body threatened to expel the blood from his stomach, and he fought to keep it down.

[Your mana reserves are empty. You are suffering from mana depletion. As an undead with mana reserves, much of your strength is provided to you via mana.]

*Damn. I feel hungover and drugged.*

"Addis. Surely you realise by now that I am not a danger to you, nor am I worth anything at all. You can let me go."

"Yes, obviously, I realised that."

He set down his journal and bent under the table. The chains came loose.

Gerard pulled his hands and feet from under the chains and rubbed his wrists.

"Addis. With your incredible intellect, you would know where we are, yes?"

"How correct you are! We're in the basement of the MRI, the magical research institute. This room is magically hidden from the other researchers, and only myself and those I allow can enter here."

"Impressive. Where is the MRI located?"

"Why, in Solares, the capital city, of course!"

"Two final questions for you, Addis. Where is my gear, and can I get out of this building without you?"

"Your items are in a chest under the table, and no, you won't. The other researchers won't let a dangerous... You're dangerous?"

*Is the compulsion weakening? Spellcasters are a pain.*

Gerard slid off the table and opened the large ornate chest. All of his gear sat neatly inside. Blood stained his clothes and robe, while the iron had streaks of rust. He equipped himself.

Addis stepped back. He held his head.

"Yes, Addis, remember, I'm just not dangerous to you because of your strength and intelligence."

"Of course, I know that. Well, they won't let you leave, being a vampyre and all. They'll know what you are right away because of your aura."

The visible confusion disappeared from Addis' face.

"Could you help me, then?"

"I'll try. You have provided me with valuable information for my research."

*Good. I'm weakened because of this darn mana depletion.*

"Let's go, then."

Addis placed his palm on the door, which glowed bright blue before opening. Gerard stepped through and came to a hallway.

*Sprite, how long were we in that room?*

[For clarification, I wasn't in the room with you. You were there for seven years.]

*Only seven? It felt much longer than that.*

Gerard looked back to see the door disappear, leaving only a wall in its place. Gerard stretched his arms and legs and followed Addis.

They passed several rooms before coming to a flight of stairs. At the top, a man wearing a robe similar to Addis' looked down at them.

"Addis, what are you doing standing beside a monster?"

Before anyone could reply, lightning arched up the steps and fried the robed man.

"Never liked him anyway. He always questioned my theories and called me a madman."

"I see."

[7,850 Experience gained. You have reached level 6. Your base stats have increased. 42,250 experience until your next level.]

*Because Addis killed people, I suppose. Good.*

Gerard's body lightened with his new level up.

*That must have increased my mana.*

[MP - 3/33]

*So I gain the mana that my reserves increase by? Just like my HP, I suppose. Good information to have.*

Gerard gestured for Addis to go first.

"Lead the way."

Addis nodded before climbing the steps. He stepped over the corpse of his fellow researcher, and he looked conflicted.

"They're in the way of your path to immortality, Addis. Think of them as stepping stones in your journey to acquire true knowledge."

Addis shook his head and turned left down the hall. Gerard quickly took a drink from the charred researcher, smiled, and followed behind.

*Maybe I'm not so bad at improvisation after all?*

[You're really something. I never even had to tell you that compulsion can be broken with enough stimulus. Still, you realised that, and you're even countering the stimuli with a reassuring conversation explaining that what they are doing is their choice.]

"I did work in a sales department when I was younger. Maybe all of that experience is shining through."

"What?" Addis furrowed his brow.

*Shit, I said that out loud.*

"Nothing. Keep going."

In front of them, the hallway opened up to a large room with three staircases and several other hallways. Opposite the staircases, large wooden doors braced with metal faced the room.

*Those must be the doors leading outside!*

"Addis!"

An elderly man, about Gerard's real age, approached from a hallway between two staircases. Two others followed behind him.

Unlike Addis' robes, this man's robe's edges were black. The two behind him had red-lined robes.

"Different robes?"

"Because of my... Eccentric applications of magic, I was never promoted to a higher ranking. That's the head researcher, Leonhard."

"What have you done, Addis?! We received telepathic communication from another researcher saying you killed someone and are protecting this vampyre. What do you have to say-"

An arc of lightning shot from Addis' hands again. With a wave of his hand, Leonhard stopped the path of lightning with an invisible barrier of some kind.

A battle of magic ensued, and Gerard took the opportunity to try for an advantageous strike.

"I call upon your light. Divine Ray!"

A wave of light rushed toward Gerard from the researcher positioned left of Leonhard. It scalded his skin.

Gerard hit the ground, unable to move.

*Sprite!*

[Holy Magic. Strong against all undead. It has damaged your nervous system. Your HP is currently 20/90]

*That light was that powerful? One more, and I'm dead...*

Gerard watched as the researcher focused his attention back on Addis. Fire, electricity, earth, water, ice, light, and darkness. Magic of many types flew back and forth between the four spellcasters.

*Do they think I'm dead? I need to escape.*

A stone spike erupted through the floor beneath the researcher on the right and impaled him.

[15,600 Experience gained. 14,600 experience until your next level.]

Addis was winning, or so Gerard thought.

A torrent of several elements flew through the air and struck Addis. Charred and smoking, his body crumbled before hitting the ground.

"Well, that's that. Dispose of the ungodly creature's body." Leonhard strode over to his deceased comrade. He pulled him from the spike, laid him down, and a bright light covered the body.

The body twitched, the hole in its chest closed up, and colour returned to its skin.

*Magic that brings people back to life. I knew it would exist!*

The researcher responsible for getting rid of him came closer. Gerard closed his eyes and attentively listened to the approaching footsteps.

He could move. His mana reserves slowly healed his body. Feeling returned to his limbs.

*Closer.*

*Closer.*

*Closer.*

The footsteps stopped.

*Now!*

Gerard pushed up with one arm, and with the other, he punched a hole through the researcher's chest. Without another thought, he sank his fangs deep into their neck.

The burns over Gerard's body healed. His strength returned.

[12,050 Experience gained. 2,550 experience until your next level.]

Leonhard muttered something, and a wave of light washed over Gerard, but the scent of blood removed any rationality he had. Even as his skin bubbled, he sped forward until his teeth sank into the head researcher's neck.

Gerard awoke to a room full of dead researchers.

[170,850 experience gained. You have reached level 10. Your base stats have increased. 59,200 experience until your next level.]

[You have unlocked two evolutionary options, which do you choose?]