Feeding Time

"Sadly his ability is only F-tier. It seems SanguineCorp's days really are numbered."

The problems in Lucian's life increased significantly the day he heard this.

While his parents were world-renowned as one of the strongest power couples in history, their son was an utter failure.

The only thing his ability 'Highspeed Regeneration.' could do was slightly heal small injuries faster.

Even those it only healed 2 times faster.

There was nothing 'highspeed' about it.

Others with similar abilities were able to regrow full limbs in a matter of days, but Lucian's was F-rank.

He probably wouldn't ever be able to regrow any lost limbs.

If anything, Lucian considered his mind to be his true power.

Being able to create a fully sentient AI was still decades ahead of his time, after all.

But, still…

Questions began to flood Lucian's head.

Why was it considered a 'skill?'

Was highspeed regeneration never an actual ability?

Moreover… Why did he need to drink blood now?

"Wait… I read in stories that vampires have incredibly strong vitality, being able to survive almost anything. Only stakes through the heart, sunlight, holy water, and silver could kill them. Maybe drinking blood has a part to play in this?"

Lucian exhaled.

"This all feels so surreal. Becoming a vampire, gaining a video game system, driving in the middle of the night to go drink someone's blood…"

He had only passed out for an hour or two, giving enough time for the sun to set.

While Lucian was reminiscing about the crazy day he had, the car slowed down to a halt.

"We have arrived," Alecia announced over the car's speakers.

Lucian's eyes glowed red with hunger.

"Let's start the plan."

***

A man slowly hobbled down the street carrying a bottle of beer in his hand.

From the way, he was walking it was quite evident that the unfinished bottle in his hand was definitely not his first that night.

Feeling parched, he lifted up the bottle to take another drink, but instead of feeling the cool bitter taste he so desperately craved, he could only feel a few lukewarm droplets hit his tongue.

"Fuck!" He cursed, throwing the glass bottle to the ground in a fit of rage.

*SMASH*

The glass bottle shattered upon colliding with the concrete, sending fragments of glass flying.

One especially large piece, however, headed straight towards the man's foot, threatening to impale itself in it.

The man was wearing open-toed flip-flops, so the glass shard would definitely be able to pierce his skin the instant it made contact.

That's at least what should have happened…

The instant before the glass hit the man's foot, the skin around his foot turned into an onyx colour.

*Clang*

The soft sound of an object hitting metal rang out.

Instead of the man's foot being impaled with glass, the only thing that was damaged was the glass fragment, which broke up into countless smaller fragments.

"Shitty glass," The man muttered under his breath.

He continued to walk down the dimly lit street, before stopping before a somewhat run-down-looking house.

Fumbling through his pockets, he managed to produce a metallic key.

As he put the key into the door lock, he noticed something strange.

His door was already open.

"Eh? Must've forgot to close it."

The man didn't seem to pay too much attention to it as he stumbled into the room.

Closing the door behind him, he made a beeline for the fridge.

"Hehehe, time for a pick-me-up!"

Grabbing one of the beer bottles in his fridge, he rubbed his fingers on its side gingerly, covering his fingers in water residue.

The man formed an 'ok' sign with his hand, bringing it to the bottle's lid.

His fingers turned into an onyx colour, and the man used them to uncap the bottle cap.

The smell of alcohol wafted throughout the room.

Taking a quick swig, he slowly pulled himself to the sofa area to enjoy his drink.

As he made his way to the sofa, something caught his eye.

The lights in the dining room were on.

"Fuck! The electricity bill's gonna be extra!"

Thinking that he left the electricity bill on, he made walked towards the dining room and turned the light off.

Turning around, he began to head back to the sofa area, when he heard a 'click' coming from the dining room.

Looking behind him for the source of the noise, he found that the lights were back on.

His door was unlocked, and the kitchen lights turned on the instant he left…

Even if the man was drunk, he still could understand what this meant.

Someone else was in the room with him.

He covered his body with a layer of onyx plating, making him look like a certain villain from a popular anime about alchemy.

The man slowly approached the dining room, while holding the beer bottle in his hand as if it were a weapon.

When he entered the dining room this time, he found that it wasn't empty.

There was a handsome teenage boy with black hair sitting on one of the chairs, seemingly in a daze.

Seeing the man approach, the teenage boy looked up at him, letting the man see his glowing red eyes.

"Don't you know it's rude to turn off the lights when someone's still in the room?"

The teenage boy didn't seem too intimidated by the man's hulking figure.

In fact, he seemed eerily calm.

"Who the fuck are you, and why are you in my house? Are you here to steal my stuff?"

The man gestured at the teenager aggressively with the beer bottle.

"No, Carter Owenson, I have no need for your belongings. The thing that I came here for… was you."

Lucian pointed to the man.

"Me? You're after me? A brat like you?"

Carter almost laughed when he saw Lucian declare that he wanted him of all things.

What was a teenager even going to do with him?

"Carter Owenson… Arrested once on allegations of first-degree murder, and after serving his time was set free. I'm surprised they didn't give you a lifelong sentence for that! You must have some friends in high places!"

Carter smiled.

"Since you know all of that, I'll be nice and let you walk away tonight. I'm in no mood to kill someone right now anyway."

Lucian brought his hand to his chin, seemingly deep in thought.

After delegating for a moment, Lucian smiled.

"Thank you for your offer, but after delegating long and hard, I would like to apologize. Having you is still my priority."

Carter scoffed.

"It's your funeral kid."

Carter threw the beer bottle at Lucian's head, and despite him being drunk, his aim was still fairly on point.

However, Lucian wasn't any ordinary human anymore.

Quickly pulling his head to the right, the beer bottle sailed past Lucian's head and hit the wall behind him.

*CRASH*

The beer bottle exploded, causing beer and glass shards to go flying in a somewhat beautiful spectacle.

Lucian gave Carter a toothy smile.

"Too slow."

Lucian pulled himself up from his chair and stretched his hands.

"I guess it's my turn then."

Looking at the man before him, Lucian's eyes glowed brightly.

[Charm]

Carter's body convulsed as if trying to fight back against Lucian's control.

Sadly this wasn't enough.

After a few moments of struggling, Carter's body went rigid.

'It was a success.' Lucian thought to himself.

Looking at carter, Lucian decided to test the limits of his new skill.

"Disable your ability."

The onyx-coloured coating surrounding Carter disappeared, leaving just a dishevelled man looking to be in his mid 40's.

"Do 5 jumping jacks."

Carter started doing jumping jacks, only ending after completing exactly 5.

"What is your name."

Carter looked at Lucian with a blank expression.

"Carter Owenson."

Lucian decided it was time to take things up a notch.

"Did you kill that woman?"

Without hesitation, Carter responded.

"Yes."

Lucian smiled.

"I see… You'll do then."

Walking up to Carter, Lucian sank his fangs into his neck.