Fates of Grenora: Return of the Night

Away from the fire, Aldrin's night vision took over, allowing him to see in perfect clarity. His senses sharpened to inhuman heights. He took in a lungful of air, tasting it for anything that would whet his appetite and slake his thirst. The jungle had quieted down in his presence once its denizens realized there was a predator in their midst. Letting himself cut loose of the tight control he had over himself, he let his Vampiric features show, thus marking the start of his hunt.

He flitted through the dense jungle, his eyes scanning every which way for prey. He blinked, letting himself see the white silhouettes of life with his predator vision. From the distance up above in the vines that crisscrossed the trees, he saw a gathering of white blobs. Making his way closer until he could make out what was causing the white blob, he came upon a group of the sleeping six-legged lemurs he saw earlier. He tried to Inspect them, but nothing came up as they weren't classified as a monster or a sentient being. Which meant he found his food for the night.

Carefully climbing up the nearest tree on all fours, he practiced sticking to the surface, feeling like a certain hero from Earth that had a similar ability. Once he was high enough and poised to strike at the group of sleeping animals, he pounced, snatching at one of the bigger ones before the rest realized what happened. The lemur squirmed and screeched in his grip as it tried to break free, but Aldrin sank his fangs into the body of the animal, silencing its resistance altogether. Unfortunately for the lemurs and fortunately for Aldrin, draining one lemur didn't subside the hunger that was threatening to become a problem, but it had the desired effect.

He dropped the dried and bloodless husk of the lemur before looking back up at the other lemurs that stared wide-eyed and frozen at the predator. Bloodied, he grinned and licked his lips, then showed his fangs, feeling the blood slightly rejuvenate him.

Out of the stupor from his action, the lemurs bounded away in different directions, screeching in fear. Unable to pick which direction first, Aldrin zeroed in on a group of three that dashed away. With a small smile etched onto his face, he turned into a swarm of bats, chasing after the group.

Feeling the encroaching death, the lemurs broke apart again, but Aldrin had already picked the next one as he caught up to it, reforming in mid-air, letting the momentum carry him forward as he grabbed up the lemur. Once again, he quickly drained it, then bolted off after another, zipping from tree to tree in pursuit of his prey. He continued through the night and early morning before the sunrise, hunting down lemurs and practicing with his powers with reckless abandon.

Returning to the lake, he stared at his reflection. His bloodied mouth and the front of his leather armor began to dry and cake from the hunt. Disgust no longer invaded his thoughts, but the reality, as this was who and what he was now. It felt like a part of him had awoken while another part had officially died. Shreds of his humanity remained, but not the parts that ‌revolted at what he had become. Just the parts that kept him tethered to remind him of who he was; his family and his friends, both old and new.

He unequipped his armor and clothes before stepping into the lake to submerge himself, letting the water clean off his body before he scrubbed away, then grabbed the rest of his armor and clothes to wash them. Once done with scrubbing as best he could, he reemerged, feeling refreshed. Along the shoreline, he saw Evie staring at him. She was still a mystery to Aldrin about what exactly she wanted, but she had been helpful so far, nonetheless.

"Is everyone ready?" He asked when he got closer, still partially submerged in the water up to his bellybutton.

"What's it like?" she responded, intently focused on his eyes.

Aldrin's brows furrowed. "What is what like exactly?" Letting his hands sway in the water.

"Being what you are? What's it like?" She clarified.

His brows raised to his forehead this time before the shock of the question wore off, "I don't know how to explain it." He looked down, staring at his hands that he pulled up from the water. "It's both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. A whirlwind of emotions, honestly." He confided before staring back into her eyes.

"Mm," she said before turning on her heels. "Well, come on then, we are ready."

He waited until she was gone, then got out, putting his clothes and armor into his Inventory, then pulling them out, freshly dried and ready to go. He trailed after her after putting his pants back on, then put his shirt back on and equipped his armor. "Do you want to be one?" he awkwardly asked once he caught up to her.

She giggled and shook her head. "It's not for me. The Earth puts us all here for a certain amount of time to do what we need to do before we must return to her embrace. I have no desire to be here longer than I have to," she sagely replied.

"Then why ask?" he said while looking around and feeling for any more Ambushers since he found it odd he didn't find any during his hunt.

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She stopped to turn around to face him, her jaw set and her gaze intense. "Because you are becoming more comfortable, and we need that if what Waesmenor said about you being a foretold event is true. I do not know what we will face in the coming days, but Demons don't get mixed up in this plane's affairs unless something big is bound to happen."

He avoided her gaze, "Do the Fae count as another red flag? Just asking for a friend," he sheepishly said.

Her eyes went wide as she opened and closed her mouth. All the intensity she had doubled, "THE FAE ARE INVOLVED TOO?" she said through gritted teeth.

Aldrin held up his hands in defense, quickly backpedaling. "Only one I know of has visited me!"

Evie whirled around, throwing her hands in the air, then running them through her hair. "Only one, he says. Just one! HA!" she stormed off.

Even more confused than when he originally started, he chased after her. "Wait! Evie! So that's a yes?" He caught up with her, putting a hand on her shoulder to slow her down, but she overpowered him and kept moving like he had barely touched her.

"The Fae haven't been seen on Grenora in about a century. Maybe a century and a half, according to some of my kind." She continued walking. "Aldrin, if they are involved and they have specifically revealed themselves to you, then this is bigger than all of us, especially with whatever is happening behind the scenes."

Exasperated, he ran his hands down his face. "I don't even know what's beginning! I feel like I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time when all of this happened."

"Yet to others, you were at the right place at the right time," she countered.

Before he could ask anymore questions, they arrived back at their makeshift camp. Pierre was grilling some kind of meat over the fire that Jared had presumably gone to hunt, as he was busy cleaning the fur of what looked like one of the six-legged lemurs.

Evie clapped her hands together, garnering the attention of the other two. "New plan, gentlemen! We are going to get you all to level 30 so you can gain access to your Tier 3 Class upgrade." She then turned to Jared. "Jared, we can find you a Beast Tamer in the upper city somewhere, probably after we turn in your quest, since that would give you a new avenue to a branch option for you when you level up. I personally recommend gaining a Beastmaster profession, as that would allow you to harness the abilities of the monsters you tame. It's an upgraded version of Beast Tamer."

Jared saluted with a goofy grin on his face. "Arcane Archer with a Beastmaster profession. I can't wait until Tier 4 then!"

"We will be a bit late, but the combination of those two plus your Servant title should give you access to something unique at Tier 4, hopefully." She answered, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Pierre, I am assuming with your Alchemist profession, you should gain access to a few branches. Do you know what you actually want to focus on?" She shifted her focus.

Pierre looked at his screen. "I don't know what comes after Tracker, but I am assuming it could be either a Trapper, Assassin, or Poisoner? If that was the normal without having Servant as a title."

Evie frowned, "Well, we will figure it out as we go along and that's ok! New Classes are always fun to figure out too! Anyway, after we get you three to level 31 for some spare Skill Points, we are heading to Ebira to charter a ship across the Fillagarian Sea to get to the Forbidden Continent."

"Couldn't we just go after this dungeon, though?" Jared asked.

"At the minimum, to barely survive the Continent, you need to be at least level 45. However, since Aldrin has a quest that leads there this early on, then there must be something achievable. That being said, we are going to hire mercenaries and charter a ship from Ebira." Evie stated.

Pierre looked at Aldrin, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. "What happened?" he cut in. "Why the sudden sense of urgency?"

Evie took a deep breath to calm herself, "Because!" she jutted a thumb back at Aldrin, "He is the key to something big and whatever it is, the Fae and Demons want in on it and Grenora knows when those two want something of the same then it definitely is going to alter the course of this Plane."

Jared huffed, "So basically he is walking around with a larger target on his back than we originally knew."

"And by extension, that means us, too. His quest all points to heading to the Forbidden Continent to get to the bottom of it!" Evie finished.

Aldrin stepped forward. "I think we will find the Vampires there. Vampires that can probably teach me things I haven't figured out yet."

"And if the Vampires are anything like the tales from Earth, then you know they won't be too happy with an upstart claiming to be the leader of them all," Jared said.

"Or they might immediately worship him," Pierre argued back.

"Or they might kill me, hoping to take power for themselves," Aldrin added.

Evie stomped her foot, causing a minor tremor of vibration to be felt. "Vampires are hierarchical. They respect power and authority, and Aldrin here has both; being what he is. He will be an honored and welcomed guest IF they do reside on the Forbidden Continent. Sure, they may be a few that won't like it, but we can't always please everybody."

"Alright, so Operation Power Level is commencing then?" Jared attempted to lighten the mood, which earned smiles from all.

"Yes," Evie said, a determined fire blazing in her eyes.