NOVEL NEXT Vampire vs Salamander
After resting, I realized something very important that I had neglected up to this point. Getting so excited had caused my energy to drain away which lead to this slowly.
(Grr... grr... grrr...)
Very unladylike sounds came from my stomach.
Yes. What I had forgotten was what I was going to eat.
I'm so hungry.
The world is so unfair!
Why couldn't I be like Subaru-san? He had his convenience store shopping with him!
What do I do? I'll be in trouble if something happens to me because of hunger. Let's see what [Valuation] says about myself.
General Statistics
"Nameless Vampire" [Level 1]
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
SP: 15/100
Skills
"Vampirism Lvl. 1" | "Valuation Lvl. 1"
"Longevity Lvl. 1" | "Luck Lvl. 1"
"Immortality Lvl. 1" | "Recreation Lvl. 1"
"Night Vision Lvl. 1" | "Status Change Resistance Lvl. 1"
...
Great, my speculations were correct, I have more skills thanks to my species, That's great to tell you the truth.
I see I won't die of starvation, but would it be the same with [SP]? I remember reading a spider novel where if those points ran out, so would your life.
Oh well. I should go find something if I don't want to find out.
But what could I eat then?
If you ask me, I haven't seen a single soul since I've been here. Maybe it must be a place very uncrowded by humans. No, wait, where am I to begin with?
I never wondered until now, is this place some abandoned castle?
Mmm...
I have no trouble seeing out of my [Night Vision], so I get up from my spot and start exploring and being careful of the emerging beams of light spreading from the gaps in the walls and ceiling.
I'll be in big trouble if any of them hit me, and worse with the [SP] being so low.
...
I just noticed that I'm very short. My range of vision is barely enough and my height doesn't allow me to see things from so far away without having to get close.
Seriously, who had the heart to abandon a little vampire girl in a place as sinister and significant as this? I want to sit down with that person and discuss vampire-to-vampire.
Besides that, I have to walk slowly so as not to exhaust my [SP] all at once. I have to be careful, as I don't know if there are traps hidden somewhere in this place.
I wouldn't want to have to deal with a trap right now...
One thing I'm thankful for is that my [SP] won't be consumed by thinking, so I don't have to worry about all the things I've been narrating so far.
Well, it's not like I was a person of many words anyway. In my previous life, all I said was "Good morning", "Bon appetit", "Thank you for the meal" and "Good night". Plus the only person I talked to was my aunt.
Every day I spent my days locked in my room playing whatever online games I could find or adding more games to my vast collection of RPGs on the shelf. Sometimes I would watch anime and sometimes I would go out and buy instant food. The only activity my aunt had forbidden me to give up was school, so by my third year of high school, I was anti-social in every sense of the word.
Since I wasn't allowed to bring the console to school, I managed several books that I read during my free time. I didn't even care about classes as long as I passed them and could spend my holidays locked in my room.
On vacations, I used to sleep during the day and stay active all night until dawn. Since I had air conditioning and a bathroom in my room, I didn't have to worry about going out for anything but food.
Damn, counting all that makes me want to cry and makes me miss my room.
The only thing I regret... I probably regret not being able to say goodbye to my aunt at all. Anger consumed me and I barely had the strength to walk. We only talked a little yesterday morning, and I suppose I must be satisfied with how things turned out.
She would reprimand me for worrying about meaningless things.
"After all... she loved me, didn't she?" -. I think from the bottom of my heart.
I don't know if she would mourn the death of a murderer. No. Well. I was her only living relative. Of course, she'd mourn my death no matter what I became.
She's that kind of person.
That's why I cherish her so much and regret not being able to say goodbye to her correctly as I should have done.
[10 minutes later]
I finally understood.
Late, but I got it.
If you'll excuse me, I'm going to break my capitalization limit for a moment.
-IS THIS FUCKING PLACE A DUNGEON?!
I ALMOST DIED TWO MINUTES AGO, WENT DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS THAT I THOUGHT LOOKED INTERESTING AND THE FIRST THING I CAME ACROSS IS A PACK OF LIZARDS BIGGER THAN ME WITH FIRE ON THEIR BACKS!
A-ah...
Excuse me. This was such a near-death experience that it completely undid my calm.
I have failed you, mother, father...
"Kimi no, zenzenzenzense..." -. I hum in my mind the Kimi no Nawa song to calm down a bit.
Ok...
I shouldn't be in so much trouble, right?
If I think about it calmly, I have an ability called [Immortality] on my side. Which makes things a whole lot more tricky for me.
I have to be reasonable.
I have the physique and height of a six-year-old. Plus I don't have enough weapons or stats to deal with those things.
I don't think very good, because aside from [Recreation], the only offensive skill I have would be...
[Vampirism: Unique skill to the "Vampire" species. For every 0.5 liters of blood taken, 25% of the prey's stats and skills will be stolen]
Okay... looks like I've got more traps than I thought.
Shit, I hope I don't end up regretting this decision. And it's not like the hunger is satisfying.
I had said I'd prefer to stay out of the fights as much as possible. But this is almost like going out of my room to look for food with the only difference being that my food is still alive and in a group.
However.
It's a move I'm forced to make to satisfy my hunger cravings.
...
...
...
...
Remember what I just said a few moments ago? Take all that and throw it away.
I just said it would be like looking for food by leaving my room, but let's remember two important things:
- These are monsters.
- They are not processed food.
I mean, I have to kill them to eat them.
And that's very hard to do, of course, so it's not at all advisable what I'm going to do either. So kids, if you're not immortal, or if you don't have the equipment to deal with these things, don't try to imitate my actions.
Although it was with great fear, I went back down the slab stairs. Entering deep into this room filled with lizards in paraffin.
They are salamanders.
They are related to dragons, but unlike dragons, they cannot shoot fire from their jaws and instead carry their flames on their backs to defend themselves. They also have spikes on their backs, making them a poor choice for monsters of the same size to attack.
The claws and fangs of these beasts are unnecessary. They look so sharp they might as well rip my body in half. They are little killing machines.
Following the sound of my footsteps, the first [Salamander] sets its sights on me. I have a problem.
The first one alerts the second one and the second one alerts the rest of the herd. That's how all the monsters learn of my arrival. I have two problems.
They all rush at me, opening their beastly mouths with two rows of fangs and spewing a black liquid from inside their mouths, most likely poison.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!
"Don't die, don't die, don't die, don't die, don't die, don't die, don't die, don't die, don't die, don't die, don't die, don't die, don't die..."
Thanks to my small constitution, the attacks are easy to dodge in terms of trajectory, but it would be another matter if it comes to destructive potential and speed. They're impossible for me to dodge, but it's not like it's that hard having the intellect of a former human.
Ha! My prediction skill is very good thanks to all the games I played in the past, even Dark Souls wasn't a match for me! Amid the adrenaline frenzy is when I think best and it makes me able to process various sources of information as long as I concentrate on it!
That is, I'm able to dodge attacks by small, irregularly calculated margins. I need to calibrate this somehow.
- - -
[Skill "Foresight Lvl. 1" has been acquired successfully]
- - -
It is then that I smile confidently after seeing the image of the future where I could have been torn to pieces flash through my mind. Leaning my body back I make the lizard cut nothing but air. Not too confident... I attack the same lizard with my knife.
Just as I expected, the blade shatters into fragments.
Well, I've run out of chances.
There's still time for me to get my left arm back. So it looks like I don't have much of a choice anymore.
- - -
[The lost HP has been recovered thanks to the skill "Longevity Lvl. 1". You have acquired the skill "Reduced HP Consumption Lvl. 1"]
[Reduced HP Consumption: Common skill that reduces the amount of HP lost by 1%. It increases +0.5% for each level of the skill. Its raise limit is 30%]
- - -
Oh, looks like I've got something halfway good again. And I've learned a bit of the effect of that species skill, I see that [Longevity] can be useful in survival.
Now, I see that all I have left to attack with are the two protruding teeth in my mouth. And it seems that a [Salamander] read my thoughts as it bit my right leg with its two rows of fangs.
For some reason, it doesn't hurt. I don't show a single reaction to this. What does that mean?
I remember feeling pain when the sun's rays hit me. It hurt like hell. But the fact that I feel no pain at all from these circumstances makes me think that "I only feel pain when the sun touches me".
Otherwise, I have no pain.
I think I'm only half-understanding things... Well, anyway, I have a big advantage since I can't feel pain from these things. And because of that, I'm going to push myself to the limit.
I use all the strength in my right leg to finish tearing it away from the lizard's bite. It didn't hurt, but I still don't think it's the best sight for an underage girl. The blood spurted out for a single second.
- - -
[The skill "Immortality Lvl. 1" will regenerate the lost limb in 300 seconds. The wound has been closed immediately]
- - -
With that said, I drop down on this lizard. I feel the heat of its flames and the sensation of my body being skewered by the spikes on its very back. But there is still no pain. Which in itself is very broken in my opinion but still doesn't matter much, to tell the truth, as what follows is a small increase in the size of my fangs.
-!
The lizard I climbed on starts roaring and trying to pull me off its back. I fight against inertia and movement to avoid this at all costs, holding on to the reptile with everything I have so as not to let it escape. If it runs, I'll be vampire impaled.
The other lizards stay away as they know the danger I represent at this moment. My hunger is killing me and the [SP] is getting closer and closer to its limit.
If I do nothing, I will be killed.
I can't let this prey escape me, so...
-Die!
I scream, sinking my fangs into the [Salamander]'s neck, so the monster writhes in pain and tries even harder to fly me off its back.
I don't want to know how scary I'm being just because of this, but I'm sure my expression isn't the best.
But. What I hadn't expected was...
- - -
[A lethal poison known as "Salamander's Blood" has entered the body. 99HP lost immediately]
- - -
Perfect; now I'm almost dead.
Minimal damage beyond what I'm already taking will be enough to kill me.
- - -
[Additional effect of "Immortality Lvl. 1": After taking 99.9% of damage from a deadly affliction, the ability keeps the player at 1HP for the 30-second period]
["Status Change Resistance Lvl. 1" has begun to generate immunity to the substance that was introduced to the body. The estimated time for completion is 180 seconds]
- - -
Hm...?
It'll take me three minutes to recover and I only have thirty seconds to live?
This. It's irrational.
But I know what I must do.
For the sake of survival, I will kill this lizard!
No matter how much of its blood I drink or how much of my body is injured in the process, at least I can hold on for another thirty seconds! So I have to fight!
If I die, I'll take you with me. It's the least I can do.
I'm going to make my parents proud if they're watching this! I, the daughter they cared for so much, am going to take a bastard with me to the grave in a moment.
As I drank his blood, I regained my left arm at the same time as I felt my throat unravel from the acid pouring in.
- - -
[Fifteen seconds remaining]
- - -
Die, die, die, die!
Why don't you die?!
I use all my sucking power to drink as fast as I can. And even though he keeps fighting to get me off him, he's slowly losing mobility.
- - -
[Twelve seconds remaining]
- - -
Come on!
I can't die here!
- - -
[Nine seconds remaining]
- - -
Until my life reaches zero, I won't give up! Until the last moment, I'll put up a worthy fight!
- - -
[Five seconds remaining]
- - -
My vision begins to blur.
I am one step away from losing consciousness.
But I'm not the only one. The shit lizard has already stopped moving like before. It has been weakened to this point by all the blood I've lost.
My chance has come.
With what little strength I have left, another knife manifested by [Recreation] now appears in my left hand. It's not much better than the previous one.
- - -
[Three seconds remaining]
- - -
Now with all I have left, I plunge the knife into the lizard's left eye, causing a fresh stream of black blood to paint the floor and walls. It's a considerable amount of venom, but it doesn't bring me any trouble.
I can feel through my fangs that the lizard's pulse is slowing... and I don't need that to know it's the same with me. Little by little my life is ebbing away.
It won't be long now before I'm done killing this bastard.
But my time is not long either...
- - -
[One-second remaining]
- - -
I can't feel most of my body anymore. The only sensation I have is that of draining blood non-stop.
I don't want to die...
Please... die...
At once, die you fucking lizard!
In a last desperate attempt, I put the last crumb of strength I had left in my jaw and tore off a piece of the lizard's neck which I devoured without even chewing. Not even the scales mattered to me.
The [Salamander] collapsed on the floor. And its new wound was barely drawing blood. But...
- - -
[Time is up]
[Thank you for using the "System". You will proceed to turn off the advantages that were assigned to you.]
- - -
Ah...
So...
This is the end.
It was very short, wasn't it?
(I told you so...)
I smile with pride because I know that this was the best fight I could have given with my inexperience and lack of skills.
(I told you... I'd take you with me...)
I can feel every muscle in my body relax and life slipping away millimeter by millimeter.
So... this is death...
I feel cold.
It's a horrible feeling to be conscious while this is happening... if I had known it felt like this, I wouldn't have shot my classmates in the first place.
Every part of me feels horrible. It's like I'm slowly descending into madness.
I... I did my best, didn't I?
It was all I could do. I needed to survive.
But at least I was able to kill him.
I'm happy with that.
So I... close my eyes... wait for my death to come...