There was another problem too. Even while Charlie was inside his soul, she no longer regenerated HP, mana, or stamina. Samael had explained that this happened to servants starting at Rank E. He called it a bonus piece of information for Luke. After all, once someone reached Rank E, everyone received a massive increase to natural regeneration, even HP. That meant a servant no longer needed their master to recover.

  Samael described it as greater autonomy for servants. However, they still needed to die near their master in order to respawn inside his soul, and even then they wouldn’t return with full HP.

  So Luke couldn’t cheat the system by storing Charlie inside his soul to somehow refill her Blood Core or force her HP to regenerate. It simply wouldn’t work. At this point, he only served as a respawn point for Charlie, not a source of restoration.

  What was meant to be new freedom for servants, since they were now strong enough to regenerate on their own outside their master’s soul, had become a new curse for Charlie. Because the only way a vampire can regenerate HP is by feeding on blood.

  “What do you think of her?” the shop attendant asked, pulling open the curtain to the fitting room with a curious smile.

  Charlie was wearing a dress, not her adventurer outfit.

  

  “She looks very pretty,” Luke said, straightforwardly.

  Charlie approached and gave a shy spin. Her long blonde hair followed the motion, sweeping through the air like a silken wave.

  “Am I… truly pretty, Master Luke?”

  “You look very pretty, Charlie. I’m sure you’re turning heads out there,” he said, trying to encourage her. She was still terrified of being recognized as a vampire; every compliment seemed to help her believe she could pass as someone alive.

  “Your hand is on fire,” the attendant noted, blinking in surprise.

  “S-sorry… sometimes that happens…” Charlie murmured, mortified, her entire face burning red.

  Flame of Love… it was right in front of me the whole time.

  'Luke, the universe was screaming at you.'

  He paid for the clothes, and there were several of them.

  

  The ten silver coins he’d received earlier were worth something close to ten thousand dollars. He’d done the math quickly, remembering every participant in the tutorial had gotten the same amount.

  Those soldiers gave us the equivalent of at least fifteen million dollars in New World currency? Man, they made a massive investment.

  They walked to an open air tavern, or maybe it counted as a restaurant. Luke still couldn’t tell the difference here. Polished wooden tables were set beneath patched together awnings, and the smell of roasting meat mixed with warm herbs drifting from the kitchen.

  Luke ordered two plates of meat; he was a little hungry himself. When the server returned and set the plates down, Charlie didn’t move. She simply stared at hers as if it were some kind of puzzle.

  “M-master Luke… I… I don’t know how to use these.” She pointed vaguely at the cutlery. “And… it’s my first time eating. I’m nervous.”

  Luke understood instantly. This wasn’t just a meal. It was the first real sensation of food she’d ever experienced, after a lifetime of being little more than a half formed set of senses.

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  “I’ll help you,” he assured her. “Don’t worry.”

  He cut the meat into small pieces, steady and patient. Then he speared one with the fork and lifted it toward her.

  “Y-you’re… you’re going to… feed me?” Her voice got smaller the closer the fork came, her face flushing a deep pink.

  “Yes,” Luke said gently. “It’s okay.”

  She was clearly embarrassed, and he noticed the shift in her. With a physical body, one that could feel, her shyness seemed sharper, more human. No more numbness. No more emotional static.

  Charlie opened her mouth slowly. Her sharp canines glinted for a moment, a reminder of what she was now, then Luke placed the bite between her lips. She bit down and pulled the meat from the fork. Chewed. Then her expression lit up.

  “Having a tongue is strange… I can taste things. It’s like a whole explosion happening in my mouth,” she said, eyes widening. “But it’s very good.”

  “Sweetheart, there are some incredible things you can do with your tongue. Like sucking a—” Artemis was silenced. “Hey, Luke, you didn’t have to squeeze the pendant. I was going to say popsicle, man. I have manners, I wouldn’t say something that heavy… I think.”

  He chose to ignore Artemis’s complaints. “Charlie, I can’t wait to see your reaction when I give you pizza.”

  “Oh wow, pizza for her, huh? But for me you said maybe, maybe, if I behaved!”

  Artemis’s voice crashed through the necklace, dripping with outrage.

  “Charlie is Charlie. You are you,” Luke replied flatly.

  Artemis unleashed a small hurricane of profanity. Charlie let out a tiny laugh, short, surprised, adorable. Then froze mid giggle, eyes round.

  “I laughed. I actually laughed!” she exclaimed.

  “You’ve done it before,” Luke said. “You just finally noticed.”

  Charlie kept eating, alternating between curious glances at the food and little side comments to Artemis, who seemed personally offended by the entire process.

  Meanwhile, Luke returned to his letter, the thick, warning filled, headache inducing guide he desperately needed to memorize if he wanted to keep Charlie alive.

  The next section caught his attention immediately:

  “Here’s your warning: Charlie will start losing HP on her own. Because she’s Rank E now, it won’t be a problem at first, but she must feed on blood or she’ll be killed by the Vampire Hunger. Ways for her to feed? You, obviously. Don’t worry about whatever strange mix of blood you’ve got in those half demonic veins of yours. A vampire purifies toxins and anything harmful the moment they drink. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if a vampire died from catching some super disease while feeding? No? Then stop worrying. Charlie naturally filters blood.”

  It continued, diving deeper into the mechanics of vampiric feeding:

  “Taste? Flavor? Even after filtering it, a vampire can still savor blood. It’s part of who they are. You’ll never taste what a vampire tastes. To them it’s like wine and meat combined. That’s why many vampires treat humans like cattle and talk about which ones taste good or bad.”

  It was surreal reading that while Charlie happily tried human food for the first time. The letter made it clear: none of that mattered when it came to real hunger. Blood was irreplaceable.

  “How Charlie feeds is up to you. Whether you’ll be her blood bank or her prey. Your job is to keep her Blood Core stocked with Blood Energy, preferably full. As you’ve probably noticed by now, the strongest vampiric powers run on that Blood Energy. Being her blood bank is a solid strategy early on since you regenerate HP naturally at Rank E. In theory, you’d make an excellent donor… but you’re half demon. That means your blood will probably give her a very low Blood Energy yield. Some vampiric skills scale with the power stored in the Blood Core. The stronger the vampiric skill, the more Blood Energy she’ll burn. Which means she’ll need more blood to replenish it.”

  Luke glanced at the Blood Core bar.

  [Blood Core: 0/100]

  Then he looked at Charlie.

  “You’re still hungry, aren’t you?” he asked gently.

  “No, Master Luke. The hunger is gone,” she answered, but her voice wasn’t steady.

  “Charlie, you can’t lie. I can tell.” He leaned closer, lowering his voice. “That other hunger is still there, isn’t it?”

  Slowly, she nodded.

  Another part of the letter surfaced in his mind.

  “Charlie’s vampiric bloodline is special, and she will awaken skills either from a normal vampire or from the Path of the Vampiric Beast. Since it’s a path, it’s a choice. Refuse the Beast Path a few times and the door closes forever. If you want her to follow that path of power, don’t refuse the beast type skills. A Vespertilio’s greatest weapon is their inner beast.”

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