You submit or you die and I am more than happy to submit.

Clapping sounds interrupt the unexpected euphoria my vampire lover just provided me. Since I obtained Vampiric Bloodline a few minutes ago, my senses heightened to a new level and now I'm able to hear the slightest noise.

"Humans!" Ambrosia yells disgusted at her ghouls. "Be prepared, Nestor's Vampire Hunting Squad must be here."

I look at my vampire friend and notice a slight smirk on his pained face. Hard to imagine that a Vampire Lord created his own Vampire Hunting Squad, a double-edged weapon if you think about it, but makes sense in the end if you want to get rid of your vampire adversaries.

The hunters reach our chamber quickly. Knights in shining armor advance as one and circle us. Dressed head to toe with their heavy gear and silver weapons, they point their spears with a sonorous clamor. Their legs move in unison, synchronized in a way that makes the soil tremble.

I feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins again, and I see that my HP bar goes full. My NCI notifies me of my Vampire Regeneration. A handy skill that replenishes my health. The thing is that most of the vampire hunters here are Threat Level 7 to 9, which makes them formidable foes, even for someone as Ambrosia, let aside me. If there were a couple of them she could manage, but these great knights number over thirty right now. Even if she had the rest of her ghoul army intact, I wouldn't give her more than a 50% chance of survival.

"How low you've fallen, my old comrade," Ambrosia tells the paralyzed Nestor. "A wise move though, you killed most of my ghouls without wasting the lives of your precious hunters and now I'm left without protection."

"Your reign has ended," Nestor snarls, still chained and paralyzed.

"Oh no, you're wrong young Nestor. As long as one of us stands, we're always a legion," she pauses for a moment and takes a quick breath. "Ghouls, kill the humans!"

There's no way she thinks five wounded ghouls can fight them off. But as it seems, that's not what my mistress plans. Instead, she transforms into a mist. My NCI shows a tooltip above her: Misty Form. While in this form, the Vampire Lord cannot take any action, receive damage, speak, or manipulate.

It is then, when I get a notification from my NCI: Telepathic link broken. You're no longer Dominated or Charmed.

At last, I break free from my mistress' web of influence. I no longer feel the need to submit. This place is a perfect pandemonium of death. The ghouls attack anything that moves, but there's no easy prey here. The knights put up a formidable battle and pierce the rotten flesh of the ghouls like ravening wolves on sheep. I must escape now, or things could get worse.

The ghouls prove an excellent distraction for the hunters. I slip into the shadows and make my way along the wall while they distract all the knights. Soon, I reach the cavern exit. There are four knights standing guard there. Oh, for fuck's sake, I thought I activated the Casual difficulty. How am I going to kill those four? I'm not even able to cast proper spells.

"Look, Ambrosia's there, hunt her down," a knight shouts to his comrades.

Without wasting time, the knights abandon their positions and move to hunt my former mistress. It's the opportunity I needed. I slip out and look up toward the red moon, lighting my path. The moon here is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I can feel an energy coming off of it. Maybe it's my imagination but I feel as if it's giving me strength. Some kind of passive boost to my stamina. That or it's the fresh vampire blood running through my veins.

I run as fast as I can and follow a slightly worn path that leads to the main road. From here I can see the lights of a city. I should head there for now.

****

After three hours of walking, the rising sun shines pale stripes of light and the morning comes to greet me with new hope. I can see clearly now, it's an enormous city, one that could house millions, but as I walk the empty streets, I'm left to wonder if it's a ghost town. There's no one here. I reach a derelict inn and from the looks of it, it must be open.

Great, because my stomach is burning from hunger while thirst fills my mouth with thick saliva.

My NCI warns me that soon I'll suffer from exhaustion. It's a Condition that can only be removed if my avatar eats and drinks the required amount. That's a status I’ve encountered in only a handful of virtual games, but this one's different. Not only am I notified by my Neural Control Interface, but my avatar has other senses that warn me as well, such as my gurgling stomach. Awesome sensors! And after my encounter with my sexy mistress, I'm starting to enjoy the pleasures of this avatar of mine even more.

So, back to the topic at hand. If I don't eat, drink, and rest, I'll receive a penalty, so to the inn I go. Then, I stop for a moment and think. If I was sent here, then there's a Main Quest I must fulfill. If I do, I'll probably log out from this game and return to Asphodel Meadows sector once I'm done. Better know what the Main Quest is, and inns and alehouses are the ideal places to obtain information.

I take a couple of minutes to find the Adventurer's Log and open the main quest. There are two main quests actually.

I open the first one: Kill Sarpedon, the Undead King of Lycaonia.

Ok, sounds clear to me.

Then, I open the second quest: Kill Alastor, the Demon Lord of Lycia

Both quests are clear, the problem is that I have absolutely no idea who these guys are. I'll have to ask the innkeeper if he knows anything about them.

I rush into the door of the inn. The ground floor is full of tables and the bar curves at the back of the room. Besides myself there are no other customers. Maybe this place is meant to be full of players. Like a greeting ground for adventurers. I look around trying to find a quest board but there is nothing. This definitely isn't a place to take on bounties I guess. A foul smell harasses my nostrils, but I can manage. I see then a barkeeper standing behind the bar, staring at me curtly. I decide to approach him, giving him a harsh look, trying to intimidate him at the same time. His Threat Level is 2, just like mine.

"Greetings," the barkeeper snarls at me and at the same time grabs a mug and starts cleaning it with a kitchen cloth. He bangs the mug on the bar, in front of me. "What can I get you lad?"

"I need food and water," I tell him, staring him eye to eye.

"Got coin?" He demands with a hard look.

I think for a moment, but nothing comes out of my mouth.

"I'm not a charity, kid. Get lost before I kick you out," he tells me.

Ok, negotiations are failing. Maybe if I ask him if there's something I can do for him. Side quests are a great way to get some coin and help friendly fellows at the same time.

"I was attacked and lost everything. I might be able to help you, help me," I tell him.

"Help me how?" Frowned, the barkeeper asks me.

"I'm a sorcerer, and a handy one. If you have a request, I might be able to help you in exchange for food and a roof over my head."

Now I got his attention! He's thinking.

"I'll get you something to eat and drink, then tell you what I need," he replies in all seriousness.

Well, I could ask him what he wants, this way I will have better leverage, but my hunger and thirst get the better of me. I'll do anything he asks for now. After all, it's the beginning of my mission, there's no way his request to be that hard.

I sit on a table and after a few moments, the barkeeper brings me three eggs and half a loaf of dry bread. It takes me only a matter of minutes to devour everything. The details are amazing. Every bite tastes delicious. I can tell that the bread was freshly baked, probably as the sun rose up. Even the eggs taste completely organic with a small dash of salt that he must have added before serving them. It's more than enough to fill my stomach and change my mood. Honestly, compared to the food in Asphodel Meadows this tastes amazing. Everything back home is generic. Being a virtual puppet it was never really necessary that we eat, but the program provides sustenance at our whim for us all the same. Nothing as amazing as this.

Now, I'm ready to listen out his request as the warning for a possible exhaustion fades away.

"My daughter's name Melissa. She's young and beautiful."

Now he gets my attention. I'm interested in young and beautiful Melissa as well. "Was she kidnapped?" I interrupt him.

He glowers at me. "She was asked to serve our new Lord, Nestor in the Vampire Castle. It's been two months since the last time I saw her. I receive letters every week but I haven't seen her myself. I don't know if she's actually doing well. I mean, I trust our new Lord but I'd like to see if she fares well there. I'm not allowed to visit the castle myself."

"So, you want me to sneak in and find out if she's still alive?"

The barkeeper stammers. "I... I'm sure she's alive and well, our benevolent Lord would never harm her. Since he took over, Pedasa is thriving. He exterminated most of the ghouls of the Great Graveyard and the other vampires dare not to approach the city."

A notification appears before me: Accept Optional Quest?

"I accept your quest, but I'll need more than dry bread and three eggs if I'm to lose my life searching for your daughter."

The barkeeper nods agreeably.

"My name is Markos, I'll cook up something great for your journey."

"My name is Athanasios." It seemed the polite thing, introducing myself, though I am a bit surprised by his reaction to my name. It was only for a short second that he seemed off guard. Without my heightened senses I probably wouldn't have noticed. It is something I haven't thought about. I am a stranger here and despite my avatar looking remarkably similar to my Elysium avatar, I must have stood out from other bypassers. Maybe I am putting too much thought into it. After all, Nestor and Ambrosia didn't seem to notice or care.

"Athanasios, thank you again. So where do you hail from my friend?"

I'm not sure how to answer. Not like I can tell him the truth.

"Down south," I answer.

"Well, let me be the first to welcome you to Pedasa."

"Thank you again," I reply.

This was more like it. Like a proper place to begin my adventure. It was too bad the game had cast me in a cave and not in a town. Some coin would have been nice too, so that way I could buy some proper armor and starting gear. A bow, maybe a sword. I'm sure a staff would come in handy as a sorcerer.

While my new friend Markos cooks a proper meal for me, I ask him about the location of the Vampire Castle and how Melissa looks. Now that I have a good understanding, I should find out more about the Undead King and the Demon Lord.

"You know anything about Sarpedon? The Undead King?"

He gives me a serious look. "Who hasn't? He's one of the three Plagues of Anatolia, although only he remains now."

"What happened to the other two?" I want to know.

Markos exclaims. "Nestor and his brother Alastor, put them out of their misery once and for all. It's been two months since Alastor got rid of Lamia, our Vampire Queen that plagued this city and it seems he killed Lycaon as well, the Lycan Lord."

Intriguing. I must learn more about this Alastor. "And why did he do that?"

Markos shrugs his shoulders. "I have no idea. What I know for sure is that he plans on putting an end to Sarpedon's reign once and for all. That's what he said at least when he left Pedasa and put his brother in charge as Lord and Commander."

I ask, "Is Alastor a demon?"

Markos stops for a moment, thinks, and stares at me. "He has horns on his forehead. I don't know what he and his team are, but they seemed a pretty capable lot. They got rid of the Vampire Queen in a matter of days, then flew away with his Titan Dragon."

"A dragon?" I exclaim with interest.

I had what some would probably call an unhealthy obsession with dragons. Being a Dungeon Core master back in Elysium, I had been trying to build my dungeon, so that one day I could either buy or tame one. Leda always said I was a wishful thinker. Most avatars in the Meadows couldn't afford such magnificent creatures and most wouldn't know what to do with them once they had. Dragons were for the distinguished or for those who lived in the Isles of the Blessed. I'd grown up fascinated by stories of dragon riders but had never experienced the sensation myself.

He scoffs and shakes his head left and right. "I know you don't believe it, I didn't either."

Actually, I was absolutely sure dragons would exist in this world. That was one good thing –besides sex– that the Devs had been clever enough to add.

"And where's this Alastor?" I continue my questions.

"Probably back at Lycia, where he's from. He's building an army to fight Sarpedon."

"Interesting!" I probably should have sounded less excited.

"Want to join him?" Markos mocks me as he stares me down, only turning around and taking a roasted chicken out of a small stone oven.

Wow! That's an excellent idea, I think to myself.

Markos' attitude changes completely as he smells the freshly cooked meal and grabs a small bottle of salt and lightly sprinkles it over. I should have known I would be starving. The small meal I had earlier wasn't enough to fulfill the hunger I had growing inside me, a hunger for more of everything.

But for now, all that matters is to devour this tasty chicken he cooked for me and find his daughter, Melissa.