There is no easy mode. That is the first thing I notice when I go through my NCI once more. Either it’s casual or hardcore it honestly doesn't feel like there is any difference between the two as far as I'm concerned. Maybe in the alpha, beta stage, the game doesn't know the difference. Sure, the AI seemed pretty advanced so far. I had encountered nothing like it at my job in the arcade. Even compared to the more advanced Dungeon games Leda and I played. Since my first encounter, I would have sworn Nestor, Ambrosia, even Melissa were all other players. If that was the case though, they were taking their role-playing a little too seriously.

Most of the boxes I had desperately clicked out of earlier at the start of the game have disappeared now. There are only a handful of tutorials left I can open. Mostly more of the same. Health potions are red, stamina is blue. Drink nothing purple or hazy. Another that warns of staying away from making deals with Fae. A few broken pieces of lore that tell the story of the world, but they are so fragmented I can't even piece them together. I think maybe I'm supposed to unlock them as the story progresses, but there isn't a quest or notification for that either.

My NCI includes a small bestiary that records the encounters I had. So far the only entries are vampires, ghouls, humans, boars, and some birds I had spotted on my way out of town. There’s also another tutorial for crafting, which seems interesting and pretty in-depth too. Finally, my NCI provides an explanation for everything; from clothes and armor, to weapons and different foods. There is even a whole subcategory for campfire cooking.

I pull up one for plant collecting. The world is filled with hundreds of unfamiliar types of herbs. About half of them are deadly. A notification appears: You have unlocked the Herbarium. The Herbarium is an additional Insight feature that will tell me whether something is deadly or not. I am sure that by collecting the right plants and mixing them together, I could make my own potions and buffs that would help me later. I can probably make a minor fortune in coin if I make enough of one. Leveling up my knowledge of plants and creatures will also unlock another entry that is currently locked entitled Alchemy.

I've been walking for some time now on this god-forsaken road. It looks more like a broken path, rather than a major road that connects one city to another. Markos was kind enough to give me a small satchel with my leftovers and an old map, that in his own words said that it was terribly out of date, two hundred to three hundred years out of date to be more precise. The city of Pedasa itself was only listed as a tiny village. Pretty sure he just wanted to get rid of the thing.

Having a vampire as the Lord of Pedasa led to abandonment, so it makes sense that this road is the way it is. Still, it is better than walking through the forest again. Here the terrain is more open and I can see what is coming for me. Not that there is anything. It is open fields and meadows.

Having obtained the Vampire Origin Bloodline, I feel I can walk for days without rest. My powers have increased exponentially, and although I'm not as strong as a normal vampire, let aside a Vampire Lord, this new class / sub-race has come in handy. The way I was moving, dodging the boar, fighting the humans. Even the cut I received has already healed. I better keep that fact to myself though, I don't think the NPCs of this world will be happy if they learn of my bloodline.

I walk through soft meadows to forests. As the night comes, my heightened senses inform me of a new menace. Something is approaching. I don't know what this is, but the stench of death is everywhere. I must hide somewhere, it's not safe here. My instincts kick in, and I almost instantly climb a tall tree I find before me, although I don't have any climbing skills. Must be due to my vampire skills. I feel the bark under my fingernails; it doesn't hurt, my skin doesn't even splinter, in fact my hands feel almost numb to it. This avatar feels stronger than the one back home in Elysium. Maybe I’m turning into a vampire, but as the sun falls behind the horizon, I feel the chilly night air filling my lungs and it feels so good. That’s an indication I’m still human, I guess.

The tree is enormous enough. I think I can hide in the branches without giving away my position. My first action now is to double-check if my spell inventory replenished, but as expected I can only use cantrips. I haven't rested and I'm unable to use any Tier-1 spells so far. Fortunately, my HP is full again. Another advantage of having the bloodline. I wonder what will happen later as I level up. Will my avatar remain the same or will the urge for blood overrun me? There's no way I inherited an ability like this without its demerits.

Still, being a vampire means being dead. Right? At the moment I can feel this body's heart beating, the blood running through my veins. I even have a pulse in my wrist and neck. As I level up am I going to lose what it means to be human? Markos' bread and eggs replaced by his neck. He may not have been the greatest guy in the world, no tact in greeting visitors, but I couldn't imagine stringing him upside down and draining his blood into buckets. That isn't exactly me. My alignment was always on the side of neutral. That's something I must consider once I'm out of this mess. For now though, maybe it is best I just relax here and enjoy the cool night air. Worrying about such things will not change the fact what I am now.

To my surprise, instead of ghouls and vampires, I now hear the synchronized marching of an army. It must be the Vampire Hunting Squad. Every one of them is stronger than me. I doubt I can fight a single one of them and win. Especially now that I'm out of spells. Gradually, they become visible on the horizon. I can see them now. They're eleven in number and their leader is that girl, Melissa, the one I talked to earlier.

"Look at the mess that you got us in, Melissa," a bearded knight tells her.

"If you had killed the guy, now we'd be hunting Ambrosia and her Evil Forgemaster. Instead, we must find the vermin that drank the blood of our Lord."

"If I knew the events that preceded, I would have killed him myself," she says, glowering at him. "It is said that a vampire lets a mortal being drink its blood only when they have taken an interest in them. Having a vermin drink our master's blood... I will make sure he breathes his last breath once I find him."

My NCI reminds me of my Main Quest: Escape the Vampire Hunting Squad.

Ok, I must stay here until they get bored, I guess.

Unfortunately, after a few moments, it becomes pretty evident that they know where I'm located. How do they know? I'm not sure, but there are a couple of items in this game that could have given away my position. Probably they're using some scry gem or spell to track me down.

I climb down the tree but fall stiffly like a rock, hitting the ground with a thud as I bury my feet and hands in the dirt, catching myself. Fortunately, no damage taken. I get the feeling I move like a creature, that's why I landed on all fours. My ears twitch and I hear their voices behind me, cursing and shouting at the same time. Honestly their voices blend but I'm able to make out a few of them.

"Stop! Don't you dare move, you vermin," the white-bearded knight barks at me as he raises his heavy crossbow and aims at me. His weapon is loaded with a silver arrow. Looks expensive. There is a small design carved into the side along with several dozen scratch marks. Must be vampires or ghouls he has killed with that thing. Nestor wasn't messing around when he trained these guys. Hired them maybe? Most looked like run-of-the-mill mercenaries. This is probably a straightforward way for them to make some coin.

"You must be mad if you think I'll stay. Eat my dust Vampire Hunting Squad," I mock them as I run away. I might be weak, but my stamina is way higher than theirs. I will keep running and hopefully, they will get tired earlier than me.

The white-bearded man fires but misses me by a long shot. Guess they aren't as trained as I thought or maybe I have just gotten lucky. Either way, two more are already right behind me with arrows ready to go. I dodge, rolling across the ground like I had when faced against the boar. I don't want to even bother with trying to attack them though. What little magic I have will only come as a last resort.

Fools, reloading their crossbows slowed them down.

I take off into the woods. According to ol'timer's map, the woods shouldn't even be here. Looks like this place is home to an old ruin of some kind. An outpost maybe.

There is even a picture of what looks like a one-eyed troll drawn on it. Superstition maybe? But this is a world of dragons, vampires, ghouls, and more. Trolls are probably the least of my worries.

****

I've been in a running battle for the last couple of hours. The Vampire Hunting Squad hasn't stopped. These bastards are better prepared than I thought. From time to time, I've seen them drinking a potion that replenishes their stamina. It's like they have a bottomless Bag of Holding filled with potions. Each time I think I'm putting distance between us, another one shows up firing his crossbow or throwing a dagger in my direction. It will be impossible for me to escape them, but there's no way I can fight them. I access my NCI again and search for the difficulty level. It is Casual, so I wonder if there's something wrong with this game's settings. Probably the only thing I can do right now is keep running.

That's until the stench of death fills my nostrils again. It's the same stench I smelled before the knights appeared. Creatures lurk here and wait for the right moment to attack. I hope their target is the Vampire Hunting Squad and not me. How great would it be for that one-eyed troll to show up now and put an end to this for me!

Without notice, I see several Threat Level 6 ghouls coming from the left and right. The vampire hunters take defensive positions and stop hunting me. It's the chance I've been waiting for. I sprint for a couple of minutes, then I turn back and I see that only Melissa, the innkeeper's daughter, is following me. Her knights are left behind, battling the ghoul menace.

"Stop, you bastard," she shouts at me.

I think she must be insane if she thinks her order will work. "Just leave me alone, I did nothing wrong," I shout back at her.

I keep running and she keeps chasing me for a couple more minutes, till the ghouls and the knights are no longer visible. Is she perhaps the boss of this stage and I have to battle her in this condition? It could be the case but I have seen no updates in my NCI, so she probably isn't the boss after all. Still, that might be the only actual way out of this mess. What better way to escape them than to devour their ranks.

In the distance I can see an old ruin, the one from the map. No trolls in sight but the ruin looks like it might make for a good place to hide. As long as it's not the entrance to some kind of dungeon, I can probably lose Melissa inside.

As I take off, she follows me. She's less than two hundred feet behind. It will be hard to escape. When she loses sight of me, I will lose sight of her. It will be a game of cat and mouse. Maybe then I can get the drop on her. Not that I want to harm her. She doesn't seem evil or anything. Even now, running like a horse let out of the gate, I can't help but to stop and glimpse her golden hair lit up by the moonlight. Her eyes are slightly slanted and her body athletic. She glides toward me. Maybe it's my vampire instincts, but I feel like I'm starving.

I dive in through a small hole in the grey stone ruins and take a tumble down a small ravine, hitting my head on a tree bed when I finally stop. No damage. My avatar is headstrong. I give a brief smile as Melissa begins fumbling down the ravine after me. She keeps her balance by moving as slowly as possible, but now I've got the advantage. I smirk at her and move back into the woods and into another set of ruins. There is no roof. The grey walls are overgrown with vines, weeds. A few strange plants grow randomly across larger stems. I use my Insight to see if they are poisonous.

Draugr Fruit. Toxic. Avoid consumption.

Yeah, not going to be replenishing my stamina with any of that. I may use them to my advantage later on though, so I snatch some up by my hand and place them in the satchel Markos gave me. Luckily I had already eaten the rest of my leftovers and wouldn't have to worry about any kind of cross-contamination.

In what feels like another lifetime, I remember Smeme telling me how as a slime he could devour nearly anything. From toxins to spicy foods. They basically just dissolved within him. Of course, it meant there was one kind of game he wasn't very good at, and that was Cooking.

My thoughts of home fill me with regret. I have wanted to visit the real world for so long and now here I am. Not that I am entirely convinced that this place is the real world, yet I can't help but wonder if I have made a mistake coming here.

"I will find you!" Melissa shouts, waking me from my reverie.

I can't hide here forever. If I stay, I am as good as dead.

Maybe I should try calling a truce. Nestor had charmed me back in the caves. Even before Ambrosia performed the ritual, I was sure he would make me as one of his puppet soldiers. Had they not encountered one another, there is a good chance I would be a member of the Vampire Hunting Squad, and beautiful Melissa would be my superior. I would have liked to see how that would turn out.

There's a silence in the air. It's too quiet, like the entire forest has come to a halt. Has the game some kind of glitch and frozen? Or is this the beginning of an epic showdown? You know, when the music either comes full stop or picks up. Cue heavy guitar in three, two... nothing. The icy wind brushes against my cheeks and I let out a breath. A whip flies through the air toward my face, breaking the silence. I hear the snap as it hits and cracks the stone. At that moment, I feel like my heart skips a beat. Is this what they call a heart attack? Whatever the feeling is, I hate it.

"That could have been my face," I protest.

"You are lucky it wasn't. I missed." Melissa growls enraged.

She has found me. The chase is back on. I jump up high as I can and land atop one of the walls. It is tricky. I'm not able to balance on the stone and the tree, but then, I only have to stay still long enough to jump from one to another. If I can escape her once, I can do it again. It helps that all her guards are still busy dealing with ghouls in the woods and she hasn't brought a crossbow. No. She seems like the kind of fighter that can fight both ways, long and close combat. With her whip, she can attack from a distance while with her dagger she can stand her ground in close combat. That or she is a magic caster like me and hasn't shown her cards yet.

"Catch me if you can," I mock her jumping back down from the ruins, into an area that looks like it had once been some kind of courtyard with a small pool. Now it's dried up and covered in plants. More of the same poisonous vine.

I can see a statue of the one-eyed troll carved from stone near one of the resting pillars. It is in ruin, just like the rest of this place. Arms broken, face cracked, with most of the details eroded through the passage of time. The only reason I know it is a troll, is because I have seen a similar image of it on Markos' map. Alongside it stand several dozen other statues. A few of them are suggestive. This must have been an interesting place to play a few hundred years ago. Markos had left out the troll's backstory, but then, it is more interesting discovering this place on my own. Not that I really have time to look around, Melissa is still hot on my trail.

Buried between the plants are dozens of skeletons. It is like the two of us have walked into some kind of death trap. It reminds me of the pits I had used back home, building my dungeon sets. Pits filled with vicious creatures, spikes, fire, and of course acid. Whatever had happened here had happened fast. The bodies look like they had been in the middle of an orgy. Several of them are so close together, it is hard to tell where one begins and another one ends.

Suddenly, Melissa stops chasing me and I stop as well. Before us stands Ambrosia, the Vampire Lord I encountered just yesterday. Her Threat-Level increased to 24 and her HP to 93. She seems a bit stronger as well.

"Well well," Ambrosia claps her hands, amusement on her face. "What do we have here? If it isn't sweet Melissa, Nestor's favorite toy."

Melissa seems pale and surprised as if a great revelation occurred before her very own eyes. She doesn't even care that she has me dead to rights now. Her entire focus, her mission has changed entirely. I can see her whip in one hand and a dagger in the other. I can't decide which is the worst way to die. There is a strange humming sound emanating from her whip as if it is enchanted in some way. Maybe I am right. She is a caster of some sort. If that's the case, why hadn't she used that against me earlier?

"So, it was your plan all along," she tells Ambrosia. “I thought that your Forgemaster would be the one trailing me.”

"Indeed," the Vampire Lord confesses with a smile. "I thought Nestor would be fool enough to send his precious Vampire Hunting Squad and their commander to take the head of this abomination," she points at me with her forefinger. "It makes perfect sense for me to take advantage of the situation. You, my dear," now she casts her gaze at Melissa, "are the perfect hostage. With you, I'll be able to blackmail poor Nestor. You are his favorite after all."

Melissa talks back to Ambrosia. "You overrate me Ambrosia. Nestor will replace me in no time, but you're a fool to think I'll let myself live and have your way with my master. But enough talk, show me what you got there!"

Is she insane? Her Threat Level is only 9 while Ambrosia's 24. There's no way for her to win this battle.