The blood of five people was quite enough to invigorate me, but as practice showed, mage blood suited me best for recovery. It was a pity that the bandit who attacked me turned out to be such a weakling.
On the other hand, I wouldn't go after local gang leaders on the very first day of my awakening, who might just have stronger protectors. That would clearly be unwise on my part.
For now, I was simply walking through the already nighttime city and getting reacquainted with this world that had most likely already forgotten me. Though surely some who knew me must still be alive, otherwise it would be completely uninteresting.
As I wandered the streets, I listened in the background to various conversations of both passersby and those who were now in their apartments. My heightened senses, after the recent snack, sometimes jumped beyond comfortable boundaries, so I involuntarily caught things I didn't want to hear specifically.
Someone was complaining about work problems, someone was planning a date, and a young mother was trying to put a crying child to sleep the same things that existed five hundred years ago, just in new scenery. Neon signs had replaced torches, cars had replaced horses, but people still feared darkness, dreamed of love, and made plans for tomorrow.
However, all this allowed me to better adapt to the memory of the last in my lineage and the so-called friend. The memories of the last Viren surfaced in fragments: street names, familiar faces, snippets of conversations. Gradually, someone else's life became part of me, like a puzzle assembling itself. I wasn't in a hurry, allowing my mind to independently build all these connections and thereby reducing the burden on me in the future.
In general, one could say that there was nothing unusual in people's conversations. Yes, technical progress and quality of life had leaped forward by several orders of magnitude, but people were always concerned about the same things. This was unchanging, no matter how long I had observed them, whether before my sleep or now.
Partly such predictability was convenient, but in this world, there were also many changes that still eluded me. And details are important for understanding the situation.
Then a magnificent aroma reached me from one of the small cafes I was just passing by. Though the time was late, judging by the sign, they worked almost until midnight.
Considering that I couldn't even remember when I last ate, it was interesting to see what they prepared in such places. Still, understanding this from blood memory was one thing, but experiencing it myself was another. It was curious to taste ordinary food after so many centuries. I wondered if my preferences had changed along with my nature.
The cafe turned out to be a cozy little place with warm lighting and the smell of fresh pastries mixed with the aroma of coffee and spices. The soft light of the lamps created an atmosphere of homey comfort, while outside the windows the lights of the night city flickered.
"Welcome," smiled a pretty girl behind the counter. "Would you like me to suggest something specific, or will you choose yourself?"
"How about what's popular with you?" I replied after thinking a bit.
The girl's gaze slid over my hand, where the family ring inherited from the last in my lineage was located. The ring was made of dark metal with a fused stone that pulsed weakly in time with my heartbeat—an ancient artifact keeping the secrets of my clan. It turned out these little things determined belonging to the aristocracy, and since our lineage was the same, the ring naturally accepted me as family. Just a drop of blood and this unusual artifact sits on me like a glove.
True, I still had to figure out its properties, but for now I had blocked it so it wouldn't do anything.
So, as soon as the girl saw the ring, she took up the order with even greater participation. The girl's respectfulness was pleasant but also reminded me that now I would have to meet the expectations associated with this status. Aristocrats in this world were respected both for their strength and for ensuring the safety of the peaceful population. I would apparently have to face the latter, but a bit later.
For now, three types of little cakes and a large cup of aromatic coffee with some syrup awaited me. I had never seen anything like this, but blood memory suggested how to eat all this without disgracing myself. So, I quickly took one of the free tables and began tasting these unusual dishes.
The first cake turned out to be airy, with delicate cream and berries, the second was denser, with a chocolate flavor that reminded me of something from the distant past. The third surprised me with a combination of nuts and caramel, creating completely new taste sensations for me.
"Did you like it?" the same girl sat across from me.
I looked around and realized that there weren't many visitors in the establishment and apparently the girl was just bored. Though here I saw how one of the girls, judging by her appearance—a student, was secretly trying to photograph me. I noticed the student out of the corner of my eye but didn't let on. Interesting—in this world, had aristocrats become such public figures that they were photographed like celebrities? This was unusual.
"Very unusual," I answered sincerely. "I've never tried anything like this."
"Oh, come on, these are just ordinary little cakes, there are plenty of them," the girl blushed.
You didn't need great intelligence to understand that this place specialized in serving dishes of their own production. Hence her reaction.
"I don't deceive such beautiful girls," I smiled at her, taking another spoonful from a different cake. "What's your name?" I asked, deciding to be polite.
"Ella," she replied, blushing slightly. "And you?"
"Viren," I introduced myself, taking a sip of coffee.
But the most unexpected thing was the sensation when I tried the coffee. The coffee burned my tongue with pleasant bitterness, while the syrup added a sweet note of vanilla. This was completely unlike the herbal decoctions and wine I remembered from the past. A very unusual drink that pleasantly burned and had an amazing aftertaste that I couldn't immediately identify.
I even had to ask the embarrassed waitress to pour me more of the same coffee while I ate the remaining dishes. But when she left, I set aside the utensils and stopped the student girl who was trying to dart past me.
"Excuse me," I smiled warmly at her. "But don't you think that photographing other people without their permission is wrong?"
"I-I-I," she stammered. "I didn't mean to, sorry. It's just that you're... so..."
"Show me what at least came out?" I suggested she sit next to me.
The student glanced at the exit from the cafe, but still stayed and sat in the free seat, extending her phone with already open photos. Well, what can I say, she definitely had talent for covert photography. However, from these photos you could immediately see a true noble, as they called me and my relatives in their time. In the shots I looked exactly as I should—with that special posture and facial expression that had been cultivated in our clan for centuries. If portraits still showed the artist's work, photos were captured moments, and each time it turned out quite well, in my opinion.
"You do very well," I handed the phone back to the relieved girl. "Just please don't post this online. I don't want you to have trouble later... Trouble?" the student looked at me uncomprehendingly. I had to demonstrate the ring, which she hadn't noticed before. "Sorry," she squeaked quietly, even turning slightly pale.
I noticed how other cafe visitors were stealing glances in our direction, clearly interested in what was happening. Some even stopped pretending to be busy with their affairs and openly watched our conversation.
"Nothing terrible happened. If this is for your personal collection, then I don't mind. Just don't show it to others."
"O-okay. Definitely!" the girl exclaimed so loudly that even the waitress who was just bringing me a new portion of such an unusual drink looked at her in surprise.
Unfortunately, I couldn't continue tasting the dishes, as at that moment everyone's phones rang, and on the screen that was showing clips of some musical groups in the background, the picture suddenly changed and apparently the volume was automatically increased.
Instead of a clip about some guys chasing each other in cars and saying something about family, a pretty presenter appeared, who by her very appearance distracted from the actual news. However, it was clear to everyone anyway—somewhere nearby there had been a Rift breach and creatures had poured into the city streets. On the screen flashed shots of dark cracks in the air—the Rift looked like a torn wound in reality itself, its edges flickering with unstable violet glow, and unclear shadows crawled out of the gaping void. The air around the crack was distorted, as if from strong heat, and even through the screen you could see how space trembled and bent—a sight that made several visitors turn pale. Therefore, everyone nearby was recommended to leave the streets and allow the Guardians to do their work.
Interesting—so the world had become even more dangerous than it was in my time. Rifts... this definitely wasn't there five hundred years ago. What had happened during my sleep that reality began cracking at the seams?
"Excuse me, but we're forced to close," the girl who had been serving me immediately began saying loudly. "If you have no way to take shelter, we can provide the cafe's basement until all restrictions are lifted."
The student pressed her phone fearfully to her chest, while an elderly couple at the neighboring table hurriedly gathered their things, clearly planning to get home. Tension hung in the air—people clearly knew how serious such a threat could be.
I looked sadly at the unfinished cakes and, taking the glass of coffee with me, put money on the table, fortunately the recent bandits had enough cash that I didn't worry about it.
So it turned out that while the other cafe visitors took advantage of the opportunity to shelter from otherworldly creatures, I went outside.
It was amusing to see what looks accompanied me from both the waitress and the student. Especially the latter, who despite the suggestion made, tried to secretly photograph me a couple more times. Still, aristocrats in current times were by default Guardians, and since I wore a ring indicating my belonging to this class, I was obliged to react to such situations. As they say, position obliges.
Only Demian Dinas, who essentially was so kind as to share his official identity with me, was too weak for them to even take him as a Guardian assistant, let alone being a full-fledged creature hunter from the Rifts. However, when did all these conventions ever concern me?
Going outside, I saw nothing special except that the few passersby were leaving this area or hiding in nearby shops and restaurants that provided temporary shelter to their clients. The streets, recently lively, now seemed like sets for a horror movie—burning shop windows but no one behind them, the sound of my steps reflecting off empty buildings. All this only said that they had long gotten used to such things and people acted according to instructions, even without particular haste.
"And what exactly is a Rift?" I asked myself aloud, taking a sip of aromatic coffee.
I, of course, already better understood what the locals were talking about, but nevertheless such little problems occurred. I seemed to fully understand what was happening, but the term "Rift" itself and its explanation still eluded me. Whatever.
In my times, threats were more predictable—enemies of flesh and blood, magic with understandable rules. And now reality itself had become unreliable.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I sent out an energy pulse from myself, which soon returned to me, showing that there was nothing worthwhile near me. The pulse passed through buildings within about a two-block radius, reflecting off living beings like an echo. Ordinary people, several cats, but nothing supernatural. A convenient thing when you need to find hidden opponents. Well, since there's no one here, I need to go meet these mysterious creatures, because the news said nothing about the type of Rift and the monsters living there.
Something in the air changed—a barely perceptible taste of ozone and metal that usually preceded magical anomalies.
Approaching the source of magical anomalies, I finally saw the Rift itself. It hung in the air between two buildings—a dark crack the height of a three-story building, whose edges pulsed with sickly violet light. Through the tear in reality, an alien void was visible, from which ugly silhouettes occasionally crawled out. The air around the Rift trembled and distorted, and strange crystalline growths had already formed on the asphalt beneath it.
Seraphina Valencia's squad arrived at the scene as soon as the instruments detected an increase in mana particles in one of the city districts. It seemed someone had again missed a forming Rift and now it had opened and released creatures. Moreover, no one knew what rank it was and who might be there, so they had to prepare for everything.
The girl and her fighters unloaded from the armored vehicle and, checking their equipment, ran toward where they had detected the highest peak of mana particles and where the Rift was most likely located. Ahead, between office buildings, the Rift itself gaped—a vertical crack in the air, as if someone had cut the very fabric of the world with a sharp blade. Its edges flickered with unstable light, shifting from deep violet to alarming red. From the gaping void behind the tear came sounds—not quite screams, not quite growling, something between the howl of wind and the moans of the dying.
Seraphina checked the charge of her mana-blade, while Selena drew the string of her enchanted bow, whose arrows could pierce even the thick hide of trolls.
The empty streets seemed ominous in the light of street lamps, and shadows between buildings could hide any dangers.
"Lady knight, over here," one of the scouts with sensory abilities waved at her.
Without such guys, finding Rifts and monsters was more difficult, so while her squad didn't have sensors, they were always provided. And now the first creature appeared on their path. It turned out to be an ordinary goblin prowling the street looking for victims.
"He's mine!" Daren exclaimed eagerly, rushing from his position.
Pure childishness, but Seraphina simply turned a blind eye to it. Moreover, Daren needed only one strike to deal with this weak creature. You couldn't even collect special resources from it, let alone anything more.
"So far we can consider that we got a weak Rift," the guy smiled contentedly, rejoining the squad.
"Goblins might be accompanied by a hobgoblin," Seraphina disagreed, peering into the surroundings. "So we shouldn't relax. If this really is a first-rank Rift, as the instruments suggested, then goblins and hobgoblins are the maximum they could encounter."
"Oh come on, just some hobgoblin," Selena, their archer, said dismissively.
"You should never underestimate an opponent until the Rift is cleared!" Seraphina looked at her sternly.
She always strictly followed the rules and instilled the same discipline in the members of her small squad. Though the latter didn't always like it, their group's effectiveness was high precisely because of the girl's actions, and therefore they had long stopped grumbling at her.
"How is this possible?" Daren looked puzzledly at the alley they had rushed into. "Are there other squads here besides us?"
"I wasn't told about this..." the sensor provided to them by the guild shook his head, immediately burying himself in his communicator.
The thing was that the alley they were running into was filled with goblin corpses that someone had scattered just moments before their appearance. Moreover, they had done this literally, as several carcasses of these creatures hung on staircases, and some were still sliding down the walls. The goblins were killed not by weapons—their bodies looked as if they had been torn apart by an invisible force, and some showed strange marks resembling burns.
"Who the hell did this?!" Daren exclaimed indignantly, who apparently, as always, was eager for battle but was deprived of such an opportunity.
The sensor nervously moved his finger across the communicator screen, his face becoming increasingly puzzled. "No one within a kilometer radius, lady knight. But the energy traces... they're somehow strange."
Seraphina cautiously moved forward, perfectly understanding that something was wrong here, but couldn't understand what. Then the girl felt something and sharply raised her head up, looking at the roof of one of the buildings, but there was no one there.
Could it have seemed to her, or had she really glimpsed someone with eyes blazing with gold for a moment?! For an instant it seemed to her that golden eyes were looking directly at her, studying, evaluating. A chill ran down her spine—she would never forget such a gaze. No, what nonsense...
"Don't relax!" she said sternly, addressing her team. "The Rift isn't closed yet. We move on!"
"As you command, lady knight," Daren bowed playfully and the squad moved on.
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