BOOM!!!!!
BOOOOOMMMM!!!!!!
BOOOOOM!!
BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!
bbbBBBBBBoooOOOOOO00000Mmmmmm!!!!!
Vesper's eyes fluttered. The pale rays of the distant star flickered inside his scarlet eyes like opulent rubies.
His unnerving gaze turned toward the desolate scenery in front of him. Smog lifted dust into the air; it was hard to see, but there was a small cave made of rubble.
All that Vesper needed was to hide from the dangerous predators out there.
However right now….
It was time to venture outside.
It was the time of the hour.
The professor had mentioned 'survive' but she also mentioned later on that the cadet must reach a certain sector of the moon.
Sector 31. Point Xilinz.
The journey itself would take three days if nothing were obstructing one's path.
'Pft- three days… what a joke. Haven't I been cowering and figuring out the environment for three days because of the sheer danger??'
Vesper sighed.
"I'm too behind on schedule."
Fortunately, even though Vesper was quite far away from Point Xilinz… he had already walked half of it.
It was Day 3 at this time. He had changed. A lot.
Solitude had its perks. No one to slow him down. No one to witness the moments his control slipped, when his bones moved like they weren't his own.
His classmates… their fear that the 'rapist noble' would turn on them had been the ultimate gift.
It gave him the one thing he needed… silence. In that silence, he could finally listen to what his new body was trying to tell him.
Vesper stared at the huge canvas of a rock blocking his path. It stretched infinitely from either side to the horizon.
'Now how do I move past this…' he mused.
In the past few days, the core change Vesper had felt was in his ability to move. His body could unnaturally slip through anything.
His fingers ran across the surface of the rock… he stood there for a few minutes exploring and analysing like a doctor as if checking for something.
'Aha!' A smile soon appeared on his visage. He had found it! An opening. A crack.
The next moment, his bones twisted and turned but there was no sound of them crunching at all.
Then… he slipped through the jagged opening similar to a serpent. No water not yet but close enough.
After a few hours that felt more like days, Vesper had made it to the other side… successfully having paced through the rock and easily managed to pass a long distance as well.
'The other students would probably have to climb the rock and face the dangers above.'
Not everyone was in the same area and position though. All the cadets were scattered… even if they had made cohorts.
'They may have similar difficulties or maybe even worse.' The geography of the moon remained the same.
Other than that… his speed had become terrifying… much like his reflexes.
As for his strength, it had a burst effect to it. Anything he touched with power would burst due to the sheer intensity.
Vesper felt robust.
He breathed in the thin layer of oxygen present on the moon.
He didn't need to… but he did. Why? Well, it was in part of the manual he received from Lysbelle's messenger.
An ancient art of disguise. The Theatre of Illusions Act 1. Vesper had already halfway to have completely mastered it.
Perks of being a Pureblood Vamp.
The manual had been a holographic piece of memory that merged into his own memories, letting him experience the knowledge with practiced ease.
However, knowledge is nothing if the body can not keep up with it.
A Dream Transmitter though… a device that would transfer memories and dreams.
For Vampyres, illusion is already one of their greatest fortes but this art was of the highest grade… probably the secret art of the Cernogratz Ducal Family.
No wonder it was barely a small piece of its first part. Precisely enough to completely disguise himself, nothing more… and nothing less.
With Vesper's growing intelligence… and his vampire talent of speed running his thoughts… There would be a time he'd be able to hypothesize the entire formula even if there was a 'lock' present in the art.
Suddenly Vesper's gaze turned to the east of the looming mountain. Over there amidst the dense fog and cracks of hot air rubbing against the ground… a pair of eyes glowed ominously.
Vesper froze. His eyes widened as he felt his entire body go numb.
'That presence…. so powerful.'
Thankfully the beast hadn't noticed him… it seemed as if Vesper's vampire senses were coming in clutch.
'I think it's better if I keep on the trail to the reaching point now.'
The storm though… it was getting worse. The winds around the looming danger were whirling and approaching closer to his location with fast-paced intensity.
'Crap…' Vesper cussed in a hushed whisper. Voices could travel far, inviting danger. "FUCK."
'Not only must I persevere against the storm but actively hide from the dangers within.'
Vesper didn't run. He melted into the landscape, using the growing fog as a cloak.
The Theatre of Illusions shimmered around him, bending the pale light to make him a part of the rubble.
He shifted his position, slowly moving… like a silent, bloodless shadow against the grey.
The storm didn't announce itself with thunder. It arrived as a pressure, a silent, screaming weight in the air that even his dead nerves felt.
The fog wasn't just dense now… it was a liquid, churning wall. The pale nebula-light vanished.
The world shrank to the next three feet of jagged rock.
At the same time a soft, persistent chime sounded in his bodysuit. Then a static crackle.
[NAVIGATION SYSTEM OFFLINE. GEOSYNC LOST.]
Vesper almost stumbled on his own foot. He stared at his surroundings in dismay. The thick fog was too dense and the winds were haywire.
If he wasn't wearing the bodysuit then he was pretty sure the corrosive nature of the storm would make his flesh melt.
'Now what?'
There was no way to navigate through the storm. His vampyre senses couldn't make sense of it, either.
He was blind. Truly, utterly blind on a moon-sized tomb. The only coordinates he had now were the BOOMs… slower, more frantic…. and surprisingly… the new sounds beneath them.
In the far distance, not that far but far enough… Vesper could hear human screams cut short and shrieks of a beast.
'Hoomans ahoyyyy???'