Enna, Stevin, and Airina walked forward, stopping a few feet from the cage.

  “Wonderful job, Your Grace,” Stevin said with an awkward smile, not sure whether to look at my face or at the ground.

  “Wait,” Airina frowned. “Are we really going to ignore what just happened-”

  Stevin laughed loudly, slapped a hand over her mouth, and muttered. “Forgive us, Your Grace. I have something to tell the pointy-eared over here.”

  He whispered something to her and dragged her toward the cave entrance.

  And although I distinctly remembered telling them to help me rather than bicker, Enna, of course, had something else to say.

  She grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the cage. “Y-Your Grace, I’ll say this now because I don’t think you realize it: your powers are unique. Whatever you are, whatever else you’re hiding from us, please, for the love of all that is holy, do not show those abilities so easily. The High Temples will hunt you for less if word gets around.”

  My head was still pounding from dealing with those bastards earlier; I didn’t feel like learning why the world’s religions would start chasing me. So I just nodded and nudged her toward the wounded.

  She worked with a grimace on her face, though. As if the wounds disgusted her. Or... the people themselves. I couldn’t tell which. Even up close, the captives didn’t look any different from normal folk. But maybe that was just the darkness, or the adrenaline clouding my sight.

  I leaned in to get a closer look when Stevin and Airina returned as if everything were perfectly normal.

  “Once again, Your Grace, splendid work,” Stevin said. “Incredible powers.”

  “I-Indeed,” Airina stammered, looking away.

  I didn’t even want to know what nonsense he'd placed in her blonde head.

  So I sighed and told them to help me figure out how to open the cage. Instead, Stevin chuckled, walked up to the bars, slapped them in a neat rhythm, and turned solid iron into drifting iron dust.

  Everyone stared, captives included, as he puffed out his chest like a rooster.

  “Earth is much more than just mud,” he declared, turning toward me so that he could show off.

  A dog-chewer smart ass.

  [Warning.]

  [The ‘Subject’ Needs Rest.]

  [The Rewards Cannot be Delayed Further.]

  I could only click my tongue at Ephe’s words before I turned around to speak, “Can I leave this to you? I need to sleep.”

  Enna and the others nodded, reassuring me that they would handle it as expected, so I nodded, walking toward the cave, only to feel Relia’s shadow emerge the instant I entered the cave.

  “Your Grace,” she knelt to the ground, making me almost lose my mind right then and there. “I was not aware of your magnificence or your powers. Please, forgive me for how I acted in the past.”

  “What the fuck are you doing?” I asked exasperatedly, my jaw tightened. “Get up.”

  The Vampire nodded sharply, jumping to her feet, looking as if she would open her mouth to speak again.

  “Let me guess, you are hungry,” I said, moving past her. “Very well, come, have your fill now before the others-”

  “No, Your Grace,” Relia interrupted. “Allow me to eat the people you killed; they don’t have a use for their essence anymore.”

  I frowned, looking at her past my shoulder, “Do you want to eat that shit? I would rather give you my blood than have you drink theirs. Maybe it will affect your brain and make you as mad as they were.”

  She chuckled lightly, her eyes warmer now, “Would you give your blood to me again then?”

  I exhaled slowly as I lay on the floor, turning to the side to face the nearby wall.

  “Have at it.”

  ‘And you, Ephe. Go ahead,’ I said in my head, ignoring the quiet giggling of the Cataclysmic Vampire above me.

  Just as I felt her fangs find my carotid artery, a quiet groan left my lips, signaling for Ephe to speak.

  [Congratulations.]

  ‘Yep.’

  [Directive ‘Kill the Men’ Followed - Registered.]

  ‘Yep, yep.’

  Stolen story; please report.

  [Directive ‘Free the Captives’ Followed - Registered.]

  ‘Mhm.’

  [...]

  ‘Sorry, please do go on.’

  [Optional Directive ‘Do not Reveal the Vampire’ Followed - Registered.]

  [Reign Index Increased: 0.22% → 0.23% → 0.24% → 0.25%]

  [Second Threshold Reached.]

  [Reigncraft Seed Level Increased: Level 2 -> Level 3.]

  [The ‘Subject’ Grows Stronger.]

  [Ephemera Grows Stronger.]

  [Abilities Grow Stronger.]

  [Passive Abilities Grow Stronger.]

  [Free Slots Added.]

  My eyelids felt heavier with every message, the world dulling, watered down in the background.

  [Old Directive Resumed: Escort your guests back to the Ashtara Kingdom.]

  [New Optional Directive: Take the Beastwoman…]

  And as my blood and essence were being drawn, while Ephe spammed messages in my brain, and while a headache threatened to kill me before even I could, somehow sleep took me, the darkness enveloping my brain into the stillness of silence.

  [REM Sleep: Detected.]

  [The ‘Subject’ has met the criteria.]

  [Reigncraft Seed - Level 2: Upgrade Possible.]

  [Initializing...]

  [...]

  [Upgrade Complete.]

  [The ‘Subject’ has reached Reigncraft Seed - Level 3.]

  [‘Subject’ Enhanced.]

  [Ephemera already Upgraded.]

  [The Custodians Upgrade Ephemera Further.]

  [Ephemera Upgraded.]

  [Abilities Upgraded.]

  [Passive Abilities Upgraded.]

  [Free Slot added to Abilities.]

  [Free Slot added to Passive Abilities.]

  [Health: Increased.]

  [Mental State: Stabilized.]

  [Mental State: Increased.]

  [Reigncraft Upgrade Complete.]

  [...]

  [Good Night, Elio.]

  “Elio,” Julia whispered in my ear, waking me gently.

  It was our second vacation as a married couple, a three-day trip in the French Alps to hike around and see her favorite views.

  The bed in the hotel was far too comfortable, the sheets were holding me hostage, but still, I groaned.

  “Wake up, you white-haired sloth, we have a hike to do,” she grinned, her green eyes studying my sleeping face as she brushed whatever hair could’ve blocked my view of her.

  “Mmm,” I muttered, still clinging to sleep.

  “Oh, come on,” she started shaking me. “I even let you escape easily last night; you can’t be that tired.”

  “You were merciless, not stopping for hours; thus, you shall be known as the Caesar of the Sheets,” I sighed, finally opening my eyes. “Not to mention that you didn’t care about the jet lag or the fact that I slept poorly on the plane.”

  “Eh, by the way you were moving last night, it didn’t seem like it,” she taunted.

  A good taunt, almost annoying me. Still, even if I was annoyed, all I could do was chuckle softly as I turned to lie on my back, staring into her green eyes.

  “Good morning,” she grinned, propping her head in her hands as she lay on her stomach, watching me.

  I smiled, “Good morning, wife.”

  By the time I woke up, dawn had already crept in, and the smell of blood still clung stubbornly to my nostrils.

  I could’ve slept much longer, metallic scent or not, but the soft murmur of voices nearby pulled me out of whatever dream I’d been having. Judging by the ache settling in my chest, it had probably been a dream too good to remember. Maybe it was better that I forgot it.

  I blinked my eyes open and turned my head, realizing the whispers weren’t coming from inside the cave at all, but from somewhere just outside its entrance.

  Nearby, Enna and Airina were curled up almost nose to nose.

  I nearly chuckled at the contrast between their characters. Last night, they’d been ready to rip each other’s hair out, and now they looked one wrong movement away from kissing.

  At the far end of the cave, the woman and her child slept quietly, bundled together. And it seemed that Stevin, the woman I’d given the flower to, and the man were the ones whispering outside; that was where the voices were drifting from.

  Gently, making as little noise as possible, I pushed myself to my feet.

  After straightening my back, brushing the dust from my clothes, I immediately felt Relia’s shadowy form shifting beneath the layers of my blessed, air-conditioned clothing.

  ‘Good morning, Ephe,’ I greeted her in my mind as I headed toward the cave entrance. ‘Anything new from the rewards?’

  [Good Morning.]

  [And yes, the Second Threshold of the Reigncraft has been passed.]

  ‘You’re chatty. Did you get stronger again?’

  [Yes.]

  [Ephemera is Stronger.]

  [Elio is Stronger as well.]

  ‘Did you just call me by my name?’ I froze a few steps from the exit.

  [Is it a problem?]

  ‘No, no, please continue. I’m just surprised you’re not calling me “Subject” anymore.’

  [Understood.]

  [Does Elio wish to hear the new Stats?]

  ‘Not yet,’ I thought as the harsh daylight came into view. ‘Later.’

  [Understood.]

  “Your Grace,” Stevin said as he nearly leapt to his feet the moment I stepped outside.

  Near him, crouched on the ground, were two people. They had been staring at the dried blood on the grass in the distance, but the instant they saw me, they turned, and that was when I realized the difference between a normal human and them.

  Spoiler: Cat ears. Cat-like eyes.

  And me, despite the clear-headedness I was feeling, I could already imagine a team of biologists collectively committing seppuku at the sight.

  Because there is absolutely no one in either of the worlds I’ve lived in who could explain the evolutionary fucking process that leads to a catwoman.

  And I hadn’t even looked at the dude yet. Hmm... let’s see. Yep. A damn lionman.

  This made no sense, biologically, evolutionarily, ethically, philosophically, logically, or in any other goddamn way.

  The two beastfolk scrambled upright, taking position behind Stevin. Their wounds seemed healed, but fear still lingered in their eyes.

  The woman, at least twenty years old, had gray hair, soft-looking gray tail included, and sharp yellow eyes that flashed like a wary cat’s.

  The man, probably in his late twenties, had a dark-blonde mane, gentle brown eyes, and, of course, a tail swaying behind him for good measure.

  Well. Apparently, Stevin and Enna, in their twelve-hour crash course, had forgotten to mention the existence of beastfolk. So I’m choosing to blame them for my probably-racist internal commentary.

  “Good morning,” I said, offering the three of them a gentle, non-offensive, all-accepting smile.

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