"Congratulations, Daddy!"
When Levi stepped out of his bedroom, the twins were standing in the middle of the living area. Aly popped a party popper, while Kai held a cake with icing that looked like spilled blood.
Where a cherry should have been, a real human heart sat atop the cake. The faint traces of blood made Levi feel the thirst clawing out of his chest, burning down his throat, as if he had been starved for ages.
[Warning!]
[Blood Saturation on dangerous level!]
[Must feed within the next hour otherwise your cognitive focus will be affected.]
He was satisfied that this experiment had finally succeeded, but the hunger made him uneasy.
He needed to find a solution quickly.
"Hmm, you're more sane than any newborn I've ever met," Aly said, looking at Levi with awe.
Usually, once a Turned completed their transition, they looked like savages with eyes hollow and red, driven purely by predator's instinct. They could barely even recognize themselves.
But Levi was different. Though slightly disoriented, he was far calmer than most newborns. Anyone else in his place would have already jumped out the window in search of the nearest human.
"This is easier than I expected," Kai remarked. Then he glanced at his sister, "Perhaps it's because of our blood."
"Mmm, I think Daddy is just one of a kind."
"Now, we'll have to teach you how to hunt your first prey, Dad."
The three of them climbed up to the rooftop of the apartment complex.
Levi felt the hunger growing stronger by the minute, the chaos inside him swelling like a beast clawing its way out. Yet, despite it, he managed to keep himself restrained.
The scent of humans drifted through the night air.
He imagined his first prey trembling under his mercy, fear etched across their face. The thought alone felt rewarding.
The idea of his first hunt, his first blood, brought a strange excitement to his chest.
He wondered, How long would it take for a human's heart to stop beating beneath my fangs?
What would their last expression be?
Kai spoke in a small but commanding voice, "Stay sharp, Dad. All seven of your core gates are sealed, but you can still feel the sin essence around you. The system will let you know which one is compatible with you. If the compatibility rate is high enough, the corresponding gate will open with the right proximity. That's how it usually happens."
Levi already knew that. He had done his research on vampires.
He breathed in the air. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel it… something mixed in the very air he inhaled, something alive and pulsating.
The faint scent of sin essence lingered around him, exuded by the corrupted humans scattered throughout the area.
There were different kinds of scents, each distinct, yet he couldn't tell which sin was calling for him.
"There's a young woman heading down that alleyway," Aly said, pointing toward the dark stretch of street.
For a human, seeing that far into the shadows would have been impossible. Not even a silhouette could be made out. But for a vampire, it required no effort at all.
Levi followed Aly's gaze. When his eyes fixed on the woman, he could see an aura of deep violet emanating from her body.
[Analyzing potential prey…]
[Dominant Sin Essence: Envy]
[Sin Quality: Third Grade]
[Checking sin essence compatibility...]
[Compatibility Rate: 9% ]
"No. Not her," Levi muttered under his breath. Too low.
A vampire could feed on any human, even without an active core gate. But a newly Turned couldn't last a week without absorbing sin essence.
During that time, even if they drank blood, there was no real satisfaction, only a temporary lull before the thirst clawed back, stronger each time.
If a Turned failed to awaken a core gate after their transition, they would eventually become a Hollow – a mindless creature driven solely by hunger, stripped of reason and restraint, often evolving into monsters beyond redemption.
But that wasn't the only way Hollows were made. Some vampires succumbed to core corruption, absorbing too much sin essence until their cores couldn't control it.
It was one of the reasons why, despite their immortality, vampires could hardly dominate the world with their population. Because first, there was only 40% success rate in transition. Second, vampires could rarely reproduce, and third, many of them became Hollows at some point.
"How about that guy?"
Kai tilted his head toward a nearer street.
"Greed is his dominant sin essence. I bet that bag he's tucking under his shirt is stolen." A crooked grin spread across his face as his dark red eyes glinted. "I wonder what his reaction would be if I stuffed those coins into his wounds while I drained him."
Aly giggled softly. "That would be fun, but remember, we're not here to play, brother. Our daddy needs to activate a core gate."
She tilted her head, thoughtful. "Maybe we should let him get close to those humans instead of picking a prey from here. If he stays close to them, it might help."
Before Kai could answer, the twins' eyes flicked to where Levi had been standing. He was already gone.
Without a sound or warning, Levi had leapt from the ten-storey building.