Vampire Cultivation System in a Hidden World of Monsters

I woke up with my head in Victoria's lap. She was stroking my head. "How long was I out for?" I said.

"About an hour," she said.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"I really need to stop pushing my abilities so hard. One of these days I'm going to pass out in the middle of a fight and die," I said.

"Yeah, let's not do that. Take it easier next time. You don't have to kill everyone all at once. You're my big strong boy. You don't have to prove anything to me," she said.

"Why do I feel mocked and soothed at the same time?" I said.

"I'm just that kind of woman," she said.

"Huh. Ok." I said. "Alright, time to get up." I stood up. "How close are we?"

"We're almost there," she said.

As we approached the island, I noticed several other ships nearby and people in row boats coming ashore. These pirates looked more badass somehow than the pirates before. I tried to focus on them to see their level, but something was blocking me.

<Monster analysis not allowed in game>

'What? Not allowed in game? Why?' I thought to the system.

[These dimensional portals are a training game designed by a higher being]

[Its coding states giving in-game levels and stats to enemies breaks immersion and also isn't realistic to what you'll be facing in the future]

[When the real invasion comes, there won't be levels and stats to warn you how strong an enemy is]

'Then why could I see the levels of the enemies in the restaurant?'

[The monsters were outside of the portals, beyond the control of this system. Because of that, I was able to interpret the coding for their levels]

'Oh. Huh. Interesting. Wait, real invasion? If this isn't the real invasion, why are people getting hurt?'

[Poor dungeon design. They're designed to reset their enemies every so often and if they haven't been completed recently, the extra enemies get pushed out of the portal]

'That is poor design. I guess higher beings can make mistakes too?' I shrugged.

Watching the pirates get out of the row boats, I thought I could pick them off with blood bullets. So I made a few bullets and fired them off at them, but they all deflected them with their swords. I guess these were higher level enemies. Not so easily defeated.

Me, Victoria, and Chad got into a row boat of our own and rowed ashore. There was a massive ship run aground on one end of the island. Zombie pirates littered its decks and fired guns and cannons at anyone who dared get close.

All of the other pirates were going towards that ship and fighting to try to get Nigel's treasure, but I had a feeling that was a decoy. Instead I activated my domain aura and boosted it to as strong as I could make it.

At first nothing happened, but then a golden arrow appeared on the sand. It pointed away from the pirate ship into the forest of palm trees on the island. I followed the arrow.

"I'm getting an arrow from my power. Let's go this way!" I said to Victoria and Chad. They both nodded and followed me.

I wasn't paying too much attention to my surroundings at first until my foot hit a tripwire and arrow almost shot through my head. It whizzed past my face cutting the bridge of my nose.

"Watch where you're stepping. There are traps," I said, looking back at Victoria and Chad. Victoria nodded. Chad nodded as he hit a tripwire and a spike trap whipped around the tree in front of him and gored him in nine places through his torso.

I ran over to Chad. He was barely still alive. He was a goner. I looked him in the eyes, and said, "I'll pull you off the trap. Try to come back to us soon."

"Yes, sir," he said, coughing blood into my face. Then he breathed his last breath and died.

I pulled his corpse off the spike trap and threw him across my back. I carried him as Victoria and I carefully watched our steps through the forest. I avoided an ankle trap, a pit trap, and a net trap on our way.

We eventually came to a cave. Skulls and bones littered the outside of the cave unnecessarily. I felt like the person who owned this cave could've easily buried those bones. Felt lazy and a little slovenly.

There was a sign that read, "Get out!" That didn't make much sense to me because who was it telling to get out? The sign was on the outside of the cave so whoever was reading it wasn't even in the cave yet. How can you get out of something you aren't in yet? Seemed stupid to me.

I decided to ignore the illogical sign and just step right in. Victoria did the same. We walked down a corridor and rounded a corner. The cave opened into a wide circular space littered with treasure and gold.

It was a massive open space with high ceilings. There were things hanging from the ceiling. They looked like more traps. They were massive logs with large spikes driven through them attached to chains. Read latest chapters at empire

I looked around the ground and the walls. I could see levers on the walls and pressure plates on the floor. There also seemed to be holes in the floor about an inch or two wide. There were every where we walked so they were impossible to avoid.

I pointed out the levers and the pressure plates to Victoria. She said, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," said a voice.

I looked around, but I couldn't tell where the voice had come from.

"Where are you?" I said.

"Somewhere," said the voice.

"Don't be sarcastic with me mister!" I said.

"Ooo I'm so scared! What are you going to do?" the voice said.

"I'll find you! I'm going to find you and I'll punch you in the face!" I said. It didn't sound very threatening when I thought about it.

"You'll have to find me first! Wooo I'm a ghost!" the voice said.

I looked around the room but all I could see were massive piles of gold and treasure. Whoever they were, they must have been hiding between the piles of gold.

Victoria and I spread out to search and we found no one. The only thing I found was a golden throne tucked away near a wall of the cave with a skeleton sitting in it.

This skeleton was exceptionally well equipped. It had flintlock pistols tucked into holsters all over its front and back and it had two swords at its sides.

If I had to guess, I assumed the voice was coming from the skeleton. Because where else would it be coming from, unless it really was a ghost. I decided to see if the skeleton was just playing dead by rudely putting my fingers through its nose hole.

"Achoo! Get your fingers out of my nose! Achoo!" The skeleton said.

"I knew it!" I pulled my fingers out and jumped back drawing my sword. I cut my wrist slightly to draw blood. I knew the skeleton would provide no blood, so I figured I'd feed the sword some of mine to satiate its bloodlust.

"You got me, you clever kid," said the skeleton as it rose from the chair.

"Who are you?" I said.

"Why, I'm the dread pirate Nigel of course! What, you didn't think I would be guarding my treasure? What kind of fool do you take me for?" Nigel said.

"I would say you're not a fool at all. The traps were all well placed and intricate. Even the ones in this very room. And you must be smart to figure out how to cheat death. So yeah, I don't think you're a fool," I said.

"Oh. Uh, thanks. I guess. No one's ever complimented me before. I don't know how to react," he said. I think if he still had cheeks and blood, he'd be blushing right now.

"It's no big deal. You seem cool. Do you think we could leave with some of your treasure? I have a world to save elsewhere and many bills to pay. Think you could spare some?" I said.

"No! Not because I don't want to share, but because the treasure is tied to my existence here. If someone were to steal even a single piece, I would die for real," he said.

"Oh. Well then we just won't steal any of it," I said.

"Really? Wait, but that's so boring! At least let an old man fight one last time. Being a skeleton down here is so boring," he said.

"Oh, alright. If you'll enjoy it, then I'd be happy to fight you, Mr. Nigel sir," I said, smiling.

"Alright. Let's get down to business," he said. He paused for a moment like he was doing something but nothing happened. "You can't tell because I have no lips, but I'm smiling right now."