"We were born of blood, men were made from blood, fear comes from blood, let us bless the old blood."
I woke up staring at a body lying in a pool of blood…
My body was stiff, as if every bone in me had shattered. The air around me was cruelly cold, creeping into my bones like icy needles. A fire burned in the distance, its flames swaying in the cold wind, but it brought me no warmth.
I lifted my head with difficulty; my skull ached, and a fog clouded my vision. I looked at my right hand… it was soaked in blood.
"What… happened to me?"
I whispered, my voice barely audible… broken, exhausted.
I looked around. The forest was drenched in darkness and snow, its trees bare like looming skeletal giants. No sounds, no movement… just my quickening breath and the flickering fire.
Then I saw it.
A single eye, glowing with a fiery red hue, watching me from the shadows.
My body trembled. I wanted to scream, but my voice was caught in my throat. I wanted to move, but my limbs were bound by invisible chains.
The steps began to approach… slowly, steadily, each one pounding like the drums of death.
Out of the darkness emerged a grotesque creature:
A giant werewolf, its fur soaked in blood, its eyes glowing with hatred and hunger. It panted, its tongue dangling, saliva glistening and dripping onto the ground.
I tried to crawl back… but my muscles barely responded.
I scanned the ground, forcing my eyes open wider, and saw something in the mud and blood… a gun.
With a trembling hand, I dragged it toward me using three fingers. I gripped it as if my life depended on it — because it did.
I raised the weapon with a shaking hand, and…
Fired.
The shot ripped through the air, missing its head by mere millimeters.
The werewolf paused, looked at me, then growled — a snarl that shook my chest. It moved again… faster this time. Its claws shimmered in the firelight, its fangs bared, ready to strike.
I lifted the gun again, my fingers pulling the trigger…
But it fell.
My hand could no longer hold it.
In the next instant, I saw its claws racing toward my chest.
I screamed inside, but no sound came out.
Then…
Its head was severed.
I saw it fly through the air, blood erupting onto my face like a hellish fountain — some of it splashing into my mouth. Its body thudded before me, twitching, then going still.
I gasped, heart racing. I looked up, searching for an answer — and found her standing before me.
She was… a dark angel.
A girl with long, flowing red hair swaying in the air, and white eyes like they belonged to another realm. She wore a long black coat that reached her knees, and her sword glowed with a bloody hue, still dripping from the creature's head.
She looked at me with deep concern and stepped closer. She knelt beside me, wiping blood from my face with her palm. Her face was so close… her eyes were strange mirrors where I saw no reflection of myself.
She spoke, her lips moving, but her voice was distant… as if the world was drowning in silence.
I fought the sleep… but it overpowered me.
Before I closed my eyes, I finally heard her voice clearly:
"Thank God… you're okay, Damian."
Damian…? Who is Damian? Is that… me?
Then everything went dark.
I was in complete darkness, unable to see anything — except a mirror standing before me. In it, I saw my reflection: short, messy red hair, black eyes, a long black coat over a shirt… and in my other hand, a blood-dripping sword.
I placed my palm on the mirror and spoke in astonishment:
"Is this me? I look different… strange. Am I in another world?"
As I spoke to myself like a madman, I heard a voice from nowhere, sharp and mysterious:
"Damian, servant of the Old Blood. You do not know who you are — but we do. I won't waste your time with words, but know this: you are a hunter who hunts monsters and drinks their blood to evolve and survive. Adapt to your system… and your new hell."
The tone was laced with threat and manipulation. I looked at my hand… and the first thought that came to me was, "Have I been reincarnated in another world, or have I always been part of this one?"
I wanted to speak to that mysterious voice again — but I found myself lying on the ground, staring up at snow-covered trees… I turned my head slightly and saw the girl who saved me sitting near the fire.
When she noticed I was awake and looking at her, she stood up and ran to me. She helped me to my feet, and I found myself staring at her breathtaking beauty.
"I thought you were dead, but thank God you're alright. It's all because of that snowstorm that separated us from the group."
A snowstorm. My memory was fuzzy, and I could barely remember anything. The last thing I recalled was being in a dark world… and someone strange talking to me about hunting monsters and drinking their blood.
It seemed this wasn't a dream, but reality.
"I'm sorry for making you worry about me. That won't happen again — I promise."
I spoke to her gently. My heart felt something strange for her… as if I'd known her for a long time. When I finished, she hugged me. I was surprised — but I placed my hand on her back and closed my eyes.
Then she stood and spoke, her voice tinged with concern:
"It seems your body recovered somehow… probably because some of that creature's blood spilled into your mouth."
My body froze at her words. 'Blood spilled into your mouth.' So I wasn't imagining things — I really do evolve through blood, and recover through it too.
I looked at my body and saw it fully healed. No cuts, no broken bones. The girl sheathed her sword on her back and spoke quickly:
"Staying here too long will attract more monsters… we have to find the group and return to the academy."
I stood on my feet and looked at my bloodstained sword, now tainted with darkness — and that's when I fully realized this wasn't a dream. This was all real. I nodded and said to her:
"You're right, we have to go now… who knows what this forest is hiding."
She smiled at me, extinguished the fire, and we walked into the forest. The snowstorm was fierce, and we could barely see. The atmosphere was dark and terrifying all at once.
But this girl was holding a magical lamp in her hand, glowing with a blue light that illuminated our path and brought a sense of peace… It seems I'm in a world that relies on sword and sorcery.
I looked at her and asked for some information I didn't know.
"I can't remember some things. What happened, and why was I covered in blood just moments ago? And why are we separated from our group?"
The girl looked at me in surprise, but she answered slowly and sweetly:
"It seems you forgot some things because of what happened to you… I'll remind you, it's okay. At first, we were on a mission to exterminate monsters in the Blue Mushroom Forest, but things quickly changed when a strong snowstorm appeared. And because of that storm, a strange creature showed up, causing you some injuries and separating us from our group."
Oh, so that's what happened. The snowstorm appeared suddenly, along with a strange creature that split us apart… Things are becoming clearer now.
"Right, now I remember. I probably forgot some things because of the hits I took from that filthy creature."
She looked at me and replied in a calm tone:
"I hope we meet our group again and return to the academy. This forest… it's on a whole different level. It's most likely in what's called a Threat Level."
A Threat Level? It seems every area has its own difficulty tiers. I guess those levels indicate how dangerous a place is.
The wind started howling again, and I looked around as fear gnawed at my body—afraid that another terrifying creature or monster might appear.
But what I feared most happened. Suddenly, the ground shook beneath my feet.
From within the thick fog, two glowing eyes appeared… Living ice, moving.
A giant polar bear, covered in white fur stained with red patches… Its fangs the size of swords, and its roar like a raging storm.
The girl gasped and said in a trembling voice:
"Damn it, a level nine beast… That's just what we needed right now."
I looked at it, and my heart pounded like war drums.
My hands trembled violently from fear. I had never been in such a terrifying situation before. The girl screamed at me loudly:
"If you're not ready to fight, stay back!"
That sentence alone was enough to ease my body a bit, but then I heard a voice inside my head speaking sharply:
[The Bloodfang, level nine. There is no escape. You must kill it. If you don't take part in the battle… every drop of blood inside your body will turn into poison that tears your guts apart.]
Then the voice vanished from my mind. My eyes widened in madness as I stared at the sword. I couldn't move at all.
But if I didn't move, I would die anyway. My head hurt terribly from overthinking… but I had to at least find out what was happening, and who I am… What's the point of dying like a coward without uncovering the secret of this body?
I shouted at the girl in a sharp tone, my hand gripping the sword tightly:
"I won't let you fight this monster alone… I'll be with you."
She smiled at me, ready to charge… I don't know how those words came out of my mouth, but I'd rather die with courage than die in some strange, horrible way.
I can't run away. I'm bound—or to put it bluntly, I'm a slave…
A slave to the old blood.