Reject Humanity, Return to Monke

"I'm going to ask you this, since I haven't seen what you're capable yet." Oshurkova said as she dragged me through the small, but spacious camp. "Do you know how to fight?"

"Yes." A simple and curt answer left my lips, fully understanding why she was asking that question. I am not that full of myself to be in disbelief at the fact that this woman here does not know I know how to fight.

"Good." Oshurkova flashed a brief smile, before her eyes turned icy and sent it towards the forest. "Shit, him again…"

I tilted my head. 'Him again…? Does that mean this is a reoccurring event?'

I shook my head off from those thoughts. Less pondering, more attention to the vampire lady.

Oshurkova whirled around as she stared into my eyes, a bit of a hesitation going through her psyche, before she sighed and placed her hands around my shoulders.

"Listen to me, Jionni… I'm going to ask you this since it will decide whether you live or die." Oshurkova asked, a bit of disgust trailing under her words. "Do you agree to join my group?"

"… Haah… I can see why you'd ask this type of question…" I had to fight the urge to lash out at the underhanded tactic this woman was giving me to force me to join her group. I'm pretty sure it goes like this:

(If you join us, we can protect you; if you don't, we are under no obligation to do so.)

Yep, that's the kind of scenario I could see happening, and since I still don't know the capabilities of the other Dungeon Masters, I'd rather not risk myself not having protection.

"Sure, I'll join." I sighed, not knowing any other option to avoid this kind of scenario. Sure, I might've been forced, but I was planning to join them anyway, since there is strength in numbers. Also, I'm sure that having connections in this Dungeon Community will be an incredibly viable asset in the near future.

"Good to hear that." Oshurkova smiled, this time, relief washing over her as she let go of my shoulders and dragged me once more to her tent. "I'd love to officially welcome you to the group, along with the other Dungeon Masters, but I'm afraid we have more pressing matters to deal with."

"Yeah, I can kind of see that…" I looked at the watch tower with the Dungeon Master who looked a little like Reia, but with an inverted color scheme on her maid's clothes.

'Twins…? Maybe…'

"Anyway, there's an initiation within our group all members have to undergo to be a fully fledged member." Oshurkova stated with finality. "The initiation will give you a unique aura signature, which when sensed, will be closely related to those of our group, so no mistakes could happen during one of these events."

"… I'm guessing that the ones attacking us are also a part of another group which, I'm also guessing, that you have a feud every decade… Am I right?" Oshurkova sighed the moment I gave out my deductions.

"Hit it right in the bullseye." She opened the flap leading to her tent and dragged me inside. "They're named Lewko, a group that has a particular interest in my sister. That's also the reason why I mostly knock her unconscious during these events so she can return to her Dungeon unharmed."

Well… I didn't think of that… What a world…

I stayed silent as Oshurkova rummaged through her belongings in a giant chest located right next to her desk. She looked through its contents for a few seconds, before bringing out some kind of goblet with intricate, golden designs, a bright red skull adorning one of the sides of the goblet.

She also took out the container containing the syringe full of my blood.

"Well, if you wanted to know the reason why I extracted your blood, then here it is." Oshurkova took the syringe and dumped its contents into the goblet. Next, she placed the syringe down and grabbed a knife before slicing her wrist open and letting the blood flow down to the goblet. Moments later, her wound healed and the goblet was full of blood mixed between the two of us. "Drink this, and the initiation will be finished."

I looked at the goblet full of blood, before looking at her face, plastering my most serious expression on my own. "I'd like to ask this first; are there any side effects?"

"None whatsoever." Oshurkova smiled lightly. "You see, this ritual is designed to bond a being to another being. That way, they are always aware of one another. In this case, you and me will be bonded, and will have my aura signature slightly wafting off yours, which is what I did with all of the other members."

"As to which, some took it a bit too far…" Oshurkova winced, clearly referencing to Reia and Typhial, who treated Oshurkova like a queen. She then shook her head once more and looked at me with expectations in her eyes. "Now, drink this!"

I took the goblet and peered into its blood-red contents; no pun intended. I look at the vampire lady once more, before steeling my nerves and downing the blood right into my system.

I opened my eyes wide the moment I tasted the blood.

'What the fuck… Did blood always taste this good?' I looked at Oshurkova, who was simply smiling at me due to my expected reaction.

"Don't worry, it's only the blood in that goblet that tastes good." Oshurkova reassured me that I wouldn't turn into a blood-drinking gorilla, which I was a bit relieved about, not that I won't admit it.

A moment later, I felt a pulse within me. A warm, fuzzy feeling was flowing through my veins as I felt refreshed, like I had taken the best nap in the world.

"Wow… That felt better than I expected." I mused loudly, causing Oshurkova to snicker.

"You're not the only one to think that." She then proceeded to exit the tent, prompting me to place the goblet on the table and follow her out. "Come on, we need to greet our uninvited guests at our temporary home."

I shrugged then followed the vampire. Clearly, she had a bone to pick with the offender, judging by her ice-cold exterior under cover by all of the robes she had on right now.

'… When life gives you lemons, make lemonade…'