[Congratulations! You successfully turned a human into a Vampire for the first time!]
[Reward: One effect of your title has been upgraded!]
Arin stared at the system screen with squinted eyes.
'Is the system just realizing that I turned Tessa into a Vampire? Was it facing a lag or something?'
Arin was about to read the details further, but then,
"Uh? What did you say?"
Arin quickly turned to look at Tessa, whose brows were furrowed.
Before he received the system notification, he wanted to tease her, and thought about telling her that the masked lady was his girlfriend.
He didn't even know that he had almost blurted it out.
Now, seeing her expression...
'I don't think that's a good idea anymore,' Arin thought.
"She's an ally," Arin said.
But instantly, Tessa stopped walking and grabbed Arin's arm, stopping him and making him face her.
Her gaze bore into his as she spoke:
"Don't try to make it sound so casual. I already know she's an ally. I just want to know her real identity... Like, her name and where she's from."
"That's all..." Tessa added.
"You can't avoid this one, Arin," Seraphine said.
He would have honestly preferred for Riya to show Tessa her face by herself instead of him telling her.
And now, it wasn't like he could change the topic.
Arin's eyes suddenly landed on something, making him squint his eyes.
Before Tessa could even say anything else, Arin quickly spoke:
"Is that... an earring...? It has a certain shine to it."
Even though Arin was doing this because he felt like it would change the topic, he was also genuinely curious.
The earring was silver-coloured, and it wasn't something that would draw attention or anything. It looked like every other earring.
But that was for humans.
For a Vampire like Arin, whose eyesight was enhanced, he could easily see the patterns on the earring... Weird patterns.
"Oh, this..." Tessa said as she continued walking.
Arin also continued walking while staring at her, waiting for her response.
"The last reward we received in the castle... my own turned out to be an earring," Tessa said.
It now dawned on Arin that he didn't even know what Tessa's Blessed Item turned out to be.
"What's the effect of your reward?" Tessa suddenly asked, her gaze lingering on his finger where two rings were present.
The first one was the storage ring they received in the castle, and she was guessing that the second one was what he got as the last reward.
"After all, immediately we pour Mana into it, the information about the effect of the item instantly enters our head," she added. "And that's exactly what happened with mine."
"Yeah, just like the princess told us to do," Arin said.
"It's a defensive item," he added. "It forms a barrier to protect me from any attack it deems too dangerous."
That was all Arin said. He didn't want to delve into details too much.
Tessa's eyes sparkled. "Woah... that's neat."
Her eyes made it obvious that she liked the effect, but before she could ask any other question about it, Arin quickly spoke:
Tessa smiled. "Once I pour a bit of Mana into the earring, it'll triple the speed and power of my spells for twenty minutes."
Arin looked at Tessa. "Triple? That's powerful."
It was indeed powerful.
Tessa's spells were already powerful, and if the effect of the earring was added, they would become even more insane.
"Yeah. Though, after that twenty minutes, I won't be able to use it for about 12 hours," Tessa said.
Arin nodded. "But it's still powerful nonetheless."
He felt like it made sense. After all, thinking about his own Blessed Item, he didn't know what the ring would consider as dangerous.
A really dangerous attack might be heading towards him, but the ring might not consider it dangerous.
Or even an attack that he would be able to block might be heading for him, but the ring would consider it dangerous and the barrier would be formed, thereby wasting one of the five barriers that could be formed per day.
'But since it is a Blessed Item and it is now linked to me, I'm sure it'll be aware when an attack is too dangerous for me, and when I'll be able to block an attack,' Arin thought.
Both of them were now finally close to the building where Fang and the others were standing.
'At least, I've successfully changed the topic.'
"Oh, before I forget," Tessa suddenly said as she looked at Arin.
A goofy smile was on her lips, making Arin wonder what she wanted to say.
"I don't think you realized it, but when we were going to the forest with the red-haired Vampire's body, you were talking to me about how the King might come for us because we've disobeyed him, especially since he gave us these powerful items..."
Tessa's grin widened as she leaned closer to Arin and whispered, "and you still thought I didn't know your actual identity that time... Hehe."
Arin almost stiffened after hearing what Tessa said.
'How the hell did I not realize that?'
Now that Tessa said it, he remembered.
He was still pretending not to be Arin, and he went on to tell her about how the King would come for them.
'Of course, it would definitely be obvious that I'm Arin after that...'
Well, it had already happened. He couldn't change it.
Arin just shook his head while Tessa chuckled. "Cut me some slack..."
"Ah, finally," Fang said as she walked towards Arin and Tessa, who had already reached the building. "I thought the both of you would take hours to get here."
The villagers who were walking past the building bowed their heads in respect to Fang before walking past.
"Sorry," Arin said. "The bed was just really comfortable."
Fang couldn't help but smile as she folded her arms.
"I hope that's true, and you aren't just being sarcastic."
Arin nodded to Riya and Ethan, who were standing at the door, and they nodded back.
"Let's go inside," Fang said as she opened the door of the building.
"And also, you might want to put a leash on the neck of your friend... What was his name? Ah, Leon. He's harassing the women in my village!"
At this point, Arin became even more curious.
'Where the hell is Leon...?'
"Brother! Please, save me!"
Arin's expression paled beneath his mask as he stared at the scene before him.
As soon as he entered the building, he was greeted with an empty wide space. It looked like where special events in the village were held.
But well, the space wasn't that empty right now.
In the middle of the space, fourteen figures were present.
They all had their weapons in their hands, and the weapons were pointed at a single person.
The fourteen individuals formed a circle around him, and he was kneeling in the middle.
"We have to have a talk with Leon after this..." Tessa said to Arin telepathically.
Arin couldn't help but sigh.
Ethan just stood beside Riya with a small smile on his lips.
"He literally wants to marry every girl he sees," Ethan murmured to Arin.
Arin smiled wryly beneath his mask.
He faced Fang before speaking.
"I'm sorry for any disturbance he must have caused."
Fang frowned slightly. "He's really creepy..."
From Fang's expression, it seemed like Leon had stared at her with his perverted eyes.
Unlike Arin and Tessa, Leon wasn't wearing his mask and cloak.
"Once again, I'm sorry," Arin said calmly.
Arin knew that if Leon was in his Shadow Form, he could easily break free from that encirclement.
But that would be a bad idea. It would create hostility between Arin's team and Fang.
Fang's expression softened.
She stared at her fourteen closest associates, signalling them.
Instantly, they lowered their weapons.
Without wasting a single second, Leon dashed towards Arin and stood behind him, his eyes still showing hints of fear.
"Alright, let's go upstairs. We'll have the meeting there."
Arin nodded in response.
Fang and the fourteen individuals began walking towards the stairs at the end of the room, with Arin and the others following from behind.
In a matter of seconds, they reached upstairs and entered the single room that was present.
Inside the room, there was a round wooden table, with 21 chairs present.
They all quickly sat down, ready to start the meeting.
"Okay," Fang began as she adjusted her chair, making her green bob-shaped hair bounce, "first of all, let's start with the most urgent issue... Beast Tide."
Everyone listened attentively as she continued.
"The rainy season is already here, and usually, by this time, Beast Tides become more frequent. And since the village is just in front of a forest, we get attacked more than other villages.
And apart from that, we get attacked by stronger Beasts because this is the first place they set their eyes on."
As Fang spoke, Arin could sense it in her tone...
A Beast Tide was coming.
'Hmm, stronger Beasts, huh? That'll be quite interesting...'