Vampire Reincarnation

“You?” Kai asked the Obborik, bewildered by the sudden turn of events. He only got a friendly puff in response before the bear’s huge figure dashed toward them.

He acted immediately, jumping to his feet and clutching the sword’s hilt, he ran toward the forest as he concealed himself in the darkness. The Obborik followed suit, not daring to stand face-to-face with a creature twice its height.

Bushes rustled violently as they ran away as fast as they could while occasionally glancing at the bear, whose speed had been diminished by the forest’s tricky terrain.

Looks like I’ll be safe for now… Kai thought as he sighed a breath of relief, ignoring the pain from the bear’s paw, he looked toward the white-furred animal that had saved him from fatal injury.

Why did it save me? Is this Obborik actually stupid? He couldn’t help but ask himself after seeing its illogical actions.

They traversed the rough terrain, the bear’s furious stomps still echoing in their ears. After a slight hesitation, Kai turned to the white beast and simply said, “Thank you.”

However, before he could think further about it, his back warmed up suddenly, and he could feel the smell of burnt fur and vegetation. He glanced behind him, and his pupils widened upon seeing a huge ball of fire rapidly approaching them.

It burned violently through the bushes and branches, occasionally frying the few unlucky animals that dared stay in its path. They immediately dodged to the side, the ends of his hair getting burnt, as they barely avoided the massive heat ball.

Laying on the cold ground, he took advantage of the forest’s natural camouflage to avoid the bear’s sight, whilst the Obborik did its best to copy him, the white fur decorating its body proved difficult to hide.

…How do these things survive in the wild? Is it because they’re always in a pack?

He had some more questions, however, he couldn’t afford to ponder over them as the bear’s heavy footsteps slowly approached their location. Whilst it was difficult to see Kai, the Obborik stood out like a sore thumb.

Lightly slapping his face, Kai crawled away from the white beast, unwilling to get killed in such a stupid way. Damn geezer, how am I supposed to kill that thing? He inwardly cursed the old man, who was probably napping under a tree while he was fighting for his life.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he carefully observed the scarlet beast as it slowly made its way to them, and it let out an angry roar as its eyes locked onto the Obborik, who growled in response.

The bear imprinted the ground with its paws as it dashed toward the Obborik, growling madly as a small wisp of fire gathered around its mouth, rapidly transforming into another fireball that shot straight at the white beast.

However, instead of running away, the Obborik stood its ground while the white fur covering its back glowed with a faint light just before the fireball made contact.

A sound akin to that of shattering glass rang in Kai’s mind, and he noticed that the Obborik was unharmed despite the direct collision with the untamed spell. Magic break?! So it really knows that?

The bear was also taken slightly aback, and the Obborik let out a soft bark as it ran toward the scarlet beast, its speed increasing as its fur glowed with a faint light.

Kai thought for a second before jumping to his feet and dashing toward the beast, frowning slightly as his purple sword glowed with a violet hue. Watching the Obborik jump at the bear’s throat, he gritted his teeth and applied a small speed enchantment spell, reaching the creature at the same time as the wolf.

As the Obborik distracted it, he thrust the sword straight at the bear’s soft stomach, barely managing to cut through its thick flesh, and it let out a gut-wrenching scream as blood sprayed from its wound.

The white wolf didn’t hesitate to lunge at the fresh wound immediately, rapidly tearing away at what little flesh it could before the bear violently shoved it aside.

Groans of pain reverberated in the forest as the scarlet beast did its best to endure the seething pain spreading from the wound, however, it could feel that something wasn’t quite right.

A faint, glowing dark color spread out from the wound, causing the bear to roar in pain as the putrid smell of decaying flesh spread within the air. However, it didn’t last long as the light disappeared just as suddenly as it appeared.

Kai sighed regretfully, and clutching the hilt of his sword he slashed toward the bear once again, taking advantage of its slightly confused state. Just as he expected, the damage he dealt was minimal, but he wasn’t alone anymore.

The Obborik attacked at the same time as he did, aiming toward the fresh wound again, It did its best to open it further, but even its sharp fangs could barely tear away at the thick skin.

We need a better strategy, The darkness magic I used was too weak, otherwise… Kai let out an annoyed groan as he stepped backward, avoiding the bear’s angry paw, and taking another route toward the clearing, hoping that the old man would help.

The Obborik quickly followed, and they soon found themselves back in the clearing. Kai scanned the area, kicking the air in frustration after noticing that the geezer had disappeared.

“AM I SUPPOSED TO RUN ALL THE TIME?” His yell reverberated in the air, hoping that the old man would hear him.

Argh fine, he should be hiding somewhere anyway. He thought as he faced the scarlet bear who had just entered the clearing. Staring at the shallow wounds he and the Obborik had caused the beast, he let out a sigh and threw his sword away, landing with a soft thud on the dark soil.

The Obborik glanced at him curiously but didn’t question his actions, not like it could talk anyhow. Kai inhaled deeply and prepared himself for whatever was going to happen next.

Clenching his fists, he dashed toward the bear, whistling for the Obborik to follow and pointing toward the bear’s wounds. It nodded and lunged straight for the scarlet beast’s wounds, where it would always get irritated.

Kai coughed lightly as he cast a strength enchantment on his legs and arms, and the moment the Obborik distracted the beast, he jumped onto its back and locked its neck with his feet.

As he got strangled, the bear tried to claw away at Kai, to either push him down or completely maim him, but all of its efforts proved useless as the boy endured the pain.

Its neck was locked tightly, and as Kai struggled to cut off its oxygen, the Obborik too tried distracting the bear the best it could, however, it had lost all interest in it and the meager amount of damage it dealt.

Growling angrily, it looked for the perfect opportunity to claw at its throat, and soon enough it did.

Kai tightened his legs further as he struggled to pull out the dagger from its scabbard, and he plunged it deep into the scarlet bear’s throat. It roared in pain, but it wasn’t quite enough to slay the beast as the dagger only pierced it on a superficial level.

It was then that the Obborik acted, it lunged at the bear’s throat but did not bite it. Instead, it used the force it had from the jump, and forced the dagger even deeper, causing blood to spray everywhere

Kai finally fell down under the bear’s erratic movement, hitting the ground with a loud thud before running away as fast as he could. Watching the bear struggle to remove the dagger from its neck, he felt a sense of rejuvenation at having survived such a troublesome opponent.

If I were alone… There wouldn’t have been a second chance… He thought as he glanced up at the Obborik, who sat down next to him. Maybe… I won’t be able to do this by myself...

As he celebrated inwardly, a low and angry growl from behind sent a shiver down his spine. The bear’s huge shadow loomed over both of them, the dagger in its neck serving only as a small source of fuel for its anger.

It didn’t roar anymore, instead it let out a quick puff before its claws glowed with a red light. It slashed toward the two, creating five sharp blades of fire that distorted the air from the heat.

Their eyes widened in surprise at the extremely fast attack, and the fire blade was inches away from their bodies in less than a second, giving them no time to react.

Kai stared at the dancing fire approaching them, its enchanting movement seeming to have slowed down in his vision. He could feel the burning heat touch his face, and a single thought ran through his mind as he unwillingly accepted his fate, Damn geezer!

His legs shivered in fear as the only thing remaining in his vision were the firey blades that transformed into a burning inferno that slowly ate away at his body and soul. He wanted to scream but his voice remained stuck in his throat, unsure if he could ever say anything again.

The time in his mind quickly returned to normal as a small explosion appeared before him, completely destroying the bear’s spell, sending dust and debris everywhere as the scarlet beast’s annoyed roar suddenly stopped.

Kai fell backward, gasping for air as his hand jumped to his chest, where his heart pulsated widely against his ribcage. “What the fuck happened?” He asked, his mind still reeling in shock before he finally realized, and yelled in anger, “Old man!”

Jumping to his feet, he passed through the nearly dissipated dust cloud, staring at the bear’s body which now had a gaping hole in its chest. A set of dragged footsteps slowly approached the two, and the old man’s short figure slowly revealed itself from who knows where.

“You did well, for the most part.” The old man said as he arrived beside them, “But why did you let your guard down at the end?” he sighed as he put his wand away. “That was very stupid of you!”

Kai wanted to say something, but in the end, he could only lower his head as the old man was right. Regardless of the situation, he shouldn’t have been so relaxed about it, and it had nearly cost him his life.

“Truth be told, I didn’t expect you to harm the thing at all, I would have passed you as long as you survived a few minutes.” He pulled out his pipe and took a puff as his gaze shifted to the Obborik “You’re quite lucky this guy decided to help you, I don’t know what devil made it do so, but I’m glad.”

The Obborik turned its head in response, sticking its tongue out as it stole glances at the huge bear carcass. “I think I know what devil made it help you now,” the old man sighed and he didn’t pay any more attention to the white animal.

He looked at Kai, who seemed to be grumbling something under his breath, however, he didn’t voice his thoughts, afraid of the old man’s scorn.

“You were never in any real danger, but I felt like you needed to experience a real struggle, a real fight. Sure, the animals you killed until now were strong but were never too much. So please, don’t detest me for this, but…” he sighed as took another puff from his pipe “I know I can’t hold you here forever…”

Kai lifted his head, looking into the old man’s tired and lonely eyes, a weird feeling rose up in his stomach upon seeing the worry and love he held in his eyes. “Grandpa, I know.” He reassured the old man, “Don’t worry about it, I know you wouldn’t let me die like this.”

The grandpa’s eyes lit up slightly as his face broke into a faint smile. “Good, then we should get started on taking away the beast, looks like our friend already started claiming its share.” He said as he stared behind Kai, where the Obborik already started eating away at the bear.

Both of them sighed before going through the usual procedures of taking away the core, however when it was time to finally carry it away…

“It’s too big,” Kai said as he compared it to the multitude of carts the old man had brought with him.

“Seems like it, we’ll need to care turns and carry it home piece by piece…” His grandpa agreed as he grabbed Kai’s sword, getting ready to chop up the beast.

“Hey!” He protested, but he couldn’t do anything to stop the old man from smearing his sword with the bear’s blood.

It took a few hours, but they finally managed to carry it home, and the Obborik followed them all the while.

“So what do we do with it now?” Kai asked the old man as they stared at the creature that had followed them the whole day.

His grandpa thought for a bit before casually answering “I say you keep it, it has already proved itself as a good ally, the extra help can’t hurt.”

Nodding, Kai agreed almost immediately and he picked up a piece of meat, handing it to the Obborik, who happily devoured it before licking its snout.

…

The day quickly passed, and the Obborik’s old and new wounds healed completely under the old man’s care, and so did Kai’s.

He and his grandpa stood inside the large tent, finishing up the last-minute preparations before Kai finally got ready to leave. Due to his inability to use mana well, the old man gave him an old backpack he had used back in the day, along with some dry rations and other necessities.

Among them, an ugly and torn notebook stood out from the rest. Its hardcover was completely brown, and there was nothing fancy written on it besides a single letter, “M”.

“I found it when I was younger, It was completely empty so I started using it as my own diary and to take notes, however, I can’t remember the last time I wrote anything in it.” He explained as he stuffed it into the bursting backpack.

“But I’m sure it will prove useful for you, just as it did for me.”

Kai nodded silently before sighing heavily as he closed the backpack after checking that he had everything he needed.

“So, where to now?” The old man asked as they left the tent, the Obborik waited for them a few meters away.

“We’ll go to Evicario, I’m not sure if Elly can help me heal my veins, but at least it’s a start…”

His grandpa nodded but didn’t say anything else as he accompanied the boy and wolf duo toward the edge of the forest.

The few rays of sunlight that sneaked through the tree’s dense canopy tickled the three’s skin and fur every so often as they silently walked through the now familiar forest.

Their muffled footsteps reverberated in the chilly morning air, and Kai’s sword rattled as it brushed against its sheath. The Obborik didn’t know what was happening, but it remained quiet as it felt the heavy atmosphere surrounding them.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at the tomb, and Kai sighed heavily as he approached the small mound covered by grass, in the middle of which grew a single tree.

He closed his eyes, and his eyelids trembled as he held back tears, blood dripping on the ground from his clenched fists. However, he couldn’t control his emotions, and his clothes fluttered lightly as he fell to his knees.

Sobbing sounds escaped his shivering lips, and his fingers intertwined as he held them close to his chest. The Obborik slowly walked beside him, staring in confusion as the boy’s tears dripped on his clothes.

It let out a soft whine as its snout approached Kai’s face, and it playfully licked his face, causing him to giggle lightly.

Kai wiped his tears as he slowly stood up, ruffling the Obborik’s fur, he looked deeper into the forest, and a spark lit up in his dim eyes as a small feeling of hope rose inside him.

Picking himself up, he brushed the dust off his shoulder, and with a last look at the old man, he walked into the depths of the forest, slowly disappearing under his grandpa’s anxious gaze.