Suddenly something wet slapped into my hand.
I blinked.
.
.
.
I stared at the object for three full seconds.
It was an eye.
Feltans eye.
And before my brain could process anything—the damn thing shot upward like a bullet and jammed itself straight into my skull.
At first?
Shockingly… it didn't hurt.
For one beautiful, blissful moment, I thought—
"Finally. A painless power up. Thank Go—"
Then the pain hit.
White-hot, skull-splitting agony ripped through my nerves. My spine arched, my hands clawed at the air, and every instinct screamed REJECT IT REJECT IT REJECT IT.
Of course.
Of fucking course.
Why.
Why must I ALWAYS suffer for every upgrade?
Why can't I get the "no pain, only cool visuals" type of power-up?
Why must my body SCREAM every time I get even a little stronger—
"Yeah, that'll happen," Feltan chuckled in my head like the bastard he was. "Your body's rejecting it. Normal stuff. Actually I'm surprised you're not dying"
"I HATE—YOU—SO—MUCH," I snarled between strangled grunts.
"Oh, stop whining, it'll go away in a week."
A WEEK.
A. WHOLE. GOD. DAMN. WEEK.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT BEFORE?!"
Feltan laughed harder.
Hard enough I could practically feel him clutching his stomach.
"I'm a sinner, kid—never claimed to be an angel. Besides, you'll thank me later."
I wanted to punch him.
I wanted to punt him like a football.
I wanted to tear out the new eye and shove it down his throat.
Unfortunately I was no where strong enough to do that.
But fine. Whatever. I had things to do.
My new left eye throbbed, burned, and pulsed like it had its own heartbeat, but…
it also saw better than my real one. Sharper. Brighter. Almost too much.
And in my mind, a sigil hung like a brand—complex yet simple, meaningless yet overflowing with meaning. It was like staring at a paradox carved into reality.
Feltan's voice echoed again.
"Hey, kid, you good? Contract transfer go through?"
"Yeah," I sighed. "I got it. And I'm fine. Except my eye is ON FIRE."
"Pain builds character," Feltan said sagely.
"I hope a Blood Beast eats your other eye."
"Love you too, kid."
Goddamn monster of a man.
"Anyway I gotta go."
"What—? Hey. Hey! Don't leave yet, I'm bored. Kid? KID? I KNOW YOU CAN FUCKING HEAR ME—"
I ran out of range just before his voice peaked into migraine territory.
Finally. Silence.
Now… time to actually draw this stupid contract.
I lifted my hand, used blood, and traced the sigil midair.
It fizzled.
Fine. Wall.
It failed.
Street.
Also failed.
Monster hide?
FAIL.
Another hide.
FAIL.
After the 50th hide I was shaking.
After the 120th hide I was questioning my life choices.
After the 300th hide I wanted to die.
After the 500th hide I considered walking back to Feltan and drowning him in his own blood.
After the 622nd hide—my entire stockpile—
the rune finally came out perfectly.
And it STILL didn't activate.
I screamed into the abyss.
I prepared to march back to Feltan and demand a refund.
Then I remembered something.
Every contract I've ever done… needed blood.
I hesitated…
cut my palm…
let my blood flow over the rune—
And the sigil lit up.
My first real contract.
The thing I bled, cried, and screamed for.
I almost kissed it.
I walked outside, pride swelling in my chest, eyes burning (LITERALLY), feeling like I'd conquered the world—
And bumped straight into Effie.
She looked like hell.
Hair loose, dark circles, armor damaged, exhaustion clinging to her like smoke.
"Where were you?" she asked. "I haven't seen or heard from you in a week. I thought maybe you died again."
…I blinked.
Effie… worried?
That was new.
Uncomfortable.
Strange.
"I've been busy," I said. "Wait—did you say a week?"
Fuck.
FUCK.
FUCK.
I wasted a whole week on ONE contract.
This was still salvageable.
It HAD to be salvageable.
"Byeeee gotta go talk later!" I yelled, sprinting away like an idiot.
"…bye," Effie murmured softly behind me, then walked home, shoulders drooping.
(Alucard is literally surrounded by 10/10 women who want him and he keeps fumbling. He fumbles so hard scientists will study him and use that information for the future generations to come.)
I ran. Hard.
"Gluttony! Sense every human in the Dark City. I need the one with the freshest blood."
Fresh blood = new sleeper.
New sleeper = recruit.
Gluttony grumbled. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you when I find one."
I ran toward the Great Wall I had a feeling some new sleeper's were just beyond it strong ones at that call it a guy instinct, climbed it, scaled it—
Right before Gluttony said,
"Al. You went the wrong way. The fresh blood is on the OTHER side."
I inhaled slowly.
I exhaled slowly.
I did not punch him.
Because he had no face to punch.
"Gluttony. Summon blood and guide me."
He summoned blood. I wrapped my legs in it, letting it pull me downward in a gravity-defying slide.
One hour of sliding later, I found the sleeper.
A man in his mid-twenties—tanned skin, brown hair, green eyes, beard. Cornered in a dead end by a group of nightmare creatures.
Perfect.
This was my chance to impress him. Recruit him. Look cool.
"Gluttony. A LOT of blood."
Gluttony groaned. "You're going to waste it, aren't you? I wanted to EAT that."
"More important than food."
"No it's not."
But he summoned it anyway crying in the process.
Blood surged around me, rising like a crimson tidal wave. I shaped them into hundreds of weapons—spears, swords, axes—floating high above us.
Now for dramatic timing—
---
Alucard dropped into the center of the nightmare creatures in a thunderous explosion of dust and blood.
They lunged at him instantly, claws out, screeching, jaws snapping—
And then the sky fell.
Weapons made of blood rained down like divine punishment, impaling every nightmare beast in a single instant.
The moment they landed, Alucard snapped his fingers.
BOOM.
A chain of explosions turned the alleyway into a blooming field of red smoke and shredded monsters.
When the smoke curled away, Alucard walked out untouched—
red eyes glowing faintly through the haze, blood rolling off him like liquid shadow.
The sleeper stared.
Terrified.
Awestruck.
And completely trapped between Alucard and salvation.
Perfect.