Chapter 450: The Vampire and the Dawn

Luke walked through the streets of Portland, Maine, feeling strangely out of place as cars rushed by, people chatted on sidewalks, and groups of teenagers posed for selfies. His quiet, familiar Maine somehow looked different now.

“Wow, Luke. We finally made it here. No undead, no floating murder castles dangling over an abyss. Seriously, why don’t you just retire already?” Artemis said as they moved along the street.

“I feel like an old man from the 1930s who just woke up in the future,” he muttered.

“Your soul is an old man. You were talking about retirement at eighteen. There’s definitely a cranky grandpa living inside you,” she shot back.

He had already bought two bus tickets from Portland to Bangor, one for himself and one for Charlie. The station opened at five in the morning, and it had taken him about half an hour to walk there from the SIA building.

“It’s almost a three hour ride,” he said to Artemis. “I’ll get there early.”

He booked seats on the 7:30 a.m. bus, then wandered the streets until he found a narrow, shadowed alley. After checking twice to make sure no one was watching, he focused.

A swirl of black mist spilled out of him, pulling together into a shape until Charlie stood before him. A stunning blonde woman with bright blue eyes materialized in the dim light. Luke still wasn’t used to seeing her like this. The towering two meter skeleton knight he had known had become someone only slightly shorter than him, slender, graceful, and impossibly beautiful. Anyone seeing her would think she was delicate. Hard to believe she could kill a person with a single punch.

“Master Luke,” she said gently. “We’ve reached your city?”

“Almost. We’ve got a little less than two hours before the bus, then about three hours on the road.”

“Bus?” she repeated, puzzled.

“I told you about it. A metal structure that moves,” he said, offering his hand. “Want to walk around the city with me?”

“I would love to, master Luke,” she replied, practically leaping to take his hand.

And just like that, their walk began.

***

Dawn was breaking, the first pale streaks of light tearing through what was left of the night sky. At the start of their walk, Charlie stayed close to Luke’s side, staring up at the buildings with wide, fascinated eyes and peppering him with questions. Luke couldn’t help thinking about her reaction when she finally saw New York and rode a subway for the first time.

The sunlight didn’t harm her, which eased some of his anxiety. Charlie only experienced a mild discomfort, something like a persistent migraine. Still, he needed to be careful. According to Samael, a vampire exposed to sunlight became drastically weaker. In numbers, it was brutal. A vampire effectively lost half of their overall strength, and most race skills shut down completely. Class skills still worked, but at reduced power.

Which was why killing vampires during the day was so much easier. A level 50 vampire became the equivalent of a level 25 one. In other words, it was like Luke suddenly dropping back to the strength he had when he was still fumbling through Herbalist training. The difference was enormous.

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That was also why vampires raced to level up as fast as possible. Even weakened, a high level vampire could still be monstrous. If Luke ever reached level 100, and sunlight cut his power down to his current level, he’d still be terrifyingly strong. But at night… Samael had warned him that facing a vampire in darkness required extreme caution. Night amplified everything. A vampire’s strength peaked, and with race buffs layered on top, their power skyrocketed. Past level 50, Samael said vampires began awakening more advanced offensive skills.

Hunting a vampire above level 50 alone was suicide. Usually a group was needed just to survive one. It all depended on the strength of the group, of course, but Luke had understood one thing clearly: from now on, Charlie would begin awakening her race vampire skills.

Which meant she was going to become far, far stronger. Yet one thought kept gnawing at him. The great enemies of vampires, second only to rival lineages. Those were the ones who could truly be a problem for Charlie.

“Here’s your breakfast. Have a great day,” the waitress said, placing two plates on the table.

“Thanks, you too,” Luke replied.