Chapter 83: A friend's message

After the ordeal at the arena, Nikolai's mood was quite different. The morning after, he noticed Selene seemed to pretend as if their clash the night before never happened. However, her attitude towards him became a little distant and cold."I have to return to the office today. Are you able to return on your own?" Selene's voice was a little strange, sometimes low, and others it peaked higher when their eyes met, and her body seemed to tremble ever so slightly.

It wasn't like she was being rude. At least she remained polite to him. Yet Nikolai felt strange. Even when they first met, there wasn't a wall between them.

However, now he could feel that Selene was pushing him away from her and he understood her feelings were conflicted. He didn't wish to impose himself and force his feelings on her. Thus, he didn't become angry or act rude despite feeling down. 'Let's take things a step at a time...'

He didn't know why, but when he looked at her with even a slight glimpse, he felt his chest rush, and a feeling of excitement welled up in his mind and body.

'I want to see her smile...'

"Nikolai, did you hear me?"

Once again, she asked, this time her tone more powerful, yet she looked at him with eyes full of concern, and that's why he couldn't be angry. No matter how she spoke or acted, her eyes couldn't lie and always showed her feelings. At least to him, because of his blood art.

"Of course, it's fine. Sorry, I was just a little taken by how beautiful you look today."

"Hueh?! Are you stupid....! Hmph... I will be leaving soon."

Nikolai now constantly allowed the Obsidian Tide to flow through his senses. He didn't just use it with his eyes. Instead, it flowed to his ears and nose as it made them extremely powerful and able to sense things he couldn't otherwise.

'I can hear the changes in her voice, see the aura that shows her mood and feel the emotions that she is trying desperately to hide. All thanks to my enhanced senses. Though because they are so strong, it kinda hurts to hear loud noises and the thick scent of heavily seasoned food... my nose hurts a little from the garlic in the butter.'

"Alright, do you need me to escort you? Or are you alright alone?" His words were honest, and Selene understood this, as her emotions constantly clashed between affectionate, happiness and denial, with her ice face betrayed by her lovely eyes filled with joy.

In all honesty, Nikolai found it rather amusing to see the changes in her from his words and actions.

"Ah.... That, thank you for offering but these teleportation pads can take us straight to the Nexus gate, the code is..." Her serious face made Nikolai remember her fierce state during her blood frenzy and missed half of her explanation. "Okay, did you get that, Nikolai?"

"I did! Selene, I hope your day at the office isn't too annoying. It was a pleasure to spend the night here and have a date with you."

Selene's cheeks turned pink as she snapped her head away and turned around, but the bright pink aura and fluttering flickers in the shapes of hearts and birds were quite obvious that she was overjoyed.

"Hmph... well, next time, let's try visiting another place, and if you can't reach the next stage of the arena, I won't cheer for you again!" Her voice was quite strict, but she peeked back with wet eyes and her soft lips slightly parted before she bit them and turned back after noticing his ardent gaze.

"Haha, okay then, Selene. I'll see you soon, I hope."

"Ah.... See you soon, Nikolai."

Her last words were soft, and the moment her body began to fade in the teleportation device, she turned to face Nikolai, her eyes not leaving him until she vanished. In the portal, her colours and other things vanished, but he could feel the sincerity in her gaze.

'Such an awkward vampire princess...'

Suddenly, there was a buzz in his pocket, and the message was from no other than his partner in crime.

[From Nikita (Lewd White Wolf)]

Are you free?

Can we play?

I miss you!

***

Three messages came in succession from Nikita, but the moment he was about to reply, another message came in and made him hesitate.

[From Ryan Seong (Best-Friend?)]

Hey, Niko

Are you willing to meet me one last time? I know about you being a werewolf, so can we at least talk honestly?

Your best friend, Ryan

***

With both messages coming suddenly, he felt a little conflicted and instead of replying to Ryan—he spoke to Nikita first.

'This girl will become unstable if I ignore her, especially after I didn't come home... What if she bothers Sarah, who will be working hard for me in the future?' To ensure there were fewer problems, he even changed her nickname temporarily so she could see he was thinking of her.

Although it might seem pointless to many others, he realised that the smallest things could make a woman smile if they were in love with you.

Because he also felt the same when she did stupid things to make him smile.

[It seems you're smitten with Nikita, but what about Selene? Last night, you took me off, so I only heard the sounds... That wasn't the sound of fighting.]

'...Mother, sometimes, you should just not listen and pretend not to see. What?! You can leave the pendant so I know you can see!'

[Fufu, you got me... I thought she might kill you, so I was concerned... How did it end with you doing the same thing you did to Nikita, just with your tongue?]

'....'

Embarrassed, he just ignored the spectre of his mother, who floated around the room.

Although she couldn't interact with things, it seemed she was always like this in the past, sitting beside him or pretending to stroke his hair when he felt down. Even before he awakened, she was likely looking over him for all the time she lived in that necklace.

'To be honest, I think my feelings for Nikita are love, but my confidence isn't that strong to just say it. I don't want to say words I don't mean and hurt her. So until I know for sure, I will only tell her what I know now... that I like her as a woman.'

[What about Selene?]

'I like her, but it's different... I crave her and want her to be mine, but it's more obsessive and possessive compared to the feelings I have for Nikita.'

[Such a little playboy...]

[You're lucky you are my son, and I won't chastise you. It might even be because of your bloodlines, as both races you've inherited are very lustful and greedy monsters. That's not even thinking about your other bloodline.]

[An evil god surely would be even worse, right?]

'Who knows...'

[To Nikita (Lovely, Pretty, Wife)]

How about we meet for some coffee first? Are you free right now? I missed you quite a lot.

Meet me at xxx-xxx-xxx MoonDucks coffee.

***

Nikolai didn't wait for her response and rushed into his dressing room; what amazed him was the clothes left in this VIP room were all suited to him, from a business suit to casual and loungewear.

The old man Alphonse measured his sizes using the Arena's information system and prepared over fifty outfits and ten sets of shoes.

'I should make sure to return the favour to the old man because he seems to care quite a bit. I've already sent the excess money to the shared account with Sarah. I decided that keeping my main account at 10,000,000 is the best idea for me. Not knowing how much savings or profit I earn until the end of the month is quite exciting.'

[Your father seems to have worked hard. Send him a message of thanks! Hmph!] Searᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

'Okay, Mother, by the way, what do you think of that homunculus from yesterday?'

[To Father (Greatest Dad/Best Fighter)]

Dad! Thank you for always supporting me and being the best father someone could ask for.

I hope you are doing well, and the next time we meet... I hope you will be proud of me!

Love Nikolai!

***

[You seem to love your dad... I'm happy.]

'Of course, my dad is my idol even now. He puts family before anything, so about the homunculi... do you think I could one day make a body for you?'

[Eh?]

The genuine shock in her voice echoed in Nikolai's mind. It felt like his mother had never considered this option.

'No, maybe she dreamt of this kind of thing. However, the Jhin clan was notoriously hard to work with, and the Faust clan were mortal enemies with the Báthory clan.'

[Are you being serious... That, how did you even think of such a thing? Wasn't that girl someone important to you? Are you not hurt when thinking of her circumstances?]

His mother seemed uncomfortable with this topic. He could feel and see it using his blood art. Although he could tell she wanted it.

There seemed to be something that his mother hid from him about why she changed the subject.

'Ah...' A little disheartened, he dropped the topic.

Nikolai realised that during his strange state of mind, when he saw the image of himself as a human walking away into the darkness with Mari until they vanished together, it might have been more than an image or symbol of his growth.

'I just realised that the pain, negative feelings and regrets towards her and my past have all vanished...'

It wasn't like he got over her, but that those feelings no longer existed...

[Nikolai, I am worried, because when you absorbed those black blood crystals from her body. I felt that something from you entered her corpse...]

[I saw pure red blood crystals that would come from a human, not a lot, but there were at least five of them.]

'Human blood crystals?'

[Yes... since you are quite a recently awakened vampire, you probably cannot tell the difference between those scents yet.]

[However, I noticed instantly that your strange hand absorbs monster crystals like a vacuum, but like that girl in the alley, you don't absorb human crystals, which would kill them.]

[As if you refuse to kill them like that...]

[A small black crystal was given to that girl and it transformed into a human blood crystal that seemed to increase in number and produced enough blood to restore the blood she lost when you drank and healed her wounds.]

Nikolai quietly listened to his mother, his mind racing and working to come up with an answer.

He realised that the black blood was more special than he thought. If he fed on humans, he would gain hardly anything, but the humans would be enhanced, and they might end up becoming superhumans in the future, like the artificial superhumans in the SSS.

'Mother... do you think this will happen to all humans I would bite? Doesn't that mean I should be careful?!'

[Why do you think I am pushing you to drink only from your squire and those two girls?]

Nikolai chose a simple suit. It was a high-quality brand, but the casual suit was a perfect fit. The dark blue jacket and black silk shirt felt cool and smooth on his skin. He then chose a black tie with faint silver stripes, dark blue pants and black shoes.

He stood in front of the mirror and whistled, his hair brushed back and gelled like those badass gangsters and evil CEOs in K-kingdom-style dramas.

'I understand. Let's just aim never to let myself enter a blood frenzy again.'

With his hands in his pockets, he stepped into the portal, which would send him back home, and from there, he would meet Nikita while thinking about his response to Ryan.

He wanted to use the skills from the Jhin and Faust clan to create a new body for his mother, a body that would not fall apart and could live as long as his father would.