"This taste good" Zeres mumbled, sipping his soup, the taste was quite close to the one he usually eat on Earth, he always loved eating chicken—so even now, his first thoughts about his meal was chicken.

"Your lodging will be on room 09" the skinny man said, sliding down a wooden tablet with the number nine written on it.

After completing his meal, Zeres went inside his own lodging, the place was neat, wooden table at the side, a plain white curtain hanging on the window pane, and a lamp stand a top the polished wooden table.

"Finally, a decent room" Zeres stretched, then he threw himself on the bed, a sound of something hard hitting echoed at the room "Fuck, I forgot that they don’t have a comfy bed here" Zeres clicked his tounge as he opened the window, gazing at the scenery outside.

It was peaceful, serene even, the snow falling on the Trias Viscounty didn’t made the lively city gloomy, the citizens were all smiling, children halping old mans, teenager having secret rendezvous, and a group of knight squires patrolling the area.

"I should just sleep" Zeres then went back on his hard bed, his face scrunched as he could feel the hard wooden bed on his back.

____________

Zeres’ eyelashes fluttered open as he heard someone knocking on his door.

He stood up, then went straight towards the door, then unlocked it "what? " he asked groggily, it’s been a while since ha had a good sleep.

"Uhh, I didn’t find even a single mercenary corps heading at the capital, though I did find some merchant setting off to the capital this night" Reviel stuttered, her eyes occasionally drifting back at Zeres’ body.

Zeres’ brow arched, his gaze then went on his own body, he wasn’t wearing a shirt, his body was toned—it became like this ever since he acquired the physique of Divine.

"You like what you’re seeing? " Zeres smiled, his voice as passive as ever.

"Huh? Hell no! " Reviel immediately looked away "and I’m coming with you, I originally lived in the capital anyways" she said, pinning her hair behind her ear.

"Then I’ll meet you outside at exactly 8 :00 pm

________________

"Hey keep moving! " the coachman slammed his whip on his horse, but it still wasn’t moving "Damn horse, move or I’ll throw you in Lilith myself! " he yelled once more, already going down his seat to whip his horses. Arriving beside the them he saw the horse—they were trembling, staring straight into the smoke they were about to head to.

The coachman tensed "What’s in there? " he asked, his hands going through the knife he had strapped on his side.

"Hey! What’s going on there, if we stay here a little longer, we’ll be hit by a blizzard! " a voice bellowed from the inside of a carriage.

The coachman glanced at the path before them, it was misty, filled with fog that made it hard to see what’s inside. " Yes! " he replied, already on his way back into his seat, he whipped the horses too strong they were forced to keep moving.

The carriage then continued making it’s way towards the castle of the capital, the snowfield was quiet, devoid of the commonly heard growls of direwolves. "It looks like the journey this time is quite peaceful" Vincent, the mercenary the coachman hired said leisurely.

Vincent was of the Seeker rank, it had been two years since the coachman, Francis hired Vincent "Right, if there’s any problem you can solve it, you used to be a knight after all" Vincent smirked while touching the hilt of his sword.

All of a sudden, a deafening sound roared around the snowfield, then a liquid-like black hand appeared—and it immediately grabbed the horses.

"Let’s p-p-play~"

Francis’ eyes widened, his shoulders shaking as he pointed towards the direction where a hand appeared "Vincent! What’s that! "

A massive black figure appeared, it’s liquid-like body jerked awkwardly as it opened it’s maw, countless arms came out from it’s mouth, grabbing the empty air

"A Forsaken of the Ravager rank?! " Vincent’s whole body froze, he had only faced forsaken of the wretched rank, he had no way to face a forsaken of the ravager rank who can destroy cities on its own.

"Huh? " Vincent’s view suddenly shifted, it was upside down, his face twisted in fear as he realized he’d been decapitated, without him being able to fight back.

"Idiot, snap out of it" his body suddenly jerked as he felt a hand slapping him from behind, he blinked, then the scenery changed—his head was still intact.

"It’s of the ravager rank, of course it has a unique skill" the man who helped him spoke in a calm tone, his long white hair slipping out from his robe as he stepped forward.

The man, or Zeres walked towards the direction of the Ravager, his hand shook, then a drop of blood appeared— and it formed into a long sword.

Zeres lunged forward, his sword gleaming with dense mana as he sliced through the black disgusting hands that came out of the Ravager’s mouth.

The Ravager’s screamed, it’s multiple black hands moving frantically, searching for their foe.

"Tsk, those multiple hands are tricky" Zeres clicked his tounge, then he shifted his stance, his sword glowed, in an instant, it was enhanced by wind.

The sound of sword being swung in the air resounded, then the ravager, give meters ahead was split into two pieces, and an orb appeared beside the corpse.

Zeres went to picked it up "I finally have some essence orb" he smiled, staring at the orb before him, essence orb was rare; it was sometimes made as artifacts or other purify it then absorb it.

"I’ll have to keep this just in case" Zeres put it in his pocket, then boarded the carriage, it was cramped—there were barely any space where you can sit as the merchants products completely filled the inside of the carriage.

"Young lad, how old are you? " the old merchant asked, his long beard moved as he spoke.

"Eighteen" Zeres replied, staring at every path they’d taken.

The old merchants gaze sharpened, then he smiled "are you going on the academy then? "

"I plan to" Zeres glanced at the old man, he was seating leisurely, he really wanted to demand some payments on this annoying old man who did nothing despite a Ravager hindering their path.

The journey towards the capital then proceeded to quite uneventful, eight days were spent on travelling by carriage.

’It’s finally here’ Zeres stared at the massive castle walls, it stretched tall towards the sky, and white curtain wall devoid of any damages.

"Halt" a knight guard shouted as he moved, his armor making a clanking sound as he stopped in front of the carriage.

Looking through the pile of boxes and luggages, the knight guard sighed quietly.

Zeres and Reviel went down then head at the entrance, the other knight guard standing there stared straightly at Zeres.

"He’s a gifted like me" Reviel grabbed Zeres’ arms then stepped inside the capital.

"Are gifted really that rare? " Zeres tilted his head, he’d been seeing the special treatment for those gifted lately so he can’t help but be curious.

Reviel stared at him, then she laughed "You really lived you whole life isolated? " she asked.

"Shut up" Zeres’ responded, his ears reddening a little, it was his first time being treated as a county bumpkin so even he himself was ashamed of it.

Reviel smiled softly her names clasped behind her"Then let’s part ways here" after saying that, she went on an alley then vanished.

He looked around, the capital of the Mersell Empire was far livelier than Zeres had imagined. The streets were crowded with people carrying baskets, merchants loudly advertising their goods, and carriages constantly passing by the stone roads. Tall buildings lined both sides of the streets, their windows glowing warmly despite the cold weather. The scent of baked bread, roasted meat, and burning coal drifted through the air, mixing together strangely well. Even the people looked different from those he had seen outside the capital—better dressed, more energetic, and less wary. For the first time since arriving in this world, the place actually felt like a city where people truly lived.

Zeres then lifted his robes more, hiding his face inside the robe "This is the capital, that means the influence of the church is massive here, who knows if they’re openly antagonizing vampires."

"System, what date is it? " He hadn’t been able to use it cause Reviel continued to bother him to no end.

A ringing sound chimed inside his head as a red translucent screen hovered before him

[Year : 2685. Month : Cancer. Date : 16]

Zeres stared at the screen before him ’Fourteen days before the entrance exam’ he thought, turning around, he headed on a stall selling some skewers.

’Where should I sleep this night? ’ eating the skewers in his hand, Zeres wandered around, looking for a lodgings that have a comfortable cushion.