Chapter 40: Evolution

"We're going south."

After those words, Leon decided to spend his money on their adventure. First, he bought a small carriage enough for at least five people, took horses and enslaved them to add them to his system, and bought enough food for a journey. He also bought sleeping bags, clothes, and other necessities to stay healthy.

Secondly, Leon bid farewell to people whom he had a good relationship with. He spoke with the blacksmith master and other villagers from the shopping street. He exchanged a few words with the inn's chef and the receptionist woman.

"It's a big loss to our inn."

"We have stayed for too long. I left some presents as thanks for your hospitality."

"Thank you, Mr. Leon."

Louise also had her short talk with the chef.

"I made a lot of mess. Sorry, chef!"

"…Fine."

"But I've learned a lot from you. I'll always treasure you as my first teacher! People will know about your nice heart!"

"Shut up and go already."

"Hehe!"

And to the receptionist woman, Louise shot a broad smile. It was a pretty ambiguous smile…

At last, Leon, Louise, and Celes boarded their new carriage. Leon was at the front, holding the reins, and he gently shook them to start the new journey. The horses howled and yanked their bodies to go forth.

"Mr. Leon… I'm sorry for arguing with you!"

"Yeah, that blue crocodile's meat… I shouldn't have been too greedy!"

"I hope to see you again. Maybe you'll remember about our village in the future!"

A lot of villagers came out to bid their farewell to Leon, apologizing for their previous arguments. They surprised Leon as he hadn't expected that. He ended up waving at them, too.

When Leon went by the farmers' lands, he also saw Marco and his buddies waving at him. "Good luck, Mr. Leon!"

"Thanks! Don't turn into drunkards!" Leon smirked while waving at them.

Soon, the forest became his only company. Following the only road to the south, Leon listened to the whistling wind and took the unfolding nature to his heart.

His heart was open to more experiences and light, not burdened by his former traumatic moments.

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Louise and Celes did their best to enjoy the carriage.

However, it was pretty difficult. Every pebble on the road pushed the carriage up, so it was impossible to just sit and enjoy the ride. Their stuff outside their inventories also got strewn around, so Louise picked it back to her spatial place. Then, Celes simply held her liquor dearly, not letting it go.

She often gulped at least a mouthful of bitter water.

To merry the atmosphere, Louise started a conversation with the vampiress. It's been some time since they became friends, but she felt Celes hadn't revealed much about herself.

The vampiress often used her experience to guide Louise's heart, shared her knowledge of close combat and alchemy skills, and talked about her love of alcohol.

She also shared some information about vampire skills, but Leon knew more since Celes had passed him a skill to suck blood.

"Master said that the guild members hide their real names through nicknames. I've decided to name myself after a legendary figure. What about you?" Louise was excited about her nickname and rubbed some of it on Celes.

The black-haired girl chuckled, licked the top of the bottle, and replied, "Bloody Booze. For short, BB."

"Come on!" Louise's excitement plummeted, and she pouted, her lips up. "You ought to pick a cool nickname! You can give it more thought, right?"

"Sigh. It's just a nickname. People will dig out your real name if you become really famous." Celes shrugged, switched her sitting position to more comfortable by leaning more on the seat, then yawned. "I feel like sleeping but cannot close my eyes in this carriage."

"Don't change the topic." Louise pouted again. "Vampires prefer night more, right? You always wanted to train combat with us in the evenings."

"Yes. We're closer to the moon than the sun." Celes didn't hide such an obvious fact.

And Louise couldn't hide her anticipation to hear another nickname coming off Celes' lips. She kept her eager eyes on the vampiress, not letting her forget about this topic.

Celes threw the ball to Leon. "What's Master's nickname?"

Calling Leon by such a name was her way of bonding with him. In another way, Celes used this title to tell him that she wanted to work with him and didn't mind him staying above her. She'd even accept him ordering her as though he were a king, not her boss.

But in reality, their relationship was of friends — good drinking partners, too.

Leon didn't mind it, too, for he'd taken a liking to this title because of the scarlet fox.

"Master!" Louise peeked outside and called Leon, who was chilling by the reins. "How long until our first stop?"

"Soon." Leon curtly replied without looking her way.

Louise nodded and returned to the carriage. A few minutes later, Leon opened the door and hopped inside. He took a seat between the two girls, then looked at them with a smile.

He chuckled when Celes instantly leaned down to have a nap. On the other hand, Louise jumped at him with her questions, keeping the poor vampiress awake.Leon found their contrast amusing, silently enjoying it.

"My nickname? Well, it's [Ender]." Leon casually replied while fishing out a bottle of fresh water. "I hope it's not taken… I wanted [END] before becoming a pro player, but it is what it is. I also grew to love people chanting [Ender] aloud."

"Ender?" Louise repeated while Celes' ears twitched. Both seemed to like it.

Speaking of Celes' ears, she had them slightly longer and sharper than humans.

"Yeah," Leon nodded, recalling his fans' excited chants. Now that he thought about it, [Ender] sounds way cooler than just [END], for two part chant makes it longer and louder.

It was quite a cool nickname — Louise loved it.

"It seems like my passion is slowly reigniting…." Leon whispered as he felt excitement coursing through him. "I want people of this world to know that nickname. I want them to scream like fans from my previous world did…."

And while Leon thought more about his plans that he'd share with his partners soon, Celes rolled on her seat and opened her eyes, looking at Leon.

"Bloody Booze, BB. What do you think about it, Master?" Celes spoke in a different tone, emphasizing her sultry voice.

Leon reciprocated her gaze, not blinking and staring at his reflection in her red eyes. "Bloody Booze? I bet you've tried mixing alcohol with blood. How did it go?"

Celes let out a burst of genuine laughter, surprising Louise. "It sucked. Made me vomit."

"You lacked high-quality blood, then." Leon pushed his shirt's collar to the side while shifting his eyes to look at Celes' white and soft neck. "Want to try with my blood? I have yet to try sucking someone's blood, too."

Those words surprised the vampiress as Leon was slightly different from his usual self. She couldn't properly see through him, but Leon seemed more available to her. No, he became more open-minded and ambitious about them, not having his usual thoughts about their relationship.

It was like Celes suddenly received more 'options' in her 'development' path.

She knew exactly what those options meant.

"I have a cheap and worse quality liquor… I'll postpone this idea, for now, Master." Celes lifted her voluptuous curves and crawled her way to Leon. "You're free to taste my blood, Master."

Louise's eyes expanded as curiosity took over her. She didn't care that the vampiress saddled her master, for her heart had gone through a tremendous change, and she'd gladly have everyone she treasured in a more intimate relationship.

But for now, Louise was curious how Leon would react to the taste of Celes' blood.

"Will it hurt?" Louise asked.

Celes smirked. "A little. It depends on a partner, too. Everything is different in different hands. In this case, the teeth."

Leon parted his lips, and his canines elongated. "I'll taste your blood, then."

[You have activated The Royal Vampire's Canines Skill.]

[Your body has evolved the skill, turning it legendary.]

Unaware of those messages, Leon sank his teeth into Celes' neck.

And if he couldn't see them, she was the same.

"Ahhhhh!"

A moan shook the carriage.

Louise blinked, then her eyes flared with jealousy!