I Can't Get the Vampire Rogue to Romance Me

Chapter 10 - Skills Management

Evangeline forced herself to smile. This part wasn't in the game, though it was on point for Valerian. He needed allies and seducing them was his go-to method of acquiring them. Evangeline had always focused on the fact that the ally he tried to seduce first was her ... because the player character was always the most powerful in the whole group. Not in terms of within the rules of the game, of course, but because, naturally, the player character did make all the decisions for the group. They were the player after all.

But he couldn't know that, and she wasn't sure that was true now in the very real-seeming context.

As if the world around them was emphasizing the point, a beam of sunlight shot down from through the canopy above, hitting him in all his chiseled glory. Like a houseplant, the light froze Valerian in place, at first like he feared it would destroy him, which made sense, he was a vampire childer after all.

But when he didn't collapse into a pile burning ash, his muscles uncoiled as his face lifted towards it. Though the light had to be blinding him, he drank it in, closing his eyes as his pale skin bathed in it. It was actually beautiful to behold, the way he submitted himself to the light with such child-like wonder. As she watched him, her eyes were drawn to the black amulet hanging from his neck, along with the collars they all were forced to wear. It was starkly clear against the muscles of his chest, a black sun framed by a silver crescent moon. At the heart of the sun was a black-red gem, cut smooth so that it blended into the metal of the amulet.

Meta Knowledge: Activated.

The Amulet of the Midnight Sun. A legendary item. If the wearer is a vampire, it bestows immunity to the sun, the ability to cross thresholds, the ability to cross running water, the immunity to silver-coated items. Also, it bestows the inability to regenerate health as well as -1 to all abilities, except Constitution which receives two less.

There were a few other caveats to the amulet, but Evangeline didn't have to focus on that information as it simply flooded into her brain. Glancing over at her personal table, still floating beside her where she first saw it, she noted that one of the Special: Meta Knowledge tics was gone.

"Dammit," she muttered, then realized she wasn't alone.

Valerian regarded her patiently. "Everything alright?" he asked.

That made her consider. Did he see a table like hers too? And did she dare to trust him enough to ask him some questions, or would he think her crazy? Was this something only she could see since was technically the "player" character?

When she bit her lower lip debating, he squatted down beside her, putting his grinning face even closer, the amulet around his neck swinging back and forth. "I'd like to be of help if I can."

Dammit.

"You know the ... table thing ... the one with all our stats on it?"

He nodded. "Indeed. What about it?"

A huge wash of relief cascaded down her. "Oh, thank god, you have one too."

Now he cocked an eyebrow at her. "Naturally. Everyone does. What are you getting at?"

"Well, I keep doing something that I don't want to do, and I can't figure out how to stop it," she said, turning to point at her table. "My special skill ability, it keeps firing, and I only have so many tics before it's gone for the day. I think..." Then she realized something, her eyebrows shooting up. "Oh, maybe that's related to my memory issues last night. I kept feeling like there was something I couldn't remember and now, this morning, I do. So I think it has something to do with my Special Ability when it's out of tics. Do you see what I'm saying?"

"Uh, no. I don't," Valerian said, which threw cold water on her enthusiasm.

"Oh... what? Sorry," she said, embarrassment burning her cheeks. Why was she always so bad at talking to other people?

Valerian's eyebrow lift shifted to the other side of his face as he struggled to understand. "Apologies, I was only teasing your choice of words. I do see what you're saying. So you're greener than I think you wanted me to realize, aren't you? You haven't had your Special Ability very long?"

"Uh, no. I mean, yes, you could say that." Evangeline forced herself to take a deep breath to try to calm down. "Just ... do you have any ideas?"

"Yes, I do. You need to turn your Special Ability from passive to active. That way it only fires when you want it to. Out of curiosity, what is your special skill?" Valerian asked so smoothly that Evangeline almost outright told him.

"I... uh... well what is yours?" she countered not nearly as smoothly.

His smile grew toothy, revealing his slightly extra-long canines. He gave a little sigh. "First, what color is the text of your Special Ability?"

She glanced at it. "White."

"Okay, good. Yes, it's in passive mode. Press your finger to it until it turns blue."

"Oh. Right," she said, swallowing back the stupid question of "Oh, I can touch it?" Instead, she followed his instructions, and sure enough, the text double-blinked and then shifted to blue. She nodded with optimistic satisfaction. "Okay, that worked!"

"Good. Now you want to set a code word for yourself so you can activate it when you need to."

"Uh, okay... How... how do I do that?"

Now he sighed in exasperation. "Just pick one and remember that's what you mean when you say it."

"Ah, ok. Of course, right," she said, deciding she had asked enough newbie questions for the moment. "Thank you for the help."

He nodded and stood up, towering his lithe, but strong form over her. That prey feeling washed over her again, even more strongly than anything he ever did on the screen in her living room. Real life was definitely more... just more.

"Like I said last night. You should think about another career choice. I clearly am the superior rogue here. You're going to be redundant. At least you are newbie enough that you can change jobs and it won't even set you back that much."

Then he sauntered away.

"What an ass."

To be continued...

To read the latest chapter join my newsletter at meganmackieauthor.com