Drip... Drip... Drip...
Leo woke up to the sound of water droplets falling rhythmically onto the surface of a lake in the heart of the mountain. Leo's eyelids snapped open, but his vision was not red as it had been for centuries; the colors were vivid, bright, and strangely natural.
Leo stood up slowly, feeling a heaviness in his limbs that he was not used to. He headed toward the edge of the lake and leaned down to look at his reflection on the calm surface of the water. Leo recoiled in shock as he felt his face; his long hair, which had symbolized his lordship and centuries of immortality, had become short and tidy, and his deathly pale skin, which had not known living blood for ages, had now acquired a vibrant, human hue full of life.
Leo tried to do what he always did when he felt power; he wanted to rise above the surface of the lake, to fly and pierce through the mountain rocks with his ethereal body. He tightened his muscles and focused his energy, trying with all his might to rise into the air, but his body remained heavy, stuck to the ground as if bound by invisible chains.
Leo (in shock as he looked at his reflection): "What is happening? Why is my body so heavy?"
He tried again, jumping with all his strength attempting to fly, but he landed on his feet like any ordinary human. He let out a scream of rage that shook the corners of the mountain: "You Dragon! Where are you? What have you done to me?"
At that moment, a small creature emerged from Leo's body—a strange blue animal resembling a spirit, glowing with a faint shimmer over the water's surface. The creature floated in front of Leo's face and said in a calm voice: "You cannot fly now... nor can you use your great powers in the light of day. In the morning, you are just an ordinary human, in body and soul. But when night falls, your power returns to you."
At first, Leo did not like this situation at all; he felt insulted being turned into a "weak human," and he clenched his fist in the air with fury: "A human? I, the Lord of Worlds, become a weak human?! This was not the deal!"
But he stopped suddenly when he saw strands of sunlight creeping through the mountain openings and falling onto the water. He hesitated for a second, then took a bold step and walked out with his entire body into the open, under the full glare. For the first time in centuries, Leo felt the heat of the sun caressing his skin without burning it. He felt a warmth he had never known, and saw the beauty of the world under the clear light.
The features of anger on his face shifted into a wicked and amazed smile at the same time. He took a deep breath and said: "This feeling... it is strange, but wonderful."
He began to look at his human hands and watch the horizon, then whispered to himself in a haughty tone, delighted by this discovery: "Since I can walk under the sun... and since this is the form of humans, this mission will be easier than I thought. I will penetrate their world as one of them, and no one will suspect that their end is walking among them under the light of the sun. Controlling them will be a mere game."
Meanwhile - The Human Village
In the competition square, it had not been easy for Alex. Being a vampire, the sun's rays were his arch-enemy, weakening his powers and nearly burning his skin. Throughout the competition, Alex chose to stand very carefully in the dead zones covered by the shadows of the buildings surrounding the square, moving smartly to stay away from the direct glare while finishing his tasks.
The situation continued like this until the sun began to set and its rays faded behind the horizon; at that exact moment, the final results were announced, and Alex was the first-place winner of the competition. Only then did Alex breathe a sigh of relief and step out from the shadows to stand in the middle of the square under the protection of dusk, making his way with Nilofar through the crowds of the village that were chanting his name.
Nilofar broke the silence as she looked at the bag of gold with gratitude: "Now we have enough money to complete our journey." She gave him a slight smile, and they decided to head to one of the hotels in the village to rent a room for rest.
Upon their arrival, Alex stepped forward to pay for the stay, but the hotel owner received him with great hospitality and refused to take any gold pieces from him. The Hotel Owner: "I cannot accept money from the champion of the competition! You have become famous, my boy, and everyone here is talking about your amazing strength. Your stay is on the house."
The treatment began to change; looks of respect and whispers of Alex's name filled the place, but Alex did not care about any of this. He felt a tightness haunting him, and his body began to tremble internally; the effort of the competition and the pressure of hiding from the sun all day had completely drained his energy. He excused himself from Nilofar and hurried out to a dark alley behind the hotel.
As soon as he stepped out, his human skin tone began to fade gradually, returning to its pale and deathly white—the original color of a "Vampire." He felt weakness flowing through his veins, so he touched the mysterious ring he wore on his finger, and in the blink of an eye, a small vial appeared out of thin air between his hands, which he had been hiding inside the ring.
He opened the vial and quickly drank the concentrated blood inside to restore vitality to his body and regain his fake human color. As soon as he finished, he returned the empty vial inside the ring, causing it to disappear once more. Just as he was about to move, he heard a voice behind him that made his body freeze.
Nilofar: "Alex? What are you doing here alone?"
Alex was startled for a moment, but he quickly regained his coldness, hiding the hand carrying the ring, and said: "Nothing... I just needed some air."
He walked past her to return inside without looking her in the eyes. Nilofar remained standing in her place, watching his back gloomily. His words were not convincing, and seeing him hide his hand quickly increased her certainty that this person carried a dark secret. Her doubts began to multiply, and she felt that Alex was not just an ordinary traveler.