Late at night, Noah Vale walked back toward the fitness club with a blood-stained body slung over his shoulder.
The vampire girl hung limply across his back, her arms dangling as if she had no strength left.
To Noah's mild surprise, her willpower had actually been decent.
Under his interrogation, she had managed to hold out for nearly two whole minutes before breaking.
Now she lay draped over his shoulder, silent and exhausted. Her wounds had already healed, but phantom pain still rippled through her body.
She glared resentfully at the man carrying her.
Her mind had already begun running through all the horrible possibilities awaiting her.
She knew exactly how she looked. She had always been considered beautiful even before becoming a vampire.
But Noah's face…
Even vampires felt a chill looking at it.
Combined with the torture she had just endured, she had reached a perfectly logical conclusion.
This guy must have grown up ugly and bullied until he snapped.
In every fantasy story she'd ever read, when a beautiful girl ended up in the hands of monsters, the ending was never pleasant.
And right now she felt like she had fallen straight into a goblin nest.
The two of them remained silent the entire walk back.
There was nothing worth saying.
Eventually they returned to the club.
On the second floor, Noah set her down and pointed down the hallway.
"Bathroom's over there."
"Take a shower. Wash the blood off yourself."
He tossed a loose set of workout clothes toward her.
"Then come back and report."
His gaze hardened.
"And don't try to run."
"I can hear everything you do."
"If I have to catch you again, I'll torture you until sunrise."
With that warning, Noah turned away and headed toward another shower room to wash off the vampire blood covering his body.
After a quick rinse, he stepped back into the hallway.
The vampire had just finished as well.
She was now wearing Noah's oversized training clothes. The loose fabric draped over her figure, accentuating curves that the baggy shirt couldn't fully hide.
Noah's expression didn't change at all.
But the vampire froze when she saw him.
Her eyes widened slightly.
The horrific burns on his face had almost completely disappeared.
Even stranger, his hair—previously cut short—had already grown noticeably longer.
His appearance was changing rapidly.
"Stop staring," Noah said flatly. "I don't feed freeloaders."
He gestured for her to follow.
They entered the private training room.
Noah pointed to the steel rod lying in the corner, still stained with blood.
"Pick that up."
She did.
"Now hit me," Noah continued.
"Use about sixty percent of your strength."
"…What?"
The vampire blinked.
For a moment she wondered if this guy was insane.
"Don't just stand there," Noah said.
"If you don't attack me, I'll start attacking you."
That was enough motivation.
She grabbed the rod and glanced at Noah's head, clearly considering whether she could crush it.
Noah casually lifted the two-ton iron block nearby.
"Back, arms, and legs only," he said calmly.
"If that rod touches my head even once, I'll crush yours with this."
"…Got it."
Grumbling, the vampire swung the rod.
The strike landed across Noah's back.
She even added a little extra force.
If I'm going to hit him anyway, I might as well enjoy it.
The steel rod slammed into his body again and again.
At first she thought he was just a lunatic with a high pain tolerance.
But after an hour of relentless striking—while Noah's back split open and bled freely—his expression never changed.
That was when she began to understand.
This monster's body hadn't been born like this.
He had built it.
Through training so brutal that most people would die long before reaching this level.
Meanwhile, something else caught her attention.
His appearance kept changing.
At first she had seen him as some horrifying creature from a nightmare.
Then he became more like a twisted goblin.
After the shower, when his wounds began healing, he looked more like a very fit troll.
Thirty minutes later, as the last scars faded, he resembled an annoyingly determined human.
And now…
With his injuries fully healed and his natural appearance restored…
He actually looked surprisingly handsome.
The vampire blinked.
Okay… this is weird.
She still didn't like him.
But if this guy suddenly decided to make a move on her, resisting might not be as easy as before.
She shook the thought away and spoke.
"Are you a mutant?"
"Why do you heal so fast?"
"And what happened to your face earlier?"
Noah sighed.
"You talk too much."
"If you want to stay alive, focus on doing your job."
The rod suddenly stopped moving.
Noah turned his head slowly.
"Why did you stop?"
His eyes narrowed.
"You'd better have a good reason."
The vampire dropped down onto the floor.
"I'm out of strength."
Noah frowned.
"You said vampires never get tired."
"That's with blood in our system," she replied irritably.
"You tortured me for hours earlier, and now you've been using me as a training machine."
"My reserves are empty."
She licked her lips and glanced at the blood dripping down Noah's back.
"I need blood."
Her voice softened slightly.
"And yours smells… incredible."
From the moment his blood had started flowing earlier, the scent had been irresistible.
It was unlike anything she had ever tasted.
Like some kind of supernatural supplement.
The only reason she hadn't attacked him earlier was because his face had been too horrifying.
Now that he looked normal again, temptation was getting harder to ignore.
Noah clicked his tongue.
"Fine."
"You want blood, right?"
He walked over to a bowl left from his earlier meal.
Then he placed his thumb against the artery in his left arm.
With a quick motion, he drove his thumb straight into it.
Blood immediately began pouring out.
He held the wound above the bowl, occasionally pressing the artery to keep the blood flowing before his regeneration closed it.
Soon the bowl filled with bright red liquid.
The scent drifting from it was faintly sweet.
Noah withdrew his thumb and handed it to her.
"There."
"Drink."
The vampire practically snatched the bowl from his hand.
She took one gulp—
And froze.
Energy exploded through her body.
That single mouthful contained more power than the entire victim she had drained earlier that night.
The taste was unbelievable.
She drank the rest in seconds.
Then she licked the bowl clean.
When she looked up again, her gaze had changed completely.
Her eyes slowly drifted over Noah's body.
Specifically…
The blood still running down his back.
For a moment she had the overwhelming urge to lean forward and lick every drop.
.....
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