Vampire Nightlife

"Okay, we'll look weak or something." Lukas acknowledged. "But surely, some place like… I don't know, Umbra is where we can also find Overlords right? That's where you came from, right?"

Theodore's grip tightened against the driver's wheel, knuckles turning slightly white. The assassin Vampire reminded himself that the reason for all this curiosity was because Lukas was someone who was unfamiliar with the other parts of the world.

"There is a reason as to why the Tenebris House is residing in Lux City now." Theodore quipped, a bit coldly but then sighed. "But if there's anywhere else that might catch your interest, it would be none other than Nyx City. It's where we're heading now."

"Wait, isn't that like Nyx Credits?" Lukas' brows rose. "You mean to say that–"

"Of course, though travel is scarce to Lux City, there's still a lot of commerce and trade with what the people like to call as the capital of the Vampire world. It's easier to have one currency and Nyx is where it started." Theodore explained.

"What are all of these Nyx Credits that your people are talking about?" Drusilla suddenly interrupted. "Do your people no longer trade in copper, silver and gold? This sounds superfluous when the previous arrangement was already useful."

Lukas was once again reminded of how old the Vampire was, but chose not to explain. It was easier to at least show it.

"Has that satisfied you enough to prevent further questions?" Theodore asked.

"Well, if you can explain a bit more?" Lukas wanted to throw in a smile, but that probably had no effect on the man. "It's my first time traveling outside and while this is no trip, it's also vital to have information like this right?"

"I'm no expert." Theodore sighed. "But everyone should at least know the five major settlements of the Vampire world, yes?"

"Well, there's Lux, Nyx and then Umbra." Alexei shrugged and tried to play it off with a grin. "You guys can guess the other two."

Lukas knew that the Vampire would have ended up dead if Theodore had a laser for eyes, but then it was Chaerin who spoke up with a shrug.

"Nox and Sanguis."

"You mean like Nox Chambers and the Sanguis Ecstasy Shop?" Lukas blinked again. They had a certain theme going on, but certainly it didn't mean that they were related–

"That's right." Theodore nodded, relieved that at least one of them was informed enough with the world. "Nox is known for its fashion-brand, but it's only a subsidiary for its actual imports–resources, armors and other items made from the creatures existing in the direlands. Since you've taken the Hunter Test before, a good number of the materials come there."

Lukas thought about the Ancient Dark Snake Serpent Scales and the other things that he had punched. There was a Treant if he remembered and ivory from some killerhead rhinoceros.

"And what about the Sanguis?" Lukas decided to ask before Drusilla blasted him off with questions. "Like, does the Sanguise House come from there or something? What do they export?"

"They're the ones in charge of processing some poisons and other compounds for Nox and others. The Sanguise House… may have come from there, it makes sense that they do." Theodore frowned. "It is also once believed that they were the ones who stopped the Demons from breaching when they appeared centuries ago."

"And yet somehow, the Great War that happened in recent history was with humans?" Lukas finally chose to ask. "Based on Alexei, dragons are nowhere to be found, demons have been handled in the past–and our greatest enemies are now humans? Humans, really?"

It was something that made the atmosphere in the van shift slightly, with Chaerin herself stiffening at those words.

Lukas found it easy to be dismissive of humans–as a former one.

Vampires were innately cooler and even something like a demihuman was interesting too.

"You speak so much for someone who found their home destroyed by these humans." Theodore sharply said. "It does not seem like they are much, but they're the most numerous race and also achieved technological advancements that far exceed ours. Not to mention, while many of them are weak–they also have key individuals that make a difference."

Lukas' head started to hurt at those words, a dull throbbing pain and for a moment he squeezed his head and nodded instead. Anything to make the pain go away.

"I… I apologize. That was me underestimating them."

"You shouldn't think less of them." Chaerin suddenly said, a weary smile on her face. "I learned it the hard way, Lukas. Please do not think unfavorably of anyone because they might be able to surprise you in ways that might hurt you in the end."

Lukas blinked and then remembered Chaerin's memory. He wanted to hit his head–how could he have forgotten something like that entirely?

"Chaerin, I'm–"

"You don't have to say anything, it's easy to forget these things," Chaerin glanced at Lukas. "Especially, when the city likes to present itself as someone who can handle its enemies with ease."

Lukas remembered the time when he attended a gathering with Lily and saw the humans that were brought in. Stripped of everything they possibly could have had, he didn't see them as anything strong.

It had made him guilty of needing to drink blood–but he had pushed that thought away.

"Well, they weren't always this capable before," Theodore said with a little scoff. "It doesn't help that they also received unexpected help from unexpected places. Isn't that right?"

Alexei and Stacy didn't react strongly to those words, if anything, they chose to pretend like they didn't hear it.

Lukas understood Theodore's hostility–especially when lives were actually lost, but it didn't mean that he condoned this treatment to Stacy and Alexei.

Chaerin clapped her hands and glanced at the assassin.

"I think that's enough conversation about this, Theodore. We can't always keep focusing on the things that's already happened, can we? Things can turn out differently."