A/N: Well, it's that time again. Happy new year, yall.

There's some more gore in this chapter, but I don't think anyone gives a crap at this point.

Let's just get into this.

I lied in bed, staring blearily at my ceiling. I was tired, yet I just couldn't fall asleep. I wasn't sure why, as there wasn't anything really messing with my mind. As I waited for unconsciousness to take hold, I thought about the events from earlier today.

So, that dark-elf chick was absolutely dead. Yuri apparently slaughtered her while Micaela was healing me. It was a shame though, because she did it out of sight. So I didn't get to see it. They wouldn't let me walk over there, either. So, I just had to imagine what her corpse looked like.

Yuri was upset after the conversation, which in turn made me feel a little sad. I liked Yuri (as a friend, you fucks!), so seeing her like that didn't feel great. Whenever I asked her about it, she'd always say she was fine. I knew that was a lie, but I didn't want to push her.

I mean, I didn't really understand why she was so upset in the first place, but that didn't stop her from being sad, now did it?

Micaela... was also being strange. Whenever she looked at me, her expression became one of resigned pity. Like, it's the kind of expression you would have when putting down a rabid animal. That shit scared me, so I stayed the hell away from her. I wasn't about to be euthanized just because I liked the red.

Speaking of the red, they took it away from me. Like, as soon as I got home, Yuri practically ripped the beautifully stained shirt from my torso, thrusting a clean one in my face. She then took it outside, where I never saw it again. That pissed me off, but at least my new shirt was warm, so there was that.

Yuri had also boarded up that window, so cold air couldn't just get in. That also meant that no more rocks would be sailing through my room, so that was nice.

After a while, I eventually got sleepier and sleepier. Finally, sleep took me, allowing me into the blissful world of dreams.

*LINEBREAK*

Yuri's P.O.V. (Sort of.)

Yuri was... conflicted.

Alex reminded Yuri of... well, younger Yuri. That, of course, was not a good thing. Young Yuri was a violent criminal. She wasn't a role model. If anyone looked up to her, they were either insane, or misinformed.

His bloodlust could absolutely be put to good use, killing bandits, rapists, and the like. But, on the other hand, his urges could get him in serious trouble. If he slipped up, or revealed his motives, then he'd be branded a lunatic. He'd be hunted until he was finally put down.

His urges wouldn't exactly go away though. Yuri's definitely hadn't. She just ignored them. That worked for her, but it probably wouldn't for a child who already had anger issues previous to this.

Essentially, she had two options. She'd either teach him how to control himself, or she'd turn him into a weapon set against evil. Personally, she just wanted him to live a normal life, but that probably wasn't ever a real option.

If she did make him into a fighter, she'd have to teach him discipline. Yuri honestly didn't trust Alex to not hurt a civilian. It was harsh to say, but he was just too unstable at the moment.

She had to do something, though! It hurt her to see him like this. For fuck's sake, he'd stared at his bloodstained shirt for over ten minutes, like it was just the most wonderful thing he'd ever seen! It would've probably gone on for longer, had she not taken it from him and immediately burned it.

If she didn't do something, he might just end up worse than her. That thought scared Yuri. If he got killed because he couldn't control himself, she wouldn't know what to do. And if he murdered an innocent person...

Well, if that happened, the responsibility of killing him would fall to her. She could not allow her child to freely murder whoever he pleased.

Of course, she'd kill herself immediately afterward. There was no way she'd be able to continue living after that.

Yuri stopped that ruinous train of thought before it got out of hand. That wasn't something that would happen for a long time. That was a very preventable future (She hoped.), but she had to intervene now, while she still had time to mold him.

Alex needed to be stronger, both in body and mind. He had to control his urges. If he could just learn to ignore them, then that was great. If not, he could still put them to good use.

The idea would probably be considered unethical by some, but she, at least to an extent, understood what he was going through. She was probably the only one in the village that could help him.

The next few years would be very difficult, she could already tell. Still, she would be there for him.

Because if she wasn't, then who would look after him?

*LINEBREAK*

Micaela's P.O.V (Sort o- Oh, fuck it. You all know what I mean by this point. It's third person, but focused on her specifically.)

Micaela didn't want to hurt Alex. He was a child, even if he sometimes seemed far older. However, his craving for blood was a very serious issue. He definitely had the potential to kill someone, and he also wasn't known for his self-restraint.

She'd be watching him for a while. He didn't necessarily seem dangerous right now, but when he was fully grown, he'd be a menace to most of the humans and monsters on the continent.

Yuri probably didn't realize how much potential for growth Alex had. The blood running through his veins, no matter how diluted it may be, was from a powerful monster.

She knew that Yuri would probably end up trying to aim his bloodlust at other things, like bandits or rapists. Considering her past, she couldn't really blame her. Still, Micaela wasn't sure if it would work. Even if he only targeted the most evil beings, it wouldn't change the fact that he was doing it for his own pleasure, and not because of any moral obligation.

It just wasn't right to enjoy killing. He'd always have potential to kill innocents, and he'd also have a motive, since he was just doing it to satisfy an urge.

Idly, she thought of Lucifina. Of course, her sister was far less insane now, but for a long time, she'd been one of the most bloodthirsty people that Micaela had ever known.

She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to dwell on the past. That all happened a long, long time ago, and there wasn't any use in thinking about what could've been done differently.

...Anyways, Alex didn't seem to specifically enjoy killing, now that she thought about it. It was specifically blood that he craved.

That was a possible lead on how to fix the problem. Did it have to be someone else's blood, or could it be his own? That shirt he was wearing was definitely covered mostly with his blood, so maybe...

She shook her head. That would require him to hurt himself. It could be a good last resort, but it wasn't something she wanted him to do on a daily basis.

She'd look into different ways later. Right now, she had a bit of paperwork to do. She was the mayor, after all. Specifically, this paperwork had to do with the dead dark elf that was currently splattered all over a tree somewhere.

Yuri certainly didn't do things halfway. Micaela understood why she did it, but at the same time, she wished Yuri hadn't been so... brutal about it. It was disgusting, and frankly, quite cruel to the victim. The dark-elf had probably deserved death, but nobody should be torn apart like that.

It also made an open-casket funeral completely impossible. The dark-elf did have a sister in the village, and she wanted to put the dark-elf to rest. Micaela wasn't one to disrespect the dead, so she'd allow a small service in the village graveyard, even if the dead woman was guilty of both attempted rape and attempted murder.

The sister had also wanted to press charges against Yuri, but Micaela had firmly denied that, explaining that Yuri was simply defending her son. The sister hadn't taken that well, but she'd just have to deal with it.

Annoyingly, she'd been getting more and more complaints about Yuri and her child, many of which were concerningly lewd. This, of course, made Micaela rather angry. She understood that many of the villagers had certain... needs, but that didn't make wanting to rape a child any less horrible.

When she voiced her displeasure at the thought of such degeneracy, she got called a "prude, old-fashioned fool". Last time she checked, Pedophilia was still very wrong, but go off, random villager.

Micaela sighed, and reached for the mug of coffee on her desk, with one swig, she gulped it down, savoring the godly brown nectar as it raced down her esophagus, ending up in her gut.

Ah, good stuff.

*LINEBREAK*

I awoke with a mighty yawn, stretching as my consciousness slowly returned to me. It was dark in my room, as the window was covered, still, I estimated it to be about six or seven A.M, because that was around the time I usually woke up.

Man, that had been a wonderful rest. I hadn't slept so well in a long time. I felt weirdly energetic, which was strange, to say the least. Normally, I was really sluggish in the morning, so this was a unique event.

For a moment, I continued to lay in bed, wallowing in the soft comfort. Then, I finally decided to get up and face the day. I still had training, after all.

As I walked out into the kitchen, I saw Yuri fiddling with two brown parcels. She put them down, upon hearing my footsteps, and turned to me. Her expression as she looked at me was... determined? I wasn't quite sure what that meant, so I just filed it away in my brain for later.

"Morning." I said, giving her a nod. "Are we still training today?"

She stopped for a moment, turning backwards and grabbing one of the parcels.

"We're moving on to something new." She said, handing the package to me. "Open that, and you'll see what I'm talking about."

I looked at it for a moment, before shrugging, and ripping it open, taking care to gather the torn paper. One did not make a mess of Yuri's floor and expect to avoid consequences.

Inside the package was a wooden short-sword, which I assumed was for training. That thought made me grin. Oh, this would be interesting.

Yuri seemed to notice my manic grin, as she put her hand on my shoulder, gripping it uncomfortably tight. I winced, which caused her to loosen her hold a little, but she didn't let go.

"Listen to me." Yuri said evenly, giving me a meaningful stare. "I know that you have a lust for blood. I can even understand it, to an extent. That's why I'm teaching you this."

I blinked, utterly confused. Wasn't she completely against murder yesterday? What made her change her mind?

She seemed to notice the confusion on my face, sighing slightly.

"I wasn't done." She said, a little annoyance creeping into her voice. "Anyways, the craving may only get worse with time, so I'm going to help you satisfy it. However, before I show you anything, I need you to promise me that you will NEVER hurt someone innocent."

...So she was telling me I had to target criminals?

"Didn't I come up with the idea of hunting evil people?" I deadpanned. "I already decided I'd do that yesterday."

Yuri let out a long, suffering sigh.

"Yes, Alex." She said. "Only kill those who deserve it, because If you murder an innocent person..."

Suddenly, the air in the house felt a lot more oppressive. Yuri's expression didn't change, but her eyes became cold. I felt a pit form in my stomach as waves of fear rolled over me.

"I will kill you myself." She finished quietly, frowning slightly.

Suddenly, the dark atmosphere was gone. Yuri's eyes regained their former warmth, and she smiled weakly at me.

"That won't happen though." She said calmly. "Because I believe that you'll do what's right. Besides, there's no shortage of rapists and killers in the world, so you should be able to easily satisfy yourself."

...Holy fuck. Yuri just threatened to kill me. I know that I wasn't really in any danger, because I didn't plan on killing random civilians. Still, that was very unsettling. Yuri was a terrifying woman.

Yuri opened the other package, gripping another wooden shortsword.

"Come on, let's go." She said, beckoning me with her hand.

I sighed, walking outside with her, knowing that I was going to get the shit kicked out of me, this time with a glorified stick.

This wouldn't be pleasant.

*LINEBREAK*

It had been more than ten months since I began learning to use the sword. It was around late summer, or early fall. It was one of those grey areas when it came to weather. It could be thirty degrees (Fahrenheit) one day, and ninety the next.

Of course, going for such a long time without the red was... kind of awful. I mean, at first, I was just a little bummed. I mean, the red was so beautiful. Staring at it was just the highlight of my day. But for the first couple of weeks, I was okay without it. Then, my mind started to get a little fuzzy. When I complained to Yuri about this, she sighed, and walked away for a couple of minutes. When she came back, she handed me a round, thumb-sized vial that was filled with the red. Of course, it was corked off. I didn't want to lose it, after all. So, I made it into a necklace.

After seeing it, I felt truly happy once more.

...Where did she get the blood from, though? I didn't think to ask at the time, considering the fact that I was so happy that I probably looked high. But now, thinking back on it, where did she get it from?

Every night, before I fell asleep, I would hold it, and just gaze into the endless beauty of the red. Eventually, it would get old. I would always lust after new red, but it would still keep me satisfied for many, many months.

Whatever, that was only in like the first two or three weeks. Honestly, there isn't much to tell about my months of training, hence why we're skipping over it. Honestly, the only two things that you need to know, was that I was slooooowly improving with the short-sword, and that I was finally starting to grow.

Yeah, I was still tiny. If I had to guess my age, I'd say I was about ten or eleven. I mean, compared to how tall I was when first reached ten, I was tiny. In my first life, when I was ten, I was about 5 Ft 5 In. Currently, in this body, I was 4 Ft 11 In.

Oh well, I hadn't hit puberty yet. That was actually kind of weird to me, now that I thought I about it. I don't know when someone should normally reach puberty, but I started early in my first life. Like, I was around eight or nine when it hit me like a freight train. By the time I was ten, I had thick armpit hair. It was... kind of disgusting, actually. By fifteen, I nearly had a full beard going.

The point is, I felt like a naked mole-rat. I had hair on my head, but barely anything was growing below the scalp. It was fuckin' odd.

Speaking of head hair, mine had grown past my shoulders. It was far longer than I'd ever had before, and it was irritating. Also, there wasn't a barber/hairdresser in town. There used to be, but... she died.

Oh yeah, another thing I forgot to mention. There were an increasing number of heroes in the region. Seemingly, that Scottish tub of lard had been quite popular, so now there were a lot of pissed off humans around the area. After the initial surge, I thought the number of people would at least go down somewhat. Actually, now that I think about it, it did by a little. Still, there were far more than there should've been.

Now, these weren't the moronic, possibly horny lemmings that everyone was used to. These guys knew to travel in packs. If there was only one of them, most of the people in this village (including me), could probably handle them. However, when there was six or seven of them... yeah, it didn't go so well.

Yuri had ran into them a couple of times. Knowing that killing them would make the whole situation even worse, she simply gave them a severe beating, and sent them on their way.

I'd been forbidden from leaving the village. That was fine, because I never did anyways. Meeting other humans right now would just cause more problems than I wanted to deal with.

Most of the forest was safe. It was really only the roads that were dangerous. I mean, you'd either have to be really horny, or really suicidal (or both) to walk into a monster-infested forest like that, even if there were multiple of you. That was the main reason I never left the village. Hell, I barely ever walked more than 100 feet from Yuri's house.

Anyways, I knew how to use a sword now. I was still a little janky, and I didn't hold a candle to Yuri, but it was a start.

It was around this time when the village's supplies began to run out. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, as there would be multiple elves that regularly went out looking for food. However, with the new patrols happening, that happened less and less, if at all. Nobody was going hungry quite yet, but they would be soon.

Personally, if I could, I would've already gone out and gotten rid of these patrols. It was starting to piss me off, because now we were more isolated than ever. I had no idea what was going on in the world, and that pissed me off. Like, I needed to keep up with current events. As far as I knew, Lucifina was still alive, but who knew how long that would last? I didn't know when the plague would hit, and that scared me. I wanted to stay the hell away when that happened. Luka would be fine, but I definitely wouldn't.

Besides, I am NOT out here to get sick again. That shit sucked last time, and if I were to catch whatever the hell killed Lucifina? Game over, man.

*LINEBREAK*

(Yes, we're doing another time skip directly after the first one. I want the plot to move on, even if I have to drag it kicking and screaming.)

As the months wore on, those shithead heroes began to grow more ballsy. They were getting mighty close to Enrika, and nobody was a fan of that. I mean, in a straight up fight, the villagers would still probably win. There would be severe casualties, though.

I still went to the river to get water, but I wasn't sure how long that would last. I was gonna be pissed if I wasn't able to take weekly baths anymore. Like, I smelled bad after a single day. If I had to go months smelling like that, I'd have to kill someone. It was just the principle of the matter. Someone would have to pay.

Still, things were fine, I guessed. There was less food around than there used to be, but more people were also starting to grow their own food. It still didn't quite balance out the supply and demand, but it definitely helped.

We're not even going to discuss training, because I don't really have much to tell you. I was doing stuff with short-swords. That's it. That's all I have to say about that.

The routine was a boring one. Of course, the red I had was still beautiful, but it was getting old. Other than that, there wasn't really much in the way of entertainment. I'd finished my book long ago, and there wasn't really a new supply, since nobody could leave the village safely. Honestly, I was starting to wish for something interesting to happen.

...Don't tempt fate kids. It will fuck you up without so much as a simple apology. I apparently didn't care at the time, and my foolishness caused me to be slapped with the proverbial monkey's paw. ...Actually, it was more like a dickish genie, but fuck it, that line is too good to throw away.

It all started when I was gathering water one day. It wasn't for a bath. Yuri was just making vegetable stew, so she didn't a lot of it. However, as I was carrying it back, I was struck with the sudden, violent need to piss. Yuri wasn't watching me like she normally would, because she was gathering ingredients.

So, I sat the bucket down by the tree, and walked a little bit away so I could give my bladder the release it craved. You couldn't just piss near the river, as that was the town's drinking water. You had to find a place where it wouldn't trickle back down into the clean, clear waters below. So, I had to take a small trip. It would be fine, anyways. I was still only a few hundred yards from the village. Normally, you'd be able to see the buildings from where I was standing, but they'd used the surrounding foliage to completely hide the village from view. It was actually pretty impressive.

That was probably the only reason that Enrika hadn't been attacked yet. They'd concealed it entirely, and straight up planted all kinds of grass and weeds on the path that led into town, essentially erasing it completely.

If I didn't know the town was there, I'd have never found it. The monsters that lived here were smart.

Anyways, as I was finishing up giving one of the trees a golden shower, I heard a branch snap a couple of yards to my right. Let me tell you, my butthole has never before clenched so hard from fright. I didn't want to be seen with my dick out, for a couple of reasons. One, if it was a human, I would be embarrassed because, well, that was my dong. If it was a monster, then they'd probably take it as an opportunity. Honestly, I wasn't sure which was worse.

I was currently hidden from view, but they were probably approaching. As quietly as I could, I put away my little blaster, and readjusted my pants.

Honestly, fear from earlier started to fade, as it was mostly just because I was startled. From the sounds of things, it was only one person, so the probability of it being a human was low.

I felt a sudden surge of anger. Who dared interrupt me when I was taking a whizz? Pissing, much like shitting, was sort of... sacred in a way. You just didn't mess with someone while they were unloading waste, because karma would be swift and painful.

...Maybe I'm just weird. I can't piss or shit when I'm within ten feet of someone, so that's normal for me. I knew a couple people who could hold conversations while they were sitting on the toilet. Those people scared me.

Anyways, let's get back on track. I was pissed, but I wasn't an idiot. I stayed silent, as much as it pained me to do so, and stood still on my side of the tree. I couldn't go back to the village, as stealth was not my forte. It was easy to hide when you weren't moving. It was a whole different animal when you were actively trying to get away.

To my dismay, the figure walked completely around the tree, sword at the ready. When they saw me, they relaxed, sighing as their shoulders sagged.

It was a human, surprisingly. He wore leather armor (which actually wasn't complete dogshit.), and had belts roped around his pants in such a way that would make taking them off a very complicated process. Great for fighting monsters, but inconvenient when your stomach was upset.

He had brownish hair, green eyes, and a pale complexion. He looked... average. There just wasn't anything else to say about him.

I stared at him for a couple of seconds, my mind completely blank. Then, I did the first thing I could think of.

I tackled him, knocking the sword from his hand. He tried to shake me off, but I punched him in the mouth, dazing him somewhat. I then punched him again, making sure he knew the position he was in. Hastily, I reached for his sword, and planted it firmly against his neck. A large part of me wanted to slit his throat right there, admiring the wonderful mess I'd create. But, I hesitated. There were things I needed to know first.

"Alright, shithead." I growled, glaring angrily at him. "I'm going to ask you some questions. If you call for help, I'll kill you right here."

He stared up at me, eyes wide with fear.

"Okay, first off," I began. "Why the hell have you fucks been poking around here? You've all been doing it for months, and frankly, it's really starting to piss me off."

When he didn't answer immediately, I pressed the sword against his neck, just enough to make a very slight cut. The small amount of red made me smile, but I ignored it for now. I had business to attend to.

"O-our boss' brother was killed out here a few months ago." He stuttered quietly. "He's been hunting for the killer ever since."

...Well, I knew that already. I mean, that was my initial guess, so... Yay? I was right?

"Is that the only reason?" I asked. "I mean, people die out here all the time. You could very soon, for example."

He gulped.

"W-well, he had a child that disappeared in this region." He stuttered. "But that was over a year ago."

I internally winced. That kid was probably enslaved or dead. That thought disgusted me, but... Well, it was true, and what the hell could I do about it right now?

"Who's your boss?" I continued, trying to suppress all emotions except anger. "Also, where is he?"

I'd very much like to know that last bit, actually. If I found out where he was, we could ambush him, cutting the head off the snake. Though, seriously, who the fuck was this guy? There were more than seventy fuckin' heroes patrolling this general area, and they were apparently all doing it under their boss' orders. He must've held quite a bit of influence, whoever he was.

The man wasn't pleased by my question. He seemed to grow some balls, if his response was anything to go by.

"Go to hell." He grunted. "Like I'd ever tell you where he was."

I sighed, and promptly slammed my fist into his mouth. His muffled cry pissed me off, as he could potentially lure more people here. I gave him a warning glare, signaling for him to shut the fuck up.

"You know what, fine." I spat, glaring at him. "You know I'm absolutely willing to kill you, right? Whoever this guy is, he's not worth it."

He glared at me, and suddenly I realized how much of a pain this guy was. He carried the expression of someone who was zealously devoted to a cause, and didn't care whether or not he died in the process. That was troublesome, because it made interrogating him nearly impossible.

With all of his strength, he rolled to the left, knocking me off of him. I was on my feet nearly instantly, but he was already running.

"I am being attacked!" The man shouted loudly, his voice echoing throughout the forest. "Help me, my comrades!"

I growled, feeling white-hot anger rise in my chest. Now, he knew about me, and was going to come back with more people, unless I killed him right then and there.

I dashed towards him, holding the sword clumsily in my grasp. It was bigger than I was used to, as I only used short-swords, but it was still manageable. It wasn't like I was fighting some skilled swordsman.

He was... kind of slow. I mean, he was running, but I was swiftly catching up to him. This was the first time that I'd been able to see the fruits of my training since the incident, and I was not disappointed.

Time seemed to slow down as I came within range. I wanted to savor this moment. This would be my first kill. Of course, taking a life wasn't what interested me. It was the red that ran through his veins. Of course, those things are pretty tightly connected, so I figured it was reasonable enough to assume I'd enjoy killing him. I mean, I'd never killed someone before, so I had no idea what it was like.

I thrusted the sword into his back, feeling a slight shiver go down my spine as I felt the squish of the blade tearing through flesh, muscle, and bone. His armor didn't really help at all. It was seemingly for fighting monsters, not people.

The blade protruded violently from the other side, sending gouts of blood exploding from his chest.

He screamed, his agonized yells piercing my brain. It made my stomach feel ill, for some reason, and it gave me a headache. So, I pulled the sword back out (With monumental effort. Let me tell you, it's much easier to stab someone than it is to remove a blade.), and impaled him through the neck. His screams became gurgles as he dropped to the ground, clutching at the sword that was stabbed completely through him. After a moment, he went limp.

I went to pull out the sword, when I felt a drop of blood splash onto my hand. It seemed to spark a sort-of tingling sensation, which rapidly spread throughout my body. The coppery smell only seemed to enhance the feeling, making me gasp, before chuckling lowly to myself.

"Now this..." I muttered to myself. "This, I could get used to."

My face felt a little hot. I couldn't quite describe the sensation I was feeling, but the closest thing I could probably equate it to was being drunk, and even then, that just didn't really explain it well. It was like all of my negative emotions were swept away in a proverbial flood of dopamine.

I needed more. So far, most of the blood was on the ground, which was a beautiful sight. Still, there was probably more in there, and I was not a wasteful person.

I grinned to myself, anticipating the art I was about to create. I was happy, and at that moment, nothing else seemed to really matter.

So of course, at that moment, someone just had to ruin it.

Multiple men seemed to burst from the treeline, weapons of all shapes and sizes at the ready. Before I knew what was going on, I was surrounded by nearly a dozen angry, armored heroes.

"...Aw shit." I muttered.

A/N: Well, that happened.

So, if you couldn't tell by that extreme reaction, our main character's craving for blood is only going to get worse from here. Of course, he'll have to be able to reign it in eventually, but we have a while before that happens. Of course, when blood isn't really in sight, he can act normal. He's not just a rambling psycho (yet).

As per usual, If there's any glaring plot holes or mistakes, let me know. I'll either edit them, or address them in the next chapter.

I'm not going to be able to write as frequently now, so this will be the last chapter for a while. I mean, I'm not going to abandon this story any time soon, but my life is about to get a whole lot busier. That's also why I haven't gone through it as thoroughly as I normally would. So... Sorry about that.

Hopefully though, soon we'll be able to get out of exposition hell. Probably not, but it's good to be optimistic.