Mythos Veil

12:30 P.M., was the time the clock said.

It was later in the day since I had talked to Count Valerius. Apparently, my enrollment had already been planned, so all I had to do was find my way around the school. Valerius was a busy man, so he could not accompany me and show me around.

I got lost in the giant hallways of the school. The wallpaper was layered with brown, black, and grays. I looked back down at the schedule that he gave me.

"Vampire Basics, huh," I sighed as I looked back up. Others passed by me, looking in my direction as if I was an outcast. They weren't normal people, though. They were creatures, like me. Mythological creatures people would tell stories about.

I couldn't help but be fascinated by the variety of races in this school. It seemed like there were an infinite amount of monsters roaming through the halls.

"Ya' that new student everybody's talking 'bout?" A voice came from behind, startling me. Not a single person had stepped up and tried to engage in a conversation. I was feeling a bit nervous.

I turned around to face the person, and saw a man covered head-to-toe in silvered fur. He was a Werewolf.

"Uh…," I stuttered. "Everybody is talking about me?"

Not knowing how to respond to it, I just brought up a point that piqued my curiosity.

His eyes widened, showing his gray colored irises. "Oh, ya' don't know," he hummed. "Whatev', nice ta meetcha."

"Huh?"

"Nice…to…meet…you," he echoed.

"No, no. I know what you said. It just confused me a bit," I replied. "Your accent is strong. Where are you from?"

He looked excited, and his tail started to wave around in the air. "Me? Not ta brag, but I am fram the Royal Bloodline of Gigamona."

"I'm happy for you…?"

" 'Course. Enough 'bout me. Tell me 'bout ya' self."

"Uhh, I am Jacob Lavua. I am a Vampire. I am from Conway, Arkansas," I said. "What's your name?"

"Arian. Arian Gigamona. But ya' can call me Arian."

Arian, huh. Cool name.

With my thoughts spilling from my mouth, I said, "So, Arian. What did you mean by 'Royal Bloodline'?"

Arian looked confused. "Oh! You're an idiot," he said in a tone as if he had come to a realization. "I'll just explain it to ya'. There are five main families. I am part of the Royal Bloodline of Werewolves—the best one, might I add—The other four are: Slime, Vampire, Dragons, and finally, Ghouls. Each has their own traits, and traditions based around ancestors. I don't have the time to go into that rabbit hole, but I will tell ya' about my family's tradition!" He sounded excited as he lectured me about his family.

The Gigamona family. Their main motto is: "If you're alone, you're weak!", and as the saying implies, it means each member of the Gigamona family, as well as each subsidiary family, has to follow in groups called Packs. A Pack is when a group of Werewolves hunt together. It is most likely to assert dominance and respect.

Gigamona is a fierce name spread across the world of werewolves. They are the strongest, having the highest quantity of Royal Instincts, even within other branch families. However, they have one major rule regarding their transformation process. They are not allowed to go into Hybrid form, as it is a trait mainly for the lower-classed werewolves. Commoners do not have a Human form, and only have a full- or half-transformation.

"And that's why, I, Arian Gigamona, want to challenge the stereotypes of old, and desire to overtake my dad as the leader of the Gigamona bloodline," he yelled loudly. He pumped his fist up against his chest, showcasing the hair that was laid unnaturally upon his hand. "To do so, I must stay in this form, to show that even someone of low class can become the ruler of Gigamona!"

I clapped. "Impressive aspiration," I replied.

"Yup!"

Before we could continue our conversation, a bell rang. It was the bell indicating it was time to go to your next class. At the sound of it, we said our goodbyes.

"See ya' soon, Jacob," he said.

"Yeah," I waved.

There was one problem, however. I didn't have a map.

Since I was new to this place, I wasn't familiar with it, and I didn't know how to navigate the campus. Minutes passed as I wandered through the halls, trying to find out where exactly my first class was.

As I stood there lost in my thoughts, a sudden voice shattered the silence from behind. "Hey, you!" The words carried an urgent tone as their speaker rapidly closed the distance between us. An unusual touch followed—an unexpectedly soft, squishy sensation, reminiscent of touching a water balloon or a gelatin dessert. I spun around, intrigued and perplexed, my gaze falling upon a woman with an otherworldly appearance. Her skin was a lively shade of lime, reminiscent of fresh leaves, while her cactus green hair cascaded around her like an enchanting, verdant waterfall.

Her vibrant colors held me in a mesmerizing spell. "I... Yes?" My voice faltered, stumbling over words like a clumsy stumble in a dance. "H-How may I be of assistance, miss?" I managed, though my words emerged with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty.

Her gaze briefly shifted to her wrist, where her attention was captured by a watch. "It's 12:50, and you're not in class?" Her voice held a mix of curiosity and authority. The notion of her being a hall-monitor flitted through my mind, though her youthful appearance, seemingly around my age of sixteen, raised an unspoken question. Shouldn't she be in class too?

"And what about you?" I inquired, my brow furrowing in a gesture of perplexity. My hand instinctively found its way to my forehead, a physical embodiment of my bewilderment.

"I am the hall-monitor stationed within this portion of the school—did you already forget?" she seemed mad, and I couldn't help myself to speak up. "It was hung up in the main hallways near the dorms just yesterday!"

"I-I'm new here… I don't know my way around, and Count Valerius never gave me any directions…" I stumbled through my words, seeming like an infant just learning how to form sentences.

"He never told me about a new student coming in," she mumbled. She placed her lime hand against her chin, causing a jello-like sound to ooze from where she had placed it.

This is awkward!

I hate this so much.

"Alright, I'll start over." She took a deep breath, "My name is Silf. Silf Palmer. I am from the noble Palmer family."

"Noble? Kinda like Arian?"

"W-W-W—Don't you dare say Sir. Gigamona's name with such ease!" she yelled, flailing her arms in the air as if she was a baby throwing a tantrum. "What if he hears you? The Gigamona family has slaughtered many people for using even familiar terms about them!"

"Me and him are chill, so it's alright," I tried to reassure her.

Well, we just became chill.

Silf Palmer had a dumbfounded look plastered upon her fluorescent face. She looked down to the ground, seemingly lost in thought. Then, after a few seconds she looked back up at me with a stern look.

"Whatever the reason may be, he is still above first name basis with a person who isn't even a brother," she calmly stated.

"Uh, okay?"

"Now, can you please tell me what class you have?"

"I honestly don't even know," I said with a shrug.

She sighed. "What's your name, and what species are you?"

"I'm Jacob Lavua, a vampire."

Feels kind of weird to say I'm a vampire openly…

"Jacob, huh…" she hummed as she dragged her finger through the air. "Ah, there you are! Hm…looks like you have 'Vampiric Powers: Basics' class for your first period. Actually, that seems to be your only class…"

"My only class?"

"Yeah, from 9-12."

From 9-12?! What the hell?

"That's one long class…"

"What are you talking about? That's the average length of classes."

Average?

Um, no?

"Okay… Well, can you show me the way to class?"

"Of course, Mr. Lavua," she said with a slight smile.

I stepped into the classroom. The room was vast, looking to be about thirty meters in length, and stretching about fifteen meters upward. There were multiple layers of seats with a small area used for writing and taking notes, each leading more and more toward and up the wall.

Standing in the front of the room, next to the podium, a woman looked at me, an annoyed expression across her face. "You're late," she said with a stern voice.

"I'm sorry," I tried to say. "I am ne—"

"I do not care. Sit down in any open space you see."

Not wanting to argue with her, I walked in the direction of the seats. They didn't reach too high into the room, but just enough to be able to barely hear the teacher when she spoke, I assumed.

There weren't many open seats. All of my newly appointed peers stared at me in confusion, as this was their first time seeing me.

I walked up each of the stairs, I looked left and right, trying to find a seat that was open. It wasn't until the fifth row that someone spoke to me.

"Hey," a masculine voice whispered to my left. I turned my head and saw him waving his hand, indicating for me to sit next to him. Complying, I went up to him and took a seat to his right.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, let's begin. Pull your textbooks out to page 10," the teacher said after a few seconds of me adjusting to the seat.

Next thing I heard was the sound of pages flipping. Unable to do it myself, I sat there awkwardly.

"You're new here, aren't you?" the guy who ushered me over here asked in a whispered voice.

"Yeah," I said, following his lead into a whisper. "I don't have any of the textbooks we need, as it was short notice."

"No worries, man, I got you." He slightly passed over his Vampire Basics textbook, which was displayed with bold printed letters, and a small figure of a mouth with four large fangs protruding from each of the canines.

He opened it, swiping through each of the pages until it reached ten. He grabbed his notebook, a classic black spiral notebook.

"Why isn't the teacher teaching?"

"What do you mean? All we need to learn is in this notebook, and we are seventeen, we can read," he responded. "Also, nice to meet you. My name is Damien. Damien Magra."

"Magra?"

"Oh, yeah. I guess it would be surprising if someone of royalty talked so casually… I probably shouldn't have said my last name…" he sighed. "Forget I said that, please. It'll just be awkward."

"Uh…alright?"

"Wait, aren't you surprised?"

"Not particularly, honestly. Do all royalty not speak with respect?"

"Ah…that's what you mean. I mean, not really. Only those with professions that need it."

"Oh."

"Yeah," he said with a slight cough.

"Why does Silf Palmer speak with so much respect?"

"Oh…her," he gave a sigh. "She always has a stick up her ass, honestly. It's probably because she is from a noble bloodline—she feels like she is needing to do the utmost to try and make her parents proud of her. Dunno though, but usually those who are annoying and too good at school are trying to impress their parents."

"Makes sense."

Not much happened during the rest of the class. Even while reading through the textbook, I could not figure out what was being talked about. Essentially, it talked about how a vampire's fangs are one of the strongest parts of a vampire, excluding that of bloodthirsty nails; it also mentioned that blood is like a drug to vampires, where we do not necessarily need it, but it does help affect our attacks, and help control and calibrate the potency of our abilities. Those abilities being Shapeshift, and Recon—the two vital powers for a vampire to have when hunting prey.

That was all I learned through that textbook for those last three hours. Might not sound like a lot, but the amount of notes that Damien had to take through all of that was extraordinary. Better than anything I could ever do. I would definitely have to ask him about anything I have trouble with.

***

"Mr. Lavua, may you please come along with me?" A voice came from the sky. I looked up and saw a small bat with red eyes staring back down at me. After a few seconds the bat transformed into a person—more specifically, Count Valerius.

"Oh my Typhon!" someone gasped, bowing down to one knee.

"I'm so sorry for not noticing you, sir!" another said, getting in the same stance.

Valerius had a stern look on his face. Turning over to the two girls, he said, "Raise your heads. Go on to your next class, please. If you are a few minutes late, say I stopped you for a small inquiry." He turned back to me with a more relaxed expression. "Sorry about that, Mr. Lavua. Now, may you please follow me? I'll lead the way."

"Yes, sir," I replied.

We walked down the hallways, all the way to the administrators office. There, we entered Valerius's office, a opened space full of countless paintings of historical figures and people who seemed to be vampires, all with the name Valerius plated underneath.

He sat down behind a desk decorated neatly with trinkets, a lamp, and a book and quill.

"Now, there may have been things I have forgotten to give you from our previous conversation… Most notably, a schedule."

"Yeah…" I sighed. "Luckily, I ran into Silf Palmer in the hallway, and she helped me to my class."

"Ah yes, Silf is a wonderful child. She obediently does work, and most rarely complains. I do not have any quarrels with her, but that is not belittling the complaints I have gotten about her."

"Damien Magra said the same thing, honestly."

"Ah! You already met Mr. Magra? Wonderful, that saves the trouble of explaining, then."

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Magra is new to being in this school, the same as you. That is why you two were placed in the Vampire Powers: Basics… I will not reveal too much personal information about him, but rely on him. He may be new, but he is very studious."

I could tell. His notes were orderly, with handwriting so neat I thought it was perfect.

"There is one question I have to ask," I stated. With a slight nod from Valerius I continued, "When I met Silf she said I only have one class, and that was the class I was just in… Since I lived as a human for all of my life, shouldn't I be trying to learn as much as I can before it's too late for me?"

"Too late?"

"Like, before I get too old for this school?"

"Oh," he calmly let out, "you do not have to worry about age. At this academy you, the student, are proudly stated to be the main focus of priority. Learning, living… Anything you desire to do, you may."

He and I went back and forth for another thirty or so minutes, mostly speaking about the rules of the academy, the types of species within, and many more. After we were finished talking, his face lit up and he essentially forced me to follow him outside. Out there, we walked on a path toward a building with Boys Dormitory written on a piece of wood in front of the doorway. Inside lay a common quarters with a variety of different types of people lounging about.

Some had hair in places I couldn't have imagined, while some were matte green and lime. I could tell from their skin alone that they were slimes, but they were unlike the bright lime that I saw from Silf Palmer.

Before I could continue my thinking, everyone ran frantically and bowed before me, getting on one knee.

Well…to say it was me was a stretch. It was to Valerius.

"Now, now," he said in a calm, benevolent voice. "I may be your principal, but continue doing as you were. I'm just showing our newest vampire around. I hope you all will treat him with loving arms."

"Nice to meet you all," I mustered, trying to ignore the sweat forming within my balled up palm.

I heard a Whoa! shout from behind before I turned around. Valerius looked at the watch laying on his left wrist in surprise. "On other notes, I have some matters to attend to—your room number is 149. Should be on the fifth floor, near the end of the hallway. Goodbye, and goodnight, Mr. Lavua."

When he finished speaking he hastily opened the door and turned in a bat, flying away in a hurried manner. I turned back around toward my peers to see that they were all sweating profusely.

"Gosh," a person sighed, "I forgot how scary he is…"

"Yeah, right? We all could have died if we didn't bow," another one said as he grasped for air.

"What do you mean?" I did not get a response. Only a slight scare when they all rushed up to me.

"How did you do it?"

"What's your name?"

"What's your ideal type of woman?"

I got overloaded with questions that I couldn't understand. "How did I do what…?"

The guy who asked the question grabbed my hand. His palm was sweating, and the fluids he and I both had clashed fighting for whose was the hottest. He had dark green hair with a middle part. His skin was pale to a point it looked almost transparent.

"I'm asking how you managed to get him to be kind to you, man!"

"Isn't he always like that?"

"No. Not typically," he said, shaking his head. His hair flew back and forth, eventually falling still in its original spot.

"He's right, you know!" An outsider interjected, "Usually, he's cold and distant. Hell, this is the first time I've seen him crack a smile."

The guy who broke in had shaggy crimson hair that went down to his ears, diamond piercings hanging off his lobules. He was around my height, five-foot-ten, and was decently built with muscles not too apparent, but just enough to tell that he went to the gym.

"Right," the navy haired guy affirmed.

"On other notes, I'm Kallon. Kallon Kalip—not that it's necessary to say, but I'm a zombie," the red head said, finally giving a name.

"A zombie?"

"Yeah! Sick, right?"

"What about you, grassie?"

"Rude… My name is Daniel Manul," he casually said.

Daniel didn't openly state his species, and didn't seem too keen on doing so. Instead of prying further, I turned back to Kallon then asked him what being a zombie implied.

He gladly answered every one of my questions. Zombies are like typical humans, but they have died before. The unique thing about them that is unlike the folklore is that you cannot infect other people by the insertion of bodily fluids—biting, blood, etc.—it's completely hereditary. There are some exceptions where a normal person can turn into a zombie, yes, but it is unlikely given the fact that most humans have little-to-none special abilities.

Even that is an exception itself, as there are a handful of humans out there that have magical abilities, but they are called anomalies in the monster world.

I uncovered that Kallon hailed from a noble lineage, holding the intriguing position of being the third cousin to the illustrious Yumia Royal Family—significant figures in the realm of zombie royalty.

In this peculiar field, family ties are forged for noble and royal zombies, who begin their life as ordinary humans and then undergo the sudden transformation of acquiring the unique abilities of a zombie. Conversely, those who succumb to zombification posthumously are categorized as peasants.

Turning to Daniel, his true nature unfolded during Kallon's extensive monologue: he is a Drus, a being entwined with the forests. Unlike structured nobility that commonly gets established through generations, Drus are devoid of familial connections. Endowed with inherent intelligence and maturity, they navigate life without the need of formal education. Yet, exceptions like Daniel exist—individuals who seize opportunities, such as accepting an invitation from Count Valerius.

An alarm rang throughout the halls of the dormitory for lunch. I followed my peers to the cafeteria—it was more like a meeting hall, if anything—where it looked like something out of a fairy-tail story. Wooden tables that resembled a bench stretched far, easily reaching the end of the already massive room.

Students were already sitting down in each of their respective slots. It looked like it was similar to schools in the human world with cliques typically hanging near each other.

"No need to geek out, Jacob," Kallon jokingly mocked, grabbing onto my shoulder. "You don't have many friends I bet, so sit with me. We don't bite."

He walked over to a table-stretch and sat down next to several other people. I followed, sitting down right next to him, beside a woman dressed in all black.

"Alright everyone, this is Jacob, a vampire. Say hello."

As he tried to introduce me, I felt myself get more and more awkward. I would not be surprised if someone had commented "Hey, his face is red!" at that moment. Surprisingly though, everyone welcomed me with open arms even though I was not their species.

There were six people who sat at this table. Four girls and two guys excluding Kallon and I.

The only one who didn't greet me was the girl I was sitting to the right of, the girl wearing all black. I didn't want to be weird, so I didn't pay it much mind, but I could tell that her skin was fair, with red hair bordering strawberry-blonde. It was hard to get a grasp of her personality, but I assumed she was just an emo.

***

"Jacob, nice to meet you. My name's Ivan—no last name," a tall, scrawny guy said to me. His Adam's apple pierced against his neck, seemingly wanting to escape. He let out his right arm.

"Nice to meet you as well, Ivan." I shook his hand. " Where am I going to be staying?"

This was my roommate, Ivan. I wasn't told much about him, besides the basics of how he looked. He had brown wavy hair that reached down to his shoulders, with a sense of style that screamed he was Gen-Z: baggy pants with a shirt that seemed to almost go down to slightly below his knees.

The dorm room was sizable, having two bedrooms, a bathroom, living room, and a kitchen. My room was average, being the same size as Ivan's. It was blank, I guessed I would have to decorate it myself.

The sun was setting and I found myself wandering the grounds outside the school. We were in the middle of nowhere it seemed. Everything outside the school yards was plains, except for a small village in the distance. I couldn't make it out exactly, but it looked medieval with some buildings being slightly taller than others.

I couldn't find anything else to do outside, so I went back to the dorms and went to bed.

***

It was now Friday, I had been at the school for around two days and I finally grasped my way around the campus. There were hundreds of classes, each being specific to a species or field you may have wanted to go into in the future.

Damien had been nice to me, allowing me to catch up on any notes we took before I arrived at the school. He was a good guy, and I definitely classified him as a friend.

Outside of class Kallon and Daniel always wanted to hang out with me, and I did not have any objections towards them. We mostly went down to the cafeteria to get some food and then play some games. We never really left the school's grounds. That was until that day, marking the weekend.

"Are you ready to go to Loopenick?" Kallon said, looking inside an ivory bookbag.

Loopenick was the village I saw a few days prior. It was a local population full of mythological creatures, a central hub for those of non-humanoid appearance. It was much bigger than it seemed, and I was excited to visit.

There was a road that would take us to the village, and it would take around thirty minutes to drive to it. By flying as a bat, it would take fifteen.

We got into Daniel's car, a gray 2021 Toyota Prius. I was in the backseat, accompanied by Kallon. The person riding shotgun was Daniel's girlfriend, a blonde with green eyes, around five-foot-four inches tall.

During the entirety of the car ride, I felt myself getting progressively giddier, until eventually making it into the village of Loopenick.