Silver bullet to the heart

"Look, there she is!"

"Woah, she looks even better in real life than in the pictures!"

When the freshmen who had just arrived at the Augustus academy saw the woman praised both for her immense beauty and her astonishing talent walk over the courtyard, there were few that could keep their tongues in their mouths.

With her long, blue hair shining under the sun, her flawless pale skin, and her abundant womanly form, it was impossible not to notice her. Even more so as she had a face that made even professional models grit their teeth.

Luscious lips, large blue eyes, and perfect symmetry; She had it all.

So it wasn't surprising to see many young men getting angry looks from the women around them, as a lot of them had fallen into a deep trance when looking at the goddess in front of them.

So, why was it that no one took their chances and tried their luck with the lovely woman? Even if the chances were abysmal, as she was out of their league, there should still have been someone foolish enough to step up. The reason as to why this was, was because...

"Good morning, Levi!"

"Ah, good morning, Will."

Quickly taking to the side of the goddess, an equally prominent red-haired man arrived. With his tall stature, broad shoulder, and disgustingly handsome face, there was no doubt that he was the only one that could ever be allowed to stand by her side.

Contrasting his red hair, his green eyes showed him the way forward as he entered the main building which housed all the homerooms of the different classes together with Levi.

The power couple of the academy, two people which both held the positions of the most promising students of Augustus and the two people that people were suspecting would make the headlines as soon as they graduated. Even now, with both of them being freshmen, everyone already knew who they were.

It was also a point of discussion where they would go after they graduated, as both of them were from prominent households that had their own guilds, the Phoenix and the Leviathan. The only thing people were sure of was that wherever they chose to go, they would go together.

What they didn't know was that the goddess herself had only recently stopped visiting a certain boy that had been stuck in a coma for the last four years. A boy that would shake not only the academy but the whole world. A boy that now was...

****

[Aarick's Pov]

'I don't want to go!'

'-You have to Aarick! How else are you going to show my powers to the world?! Now, move your feet!'

Standing at the gate of the academy that I would have to spend the upcoming years in, the stress that filled my insides was more than enough to slay even the biggest of whales.

'Come to think of it, can whales suffer heart attacks? That would be kind of crazy, wouldn't it? Seeing a whale just up and...'

'-Aarick!'

'Argh! Fine, I'm going!'

And as I took my first steps on the academy grounds, I couldn't help but think back to the day when this insanity started. Or at least the day when I woke up and had to face it...

==========

It was hard to open my eyes and face the harsh lights coming from the LED above me, its piercingly white light burning my poor windows to reality.

"...huh? What the fu... DOCTOR!"

A sudden scream instantly woke my frail body up, as what looked like a nurse ran out of the room I was in, leaving me alone for a bit to try and process what was happening.

'-I have already explained this to you several times!'

'I'm having a moment here, Lucifer!'

Sadly, my very intense and emotional moment was instantly ruined by the woman that had kept me company for all these years, being the only one I had been able to speak to inside my own mind.

So, yes, I already knew I was lying in a hospital bed, and I also knew about the fact that I had been stuck in a coma for four years. Granted, it was still kind of exciting to actually see things again, but even that excitement had gotten dampened by Lucifer.

Sitting myself up in the bed, I just got on with my life with a sigh, not even caring about looking around the room and inspecting all the fancy machines around me.

"Haaa... Status."

===Status===

Name: Aarick Laupier

Rank: F [Potential S]

Strength: F

Agility: F

Stamina: F

Intelligence: F+

Mana Capacity: E

Blessing: Gravitational Bond - Rank I

==========

In front of me, a translucent window had showed up to show me the status of my vessel, a body that had now finally been fully reconstructed by the woman inside of me.

'If only I could be inside of her...'

'-Hey!'

'Sorry, sorry!'

Looking at the text and symbols in front of me, everything appeared to be in order, following exactly the prediction that Lucifer had made about my status.

In other words, everything was at the absolute bottom, except for my intelligence and mana capacity, which were at least a bit above my average stats.

'-So?'

'Hmm?'

'So, what do you think? Aren't I great?! To be able to not only save your life but also to grant you this power!'

The power she was talking about wasn't my stats, which wasn't much to brag about as I hadn't trained myself at all since awakening, but the blessing that she had granted me.

Gravitational Bond was the name of the blessing she had given me, and, just like traditional blessings, it followed the structure of carrying two words. However, there was something very, very strange about it.

'Hey, what does this mean?'

'-Rank I? It means that you haven't fully developed your...'

'Not that. Gravitational Bonds. What does that even mean? There's no semblance of what kind of role or element it's based on. Shouldn't it be something like Knight of Fire, or Water Mage? You know, something?'

Electric Ranger, Assassin of Storms, Flaming Swordsman, etc. All blessings were consistent in the way that they always told one what element you carried and what kind of combative role you would be suited for. But mine did not do that.

Somehow, even without being able to see her, I imagined myself seeing sweat starting to pour from the forehead of my savior.

'-Oh! Oh. Oh... So it was like that...'

'What do you mean "it was like that"?!'

'Well you see... these statuses... they weren't really around when I was a god. The awakening on earth only happened after I had gotten honorably dismissed and...'

'Thrown to hell, you mean.'

'Ahem! Anyway, I didn't know, alright?! I have been stuck in hell for god knows how many years, and so how should I have known about it?! I just thought the name sounded cool!'

Thinking about the fact that god would truly know for how long she had been down there, I couldn't be bothered to care anymore. The important thing was, after all, that I had now awakened, just like everyone else.

'So, what do I do now? I'm not sure if you know, but I'm still an orphan without any money. I know that we talked about the things you wanted me to do in exchange for you saving me, but I still don't see a way to make it happen if things are like this.'

'-Oh, don't worry about it! I used some of my connections and made it so you would get admitted to one of the most prestigious academies for aspiring hunters to train themselves!'

'Weren't you stuck in hell without any way of contacting anyone?'

'It will be great! And after you had the chance to practice, I'm sure you will impress everyone with the powers I gave you! And after that... Hehehehe....'

With her blatantly ignoring my comment and falling into some sort of weird state of mind where she couldn't be reached, I took my chance to stand up to my full new height. So, looking in the mirror that was very luckily placed right next to the bed, I was excited to see my new face and stature.

And there it was, my black hair replaced by a splendid white and for some reason, two of my teeth seemed to stick a bit more than usual, and red eyes. My torso and limbs... my torso and limbs... my torso and limbs?

...

'Hey, Lucifer...'

'-Ah, yes, Aarick?'

'Why am I so short?'

'-Ah, well you see... You know about those blood-sucking creatures that cannot live in the sun?'

'I BECAME A FUCKING VAMPIRE?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!'

'-No, I never said that you became a vampire. But... I guess sort of? You became one of my kin at least, and that means that your body hasn't actually aged that much in these couple of years. So be glad! You will get to live for a long time! Also, with proper nutrition, it shouldn't take too long for your body to catch up a bit.'

'So I can't allow the sun to touch me anymore?! I am already allergic to garlic, so that doesn't matter much... but what about silver?! Will I die if I get shot by a silver bullet to my heart?!'

'-Aarick... I think you will die no matter what kind of bullet pierces your heart right now. You are only an F-rank, after all. Also, don't mind it too much. The only thing you have to be careful about is letting people know about the fact that you aren't exactly human anymore...'

'Would you mind telling me why?'

'-Well, humans don't exactly like demons...'