368- Are We That Different?

Miles sat on the ground and looked at his bloody hands. He still couldn't believe what had happened ever since he stepped into the tower. From the beginning to the end, it was like a distant dream that he was trying to catch.

Why did towers exist? He asked this question many times and still failed to find an answer. The tower was offering a chance to grow up to humanity. There were some challenges, sure, but they were manageable when entered with a proper team. His was an accident he hoped he would never repeat, but nonetheless, he did his best for the tower and would get the reward. The tower concisely made things easier for him because of his level and that he was alone.

Why? Why did the tower assist him? It allowed him to rest, it gave him richness and in the end, he even acquired a tower seed. He couldn't answer. He wasn't sure if this was something monsters created or the ancient races before their demise. He had no idea.

The next question burning his brain was how tower seeds came to be? Were they natural treasures born from excessive energy? Or were they handmade? He would have pondered over this much longer if it wasn't for the Safe Seed he found not long ago. Since Safe Seeds allowed humanity to prevent monsters from swarming, it was also possible for seeds to upgrade ultimates.

But what he wanted to know most was the final boss of the tower.

A few hours earlier,

"Welcome, my child."

Miles looked at the pair of red eyes that appeared in the darkness. He couldn't feel its existence, nor was he sure if the things he was seeing and hearing were true. But the eerie feeling creeping on his neck was undeniable.

"Who are you?" Miles asked in monster language.

"Who? Of course, I am your elder." The darkness answered.

"We are different, how can you be my elder?" Miles asked as he took a step back. He wanted to rest his back on the wall to be sure.

"Are we so different?" The monster answered and in the next second, the darkness split open. From within, a humanoid creature walked. It had blood-red eyes and a pale body. But other than these two features, it looked like a human male.

"You are a vampire?" Miles asked in trepidation.

"So are you." The creature smiled as he pointed at Miles's eyes. Only then did he realize what was going on. When he used the first blood orb, his genes changed to accommodate his new eyes. It could be said that he was partly a monster from then on.

"How does that make you my elder?" Miles asked. He wanted to learn more about this creature and towers if possible.

"We are all connected to the same source. Alpha created all of us and since you are much, much younger than me, I am considered your elder. It is not so strange, is it?" The vampire said with a smile.

"Why are you here? What is this place?" Miles asked, failing to keep his curiosity in check.

"I don't know what this place is, but one day, I found myself here. It happened all of a sudden and I disappeared from my home. In the next second, I was in a dark room." The vampire looked afar. As if he was reminiscing about the good memories. "It was so long ago. I barely remember any of that now."

"How long?" Miles asked in hope. This could be a clue to his questions.

"Too long, my child. I can't remember." The vampire closed his eyes and sighed.

"I am trapped in this tower, and the only way out is by defeating you," Miles stated in worry.

"Whoever trapped us here wants us to fight among ourselves. Do they think I will kill my brethren?" The vampire snorted in anger. "Come, finish me. I had enough. It is time for me to move on."

"But-" Miles hesitated. When he spoke with the man, he realized he wasn't different from any other human. He probably had a family and children. He was taken away from them and trapped in that tower for who knew how long. He hesitated because he felt the pain the vampire was feeling.

"It is okay, my child. Elders must perish to open the path for the younglings. You are still too young. Haven't even lived more than 20 years. I had enough. Please help me to escape this prison." The vampire pleaded. Miles saw hope in his eyes. He wanted to die and be done with this.

"Okay." Miles took a step forward, toward the vampire. When he was in front of him, he pulled out his dagger and covered it with lightning elemental energy. The monster looked at Miles in disbelief for a single second, but he didn't fight back. The dagger pierced through the flesh and the heart without any difficulty. The vampire lowered his defense to allow Miles to kill him easily. And not long after, he did die. He died with a smile and tears falling down his face.

"He must have noticed that I wasn't a vampire," Miles muttered slowly.

"Dark creatures cannot manifest light or lightning." Coin answered in his mind.

"Still, he didn't fight back."

"He wanted to die."

"His emotions were so real. I felt them as if they were mine. Makes me wonder, how are they different from humans?"

"They chose to invade our worlds, Miles. Don't forget that."

"You are right." Miles nodded then added, "Did they all? Isn't it a big taboo for a soldier to question his superior? What if they are the same?"

"Don't make this cloud your judgment Miles. Monsters are enemies of humanity. It is either them or us."

"Hmm."

Miles fell to the ground and looked at his bloody hands. And for a long time, he failed to shake off the guilt.