VoC: B1 — 27. Snow Elf
Added 2025-09-22 22:52:45 +0000 UTCPoV:
1. Damon (Our Dhampir MC!)
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Gripping the cold iron bars of his cell, Damon stood still, watching as the most dangerous person he’d ever encountered laughed and strolled further into the space as if she weren’t a prisoner at all.
Her braid swung with her spinning motion, unbothered as every eye was locked on her exposed skin, captured by the hot, amber gaze of the creature living upon it.
Merana pointed at the cell next to his with a bubbly laugh. “Is this the cell you intended for me? Believe it or not, I’ve never actually been to this old dwarven enclave; it has a certain…unique aesthetic compared to their capital to the far northwest. “Just as sturdy as I’d expect.”
Copper pressed against his leg, a low whine escaping the cub as the wyvern’s focus darted to him.
It’s okay, bud… This is showmanship. She’s making it very clear who is in control here.
Merana Thorn moved with the fluid grace of someone who had never doubted her ability to control any situation she entered. Where the guards had expected resistance or at least wariness, she guided them with gentle suggestions and patient smiles.
The taller guard—the same one who’d been so confident when arresting Damon—now reluctantly followed after her, clearly not trying to wake a sleeping dragon. “Y-Yes, ma’am. This is…this is the standard holding area. I’m sure it won’t be long…”
“Standard,” Merana repeated with amusement, hands held behind her back as she entered the open door, noting the lack of furnishings or even a bed. “Reminds me of the Salven Theocracy’s prisons. Quite…minimalist. How refreshing compared to the lavash cells in the legal prisons on the surface,” she chimed, spinning back around to grin at the two guards. “So. What happens now, boys?”
“Uh, yeah… The boss, ahem, yeah…” the scarred guard started, then stopped, clearly realizing he had no idea how to handle this situation. “He’ll… Yes. He’ll want to see you.”
“Wonderful. And I hope you both cheer up! He might get the wrong impression from how you’re acting. I’m not that scary… Am I, Korina?” she inquired with a false frown, glancing to her left shoulder as a wolf’s eyes moved below the mouse to stare at the men.
“You think so? Huh. I think I’m being rather cute. After all…I do so enjoy meeting an old acquaintance again. What was that, Luna? They’re thinking about changing professions?” Her focus shifted to the mouse, now sitting on the wolf’s head. “Sometimes that can be a good decision. What do you think, Damon?”
Damon let his left fang poke out slightly as he lightly chewed on his inner lip. He noted how terrified the two men were, digesting her statement, her question lingering like a specter, hanging in the air.
An old acquaintance, hmm? he privately said to Copper. She seems like the type to smother someone, just for fun…but that’s probably just an act. And is she reading their thoughts or just reading their reactions and putting thoughts in their heads? Whatever the case…she certainly is interesting.
“I can imagine being a guard in a shady underground operation has its health risks.”
“Quite true! I do hope they have some sort of arrangement with the Holy Cathedral for any medical issues. Here…let me close the door for you.”
One guard practically fled the room while the other made increasingly desperate excuses about needing to “secure her belongings” and “verify the intake paperwork.”
Literally, within ten seconds, the detention area had cleared, leaving Damon and Copper with the sole company of a woman who could probably level the entire underground complex.
Merana moved to the bars separating their cells with the same casual confidence she’d shown the guards. She settled gracefully onto the stone floor, her back against the barrier, and pulled her platinum braid over her shoulder.
“Well, that was rather abrupt of them,” she said conversationally with a light laugh, “and rather more theatrical than I anticipated. Perhaps I came off a little too strong. I mean, I’m really just passing through. How about you, Mr. Reincarnate?”
Damon found himself moving closer, drawn by curiosity despite every survival instinct screaming at him to keep his distance. If she wanted him dead, distance wouldn’t save him. However, her cadence change spoke volumes.
As he settled onto the ground across from her, propping himself up against the opposite wall, he couldn’t help but watch the tattoo on her exposed back while collecting his thoughts.
The wyvern’s wings seemed to shift and breathe with her movements, scales catching the magical light in ways that suggested depth beyond the surface of her skin. And as he watched, the creature’s gaze turned to look directly at him, causing Copper to post himself between them, trembling slightly, but glaring back.
Hey, it’s okay, bud, he soothed, leaning forward to pull him into his lap to hug; the cub’s thick and soft fur helped to ground him. She’s not here to threaten us… Not yet, at least.
“I don’t want to be that guy who thinks the world revolves around him,” Damon carefully returned, “but it seems like everyone wants a piece of my time lately. If you want to flirt, I know I look like a hot, dark piece of meat right now—wavy black hair, rugged complexion, and a full set of abs. But, news flash, I’m currently ten years old and already have a girlfriend. So, I’m good.”
Merana’s laugh was genuinely delighted, crossing her legs and stretching her arms high over her head. “How contradictory, presumptuous, and wonderful. Everyone needs that kind of connection. What a conversation starter!”
“Oh? Should I have led with ‘we both have pointy ears, let’s stage a jailbreak?’”
“That’s perfect! You remind me of, mmm…of someone I used to know. A sharper tongue, for sure,” she snickered, head pressing back against the bars as she looked up, a heavy note momentarily touching her tone. “That look in your eyes…that tells a girl that there’s something he’s protecting more than his own soul…”
Damon didn’t have much to say to that, causing the silence of the underground to press in on them as the snow elf breathed a long sigh.
“Wow… I like you already, Damon. But there’s something I need to know…”
“I doubt I’m as much of an open book as you seem to be,” he dryly laughed, “but I have to ask—is it snow elf culture to have conversations while your dragon stares at people?”
“Why not settle for two dragons?”
She turned slightly, and he caught a glimpse of other tattoos moving across her skin—a small mouse perched on her shoulder, a dire wolf wrapped around her ribs.
Her left, ice-blue eye suddenly shifted, its pupil elongating into a vertical slit as it flared with a rose-like inner fire. The change was so dramatic, so alien, that Damon felt frozen in place. It wasn’t just the physical transformation—something vast and ancient seemed to peer directly into his soul, weighing and measuring everything he was and could become.
[System Trickery: Failed]
Not overwhelmed, not bypassed—simply rendered meaningless by something that saw far deeper than any status window could hide.
Three for two now? We’re in the red! Titania, how freaking good is this Feat if it always fails on me?! I know it’s only D-tier, but c’mon!
Then she blinked, and her eye returned to its normal glacial blue, showing a genuine, apologetic smile.
“Sorry about that, Damon, truly… As invasive as that was, you can’t take chances when dealing with reincarnates… For what it’s worth, you have a beautiful soul. Not flirting! Just being honest… Sophia is a lucky woman to hold that much space in your heart.”
That last line caused icy needles to crawl up his spine to the back of his neck, twisting his gut and forcing him to breathe out the rising heat lurching up his throat.
“You…read my soul or something like that?” His vision fell to the stone floor, holding Copper tighter as he felt something…corrosive roll through his core. “This world is so…alien and invasive. Why did you track me down like a rabbit?” he demanded, looking up to meet her gaze.
Chest rising and falling, Merana’s head turned away to stare down at her thighs, playing with the end of her braid. “That’s a complicated question to answer… There was a time when I wouldn’t have cared who I used the Rosen Monarch’s Eye on… I’m glad I didn’t have it when I was younger… Why have I tracked you down like a rabbit?”
Damon released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, but let the woman work through her own emotions. “We’re a lot more similar than I would have thought, considering our alignments… It might seem a bit disconnected at first.”
She reached up to press a finger against her mouse’s head as the rodent rubbed against the contact. “Just like you, I walk this way because I always have… It’s an outside world, but we keep it in…”
Her head half-turned, showing pain now as she looked at him from the corner of her vision. “I try my best to be the one that never needs a supporter, always fine struggling alone…trying our hardest to show the world that we’re not breaking down. There’s a justice in love that I can’t explain. Moving, contorting my mind and brain…just wanting to hear him say, he needs me.”
Damon tucked under his bottom lip, struggling with the idea that she could just be using his own inner emotions against him—his need to hear Sophia’s voice, that she needed him.
Staring right back, he had to fight down the reflexive emotions to lash out. “You are about balance…so, is this you trying to equal the cost of what you extracted? I’m still not following.”
“…No, I suppose you wouldn’t with only that,” Merana whispered, pushing herself away before resituating against the stone wall and tucking her legs up to rest her chin on them. “Yes, you could say this is my attempt to balance an invasion so personal…but it is very personal to me… I’ve lived a long life compared to you and come from a totally different world than Earth…”
Scooting back and motioning for Copper to join him, he sat next to her, the bars between them as he remained silent and let her talk. He absorbed every word, but it often took the snow elf a short time before she found the words to continue.
“What I’m building toward is…the core about why I sought you out. You already heard a little about him,” she whispered, looking up at him with a pained smile. “His name was Esgneal. Titania’s last Sage…that you took the place of. My mentor, despite the age gap… He was so…grounded.”
Her head fell back against the stones, looking into the past. “But all of that starts in my past world, just as it did for you… Only, I had yet to feel that deep connection you share with Aria and Sophia. Do you want to hear that story?”
Damon considered it for a moment, feeling the anxiety immediately grip his chest at the mention of his sister. But he slowly nodded, knowing this was a genuine attempt to make things right; it felt too real to dismiss, and this wasn’t from anyone but a high-level reincarnate. He stood to gain a lot from this conversation, despite the violation.
“Go on, and I can feel the sincerity…but more than anything, I need to figure out how to escape all these legal traps, get back to my sister, and get what I need to save those people I need to protect.”
Merana’s mouth lifted into a somber smile, returning to playing with the end of her braid. After a short pause, she whispered as if reliving bitter-sweet, core memories in song, or reciting a mantra, “Mature beyond your years…just like him:
“Are you lost? Take my hand…and I’ll walk with you. Time stands still when you’re here… I stay young. Whispered words in my ear… I’ll be there for you. Breathing out, breathing in, and I’ll love you home again… There’s nothing I’d change. No, nothing at all. We are one. Do you know, you color me in, from my skin to my bones? All I am and even more…I’ll give to you. You’re mine… You’re mine… So where did you go?”
A single, silver tear ran down Merana’s cheek as she opened her eyes and looked over at him, feeling the deep, personal scars of a force of nature. Despite how powerful she was and the mask she put on, there was a pain she was powerless to heal…and he was the nail in her coffin.
Damon took a few seconds to let her torment settle into his own soul, opening up to the shared suffering. “I know there’s nothing I could say that will make it lighter… I’m sorry.”
Cheek resting against her knee, Merana showed a smile that was both desperate, hopeful, and coping. “Thank you. He never knew my feelings for him. I never told him…but he told me he’d wait for me to admit what I was too afraid to act on. Trapped inside a dimensional prison for five years…that was the only thing that kept me sane. And when I was released…”
“The Vanishing,” Damon mumbled. “All the reincarnates disappeared, leaving the Hell Gate in their place.”
“It isn’t hopeless,” she added with a smile that was holding onto fraying threads. “It is a slim chance, but…there is the possibility he somehow managed to reach Level 100 and transcend the system. That would open up the slot. But if he did…”
She didn’t finish, but Damon could complete it on his own. …Then why hasn’t he come to her? Reality is cruel, no matter how strong you are.
Wiping away another tear, she cleared her throat and shifted her posture to focus on Copper, who had been watching her with growing fascination. “Don’t think I believe that settles my debt to you…for more than I can express. My life is a hot mess of contradictions, but a hundred and twenty-eight years can do that to a woman. Please, introduce me to your companion. I can see Titania’s hand in providing him to you.”
Recognizing that she was trying to close up her exposed heart before the guards returned with their boss, but still wanted to learn more about him—the man who replaced her heart’s desire—he smiled and presented the cub.
“This is Copper,” Damon said, gently encouraging the cub forward. “He’s got his own scars, but is a tough nut inside, too. He’s growing by the hour… How about your friends?”
“Copper is such an adorably strong name: malleable, warm, and a transfer of energy, as I understand it, which shows a connecting force. That copper coat is certainly gorgeous as well. Ah, and this is Astra,” she added, shifting to the side to display the wyvern between her shoulder blades, head held high imperiously. “She tends to be protective, but she seems to approve of you both.”
The dire wolf tattoo had begun moving around her back, circling to get a better view of them. Copper’s fur bristled slightly, not with fear, but cautious respect.
“We have a little more time before they gather the courage to come back or confess to their boss about me being caged,” Merana continued with a small smile that said she knew a bit more about that than she was letting on. “You’re smart and know a decent amount more than I did when I was dropped into a snow elf village, but I know you have questions. Ask away.”
The wolf’s nose scrunched on her abdomen, making the woman’s lips bunch to the side. “Oh, shush. We can’t be giving away everyone’s names, or else we’ll be here all day. There will be time for that later.”
A visual huff from the wolf came with him flicking his tail in a way that made her abs tense, as if slapped. “Oh, go and pout, baby…” she snickered, rubbing the area as if stung and causing a small smile to lift Damon’s lips. “So, go ahead! Ask this old woman anything. Eh, well, not that I’m old for elf culture, who typically live seven hundred and fifty years, but the point stands from your point of view.”
“Funny. That bubbly personality wasn’t for show, I see,” Damon chuckled. “Sophia would probably like that, and Aria would connect with your sense of humor… What do I want to know?”
He scratched Copper’s neck, knowing that the questions he most wanted to know would actually cut at her a little. Still, they were things he needed to know, even if just the generals.
“I don’t want to go too deep, but…I’ve heard Esgneal was well-liked and well-respected. People have already been looking at me and comparing, almost like they’re judging Titania herself for choosing a dark elf to replace him… Can you tell me what to expect—how strong he was, why he was so beloved, and things you’d want to know if you had to start over?”
Merana dropped to her side, hands slipping through the rails while showing a welcoming smile and motioning for Copper to come to her. The cub hesitated, looking up at him for permission. He gently nudged him forward, and the bear padded forward to be loved by the snow elf, rubbing his ears and focusing on specific places.
“…Esgneal was like you in many ways, deep down. Not a carbon copy, but I can see why Titania chose you… He took on so much responsibility, and with a smile on his face. You’ve already found where your heart sits, but that took him a bit longer… He had that same, almost toxic push to shoulder everything on his own…trying to make life easier for those he loved at the expense of himself…”
Damon forced a laugh, leaning against the wall and staring up at the ceiling, personal memories of fights Sophia and he had resurfacing like a hot blade. “I’m not blind to it…but yes, I know I have an ego. I want to see those close to me succeed…but not suffer, which is illogical and harmful. I’ve read the parenting books on helicopter parents.”
His smile faded slightly, hearing Sophia’s angry words in his head, not a week before the accident: “You keep taking these stones from a glass house—your righteousness is paper-thin, Damon! When’s the last time you felt right—that you’ve relaxed? Sometimes it feels like…like I’m hitting you with a tidal wave of empty feelings and you can’t see I need to help you, too! It makes me feel like I’m…your prison…”
Merana didn’t respond to that, but he knew she probably understood that feeling by the quiet way she stroked Copper; she’d looked inside his soul and saw his deepest scars, after all.
After a short pause, he sighed, knowing the contradictory nature of it all. He had to save Sophia, but what if she was saving herself as well? Was there a happy medium? No, that was counterproductive at this moment until she told him herself. She wasn’t the typical quiet girl who wouldn’t let her emotions be known.
He had to trust her to tell him when he overstepped. Part of the reason he took that time out for the boating venture was to let her organize a semi-date for them, even if Aria was tagging along.
“What else?” he softly asked.
“Mmm… Something most Earth reincarnates tend to go through,” she mumbled, “is the idea that they can power-level, game the system, and get max level quick…but this system is brutal. Almost uncannily brutal…”
“How so?”
She lifted her head and bunched her braid under it before returning to giving Copper love. “Esgneal was level 65 when he vanished…looking for me, or so I’ve heard.”
Her mouth became a line, a short pause speaking volumes before she continued, as if she were looking at herself and seeing all her own mistakes she couldn’t take back now, picking herself apart. Damon could see her mirroring his life with her own, which she might even now consider a self-imposed curse since she had to know who took Esgneal’s place.
“Most Earth reincarnates think they’re the main character of some power fantasy, as Esgneal would say,” she said with a bitter laugh. “They see their starting Feats and think they’re invincible. The worst part? Healers and tanks get devastated by this system because EXP is based on damage dealt to targets, not healing or support. I’ve watched so many support-focused reincarnates break down when they realize they’re stuck at low levels forever.”
She glanced at him appraisingly. “Your [Party Share EXP] Feat changes everything, though. Smart pick—or rather, smart choice to let Titania handle your build entirely. You’re actually constructed to succeed where others, blinded by their own ego and intelligence, fail.”
Damon forced a smile. “Again, that’s Titania’s wisdom, choosing a guy who had no clue what he was doing and thought, ‘hey, the goddess should know all the rules and how to get around them.’ But…why tell me that if…oh.” He hissed through his teeth. “Aria. Yeah, that girl’s ego… My sister fits that power fantasy mindset perfectly.”
Merana chuckled sadly. “You’re a good brother to worry. But here’s the brutal truth: Level 40 is basically the surface maximum. That is for the whole planet. To get stronger, you’d need to enter the Darkvein or confront the demonic host at the Hell Gate, which…I’d advise against it until at least Level 50. Even the Darkvein has level limits, from what I’m told.”
“Good to know,” Damon sighed, crossing his legs and looking at the holy rings tattooed around his wrists, reflecting on his oath to the Holy Emperor. “I’ve got five years, so…how long does it typically take to reach your level? You’re over a hundred but only Level 55. That…doesn’t spark a lot of confidence in me right now.”
“About that, levels themselves aren’t going to be your main issue,” she noted, showing a pained grin.
“Oh? Then what is?”
“Resurrection penalties. But…once again, Titania comes to the rescue with the dhampir lineage. You have a solid method to escape. Not that your sister or anyone else will be able to join you. Well, without certain possible conditions,” she added with a thoughtful head nudge.
“Okay, we’ll have to cover that later, if possible,” he laughed. “Is it really that hard to level? You aren’t just the lazy type of reincarnate?”
“Ouch! But also not wrong to poke at me,” she smirked. “Just for clarity, the lower-tier resurrections available on the surface are savage—you lose five levels, five in every stat, and probably the most tragic…a month’s worth of memories.”
“Damn…”
“Yeah. There are two years of my life I have no memory of…or the friends I made during that time that died with me and didn’t return.”
“That is harsh…”
“As for Level 55 and onward, every death becomes a catastrophic setback. Esgneal was Level 65 when he vanished, and it took him decades to get there…working hard, unlike me, at least until I met him. Most people never make it past 40 because they can live a comfortable life here on the surface without the harsh risks of the Darkvein, and the Infinite Dungeon of Aurelia offers a good alternative for more casual leveling over time.”
Uncle Stephen’s territory, Damon noted, remembering small tidbits from conversations about that mythical world wonder he managed.
“For you, though,” she added, sitting up and crossing her legs with a more gentle smile, “it will be far easier. How much? That depends on how generous I want to be and the types of bonds you form as a Unity Tamer. But for a real comparison, we can look at Titania’s recent legend, who vanished with the Rosen Dragon: Lord Malik Silverwing.”
“Lord? Fancy title,” Damon huffed. “I take it you’re the resident lore expert since you’re one of the only reincarnates left from before the Vanishing?”
“Something like that, but I’m a bit more invested in Malik’s tale for more…personal reasons,” she chuckled. “Cutting past the long history lesson, he awakened his memories at age 10, like you…during the Hell Gate opening incident, right in the middle of it.”
Damon sat straighter. “So, he was literally thrown into the fire?”
“Literally, indeed,” she nodded, giving the turtle tattoo on her other shoulder some attention. “Ten years, he fought tooth and nail, dying twice, true, which put him back two years worth of EXP grinding, but he was the de facto reincarnation of this kingdom, and the surrounding nations relied on him for that first chaotic decade. Within that time, and before he vanished, he got to Level 49 before taking on a…rather insane mission from Titania that involved romance of all things,” she laughed. “A story for another time. You get the point.”
Pointing at her ears and the door, she sighed. “I hear the boss coming, so we should probably wrap this up. You’ll be out soon enough.”
“Hah. Thanks… Even if being with me is no doubt painful,” he stated, showing a truly thankful gaze her way, “I cannot thank you enough for what you’ve given me.”
She glanced at her lap, a melancholy shadow casting across her face while quoting the scar upon her heart, no doubt. “We take a mental photograph to remind ourselves of the days that pass… We dive right into the future with our heads to the sky and our arms open wide to embrace this moment… We live like today, like it’s all that we have.”
Damon opened up his status window and focused on [A-tier Rapid Growth].
I have 300% increased EXP gain that is spread across all my party… If I get it to S-tier, then it could jump up a ton. It’s something to consider. I do have the perfect start. He looked up at the broken woman, struggling to hold herself together in front of him. Titania, despite all the obstacles, you’ve provided ways forward for us… Thank you.
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[ Next POV: Sophia]
[ Theme: Will our mimic girl has discovered her first group of Adventurers! Uh-oh. How is this going to turn out? Sophia just got her fox buddy; let’s hope things don’t escalate. ]
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