"Hahaha, that was fun, Iode—even though you tried to kill me more times than I could count," Max said with a brimming smile.
"What? Says the guy who gave off killing intent first. Plus, how do you know my name?" Iode asked. Both individuals were on a rooftop.
"John told me," Max responded.
"John?!"
"Uh-huh. You met him at the university, right?" Max said. "Anyway, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Maximus Robert, the first progenitor vampire of the Crimson Tide faction. John told me about a new parahuman in town, so I decided to check for myself. And man, you're one hell of a fighter."
"So... you're not the leader of those thugs?" Iode asked.
"Don't mind those fools. Tch. As a leader of a large organization, it's pretty hard to control every action of your subordinates. While I am technically their leader, stealing and mugging normal citizens is not part of what my organization is supposed to do," Max explained.
'Oh, he's the leader of a shadow organization. I bet the stuff he and his crew do is way more heinous than stealing', Iode thought.
"So, new guy... what race are you? I've never smelled your kind before. You're not a draconian, right?" Max asked.
"I'm a wizard," Iode replied.
"Wizard? What kind? Human wizard? Elven wizard? What are we talking about here?" Max asked, puzzled.
"Where I'm from, 'wizard' is one of the ten tribes of the Magical Nation." Iode replied.
"Oh, so the wizard tribe is like a group from a nation of magic-wielders. What are the other tribes—sorcerers, warlocks?" Max asked.
"What? No!" Iode exclaimed. He sighed, then began to explain the tribes of his nation, the number of kingdoms in his world, and the name of his planet—Heaters.
"So, you're from another dimension?" Max asked.
"No, I'm from this universe—just a different world, aka planet," Iode replied.
"You're an alien from outer space?! Humans would love to learn about you! So... you're not a parahuman," Max said, visibly excited.
"You and John keep mentioning this 'parahuman' term. What is that, exactly?" Iode asked.
"Oh, okay. Parahumans are beings that diverged from humans. Every parahuman has a human ancestor. But parahumans came into existence for three different reasons—or rather, there are three types of parahumans, depending on the cause of divergence.
First are the Seeker-Born—humans who wanted power. They either sought out celestials to grant their wishes or transformed themselves during the pursuit of power. In the process, they became something no longer human. Examples include liches, chimerics, wendigos, shadowkin, and infernians.
Second are the Blessed-Born—humans who were blessed by a celestial or group of celestials as repayment for a good deed or favor. The blessing transformed them. Examples include elves, dwarves, dryads, the Seraphim-blessed, fauns, satyrs, nymphs, fairies, and storm-born.
Third are the Cursed-Born—humans punished by celestials for wrongdoing. The curse transformed them into different entities. Examples include vampires, werewolves, gorgons, banshees, ghouls, wraiths, and harpies," Max explained.
"You mentioned dwarves, elves, and fairies as tribes of your nation. Their existence—and even morphology—might differ greatly from their Earth versions," Max added.
"Hmm, actually, I might be from outer space, but every nation on my planet—except for the Kaiju Nation—descended from humans. Yes, we diverged from humans, just like you did," Iode said.
Max was momentarily stunned. He stood speechless for a moment.
"Wait... did you just say your people diverged from humans? That your ancestors were humans before becoming parahumans? Humans exist on other planets besides Earth? Did I hear that right?" Max asked, rattling off questions.
"Yes, you did," Iode replied.
"Humans on other planets... wow. Humans here would be thrilled to learn that. It'd give them the motivation to build interstellar spacecrafts! Man, I wonder if there are vampires like us on other worlds in the universe," Max said, grinning.
"Whatever the case may be, welcome to Springscent Island—the safe haven for parahumans and metahumans alike," Max added.
"Here comes another term... what's a metahuman?" Iode asked.
"Metahumans—also known as psionics—are humans with supernatural abilities. Some can control wind, others fire. Some are super fast, others can read minds. There are two main types:
First are Innate Ability Metahumans—they're naturally born with powers due to their high compatibility with mana. They awaken at different times: some at birth, others in childhood or their teenage years. There have even been rare cases of people awakening powers in middle age.
Second are Mystic Arts Metahumans—these are normal humans who, over time, develop control over mystic forces. They aren't born with powers but gain them through training or affinity. Examples include shamans, magicians, wizards, sorcerers, and witches," Max explained.
"Oh… then Dana must be a metahuman. Her core feels different from regular humans. And that man with strange energy I met at the department store—he must be one too, though probably from a different category," Iode muttered.
Max handed Iode a card.
"Anyway, parahuman from outer space, I'd love to see you there," Max said with a wink before turning into a swarm of bats.
Iode looked at the card in his hand. It was a brown-colored piece of hard paper with a diagram and description of what looked like a club.
"He wants me to visit this place. That guy seriously wants me to join him—fat chance!" he scoffed.
"Better head home. It's getting dark."
Then he remembered.
"My groceries!"
Standing atop the rooftop, Iode wore a bitter expression. From there, he could see his goods—squashed and ruined on the ground, with police patrolling the area and stepping on them.
"Damn that vampire... he could've at least paid me back for the groceries he ruined..."