Villain's Second Heart: Trapped in A Fantasy Novel (BL)-Chapter 8: The Nephilim Wakes

Deek shouted: "Activate"!

Immediately after, a window appeared in front of Ezra. He couldn't believe it - just like the words that appeared in front of him while Alcor was trying to get in his head.

[Name: Alcor Star (Ezra)

HP: 500/500

MP: 7684/500

Race: Human (Irregular)

Level: 10

Class: Mana Thief]

"Hmm. Irregular. Don't like the sound of that," Deek commented. "But I guess you're not as weak as I thought. Level 10, huh?"

"This is like a game world...wait, does that mean you're an NPC!?"

It made sense to Ezra - she was living in the Storyteller's novel, after all. But if Deek was an NPC, wouldn't that mean Alcor, Oberyn, and everyone else was too?

"Dunno what you're yappin' about," Deek said dismissively. "Mana Thief. Explains the black aura you got."

"What's a Mana Thief?"

"Never met one. I think it means you're like a fancy battery or somethin'. That's why your Mana is so high."

Ezra looks back at his 'Profile'. Now that she mentioned it, he does a double-take.

"7684/500? What the hell?"

"Yeeeup. Surprised you haven't exploded yet, TBH."

"So you know TBH but not NPC, huh?" Ezra raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, explode?"

"You really are from under a rock, huh? Anyone who's overloaded with mana meets the same fate - they disintegrate. Become mana itself. Been happening more and more lately, too. Not enough Magicians to use all the mana floatin' around. Hey, at least there are people like you who can hold a bunch. Me, I can't hold much at all."

Deek activates her own window to show Ezra for comparison.

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[Name: Decoy Vulstine

HP: 380/425

MP: 84/200

Race: Ferin (Fox-Anima)

Level: 8

Class: Scout]

"You're missing some health, are you okay?"

That was the first thing that Ezra could think to ask, but he noted some other curiosities - like her Class of 'Scout', for example. And the fact that this little girl was almost the same level as him.

"Some of us have chores to do, dumb human. I'll recover when I eat something or take a nap. Speaking of, you're really drillin' into my nap time. How much longer is this guy going to be passed out?"

As if by clockwork, as the two of them looked over to Oberyn, his eyes flashed open.

Ezra half-expected him to jump into action, but the Nephilim rose slowly from the couch, rubbing his eyes.

"Where am I...?" Oberyn sniffed, wiping a bit of drool from the corner of his mouth. He blinked a few times, staring at Ezra. Then it hit him.

His mind raced. His body felt...lighter. But also drained. Where was he? The couch was too soft, the air too still. He wasn't in Asteria. His stomach twisted. This wasn't the battlefield. It was a home. And the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes... was Ezra. Standing over him, watching him like he cared.

"You!" he barked, pushing himself up. "What did you do to me!?"

"Whoa, whoa," Deek raised her hands. "What's goin' on!?"

"What are you makin' all that damn noise for Deek!? Don't make me come over there and - cough."

"Shut up, Cliff! These two vagrants are about to square up and I wanna see!"

"Oberyn!" Ezra said, his voice loud but calm. He needed to diffuse the situation. "You passed out. I brought you here so you could get some rest. Everything's okay. Chill. Please."

Oberyn's eyes darted from Ezra, to Deek, and then back again. He didn't sense any danger, that much was true - and the surroundings were hardly a dungeon. It was a small, somewhat messy farmhouse.

"I take it you two aren't besties."

Ezra smiled to himself. That was the understatement of the year.

"Who are you?" Oberyn said, looking straight at the Ferin girl.

"Gee, nice to meet you too. I'm Deek. The girl who let you crash on her couch, ya ingrate."

Oberyn turned around, like he didn't even notice the couch before, or know he was sleeping so softly and soundly but a moment ago.

"I passed out, and you let me recover here?"

Deek bobbed her head up and down. "Don't thank me. Thank your friend here. He was so pathetic I couldn't help but do him a solid."

Oberyn focused his attention back on Ezra. Their eyes met again, a gaze that both of them indulged in a moment too long.

"After everything I did, trying to kill you, taking you prisoner...you did that for me?"

Deek opened her mouth wide in a circle, shocked by the developments. She flopped back down onto her chair, watching with intense curiosity. If only she had some popcorn.

"Of course I did. You spared my life, after all. Figured I owed you the favor."

Oberyn felt a lump in his throat - it made it hard to speak.

The Nephilim had spent the first eighteen years of his life on the moon, living among the others of his species. But when he awoke his magic, he was forced to leave - his very presence on the moon threatened to overload his entire community with mana.

Not once since he stepped foot on Earth had a human treated him with such kindness. In the last two months, he was treated like a tool of war. Something to be manipulated - the king's plaything.

He didn't think there were any good humans out there, and yet the Harbinger he sought - evil personified, or so he believed - treated him like he mattered.

"Is this an evil trick to seduce me to your side?" Oberyn spat.

"Seduce, huh?" Ezra couldn't help but smirk at Oberyn's word choice. "That's not my plan. I just could never leave someone who needs help. That's not the kind of guy I am."

Oberyn exhaled - slowly. He let the tension flow out of him and surrendered to his rational mind.

"You're a good man, then. Ezra. Seems I misunderstood you."

Ezra's eyes couldn't help but watch Oberyn's lips as he talked. Full and soft, his words smooth and harmonic.

"It happens," Ezra said, his expression softening. He caught Oberyn's gaze one more time, but the Nephilim quickly - nervously - pretended not to notice and feigned a compelling, sudden interest in a clock on the wall.

Anything to avoid eye contact with Ezra again.

"Well, now that we're all buddies," Deek giggled. "Time to check your stats too, Mr. Nephilim!"