Like that Arthur had solved the issue of losing his status as a blood sorcerer upon birth. Pondering whether or not he should continue with his use of [Blood Absorb] on his mother he internally sighed and decided that he¡¯d still need someone to breastfeed him upon his birth so he threw that idea away. Instead he opted to sleep, and that he did. After what he assumed was a month Arthur began feeling a pressure on his head. It¡¯s happening! LIGHT! < [Blood Absorb reduced by I level, constitution dropped by two points> And light there was indeed. Although a little blurry and blue tinted he watched the world as he intentionally cried his lungs out. He saw a shaken black skinned man on his side as well as a sickly looking woman of the same color looking at him with deep loving eyes before closing them with a weak breath. He was held by an old woman and he finally realized something, these people were far from advanced¡ He wasn¡¯t even born on a hospital bed, he was in a dirt hut! But whatever the case he kept on crying before the midwife handed the baby to who he assumed was his now father. The man said some unintelligible words as he held Arthur in the air, the last word he heard sounded something like Athak, and when that happened Arthur gained a notification. <Name updated to Athak> Ok. After he¡¯d been handed back to the midwife he gained another notification. <Lvl 16 human priest killed, calculating experience¡> <Blood Absorb has reached level III, Con+5> <Title gained: [Matricide], Con-2, All other stats gain +1> <Title gained: [Giant Slayer], Str+5, damage to all creatures ten or more times larger than you increased by 10%> <You¡¯ve successfully had your first kill! Bonus experience acquired¡ Level difference between you and the killed exceeds 5, gained bonus Exp¡ Level difference exceeds 10, gained bonus Exp¡ Level difference exceeds 15, gained bonus experience¡> <You have reached level 5, class selection has been opened> The man rushed to his wife and checked on her pulse a mournful scream soon filling the hut. And all that Arthur¡ no¡ Athak was thinking was¡ This is going to be interesting¡ Ch. 2 Class Other than familiarizing myself with the local lifestyle and having to be breastfed by a woman other than my mother I had nothing to do in this damned location. I learnt a couple of things though, I hadn¡¯t been the first child in the family. I had an older brother and sister. My brother named Kael was around eight from what I could tell and he would help with milking the cattle while I often saw my sister Adana make baskets from tall grass and the like; she was ten or so. Whatever the case I had a pending decision to make¡ What class should I acquire? <Available classes: ???(Innate), Blood Acolyte(Rare), Ritual Acolyte(Rare), Duelist(Uncommon), Animal Farmer(common), Plant Farmer(Common), Fist Fighter(common). It seemed as though the best course of action would be to wait and gather information¡ Blood Acolyte? <Blood Acolyte: unlocked by having a skill in the blood magic category, unlocks the class Blood Mage when it is leveled to the fifth level, and gives a boost to blood magic spells.> Should I take the safe option or take my innate class? It should be Blood Sorcerer¡ Bah it can¡¯t be that bad, I¡¯m getting impatient. I select the innate option as my class. <You have selected the Blood Sorcerer(Varied), processing soul and lineage data¡ Mind fully compatible¡ Body lacking affinity¡ searching for solution¡> What¡¯s taking so long¡? <You lack the necessary body affinity to be a fully-fledged Blood Sorcerer, proceed or apply fix?> Apply fix. <Assigning quest¡> <New Quest! Develop your lineage¡¯s innate affinity to Blood Magic, quest rewards: ???> Sigh¡ It couldn¡¯t have been simple huh? How am I supposed to increase my affinity if my body isn¡¯t meant to be a Blood Sorcerer? Suddenly Athak heard the sound of a horn being blown, he¡¯d been laying on a pile skins in a corner of his caretaker¡¯s hut. Right when it had been played he could hear people beginning to mumble, he¡¯d just been born yesterday and his belly button had yet to heal but even his caretaker left her quarters to go outside, curious Athak crawled out of the little corner he¡¯d been in and went to the open entrance of the hut to see what was going on. Everyone, or what he assumed were almost all the adults were gathered in the middle of the village and were looking up in the sky, when he himself looked up there was a massive bird-like creature which was mounted by a fair skinned man. The creature landed and the man who was clothed in a fashionable blue robe, some plating on his chest, and a metal helmet left his mount as well. When he began speaking Athak immediately forgot of his surprise towards the creature¡ He could vaguely understand the man, in fact the language was somewhat similar to the English from his world¡ Surprised Athak thought one thing, this was either a coincidence or¡ there had been others from his world who¡¯d come here long ago and English had somewhat evolved as a language since. Whatever the case it seemed that one of the village elders knew of the language and spoke back to the fair skin. ¡°Oh man of great bloodline! We have what you have asked of us!¡± ¡°Good, good... has your tree born fruit yet?¡± ¡°Sir¡ you know that that is sacred to our tribe¡ we have just had a newborn and we have yet to perform our awakening ritual on the boy. We cannot spare-¡° ¡°Give me the fruit, the child can wait. What of your priestess?¡± Silence filled the village, perhaps the regular people didn¡¯t know of the English language but that word ¡®priestess¡¯ they all seemed to have understood. ¡°She is the mother, and she has passed away¡¡± The man rose an eyebrow and looked to Athak¡¯s hut, where he¡¯d been born, and turned back to the village elder. ¡°And how are you to house and heal our soldiers now?! Humph, let me see the child!¡± Hearing this Athak immediately crawled back to his corner and awaited for his caretaker to come and grab him, which she soon did. Being brought before the man he immediately identified him to be of European descent. The man looked at his curious eyes and chuckled grabbing ahold of the boy. ¡°His name is Athak sir¡ he was born just yesterday¡¡± ¡°Athak¡ What does his name mean?¡± Athak gently grabbed the man¡¯s thumb and began smiling and chuckling gleefully making the man smile. ¡°It means of the gods sir¡¡± The man nodded and seemed to contemplate something, holding the baby in one hand he placed his other on its forehead and began speaking in what Athak identified as Latin. Some time passed and a light shone from the man¡¯s hand before Athak being handed back to his caretaker. <Received the blessing of the System¡ System already in place¡ Translating blessing to unlock deeper System information, what would you like to unlock?> How do I make my lineage suitable to becoming a Blood Sorcerer? Athak was soon brought back to his corner and the elder continued speaking to the man happily, saying something like he may have the fruit or whatever but Athak was too consumed by reading through the information he was given by the system to care. So in other words, I need to have my body augmented by magic, transfer experience to my lineage with the intent of becoming a blood sorcerer¡ Or by consuming a total of ten levels of blood magic skills? I have only one level¡ Also, it seems that the younger I am the greater the effect¡ there goes my waiting, I have to act soon. But where do I find blood to consume? As he was pondering he heard the flap of wings outside and he assumed it was the man leaving, then he saw something, a large beetle approaching him. Seeing why not Athak grabbed the beetle and attempted to use his [Blood Absorb], making the bug immediately stop moving and scrunch up. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! So¡ I don¡¯t need to draw blood for it to work¡ A month later his caretaker grew sickly and died. And his level in [Blood Absorb] had risen to III, while his total level did not grow as he assigned the experience to becoming a Blood Sorcerer. It seemed that his lineage developed halfway and he was already plenty eligible to become what he wanted, but he wanted a perfect compatibility with the class before taking it up. Status. <table> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3" width="295"> Hp: 60 </td> <td colspan="3" width="306"> Mp: 440(2.5 mp/min) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> Status </td> <td width="198"> / </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Strength </td> <td width="75"> 9(1+8) </td> <td width="172"> Skills: </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> Name </td> <td width="198"> Athak </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Constitution </td> <td width="75"> 6(1+5) </td> <td width="172"> Unarmed combat III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> Level </td> <td width="198"> 5 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Dexterity </td> <td width="75"> 22(2+20) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Absorb III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> Race </td> <td width="198"> Human </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Intelligence </td> <td width="75"> 44(29+15) </td> <td width="172"> Marksmanship III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> Titles </td> <td width="198"> The Merciless, Matricide, Unborn but Kicking, Giant Slayer </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Wisdom </td> <td width="75"> 25(20+5) </td> <td width="172"> Mathematics IV </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> Innate Abilities </td> <td width="198"> Blood Sorcery </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Charisma </td> <td width="75"> 53(25+28) </td> <td width="172"> ¡ </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> </td> <td width="198"> </td> <td width="36"> </td> <td width="59"> </td> <td width="75"> </td> <td width="172"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> So what would the average base stats of a human be as an adult¡? I¡¯ll assume ten to twenty¡ Bah¡ Wait, all of my titles give some sort of bonus, except the merciless. What does the merciless do? <Indicates that the user has no conscience as well as boosts all damaging attacks¡¯ power by 25%> Neat. Looking around Athak sighed, now without a caretaker he had no one to breastfeed him and for him to use [Blood Absorb] on. But luckily for him he was at least fed cow milk from a wooden bottle with a narrow opening¡ But that was not nearly enough to satiate his growing hunger. Seeing as people connected him to the deaths of both his mother and caretaker people were growing suspicious and afraid of him, but also couldn¡¯t help but love him due to his high charisma stat. It was today when dusk came that Athak decided it would be time to act, from observing the village people whenever he could he knew where the animals were kept and he was happy to pay them a visit. Crawling out of his home after night fell Athak looked left and right and stood on his two feet and began to sprint. Arriving at the fence which surrounded the cattle he crawled under it and found a large cow which was lightly surprised by his presence and just as he was about to place his hand on it as to drain it of life he saw a pair of glowing eyes in the distance. Shit¡ it shouldn¡¯t target me right¡? Wrong. What he soon identified as a lion pounced over the fence scaring the animals senseless and charged towards him. Athak stared the lion down and just as they were about to make contact Jumped over it and grabbed its neck. The beast began rolling on the ground and growling but Athak held firm, he was taking damage from the roll but his blood drain was used to its maximum unlike how he¡¯d been gentle with his human victims. Some time passed and the lion grew weaker and weaker¡ until finally it fell to the ground having all of its life force and blood sucked away by Athak. <You have slain a level 10 lion adolescent, allocating experience to blood lineage¡> <[Blood Absorb] has reached level IV, Con+4> <New skill obtained: [Blood Sense] I, Wis+1> Neat. Quickly, Athak left the animal grounds and returned home, avoiding the alerted people¡¯s sights as he crawled on the ground. <New skill obtained: Stealth level I, Dex+1> Back in his corner Athak attempted using [Blood Sense] on himself and he could feel the blood coursing through him. Like this he observed and observed until he had an idea, what if he used [Blood Absorb] on himself? Rather, what if he increased the flow of nutrients to his body through his blood, he thought it would be worth a try¡ Unsuccessful he¡¯d had enough for the day so he went to sleep. The next morning he was thinking. So what if he¡¯d gained blood sorcery before his birth, why be so hell bent on becoming a Blood Sorcerer? He thought about his little obsession and shook his head, it wasn¡¯t that he was obsessed per se, it just seemed to be the most powerful path. ¡°Athak, come boy!¡± His father stood in the other corner of the hut and Athak obliged, he undexterously began to crawl towards his only parent before being happily picked up and thrown in the air. ¡°Good boy!¡± Giggling Athak enjoyed his time with his father before he was placed back down in his corner and given a bottle filled with milk to drink from. He drank merrily and his father left. Once he was done with his drinking he began his second attempt at blood control¡ <New skill obtained: [Blood Control] I, Con+1> <New skill obtained: [Blood Rush] I, Str+1.> Neat. Like that another month passed and he¡¯d all but learned the local¡¯s language, he absorbed blood from animals and brought the skill to level V and gained enough experience by killing them to become a Blood Sorcerer. His [Blood Control] seemed to level together with any increase in skill of his other blood magic skills so he had reached level III in it as well. <Initializing class allocation¡> <Congratulations! You are now a level 1 Blood Sorcerer! You have unlocked your unallocated stat points(5) and you will gain +1 to Con, to Wis, and to Cha per level of your class! Blood Sorcerer can be leveled up to level 50> Neat. Now all I need to do is grow a little and get out of this place¡ Status <table width="601"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3" width="295"> Hp: 230 </td> <td colspan="3" width="306"> Mp: 440(2.6 mp/min) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Status </td> <td width="151"> / </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Strength </td> <td width="75"> 11(2+9) </td> <td width="172"> Skills: </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Name </td> <td width="151"> Athak </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Constitution </td> <td width="75"> 23(2+21) </td> <td width="172"> Blood control III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Level </td> <td width="151"> 6 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Dexterity </td> <td width="75"> 25(4+21) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Absorb V </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Class </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcerer </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Intelligence </td> <td width="75"> 44(29+15) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Rush I </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Race </td> <td width="151"> Human </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Wisdom </td> <td width="75"> 26(20+6) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Sense I </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Titles </td> <td width="151"> The Merciless¡+3 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Charisma </td> <td width="75"> 54(25+29) </td> <td width="172"> ¡ </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Innate Abilities </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcery </td> <td colspan="4" width="337"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="112"> </td> <td width="150"> </td> <td width="36"> </td> <td width="59"> </td> <td width="75"> </td> <td width="170"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Ch. 3 Exploration <Mission finished¡ assigning rewards¡ New innate ability: Blood Bank, integrate?> Another month had passed and the people were stricken with poverty, talks of having a demon among them became a common occurrence, but no one had yet to make the connection between the deaths of their cattle and the little baby which was now crawling around the village, exploring its ins and outs and killing the occasional beetle. Finally being found by his father Athak was picked up and brought back into his home, the baby crying all the while. ¡°No Athak, don¡¯t cry¡¡± His father stricken with hunger gently wobbled Athak left and right until the baby calmed and seemingly fell asleep. The man stood up and told his daughter to take care of the boy, something Adana had no interest in doing as she left only half an hour after she¡¯d been put on guard. Using this opportunity little Athak opened his eyes and smiled perking up and beginning to walk. Soon he was crawling outside the village grounds, in the wilderness all the while using a recently gained skill called [Blood Sense] to detect living things around him. Seeing that he was safe for the time being he contemplated something. Perhaps I¡¯ve been too harsh to the locals, if I am to become a god which these new abilities of mine indicate the possibility of just that I need to develop these poor fucks up from the dirt into something useful¡ only thing is¡ I¡¯m too young. Well whatever, I¡¯ll do what I can when I can, thing is, now I have to become strong, and that I will do like this. <You have killed a level 2 lizard, allocating experience¡> Stripping the creature of its blood Athak condensed a blood pearl and smiled. Moving to a tree with a hole in its trunk he placed a palm inside and pulled out a handful of such pearls out. He kept taking them out until he had a large pile weighing around a kilogram all in all. Using his magic on the pearls they quickly liquefied and were molded in what looked to be a thin short sword. Happy with his nifty work Athak smiled and held the weapon in his hand. Hm¡ the System didn¡¯t inform me that I¡¯d crafted anything¡ Ah, of course¡ Passing his finger across the edge of the blade with great focus Athak sharpened the weapon and he got what he wanted. <[Crude Blood Sword] level I has been crafted, allocating experience¡> <Level ten achieved> Neat¡ So I can gain experience by making blood weapons. But wait, that¡¯s not what I had in mind with this weapon¡ What he¡¯d intended to make was a weapon that would grow the more blood he¡¯d assimilate into it, but it seemed that that would be a dream for the future instead of something he¡¯d be having the benefit of just yet. With such thoughts passing through his mind his [Blood Sense] finally picked a larger signature up, a fresh kill likely. Perking up Athak walked towards the signature with his sword in hand cautiously, the sword wouldn¡¯t allow for much greater reach than he¡¯d had already seeing as he was three months old but it would be useful nonetheless. Soon he found what he¡¯d been looking for, a large baboon-like creature was munching on a gazelle while Athak laid low in observation of the act. This was the first time he¡¯d seen such a monster and he was unsure of his ability to deal with it, sighing internally he began retreating¡ but not before the baboon turned to look straight into his eyes curiously. The creature made some sort of noise which Athak interpreted as a greeting, making the same noise in return Athak held his ground while the beast took a few steps forward. Seeing no other way out Athak took some steps forward as well until the two were right in front of one another. The baboon was sniffing the baby and Athak did the same, eventually the baboon seemed to lose interest, turning around¡ but then it saw the world spinning as its head flew from its body. <Killed level 12 Baboon, allocating experience¡> Idiot. Draining the body of blood until just a husk remained Athak smiled in satiation, moving to the gazelle he did the same and then felt a sharp pain in his body. Ugh¡ Filled up that quickly huh? <Blood reserves overflowing, supplying blood to strengthen user, +1 Strength gained> As much as being a baby is problematic, it¡¯s allowing my blood reserves to be much smaller than they would if I¡¯d been an adult, benefitting me quite a bit. Wait¡ what¡¯s this? There seemed to be some movement in the distance, the savanna was a great expanse but there weren¡¯t many advanced people, or so he¡¯d assumed, it seemed that what he was seeing right now was an indication against his little theory. What he saw was a carriage slowly moving through the grassy savanna. Seeing the opportunity to learn Athak began running stealthily through the tall grass until he was in the carriage¡¯s path, he absorbed all the blood from his sword and used the pain that caused to add authenticity to the crying he was about to start. And start he did. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Stop the carriage!¡± A woman cried out in English, and so the carriage did and the woman, a blonde in fancy looking leather armor, rushed to Athak¡¯s aid. Finding the baby on the ground, with no clothing on it or guardian around it she was stumped. A tall man with dark hair and a fair complexion much like the woman¡¯s came and was equally stumped when he saw the little thing. ¡°Do you think we should take it with us?¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®do you think¡¯!?¡± The woman yelled at the man and proceeded to gently pick the baby up, immediately the little thing stopped its cry and began giggling with its little palms twirling blonde hair between their little chubby fingers. ¡°What a sweetheart! Oh my god!!¡± ¡°It¡¯s an aboriginal baby Talia, we need to bring it back to its home¡ I¡¯m pretty sure there was a tribe living nearby marked on the map.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Hear that old Yan? You know where this tribe is located right?¡± The old man responsible for driving the carriage nodded with a sigh as the others returned to the carriage. Talia held the little baby boy in her hands, gently wobbling it left and right before having it fall asleep. Judging from their blood quality I can¡¯t kill them without a weapon¡ especially not that old man. Damn it, free experience is just standing right in front of me and I can¡¯t do anything to get it¡ Whatever. I get to be entertained at least. ¡°So Jonas, how long until we arrive at the capital?¡± ¡°Another month of travel at the most, the experience we¡¯ve been getting from the animals and monsters here has been great though. I can¡¯t say I regret escorting you my lady.¡± Talia passed a hand through her hair with a bright smile then turned her head, her eyes widening in surprise. ¡°Stop the carriage!¡± ¡°Damn it Talia! If you keep stopping at every mildly interes-¡° ¡°The girl¡¯s right this time, this is strange.¡± Yan said as he jumped off of his station, walking to a pair of corpses on the ground, one desecrated and the other decapitated. He placed a palm on one of the bodies and found it unusually dry. ¡°Blood magic, we might be dealing with a chupacabra here¡¡± He continued ascertaining the situation for another few minutes before turning around and seeing Talia with the baby in her hands. ¡°Lucky little shit, if he survived this kind of monstrosity then perhaps aboriginal blood isn¡¯t the tastiest, hah.¡± ¡°Say¡ Why don¡¯t we take the baby with us? If there are these kinds of monsters all around, wouldn¡¯t he be safer if we-¡° ¡°No, we¡¯d be kidnapping him Talia, how are you going to explain to the authorities when you bring a random baby from nowhere?¡± Deflating Talia sighed going back to the carriage and they were soon on their way. ¡°Thank you so much for bringing the child back!¡± The elder of the village held a ¡°sleeping¡± Athak as he thanked the three who¡¯d brought him there. He handed the baby back to his father and began discussing something with the people. ¡°Might you be adventurers¡?¡± Jonas nodded making the elder smile in hurray. Then, whilst leading the way he brought the three to a cow corpse, its condition was ascertained by Yan as he rested his chin on his palm. ¡°I saw something like this in the wilds where we found the baby. First I thought it was a chupacabra, but seeing as there are no puncture wounds this is¡ The doing of some sort of specialized Blood Mage¡¡± ¡°We have nothing of the sort here sir! It¡ must be the doing of a demon!¡± The three adventurers seemed to be shaken. They looked at each other and nodded. ¡°Sir, could we setup camp here? We will make sure to get to the end of the issue!¡± As they were conversing they didn¡¯t notice a short lasting red glow of a pair of eyes to their side, they were being watched, and whoever was watching them was not pleased with the development. Damn it. I brought this on myself¡ sigh¡ well, I guess I¡¯ll be practicing my Blood Control and Blood Sense for a few days¡ ¡°By the way, that¡¯s quite the baby you got there, who knows how fast he is at crawling to have reached that far into the savanna, how old is he?¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s strange yes¡ he¡¯s only three months old.¡± ¡°WHAT!?¡± Shit. Status <table width="601"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3" width="295"> Hp: 410 </td> <td colspan="3" width="306"> Mp: 440(4 mp/min) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Status </td> <td width="151"> / </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Strength </td> <td width="75"> 19(5+14) </td> <td width="172"> Skills: </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Name </td> <td width="151"> Athak </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Constitution </td> <td width="75"> 41(5+36) </td> <td width="172"> Blood control III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Level </td> <td width="151"> 15 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Dexterity </td> <td width="75"> 32(6+26) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Absorb VI </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Class </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcerer </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Intelligence </td> <td width="75"> 44(29+15) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Rush III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Race </td> <td width="151"> Human </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Wisdom </td> <td width="75"> 40(20+20) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Sense III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Titles </td> <td width="151"> The Merciless¡+3 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Charisma </td> <td width="75"> 63(25+38) </td> <td width="172"> ¡ </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Innate Abilities </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcery, Blood Bank </td> <td colspan="4" width="337"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="112"> </td> <td width="150"> </td> <td width="36"> </td> <td width="59"> </td> <td width="75"> </td> <td width="170"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Allocate all 15 free status points to constitution. With that his Hp shot up to 560 and he felt his body physically grow larger. Standing up behind his father he placed a palm on the man¡¯s body stripping it of all its blood in seconds and forming the blood into a blade he quickly hid under a skin in his corner. <Level 18 human animal farmer slain, allocating experience¡> <[Blood Blade] level II crafted, allocating experience¡> <You have reached level 16!> Allocate free stat point to constitution. Hmm 580 now huh¡ Integrate blood bank. Suddenly his body grew a whole foot taller, making him smile. It worked! Then, hiding under some blankets he waited for someone to come into his hut. But seeing as no one had until dusk he left the village at full speed, wanting to have nothing to do with whatever would pass. <Title gained: [Patricide]¡> <Titles [Patricide] and [Matricide] fuse into [Self Orphaned], con -4, all other stats gain +3.> Well, it¡¯s time to start my life already! Ch. 4 Young Adventurer In the capital city of Carna, the epicenter of various types of trade in the kingdom of Yugotia and other neighboring states, there was a recently built tavern named ¡°Out with the Rage¡±, where all manner of beverages were served including the house specialty ¡®Spicy Rage¡¯, two adventurers were sitting and chatting over a pair of drinks. ¡°That was horrible¡ I want nothing to do with the wilderness again...¡± ¡°I hear you Jonas, I hear you¡¡± Suddenly a large tankard was slammed onto their table, a large plate mail wearing bald man with a ginger moustache sitting next to the two. He laughed merrily and drank from his ale while the other two gathered their wits on what was going on. ¡°We¡ better stand up¡¡± Jonas whispered in Yan¡¯s ear before being noticed by the large stash bearing man. ¡°Kids these days¡ Why so scared of Uncle Plato? I noticed the two of you were down in spirit so I just decided to jump in and say hi.¡± The two of them sighed and brought their attention towards the towering man. Seeing as they wouldn¡¯t want to offend anyone as they¡¯d just come to the city they were all ears. ¡°Mmh, it isn¡¯t you that should be listening to me¡ I want to know what happened to you folk.¡± Yan and Jonas looked at each other and sighed once more, recounting what had happened in the tribal village out in the outskirts. The more the man heard, the more he frowned, and when they were finally done with their recounting Uncle Plato brought his hand to his moustache and twirled it. ¡°I¡ I¡¯ve seen something similar here¡ A few days ago when I was out in the dungeon to raise my class level I found a number of corpses, sucked dry¡ When did you two come here? Yan and Jonas rose an eyebrow each feeling cold sweat cover their bodies. ¡°It¡ couldn¡¯t have followed us here¡ We came today.¡± Drinking the rest of his ale in one fell swoop Plato stood up and motioned the two to follow him. After a short walk they came to a large ornamented white building with blue roofing, a large sign with the letters ¡®ADVENTURER¡¯s GUILD HALL¡¯ plastered on its front. Plato turned around and nodded to the two before entering. Once inside they were greeted by a hodgepodge of adventurers of all sorts of sizes, backgrounds, and ages. One of them in particular falling into focus, namely the young boy in red armed with a pair of daggers on his sides who Plato decided to talk to right off the bat. ¡°Friends! This is my party member, the close quarter assassin Athak!¡± The two adventurers seemed to be experiencing d¨¦j¨¤ vu but quickly pushed the strange thoughts to the back of their minds, each of them reaching out a hand towards the boy. Athak on the other hand smiled merrily much like Plato would and asked for their names. ¡°Jonas¡± ¡°It¡¯s Yan, what is a kid like you doing adventuring? Do you even have a class?¡± Although he did so as politely as he could manage, Yan couldn¡¯t help but bring an edge to his words. Although not unheard of, adventurers the size of Athak would mostly be dead by the time they became eligible to become a proper adventurer of bronze rank. Not to mention the skill necessary to be an assassin. ¡°Oh, I can assure you Yan, he¡¯s already a bronzy!¡± Raising his eyebrows in surprise Yan backed down and let his more spirited companion do the talking. They conversed until Plato told Athak of the strange occurrence of the dried up corpses Yan Jonas and himself had found on their adventures. Athak nodded in understanding and seemed to think deeply about the subject before speaking. ¡°From what I¡¯ve read in the library this seems to be the doing of a demon¡¡± Hearing this the two men perked up in attention. ¡°Demons come in many forms, but can be categorized based off of the seven deadly sins¡ Succubi and incubi for lust being a typical example. This seems to be a blood demon, something akin to a vampire! But not quite¡ That is all I know, sorry, maybe we should report this to the guild?¡± The men nodded as that was likely what Plato had been meaning for them to do, and so they went to the guild counter and Jonas was first to speak. ¡°Hello, my name is Jonas of the southern branch of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, silver rank. I come here to br-¡° ¡°Is there a problem?¡± The woman in charge of receiving people had had her back turned whilst doing some paperwork before she turned around to see Jonas, her short silver hair had made him assume that this was an elder in question but once he saw her large round eyes, marble like skin, and button nose he seemed to be aghast. Seeming to understand the situation the receptionist placed a palm over her lips and giggled making the young hero blush. ¡°Uhm¡ I bring a¡ monster report m¡¯lady!¡± ¡°Oh? What kind of monster?¡± Looking down at his nether region the woman teased the man getting a couple more giggles of amusement before putting on a professional smile and motioning for the men to follow her. Entering the inside of the guild reception they found themselves in a guest room where a silver haired man with glasses was awaiting; a pile of papers stood in front of him. ¡°This better be important Lilith.¡± The man said before he saw a small Athak, widening his eyes he coughed and stood up. Ignoring everyone except the boy and shaking his hand. ¡°Welcome, welcome Athak sir. How can I be of service today?¡± Lilith giggled once more before she asked if the adventurers would be wanting drinks to which they all declined except for Athak. ¡°Ah, white powdered cocoa for me please!¡± ¡°If only you people served alcohol here¡¡± Plato mumbled without getting a response. And when everyone had been seated and Athak had gotten his hot drink, which he drank merrily, the discussion began. First Jonas and Yan explained their experiences in detail before Uncle Plato gave his and Athak gave his opinion. The silver haired man who¡¯d yet to introduce himself nodded along before wiping his brow of sweat. ¡°Ah¡ The two instances must be unrelated seeing as the two of you have yet to be attacked¡ That is unless you are carrying a loose cursed spirit around with you.¡± Stolen novel; please report. The man spouted some clear bullshit before writing down the report and passing it to the pile of papers in front of him. Unsatisfied the two, Yan and Jonas, looked at each other with sighs and stood to leave, but just before they would go Lilith grabbed the hem of Jonas¡¯ shirt and spoke something in the man¡¯s ear, making him blush. With that the four adventurers were out and in front of the bulletin board, looking for a suitable silver level quest for them to tackle. Finding one titled ¡°Goblin Den¡± they went to Lilith who assigned them to the quest and waved them goodbye. ¡°So, what the hell did she say to you that¡¯s got you so¡ red?¡± Yan asked with the other two waiting for his answer attentively. The man hesitated but somehow brought himself to say it. ¡°Tonight at Gale inn, I¡¯ll eat you up.¡± Everyone shot Jonas a low whistle and Plato in particular got rather close to the man, putting his arm over his shoulder and congratulating him for the score to be. All the while Yan seemed to be zoned out, and no one save for Athak noticed this behavior of Yan¡¯s making the boy smile strangely. And so Yan and Jonas were off to the goblin den while Athak and Plato waved them off. ¡°I think that silver hair is hiding something¡ I think¡ he knows what¡¯s up.¡± Yan told his companion who turned to the older man and scratched his head. Thoughts passed through Jonas¡¯ mind before he came to a simple conclusion. ¡°You¡¯re overthinking it, I think they¡¯re siblings, Lilith and that guy.¡± ¡°And now that you¡¯re head over heels for a girl you decide to blind yourself huh?¡± And as Jonas chuckled merrily with thoughts of tonight coming to his mind the two of them were out through the gate of the city and found themselves at the wide expanse of the savanna. It would be a day¡¯s trip for any regular adventurer to the goblin den, but the two of them were presumably silver level adventurers so they rushed forward with great speed and stamina, making camp but an hour later. Taking out some rations including beef jerky they ate and drank as much sustenance as they needed before continuing their conversation. ¡°We better finish this quest by noon so we can come back with the goblin lord¡¯s head¡¡± ¡°On her shift¡ Hah, you really want to impress this girl huh? Listen kid, if she¡¯s the type to do something right off the bat she¡¯s not a keeper, you know that right?¡± Clenching a fist the young man sighed, the girl was cute, all too cute. If he¡¯d known better he would have ignored her advances but he¡¯d been charmed. It seemed that he¡¯d ignored everything that had occurred while he was feeling the throb of his heart. ¡°Anyway, are we go-¡° ¡°Shush¡¡± With a speed that betrayed his level of power Yan placed his palm over Jonas¡¯ mouth, coming close to his friend and whispering. ¡°I sensed a presence in the distance, you stay here while I investigate.¡± Without waiting for Jonas to speak Yan dashed towards what he¡¯d sensed leaving the young man worried. Running with a speed even greater than before Yan found it, a creature wailing in pain as it was sucked of its life force. But he couldn¡¯t see where from¡ Approaching what seemed to be a rhino he placed a palm on its upturned belly and could physically feel its blood being drained into nothingness, suddenly he sensed something behind him¡ then, the world turned black as brain tissue littered the ground, a large axe replacing Yan¡¯s head. ¡°Good work kiddo.¡± The rhino was moved over and from underground arose a dirt covered Athak. Placing a palm on the dead adventurer¡¯s body Athak absorbed all the blood from his body and looked over to his ally, good old Uncle Plato. ¡°As per the deal, you can have all his bearings.¡± Plato nodded and proceeded to loot Yan, taking a pouch of gold before throwing a few coins towards Athak who pocketed the coins with a snort. Taking a strand of blood from his robe Athak cleaned himself of the dirt he¡¯d been covered in and brought the blood back in its place. ¡°So we leave the other guy to Lilith?¡± ¡°It will take a few days but his vitality will be sucked out eventually.¡± Plato nodded before taking his axe and striking the ground in front of him with all his might, opening a large hole under and throwing Yan¡¯s body inside. After they had buried the body they left for the goblin den themselves, not caring about the young man who¡¯d already grown paranoid whilst waiting for his companion. Where is that geezer¡? Damn it, if he¡¯s been killed or something I can¡¯t deal with whatever got him¡ I¡¯ve got to run¡ And so he packed whatever he could and began rushing back to Carna, an hour later he was sweaty and tired, but alive. Not daring to show up at the guild empty handed Jonas rented a room in Gale Inn and laid his tired body on the soft bedding. Thinking about the adorable woman he¡¯d be laying with soon the man couldn¡¯t help but grab his pecker and do one off. After he¡¯d done what he¡¯d done he wiped his palms with a towel provided by the inn and took out his sword along with a whetstone, sharpening the blade to perfection. Like that hours passed before he left his room and stood in front of the inn, finally, the short haired woman he¡¯d been awaiting came in baggy clothing and some light but sharp makeup contrasting her delicate round features. Taking hold of one of his arms and looking at him straight in the eyes with a blush she stood up on her toes and went in for a kiss, one the man accepted with vigor. The two walked up into Jonas¡¯ room and immediately went to it. Jonas pushed the woman on the wall and kissed her passionately before grabbing ahold of her behind, a strange sexual energy enveloping him. The two¡¯s tongues danced in each other¡¯s mouths before Jonas decided to pull down on Lilith¡¯s pants revealing a pair of chubby pale thighs. He lifted the woman up and went right in while she was still pushed up on the wall. And so, light moans filled the night¡ The next morning Jonas woke up naked with an equally bare woman lying in his embrace, but instead of feeling satisfied he was assaulted by a heavy headache along with muscle spasms on his legs and stomach. After they¡¯d subsided the man sighed in relief and gently pulled the woman in waking her. An hour later the two left Jonas¡¯ inn room and bid each other farewell, a satisfied smile on both of their faces. But as always¡ life wasn¡¯t perfect, Jonas still didn¡¯t know what had happened to Yan and he was worried sick. Moving out of the inn he paid for another few nights like he¡¯d promised Lilith and was on his way to at least find another party of adventurers for him to challenge the goblin den. That¡¯s when he saw Athak. ¡°Oh, hi there kiddo? Hey I was wondering something, have you seen Yan around?¡± Athak acted surprised to see Jonas and came up to him, telling him that he hadn¡¯t and that he was heading to the local tavern for a drink, seeing as he had nothing to do just yet Jonas decided on joining the boy. ¡°Maybe you and Plato can join me on the goblin den quest, it would be great to find someone reliable to work with¡ Especially since I don¡¯t know whether Yan is alive or not¡¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s fine, he seemed strong enough, you two are silver adventurers right? I mean, you¡¯re basically celebrities! Oh, oh! How did the night go?¡± ¡°Ha, you flatter me kid. And great hehe¡ You got any experience, I mean women don¡¯t mind the age if you¡¯re strong.¡± ¡°No, no¡ I, like this one girl but¡ I can¡¯t be with her anyway¡ I¡¯m an aboriginal after all.¡± Giving Athak a risen eyebrow Jonas seemed to realize something. Zoning out a bit he frowned then looked back at the boy, sizing him up from head to toe. ¡°But your English is aristocratic! Ah¡ I¡¯m sorry for asking this but¡ Were you¡ a slave?¡± Athak gave Jonas a hardened look before turning away in grief, while Jonas himself face-palmed himself for being so insensitive. ¡°Ah, ah¡ I¡¯ll make it up to you! Sorry friend! Drink¡¯s on me!¡± Like that the two arrived in the tavern, seating themselves Athak ordered hot cocoa while Jonas had a pint. And so the two conversed on their life¡¯s paths, the first one to begin was Jonas talking about how he grew up as an orphan and was taken up by a wandering swordsman as to be a disciple. The talk became emotional when it was revealed that Jonas¡¯ master died to protect him and to this day the young adventurer is on a mission to become the greatest swordsman on the continent, a wish passed down from his master who¡¯d grown too old to complete it. Then Athak started with his own story, a lowly slave who was elevated to an assassin once his great dexterity stat was revealed by the awakening ceremony each slave would go through at the age of five. The reason he was not put to be some sort of guard or personal bodyguard was because the only class available to him in the awakening ceremony was assassin, and from there everything went downhill¡ Apparently the on a mission two years ago when Athak was only ten he was captured and tortured for a whole month¡ Only to awaken a special movement skill which allowed him not only to escape his captors but to be free of the slave brand on his soul. His real name was not Athak¡ but what it truly was? That was something that under no circumstance would he disclose. ¡°Damn¡ You really went through a lot huh¡ so, I bet you¡¯re more skilled than your rank would suggest, why don¡¯t we come together in arms and become a party?¡± ¡°Ah, right, I forgot to tell you. The goblin den quest has been finished by some other party in passing. Taking on quests that have been reserved for a designated party cannot be done unless you don¡¯t know that that quest has been taken. So someone did it, I cannot help with that, but, I can join you on different quests in a few days after I¡¯m done with some errands.¡± Jonas nodded in understanding, stood up, and outstretched his palm towards Athak. ¡°I trust you kiddo, let¡¯s become the greatest!¡± Athak stood in turn and shook the man¡¯s hand, only returning a silly smile and a rub on the back of his head. Indeed. He would become the greatest. Ch. 5 Before It seemed that constitution wasn¡¯t only responsible for the amount of health one would have but also the amount of stamina, and seeing as Athak had been using [Blood Rush] to its fullest extent for something like an hour already and was only now beginning to get tired it was clear that his constitution was no joke. Though, it could have been the large amounts of blood he¡¯d absorbed over the months sustaining him, stamina was a question of blood flow after all and Athak was a Blood Sorcerer. Having finally decide that it had been enough running Athak stopped his rush towards where he assumed the capital to be, based off the road he found Talia and Jonas going through with their carriage. Now standing and surrounded by darkness the now young boy looking to be a few years old scanned his surroundings, he¡¯d need to feast on a lot of blood so he could grow to at least twelve years old. The gift the System had given him for gaining a perfect Blood Sorcerer bloodline had been [Blood Bank], an innate ability of his lineage which would be passed down to his children if he ever chose to have any. Though the greatest effect would be reached if he were to mate with another Blood Sorcerer, or sorceress for that matter. It was time for Athak to feast, but it was unclear where he¡¯d find the blood necessary for him to grow a whole three feet taller, whatever the case he needed to be on the hunt. And that he did. Moving through the savanna and using his [Blood Sense] carefully he walked around until he found something. A pair of eyes pointed straight at him, and like a flash the creature pounced and slashed the side of his arm leading him to bleed. Taking the spilt blood in his palm Athak formed a dagger and lowered his stance, ready for the next pounce. Right on mark while using his sensory skill Athak slashed his blade forward and drew some blood, blood which was added to the ever growing dagger in his grasp. The battle commenced and halfway through the dagger became a spear and Athak finally had the chance to see what had been attacking him. A cheetah-like creature with saber tooth fangs. The reason he could finally see it was because its movements had been slowed and it was on its last breath. But he wasn¡¯t one to misjudge on the last moment, this was a cornered animal and it would do its best to survive even if its initial intent had been to be a hunter. Finally, the creature pounced on him one last time inadvertently biting onto Athak¡¯s spear and suffering the consequences of getting close to such a malleable weapon. Bending the spear Athak wrapped it around the beast¡¯s head before squeezing and crushing its skull. <Level 18 sabertooth cheetah slain, allocating experience¡> Wiping the sweat off of his forehead Athak retrieved the blood he¡¯d shed back into his body though his wounds had yet to heal. What followed was a feast, taking dry wood from the surroundings Athak built a fire, skinned and skewered the beast over it and awaited for his meal to be done. Half an hour later he dug in all the while observing his surroundings with [Blood Sense], it seemed as though he¡¯d scared anything that would pose a threat to him off through killing the apex predator. After having eaten his fill, he took the blood pearl he¡¯d gotten from the body of the cheetah and pondered as to what to do with it. A weapon would have been nice but he just couldn¡¯t shake the feeling of the cold breeze passing through his nether region. So it was decided, he made a simple loincloth and covered himself. Looking left and right he sighed, he had no party members for him to feel safe with going to sleep so he decide to explore further¡ I sense it¡ a large quantity of blood! And indeed, once he¡¯d gotten closer to the wretched stench of blood he found it, a cave entrance guarded by a pair of short lizard like people holding a spear each. They had red scales on their backs and heads while their lips and abdominal areas were covered in smooth white skin. Athak licked his lips and activated [Blood Rush] to its greatest extent pouncing on the two guards and kicking the first one into the ground, though it seemed that his strength was yet to reach a level he could comfortably work with. Absorbing all the blood from the creature he just kicked he quickly formed a blood blade and slashed at his other foe decapitating him. <Two Kobolds slain, allocating experience¡> With a few more liters of blood he made himself a pair of daggers and looked at the entrance of the cave. It¡¯s time to feast! Entering the cave Athak immediately sensed a large quantity of monsters inside, along with many different directions he could go. He decided that going straight to the heart of the cave would be irresponsible seeing as he felt a powerful signature on that end. So he began his grind. But Athak quickly ran into a problem, it was dark, and perhaps he could sense the presence of creatures and even the shape of their bodies with his [Blood Sense] he couldn¡¯t see his surroundings. Pushing the problem aside he began walking through the cave with his palms touching the side of the wall, he walked and walked until he finally got close enough to a blood signature that he slashed at it. But it seemed that there had been a barrier between him and the creature, some sort of wall or¡ armor. Hearing the creature screech Athak immediately began running away only to stumble down on the ground and feel his back spray blood. He could feel it, every drop of blood that left his body, staining the metal sword the kobold was wielding and revealing to him his foe¡¯s movements. With a sneer Athak rolled out of the way and his opponent¡¯s next attack struck stone. Soon there was another head rolling on the ground. Returning all the lost blood into his body Athak absorbed the kobold¡¯s blood and made a spear. He¡¯d need the reach. Because they were coming, and fast. Not seeing any other way out Athak sprayed half of the blood he¡¯d gained to form his spear onto the walls around, gaining almost full view of his surroundings. Now, with the problem of sight being out of the picture the young boy awaited his foes who came in tens of individuals. Luckily for him though, the space was relatively cramped and only so many kobolds could come through at a time. He speared one in the eyeball, another in the gut and a third in its chest, like that he kept killing kobolds and absorbing their blood into himself. And just as he killed the last one he heard a loud roar from the cave¡¯s depths. Boss time huh¡? Status <17 Kobolds slain, allocating experience¡> <You have reached level 19!> <[Blood Absorb] has reached level VIII, Con+8> <[Blood Control] has reached level V, Con+5> <[Blood Sense] has reached level V, Wis+5> <[Blood Rush] has reached level IV, Str+4> After he¡¯d absorbed all the blood available his loading status screen finally opened, causing the young man to blow a low whistle. <table width="601"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3" width="295"> Hp: 710 </td> <td colspan="3" width="306"> Mp: 440(4.9 mp/min) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Status This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. </td> <td width="151"> / </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Strength </td> <td width="75"> 28(10+18) </td> <td width="172"> Skills: </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Name </td> <td width="151"> Athak </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Constitution </td> <td width="75"> 71(11+60) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Control V </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Level </td> <td width="151"> 15 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Dexterity </td> <td width="75"> 44(18+26) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Absorb VIII </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Class </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcerer </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Intelligence </td> <td width="75"> 44(29+15) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Rush IV </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Race </td> <td width="151"> Human </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Wisdom </td> <td width="75"> 49(20+29) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Sense V </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Titles </td> <td width="151"> The Merciless¡+3 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Charisma </td> <td width="75"> 63(25+38) </td> <td width="172"> ¡ </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Innate Abilities </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcery, Blood Bank </td> <td colspan="4" width="337"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="112"> </td> <td width="150"> </td> <td width="36"> </td> <td width="59"> </td> <td width="75"> </td> <td width="170"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Hm, let¡¯s see what you can do. Walking out of the cave Athak held a disappointed expression, the boss monster hadn¡¯t even lasted a minute against him. Sighing he activated [Blood Bank] once more and grew to be five foot tall, something under the height he was aiming for. Thinking that it would be good enough he looked left and right and after making sure the coast was clear went back inside the cave, piling kobold bodies over himself before telling them all good night and falling asleep¡ A week of traveling on foot had passed and Athak had made himself a robe and a pair of daggers out of his own blood. Now he stood before it, the great city of Carna, although he didn¡¯t know of its name. Going in he was immediately greeted by the sight of a bustling city, filled with merchants and merchandise, whores and brothels, waiters and food and so much more. Athak breathed in deeply and was reminded of his time on earth, ah what a lovely time that had been, he truly missed it. As Arthur Collins he had built a business empire that brought him to the peak of what man could achieve, in his mind at least, and he had full intentions on doing the same as Athak, though, first and foremost¡ he¡¯d need allies. He wandered around before stumbling across a beautiful white marble building with blue roofing. It even had a sign written in English on what it was, a guild hall for adventurers. Thinking of himself as just that he entered and was soon greeted by a deadpan looking silver haired receptionist, though she quickly rose an eyebrow in interest. ¡°Oh? What¡¯s a runt like you doing in a gruff place like this? Huh kiddo?¡± Athak simply stared at the woman, perhaps a little too long, but intentionally so. He placed a palm gently onto the counter and spoke. ¡°I¡¯m looking to register.¡± Further raising her eyebrow the woman tried to laugh, but choked on her own spit. Feeling embarrassed she quickly stumbled around and tried to compose herself as Athak watched. ¡°Just get to it lady.¡± Looking at him with fury in her eyes the woman gave a forced smile and motioned him to follow her. Now in the guest room he met eyes with a same haired man with glasses who seemed to disregard his presence as much as the woman did, sitting down he was about to get to business but was surprised when he was asked if he¡¯d like anything to drink. Pondering deeply on the matter he asked for something he¡¯d always drank back on earth, hot cocoa. ¡°So you¡¯d like to register as an adventurer, sign here, here, and here. Take this and get out of my office.¡± Instead of complying Athak crossed his legs and looked at the man strangely. ¡°But I¡¯ve yet to finish my cocoa, good sir. Tell you what, you give me the hardest quest you can muster and I¡¯ll get out of your office on short notice. Also, isn¡¯t this a guest room?¡± ¡°My office is under renovation¡ Alright kid, I¡¯ll give you the gold level quest of slaying the forest giant king, if you bring me his core in a week I won¡¯t rebuke your license. Now scram kid!¡± Athak downed the hot cocoa in one gulp not caring about the fact that his throat was now seared and departed, leaving Lilith and the man alone in the guest room. ¡°I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about that kid Sean¡ He doesn¡¯t feel human.¡± Sean turned to his sister and chuckled. ¡°He¡¯s just got a screw loose, that¡¯s all, and young on that matter. The young are all stupid. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you be on the young side yourself? Relative to let¡¯s say¡ our beloved ¡®forest giant king¡¯.¡± Sean snorted and Lilith went back to her station. Reading up on the quest which was open for all to see Athak squinted his eyes, it seemed that it had been years since someone has managed to complete it, and the death toll was 100%. Smirking to himself Athak went to an inn as to reserve a room for himself and was on his way. The path to the great forest oasis, where water was abundant unlike in the surrounding savanna because of a delta flowing into the area, was rugged and long. And with an increasing abundance of monster activity it was clear why the death toll was so high, though at the same time it didn¡¯t fully account for it. There was something fishy about the quest Athak was sure, but he couldn¡¯t pinpoint what. After having walked for a whole half day Athak¡¯s blood reserves were filled by the various monsters and wildlife he¡¯d slain on the way. Pains covered his body as he resisted the development of his physique to the next level, it would have to wait. Instead he slowly let his body adapt and his [Blood Bank] slowly expand to accommodate all the blood in his system. Finally, the forest came into view. Lush foliage and a wide river branching out into smaller streams. It was a lovely sight, but it would soon be stained with blood. Activating [Stealth] which he¡¯d leveled to the third level already he snuck around under the tall forest canopy all the while using his [Blood Sense] to scan his surroundings. After some time he arrived in the heart of the forest, but there was no forest giant king in sight, not even a forest giant for that matter¡ What he did find plenty of though, were large skulls belonging to some sort of ape like creatures. These should be forest giant skulls¡ Someone has already eradicated everything here, I better leave¡ Wait! A large signature¡ hm? Instead of a forest giant he was met with the sight of a large bald man bearing a ginger moustache¡ He stood and watched Athak with a wide smile, and Athak watched back with surprise and glee. ¡°Hello there!¡± Athak spoke as he ran towards the burly man who had a large axe in one of his hands. Soon he arrived in front of the man and begged him for directions. ¡°Hi there kiddo! What are you doing in the Giant¡¯s Forest of all places?¡± ¡°I was with my party collecting a rare kind of herb that grows only here when we were attacked by a wandering baboon¡ I need to know, where from here can I get to Carna¡ Our tracker died and we were separated.¡± The man rose an eyebrow and placed a palm on his chin. ¡°Ah, yes, it¡¯s that way!¡± Athak feigned belief and turned around, only to jump and dodge an axe swing which had passed him in the blink of an eye. ¡°Oh?¡± Surprised that his prey hadn¡¯t been sliced in two the man furrowed his brows, dashing to slash at the boy once more. But again his attack was dodged. Seeing as there was no other option the man roared, his eyes glowed a bright cyan and his movements became even more ridiculous, so much so that it would seem like he was teleporting from place to place instead of moving. But Athak was unperturbed. ¡°So you¡¯re the forest giant king huh! Adds up¡¡± Activating [Blood Rush] Athak¡¯s eyes glowed red and his body gave off a thick aura of heat and treachery. He hacked and slashed with his daggers but no matter what the two of them did one couldn¡¯t best the other. ¡°So young yet so strong¡ You cannot be left alive!¡± And just as the man was about to strike again a loud roar was heard in the distance, activating his [Blood Sense] to a wider range Athak was stumped. They were surrounded¡ by giants wearing thich leather armor and holding spears and clubs in their grasp. ¡°Fuck¡ They noticed this territory had been cle-¡° Disregarding the incoming danger Athak continued his onslaught onto the man. Surprised with the boy¡¯s persistence the man chuckled and continued as well, confusing the coming Giants. Then Athak whispered something. The burly man rose an eyebrow and slashed the boy¡¯s chest, spilling a large quantity of blood and making the boy fall unconscious. Soon, one of the giants approached him, its ape-human-like face making the brute frown. ¡°Give place! Give place! Or we kill!¡± ¡°You can talk huh, you ugly fuck. Let us do it like this, I fight your strongest warrior and if I win I keep this territory¡¡± The monster burst into laughter, and was followed by his brethren in toe, though most of them clearly had no idea why they were laughing. ¡°We kill!¡± The monsters charged at the man, all ignoring what seemed to be a corpse in a puddle of blood on the ground. And just as the burly man and the beasts were to clash the corpse suddenly opened its cold blood red eyes, spinning upwards and slashing blood all around him, forest giants were decapitated, slashed in half, or otherwise heavily wounded, the two warriors were standing back to back, before they¡¯d been enemies and now they had joined forces to deal with a common enemy. ¡°The name is Plato, call me uncle!¡± ¡°Athak!¡± And so they fought to the end, until every last one of the giants was dead. Heaving the two sat on the ground, supporting each other¡¯s weight back to back. Athak had drained every single one of the giants¡¯ blood and was having massive aches all over his body. ¡°I noticed it, you could have killed me if you wanted, why not kill me now?¡± Plato said with a confused voice. ¡°I need allies, and, you¡¯re strong.¡± ¡°Hah.¡± Plato stood up and stretched helping Athak do the same. And just like that the two had become acquaintances, at the very least¡ Ch. 6 Quest The two adventurers passed through the city walls, guards looking at them with their mouths agape. The larger one of the two, and considerably so, was Plato who was carrying a bloody bag with something double the size of a human head over his shoulder. The smaller of the two was Athak and he seemed to be all smiles, though, his body was full of wounds. Finally, the two arrived at their destination - the guild hall. Entering through everyone fearfully made way all the while being greeted by Plato merrily. Arriving before the counter there was a confused Lilith looking at the two, widening her eyes in realization she hushed them inside and they were now before Sean whose mouth went wide open and body began to sweat. ¡°Hello Sean¡ I¡¯m sure you¡¯re acquainted with little Athak here.¡± Sean nodded and looked around before raising his palm in the air and speaking out an incantation in Latin. When it had been finished a thin membrane coated their surroundings and the man stood up as to shake his visitors¡¯ hands. ¡°Welcome, welcome, would you like anything to drink?¡± ¡°Hot white powdered cocoa for me please.¡± He nodded and walked out of the room with hasty steps while the three other individuals seated themselves, Lilith sitting next to Plato as to avoid Athak. ¡°Now, now¡ Lilith, don¡¯t act like that in front of an ally.¡± Hearing the word ¡®ally¡¯ Lilith perked up with a risen eyebrow. ¡°Why Plato? I thought he bested you and was about to blackmail us!¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s half true, this is a business meeting of sorts. I trust the kid, though, don¡¯t try seducing him I already told him you¡¯re a Lust Sorcerer. Though¡ perhaps you two could have children seeing as he¡¯s a sorcerer as well.¡± Fearfully withdrawing behind her ally Lilith stared distrustfully towards Athak who smiled back innocently. Soon Sean came with the hot cocoa and Athak was pleased that he wouldn¡¯t be burning his throat this time. ¡°So¡ how can I help the two of you?¡± ¡°Oh cut the crap, Sean, he¡¯s an ally you don¡¯t need to worry, if he wanted to kill you he would in a heartbeat.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not that cruel Plato¡ though, I have some terms on how things will be moving forward. You¡¯re to keep me a bronze level adventurer officially, but, I want full access to any quest I want to take up. Oh and a letter of recommendation for the local mage academy.¡± ¡°But aren¡¯t you a rogu-¡ oh, right¡¡± Present day. Night time. Moans and moans, so many that Athak grew tired of them all after but a minute or two. But alas he waited the whole duration before seeing a red faced Lilith exit Jonas¡¯ room. ¡°He¡¯s scrumptious, I swear.¡± She whispered as Athak sighed and began walking towards the stairs leading to the bottom floor of the inn. Following him was the silver haired woman. ¡°So have you sent the recommendation? I have no time to spare.¡± Bringing her chest next to Athak Lilith smiled seductively before feeling the boy¡¯s cold stare on her pale skin giving her shivers. She retreated promptly and put on a sour expression before they were finally out of the inn. ¡°We sent the recommendation, the entrance exam is next week¡ have you done your studying?¡± Athak snorted, not giving in to her teasing. ¡°Have you done the studying I¡¯ve asked of you? Are you a suitable host for a blood sorcerer lineage?¡± ¡°Ah¡¡± Even though her class was one that had its magic grow by means of sapping men¡¯s vitality, Lilith couldn¡¯t help but blush at the boy¡¯s straightforward question. However dry it may have been. ¡°Ah well¡ the two lineages would conflict and the stronger one would consume the other leading to the birth of¡ well, how pure is your lineage?¡± ¡°I see, let¡¯s say it was perfect. What would the resulting lineage be?¡± Shuddering Lilith looked at Athak incredulously. A perfect bloodline? That was unheard of¡ But if it really was one hundred percent pure¡ ¡°A child with blood sorcery would be born¡ but if the mother wasn¡¯t a Blood Sorcerer herself, she would likely die in the first few months of pregnancy.¡± Athak nodded. So, Lilith was off his list, he¡¯d have to find a blood sorceress at some point to bear his child¡ So he may understand the workings of bloodlines better. It was unfortunate that he wouldn¡¯t be able to find a pureblood like himself but it seemed that from the information Lilith had given him over the course of the past month that a sorcerer¡¯s bloodline grew more pure the deeper they developed their magic¡ Did that mean that he couldn¡¯t develop it further? Or was it just that that fact allowed him to develop his blood magic all the quicker¡? This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. With his thoughts racing Athak finally noticed that they¡¯d arrived on where they¡¯d heading ¨C to meet up with Plato. ¡°Hiya kiddoes, how¡¯s Jonas keeping up with you?¡± ¡°Splendidly, I have to go to the temple to check my class¡¯ progress!¡± Plato nodded and then looked at the zoned out Athak. Rubbing the back of his bald head the man chuckled and went up to the boy, picking him up and putting him over his shoulders. There he could think without stumbling on a stray rock. And so they commenced their walk, first, they left through the gate, then walked for a couple of hours, and finally, they were where Athak had been meaning them to go. ¡°We¡¯re here kiddo.¡± ¡°Ah¡ Good job Plato.¡± What stood before them was a village, Athak jumped off of Plato and went towards a particular house where a lantern was still lit and a man stood outside. When he saw them the man smiled widely and ushered them inside. ¡°Thank you for coming on such short notice adventurers¡ This is a quest no one must know about, as it¡¯s¡ well, you know.¡± ¡°Just get on with it.¡± Athak said coldly. Surprised that the boy was doing the talking the man cleared his throat and turned to Plato, giving him a questioning look, a look Plato simply laughed at. Seeing as the child before him was likely the leader in question, even though the man didn¡¯t quite believe it still, he began to ask of them what he needed. ¡°There is a blood wyvern in the mountain above us¡ It has been sucking the blood of our village folk, I want you to protect it¡ The village chief hired some adventurers to kill it a few days ago, and they¡¯ll be going to hunt it this morning¡ I have half of your pay here, the other half will be paid in a week when I harvest the last batch of eggs from the monster¡ Until then, please protect it¡¡± The team of three looked at each other in the eyes as if they¡¯d heard a joke and were about to leave before the man placed a large egg onto the table. This would be their pay? Thought Plato and Lilith, but their third member seemed convinced¡ ¡°We¡¯ll do it.¡± Surprised the man stood up in glee, but then, realization struck him. ¡°Wait¡ But a child like you?¡± ¡°Check the back of your head.¡± He placed a palm where he¡¯d been instructed to and cold sweat covered his body, even more so when he saw what the boy was holding. The back of his head had been shaved clean and the boy? He was holding a handful of brown hair, the exact shade the man bore¡ ¡°Alright! Just be careful with the egg, it will hatch in a-¡° (I warn anyone that¡¯s eating right now, don¡¯t read the following contents xD) Not letting the man finish Athak had scrambled the egg and poured its bloody half developed wyvern fetus inside his mouth and chewed. ¡°YOU!?¡± The man was about to pounce on the boy before remembering what he¡¯d done just a moment before. Crunching noises could be heard from the boy¡¯s mouth and soon he gulped the wyvern fetus with delight showing on his face, as if he was looking at something other than the man before him. And that he was, in fact, the whole time he¡¯d been on Plato¡¯s shoulders he¡¯d been exploring the System along with a new skill called [Living Encyclopedia] he¡¯d gained after spending days in the library the past month. The skill allowed him to keep all information he¡¯d read into his system, letting him piece together information he¡¯d gathered, mainly about sorcerers and bloodlines, and letting him deduce truths about the world. The reason he¡¯d accepted the mission had been precisely because of this new skill of his. ¡°Thank you for the payment.¡± Athak placed a palm on the man¡¯s forehead and the man instantly turned into a mummified corpse. With that the three were off to the mountains where the blood wyvern lived. And Athak was all the more curious about what kind of effect the bloodline of the wyvern would have on him if he would consume it¡ Of course, he had no intentions on defending the beast if that wasn¡¯t clear enough, after all, who would be such an idiot to believe the man¡¯s words? He wanted them to become a meal for what was probably his master along with the other heroes who¡¯d been sent the wyvern¡¯s way. Though, were wyverns intelligent enough to be someone¡¯s master? Pausing in his tracks Athak mumbled something, noticing the young man¡¯s hesitation Plato rose an eyebrow and turned to the boy. ¡°What¡¯s on your mind kid?¡± ¡°Ah, I think we should camp out till morning, we should wait for the other adventurers to come through the path.¡± Analyzing the boost he¡¯d gained to his bloodline from eating the wyvern¡ no, dragon¡¯s egg, his suspicions were confirmed. And with Plato nodding they setup two small tents, two for those who¡¯d sleep and the nonexistent one to the one who¡¯d keep watch. With that they went to sleep with Lilith keeping first watch¡ Morning came and indeed there were adventurers coming their way, a whole party of seven in fact. A warrior, a tank, a mage, a healer and so on. By the time the adventurers had come to the three¡¯s little campsite it was dawn and the light of the sun was shining in Athak¡¯s eyes. ¡°Greetings fellow adventurers, are you perhaps going to kill the wyvern up in the mountain?¡± Our hero asked graciously. When the adventurers saw the young man and the two tents behind him they grew a little weary, but when they realized his age they calmed. The first of them to talk was the warrior who¡¯d been walking in front. ¡°Hello! Yes, we are¡ and you are?¡± ¡°I am here with my companions hoping to make some cash from you! Here, my master¡¯s finest health potions!¡± Taking a few blood red glass vials from his robe he presented them to the warrior who seemed disinterested in the offer. Waving him off he just passed by Athak while giving him a ¡°no thank you¡± and continuing on by the path. Feigning a look of sadness he had the healer stop in front of him and take three vials, throwing him a silver coin, and a wink. That seemed to make the boy¡¯s day and so the adventurers left up the mountain. ¡°Was that your blood you gave them?¡± A groggy Lilith asked as she came out of her tent. Athak simply nodded at her and went to wake old Plato, which took quite the effort by the way. Once they were all up though they collapsed their tents and bagged them up going up the mountain themselves. Though Athak made sure to keep the distance between the other party and his own through [Blood Sense]. ¡°The kid seemed sweet enough, why didn¡¯t you buy at least one potion?¡± The healer pestered her captain until the man relented and sighed. ¡°Because we have you.¡± The woman giggled and nodded at the admission. It was true, with their levels and classes a potion at the grade a child would be selling would be useless, but alas giving to the poor was something her Cleric class motivated. Whatever the case they already had their sights on the cave the wyvern would be in, only fifteen more minutes or so and they¡¯d be in the midst of battle so even the lively healer put on a face of seriousness. Elsewhere, or rather nearby in fact, there were three miscreants hiding in some bushes and waiting for the battle to commence. And just as the party of seven arrived in front of the cave the monster revealed itself, causing gasps and swears from the party. This was no wyvern. This was a blood dragon! Ch. 7 Old Face What followed was chaos, the tank walked in front of the dragon bearing his massive shield in front of himself as the monster spat blood towards him, almost piercing through his defenses. A bard played his song increasing everyone¡¯s defense and a rogue moved out of the shadows to slash at his foe and to disappear right after. These weren¡¯t just regular adventurers after all, they were at least gold rank. The battle continued with the tank getting closer and closer to the beast and the captain warrior staying close himself. Only when the tank¡¯s shield had been bent beyond recognition did the warrior charge forward slashing towards the dragons face, an act the monster audibly laughed at. Spraying blood from its eyes towards the warrior it surprised him, but what would have been a fatal blow was redirected towards the tank who¡¯d just used a skill and used his arm braces to absorb the attack. All this allowed for some dragon blood to be spilt. Finally, the true powerhouse of the team acted, well, the two true powerhouses did. The ranger who¡¯d been charging up a magical arrow skill together with the mage shot and hit the dragon square in the eye making the beast squirm. Enraged the beast flew in the air pooling all the blood it had lost into a sphere in front of it and shooting countless blood arrows down towards its attackers, all of which were redirected towards the team¡¯s tank whose defense was fully destroyed making the man bleed. The mage began to feverishly cast cantrip equivalents like mana bolt towards the dragon, all for naught, while the healer cast her healing spells on the hurt tank. The ranger shot arrow after arrow while the warrior was charging up some sort of skill. ¡°Amon! Chain it with your spell!¡± The mage had a moment of realization and began to chant, he¡¯d lost his cool but it wouldn¡¯t get to him anymore ¨C his potential demise. And so chains sprouted from the ground and coiled themselves around the dragon, and along with a debuffing and dreadful song of the bard the dragon couldn¡¯t help but be brought to the ground and slashed by the captain. The battle continued like that until the dragon suddenly went mad with rage! The healer had come up to the tank and given him one of the potions she¡¯d bought before, a potion he quickly spat out in revulsion. ¡°What the hell Helena! You¡¯re giving me blood to drink!?¡± Indeed, that had been blood, but not just any old blood. ¡°YOU!¡± For the first time in the battle the dragon had spoken, and in rage. ¡°WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY CHILD!?¡± Right when it said that the other two vials of blood on the healer exploded killing her immediately. Confusing both the dragon and the now dread filled adventurers as a clapping noise could be heard. ¡°Good job all of you! I¡¯m afraid this is where it ends though¡¡± <Slain level 32 Cleric, allocating experience¡> Athak spoke as he approached the battlefield. ¡°You! You sold us those potions! He did it!¡± They weren¡¯t quite certain of what he¡¯d done but one thing was for sure, they hadn¡¯t done it and the villainous entrance of the young man was indication enough that he was the culprit. ¡°Now, now¡ Don¡¯t fret, your sacrifice will not be in vain!¡± Suddenly a mountain of a man appeared in front of the captain, slicing the already tired man¡¯s head off and moving on to the others. Soon there was only an infuriated dragon left and two humans on the ground. ¡°You. Will. DIE!¡± Charging at Athak the dragon had only one goal in mind, eviscerate the human with all its blood supply going into the attack, it opened its mouth and spewed even its organs and blood vessels towards the murderer of its child. But, to its dismay it was shot with a massive blast of energy through its heart, all the blood and flesh was redirected from the boy and wrapped around the dragon, all of it killing it instantly. Athak sighed and placed a palm on the dragon, absorbing all of its blood as he began to glow in the process, his muscles bulged, his eyes glowed red, and his joints crackled. ¡°Ahhh, delicious! Good job, the two of you.¡± Plato chuckled as he sent a thumbs up to Lilith who was still standing in the bushes to the side, sweating from mana exhaustion from her all-out attack. ¡°So what did you get kiddo?¡± <Bloodline has evolved, from Blood Sorcery(perfect) to Blood Sorcery(Unbound level 1)> ¡°I can now level up my blood sorcery, nothing much¡¡± Status <table width="601"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3" width="295"> Hp:1260 Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. </td> <td colspan="3" width="306"> Mp: 440(8.9 mp/min) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Status </td> <td width="151"> / </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Strength </td> <td width="75"> 39(10+29) </td> <td width="172"> Skills: </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Name </td> <td width="151"> Athak </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Constitution </td> <td width="75"> 126(11+115) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Control VIII </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Level </td> <td width="151"> 30 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Dexterity </td> <td width="75"> 44(18+26) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Absorb X(max) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Class </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcerer </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Intelligence </td> <td width="75"> 50(29+21) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Rush VI </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Race </td> <td width="151"> Human </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Wisdom </td> <td width="75"> 104(20+84) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Sense X(max) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Titles </td> <td width="151"> The Merciless¡+3 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Charisma </td> <td width="75"> 78(25+53) </td> <td width="172"> ¡ </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Innate Abilities </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcery(I), Blood Bank </td> <td colspan="4" width="337"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="109"> </td> <td width="146"> </td> <td width="36"> </td> <td width="59"> </td> <td width="88"> </td> <td width="163"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> ¡°Nifty, you know, it¡¯s weird how fast my blood skills have developed¡ Hey Lilith, care to explain?¡± ¡°Sorcerers develop the skills in their domain considerably faster than normal people, since of course, you can have those skills but not be a sorcerer.¡± ¡°Ah, what levels do you have?¡± ¡°Last time I checked in the temple I¡¯m at level six with most of them. Level eight with my Vitality Drain.¡± Athak nodded and went on to extract all the valuables from the adventurers and the dragon, including its teeth, horns and so on. When they were done they¡¯d packed quite a bit and had put it all on good old Plato to carry. And so they went back towards the city, not caring one bit about completing the quest they¡¯d been assigned. When they came back and had sold all the goods to Sean they found guards flocking Gale Inn for some reason, though the reason was well known in Athak¡¯s little entourage. ¡°May he rest in peace¡¡± Plato commented as he did a short prayer¡ And so came the entrance exam for the Magus Academy known as Vermont High. Athak stood in front of the academy as a wave of nostalgia hit him, school¡ All the pointlessness yet fun he¡¯d had during his time on earth, he was lucky he hadn¡¯t done anything over the top back then as he¡¯d done in this world, well, save for the blood sacrifice here and there. Barely anyone noticed the missing students and even fewer cared. But just as he was about to step into the grounds he felt a shift in the air current which made him dodge to the left, a stray little wooden ball passing by him. What he heard next was a low whistle coming from behind as he turned. There were three kids who seemed to be around his age¡ well, the age he seemed to be, as he was around four months old right about now. ¡°Not bad kid¡ what¡¯s your name?¡± Without anyone noticing a drop of blood poured out of the sole of his bare foot and attached itself to a rock on the ground, after that Athak slammed his foot down and the rock rose up only to be punched and thrown straight into one of his assailant¡¯s faces. ¡°Ow ow ow! You! What cantrip is that!?¡± The kids froze in fright, as the boy had not even chanted before using his magic, which meant he¡¯d prepared spells in advance or¡ he had a magical skill! ¡°We¡¯re sorry sir¡ we won¡¯t do it again!¡± Athak chuckled, not bothering to even get their names, then went inside of the academy building. Finally, Athak was now seated on a wooden seat in front of a wooden desk as the professor assistant handed out the papers. ¡°No cheating kiddoes! Magic skills are fair game though, if you have them hehe.¡± And so he began, the first question of the exam being ¡°what is the difference between a magic skill and a magic spell?¡± And Athak wrote down the answer immediately, ¡®The main difference between a magic skill and a magic spell is its cast time, the power output, and whether or not an incantation is necessary or not, magic skills require no incantation while spells do. And magic spells scale with the amount of mana used, while magic skills scale with that and the skill¡¯s level.¡¯ The second question was ¡°What is a magic ritual?¡± And so on. After a total of five minutes had passed Athak handed over the paper and prepared to leave, but was stopped by the assistant. ¡°Wait¡ You have them all correct!? Your name¡ Athak!? Are you an aboriginal?¡± The young man nodded awkwardly and awaited the next question, but it never came. Instead he left the room with a smile. Soon though he met eyes with a strange person, a pale woman with scarlet hair and a pair of glasses who the moment he met eyes with he froze. Betty!? The woman stopped herself, seeming to be confused by the aboriginal staring at her before she harrumphed and left the hall. What is she¡? Of course, some of the people who¡¯d come to this world must have found a way to keep themselves alive more than what a standard lifespan would offer¡ But it¡¯s been hundreds of years after that had occurred, I just never expected¡ Never mind. He continued forward towards the exit, with much on his mind. When he¡¯d arrived at the guild he took a quest as to distract his mind, and to grow stronger, of course. The quest he took was a gold level quest titled ¡°Blood Worm Den¡±. And its location was ten miles from the city. Going back to Gale Inn he slept and was off to do his quest¡ Unlike the mountains to the west, the delta to the north, and the sea to the east, to the south was the great savanna. Where he¡¯d come from, and many were the wild things that one could find there, not only were there lions, hyenas and all manner of monkeys and apes, there were lairs of monsters much like the kobold cave he¡¯d stumbled across. Only one thing stood in his mind, he had to know what Betty was doing and moreover¡ she had to be his. Entering the den he was met with little resistance, as if the blood worms were afraid of him, and why wouldn¡¯t they? The dragon had been too infuriated to notice but he had a blood lineage, and his aura would blind anyone sensitive to the ways of blood magic. What followed was a massacre where Athak consumed the worms¡¯ blood one after the other, until his body ached in pain and his blood bank was forced to expand. <Conditions met for [Blood Bank] evolution, the options are what follows: [Blood Body], [Blood Soul], [Blood Essence]) <[Blood Body], become one with blood in body, greatly increasing control and understanding of blood either yours or of others, increases purity of lineage> <[Blood Soul], become one with blood in soul, increasing control and understanding of blood either yours or of others, increases soul affinity to blood> <[Blood Essence], purify blood that you absorb and condense it into your own more quickly, increases blood bank reserves>

ã€ŠRise of the Blood Sorcererã€‹ Ch. 1 Birth The star is coming. It will finally end this wretched world¡ Arthur stood in his castle¡¯s terrace observing the night sky in all its olden glory. Of all that you, oh dear membrane of infinity that surrounds this world, have seen on this petty rock of a planet, today¡ yes, today you will see the birth of a god! For but a moment he brought his eyes down to the forest that surrounded his abode, and of course the thing beyond it, what humanity called civilization ¨C but a kilometer away. Street and car lights shining in the distance much like the stars above, only their tale was young and young it would die. Turning around the man¡¯s black mantle swung with the gentle flower scented breeze as he walked in the castle¡¯s innards. He moved with a graceful upright posture, his bright blue eyes watched straight on and only on straight, yet his steps were of the rushed variety. Well, only if one were to compare them to their usual pacing. Having moved to the stairway Arthur soon found himself in the hallway, only, it had been somewhat¡ modified. A black circle was drawn on the stone floor, and a total of six bodies laid at an even distance between each other in line with the center of the circle. The bodies had yet to grow cold and stiff as corpses would after a day of being corpses. Arthur sighed and looked to his side, where a bucket full of black liquid stood along with a wide brush. Seeing the whole scene the man sighed. ¡°Oh my servants¡ the knowledge of the impending end made me just end things quicker, that was all¡ Thank you for your service, and your sacrifice!¡± Arthur yelled with gleeful eyes as he grabbed ahold of the bucket and began drawing patterns next to one of the bodies, then he took another bucket, and drew under another, and so on. Until finally he stood in the middle of it all, with six buckets standing around him in a circle. Now, he began his song. ¡°Oh spirit of old, you have foretold, with your voice and call, oh greatest of all¡ Of the impending end, but I will not bend, not my head, nor my knees, oh god of f0leas, this world I will maim! I sacrifice it in your name!¡± He didn¡¯t hear it but it was at that moment that the atmosphere shook, and he didn¡¯t see it but it was at that moment when a star appeared in the sky, rather, a meteorite the size of a state was falling from the sky. And it was heading towards an olden castle some billionaire had made his home. Crash¡ And so the world ended. But Arthur¡¯s life¡ had just begun! Did it work¡? I¡¯m conscious¡ Well it was worth a shot¡ Something seems to have worked¡ I don¡¯t even see black, surreal¡ surreal. Hah, let me try something. Let there be light! Nothing. Ok. I guess I¡¯ll wait it out. Time passed and soon darkness returned to him, slowly so did sensation. And soon he even had hands he could use. Touching his body he realized something. He was a fetus. I see¡ So I¡¯m not a god just yet huh? I did a ritual where I took the energy of a whole meteorite destroying the world! And all I got was to keep my memories after I¡¯d reincarnated? Bah¡ Wait¡ The world was destroyed! Where am I!? What¡¯s my status!?

Hp: 20			Mp: 420(2.3 mp/min)
Status	Unborn	Strength		3(1+2)	Skills:
Name	/(Arthur Collins)	Constitution		2(1+1)	Unarmed combat III
Level	1	Dexterity		20(2+18)	Blade proficiency II
Race Stolen story; please report.	Human	Intelligence		42(29+13)	Marksmanship III
Titles	The Merciless	Wisdom		23(20+3)	Mathematics IV
Innate Abilities	Blood Sorcery	Charisma		51(25+26)	¡

WHAT!? Incredulous, Arthur observed the window that had appeared in front of him. Then he began to study it closer, inside were displayed stats of different aspects of his physique and mind along with skills he¡¯d developed during his life, well, his past life. The one point which piqued his interest though, was what was listed as an innate ability, blood sorcery. He¡¯d studied dark arts in the past, he¡¯d found ways to manipulate his surroundings through ritual and sacrifice, but this was not something he¡¯d had innately. Now¡ Seeing as he had nothing to do, he accepted the screen as a boon from the sacrifice he¡¯d performed and went on to ponder. It seems I am still human¡ but with a twist. Now, seeing as I am inside of a womb there is not much to do, but I can explore my status some more. Focusing on the three dots under [Mathematics IV] Arthur¡¯s status screen disappeared and was replaced by a tab of only skills he possessed, and he had many.

Skills:
Field work I(Str+1)	Unarmed combat III (Dex+6)	Construction I (Str+1)
Cooking III(Dex+3)	Blade proficiency II(Dex+3)	Blood Absorb I(Con+1)
Speed Reading II(int+3)	Marksmanship III(Dex+6)	Persuasion V(Cha+15)
Trading IV(Cha+10)	Mathematics IV(INT+10)
Animal Handling I(Cha+1)	Ritual Magic II(Wis+3)

Ah¡ Interesting¡ Blood absorb? Ugh¡ sort skills by stat modifier?

Skills:
Field work I(Str+1)	Cooking III(Dex+3)	Persuasion V(Cha+15)
Construction I (Str+1)	Blade proficiency II(Dex+3)	Trading IV(Cha+10)
Blood Absorb I(Con+1)	Mathematics IV(INT+10)	Animal Handling I(Cha+1)
Unarmed combat III (Dex+6)	Speed Reading II(int+3)
Marksmanship III(Dex+6)	Ritual Magic II(Wis+3)

I see, so nothing else of interest¡ so hey, how do I use Blood Absorb? No answer¡ so did I get blood sorcerer because of the sacrifices I made or is it because I activated the status before Blood Absorb would be discarded¡ That means I¡¯ll be losing it if I don¡¯t act. But this woman that I¡¯m in may die as a result¡ Hm, I seem to be developed enough to avoid dying myself¡ Focusing on his mind Arthur searched for an instinct within him, a feeling, a connection, and after some time of searching he found it in a strange location, well, initially strange. Of course! It¡¯s not some instinct or anything, it¡¯s literally my connection through the umbilical cord¡ And so with a newfound sense of what was needed to be done Arthur focused on the chord finding that he can manipulate the extent of blood and nutrients that enter him through the chord, increasing the amount he was filled with energy and vigor. But he made sure to stop after what he felt were a few minutes. Like this every night, when he felt the space he was in to be a dimmer black as opposed to a redder one, he¡¯d use the skill for a few minutes. Until one day. < [Blood Absorb] has gained a level, constitution brought up by two points> Success! Like that Arthur had solved the issue of losing his status as a blood sorcerer upon birth. Pondering whether or not he should continue with his use of [Blood Absorb] on his mother he internally sighed and decided that he¡¯d still need someone to breastfeed him upon his birth so he threw that idea away. Instead he opted to sleep, and that he did. After what he assumed was a month Arthur began feeling a pressure on his head. It¡¯s happening! LIGHT! < [Blood Absorb reduced by I level, constitution dropped by two points> And light there was indeed. Although a little blurry and blue tinted he watched the world as he intentionally cried his lungs out. He saw a shaken black skinned man on his side as well as a sickly looking woman of the same color looking at him with deep loving eyes before closing them with a weak breath. He was held by an old woman and he finally realized something, these people were far from advanced¡ He wasn¡¯t even born on a hospital bed, he was in a dirt hut! But whatever the case he kept on crying before the midwife handed the baby to who he assumed was his now father. The man said some unintelligible words as he held Arthur in the air, the last word he heard sounded something like Athak, and when that happened Arthur gained a notification. <Name updated to Athak> Ok. After he¡¯d been handed back to the midwife he gained another notification. <Lvl 16 human priest killed, calculating experience¡> <Blood Absorb has reached level III, Con+5> <Title gained: [Matricide], Con-2, All other stats gain +1> <Title gained: [Giant Slayer], Str+5, damage to all creatures ten or more times larger than you increased by 10%> <You¡¯ve successfully had your first kill! Bonus experience acquired¡ Level difference between you and the killed exceeds 5, gained bonus Exp¡ Level difference exceeds 10, gained bonus Exp¡ Level difference exceeds 15, gained bonus experience¡> <You have reached level 5, class selection has been opened> The man rushed to his wife and checked on her pulse a mournful scream soon filling the hut. And all that Arthur¡ no¡ Athak was thinking was¡ This is going to be interesting¡ Ch. 2 Class Other than familiarizing myself with the local lifestyle and having to be breastfed by a woman other than my mother I had nothing to do in this damned location. I learnt a couple of things though, I hadn¡¯t been the first child in the family. I had an older brother and sister. My brother named Kael was around eight from what I could tell and he would help with milking the cattle while I often saw my sister Adana make baskets from tall grass and the like; she was ten or so. Whatever the case I had a pending decision to make¡ What class should I acquire? <Available classes: ???(Innate), Blood Acolyte(Rare), Ritual Acolyte(Rare), Duelist(Uncommon), Animal Farmer(common), Plant Farmer(Common), Fist Fighter(common). It seemed as though the best course of action would be to wait and gather information¡ Blood Acolyte? <Blood Acolyte: unlocked by having a skill in the blood magic category, unlocks the class Blood Mage when it is leveled to the fifth level, and gives a boost to blood magic spells.> Should I take the safe option or take my innate class? It should be Blood Sorcerer¡ Bah it can¡¯t be that bad, I¡¯m getting impatient. I select the innate option as my class. <You have selected the Blood Sorcerer(Varied), processing soul and lineage data¡ Mind fully compatible¡ Body lacking affinity¡ searching for solution¡> What¡¯s taking so long¡? <You lack the necessary body affinity to be a fully-fledged Blood Sorcerer, proceed or apply fix?> Apply fix. <Assigning quest¡> <New Quest! Develop your lineage¡¯s innate affinity to Blood Magic, quest rewards: ???> Sigh¡ It couldn¡¯t have been simple huh? How am I supposed to increase my affinity if my body isn¡¯t meant to be a Blood Sorcerer? Suddenly Athak heard the sound of a horn being blown, he¡¯d been laying on a pile skins in a corner of his caretaker¡¯s hut. Right when it had been played he could hear people beginning to mumble, he¡¯d just been born yesterday and his belly button had yet to heal but even his caretaker left her quarters to go outside, curious Athak crawled out of the little corner he¡¯d been in and went to the open entrance of the hut to see what was going on. Everyone, or what he assumed were almost all the adults were gathered in the middle of the village and were looking up in the sky, when he himself looked up there was a massive bird-like creature which was mounted by a fair skinned man. The creature landed and the man who was clothed in a fashionable blue robe, some plating on his chest, and a metal helmet left his mount as well. When he began speaking Athak immediately forgot of his surprise towards the creature¡ He could vaguely understand the man, in fact the language was somewhat similar to the English from his world¡ Surprised Athak thought one thing, this was either a coincidence or¡ there had been others from his world who¡¯d come here long ago and English had somewhat evolved as a language since. Whatever the case it seemed that one of the village elders knew of the language and spoke back to the fair skin. ¡°Oh man of great bloodline! We have what you have asked of us!¡± ¡°Good, good... has your tree born fruit yet?¡± ¡°Sir¡ you know that that is sacred to our tribe¡ we have just had a newborn and we have yet to perform our awakening ritual on the boy. We cannot spare-¡° ¡°Give me the fruit, the child can wait. What of your priestess?¡± Silence filled the village, perhaps the regular people didn¡¯t know of the English language but that word ¡®priestess¡¯ they all seemed to have understood. ¡°She is the mother, and she has passed away¡¡± The man rose an eyebrow and looked to Athak¡¯s hut, where he¡¯d been born, and turned back to the village elder. ¡°And how are you to house and heal our soldiers now?! Humph, let me see the child!¡± Hearing this Athak immediately crawled back to his corner and awaited for his caretaker to come and grab him, which she soon did. Being brought before the man he immediately identified him to be of European descent. The man looked at his curious eyes and chuckled grabbing ahold of the boy. ¡°His name is Athak sir¡ he was born just yesterday¡¡± ¡°Athak¡ What does his name mean?¡± Athak gently grabbed the man¡¯s thumb and began smiling and chuckling gleefully making the man smile. ¡°It means of the gods sir¡¡± The man nodded and seemed to contemplate something, holding the baby in one hand he placed his other on its forehead and began speaking in what Athak identified as Latin. Some time passed and a light shone from the man¡¯s hand before Athak being handed back to his caretaker. <Received the blessing of the System¡ System already in place¡ Translating blessing to unlock deeper System information, what would you like to unlock?> How do I make my lineage suitable to becoming a Blood Sorcerer? Athak was soon brought back to his corner and the elder continued speaking to the man happily, saying something like he may have the fruit or whatever but Athak was too consumed by reading through the information he was given by the system to care. So in other words, I need to have my body augmented by magic, transfer experience to my lineage with the intent of becoming a blood sorcerer¡ Or by consuming a total of ten levels of blood magic skills? I have only one level¡ Also, it seems that the younger I am the greater the effect¡ there goes my waiting, I have to act soon. But where do I find blood to consume? As he was pondering he heard the flap of wings outside and he assumed it was the man leaving, then he saw something, a large beetle approaching him. Seeing why not Athak grabbed the beetle and attempted to use his [Blood Absorb], making the bug immediately stop moving and scrunch up. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! So¡ I don¡¯t need to draw blood for it to work¡ A month later his caretaker grew sickly and died. And his level in [Blood Absorb] had risen to III, while his total level did not grow as he assigned the experience to becoming a Blood Sorcerer. It seemed that his lineage developed halfway and he was already plenty eligible to become what he wanted, but he wanted a perfect compatibility with the class before taking it up. Status. <table> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3" width="295"> Hp: 60 </td> <td colspan="3" width="306"> Mp: 440(2.5 mp/min) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> Status </td> <td width="198"> / </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Strength </td> <td width="75"> 9(1+8) </td> <td width="172"> Skills: </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> Name </td> <td width="198"> Athak </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Constitution </td> <td width="75"> 6(1+5) </td> <td width="172"> Unarmed combat III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> Level </td> <td width="198"> 5 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Dexterity </td> <td width="75"> 22(2+20) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Absorb III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> Race </td> <td width="198"> Human </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Intelligence </td> <td width="75"> 44(29+15) </td> <td width="172"> Marksmanship III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> Titles </td> <td width="198"> The Merciless, Matricide, Unborn but Kicking, Giant Slayer </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Wisdom </td> <td width="75"> 25(20+5) </td> <td width="172"> Mathematics IV </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> Innate Abilities </td> <td width="198"> Blood Sorcery </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Charisma </td> <td width="75"> 53(25+28) </td> <td width="172"> ¡ </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="66"> </td> <td width="198"> </td> <td width="36"> </td> <td width="59"> </td> <td width="75"> </td> <td width="172"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> So what would the average base stats of a human be as an adult¡? I¡¯ll assume ten to twenty¡ Bah¡ Wait, all of my titles give some sort of bonus, except the merciless. What does the merciless do? <Indicates that the user has no conscience as well as boosts all damaging attacks¡¯ power by 25%> Neat. Looking around Athak sighed, now without a caretaker he had no one to breastfeed him and for him to use [Blood Absorb] on. But luckily for him he was at least fed cow milk from a wooden bottle with a narrow opening¡ But that was not nearly enough to satiate his growing hunger. Seeing as people connected him to the deaths of both his mother and caretaker people were growing suspicious and afraid of him, but also couldn¡¯t help but love him due to his high charisma stat. It was today when dusk came that Athak decided it would be time to act, from observing the village people whenever he could he knew where the animals were kept and he was happy to pay them a visit. Crawling out of his home after night fell Athak looked left and right and stood on his two feet and began to sprint. Arriving at the fence which surrounded the cattle he crawled under it and found a large cow which was lightly surprised by his presence and just as he was about to place his hand on it as to drain it of life he saw a pair of glowing eyes in the distance. Shit¡ it shouldn¡¯t target me right¡? Wrong. What he soon identified as a lion pounced over the fence scaring the animals senseless and charged towards him. Athak stared the lion down and just as they were about to make contact Jumped over it and grabbed its neck. The beast began rolling on the ground and growling but Athak held firm, he was taking damage from the roll but his blood drain was used to its maximum unlike how he¡¯d been gentle with his human victims. Some time passed and the lion grew weaker and weaker¡ until finally it fell to the ground having all of its life force and blood sucked away by Athak. <You have slain a level 10 lion adolescent, allocating experience to blood lineage¡> <[Blood Absorb] has reached level IV, Con+4> <New skill obtained: [Blood Sense] I, Wis+1> Neat. Quickly, Athak left the animal grounds and returned home, avoiding the alerted people¡¯s sights as he crawled on the ground. <New skill obtained: Stealth level I, Dex+1> Back in his corner Athak attempted using [Blood Sense] on himself and he could feel the blood coursing through him. Like this he observed and observed until he had an idea, what if he used [Blood Absorb] on himself? Rather, what if he increased the flow of nutrients to his body through his blood, he thought it would be worth a try¡ Unsuccessful he¡¯d had enough for the day so he went to sleep. The next morning he was thinking. So what if he¡¯d gained blood sorcery before his birth, why be so hell bent on becoming a Blood Sorcerer? He thought about his little obsession and shook his head, it wasn¡¯t that he was obsessed per se, it just seemed to be the most powerful path. ¡°Athak, come boy!¡± His father stood in the other corner of the hut and Athak obliged, he undexterously began to crawl towards his only parent before being happily picked up and thrown in the air. ¡°Good boy!¡± Giggling Athak enjoyed his time with his father before he was placed back down in his corner and given a bottle filled with milk to drink from. He drank merrily and his father left. Once he was done with his drinking he began his second attempt at blood control¡ <New skill obtained: [Blood Control] I, Con+1> <New skill obtained: [Blood Rush] I, Str+1.> Neat. Like that another month passed and he¡¯d all but learned the local¡¯s language, he absorbed blood from animals and brought the skill to level V and gained enough experience by killing them to become a Blood Sorcerer. His [Blood Control] seemed to level together with any increase in skill of his other blood magic skills so he had reached level III in it as well. <Initializing class allocation¡> <Congratulations! You are now a level 1 Blood Sorcerer! You have unlocked your unallocated stat points(5) and you will gain +1 to Con, to Wis, and to Cha per level of your class! Blood Sorcerer can be leveled up to level 50> Neat. Now all I need to do is grow a little and get out of this place¡ Status <table width="601"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3" width="295"> Hp: 230 </td> <td colspan="3" width="306"> Mp: 440(2.6 mp/min) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Status </td> <td width="151"> / </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Strength </td> <td width="75"> 11(2+9) </td> <td width="172"> Skills: </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Name </td> <td width="151"> Athak </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Constitution </td> <td width="75"> 23(2+21) </td> <td width="172"> Blood control III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Level </td> <td width="151"> 6 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Dexterity </td> <td width="75"> 25(4+21) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Absorb V </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Class </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcerer </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Intelligence </td> <td width="75"> 44(29+15) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Rush I </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Race </td> <td width="151"> Human </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Wisdom </td> <td width="75"> 26(20+6) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Sense I </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Titles </td> <td width="151"> The Merciless¡+3 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Charisma </td> <td width="75"> 54(25+29) </td> <td width="172"> ¡ </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Innate Abilities </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcery </td> <td colspan="4" width="337"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="112"> </td> <td width="150"> </td> <td width="36"> </td> <td width="59"> </td> <td width="75"> </td> <td width="170"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Ch. 3 Exploration <Mission finished¡ assigning rewards¡ New innate ability: Blood Bank, integrate?> Another month had passed and the people were stricken with poverty, talks of having a demon among them became a common occurrence, but no one had yet to make the connection between the deaths of their cattle and the little baby which was now crawling around the village, exploring its ins and outs and killing the occasional beetle. Finally being found by his father Athak was picked up and brought back into his home, the baby crying all the while. ¡°No Athak, don¡¯t cry¡¡± His father stricken with hunger gently wobbled Athak left and right until the baby calmed and seemingly fell asleep. The man stood up and told his daughter to take care of the boy, something Adana had no interest in doing as she left only half an hour after she¡¯d been put on guard. Using this opportunity little Athak opened his eyes and smiled perking up and beginning to walk. Soon he was crawling outside the village grounds, in the wilderness all the while using a recently gained skill called [Blood Sense] to detect living things around him. Seeing that he was safe for the time being he contemplated something. Perhaps I¡¯ve been too harsh to the locals, if I am to become a god which these new abilities of mine indicate the possibility of just that I need to develop these poor fucks up from the dirt into something useful¡ only thing is¡ I¡¯m too young. Well whatever, I¡¯ll do what I can when I can, thing is, now I have to become strong, and that I will do like this. <You have killed a level 2 lizard, allocating experience¡> Stripping the creature of its blood Athak condensed a blood pearl and smiled. Moving to a tree with a hole in its trunk he placed a palm inside and pulled out a handful of such pearls out. He kept taking them out until he had a large pile weighing around a kilogram all in all. Using his magic on the pearls they quickly liquefied and were molded in what looked to be a thin short sword. Happy with his nifty work Athak smiled and held the weapon in his hand. Hm¡ the System didn¡¯t inform me that I¡¯d crafted anything¡ Ah, of course¡ Passing his finger across the edge of the blade with great focus Athak sharpened the weapon and he got what he wanted. <[Crude Blood Sword] level I has been crafted, allocating experience¡> <Level ten achieved> Neat¡ So I can gain experience by making blood weapons. But wait, that¡¯s not what I had in mind with this weapon¡ What he¡¯d intended to make was a weapon that would grow the more blood he¡¯d assimilate into it, but it seemed that that would be a dream for the future instead of something he¡¯d be having the benefit of just yet. With such thoughts passing through his mind his [Blood Sense] finally picked a larger signature up, a fresh kill likely. Perking up Athak walked towards the signature with his sword in hand cautiously, the sword wouldn¡¯t allow for much greater reach than he¡¯d had already seeing as he was three months old but it would be useful nonetheless. Soon he found what he¡¯d been looking for, a large baboon-like creature was munching on a gazelle while Athak laid low in observation of the act. This was the first time he¡¯d seen such a monster and he was unsure of his ability to deal with it, sighing internally he began retreating¡ but not before the baboon turned to look straight into his eyes curiously. The creature made some sort of noise which Athak interpreted as a greeting, making the same noise in return Athak held his ground while the beast took a few steps forward. Seeing no other way out Athak took some steps forward as well until the two were right in front of one another. The baboon was sniffing the baby and Athak did the same, eventually the baboon seemed to lose interest, turning around¡ but then it saw the world spinning as its head flew from its body. <Killed level 12 Baboon, allocating experience¡> Idiot. Draining the body of blood until just a husk remained Athak smiled in satiation, moving to the gazelle he did the same and then felt a sharp pain in his body. Ugh¡ Filled up that quickly huh? <Blood reserves overflowing, supplying blood to strengthen user, +1 Strength gained> As much as being a baby is problematic, it¡¯s allowing my blood reserves to be much smaller than they would if I¡¯d been an adult, benefitting me quite a bit. Wait¡ what¡¯s this? There seemed to be some movement in the distance, the savanna was a great expanse but there weren¡¯t many advanced people, or so he¡¯d assumed, it seemed that what he was seeing right now was an indication against his little theory. What he saw was a carriage slowly moving through the grassy savanna. Seeing the opportunity to learn Athak began running stealthily through the tall grass until he was in the carriage¡¯s path, he absorbed all the blood from his sword and used the pain that caused to add authenticity to the crying he was about to start. And start he did. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Stop the carriage!¡± A woman cried out in English, and so the carriage did and the woman, a blonde in fancy looking leather armor, rushed to Athak¡¯s aid. Finding the baby on the ground, with no clothing on it or guardian around it she was stumped. A tall man with dark hair and a fair complexion much like the woman¡¯s came and was equally stumped when he saw the little thing. ¡°Do you think we should take it with us?¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®do you think¡¯!?¡± The woman yelled at the man and proceeded to gently pick the baby up, immediately the little thing stopped its cry and began giggling with its little palms twirling blonde hair between their little chubby fingers. ¡°What a sweetheart! Oh my god!!¡± ¡°It¡¯s an aboriginal baby Talia, we need to bring it back to its home¡ I¡¯m pretty sure there was a tribe living nearby marked on the map.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Hear that old Yan? You know where this tribe is located right?¡± The old man responsible for driving the carriage nodded with a sigh as the others returned to the carriage. Talia held the little baby boy in her hands, gently wobbling it left and right before having it fall asleep. Judging from their blood quality I can¡¯t kill them without a weapon¡ especially not that old man. Damn it, free experience is just standing right in front of me and I can¡¯t do anything to get it¡ Whatever. I get to be entertained at least. ¡°So Jonas, how long until we arrive at the capital?¡± ¡°Another month of travel at the most, the experience we¡¯ve been getting from the animals and monsters here has been great though. I can¡¯t say I regret escorting you my lady.¡± Talia passed a hand through her hair with a bright smile then turned her head, her eyes widening in surprise. ¡°Stop the carriage!¡± ¡°Damn it Talia! If you keep stopping at every mildly interes-¡° ¡°The girl¡¯s right this time, this is strange.¡± Yan said as he jumped off of his station, walking to a pair of corpses on the ground, one desecrated and the other decapitated. He placed a palm on one of the bodies and found it unusually dry. ¡°Blood magic, we might be dealing with a chupacabra here¡¡± He continued ascertaining the situation for another few minutes before turning around and seeing Talia with the baby in her hands. ¡°Lucky little shit, if he survived this kind of monstrosity then perhaps aboriginal blood isn¡¯t the tastiest, hah.¡± ¡°Say¡ Why don¡¯t we take the baby with us? If there are these kinds of monsters all around, wouldn¡¯t he be safer if we-¡° ¡°No, we¡¯d be kidnapping him Talia, how are you going to explain to the authorities when you bring a random baby from nowhere?¡± Deflating Talia sighed going back to the carriage and they were soon on their way. ¡°Thank you so much for bringing the child back!¡± The elder of the village held a ¡°sleeping¡± Athak as he thanked the three who¡¯d brought him there. He handed the baby back to his father and began discussing something with the people. ¡°Might you be adventurers¡?¡± Jonas nodded making the elder smile in hurray. Then, whilst leading the way he brought the three to a cow corpse, its condition was ascertained by Yan as he rested his chin on his palm. ¡°I saw something like this in the wilds where we found the baby. First I thought it was a chupacabra, but seeing as there are no puncture wounds this is¡ The doing of some sort of specialized Blood Mage¡¡± ¡°We have nothing of the sort here sir! It¡ must be the doing of a demon!¡± The three adventurers seemed to be shaken. They looked at each other and nodded. ¡°Sir, could we setup camp here? We will make sure to get to the end of the issue!¡± As they were conversing they didn¡¯t notice a short lasting red glow of a pair of eyes to their side, they were being watched, and whoever was watching them was not pleased with the development. Damn it. I brought this on myself¡ sigh¡ well, I guess I¡¯ll be practicing my Blood Control and Blood Sense for a few days¡ ¡°By the way, that¡¯s quite the baby you got there, who knows how fast he is at crawling to have reached that far into the savanna, how old is he?¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s strange yes¡ he¡¯s only three months old.¡± ¡°WHAT!?¡± Shit. Status <table width="601"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3" width="295"> Hp: 410 </td> <td colspan="3" width="306"> Mp: 440(4 mp/min) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Status </td> <td width="151"> / </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Strength </td> <td width="75"> 19(5+14) </td> <td width="172"> Skills: </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Name </td> <td width="151"> Athak </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Constitution </td> <td width="75"> 41(5+36) </td> <td width="172"> Blood control III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Level </td> <td width="151"> 15 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Dexterity </td> <td width="75"> 32(6+26) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Absorb VI </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Class </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcerer </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Intelligence </td> <td width="75"> 44(29+15) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Rush III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Race </td> <td width="151"> Human </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Wisdom </td> <td width="75"> 40(20+20) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Sense III </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Titles </td> <td width="151"> The Merciless¡+3 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Charisma </td> <td width="75"> 63(25+38) </td> <td width="172"> ¡ </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Innate Abilities </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcery, Blood Bank </td> <td colspan="4" width="337"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="112"> </td> <td width="150"> </td> <td width="36"> </td> <td width="59"> </td> <td width="75"> </td> <td width="170"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Allocate all 15 free status points to constitution. With that his Hp shot up to 560 and he felt his body physically grow larger. Standing up behind his father he placed a palm on the man¡¯s body stripping it of all its blood in seconds and forming the blood into a blade he quickly hid under a skin in his corner. <Level 18 human animal farmer slain, allocating experience¡> <[Blood Blade] level II crafted, allocating experience¡> <You have reached level 16!> Allocate free stat point to constitution. Hmm 580 now huh¡ Integrate blood bank. Suddenly his body grew a whole foot taller, making him smile. It worked! Then, hiding under some blankets he waited for someone to come into his hut. But seeing as no one had until dusk he left the village at full speed, wanting to have nothing to do with whatever would pass. <Title gained: [Patricide]¡> <Titles [Patricide] and [Matricide] fuse into [Self Orphaned], con -4, all other stats gain +3.> Well, it¡¯s time to start my life already! Ch. 4 Young Adventurer In the capital city of Carna, the epicenter of various types of trade in the kingdom of Yugotia and other neighboring states, there was a recently built tavern named ¡°Out with the Rage¡±, where all manner of beverages were served including the house specialty ¡®Spicy Rage¡¯, two adventurers were sitting and chatting over a pair of drinks. ¡°That was horrible¡ I want nothing to do with the wilderness again...¡± ¡°I hear you Jonas, I hear you¡¡± Suddenly a large tankard was slammed onto their table, a large plate mail wearing bald man with a ginger moustache sitting next to the two. He laughed merrily and drank from his ale while the other two gathered their wits on what was going on. ¡°We¡ better stand up¡¡± Jonas whispered in Yan¡¯s ear before being noticed by the large stash bearing man. ¡°Kids these days¡ Why so scared of Uncle Plato? I noticed the two of you were down in spirit so I just decided to jump in and say hi.¡± The two of them sighed and brought their attention towards the towering man. Seeing as they wouldn¡¯t want to offend anyone as they¡¯d just come to the city they were all ears. ¡°Mmh, it isn¡¯t you that should be listening to me¡ I want to know what happened to you folk.¡± Yan and Jonas looked at each other and sighed once more, recounting what had happened in the tribal village out in the outskirts. The more the man heard, the more he frowned, and when they were finally done with their recounting Uncle Plato brought his hand to his moustache and twirled it. ¡°I¡ I¡¯ve seen something similar here¡ A few days ago when I was out in the dungeon to raise my class level I found a number of corpses, sucked dry¡ When did you two come here? Yan and Jonas rose an eyebrow each feeling cold sweat cover their bodies. ¡°It¡ couldn¡¯t have followed us here¡ We came today.¡± Drinking the rest of his ale in one fell swoop Plato stood up and motioned the two to follow him. After a short walk they came to a large ornamented white building with blue roofing, a large sign with the letters ¡®ADVENTURER¡¯s GUILD HALL¡¯ plastered on its front. Plato turned around and nodded to the two before entering. Once inside they were greeted by a hodgepodge of adventurers of all sorts of sizes, backgrounds, and ages. One of them in particular falling into focus, namely the young boy in red armed with a pair of daggers on his sides who Plato decided to talk to right off the bat. ¡°Friends! This is my party member, the close quarter assassin Athak!¡± The two adventurers seemed to be experiencing d¨¦j¨¤ vu but quickly pushed the strange thoughts to the back of their minds, each of them reaching out a hand towards the boy. Athak on the other hand smiled merrily much like Plato would and asked for their names. ¡°Jonas¡± ¡°It¡¯s Yan, what is a kid like you doing adventuring? Do you even have a class?¡± Although he did so as politely as he could manage, Yan couldn¡¯t help but bring an edge to his words. Although not unheard of, adventurers the size of Athak would mostly be dead by the time they became eligible to become a proper adventurer of bronze rank. Not to mention the skill necessary to be an assassin. ¡°Oh, I can assure you Yan, he¡¯s already a bronzy!¡± Raising his eyebrows in surprise Yan backed down and let his more spirited companion do the talking. They conversed until Plato told Athak of the strange occurrence of the dried up corpses Yan Jonas and himself had found on their adventures. Athak nodded in understanding and seemed to think deeply about the subject before speaking. ¡°From what I¡¯ve read in the library this seems to be the doing of a demon¡¡± Hearing this the two men perked up in attention. ¡°Demons come in many forms, but can be categorized based off of the seven deadly sins¡ Succubi and incubi for lust being a typical example. This seems to be a blood demon, something akin to a vampire! But not quite¡ That is all I know, sorry, maybe we should report this to the guild?¡± The men nodded as that was likely what Plato had been meaning for them to do, and so they went to the guild counter and Jonas was first to speak. ¡°Hello, my name is Jonas of the southern branch of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, silver rank. I come here to br-¡° ¡°Is there a problem?¡± The woman in charge of receiving people had had her back turned whilst doing some paperwork before she turned around to see Jonas, her short silver hair had made him assume that this was an elder in question but once he saw her large round eyes, marble like skin, and button nose he seemed to be aghast. Seeming to understand the situation the receptionist placed a palm over her lips and giggled making the young hero blush. ¡°Uhm¡ I bring a¡ monster report m¡¯lady!¡± ¡°Oh? What kind of monster?¡± Looking down at his nether region the woman teased the man getting a couple more giggles of amusement before putting on a professional smile and motioning for the men to follow her. Entering the inside of the guild reception they found themselves in a guest room where a silver haired man with glasses was awaiting; a pile of papers stood in front of him. ¡°This better be important Lilith.¡± The man said before he saw a small Athak, widening his eyes he coughed and stood up. Ignoring everyone except the boy and shaking his hand. ¡°Welcome, welcome Athak sir. How can I be of service today?¡± Lilith giggled once more before she asked if the adventurers would be wanting drinks to which they all declined except for Athak. ¡°Ah, white powdered cocoa for me please!¡± ¡°If only you people served alcohol here¡¡± Plato mumbled without getting a response. And when everyone had been seated and Athak had gotten his hot drink, which he drank merrily, the discussion began. First Jonas and Yan explained their experiences in detail before Uncle Plato gave his and Athak gave his opinion. The silver haired man who¡¯d yet to introduce himself nodded along before wiping his brow of sweat. ¡°Ah¡ The two instances must be unrelated seeing as the two of you have yet to be attacked¡ That is unless you are carrying a loose cursed spirit around with you.¡± Stolen novel; please report. The man spouted some clear bullshit before writing down the report and passing it to the pile of papers in front of him. Unsatisfied the two, Yan and Jonas, looked at each other with sighs and stood to leave, but just before they would go Lilith grabbed the hem of Jonas¡¯ shirt and spoke something in the man¡¯s ear, making him blush. With that the four adventurers were out and in front of the bulletin board, looking for a suitable silver level quest for them to tackle. Finding one titled ¡°Goblin Den¡± they went to Lilith who assigned them to the quest and waved them goodbye. ¡°So, what the hell did she say to you that¡¯s got you so¡ red?¡± Yan asked with the other two waiting for his answer attentively. The man hesitated but somehow brought himself to say it. ¡°Tonight at Gale inn, I¡¯ll eat you up.¡± Everyone shot Jonas a low whistle and Plato in particular got rather close to the man, putting his arm over his shoulder and congratulating him for the score to be. All the while Yan seemed to be zoned out, and no one save for Athak noticed this behavior of Yan¡¯s making the boy smile strangely. And so Yan and Jonas were off to the goblin den while Athak and Plato waved them off. ¡°I think that silver hair is hiding something¡ I think¡ he knows what¡¯s up.¡± Yan told his companion who turned to the older man and scratched his head. Thoughts passed through Jonas¡¯ mind before he came to a simple conclusion. ¡°You¡¯re overthinking it, I think they¡¯re siblings, Lilith and that guy.¡± ¡°And now that you¡¯re head over heels for a girl you decide to blind yourself huh?¡± And as Jonas chuckled merrily with thoughts of tonight coming to his mind the two of them were out through the gate of the city and found themselves at the wide expanse of the savanna. It would be a day¡¯s trip for any regular adventurer to the goblin den, but the two of them were presumably silver level adventurers so they rushed forward with great speed and stamina, making camp but an hour later. Taking out some rations including beef jerky they ate and drank as much sustenance as they needed before continuing their conversation. ¡°We better finish this quest by noon so we can come back with the goblin lord¡¯s head¡¡± ¡°On her shift¡ Hah, you really want to impress this girl huh? Listen kid, if she¡¯s the type to do something right off the bat she¡¯s not a keeper, you know that right?¡± Clenching a fist the young man sighed, the girl was cute, all too cute. If he¡¯d known better he would have ignored her advances but he¡¯d been charmed. It seemed that he¡¯d ignored everything that had occurred while he was feeling the throb of his heart. ¡°Anyway, are we go-¡° ¡°Shush¡¡± With a speed that betrayed his level of power Yan placed his palm over Jonas¡¯ mouth, coming close to his friend and whispering. ¡°I sensed a presence in the distance, you stay here while I investigate.¡± Without waiting for Jonas to speak Yan dashed towards what he¡¯d sensed leaving the young man worried. Running with a speed even greater than before Yan found it, a creature wailing in pain as it was sucked of its life force. But he couldn¡¯t see where from¡ Approaching what seemed to be a rhino he placed a palm on its upturned belly and could physically feel its blood being drained into nothingness, suddenly he sensed something behind him¡ then, the world turned black as brain tissue littered the ground, a large axe replacing Yan¡¯s head. ¡°Good work kiddo.¡± The rhino was moved over and from underground arose a dirt covered Athak. Placing a palm on the dead adventurer¡¯s body Athak absorbed all the blood from his body and looked over to his ally, good old Uncle Plato. ¡°As per the deal, you can have all his bearings.¡± Plato nodded and proceeded to loot Yan, taking a pouch of gold before throwing a few coins towards Athak who pocketed the coins with a snort. Taking a strand of blood from his robe Athak cleaned himself of the dirt he¡¯d been covered in and brought the blood back in its place. ¡°So we leave the other guy to Lilith?¡± ¡°It will take a few days but his vitality will be sucked out eventually.¡± Plato nodded before taking his axe and striking the ground in front of him with all his might, opening a large hole under and throwing Yan¡¯s body inside. After they had buried the body they left for the goblin den themselves, not caring about the young man who¡¯d already grown paranoid whilst waiting for his companion. Where is that geezer¡? Damn it, if he¡¯s been killed or something I can¡¯t deal with whatever got him¡ I¡¯ve got to run¡ And so he packed whatever he could and began rushing back to Carna, an hour later he was sweaty and tired, but alive. Not daring to show up at the guild empty handed Jonas rented a room in Gale Inn and laid his tired body on the soft bedding. Thinking about the adorable woman he¡¯d be laying with soon the man couldn¡¯t help but grab his pecker and do one off. After he¡¯d done what he¡¯d done he wiped his palms with a towel provided by the inn and took out his sword along with a whetstone, sharpening the blade to perfection. Like that hours passed before he left his room and stood in front of the inn, finally, the short haired woman he¡¯d been awaiting came in baggy clothing and some light but sharp makeup contrasting her delicate round features. Taking hold of one of his arms and looking at him straight in the eyes with a blush she stood up on her toes and went in for a kiss, one the man accepted with vigor. The two walked up into Jonas¡¯ room and immediately went to it. Jonas pushed the woman on the wall and kissed her passionately before grabbing ahold of her behind, a strange sexual energy enveloping him. The two¡¯s tongues danced in each other¡¯s mouths before Jonas decided to pull down on Lilith¡¯s pants revealing a pair of chubby pale thighs. He lifted the woman up and went right in while she was still pushed up on the wall. And so, light moans filled the night¡ The next morning Jonas woke up naked with an equally bare woman lying in his embrace, but instead of feeling satisfied he was assaulted by a heavy headache along with muscle spasms on his legs and stomach. After they¡¯d subsided the man sighed in relief and gently pulled the woman in waking her. An hour later the two left Jonas¡¯ inn room and bid each other farewell, a satisfied smile on both of their faces. But as always¡ life wasn¡¯t perfect, Jonas still didn¡¯t know what had happened to Yan and he was worried sick. Moving out of the inn he paid for another few nights like he¡¯d promised Lilith and was on his way to at least find another party of adventurers for him to challenge the goblin den. That¡¯s when he saw Athak. ¡°Oh, hi there kiddo? Hey I was wondering something, have you seen Yan around?¡± Athak acted surprised to see Jonas and came up to him, telling him that he hadn¡¯t and that he was heading to the local tavern for a drink, seeing as he had nothing to do just yet Jonas decided on joining the boy. ¡°Maybe you and Plato can join me on the goblin den quest, it would be great to find someone reliable to work with¡ Especially since I don¡¯t know whether Yan is alive or not¡¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s fine, he seemed strong enough, you two are silver adventurers right? I mean, you¡¯re basically celebrities! Oh, oh! How did the night go?¡± ¡°Ha, you flatter me kid. And great hehe¡ You got any experience, I mean women don¡¯t mind the age if you¡¯re strong.¡± ¡°No, no¡ I, like this one girl but¡ I can¡¯t be with her anyway¡ I¡¯m an aboriginal after all.¡± Giving Athak a risen eyebrow Jonas seemed to realize something. Zoning out a bit he frowned then looked back at the boy, sizing him up from head to toe. ¡°But your English is aristocratic! Ah¡ I¡¯m sorry for asking this but¡ Were you¡ a slave?¡± Athak gave Jonas a hardened look before turning away in grief, while Jonas himself face-palmed himself for being so insensitive. ¡°Ah, ah¡ I¡¯ll make it up to you! Sorry friend! Drink¡¯s on me!¡± Like that the two arrived in the tavern, seating themselves Athak ordered hot cocoa while Jonas had a pint. And so the two conversed on their life¡¯s paths, the first one to begin was Jonas talking about how he grew up as an orphan and was taken up by a wandering swordsman as to be a disciple. The talk became emotional when it was revealed that Jonas¡¯ master died to protect him and to this day the young adventurer is on a mission to become the greatest swordsman on the continent, a wish passed down from his master who¡¯d grown too old to complete it. Then Athak started with his own story, a lowly slave who was elevated to an assassin once his great dexterity stat was revealed by the awakening ceremony each slave would go through at the age of five. The reason he was not put to be some sort of guard or personal bodyguard was because the only class available to him in the awakening ceremony was assassin, and from there everything went downhill¡ Apparently the on a mission two years ago when Athak was only ten he was captured and tortured for a whole month¡ Only to awaken a special movement skill which allowed him not only to escape his captors but to be free of the slave brand on his soul. His real name was not Athak¡ but what it truly was? That was something that under no circumstance would he disclose. ¡°Damn¡ You really went through a lot huh¡ so, I bet you¡¯re more skilled than your rank would suggest, why don¡¯t we come together in arms and become a party?¡± ¡°Ah, right, I forgot to tell you. The goblin den quest has been finished by some other party in passing. Taking on quests that have been reserved for a designated party cannot be done unless you don¡¯t know that that quest has been taken. So someone did it, I cannot help with that, but, I can join you on different quests in a few days after I¡¯m done with some errands.¡± Jonas nodded in understanding, stood up, and outstretched his palm towards Athak. ¡°I trust you kiddo, let¡¯s become the greatest!¡± Athak stood in turn and shook the man¡¯s hand, only returning a silly smile and a rub on the back of his head. Indeed. He would become the greatest. Ch. 5 Before It seemed that constitution wasn¡¯t only responsible for the amount of health one would have but also the amount of stamina, and seeing as Athak had been using [Blood Rush] to its fullest extent for something like an hour already and was only now beginning to get tired it was clear that his constitution was no joke. Though, it could have been the large amounts of blood he¡¯d absorbed over the months sustaining him, stamina was a question of blood flow after all and Athak was a Blood Sorcerer. Having finally decide that it had been enough running Athak stopped his rush towards where he assumed the capital to be, based off the road he found Talia and Jonas going through with their carriage. Now standing and surrounded by darkness the now young boy looking to be a few years old scanned his surroundings, he¡¯d need to feast on a lot of blood so he could grow to at least twelve years old. The gift the System had given him for gaining a perfect Blood Sorcerer bloodline had been [Blood Bank], an innate ability of his lineage which would be passed down to his children if he ever chose to have any. Though the greatest effect would be reached if he were to mate with another Blood Sorcerer, or sorceress for that matter. It was time for Athak to feast, but it was unclear where he¡¯d find the blood necessary for him to grow a whole three feet taller, whatever the case he needed to be on the hunt. And that he did. Moving through the savanna and using his [Blood Sense] carefully he walked around until he found something. A pair of eyes pointed straight at him, and like a flash the creature pounced and slashed the side of his arm leading him to bleed. Taking the spilt blood in his palm Athak formed a dagger and lowered his stance, ready for the next pounce. Right on mark while using his sensory skill Athak slashed his blade forward and drew some blood, blood which was added to the ever growing dagger in his grasp. The battle commenced and halfway through the dagger became a spear and Athak finally had the chance to see what had been attacking him. A cheetah-like creature with saber tooth fangs. The reason he could finally see it was because its movements had been slowed and it was on its last breath. But he wasn¡¯t one to misjudge on the last moment, this was a cornered animal and it would do its best to survive even if its initial intent had been to be a hunter. Finally, the creature pounced on him one last time inadvertently biting onto Athak¡¯s spear and suffering the consequences of getting close to such a malleable weapon. Bending the spear Athak wrapped it around the beast¡¯s head before squeezing and crushing its skull. <Level 18 sabertooth cheetah slain, allocating experience¡> Wiping the sweat off of his forehead Athak retrieved the blood he¡¯d shed back into his body though his wounds had yet to heal. What followed was a feast, taking dry wood from the surroundings Athak built a fire, skinned and skewered the beast over it and awaited for his meal to be done. Half an hour later he dug in all the while observing his surroundings with [Blood Sense], it seemed as though he¡¯d scared anything that would pose a threat to him off through killing the apex predator. After having eaten his fill, he took the blood pearl he¡¯d gotten from the body of the cheetah and pondered as to what to do with it. A weapon would have been nice but he just couldn¡¯t shake the feeling of the cold breeze passing through his nether region. So it was decided, he made a simple loincloth and covered himself. Looking left and right he sighed, he had no party members for him to feel safe with going to sleep so he decide to explore further¡ I sense it¡ a large quantity of blood! And indeed, once he¡¯d gotten closer to the wretched stench of blood he found it, a cave entrance guarded by a pair of short lizard like people holding a spear each. They had red scales on their backs and heads while their lips and abdominal areas were covered in smooth white skin. Athak licked his lips and activated [Blood Rush] to its greatest extent pouncing on the two guards and kicking the first one into the ground, though it seemed that his strength was yet to reach a level he could comfortably work with. Absorbing all the blood from the creature he just kicked he quickly formed a blood blade and slashed at his other foe decapitating him. <Two Kobolds slain, allocating experience¡> With a few more liters of blood he made himself a pair of daggers and looked at the entrance of the cave. It¡¯s time to feast! Entering the cave Athak immediately sensed a large quantity of monsters inside, along with many different directions he could go. He decided that going straight to the heart of the cave would be irresponsible seeing as he felt a powerful signature on that end. So he began his grind. But Athak quickly ran into a problem, it was dark, and perhaps he could sense the presence of creatures and even the shape of their bodies with his [Blood Sense] he couldn¡¯t see his surroundings. Pushing the problem aside he began walking through the cave with his palms touching the side of the wall, he walked and walked until he finally got close enough to a blood signature that he slashed at it. But it seemed that there had been a barrier between him and the creature, some sort of wall or¡ armor. Hearing the creature screech Athak immediately began running away only to stumble down on the ground and feel his back spray blood. He could feel it, every drop of blood that left his body, staining the metal sword the kobold was wielding and revealing to him his foe¡¯s movements. With a sneer Athak rolled out of the way and his opponent¡¯s next attack struck stone. Soon there was another head rolling on the ground. Returning all the lost blood into his body Athak absorbed the kobold¡¯s blood and made a spear. He¡¯d need the reach. Because they were coming, and fast. Not seeing any other way out Athak sprayed half of the blood he¡¯d gained to form his spear onto the walls around, gaining almost full view of his surroundings. Now, with the problem of sight being out of the picture the young boy awaited his foes who came in tens of individuals. Luckily for him though, the space was relatively cramped and only so many kobolds could come through at a time. He speared one in the eyeball, another in the gut and a third in its chest, like that he kept killing kobolds and absorbing their blood into himself. And just as he killed the last one he heard a loud roar from the cave¡¯s depths. Boss time huh¡? Status <17 Kobolds slain, allocating experience¡> <You have reached level 19!> <[Blood Absorb] has reached level VIII, Con+8> <[Blood Control] has reached level V, Con+5> <[Blood Sense] has reached level V, Wis+5> <[Blood Rush] has reached level IV, Str+4> After he¡¯d absorbed all the blood available his loading status screen finally opened, causing the young man to blow a low whistle. <table width="601"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3" width="295"> Hp: 710 </td> <td colspan="3" width="306"> Mp: 440(4.9 mp/min) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Status This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. </td> <td width="151"> / </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Strength </td> <td width="75"> 28(10+18) </td> <td width="172"> Skills: </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Name </td> <td width="151"> Athak </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Constitution </td> <td width="75"> 71(11+60) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Control V </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Level </td> <td width="151"> 15 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Dexterity </td> <td width="75"> 44(18+26) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Absorb VIII </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Class </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcerer </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Intelligence </td> <td width="75"> 44(29+15) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Rush IV </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Race </td> <td width="151"> Human </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Wisdom </td> <td width="75"> 49(20+29) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Sense V </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Titles </td> <td width="151"> The Merciless¡+3 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Charisma </td> <td width="75"> 63(25+38) </td> <td width="172"> ¡ </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Innate Abilities </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcery, Blood Bank </td> <td colspan="4" width="337"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="112"> </td> <td width="150"> </td> <td width="36"> </td> <td width="59"> </td> <td width="75"> </td> <td width="170"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Hm, let¡¯s see what you can do. Walking out of the cave Athak held a disappointed expression, the boss monster hadn¡¯t even lasted a minute against him. Sighing he activated [Blood Bank] once more and grew to be five foot tall, something under the height he was aiming for. Thinking that it would be good enough he looked left and right and after making sure the coast was clear went back inside the cave, piling kobold bodies over himself before telling them all good night and falling asleep¡ A week of traveling on foot had passed and Athak had made himself a robe and a pair of daggers out of his own blood. Now he stood before it, the great city of Carna, although he didn¡¯t know of its name. Going in he was immediately greeted by the sight of a bustling city, filled with merchants and merchandise, whores and brothels, waiters and food and so much more. Athak breathed in deeply and was reminded of his time on earth, ah what a lovely time that had been, he truly missed it. As Arthur Collins he had built a business empire that brought him to the peak of what man could achieve, in his mind at least, and he had full intentions on doing the same as Athak, though, first and foremost¡ he¡¯d need allies. He wandered around before stumbling across a beautiful white marble building with blue roofing. It even had a sign written in English on what it was, a guild hall for adventurers. Thinking of himself as just that he entered and was soon greeted by a deadpan looking silver haired receptionist, though she quickly rose an eyebrow in interest. ¡°Oh? What¡¯s a runt like you doing in a gruff place like this? Huh kiddo?¡± Athak simply stared at the woman, perhaps a little too long, but intentionally so. He placed a palm gently onto the counter and spoke. ¡°I¡¯m looking to register.¡± Further raising her eyebrow the woman tried to laugh, but choked on her own spit. Feeling embarrassed she quickly stumbled around and tried to compose herself as Athak watched. ¡°Just get to it lady.¡± Looking at him with fury in her eyes the woman gave a forced smile and motioned him to follow her. Now in the guest room he met eyes with a same haired man with glasses who seemed to disregard his presence as much as the woman did, sitting down he was about to get to business but was surprised when he was asked if he¡¯d like anything to drink. Pondering deeply on the matter he asked for something he¡¯d always drank back on earth, hot cocoa. ¡°So you¡¯d like to register as an adventurer, sign here, here, and here. Take this and get out of my office.¡± Instead of complying Athak crossed his legs and looked at the man strangely. ¡°But I¡¯ve yet to finish my cocoa, good sir. Tell you what, you give me the hardest quest you can muster and I¡¯ll get out of your office on short notice. Also, isn¡¯t this a guest room?¡± ¡°My office is under renovation¡ Alright kid, I¡¯ll give you the gold level quest of slaying the forest giant king, if you bring me his core in a week I won¡¯t rebuke your license. Now scram kid!¡± Athak downed the hot cocoa in one gulp not caring about the fact that his throat was now seared and departed, leaving Lilith and the man alone in the guest room. ¡°I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about that kid Sean¡ He doesn¡¯t feel human.¡± Sean turned to his sister and chuckled. ¡°He¡¯s just got a screw loose, that¡¯s all, and young on that matter. The young are all stupid. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you be on the young side yourself? Relative to let¡¯s say¡ our beloved ¡®forest giant king¡¯.¡± Sean snorted and Lilith went back to her station. Reading up on the quest which was open for all to see Athak squinted his eyes, it seemed that it had been years since someone has managed to complete it, and the death toll was 100%. Smirking to himself Athak went to an inn as to reserve a room for himself and was on his way. The path to the great forest oasis, where water was abundant unlike in the surrounding savanna because of a delta flowing into the area, was rugged and long. And with an increasing abundance of monster activity it was clear why the death toll was so high, though at the same time it didn¡¯t fully account for it. There was something fishy about the quest Athak was sure, but he couldn¡¯t pinpoint what. After having walked for a whole half day Athak¡¯s blood reserves were filled by the various monsters and wildlife he¡¯d slain on the way. Pains covered his body as he resisted the development of his physique to the next level, it would have to wait. Instead he slowly let his body adapt and his [Blood Bank] slowly expand to accommodate all the blood in his system. Finally, the forest came into view. Lush foliage and a wide river branching out into smaller streams. It was a lovely sight, but it would soon be stained with blood. Activating [Stealth] which he¡¯d leveled to the third level already he snuck around under the tall forest canopy all the while using his [Blood Sense] to scan his surroundings. After some time he arrived in the heart of the forest, but there was no forest giant king in sight, not even a forest giant for that matter¡ What he did find plenty of though, were large skulls belonging to some sort of ape like creatures. These should be forest giant skulls¡ Someone has already eradicated everything here, I better leave¡ Wait! A large signature¡ hm? Instead of a forest giant he was met with the sight of a large bald man bearing a ginger moustache¡ He stood and watched Athak with a wide smile, and Athak watched back with surprise and glee. ¡°Hello there!¡± Athak spoke as he ran towards the burly man who had a large axe in one of his hands. Soon he arrived in front of the man and begged him for directions. ¡°Hi there kiddo! What are you doing in the Giant¡¯s Forest of all places?¡± ¡°I was with my party collecting a rare kind of herb that grows only here when we were attacked by a wandering baboon¡ I need to know, where from here can I get to Carna¡ Our tracker died and we were separated.¡± The man rose an eyebrow and placed a palm on his chin. ¡°Ah, yes, it¡¯s that way!¡± Athak feigned belief and turned around, only to jump and dodge an axe swing which had passed him in the blink of an eye. ¡°Oh?¡± Surprised that his prey hadn¡¯t been sliced in two the man furrowed his brows, dashing to slash at the boy once more. But again his attack was dodged. Seeing as there was no other option the man roared, his eyes glowed a bright cyan and his movements became even more ridiculous, so much so that it would seem like he was teleporting from place to place instead of moving. But Athak was unperturbed. ¡°So you¡¯re the forest giant king huh! Adds up¡¡± Activating [Blood Rush] Athak¡¯s eyes glowed red and his body gave off a thick aura of heat and treachery. He hacked and slashed with his daggers but no matter what the two of them did one couldn¡¯t best the other. ¡°So young yet so strong¡ You cannot be left alive!¡± And just as the man was about to strike again a loud roar was heard in the distance, activating his [Blood Sense] to a wider range Athak was stumped. They were surrounded¡ by giants wearing thich leather armor and holding spears and clubs in their grasp. ¡°Fuck¡ They noticed this territory had been cle-¡° Disregarding the incoming danger Athak continued his onslaught onto the man. Surprised with the boy¡¯s persistence the man chuckled and continued as well, confusing the coming Giants. Then Athak whispered something. The burly man rose an eyebrow and slashed the boy¡¯s chest, spilling a large quantity of blood and making the boy fall unconscious. Soon, one of the giants approached him, its ape-human-like face making the brute frown. ¡°Give place! Give place! Or we kill!¡± ¡°You can talk huh, you ugly fuck. Let us do it like this, I fight your strongest warrior and if I win I keep this territory¡¡± The monster burst into laughter, and was followed by his brethren in toe, though most of them clearly had no idea why they were laughing. ¡°We kill!¡± The monsters charged at the man, all ignoring what seemed to be a corpse in a puddle of blood on the ground. And just as the burly man and the beasts were to clash the corpse suddenly opened its cold blood red eyes, spinning upwards and slashing blood all around him, forest giants were decapitated, slashed in half, or otherwise heavily wounded, the two warriors were standing back to back, before they¡¯d been enemies and now they had joined forces to deal with a common enemy. ¡°The name is Plato, call me uncle!¡± ¡°Athak!¡± And so they fought to the end, until every last one of the giants was dead. Heaving the two sat on the ground, supporting each other¡¯s weight back to back. Athak had drained every single one of the giants¡¯ blood and was having massive aches all over his body. ¡°I noticed it, you could have killed me if you wanted, why not kill me now?¡± Plato said with a confused voice. ¡°I need allies, and, you¡¯re strong.¡± ¡°Hah.¡± Plato stood up and stretched helping Athak do the same. And just like that the two had become acquaintances, at the very least¡ Ch. 6 Quest The two adventurers passed through the city walls, guards looking at them with their mouths agape. The larger one of the two, and considerably so, was Plato who was carrying a bloody bag with something double the size of a human head over his shoulder. The smaller of the two was Athak and he seemed to be all smiles, though, his body was full of wounds. Finally, the two arrived at their destination - the guild hall. Entering through everyone fearfully made way all the while being greeted by Plato merrily. Arriving before the counter there was a confused Lilith looking at the two, widening her eyes in realization she hushed them inside and they were now before Sean whose mouth went wide open and body began to sweat. ¡°Hello Sean¡ I¡¯m sure you¡¯re acquainted with little Athak here.¡± Sean nodded and looked around before raising his palm in the air and speaking out an incantation in Latin. When it had been finished a thin membrane coated their surroundings and the man stood up as to shake his visitors¡¯ hands. ¡°Welcome, welcome, would you like anything to drink?¡± ¡°Hot white powdered cocoa for me please.¡± He nodded and walked out of the room with hasty steps while the three other individuals seated themselves, Lilith sitting next to Plato as to avoid Athak. ¡°Now, now¡ Lilith, don¡¯t act like that in front of an ally.¡± Hearing the word ¡®ally¡¯ Lilith perked up with a risen eyebrow. ¡°Why Plato? I thought he bested you and was about to blackmail us!¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s half true, this is a business meeting of sorts. I trust the kid, though, don¡¯t try seducing him I already told him you¡¯re a Lust Sorcerer. Though¡ perhaps you two could have children seeing as he¡¯s a sorcerer as well.¡± Fearfully withdrawing behind her ally Lilith stared distrustfully towards Athak who smiled back innocently. Soon Sean came with the hot cocoa and Athak was pleased that he wouldn¡¯t be burning his throat this time. ¡°So¡ how can I help the two of you?¡± ¡°Oh cut the crap, Sean, he¡¯s an ally you don¡¯t need to worry, if he wanted to kill you he would in a heartbeat.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not that cruel Plato¡ though, I have some terms on how things will be moving forward. You¡¯re to keep me a bronze level adventurer officially, but, I want full access to any quest I want to take up. Oh and a letter of recommendation for the local mage academy.¡± ¡°But aren¡¯t you a rogu-¡ oh, right¡¡± Present day. Night time. Moans and moans, so many that Athak grew tired of them all after but a minute or two. But alas he waited the whole duration before seeing a red faced Lilith exit Jonas¡¯ room. ¡°He¡¯s scrumptious, I swear.¡± She whispered as Athak sighed and began walking towards the stairs leading to the bottom floor of the inn. Following him was the silver haired woman. ¡°So have you sent the recommendation? I have no time to spare.¡± Bringing her chest next to Athak Lilith smiled seductively before feeling the boy¡¯s cold stare on her pale skin giving her shivers. She retreated promptly and put on a sour expression before they were finally out of the inn. ¡°We sent the recommendation, the entrance exam is next week¡ have you done your studying?¡± Athak snorted, not giving in to her teasing. ¡°Have you done the studying I¡¯ve asked of you? Are you a suitable host for a blood sorcerer lineage?¡± ¡°Ah¡¡± Even though her class was one that had its magic grow by means of sapping men¡¯s vitality, Lilith couldn¡¯t help but blush at the boy¡¯s straightforward question. However dry it may have been. ¡°Ah well¡ the two lineages would conflict and the stronger one would consume the other leading to the birth of¡ well, how pure is your lineage?¡± ¡°I see, let¡¯s say it was perfect. What would the resulting lineage be?¡± Shuddering Lilith looked at Athak incredulously. A perfect bloodline? That was unheard of¡ But if it really was one hundred percent pure¡ ¡°A child with blood sorcery would be born¡ but if the mother wasn¡¯t a Blood Sorcerer herself, she would likely die in the first few months of pregnancy.¡± Athak nodded. So, Lilith was off his list, he¡¯d have to find a blood sorceress at some point to bear his child¡ So he may understand the workings of bloodlines better. It was unfortunate that he wouldn¡¯t be able to find a pureblood like himself but it seemed that from the information Lilith had given him over the course of the past month that a sorcerer¡¯s bloodline grew more pure the deeper they developed their magic¡ Did that mean that he couldn¡¯t develop it further? Or was it just that that fact allowed him to develop his blood magic all the quicker¡? This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. With his thoughts racing Athak finally noticed that they¡¯d arrived on where they¡¯d heading ¨C to meet up with Plato. ¡°Hiya kiddoes, how¡¯s Jonas keeping up with you?¡± ¡°Splendidly, I have to go to the temple to check my class¡¯ progress!¡± Plato nodded and then looked at the zoned out Athak. Rubbing the back of his bald head the man chuckled and went up to the boy, picking him up and putting him over his shoulders. There he could think without stumbling on a stray rock. And so they commenced their walk, first, they left through the gate, then walked for a couple of hours, and finally, they were where Athak had been meaning them to go. ¡°We¡¯re here kiddo.¡± ¡°Ah¡ Good job Plato.¡± What stood before them was a village, Athak jumped off of Plato and went towards a particular house where a lantern was still lit and a man stood outside. When he saw them the man smiled widely and ushered them inside. ¡°Thank you for coming on such short notice adventurers¡ This is a quest no one must know about, as it¡¯s¡ well, you know.¡± ¡°Just get on with it.¡± Athak said coldly. Surprised that the boy was doing the talking the man cleared his throat and turned to Plato, giving him a questioning look, a look Plato simply laughed at. Seeing as the child before him was likely the leader in question, even though the man didn¡¯t quite believe it still, he began to ask of them what he needed. ¡°There is a blood wyvern in the mountain above us¡ It has been sucking the blood of our village folk, I want you to protect it¡ The village chief hired some adventurers to kill it a few days ago, and they¡¯ll be going to hunt it this morning¡ I have half of your pay here, the other half will be paid in a week when I harvest the last batch of eggs from the monster¡ Until then, please protect it¡¡± The team of three looked at each other in the eyes as if they¡¯d heard a joke and were about to leave before the man placed a large egg onto the table. This would be their pay? Thought Plato and Lilith, but their third member seemed convinced¡ ¡°We¡¯ll do it.¡± Surprised the man stood up in glee, but then, realization struck him. ¡°Wait¡ But a child like you?¡± ¡°Check the back of your head.¡± He placed a palm where he¡¯d been instructed to and cold sweat covered his body, even more so when he saw what the boy was holding. The back of his head had been shaved clean and the boy? He was holding a handful of brown hair, the exact shade the man bore¡ ¡°Alright! Just be careful with the egg, it will hatch in a-¡° (I warn anyone that¡¯s eating right now, don¡¯t read the following contents xD) Not letting the man finish Athak had scrambled the egg and poured its bloody half developed wyvern fetus inside his mouth and chewed. ¡°YOU!?¡± The man was about to pounce on the boy before remembering what he¡¯d done just a moment before. Crunching noises could be heard from the boy¡¯s mouth and soon he gulped the wyvern fetus with delight showing on his face, as if he was looking at something other than the man before him. And that he was, in fact, the whole time he¡¯d been on Plato¡¯s shoulders he¡¯d been exploring the System along with a new skill called [Living Encyclopedia] he¡¯d gained after spending days in the library the past month. The skill allowed him to keep all information he¡¯d read into his system, letting him piece together information he¡¯d gathered, mainly about sorcerers and bloodlines, and letting him deduce truths about the world. The reason he¡¯d accepted the mission had been precisely because of this new skill of his. ¡°Thank you for the payment.¡± Athak placed a palm on the man¡¯s forehead and the man instantly turned into a mummified corpse. With that the three were off to the mountains where the blood wyvern lived. And Athak was all the more curious about what kind of effect the bloodline of the wyvern would have on him if he would consume it¡ Of course, he had no intentions on defending the beast if that wasn¡¯t clear enough, after all, who would be such an idiot to believe the man¡¯s words? He wanted them to become a meal for what was probably his master along with the other heroes who¡¯d been sent the wyvern¡¯s way. Though, were wyverns intelligent enough to be someone¡¯s master? Pausing in his tracks Athak mumbled something, noticing the young man¡¯s hesitation Plato rose an eyebrow and turned to the boy. ¡°What¡¯s on your mind kid?¡± ¡°Ah, I think we should camp out till morning, we should wait for the other adventurers to come through the path.¡± Analyzing the boost he¡¯d gained to his bloodline from eating the wyvern¡ no, dragon¡¯s egg, his suspicions were confirmed. And with Plato nodding they setup two small tents, two for those who¡¯d sleep and the nonexistent one to the one who¡¯d keep watch. With that they went to sleep with Lilith keeping first watch¡ Morning came and indeed there were adventurers coming their way, a whole party of seven in fact. A warrior, a tank, a mage, a healer and so on. By the time the adventurers had come to the three¡¯s little campsite it was dawn and the light of the sun was shining in Athak¡¯s eyes. ¡°Greetings fellow adventurers, are you perhaps going to kill the wyvern up in the mountain?¡± Our hero asked graciously. When the adventurers saw the young man and the two tents behind him they grew a little weary, but when they realized his age they calmed. The first of them to talk was the warrior who¡¯d been walking in front. ¡°Hello! Yes, we are¡ and you are?¡± ¡°I am here with my companions hoping to make some cash from you! Here, my master¡¯s finest health potions!¡± Taking a few blood red glass vials from his robe he presented them to the warrior who seemed disinterested in the offer. Waving him off he just passed by Athak while giving him a ¡°no thank you¡± and continuing on by the path. Feigning a look of sadness he had the healer stop in front of him and take three vials, throwing him a silver coin, and a wink. That seemed to make the boy¡¯s day and so the adventurers left up the mountain. ¡°Was that your blood you gave them?¡± A groggy Lilith asked as she came out of her tent. Athak simply nodded at her and went to wake old Plato, which took quite the effort by the way. Once they were all up though they collapsed their tents and bagged them up going up the mountain themselves. Though Athak made sure to keep the distance between the other party and his own through [Blood Sense]. ¡°The kid seemed sweet enough, why didn¡¯t you buy at least one potion?¡± The healer pestered her captain until the man relented and sighed. ¡°Because we have you.¡± The woman giggled and nodded at the admission. It was true, with their levels and classes a potion at the grade a child would be selling would be useless, but alas giving to the poor was something her Cleric class motivated. Whatever the case they already had their sights on the cave the wyvern would be in, only fifteen more minutes or so and they¡¯d be in the midst of battle so even the lively healer put on a face of seriousness. Elsewhere, or rather nearby in fact, there were three miscreants hiding in some bushes and waiting for the battle to commence. And just as the party of seven arrived in front of the cave the monster revealed itself, causing gasps and swears from the party. This was no wyvern. This was a blood dragon! Ch. 7 Old Face What followed was chaos, the tank walked in front of the dragon bearing his massive shield in front of himself as the monster spat blood towards him, almost piercing through his defenses. A bard played his song increasing everyone¡¯s defense and a rogue moved out of the shadows to slash at his foe and to disappear right after. These weren¡¯t just regular adventurers after all, they were at least gold rank. The battle continued with the tank getting closer and closer to the beast and the captain warrior staying close himself. Only when the tank¡¯s shield had been bent beyond recognition did the warrior charge forward slashing towards the dragons face, an act the monster audibly laughed at. Spraying blood from its eyes towards the warrior it surprised him, but what would have been a fatal blow was redirected towards the tank who¡¯d just used a skill and used his arm braces to absorb the attack. All this allowed for some dragon blood to be spilt. Finally, the true powerhouse of the team acted, well, the two true powerhouses did. The ranger who¡¯d been charging up a magical arrow skill together with the mage shot and hit the dragon square in the eye making the beast squirm. Enraged the beast flew in the air pooling all the blood it had lost into a sphere in front of it and shooting countless blood arrows down towards its attackers, all of which were redirected towards the team¡¯s tank whose defense was fully destroyed making the man bleed. The mage began to feverishly cast cantrip equivalents like mana bolt towards the dragon, all for naught, while the healer cast her healing spells on the hurt tank. The ranger shot arrow after arrow while the warrior was charging up some sort of skill. ¡°Amon! Chain it with your spell!¡± The mage had a moment of realization and began to chant, he¡¯d lost his cool but it wouldn¡¯t get to him anymore ¨C his potential demise. And so chains sprouted from the ground and coiled themselves around the dragon, and along with a debuffing and dreadful song of the bard the dragon couldn¡¯t help but be brought to the ground and slashed by the captain. The battle continued like that until the dragon suddenly went mad with rage! The healer had come up to the tank and given him one of the potions she¡¯d bought before, a potion he quickly spat out in revulsion. ¡°What the hell Helena! You¡¯re giving me blood to drink!?¡± Indeed, that had been blood, but not just any old blood. ¡°YOU!¡± For the first time in the battle the dragon had spoken, and in rage. ¡°WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY CHILD!?¡± Right when it said that the other two vials of blood on the healer exploded killing her immediately. Confusing both the dragon and the now dread filled adventurers as a clapping noise could be heard. ¡°Good job all of you! I¡¯m afraid this is where it ends though¡¡± <Slain level 32 Cleric, allocating experience¡> Athak spoke as he approached the battlefield. ¡°You! You sold us those potions! He did it!¡± They weren¡¯t quite certain of what he¡¯d done but one thing was for sure, they hadn¡¯t done it and the villainous entrance of the young man was indication enough that he was the culprit. ¡°Now, now¡ Don¡¯t fret, your sacrifice will not be in vain!¡± Suddenly a mountain of a man appeared in front of the captain, slicing the already tired man¡¯s head off and moving on to the others. Soon there was only an infuriated dragon left and two humans on the ground. ¡°You. Will. DIE!¡± Charging at Athak the dragon had only one goal in mind, eviscerate the human with all its blood supply going into the attack, it opened its mouth and spewed even its organs and blood vessels towards the murderer of its child. But, to its dismay it was shot with a massive blast of energy through its heart, all the blood and flesh was redirected from the boy and wrapped around the dragon, all of it killing it instantly. Athak sighed and placed a palm on the dragon, absorbing all of its blood as he began to glow in the process, his muscles bulged, his eyes glowed red, and his joints crackled. ¡°Ahhh, delicious! Good job, the two of you.¡± Plato chuckled as he sent a thumbs up to Lilith who was still standing in the bushes to the side, sweating from mana exhaustion from her all-out attack. ¡°So what did you get kiddo?¡± <Bloodline has evolved, from Blood Sorcery(perfect) to Blood Sorcery(Unbound level 1)> ¡°I can now level up my blood sorcery, nothing much¡¡± Status <table width="601"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3" width="295"> Hp:1260 Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. </td> <td colspan="3" width="306"> Mp: 440(8.9 mp/min) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Status </td> <td width="151"> / </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Strength </td> <td width="75"> 39(10+29) </td> <td width="172"> Skills: </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Name </td> <td width="151"> Athak </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Constitution </td> <td width="75"> 126(11+115) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Control VIII </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Level </td> <td width="151"> 30 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Dexterity </td> <td width="75"> 44(18+26) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Absorb X(max) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Class </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcerer </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Intelligence </td> <td width="75"> 50(29+21) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Rush VI </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Race </td> <td width="151"> Human </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Wisdom </td> <td width="75"> 104(20+84) </td> <td width="172"> Blood Sense X(max) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Titles </td> <td width="151"> The Merciless¡+3 </td> <td colspan="2" width="90"> Charisma </td> <td width="75"> 78(25+53) </td> <td width="172"> ¡ </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="113"> Innate Abilities </td> <td width="151"> Blood Sorcery(I), Blood Bank </td> <td colspan="4" width="337"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="109"> </td> <td width="146"> </td> <td width="36"> </td> <td width="59"> </td> <td width="88"> </td> <td width="163"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> ¡°Nifty, you know, it¡¯s weird how fast my blood skills have developed¡ Hey Lilith, care to explain?¡± ¡°Sorcerers develop the skills in their domain considerably faster than normal people, since of course, you can have those skills but not be a sorcerer.¡± ¡°Ah, what levels do you have?¡± ¡°Last time I checked in the temple I¡¯m at level six with most of them. Level eight with my Vitality Drain.¡± Athak nodded and went on to extract all the valuables from the adventurers and the dragon, including its teeth, horns and so on. When they were done they¡¯d packed quite a bit and had put it all on good old Plato to carry. And so they went back towards the city, not caring one bit about completing the quest they¡¯d been assigned. When they came back and had sold all the goods to Sean they found guards flocking Gale Inn for some reason, though the reason was well known in Athak¡¯s little entourage. ¡°May he rest in peace¡¡± Plato commented as he did a short prayer¡ And so came the entrance exam for the Magus Academy known as Vermont High. Athak stood in front of the academy as a wave of nostalgia hit him, school¡ All the pointlessness yet fun he¡¯d had during his time on earth, he was lucky he hadn¡¯t done anything over the top back then as he¡¯d done in this world, well, save for the blood sacrifice here and there. Barely anyone noticed the missing students and even fewer cared. But just as he was about to step into the grounds he felt a shift in the air current which made him dodge to the left, a stray little wooden ball passing by him. What he heard next was a low whistle coming from behind as he turned. There were three kids who seemed to be around his age¡ well, the age he seemed to be, as he was around four months old right about now. ¡°Not bad kid¡ what¡¯s your name?¡± Without anyone noticing a drop of blood poured out of the sole of his bare foot and attached itself to a rock on the ground, after that Athak slammed his foot down and the rock rose up only to be punched and thrown straight into one of his assailant¡¯s faces. ¡°Ow ow ow! You! What cantrip is that!?¡± The kids froze in fright, as the boy had not even chanted before using his magic, which meant he¡¯d prepared spells in advance or¡ he had a magical skill! ¡°We¡¯re sorry sir¡ we won¡¯t do it again!¡± Athak chuckled, not bothering to even get their names, then went inside of the academy building. Finally, Athak was now seated on a wooden seat in front of a wooden desk as the professor assistant handed out the papers. ¡°No cheating kiddoes! Magic skills are fair game though, if you have them hehe.¡± And so he began, the first question of the exam being ¡°what is the difference between a magic skill and a magic spell?¡± And Athak wrote down the answer immediately, ¡®The main difference between a magic skill and a magic spell is its cast time, the power output, and whether or not an incantation is necessary or not, magic skills require no incantation while spells do. And magic spells scale with the amount of mana used, while magic skills scale with that and the skill¡¯s level.¡¯ The second question was ¡°What is a magic ritual?¡± And so on. After a total of five minutes had passed Athak handed over the paper and prepared to leave, but was stopped by the assistant. ¡°Wait¡ You have them all correct!? Your name¡ Athak!? Are you an aboriginal?¡± The young man nodded awkwardly and awaited the next question, but it never came. Instead he left the room with a smile. Soon though he met eyes with a strange person, a pale woman with scarlet hair and a pair of glasses who the moment he met eyes with he froze. Betty!? The woman stopped herself, seeming to be confused by the aboriginal staring at her before she harrumphed and left the hall. What is she¡? Of course, some of the people who¡¯d come to this world must have found a way to keep themselves alive more than what a standard lifespan would offer¡ But it¡¯s been hundreds of years after that had occurred, I just never expected¡ Never mind. He continued forward towards the exit, with much on his mind. When he¡¯d arrived at the guild he took a quest as to distract his mind, and to grow stronger, of course. The quest he took was a gold level quest titled ¡°Blood Worm Den¡±. And its location was ten miles from the city. Going back to Gale Inn he slept and was off to do his quest¡ Unlike the mountains to the west, the delta to the north, and the sea to the east, to the south was the great savanna. Where he¡¯d come from, and many were the wild things that one could find there, not only were there lions, hyenas and all manner of monkeys and apes, there were lairs of monsters much like the kobold cave he¡¯d stumbled across. Only one thing stood in his mind, he had to know what Betty was doing and moreover¡ she had to be his. Entering the den he was met with little resistance, as if the blood worms were afraid of him, and why wouldn¡¯t they? The dragon had been too infuriated to notice but he had a blood lineage, and his aura would blind anyone sensitive to the ways of blood magic. What followed was a massacre where Athak consumed the worms¡¯ blood one after the other, until his body ached in pain and his blood bank was forced to expand. <Conditions met for [Blood Bank] evolution, the options are what follows: [Blood Body], [Blood Soul], [Blood Essence]) <[Blood Body], become one with blood in body, greatly increasing control and understanding of blood either yours or of others, increases purity of lineage> <[Blood Soul], become one with blood in soul, increasing control and understanding of blood either yours or of others, increases soul affinity to blood> <[Blood Essence], purify blood that you absorb and condense it into your own more quickly, increases blood bank reserves>