Red P.O.V

Red glanced around and saw the others, and stared at Lisa’s back as she walked away. Red considered calling out to them but couldn’t do it. After everything she had just said, she decided not to bother them. Her focus drifted inward, and everything went black. The next thing that met her eyes were pillars of light. Only two pillars. One of which glowed with the dark red light of blood. It was marred and dirty but felt alive. The light moved like the blood in her veins. On the other hand, the other was black and wet. It wasn’t like blood but sludge. In her eyes, it was dripping light, even though that made absolutely no sense. She reached for the disgusting pillar gently, it called to her.

Bloodless Cursed Vampire: A vampire devoid of blood, you lack any and all emotions. Find relief in the unbeaten heart of a true undead. Your blood is cursed, replaced by the plague it carries. It infects the ground you tread, the life you lead. As a vampire, your body gains power. Your bite curses any to death. Those that relish in suffering call out to you, wishing for the unique embrace of your poison. Your very presence is toxic, and death spreads from you like an infection. You alone can prance through the corpses you make.

Red didn’t have a body to shiver in, but she felt her very existence tremble. The class confirmed something she had always expected. These advancements were no longer a blessing. They were curses. No, she was cursed, and she had the gall to be rude and jealous earlier. She remembered Lisa’s sunken shoulders, and her insides twisted. There was no stopping the regret from filling her. It took her a few seconds to relax. She stared at the class before and hesitated. Even after everything, the class still called to her. It would take away her emotions. That might be worth more than any power. Her gaze drifted to the next pillar. Compared to the sludge and curse, she imagined this couldn’t be much worse.

Living Plague Wight: Return to life as a manifestation of the plague you carry. Life is not something the undead can accept, your fundamental nature will change as the plague brings you back to life. Life is a curse for the dead and living, and your existence is designed to take that curse from others. You do not relish in the suffering of others, but you gain power from it. Life and death have always been opposed yet balanced. Life being used for death is unnatural and new. LIFE is a curse, and you reveal that truth to them.

Red didn’t know what to think about this class, but she was certain it wasn’t as nice as it sounded. Not that it sounded particularly friendly, but she doubted a class could simply return her to life. She had never heard of an undead doing that. Also, the class frightened her. The other class had been depressing, but she felt like she deserved it. This felt undeserved and somehow worse than the last. It wouldn’t take away her emotions. The class sounded like it would add to them, make her suffer twice as much as she was already.

The decision was difficult. She drifted between the two classes, both were evil. Mash’s class wasn’t evil. It was dangerous, more dangerous than anything she could imagine, but it wasn’t evil. Her options were. The more she thought about that, the clearer the choice became. One of these was worse for her than other people. She closed her and reached for the pillar. Her hand shook with her terribly unsupported resolve.

Red’s eyes opened and she noticed her friends surrounding her. They weren’t close, but they were waiting. She didn’t smile at them, nor move in the slightest. Mash opened his mouth, but she didn’t listen. Her focus drifted toward her class.

Name: Ellinia Venfir Class: Living Plague Wight

Level: 150

Health: 3500 / -1

Stamina: 3000 / 3000

Mana: 3000 / 3000

Fortitude: 350 → - 1

Endurance: 300

Strength: 275 → 550

Agility: 275 → 550

Intelligence: 300

Wisdom: 275

Charisma: 109 → 0

Free Stats: 0

Skills: Blood Siphoning → Bleed, Blood Dominance, Damage Expansion, Perfect Bloody Clothing, Regretful Screams → Shriek of Suffering, Strikes of the Blood Plague → Touch of the Life Plague, Blood Wraith Body → Living Wight Body, Infected Blood, Personal Blood, Undead Constitution → Living Wight Constitution, Inhumanity, Taboo Existence → Cursed Existence, Aura of Infection, Living Plague

Blood Siphoning → Bleed: Control the blood within your body. Give and take blood, damaging enemies or allies and restoring yourself. You cause people to bleed draining them of their strength.

Maximum Reduction: 10%

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Blood Dominance: Blood is yours to command, that which you spill and that which others try and hold. Yours is a right of control, the more blood in your possession the more powerful you become.

Damage Expansion: Command the blood that has lost the will to fight, destroy them from the inside out, using their blood as a tool for your execution. Increase the potency of any injuries or statuses affecting the target.

Perfect Bloody Clothing: Blood is naturally a part of your life and has adapted to become whatever you need. Whether it be a regal dress, a dense armor, or even a casual shirt. Blood will always be close to you, bending to your will and becoming exactly what you need.

Regretful Screams → Shriek of Suffering: Having learned of the pain of life, you can impart that same pain to others. Let your blood scream out, resonating with the blood in others. Give them a taste of the death you have survived and the life you suffered, impart to them that which you hate in yourself.

Strikes of the Blood Plague → Touch of the Life Plague (Unique) (Passive): Every attack spreads your disease to your enemy, bringing about an inevitable death. Each strike after the first further increases the damage and speed of the infection. Life is inevitable, the plague will maintain the suffering.

Blood Wraith Body → Living Wight Body (Unique) (Passive): You have chosen to return to life, sacrificing the body of body that had protected you. Instead, you live by the plague that burns through your body. Your health will continuously increase. The rate increases the closer you are to death.

Infected Blood (Passive): Your undead blood is unnatural. As such it is toxic to any that taste it. Even the undead could not taste your blood without consequence. The effect of your blood spreads to others. Contact is the only thing you need.

Personal Blood (Passive): Your blood is dense and firm. Resistant to change and impervious to the influence of others. Your blood can be sharper than a sword and harder than a shield. Your own mind influences the effectiveness of your blood. Your resolve hardens it while your weakness makes it more infectious.

Undead Constitution → Living Wight Constitution (Unique) (Passive): You have the body of a living wight, gaining their unnatural strengths. The first of your kind your power is that of a wight that has stolen its life back.

Inhumanity (Passive): Giving up your humanity has improved your body, improving your natural defenses, and regeneration.

Taboo Existence → Cursed Existence (Passive): You have cheated even undeath and returned to life. All those that gaze upon you know that you are alive.

Aura of Infection (Passive): Your very presence is a disease. Increase the negative thoughts and effects of your enemies, by siphoning them from your allies. Your body acts as the conduit.

Living Plague (Unique) (Passive): Your blood carries the plague of life. Your very life is tied to it. You no longer kill. Each of your skills changes to infect the target. They suffer as they live. Their health increases with each of your actions. Only they can choose to die. When they do, you gain all of the life that they have. You alone will bear the curse of LIFE.

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Mash P.O.V

Mash looked at Red and he knew that she was alive. Not undead or made of blood, but alive. He didn’t even know what he meant by that, but he stared at her for more than just that. Her skin was sickly. Before it had been pale, but now it was sickly. Some places of her skin were darkened and miscolored into a black that would’ve blended in with her shadows. Her features weren’t much changed beyond that, but her hair was grey now. It was no longer the beautiful shade of Red that had derived from her namesake. Now it was a dirty grey that didn’t match her otherwise youthful body. If anything, she looked younger than she had before.

“You de-aged…I mean you're younger.”

He said the words aloud and then thought about them. Red, or maybe Grey now, was young. Young enough that she could’ve passed as thirteen. It didn’t make sense. All their bodies had developed and matured as they gained stats and levels, but hers had done the opposite. She wasn’t weaker, Mash’s domain told him that she was significantly stronger now. Twice as strong if his estimations were correct. If that was the case, why did she look younger? The rest of them looked physically closer to 20.

“Why?”

The word came in between a sob as Jill fell to her knees. Even though she was crying, she didn’t blink at all. Jill just stared and cried. Luke stepped closer and rested a hand on Red’s now much smaller shoulder. Mash just realized that her body had shrunk a little too. It wasn’t very noticeable, especially since her clothing had adjusted to the change. Mash saw Luke’s hands glow, but then he stepped away. His hands were shaking a little. He muttered something under his breath.

“My magic doesn’t work on you.”

Mash was close enough to hear, and he stared at Red with even more confusion. The level 150 advancement was something he had skipped, but now he wanted to know what he had missed. Lisa and Red had their bodies fundamentally altered. Mash slid over to Jill. He spoke quietly.

“What do you see?”

Her insight skill was apparently very literal in what it displayed. He had no doubts that a literal display of his race or powers would be terrifying. She flinched when he spoke, and he felt a little bad about approaching her. He had suggested giving her some space, but she had refused. She had said that she needed to get used to him. He smiled a little when he thought of it. His friends would stick with him despite what he was. She didn’t turn to face him, but she did speak.

“Suffering. Pain. Regret. Take your pick.”

She was whispering her words as she stopped crying. Mash frowned at the explanation.

“I don’t know what that looks like.”

“It looks like she is covered in wounds. No, it’s more than that. Her body is dying backward somehow. “

Jill was clearly struggling with the explanation, but her description didn’t help at all.

“Dying backward? How does that even.”

“I don’t know! I can't explain it any better than you can understand!”

She shouted those words. It left an awkward silence in the air as everyone else turned to face them. He didn’t spot Ythass though. Mash glanced around for the dragon and found Ythass standing apart from the group. He saw her wariness and called out to her.

“What do you see?”

It was the same question he had asked Jill, and he wondered if the dragon had a similar insight. Ythass turned toward him and spoke very slowly.

“Her curse is not something an immortal would enjoy. It is more dangerous to our kind than you could understand. It is also something I have never heard or seen before.”

The fact that Ythass hadn’t said more than needed made him take two steps back. He had never heard the dragon act seriously and assumed she had a good reason for it. Red shook her head.

“I can control who I spread it to.”

Mash relaxed a little bit, but Ythass didn’t get any closer. As dense as he could be, he noticed the rather terrible atmosphere. He coughed.

“Let’s spar! You all have new powers and I’m the perfect person to test them. And Luke, you should go do your trial.”