I wasted no time and gulped the rich purple liquid down. Holding it for too long made me nervous for some reason, like it would disappear if I stared at it for too long.

Austin had said he felt like a warm glove slid over him and like staying in the sun for too long.

Mine felt nothing like that.

It felt like super chilled liquid going down my throat that sapped all the body heat out of me. It almost felt like my throat was frozen as the liquid passed through it like I was drinking liquid nitrogen.

The chill started to spread throughout my body and my breath fogged as it exited my mouth even in the jungle heat around me. The essence worked its way through my body and I could feel it seep into my bones, into my muscles and skin. Its chill pervading throughout my body.

It wormed through every inch, saturating my entire body in its cold touch. It felt painful at first but became comforting as the sensations continued. Like I had played in the snow for too long and had a bone-deep chill.

I understood now why Austin had said it felt like staying in the sun for too long. The process had a pleasantness to it that edged the line of painful. Toeing between the two as the effect persisted.

As the chill of my body subsided, I felt the strength that was left behind. It was invigorating in a way I had never experienced before. My body felt refreshed and stronger than ever. My muscles denser and my bones sturdier.

Now all that was left to do was test it.

I looked expectantly at Jonathan and he just sighed.

"Alright, let me get my shields," He said defeatedly. He didn't like fighting with me because he said I hit like a bus. Even the blows I held back on rattled his arms uncomfortably.

We took a few steps outside the gate and we were ready.

We stood across from each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Jonathan wasted no time and already had his shields glowing with his Spirit Anchor.

It would seem he wasn't taking this lightly.

Austin had described the feeling of calling upon his bloodline to me before but it wasn't that hard to figure out. It was almost instinctual after imbibing the liquid.

I called on the power residing in my body and I felt it build up within me. The strength and fortitude boost felt stronger and almost doubled in power from their dormant state.

I couldn't tell, but my skin turned a tad paler and my hair, which was a sandy blonde like most of my family, turned a bit whiter at the tips. My eyes turned from the usual green to a piercing blue that had a hidden glow behind them.

The transformation was quick and it flowed through me much the same as when I first drank the bloodline essence. My body heat vanished and a chill emanated out from my body.

Some of the moisture of the jungle around us started to condense and fog around my skin.

"Woah there bud," Jonathan said a little shocked, "You look... different."

His words brought me out of my introspection and I couldn't help but ask, "Do I glow?"

"What? Oh, um, not really. Just your eyes..." Jonathan stammered a bit at the question, "I wouldn't say they glow, but they are a bright, icy blue that I feel a chill wash over me when I look into them."

Phew. As long as I didn't glow.

I had been making fun of Austin for so long with numerous jokes about his... glowing tendencies and I was not looking forward to him returning the favor if I started doing it myself.

Twirling my hammer, "Let's see what it does!"

Jonathan clanged his shields together in response and our fight started.

With my bloodline activated, it felt a little like having [Momentum of the Avalanche(R)] or [Barbarian's Fury(Un)] running. The only difference was my stats stayed the same.

My status screen showed no visible changes from the activation but I certainly felt stronger. My swings held more power than before and rifled through the air faster. My hammer felt easier to swing as well, the ice in the weapon more comfortable in my hands.

The boost also didn't have the strain associated with my other two boosting skills. My body didn't feel like it was being pushed beyond its limit, but like it could now operate at a higher level.

It was a base increase that didn't have the consequences the other two did. If I fought for too long with [Avalanche(R)] or [Fury(Un)], I tired quickly and felt a bone-deep exhaustion afterward. Like my body had been put through the wringer.

Activating my bloodline didn't feel like that. The power wasn't fueled by my body, but the essence of the blood.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

And in doing so, was finite.

I knew from both Austin and information from the store, we couldn't call upon our bloodlines for indefinite amounts of time, the boost would run out if used for too long and would take time to recharge. Now I felt why.

There was only so much power the blood held and it would run out before long. The boost from the dormant state didn't take any power but calling upon it did, and I could feel the amount gradually becoming smaller. There were ways to mitigate this, though. A beast could take in mana and essence to both purify and strengthen their bloodline and we could do the same after assimilating them.

We could funnel energy into our bloodline for two effects. One was we could make it stronger and give a bigger boost. The maximum strength was based on the innate power of the bloodline which was the reason higher graded bloodlines were better. They started at a higher peak and could be raised much higher than lower-graded ones.

The second thing we could do was increase the amount of power the bloodline had. Increasing the amount of bloodline essence we had dormant inside of us so we could call upon it for longer.

There were two ways to strengthen a bloodline and then there was purifying it. Purifying a bloodline led to evolving it into a higher grade and was a qualitative change in the bloodline.

Usually, the two processes went hand in hand. Beasts would strengthen their bloodline as much as possible before trying to purify it and evolve. The stronger their bloodline was, the higher chance of success they had when evolving.

Some beasts didn't do this, but the norm was to strengthen first, and then evolve.

Seeing how failing to evolve a bloodline had the chance of death or extreme bodily injury, I wasn't going to rush it and planned to stick to the norm.

After testing out the strength boost, I had Jonathan hit me a few times to test the fortitude boost. It was much the same as the strength, and the blows felt lighter than normal and I could take a heavier blow before stumbling.

All around, it felt like a decent 15-20% increase in my already monstrous stats. Without the usual consequences of a boosting skill as well.

The last thing I wanted to test was the effect it had on my skills. It said it boosted ice-related powers and I wanted to see how much.

I created some ice to use and started going through a few training exercises with [Ice Manipulation(Un)]. The effect was immediate. The ice flowed easier and was a lot easier to control.

It felt like a weight had been removed from the skill and it came easier than before. If I was once using oven mitts before, now it was like winter gloves instead. The skill was still only Uncommon, but the boost was noticeable.

And it worked on every ice skill I had, which was most of my skills.

I may have gotten a bit carried away in my testing.

The area of jungle we were in was a jungle no longer. It looked like someone took a piece of the North Pole and transplanted it here after I was done.

At the end of it all, I was extremely satisfied. It was exactly what I was looking for and I couldn't wait to test it out in battle. A battle that would be coming soon.

With my purchase made, I went to make sure everything was ready for our trip and that all the preparations for the journey were made. Abigail had it mostly in hand, but I wanted to double-check.

Everyone was packed and ready not long after and there were only a few things left I needed to do. One of them was to try one more time to convince Tracy to join us.

I found her in her office where the mana density was notably higher and the woman was fretting over the papers on her desk. She was rubbing her temples in frustration about something that was written on them.

Not wanting to intrude, I knocked at the open doorway.

She looked up quickly and said, "Christopher, did you need something?"

With the conversation started, I moved into the office and took a seat across from her desk. Her face didn't show any outward expression but it tensed as I sat without an invitation.

"Your help would be greatly appreciated for what we are about to do. We would have an easier time if we worked together."

I didn't strictly need her help, but it would make everything easier. Another warrior would always be appreciated.

"We've had this conversation before. My skills aren't suited to attacking. They focus on defense, I don't know how much help I will be." She sighed, "I can send Kathy and Damien with you though, and a few others. Both of them have expressed their desire to join you. Damien's lightning powers work well on the thralls and Kathy can help with scouting. It would be a shame if he managed to sneak away." She said.

My mouth opened to try to persuade her but she raised her hand to continue.

"I know what you are going to say. He's a threat, I understand that, but why are you so fixated on attacking him right now?" She asked.

I leaned back in my seat at the question, formulating an answer.

"He is an unknown," I said slowly, "We face two threats right now, the Mindbreaker and the Waves. The waves are predictable, they come every three days and we can plan around them, knowing what they entail. The Mindbreaker, not so much. He could attack at any time and he could very well be planning something now. I do not want to leave a threat like that to stew when the end of the tutorial is coming. It's better to end it now before he can cause trouble." I stated firmly.

My mind would not be changed on this. Both logic and my instincts were telling me to deal with the growing threat now so I could turn my attention fully to the waves.

There was a lingering feeling that the tutorial wasn't done throwing challenges at us. We would need to be ready to face them and having the Mindbreaker running free was not conducive to that goal.

Plus, he owed me a debt.

"I understand, but I can't leave my camp. In the event you fail," I made a face at that but she hurried to continue, "I'm not saying you will, just in the possibility that you do, I need to be ready to defend against the next wave. I'm not willing to risk everything on this. Every person lost is one who could have helped defend during the waves. I think it is best to wait him out and force him to come to us. Defending is always easier than attacking. The only reason I'm going along with this is because I can't stop you."

A snort nearly came out of my nose at that. It would have been funny to see her try.

With only my silence answering her, she continued, "I've done everything I can to make my camp as defendable as possible, traps litter the area and our defenses are as strong as they can be all in the hopes that it is enough. I will not go risking everything just to kill one man."

She had her opinion and I had mine. It seemed like we wouldn't be getting anywhere if we continued this conversation.

Changing gears, I switched to getting as much equipment out of her as she was willing to give. She would rather see me succeed than fail and was much more likely to risk wasting points on lost equipment than on lost people.

She gave us a bunch of consumables to use and a few things to attack with. It was a hefty amount of points but nothing too large. It was aid, though, and I would take it.

The total number of people coming was 27. Me and my family numbered 21 and 6 people were coming from Tracy's side. Kathy and Damien were the most noteworthy and the other 4 were people who had a bone to pick with the Mindbreaker.

Their camps were attacked by him and they wanted revenge the same as us.

After speaking with Tracy, our gear was packed and everyone was ready for our march. It would take a few hours to march there but we would be ready to attack the next morning.

It felt like we were marching to war.