Chapter 14 – Life 4.5 – Year ??? – The Connection

You have died as a Rank 1 Life Stealer

You have killed 78 Earth Demons in this life.

You have killed 42 Metal Demons in this life.

Calculating…

Your connection to Earth and Metal will be improved by 100% in the next life.

You have killed a Rank 2 Blood Commander (Yang)

Calculating…

Your ability to survive blood loss is permanently improved by 10%.

Your Total Rank has risen to 5 (Rank 1x3, Rank 2x1)

Calculating…

Each life gains some memories and experiences from the previous life.

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*Sigh*.

So, it seems my worries were correct, Yin Focus plus Life Affinity equals A Bad Time.

What really surprised me, though, was that it turned out to be the kid’s DAD who was the vampire, not the kid himself. Still, literally absorbing the life out of people is a lot more traumatic than the kid gave it credit for, even if the memories are second-hand. Just thinking about some of those desiccated husks makes me want to vomit, and I don’t even have a stomach!

At least the kid wasn’t evil in the end. I’m not sure how I would feel if one of ‘my’ lives was like the vampire dad… or hell, that freakishly strong Caretaker lady! What the hell is up with the Darkness element, she can just choke people to death at a distance? *Guh* the sensation of inky nothingness going inside all of my orifices is my worst memory to date, even worse than the impalement that killed my original self!

I deeply hope that those ‘Harmonium’ fucks get knocked down a peg by someone. They had the chutzpah to attack the same city they stole the knowledge of how to get to Rank 2 from, so maybe overconfidence will be their downfall? Their nightmare cruise ship seemed to be getting pretty beat up by whoever was striking them with Magma…

But even if the big ship sank, I had no doubt the Caretaker had a plan to get out of there with whoever else she had trained up as her little army. She might lose the battle, especially with the loss of her blood golem soldiers, but you don’t secretly lead a bunch of mad scientists for 30 years without having a ‘Plan B’. I seem to recall them having a bunch of submarines led by Air Affinity captains, so she could probably hide out almost indefinitely if need be.

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Plus, she mentioned having someone else with the Life Affinity, and the ability to somehow test more people for it. She could probably use that ‘overhealth’ effect to stay young for ages. No, the only way this woman was going down was if someone specifically went out to kill her.

Was there a way to ensure my next life would be in a position to kill her? Probably not, my location at birth seemed to be entirely random. America, Japan, the Middle East, and then on a big ship that travelled all over the place. According to that most recent message, my next life MIGHT remember something about the Harmonium, but it wasn’t like they could just book an airplane and go there.

It was interesting to see that killing Elias the Vampire Dad had a reward attached, even if it wasn’t a terribly good one. Light Sage had killed a few human bandits in her time, but no rewards came out of that. I guess they needed to be at least Rank 2 before the messages cared about them. I wonder what kind of reward would come from killing the Caretaker… better night vision, maybe? Hopefully something better than that, but I suppose ridding the world of a genuine supervillain would be its own reward.

So, if killing the Caretaker was a goal to keep in the background, what kinds of goals should I keep in the foreground, so to speak? Well, for one thing, I think it’s time to choose a-

Choose your next Focus: Yin or Yang.

-yeah. That. As I was SAYING, a Yang focus would be good for this next time, I think. My Yin lives were powerful, it was true, but Yang lives gained power by killing Demons. As it so happens, that was the source of power for future lives as well. Life Stealer didn’t do much Demon killing, and it hurt the next life down the line. If only there were bonuses for absorbing and using an element, then we would be in pretty good shape…

So yeah, I guess my goal for this next life would be for them to reach a decent Rank 2 element and fight lots of Demons. Maybe kill any evil Rank 2’s they come across for bonus points. After that… well, I guess I would be interested to see how powerful a Rank 2 can get. Are there ranks above 2? Combinations of 3 or more elements? What would those even look like? Was there a super-element formed by combining all 6 regular ones?

…I was getting ahead of myself. Form a decent Rank 2 element, and then the rest will follow. Let’s see, after choosing the Yang focus, I guess I have to give this next life a-

Focus Chosen. Choose a Rank 1 Element to enhance by 100%.

-god DAMN do you have to pop up at the worst moments? But let’s see…

Life Stealer didn’t kill many Demons, only the Earth and Metal ones the Harmonium considered “safe” to bring on board. So, rather than giving Life Affinity again (because we all know how that went), I think I’ll pick one of those two for a better bonus. Let’s do… Metal.

Be good this time, kiddo. Be better than your past life! Sure, kill monsters, get stronger, but above all else, b-

Element Chosen. Reincarnating…

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-e good? Hmm. A strange dream. But better than the nightmares I usually have. The child who sucks people dry of life. The father who turns people’s blood against them. The metal vessel commanded by a shadowy figure… and above all else, the beautiful mother who the child drained against his will.

Sometimes I wonder if my parents were like that. Did I have a terrible father, a beautiful mother? The other men in the camp say I was sent here as an orphan, same as all the others. So, I suppose I’ll never know…

So why do these visions plague me so frequently? I feel a connection to these people, yet I am sure I never met them!

Well, I suppose I would not be the first broken man to serve under the 3rd Emperor. So long as I can kill monsters, I will have a home here… pitiful as it is compared to the sailing palace of my dreams...