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.
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.
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…>
<[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.
Hp: 710
Mp: 440(4.9 mp/min)
Status
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/
Strength
28(10+18)
Skills:
Name
Athak
Constitution
71(11+60)
Blood Control V
Level
15
Dexterity
44(18+26)
Blood Absorb VIII
Class
Blood Sorcerer
Intelligence
44(29+15)
Blood Rush IV
Race
Human
Wisdom
49(20+29)
Blood Sense V
Titles
The Merciless…+3
Charisma
63(25+38)
…
Innate Abilities
Blood Sorcery, Blood Bank
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…