I saw Selana waiting for me with her arms stretched open, her seductive eyes gleaming with anticipation. My heartbeat quickened as I approached her "I defeated him!!" I brandished the key in my hand with triumph "You're finally fre-"
Merging complete, re-evaluating stats...
'Huh??' I was still groggy and my thoughts were a little jumbled up, so I couldn't quite recognize where I was 'Oh... that's right' I smiled, somewhat bitterly, when everything came back to me 'I died in my old world, and somehow took over the body of a human named Donovan' my back felt sore, causing me to wonder how much time had passed since the process had started (Donovan's watch had broken during the fall)
'Well, at the very least, I'm not in pain...' I shakily got to my feet, the image of my (Balthazar's) late wife still fresh in my mind, I sighed 'Even after so many years-'
New ability, Healing gained.
I shook my head 'I am no longer Balthazar, but Donovan Greystone!!' I firmly told myself.
Assigning Username: Donovan Greystone
You have gained a new title, Soul of Retention
'Ohkayyy...' I wasn't expecting to gain a new title right off the bat 'Status!!'
NAME: Donovan Greystone RACE: High Human AGE: 12 years HEALTH: 20 STAMINA: 15 TITLE: Soul of Retention STRENGTH: 10 AGILITY: 18 SKILLS INTELLIGENCE: 175 CHARM: 12 LUCK: 130 ABILITIES BLOODLINE PURITY: 3.01%
"Damn..." two-thirds of the essence I'd set for merging had been used up completely 'Talk about a waste!!' I cursed, but what was done was done, I could only move on 'You never know, there might be a way to restore the amount I've lost...' I tried to comfort myself.
Putting aside the thought for another time, I scrutinized the screen once more.
All my stats, except for health and charm, had only increased by a marginal amount. I expected this, since I'd chosen to suppress most of the blood essence, my body wouldn't get a serious revamp (which would have been the case, had I chosen to completely exhaust it) so although my overall potential for growth had increased after the change in bloodline, my stats had largely remained unchanged.
'I guess these are the permissible limits, my body can currently handle...' I could detect changes, but my body structure hadn't been changed. A suitable comparison would be that if one were to shift the contents of one bowl, to another which was simply bigger in size to the first, the water currently in the bowl wouldn't change, what differed was the amount of water that could be contained within it.
Simply put, I had the potential of getting a lot more stronger now, though it would still take time and effort on my part.
The significant increase in health surprised me, as did my charm stat for that matter, which had gone up drastically 'I guess, my outer appearance had changed as well...' I had no way of checking at the moment, hence I inwardly prayed that the said changes weren't too eye-catching.
'Never draw attention if you can help it...' that was the policy I'd lived by for many a century.
'Hmmm, High Human... never heard of that before' I opened up the race's description...
High Human: Individuals whose stats such as strength, stamina, etc... are/or have the potential to grow, well over the norm of an average human being. NOTE: User's race may be subject to change and/or evolve as bloodline purity increases...
'So the true nature of my bloodline... is still unknown' I grinned in anticipation, moving on to look at my titles, both old and new.
Soul of Retention: To live in remembrance of the departed, to finish what they left unfinished... go forth traveler, for that is your purpose. Effects: Mental fortitude increased.
The Bullied: Run!! Run with all your might, best not let them catch you, lest your money gets stolen and you get beaten to a pulp!! Effects: Agility marginal increase.
'Not bad' even though the latter was a bit... embarrassing, I dismissed both the screens and finally focused on my abilities.
LEVELLABLE
Pain Resistance (Greater)
Healing (Lesser)
Farsight (Lesser)
Mental Fortitude (Greater)
PERMANENTS
Night Vision
Steady Hands
Speaker of Tongues
Calm Mind
Yup, some serious downsizing here as well, but it was better than the skills page 'I gotta let it go...' I sighed, dusting myself off.
'I wonder, how much difference a single stat point can make on this plane' I approached the fallen stone brick and grabbed it with both of my hands "Wow!!" I almost overbalanced.
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The stone was light, I was able to lift it easily, a feat which would have taken the old Donovan quite a bit of effort, even when he was at full strength.
'Bullies, you better watch yourselves now!!' I replaced the stone and picked up the box, analyzing it once more. Even though it was pitch dark in the cellar, I was able to see everything clearly uptil now, thanks to my Night Vision ability.
'Nothing...' I sighed, no clues whatsoever pertaining to the contents of the vial, thought there was a symbol embroidered onto the velvet cloth, which I memorized (an easy feat with my intelligence level)
'Well, I guess it's time I left this place...' I wiped away all traces of my presence (Blood as such) using the cloth from the box, which I'd hid under my uniform's coat.
I looked around the cellar for the last time, before I began walking up the stairs which, like most parts of the cellar were made of stone as well. They were unevenly hued, so much so that someone might easily trip on them if they weren't careful, and poor Donovan was in such a haste to get away that he was anything but careful.
He'd tripped on the very third step, and his body's momentum had done the rest, I sighed the kid had led quite a hard life...
His parents had split up, a few years after his birth and neither of them wanted anything to do with him for, and I quote "He was a constant reminder of their past mistakes..." luckily, one of his Uncles had offered to take him up.
He'd practically raised Donovan and the latter considered him more of a father than anything else. But in the recent years due to the nature of his work Tobias, his Uncle, had to travel overseas quite often and was away for long periods of time.
In fact, it had almost been a year since Donovan had seen his Uncle in person. He had been left under the care of the 'kind' old landlady whose apartment Tobias was renting (and I say 'kind' because she was only ever kind to Donovan when he was around)
The money that Tobias had sent from him was mainly used up by her, and that drunken excuse of a husband she had, both of whom had threatened the poor kid repeatedly, with bodily harm and starvation if he were to so much as make mention of it to his Uncle.
My fists clenched, I had all of Donovan's memories so I knew just how badly he'd been treated 'They will pay for this... dearly' I grinned, I wasn't called 'Demon Elf Balthazar' for nothing.
I'd already scaled the stairs and was now in a room that seemed to be the Villa's kitchen 'Looks like the Bullies will have to wait...' the sky outside was already dark.
I slowly made my way to the back door, the woods were eerily quiet and I was thankful once more that my Night Vision ability was retained. I quickly made my way towards a nearby stream, having heard the sound of moving water from quite a distance away 'Seems some of my senses were enhanced as well...' I mused, picking up a few stones and stuffing them into the wooden box, which I then flung into the slow-moving waters of the stream.
The box sank with ease and was soon lost from sight, the reason I did as such was to prevent the chance of it getting washed up somewhere else later on.
'Well... since that's taken care of, time I headed home...' I activated my Stealth ability out of habit and, after splashing some water on my face to remove all possible remnants of blood, I walked back into the woods.
'Best I head back to school and go home from there...' the path was quite familiar, plus I wanted to retrieve Donovan's treasured bike, which he was forced to leave behind at school. It had been a gift from his Uncle, so no way was I leaving it behind, potentially letting it get stolen.
I saw the treetops lightening up ahead and hastened my pace, instinctively closing my eyes once I'd cleared the ring of trees, it took a while for them adjust to the change.
I had just stepped into the well-lit, but deserted parking lot of the High school, adjoining the Middle school Donovan went to.
"It doesn't seem to be too late..." I surmised, seeing that a few lights were still on, in the building in front of me 'Probably around half past seven at the most'
I walked to the end of the parking lot towards the Middle school stands, the bike was still there "I'm pretty sure Tyler has my bag" Tyler was one of the few friends Donovan had managed to make, and it was because of him that he'd found out about the Villa 'Though in retrospect, that didn't turn out too well, huh??' I grinned sheepishly.
Anyway, I couldn't get the bag now so I unlocked the bike, with the key Donovan always kept in his person, mounted it and began pedaling homewards.
My thoughts were filled with how I'd bring hell to 'Moneygrubbers' as Donovan liked to dub them "Ready or not... here I come!!"
Wait, was it me or did my voice seem more... guttural than before??
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It was well over Midnight, and most residents of the town of Westholt had settled in for the night. There were, of course, a few exceptions... a group of middle-aged men drinking their way into a stupor at the local Bar, and the late night visitors at the twenty-four-hour Diner, truck drivers, and travelers who chugged their cups of coffee with the same gusto as the former group with their bottles of beer.
And then there was the third group, who met up in secret at specified rendezvous points, spread across town... one of which, leads us to a car parked down a dirt path, somewhere in the woods.
The headlights were off, as was the engine, but one could easily tell that the car was occupied. Faint voices could be heard coming from it, and in addition the car, for lack of a better word was shaking.
The voices were low and but one was clearly female, and she seemed to be talking with someone over the phone.
"Yes... Yes, Mom, I underSTA-" the girl quickly covered her mouth, in an attempt to muffle a moan. She was currently in her birthday suit, balancing over her lover's lap with her legs spread open, while he pounded her from below.
"Slowly..." she muttered, before bringing the phone back to her ear "Yeah, Mom... no that was just... Daisy"
"Hang up..." he whispered, his hands now tormenting her mounds.
"Mmph!! Yeah Mom, no... yeah, we'll not stay up too late... yeah, promise!!" she felt his lips trail down her neck, biting and kissing her tender skin.
"Mmhmmph!!" she pursed her lips, grasping the seat in front of her for support "Mmm... yeah... alright" she struggled to keep her voice steady, the pleasure nearly overwhelming her "Aaah Mom?? I gotta... go, Daisy wants to watch a Movie..." she stifled another moan "No... nothing-like-thAAT!!" her back arched and she shuddered, nearly dropping the phone as she sank into his embrace.
"Yeah... yeah, you know how bad the signal is at her place, yeah... goodnight..." she disconnected the call and lay panting in his arms, her body shuddering weakly "Meanie..." she mumbled, upon catching her breath.
He laughed wickedly and claimed her lips once more "Ready for round two-" only for her to give a deafening screech.
"Wha-"
"Th... there's someone there!! Outside!! S...someone was watching us!! I saw something move" she got off his lap and clutched his shoulder in panic "Caleb, what if they–"
"Shh" he soothed her, "It's probably just a fox or something Vi" he continued "It's so dark outside that your mind plays tricks on you, letting your imagination run wild" he finished knowledgeably, but nevertheless he put on his boxers and grabbed his phone from his jeans pocket.
"Don't worry..." he assured, "If someone is out there and they've been spying on us... I'll make sure he regrets it!!"
"B... be careful!!" she warned, as he stepped out of the car.
"Damn it's cold..." Caleb shivered, inwardly regretting his choice of clothing, he quickly used the Flashlight function on his phone and swept the area, making a loop around the car.
"See... told y–" his eyes widened in shock for, upon turning his attention back towards his girlfriend, he saw her slumped against the back seat, the state of her clothes making it evident that she was still in the process of getting dressed.
"Vi!!" he tried to shake her awake, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that she was still breathing "Vi!! Violet!! Viole–" his vision suddenly turned black.
Caleb's body fell forwards, landing on the already unconscious Violet, the echoes of his frantic calls fading into silence...
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