Chapter 64
“Hello there,” He muttered as he flicked through the various screens to get at the one he wanted.
Long, tired minutes later he found what he was after and smiled.
The stats page with all of his abilities.
Although he didn’t want to use The Callisto Jewel as he had done, again, he was still fascinated to see what there was to say about the strange new abilities he’d summoned up. The feeling of being encased in the red armor had been… Intoxicating in more ways than he could describe. Dangerously intoxicating. Some part of his mind wanted nothing more than to summon the armor and take off in a rage - destroying anything and everything in his path.
A Gigant’s horrific shriek echoed across the dead city and Mikel shivered and tried to dispel the thought of sewing absolute chaos from his mind. He wasn’t like that - he wasn’t a monster.
He glanced at Helsket as the old warrior snorted in his sleep - then at Metrike, who hadn’t moved since they’d tucked her in.
Here were two people who, for one reason or another, had become killers. Well - attempted, at least in one's case. Mikel thanked his lucky stars that Metrike had failed to kill him - and aside from that attempt he didn’t know if the woman had killed elsewhere.
Helsket snorted again and Mikel smiled.
Helsekt on the other hand, had killed - many, many times, and yet, he wasn’t a monster and he’d probably sewn more discord than an army of monsters had ever done.
Where was the line? What made a person slip into something that wasn’t human?
He shook his head and flicked through the ability pages, trying to parse out the strange new abilities listed below his other, more familiar SKILL
SKILLS
Incarnadine Metafora LVL -
Effect: Move your body from current location to location 20-50 yds. distant you can perceive with some ocular capacity. “You become Blood as our Goddess traveled so shall you. On a tide of crimson wrath, ride into eternity.”
Essentia Cost - 50
Stamina Cost - 0
Health Cost - 0
Cooldown - 10 minutes
Communicate LVL - 1
Effect: Communicate with others within your immediate range. Clarity is enhanced when paired with another earpiece.
Essentia Cost - 10 / Minute
Stamina Cost - 0
Health Cost - 0
Cooldown - 0
Regalia of the Blood Knight LVL - 1
Effect: Summon a suit of armor from our blessed Goddess - Blood fuels the rage within you. Blood calls to blood and blood desires to be spilled.
Essentia Cost - 0
Stamina Cost - 0
Health Cost - 0
Cooldown - 24 Hours *
Incarnadine Blade LVL - 1
Effect: Summon the long blade of the Demon Incarnadine. Wield it to spill blood to fuel your rage. Blood calls to blood and blood desires to be spilled.
Essentia Cost - 0
Stamina Cost - 0
Health Cost - 0
Cooldown - 24 Hours *
Drink Deep the Living
Effect: Drain targets blood and regenerates all internal resources based on the amount absorbed.
Essentia Cost - 0
Stamina Cost - 0
Health Cost - 10 / Skill Use
Cooldown - 5 Minutes *
“No cost associated with these,” Mikel said as he pressed Regalia of the Blood Knight and brought up the details display which gave him more information than just the cover page.
Regalia of the Blood Knight LVL - 1
Effect: Summon a suit of armor from our blessed Goddess - Blood fuels the rage within you. Blood calls to blood and blood desires to be spilled.
Summoned armor strength is directly proportional to the amount of blood used in sacrifice. A quart yields the maximum strength armor with in-built protection Skills, parameter buffing, and defensive capabilities far outclassing similar armor. Level UP! to expand in-built Skill capabilities.
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Summoned Armor duration is directly proportionate to the amount of blood used in sacrifice. A quart yields the maximum time and will last approximately twenty minutes. Level UP! to extend duration and reduce cost.
* Reset Cooldown by Sacrificing One GALLON of blood to our Goddess. Drink deep of the living, to extend your reach into eternity.
Tree Growth
Regalia Upgrade - 500 Min / 10000 -- Increase Duration
Regalia Upgrade - 750 Min / 10000 - - Reduce Cost
Scabrous Counter - 1000 /10000 -- Unlock Scaberous Counter
Blood Regent - 10000 / 10000 -- Skill Level UP! New Skill - Unlock Regalia of the Blood Regent
Further Progression LOCKED until Level UP! Achieved
Like the rest of Mikel’s Skills progression required A LOT of time and resources. He scrolled back to the cost section and shivered - each use would cost a quart of blood. He wondered if it had to be his blood - The Skill reset seemed… Useful, but he wasn’t sure if he had that much blood in his body. He had a basic understanding of the physical human form, but not details like that.
He made a mental note to look into it once they got to The Library of Herediarity - after he’d picked Calcifer clean over other, more pressing subjects.
He turned his attention back to the slate and tried to figure out exactly what he was looking at.
Unlike the rest of his less blood-themed Skills, which hadn’t even leveled up a single time, Regalia of the Blood Knight and Incarnadine Sword were already level one, and he guessed, already had the appropriate skill unlocks. He wondered what lay beyond the threshold of level two.
He went back a screen and selected Incarnadine Sword, bringing up the detail screen the same as had done for Regalia of the Blood Knight.
Incarnadine Blade LVL - 1
Effect: Summon the long blade of the Demon Incarnadine. Wield it to spill blood to fuel your rage. Blood calls to blood and blood desires to be spilled.
Summoned long blade’s strength is directly proportional to the amount of blood used in sacrifice. A quart yields the maximum strength sword with in-built protection Skills, parameter buffing, and offensive capabilities far outclassing similar weapons. Level UP! to expand in-built Skill capabilities.
Summoned long blade’s duration is directly proportional to the amount of blood used in sacrifice. A quart yields the maximum time and will last approximately twenty minutes. Level UP! to extend duration and reduce cost.
* Reset Cooldown by Sacrificing One GALLON of blood to our Goddess. Drink deep of the living, to extend your reach into eternity.
Tree Growth
Incarnadine Wrath - 500 Min / 10000 -- Increase Duration
Incarnadine Edge - 750 Min / 10000 - - Reduce Cost
Blood Thinner - 1000 /10000 -- Unlock Blood Thinner
Ex Incarnadine Blade - 10000 / 10000 -- Skill Level UP! New Skill - Unlock EX Incarnadine Blade
Further Progression LOCKED until Level UP! Achieved
Even basic math yielded a rather… Sticky result when trying to understand how much blood Mikel would need to spill to level up his abilities. He’d need to either be VERY careful when using these Skills or fight an army of truly evil enemies - Truly evil so he wouldn’t need to lose sleep over killing them.
If he was going to be a killer - then so be it. He would be a killer - but he’d be careful about it. He wouldn’t kill willy-nilly like the Regalia of the Blood Knight made him want to do - he’d maintain strict control and not allow The Callisto Jewel to rule his life.
He shivered again as the thought of Callisto appearing in the white void flitted through his head. He hoped he wouldn’t have to interact with her again… But doubted he would be that lucky.
With a few deft clicks, he was back to the Skill page and pulled up the last new ability -
Drink Deep the Living
Effect: Drain targets blood and regenerates a portion of all internal resources based on the amount absorbed.
Drain the blood from a living or recently dead body. The amount of blood absorbed is proportional to the amount of Health / Stamina / Essentia restored. Level UP! to expand in-built Skill capabilities.
* Reset Cooldown by Sacrificing One GALLON of blood to our Goddess. Drink deep of the living, to extend your reach into eternity.
Tree Growth
Select Resource - 500 Uses / 10000 -- Select Resource to Restore
Blood Gorge - 750 uses / 10000 - - Unlock Blood Gorge Modifier
Blood Mist - 1000 /10000 -- Unlock Blood Mist Modifier
Drink of the Army - 10000 / 10000 -- Skill Level UP! New Skill - Unlock Drink of the Army
Further Progression LOCKED until Level UP! Achieved
He spat to the side, tasting the harsh tang of blood.
“I guess that’s what I get,” he mumbled as he looked down at the Callisto Jewel as it pulsed in tandem with the strange Dread-inspiring thrum underneath the city. Even though he was quickly growing used to the sensation, he knew he’d never fully be able to conquer the fear that seemed to seep up from the ground. He didn’t know if he ever wanted to get to that point.
What kind of person would he be if this sort of terror didn’t impact him?
He glanced at the slate and grimaced.
“The kind that kills thousands of people... Or things, just to level up his Skills to get better at killing people and things.”
Out of curiosity, he clicked back to the Stat Screen and instead of clicking away to find other items to peruse, he scrolled down until he found his overall Health, Stamina, and Essentia Screen… As well as two new lines that were so abnormal and so unexpected it made his heart stutter like a trapped rabbit.
A new stat line had been added and others had been modified - with nothing that looked good.
*** Mikel Raithson - Combat Level - Level UP!
*** Mikel Raithson - Combat Level - Level UP!
*** Mikel Raithson - Class Assigned - Blood Knight
*** Mikel Raithson - New Resource Available - Blood
Status
Mikel Raithson
House Affiliation - House Raithson
Class - Blood Knight
Combat Level - 2
Stamina 12/450
Health 24/300
Essentia - - -
Blood - 1.5
Afflictions - Veiled, Heat Exhaustion, Extreme Fatigue, Blood Rage, Hunger
“Blood Knight,” he muttered as he looked at the Class stat line which hadn’t been there before - whatever Callisto and the Jewel had done to him ran deeper than anything he’d ever guessed. Something had… Changed on a fundamental level within him to the point that he'd been assigned a Class. A Class associated with a god the entire world had thought dead - in a role he'd never thought to fill.
He thought of Helsket and his Class of Lord Berserker and how Librarian had known exactly what he was without even speaking with him.
What would she, or other beings like her, think of him now? It was clear Callisto had stamped him as one of hers… But what did that mean? The gods had been silent for generations - why had she chosen now to make her grand re-entry into the world? Why had she chosen Mikel as her - or…
“Or, maybe I chose her.” He grasped the Callisto Jewel with his free hand and grimaced as the cold lancing through the Jewel shot into his arm and up to his heart.
But hey - at least he leveled up... Twice. Whatever the hel that meant.