I read through the choices carefully while I wrapped the blanket around me. My arm throbbed slightly from the pain in my arms, and the cold air kissed all of my visible flesh. Now, what did I want the most? Honestly, at a simple glance, I didn’t like the first one. It was more akin to a vampire, which was something that I didn’t want to become. It didn’t seem to bode well for the future if I took that class. Not only that but how could I even be sure that the creatures out there had blood to consume?

The mere thought of drinking blood sent shivers down my spine before I quickly shrugged the thought off. The third choice felt much more general than either, yet I couldn’t find myself drawn to sheer destruction. That wouldn’t help me in the long term. Especially since I knew everything out there leveled me and was far more substantial.

I would have to go with the second one. It was the closest that aligned with my goals yet didn’t leave me feeling like a vampire or a walking bomb. Plus, I could build tools with it if I needed to. The sheer utility was far too much to give up on. With a single thought, I selected the path and felt my body change as my screen flickered.

The feeling of thousands of ants spreading across my flesh assailed my mind. My nerves burst into flames, and my heart skipped a few beats. My vision swam and grayed around the edges as I lost control of my body as became a broken heap on the floor. I could feel my muscles burn and my chest ache as my heart tried to escape from the confines of my ribs. I struggled the best I could to swallow a breath of air, yet even my lungs betrayed me at that moment as whatever was happening to me ran its course. Eventually, the gray spreading across my vision won out, and darkness consumed everything, taking away the agony that held me with its iron grip.

Congratulations! You are now walking the Path of The Blood Sorceress! You have unlocked a set of passives!

Boundless Vitality I: Your body is adapting to the path you now walk. +2 vitality

Unyielding Constitution I: Your body is strengthened and can take and recover from more punishment quicker. +2 Constitution.

Exorbitant Health: The power that courses through your veins grants you excess life! +2 Health

Blood Resistance I

Congratulations! You have unlocked your first magical path! +3 free stat points!

My headache changed slightly as I pushed myself off of the cold concrete and glanced around. My mouth felt like it was filled to the brim with sand, and my throat was scratched to living hell. I cleared my throat, glanced around, and saw nothing else had changed.

Well, outwardly, nothing had changed, but my body felt different. My heartbeat felt stronger than before, and I felt heavier, almost like I was bloated, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I used the bed to help me push myself up and carefully walked over towards the fountain. My legs felt like jelly, and my eyesight was still a little blurry. But with each passing second, I felt better.

I stumbled over to the fountain, plunged my head into the liquid reservoir at the bottom, and slurped on vast quantities of the bittersweet liquid. It quickly washed away the feeling of dirt in my mouth and soothed the scratchiness in my throat. Relief washed over me like an icy wave of water as I collapsed to the floor and rolled onto my back. I sucked in vast amounts of the cool air and tried my best to relax. I had no clue what the hell happened, but at least I felt better than before. Not just better but more alive than I ever have before.

I felt bloated from the water I consumed, yet a sense of hunger still gnawed at my stomach. I desired something solid, and not just liquids. It just wasn’t filling, and it left me craving more. My stomach rumbled once more as I rolled onto my stomach and pushed myself off the ground. Anyway, let’s glance at my stat sheet and see what has changed.

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Name: Ariadne

Main Stats:

Level: 1

Health: 9 Stamina: 6

Arcana: 7

Auxiliary stats:

Vigor: 4 (+1) Constitution: 4 (+3)

Dexterity: 4 Agility:3

Perception: 6 Acuity: 6

Insight: 7 Attunement: 7

Strength: 4 (+1) Vitality: 4 (+3)

Passives:

Boundless Vitality I Unyielding Constitution I

Exorbitant Health I

Blood Manipulation I

Skills:

Sneak I

Affinities:

Blood Magic

Paths

Paths of the Hunter I

Path of the Hunted I

Path of the Blood Sorceress I

Resistances:

Blood I

My status menu has almost doubled since the last time I looked at it. There were slots for everything that I had just earned, which was good. It was finally nice to see everything that I now had access to. Organization was the key to efficiency, after all. But now that I’m here, I have more questions that need answers. “How do I get skills? My voice reached my ears, and I was relieved to hear that I recognized my voice once more. Doing all of this has given me a little hope; with it, the numbness I had felt slowly faded.

Skills are rarely given by the system. Instead, they are crafted by the user. Once crafted, some skills are eligible for upgrades by the system either through a path or by the user by combining them together.

The answer was short, sweet, and to the point. That is just how I liked it. I felt a grin cross my face as all the possibilities rushed through my head. But I couldn’t get ahead of myself. For now, I would take it slow and do what I could. If I rush, I would miss things, which will only bite me in the ass in the future.

I dismissed the text and carefully thought about if there were more questions I needed to have answered. Experience was pretty straightforward. I had to kill something for me to earn it. Leveling up skills was also pretty simple, at least from what I inferred, and that was through constant use.

In all fairness, I was really excited to start. Though I was still a bit conflicted about using my blood as a weapon. But the options that were available to me were pretty limited. Besides that, I couldn’t get my hands on any mana orbs and still didn’t know how to gather mana elsewhere. But that couldn’t be helped in any regard. I will have to make do with what I have at my disposal.

I brought my hand upwards, focused on it. Under the surface, I could feel the power brimming just under the surface. With each pulse of my heart, the rush of blood was more apparent than before. But I could also feel that it wanted to explode outwards in every direction, and the only thing stopping it was me.

Now let’s do some testing and see what I can make. I glanced at the scabs on my arms, and instantly I regretted picking at them. Not cause they hurt; the pain was a trivial matter now. I just hated the idea of them scarring over. But, in the name of science, sacrifices must be made.

A pinching pain spread across my arm as I picked at one scab, and a small amount of blood ebbed to the surface. Its color was strange in the blue light that filled the room, but at a glance, it felt deeper and more vibrant. I stared at it for not even a second, and I felt a connection grow in my mind. I willed it to move, and lo-and-behold, it lifted into the air ever so slightly, defying gravity.

I couldn’t help but feel another pang of betrayal as I watched it lift into the air. It was another harsh reminder of the reality that I lived in. Yet I was also excited. With this power of mine, I would find my way. No matter what it took.

I shifted my mental focus back to the small stream of blood and used my freed hand as a focal to help me manipulate my blood. With a gesture, the stream of blood rose higher, and with it, the mental connection I had with the blood. I could feel it every single drop of it as it rose, and with it, so did the feeling of something being ripped from me.

My health bar dropped as I pulled more blood from the wound, and instantly, I knew what the downside of this power was. I was trading my life for power. I slid my mental hand down the connection and snipped it near the bottom.

Floating just under my hand was a small stream of blood that slowly fractured apart in a macabre imitation of a lava lamp. I pulled my other arm down and used my hand to cup the floating blood. Well, I guess before I even try to make a skill, I should learn how to control this first.