Chapter 2:
Alone on a dirt road, surrounded by trees, was a young girl. She had dark, black hair and multi-colored eyes. This was none other than Ferra.
She squinted her eyes as the sun shone down upon her. She had been traveling alone for a few days now. She knew the way to Pho Academy as she had traveled with the church as they went to preach. However, it was quite a few days away and she was getting hungry and thirsty.
Unknown to Ferra, a little farther up the road was a group of bandits wearing uniforms marked by a dagger. As they laid in wait, they noticed her approach.
One of the bandits turned to their leader, “Is that the person we’re waiting for?”
“No, you idiot,” the leader snapped, “We’re waiting for a carriage. This person is on foot and alone.”
“What do we do then? Do we let her through?” the bandit questioned.
“No,” the leader shook his head, “She might see us as she comes through. We can’t leave any potential witnesses. Kill her.”
It was at that moment that Ferra reached them.
“Something is wrong,” she frowned. She didn’t know why but alarm bells were ringing through her mind.
She slowed her pace, nervously looking around.
All of a sudden a group of five men jumped from the trees, surrounding her.
“Sorry about this girlie. You can only blame your bad luck,” one of the men said, brandishing a dagger.
He dashed towards her, intent on making quick work of her.
Ferra panicked. She immediately stretched her hands forward, “Blood Cloud!”
The scent of blood filled the air as the bloody cloud stretched forward towards the incoming bandit. He attempted to stop moving, but his momentum carried him forward into the cloud, a look of horror appeared on his face.
“Burst!”
The man exploded into a pile of gristle, painting Ferra and the nearby bandits red.
“A blood mage!” one of the bandits yelled in terror.
Three of the remaining bandits turned tail, retreating into the forest. Only one man remained, the leader of the bandits.
“Stupid men,” he cursed, “It’s only a child. So what if she’s a mage?”
“Growth!” he grunted. At his words, his body began to swell. His muscles increased exponentially in size, nearly ripping his clothing.
Now it was Ferra’s turn to be horrified.
“A muscle knight!” she exclaimed inwardly.
The difference between a mage and a knight was the way they utilized their life essence. A knight would use body strengthening, while a mage would use offensive magic. There were some people who used both, but it was considered common to specialize.
Ferra had never fought another Essence Warrior before. However, she was quick to react. She immediately cast another Blood Cloud.
The bandit leader snorted and jumped away from the cloud. The cloud’s attack power was great, but it moved slowly and in a straight line.
The bandit gripped his sword tightly, swinging it towards her head. Ferra threw herself to the ground in a panic, narrowly dodging the devilishly-sharp edge.
After the blade sailed over her head, she immediately rolled to the side, almost avoiding the second blow. However, it sliced apart some of the skin on her arm, causing her blood to stain the ground.
The bandit leader frowned. He had expected to have killed her by now, but she kept moving out of the way at the last second.
He grit his teeth, concentrating. His next blow would kill her for sure!
It was at this moment that Ferra’s hunger reached a peak. Her stomach growled loudly, awaking the sleeping forces in her body.
The awakening sent her bloodlust to the roof, sending her into a mad frenzy. She immediately charged the bandit, ignoring any thoughts of her own safety. She hugged him closely, sinking her nails into his body.
The leader howled in pain, he wasn’t expecting her to make such a reckless maneuver.
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Before he could shake her off, she opened her mouth and howled.
“Drain!”
The bandit leader’s eyes bulged as he felt his blood flow change direction. His life essence was being absorbed through Ferra’s nails!
The bandit shook back and forth, desperately trying to throw her off. However, she was stuck to him like glue.
The man slowly grew pale. His large muscles rapidly deteriorated and he grew thin and weak.
After a few moments, his struggling ceased and Ferra jumped off. All that remained of the man was a dilapidated corpse. She had drained him completely.
Now satiated, Ferra regained her sanity. Her eyes went wide as she looked at what was left of the bandit leader.
“I did this?” she questioned. She barely remembered the act. However, one thing was certain. She was no longer hungry.
Ferra lapsed into thought for a few minutes. Eventually, she reached her hand upwards and extracted some of her life essence. It had grown 2 centimeters.
“I’m rank 17 now,” Ferra thought bewilderedly. A person could increase their rank by absorbing the life essence of monsters. Humans weren’t supposed to be able to absorb the life essence of other humans, but Ferra had done so directly!
Ferra let go of her essence string, watching it as it disappeared into the air, returning to her body.
She shook her head. The ball of blood was too mysterious.
All of a sudden, the sound of horse hooves shook Ferra out of her reverie. A carriage was approaching. It got within a few feet of her before the coachman pulled on the reins of the horses.
The driver frowned, giving her a glare. Clearly he had expected for her to move out of the way. It was then that he got a good look at her. His mouth dropped open as he realized she was soaked from head-to-toe in blood. The corpses at her feet told him more about the story.
He instantly went on guard, a wary look took over his face.
“We mean no harm,” he told Ferra, “Please move so we can be on our way.”
Ferra blushed, an action undetectable due to the copious amounts of blood that covered her. It was only at that moment that she realized that she was blocking the road. She had been too preoccupied with earlier events.
Just as she was about to move, a head of blonde hair poked its way out of the carriage.
“What’s going on?” a girl asked with a voice as sweet as honey.
“It’s nothing Miss,” the coach driver said hurriedly.
However, a strange note in his voice gave him away, causing the girl to stick her head further out the coach. Her eyes went wide as she saw Ferra.
“Oh my goodness! Are you okay?” she asked Ferra, opening the door to the carriage and jumping out.
“Milady! It’s unsafe!” the coachman warned, panic in his voice.
“Can’t you see this girl is hurt?!” the young woman snapped, “We must help her at once.
Ferra blinked as she lifted her arm. She had completely forgotten about the wound.
She frowned slightly, it appeared that healing wasn’t a side effect of her newfound drain ability.
The blonde-haired woman quickly approached Ferra, looking her over from head to toe.
“Thank heavens,” she sighed, “Hardly any of that blood is yours. Still, we better get you patched up.” Right after saying that, she picked up a fallen sword from the ground, using it to tear apart her pure-white dress.
Before Ferra could react, the woman grabbed her, skillfully bandaging her arm.
“Come along,” she told Ferra, grabbing her by the hand, “You must be tired, come in the carriage and rest for a bit.”
The coachman nearly fainted at the woman’s actions.
“Miss Lura!” he cried, “You see a young girl covered in blood and you invite her to travel with us?!”
The woman named Lura glared at him, “Be quiet Philip. Can’t you see that this girl helped us?”
“She helped us?” Philip asked bewildered.
“Clearly,” Lura huffed pointing towards knife emblem on the corpse of the bandit leader.
“That’s the body of a Vile-knife bandit! They’re renowned for attacking the nobility. Their target was obviously us.”
Philip’s mouth hung open. He hadn’t noticed at all. Now that he took a closer look it made a lot more sense. It very unlikely that the bandits would target a lone traveler for no reason.
“Now come along,” she said, turning a gentle smile towards Ferra.
Ferra was confused, but allowed Lura to pull her into the carriage. The man named Philip shook his head reluctantly. It was no using arguing with the lady.
Ferra sat across from Lura inside the carriage, wiggling nervously. She had never met a member of nobility before.
“This is unnecessary,” she told Lura, “I should travel alone.”
“Nonsense!” Lura laughed, “You’ll stay with us until you recover. Where are you headed?”
“Pho Academy,” Ferra admitted.
“Fantastic,” Lura said clapping her hands, “We’re headed there as well. It’s decided, you’ll stay with us until we get there.”
Ferra opened her mouth to argue, but quickly shut it. The carriage would travel faster than she could on foot. It would be foolish to turn down such a kind invitation.
“Are you hungry?” Lura asked kindly, “Fighting those bandits must have taken up quite a bit of energy.”
She reached into a basket at her side and pulled out a muffin, offering it to Ferra.
“Thank you.” Ferra wasn’t hungry after using her drain ability, but she felt it would be rude to turn down Lura’s invitation.
She bit into the muffin and gagged, almost spitting it out on the spot. It tasted vile.
“Is something wrong?” Lura asked curiously.
“No. Not at all,” Ferra said, hiding her disgust. She choked down the rest of the muffin. It was then that she noticed the muffin didn’t fill her at all.
“Do you have any water?” she asked hesitantly.
Lura nodded with a smile and passed over a canteen.
Ferra took a sip to wash down the horrible tasting muffins and almost spit once more. The water tasted awful too!
“Is this girl trying to poison me?!” Ferra wondered in confusion.
It was at that moment that Lura reached into the basket and withdrew a muffin of her own. She sank her teeth into it and closed her eyes, savoring the taste.
“These muffins are delicious, aren’t they? They came directly from the capital.”
Ferra frowned. Was this another side effect of the blood ball? That food would taste bad and not be filling? How was she supposed to eat then?
All of a sudden her eyes went wide with horror.
“Drain!” she exclaimed, her face growing green. Draining that bandit had filled her stomach up instantly.
She stared at her hands in disgust. She was growing further and further away from normality.
Ferra felt a strong gaze burning into her. Glancing upwards she caught Lura’s eyes.
“Is something wrong?” she asked tensely.
“No,” Lura shook her head, “It’s just that you have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen.”
Ferra jerked as if she had been punched. She had forgotten about her eyes. She would need to come up with a way to hide them in the future.
“Anyways, rest for now. We’ll arrive at Pho Academy within a few days.”
Ferra nodded, closing her eyes.