Scarlet

It ends up taking me killing a second demon, this one being only twenty levels above me and some sort of insect demon that I didn’t recognize, before I get the System Messages I’m looking for.

But instead of making me happy, the requirements to reach Class IV make me grow rather depressed.

{Level 520 Blood Revenant defeated. A significant EXP bonus is awarded for killing a creature over twenty levels above your level.}

{One Skill Point is awarded for killing a demon.}

{Congrats, you have leveled up to level 500. Four Free Points have been awarded to you and your stats have been updated.}

{Congrats, you have leveled up to- Level up canceled due to you being at the cap of Class III. Please ascend to Class IV. To do so you must find and absorb three Class III catalysts and have one skill at its max level.}

{You have earned the epic inherent skill, ‘Blood Absorption’.}

Are you fucking kidding me?!

I open my status as I stop moving in the middle of the battlefield, only to feel myself teleported back to the cliff. But I ignore Gramps as I focus on my list of skills.

[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/999176240378425384/1135959088409354321/deletable.png]

[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/999176240378425384/1135959147251249263/deletable.png]

Name: Scarlet Art Asger de Archeron Species: Human/Blood Lycan Hybrid Magic: Blood Age: 19 Level: 500 SP: 67 Stats: Physical: 1,446 Mental: 1,445 Magical: 1,446 Physical/Level: 2 Mental/Level: 1 Magical/Level: 2 Free Points: 0 Mana: 2,507,364/2,507,364 Free Points/Level: 4 Active Skills: Pain Diffusion Skill Level: 22 Description Null Magic Field Skill Level: 21 Description Blood of Ruin Skill Level: 14 Description Metallicized Blood Skill Level: 16 Description Blood Empowerment Skill Level: 10 Description Blood Swarm Skill Level: 6 Description Beast Form Skill Level: Static Description Metallicized Blood Claws Skill Level: 25 Description Life Drain Skill Level: 25 Description Partial Shift Skill Level: Static Description Blood Pull Skill Level: 20 Description Blood Chains Skill Level: 18 Description Blood Diffusion Skill Level: 15 Description Gradual Corruption Nullification Skill Level: 15 Description Blood Plague Skill Level: 10 Description Crimson Overdrive Skill Level: 15 Description Blood Shadow Skill Level: 10 Description Blood Retribution Skill Level: 10 Description Blood Armor Skill Level: 10 Description Blood Manifestation Skill Level: 10 Description Blood Sacrifice Skill Level: 10 Description Blood Boil Skill Level: 10 Description Blood Bank Skill Level: 10 Description Passive Skills: Blood Regeneration Skill Level: 20 Description Blood Aura Skill Level: Static Description Blood Absorption Skill Level: Static Description Sanguine Effect Skill Level: Static Description Life Sense Skill Level: 15 Description Blood Thirst Skill Level: 10 Description Bloody Thorns Skill Level: 10 Description Predator V Skill Level: Static Description

I feel the strength leave my body, making me drop to my knees as I realize I won’t be able to make my goal by the end of the night, even if I were able to get the Catalysts I need. Since there is no way I’ll be able to bring one of my inherent skills to level thirty in a single night, nor do I have any Skill Points to spend on bringing a purchased skill to level fifty.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Damnit…” I mutter, blankly staring at my status.

“Hey, it’s fine if you don’t get to Class IV before turning twenty,” Tar says flying next to me and patting my head.

But if I don’t, then I’ll miss out on the achievement that would give. And if I miss out on that, I might not be able to upgrade Gradual Corruption Nullification…

“If that’s all you’re worried about, then don’t be,” Gramps suddenly says, making me lift my head to find him standing there with his arms crossed. “You don’t turn twenty for another month and several days after all.”

I blink at him. He stares back at me.

Several seconds pass in silence.

“According to your father and the System Logs, you were born on the thirtieth of the ninth month of the year,” he says, breaking the silence after a while. “Although the exact date of your birth was probably muddled up somewhere because you were born in an illusion where time was slowed down.”

“But… why wouldn’t I…” I mutter, only for the answer to come to me as I remember that Allen simply guessed at my birthday instead of knowing the exact date.

How did I forget about that…?

I stare down at the ground for several seconds before sighing and climbing back to my feet again. Then I nod my head at Gramps and tell him, “Thanks for the help, Gramps.”

He smiles brightly at that and, with a nod, says, “Anytime, sweetheart. And now that that issue is dealt with, would you like to deal with the Catalysts?”

“Of course,” I answer him with a slight incline of my head while glancing at the battlefield behind him. Then I focus on him again as he snaps his fingers, making a large pile of hearts appear out of nowhere.

“This time you need fifty Class IV demon hearts to get a single Catalyst, and since you haven’t killed all that many Class IV demons, you only have enough for one Catalyst right now,” he says, breaking the bad news. But then he snaps his finger again, making a pool of blood appear in the air with some sort of image showing in it of a glowing red, blue, and black crystal underground as he adds, “What I suggest is to not waste your time killing a hundred Class IV demons and instead go grab these. They’re a powerful Class IV Catalyst, and there should be two of them in the same cave system.”

I blink at that before asking, “Where is this cave system?”

Another pool of blood appears but with some sort of map this time. And within the map, two locations are marked. Both with two marks at each location.

“This is a map of the Battlefield,” Gramps states before pointing at one set of marks, “this is where we are,” and then moving his finger to the other marks, “and this is where the cave is with the crystals.” He snaps his fingers once more, making my mind blank out for a brief moment as the pool of blood suddenly rushes at me, only to vanish, following which our exact location somehow becomes etched in my mind. Like I’d stared at a map for who knows how long and memorized it. “This should last for about a day or so.”

I look up at him for a moment before nodding with a smile and saying, “Thanks!”

Then I jump off of the cliff again, rushing straight towards the location marked on the map in my head.