Her eyes widened when I mentioned wolves but her lips remained sealed. It was a good thing she remained silent, it showed her loyalty, but it was also not the time to guard unnecessary secrets.
As my annoyance grew I felt my hands itch slightly, I looked down to see blood red talons at my fingertips. A look of fear was on the girl's face but she wasn't looking at my claws but my face, I looked in the side mirror and saw my eyes had turned into a dull red.
It wasn't the constant glow that was unsettling as much as my elongated pupils, much like a snakes pupil. As I calmed myself the glow faded and my eyes returned to black disks. This could wait, I turned back to the girl who was still looking at me with fearful eyes.
"As you can see, I am not human. Like you, I am something more. Now tell me why wolves are in Northblade when I distinctly remember your people ran to Silverlake, far to the south."
I had no disagreements with the wolves but if they were coming all the way here, or were brought here then that risked me being discovered.
The girl took a deep breath and closed her eyes, after a few moments of finding her zen she seemed ready to talk. "The Alpha sent us to find the warrior in Northblade, and give him a warning, but before we could find him we were attacked by gangsters. The first few attacks we fended off quite well but eventually a group of strong ability users tacked us down and captured us."
The tale was short but still left a few questions that needed to be answered, "Alright, tell me the message. Also why would the gangsters want to capture you?" I asked with suspicion.
The girl looked down and away before replying quietly, "We partially transformed and scared a group of gangsters away. The next night they tracked us down, after they captured us they said something about dissecting us to extract our abilities."
'You have got to be kidding me.' I sighed internally before messaging Kirene to come pick me up, and bring some clothes and food.
"What is the message?" I stated more than asked.
The girl seemed to realise they had made quite a blunder, she told me the message quickly as to not be under my attention. Beware the arachnids, that was it. The mysterious message came down to basic common sense, wait.
I glared at the little wolf, "Is that the message? Word for word?" frustration was thick in my voice.
She blushed and mumbled, "Not exactly. I can't remember the details, after all the excitement and getting captured the last few days are so fuzzy."
Something isn't adding up here. "When did you leave for Northblade?"
She looked at me with confusion all over her face, "The day before yesterday? The next morning after we got to Silverlake our Alpha gave us the order to come find you."
'Either they were drugged or she has no concept of time.' I let the conversation end and we sat in silence. The girl fidgeted quite a bit and tried to make small talk but I was very short in my answers.
Once Kirene arrived I woke the other wolves in similar fashion to the first, I wasn't interested in their names or stories but I needed to talk to their Alpha. I wrote a note for the Alpha, telling her to come visit me, I gave my address and system contact number.
The wolves dressed quickly enough and before they left I gave them the note, "Go home and give this to your Alpha, I can't stress this enough. Avoid the arachne! Burn the note once your alpha has it memorized. Do you understand?" I watched them as they all agreed.
They got into the truck and sped off into the night. 'Beware the arachne, no shit.'
Kirene stood at my side like an ever present servant. Faithful and loyal, though that was most likely because I had turned her into a thrall. Who she had been and who she had become did not make me feel guilty, I was relieved to know that wherever I went I could have a person loyal to me and me alone.
The wolves had it, I had it, and for all I knew the arachne would have a form of such a bond as well. With the way spiders multiplied it could become a problem.
We boarded the rover and drove back into the city, the first thing I did when we reached home was to check my system announcements.
Mission complete: bonus exp for drinking from a new source of blood: +5 exp.
Mission complete: defeat your enemy: +10 exp
~Congratulations!~
You have leveled up! +2 free stat points
Mission complete: feed on a defeated enemy: +5 exp
Ingested B+ blood: +1 to vitality
I opened my stats page to assign my points and look over the changes.
Name: Ezra Serpentis
Level: 0.1
Race: Bloodling
Thralls: 1/4
HP: 80/80
Agility: 16
Stamina: 15
Strength: 16
Vitality: 16
Charm: 20
Exp: 5/50
[Weekly Missions]
Level up once more within one week. Reward: +50 exp
[Daily Missions]
Drink 3 liters of blood or 4 liters of water. Reward: 5 exp. Bonus 5 exp if Terran blood or sentient life form. Bonus 5 exp if it is from a new source.
Defeat an enemy. Reward: 10 exp.
Feed on a defeated enemy: Reward 5 exp.
{Bloodline Mission} Evolve from a bloodling. Reward: +3 to all stats.
{Bloodline Mission} Summon a Familiar. Reward: A familiar that does your bidding. Warning! Recommended to wait until after evolution.
[Abilities]
{Passive}-Minor Regeneration: heals minor wounds, accelerated healing during/after consuming blood.
{Active)-Minor Blood Manipulation: By using your own or your victims' blood to create weapons and armor.
-Neophyte of the Abyss- Refining. Adapting genetic ability to Serpentis bloodline; Time till completion: 3 months.
I read over the information and was pleased that I had leveled up, even more exciting was the weekly mission with a large reward. The experience needed to level up had doubled and the large chunk experience would help with the following level.
I would need to kill two more gangsters to level up, but while I was doing my killing I could be doing more. I took a refreshing shower before I came up with the best excuse for gangsters dropping like flies, a gang war between the Falcone crime family, the police, and Star Breaker Industries.
Star Breaker Industries may not be the most lucrative corporation, but they were shady beyond reason. Their records showed more warrants for their members than even the Falcone crime family, this company would hire out their people to take the missions no one should.
Spouses would magically disappear, houses burned to ash, and even elected officials would disappear if they started poking their noses in their business. The more I dug into each faction the more likely my plan seemed to succeed, I just needed to push the right buttons.
I was led to the corporation by my dear friend Rufus, the address he had provided me was to a residence owned by none other than Randal Mc'lavin the CEO of Star Breaker. With my criminals I found I needed quite a few more ingredients.
Rufus Falcone, Randal Mc'lavin, and finally Lieutenant Julien Ortega. The lieutenant was the son of a judge and was moving quickly on his way to making captain, he was also a level 3 with the enhanced speed. I watched a video of Ortega using his speed and the man dashed 100 meters in two seconds, watching him fight six opponents with abilities of their own at once was even more shocking.
Abilities to manipulate flames, lightning, water, earth, increased strength, and my personal favorite the ability to cause anything the user touches explodes. They were all level 2 and were incredibly skilled fighters but one by one Ortega used his ability to defeat them all.
Getting to any one of this trio would take time and careful planning, planting of evidence, framing one for another's crime. Thinking of all the work I would have to do made me realize that doing it alone would take months or years.
'System, how do I make more thralls and which stat influences the amount of them I can have?' I asked, this was the fastest way to influence my targets. Not just killing my way through, but infiltrating their forces.
"The charm and vitality stats come together to make a special venom, the capacity you can hold is also advanced by your level. Each level is the multiplier, level one is a x1, level 2 is a x2 etcetera and is then added to the base. The charm and vitality stats at 10 points each gives you 2 thralls, this doubles for every 10 points."
The math was slightly irritating but easy enough that it would not be an issue, it did explain why my thrall count increased when I leveled up. If I could gain four more points in vitality I would have 8 thralls in my service. Though that was a far cry from an army, it would be enough for the beginning of my plan.