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Noah felt as his soul evolved, acquiring the power of flowing like blood and therefore being capable of manipulating it like blood through Blood Manipulation, he had now 20 Skill Points left, which he planned to use on Additional Abilities within the Skill Tree Branch.
"Although I cannot check the Abilities as they are, I can check them when I unlock them through Skill Points, although based on their names, I can already guess that Blood Flow Acceleration might be a buff-type Skill, Blood Sacrifice might involve damaging the user through the sacrifice of my blood, and blood retribution might go in tandem with blood sacrifice…"
Ding!
[You have spent 5 Skill Points!]
[You unlocked the [Blood Flow Acceleration: 1 (C)] Skill!]
Ding!
[You spent 5 Skill Points!]
[You unlocked the [Blood Sacrifice: 1 (C)] Skill!]
Ding!
[You spent 10 Skill Points!]
[You unlocked the [Blood Retribution: 1 (C)] Skill!]
"Four Skills in exchange for two Ability Cores harvested from mildly talented kids… How amazing! And even my Attribute Values increased as a bonus! So I am finally becoming capable of harboring more of your original power, Dracula!" laughed Noah, as he immediately checked the three new Skills.
Noah used [Blood Flow Acceleration] in exchange for some large quantity of Mana.
Flash!
Suddenly, Noah's blood began to rush through his body as if there was no tomorrow!
"Ohh?!"
Noah's muscles seemed to become stronger and more flexible, his skin was becoming a bit redder instead of pale, and even his body was exuding a bit of steam!
He was burning calories like crazy!
It was as if Noah's body was an engine, and it had finally started using all the fuel it had!
Although Noah could use Mana for the Skill activation, he clearly noticed that this consumed his stamina and calories saved up, and realized that if he wanted to count on this amazing buff, he would have to eat food and not just survive on a diet of blood.
"That's… Blood Flow Acceleration! Impressive… So you can even do that now…! However, if you overuse it, you will fall unconscious, you need to stockpile energy first," said the Blood Progenitor.
Noah felt like all of his senses increased, it was a feeling even greater than when he employed the Champion's Great Perseverance!
He moved even faster, and his strength had also increased exponentially!
However, he clearly felt like his energy was diminishing at an outstanding pace.
He could either drink blood or have a lot of stockpiled energy/calories beforehand.
Noah quickly deactivated the Skill, as he realized that if he combined it with the effects of Champion's Great Perseverance, he would be able to enhance both his defenses, attack and speed!
Even if his base Attribute Values did not match an E-Rank Hunter yet, he was now confident that he could fight one on equal footing.
The issue was the immense use of energy and mana, to achieve this level of power, Noah was sacrificing a lot of his 'fuel' and could not maintain this for eternity, he still had to plan, plot, and scheme for a good opportunity to fight, and he was not strong enough to overpower everything.
"An amazing Skill, but I will need energy stockpiled to use it properly… Well, I will go buy some food then, Arthur left me some of his money," thought Noah.
The next Skill to use was… Blood Sacrifice.
By sacrificing blood, Noah was able to enhance his Mind and Force Attribute Values, but his Vitality Attribute Value would decrease.
The more he used blood, the more his Vitality and Health would decrease, becoming frailer, but his Mind and Force would become even greater.
It had a clear advantage and a disadvantage.
However, as long as he did it moderately, he would become able to enhance himself even more!
But if overused… he could even die.
By adding up all these buffing Skills, Noah could be able to even get to a peak E-Rank!
However, the things he would need to sacrifice and the momentaneous effect of these Skills did not make them as reliable unless he prepared well.
"However… there is a Skill that works the more blood I sacrifice…"
Blood Retribution was a special Skill that enhanced the damage of the attacks Noah dealt based on how much he has lost, not only by using it through Blood Sacrifice but also various wounds and more.
With this, he would become even stronger the more cornered he was… but it wasn't as if Noah enjoyed being cornered, nor was his intention for every fight he might undergo in the future.
"These Skills are impressive, with this, my power has become more flexible… Now I am looking forward to acquiring more Ability Cores! However… these Ability Cores were good because I acquired them from humans. The ones dropped by monsters will certainly not give me as many Skill Points based on their lower quality… Hm… Should I go hunt Ability Users to strengthen myself then? No. It is better to lay low for now… But perhaps at a later date," thought Noah, as he decided to not be reckless and do something incredibly stupid to get some little more power, which could risk his entire life in the process.
After all, if he wanted to kill people, he would have to plan it out.
Noah walked out of his room, as he went to buy food to stockpile calories.
Oddly enough, no matter how much he ate, he never felt full, nor his stomach became fat.
It was as if his food was being made into calories incredibly quickly as if his metabolism has been enhanced.
After eating more than he had ever done before, Noah decided to meditate until morning.
…
Noah opened his crimson eyes, as the light of the sun crossing through the window greeted him.
Strangely enough, Noah remembered that Vampires of fiction were weak to sunlight, yet he had no such weaknesses for some reason.
Although he might have other weaknesses such as Silver, he wondered why this a thing was.
"Sunlight Weakness? Yes, Vampires in Abyss used to have, however, when the eternal night came, we never had to worry about such things anymore… Oh well, as long as you keep drinking blood, possibly human blood, your weaknesses to sunlight, silver, or light and fire will be decreased. This is the power that only Progenitors have, as lowly Vampires that do not have our bloodline do suffer these things even by drinking blood. But as long as you keep yourself nourished, such weaknesses are non-existent. Beings converted by you such as the Dhampirs or the Ghouls converted by your Dhampirs inherit this trait as well," said the Blood Progenitor.
"Well, that's indeed quite convenient… But I am glad that there are not such stupid weaknesses inhibiting my goals… As long as I keep myself well fed, that is it… And just yesterday we had a very bountiful harvest, so I do not think I would need fresh human blood in a few days," said Noah.
"Indeed, you're more merciless than I thought you would become, so feeding yourself with human blood shouldn't be a problem for you as long as your classmates keep being idiots that underestimate you," laughed the Blood Progenitor, as Noah walked out of his room, reaching his class.
However, unlike other times, Noah received strange gazes, and Fernand did not come to beat him as always even though he saw him walking to class as well.
Perhaps something akin to an instinctual fear had surged within their hearts, as Noah's presence warped into something strange and bizarre…
However, the students gazes quickly averted from Noah as Arthur entered the classroom with Timassa at his side.
This time, Arthur entered walking.
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