Ackster drank as much water as his faint and unsteady body could handle before refilling the bucket and putting it next to the tub, which he reentered, bloody knife in hand.
Although he had already drained himself of a lot of blood, and he felt like he had about as much blood as a mosquito in winter, Ackster knew it wasn't nearly enough. It felt like more than it actually was, which meant he still needed to make the Doppelganger Slime absorb a lot more.
And to do that, he had to stab himself again.
Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, at least when considering the degree of pain. It didn't hurt nearly as bad as when he fixed his broken arm. It was still enough to make him grit his teeth, but Ackster could endure it if it meant he would survive this encounter with The Hero.
The worst was actually the panic-inducing feeling of his blood rushing to get out of his body. But that was something that sat in his mind. It wasn't something he could as easily endure as the physical pain of stabbing himself with a serrated knife.
Ackster sighed. No matter how much he thought about it, hesitated, and tried to come up with another way, he had to go through with it. At this point in time, it was far too late to try and come up with another solution.
And as long as he went through with it, as long as he did what he had to, Ackster would survive.
After once again doing his best to reaffirm his resolve to survive, despite the sticky and hostile situation and world he had ended up in, Ackster stabbed himself in the leg again without flinching.
And when the blood continued spilling out, he wasted no time and instantly started eating all the food he had nearby. Halfway through, Ackster noticed that the artery had patched itself up again, so he stabbed himself again before continuing to eat.
Ackster couldn't stay clear-headed while losing so much blood, but he felt vaguely that he had lost a lot of blood, and when he had finished all the food and water, he was forced to stop himself from shoving the knife into his leg again.
He wasn't sure he had given the Doppelganger Slime enough blood yet, but without food to help him sustain his skill and blood regeneration, it was suicidal to keep draining himself of blood.
Ackster leaned his head back and closed his eyes. If he tried to stand up now, he would faint.
When he felt steady enough, he left the bathtub and noticed the bloody footprints from when he had fetched water and the blood that the Doppelganger Slime hadn't absorbed. He looked at his duplicate.
"Clean this up, will you?"
"Do I look like a fucking servant to you, you stain of filth?"
Ackster was happy to hear the answer. It might be the first time he's ever enjoyed being cussed out by a brat. It was a sign that the Doppelganger Slime had learned from his behavior and vocabulary. The glare Ackster got was like the icing on the cake. He smiled as he felt that his plan might actually work.
"No, but seriously, clean this up."
However, the blood still needed to be cleaned up. Otherwise, when someone came to clean Ackster's room and the adjoining bathroom after his passing, they would notice that something was wrong and tell Ackster's parents. And considering how gossipy the maids seemed to be, it wouldn't take long until rumors of Ackster Phileam's strange behavior before dying in his duel against The Hero reached The Hero's ears.
The rumors would grow along the way, and The Hero would grow suspicious enough to investigate. And when he discovered that Ackster's body was no more, he would put some effort into his investigations. The Hero, with how capable he was and with how many skills he had, would quickly conclude that Ackster wasn't dead.
And Ackster wouldn't get a peaceful day, full of relaxation, until The Hero was dead. Ackster sighed, just thinking about it.
But now wasn't the time to waste time thinking about unnecessary and improbable scenarios. He had to prepare so well that there was no reason for him to even think about what could go wrong.
And the next step was making use of the fact that the Doppelganger Slime was full of his blood and looked exactly like him to get it to obey, despite its defiant and rebellious attitude.
Fortunately, he didn't have to do much. The Doppelganger Slime was a simple creature, and although it responded with harsh words in response to Ackster's request, it had still started cleaning up the blood even before he asked again.
If it weren't for the fact that he needed to use the Doppelganger Slime to trick The Hero, he would have almost liked to have it around and use it as a personal servant and body double on his journey. But there were a few other downsides that would have made it an unreliable decision, so Ackster didn't consider it and just watched the Doppelganger Slime get to work before he headed off to his bed.
The bloodletting had taken a surprising amount of time, and it was about time for lunch.
Ackster had become way too pale to interact with anyone who knew what he looked like due to losing so much blood. He had to recover from that or find a way to mask it so that not even his mother could notice it before the kitchen staff brought his food.
To do that, Ackster was going to try something he hadn't done before. Considering his situation, all the possible things he could do, and his age, there were many such things. But Ackster was going to try and focus on the regenerative powers of his skill.
So far, he had only focused on his hearing and his eyesight when he eavesdropped on the maids and when he left the house at night.
But unlike his hearing and vision, which were proper senses that Ackster could feel, Ackster didn't know how to focus on restoring his blood and the color of his face.