"GRAARGH!" Rhys shouted, grabbing onto his wrists.
There was nobody in the hall to hear his screams of agony, and he strugglingly removed the spikes of rock from his chest. As soon as he did this, he flopped to the ground and coughed out a large volume of blood.
His vision was starting to become hazy, and his healing had slowed intensely.
The fact that he had lost angered him greatly. He thought that he had found his way up from the bottom, but he hadn't gone far at all.
His arms shook under the force of his weight, and he wanted to get up and defeat Carson so badly. However, his body simply didn't allow such.
"Let's get out of here." Carson said, helping Leandro raise to his feet as they ran off.
[HP: 2/10]
[HP: 3/10]
After receiving that injury, his healing had stepped in once again but what bothered him more was the hunger that he felt. It felt more like a parasite, that was literally eating his flesh.
It was almost as if the injuries he had incurred further intensified this unknown hunger of his.
Upon looking forward, the first thing that caught his eye were the drops and patches of blood from Leandro. His blood was something that was he was indifferent to, but he could smell the metallic fragrance over the smell of his own blood.
Not only was it metallic, but it was sweet and quite relaxing. Upon sniffing to try and get a better smell, his heartbeat accelerated as his nostrils were filled with the caramel goodness from this substance.
'Why does the blood smell this way? Is it because I'm a vampire now?' He wondered, slowly standing.
'Well, I might as well get my first meal!' He thought, giving off a devilish smile.
Rhys just about managed to make his way through the last period of school, and he rushed over to a local convenience store. He had overheard Leandro, and his friends were going to be spending some time out in town, and he felt that he had hit the jackpot.
This was exactly what he wanted. The thought of attacking him made him feel excited. Just the thought of taking blood make his heart race, and it was clear to him that he was no longer human.
This didn't concern him. If it made him stronger, he was willing to take and do anything.
The first thing he needed was an item to conceal his face. To do so, he entered the suburbs that were near the military academy. This was usually where the teachers and students lived, since it was much easier to get there and back.
He settled on a knitted balaclava, that was a midnight black colour. Wearing it after he exited the store, he used his phone's camera to see how he looked and was lucky to see a mouth opening in the balaclava.
'Game time.' He said to himself, rushing into a small alleyway near the convenience store.
Leandro and Carson were talking about what they just done earlier that day with a few other friends, while the former couldn't escape the ridicule that he was receiving.
He was basically the much weaker opponent in the battle and had been given serious help from his companion. He tried his best to deny it, but Carson just felt even more surprised by his blatant lies.
Watching his friend struggle to impress the others made things even more amusing.
After entering the convenience store, Leandro had exited early. He said he had something to do quickly, but his mind was just clouded by what had happened that day and the day before.
He just shook his head and wiped it with his palm, before calmly exhaling. He knew that his friends were clowning him behind his back, and it made his heart feel heavy.
Rhys watched him like a crazed predator, hiding behind a large bin container in a small alley beside him. There were two large brick buildings beside him, and this was almost the commercial area of the suburb.
There were a few small stores, and they were intending on venturing deeper into the city for the night for the real action.
FWOOSH!
Rhys rushed forward with newfound speed and Leandro was taken aback by this sudden assault. Turning to see the masked individual, he felt terrified by the sight.
He didn't even have the courage to utter a word, and there wasn't even much time either. Rhys latched onto him and brought his face toward his neck. He tried his best to copy the vampires that he had seen in legend, but what he was doing felt quite awkward.
Suddenly, he could feel his canines enlarging. It was a slight stinging pain, but the adrenaline that he felt masked it.
Chomp!
Digging his fangs into his neck, he could feel the highspeed blood that was flowing through his veins. It seemed to be moving faster and more energetically than he expected.
However, his mouth was filled with the sweet, addictive substance that he craved so deeply. Taking several gulps, he could feel that this was what his body was craving. The hunger faded and faded with every swallow, and he just couldn't stop.
"Get off me you beast!" Leandro said, grabbing onto Rhys to try and shake him off.
However, his power was too much. His fangs were sunk into his neck, and he couldn't remove him.
Seconds later, Rhys ripped his fangs out, and Leandro just dropped to the ground. His skin looked dangerously pale, and Rhys licked up the caramel-sweet blood left on his lips.
"Leandro!" Carson said, exiting the convenience store.
Rhys looked over him and froze upon seeing the numerous friends exiting the store. In a flash, he was gone, and they had no chance of making out who he was. They had only seen him for about a second, and he was wearing a dark black mask that made it impossible to make out his face.
Leandro grunted in weakness and could barely lift his arms. His vision had become dark, and his friends rushed over to his aid. They might've been making fun of him just prior, but they were friends after all.
Seeing him in this weak, alarming state just wasn't funny at all.
[Hidden Quest Complete!]
[Consume human blood for the first time]
[Level Up!]
[+1 Stat Upgrade]
[+2 HP]
[+2 MP]
[New Skill Tree!]
Rhys was met by this panel as he raced through the streets of this suburb, arriving at a local park nearer to the urban centre of Osegan.
There were numerous people in the vicinity, and he ripped off his mask to better catch his breath. The entire event had made a lot of adrenaline flow through his body. His body was shaking, and he was just hopeful to have not been recognised.
Looking up, he was met by this system panel, and he chuckled upon seeing the near endless rewards he had received.
From this supposed hidden quest, he had earned in one go what he used to gain over years of hard work.
[New Skill!]
[Blooded Blow]
[Tier 0]
[Blooded Blow]
[The strength and speed stat double for a single punch]
[COST: 5MP]
[Fledgling Blitz]
[The speed stat doubles for 5 seconds.]
[COST: 4MP]
[COST TO UNLOCK: 25 Emporium Shards]
[Overdrive]
[Blood flow is intensified for 15 seconds. Increases strength and speed stats by 50% for 15 seconds.]
[COST: 4MP, 3HP]
[COST TO UNLOCK: 50 Emporium Shards]
[Tier 1]
[*LOCKED*]
"I actually just got a skill tree?!" Rhys realised, with his hands on his head.
The number of people that wanted skill trees were increasing far faster than the number of skill trees available. The only known way to create them was as random rewards from one's system, as he had done.
The other way to acquire them was through the global system store, called the Ethereal Emporium. This was a store built into every person's system and was connected. One could buy goods from others and even sell items of their own.
What made this store so popular was that it had the ability to transport items to the recipient almost instantly. If the receiver had an inventory, it would simply appear within their inventory, or otherwise appear right in front of them out of thin air.
These skill trees were incredibly expensive and would go for hundreds to tens of thousands of Emporium shards. The limited supply only jacked up the prices over time.
People of his class would be grateful to receive yearly of wages of merely 20 thousand shards, so a single item with the same price tag caused him literal heart ache.
It just made him elated to have been given the same reward free of charge. After calming himself slightly, he took a closer look at the skills that he could see.
[Tier 0]
[Blooded Blow]
[The strength and speed stat double for a single punch]
[COST: 5MP]
[Fledgling Blitz]
[The speed stat doubles for 5 seconds.]
[COST: 4MP]
[COST TO UNLOCK: 25 Emporium Shards]
[Overdrive]
[Blood flow is intensified for 15 seconds. Increases strength and speed stats by 50% for 15 seconds.]
[COST: 4MP, 3HP]
[COST TO UNLOCK: 50 Emporium Shards]
[Tier 1]
[*LOCKED*]