[Tier 1]
[Blood Mage]
[Blood Mana Bolt]
[A hand-sized bolt of blood mana is shot, exploding on impact with any hard surface. Maximum range of 50 metres]
[COST: 3MP, 8ml human blood]
[Super Blood]
[Human blood enters the bloodstream and the user's endurance stat and MP capacity double for 30 seconds. Other skills can be used while this skill is activated.]
[COST: 40ml human blood]
[COST TO UNLOCK: 75 Emporium Shards]
[Sanguinis Shield]
[A circular shield of blood mana for 3 seconds.]
[COST: 3MP, 8ml human blood]
[COST TO UNLOCK: 75 Emporium Shards]
[Tier 2]
[Branches]
[Offence]
[Defence]
[Scientist]
[Which branch would the user like to choose from?]
Tiers were usually tied to levels and now that he had just levelled up, he attributed that to the Tier 2 that had just unlocked.
[The user can meet one of the two requirements of reaching a high enough level for tier 2, or unlocking all of the skills in the current branch]
Offensive and defensive would be great at making him a good fighter. Offensive appealed to him more, since he liked being an aggressive fighter and usually relied on his swiftness for defence.
However, scientist seemed like something he just couldn't pass up on. The mystery behind the branch was drawing him in and he couldn't help himself.
[Tier 2 Unlocked!]
[Scientist Unlocked!]
[Title Upgraded!]
[Lv. 1 Blood Mage -> Lv. 2 Blood Mage]
[+3MP]
[Tier 2]
[Chimeric Transformation]
[The DNA from a beast's blood is extracted and can be analysed by the user to provide a special skill, based on the abilities of that beast.]
[COST: Target beast-crystals, Target beast blood, 25MP, 10HP]
[COST TO UNLOCK: 300 Emporium Shards]
[Hemotoxin]
[The user can analyse the components of beast blood to compose poisons. The potency and effects of the poison depend on the strength and type of beast, respectively.]
[COST: 20MP, 10HP, target beast blood, target beast-crystals]
[COST TO UNLOCK: 300 Emporium Shards]
[Essence Extraction]
[The life essence from human blood can be condensed to form crystalline objects. These crystals can be fused with artefacts to empower them and can be used as a source of power to superpower and/or fuel skills.]
[COST: 30MP, 12HP, 200ml human blood]
'Woah.' Rhys said, looking at these skills.
Each one of them had an absolutely amazing perk, but what surprised him the most was the chimeric transformation skill.
Most people would establish a beast core with a specific beast after reaching the required skill level then use that beast's power as their own, but with this he could do that for many beasts at once.
Although it was a single skill, it would still make him very versatile as a warrior.
"Is there any other information I need to know about the chimeric transformation skill?"
[The chimeric transformation gives a skill based on how compatible a beast's abilities are with your own vampirism. If they are not, the skill will be poor and if they are, the skill will be valuable.]
This then hindered how versatile he would be, since he couldn't have strong skills totally alien to his nature as a speedy vampire fighter.
With 100 emporium shards, he unlocked the third skill in his Tier 1 branch, the Sanguinis Shield.
Then, with the blood that he had in his blood container, he decided to utilise it.
[-8ml human blood]
[Blood Container: 310/400ml]
A circular dome of red of energy was created from the blood and his very own mana. It was a pale red and it floated right ahead of his left forearm. As he moved such forearm, the shield would move in tandem with it. After its 3-second time usage, the shield vanished and he decided to not use any other skills.
He had only 2MP now and was waiting to regain it so that he could find an escape from this place. With no direction, he was just hoping that he would find his way forward and out of this place so that he could return to Earth safely.
After seeing this, he opened the ethereal emporium. Many different panels, some advertising different products, appeared and he scrolled past the useless windows to then search for Class-F dungeon crystals. He found crystals of the same beasts that he had defeated, or similar.
Many dungeons shared the same beasts but had their own variances to them. It was like they were the same species, but due to living in different environments they had slight differences.
He had defeated four baby mini cleavers, five armoured rats, a mini cleaver and a mutated zombie goblin. However, he wanted to keep the mutated zombie goblin so that he could try to extract a skill from it.
Each of the remaining crystals went for about 45 to 50 shards, and he sold them all at a clearance price of 35 shards. In seconds, the 9 crystals that he put up for sale were gone and he had received the 315 shards right into the bank account that was tied to his system.
He was astounded by the amount of money that was now in his account. Seeing that much money just sitting in his account was amazing to him. As much as he wanted to use it for his own livelihood, he decided to buy the skill.
Buying the first skill of Tier 2, he was now down to 300 shards.
[New Skill!]
[Chimeric Transformation]
He would try his best to find some crystals on the way and sell them for commercial use. Shards were the global currency, even in extraterrestrial territories. It just made life easier and so, he wouldn't have to struggle as much if he did take the crystals and sell them.
Heading back to the zombie goblin, he ripped off its forearm before placing it in his inventory, yellow-green blood was revealed as he did so, and it was luckily still fresh. With its beast crystal in the other available slot, he was off and now had to find a way outside of this place.
Along the way, he was met by a few armoured rats that he just stomped out and killed with ease. He managed to acquire an extra 100 shards, that he decided he would use to try and get by for the following few weeks. He couldn't just place all the shards he acquired into these skills, as the government certainly wasn't the best thing to rely on.
Reaching a flat opening in the cave, standing ahead of him was a large dungeon portal. He had walked past numerous rotting bodies as he approached this area and didn't want to wait inside the dungeon any longer. Their bodies were so badly decayed that he didn't even like the smell of their blood.
Stepping out, he arrived at another of one of their cylindrical underground bases.
"Good job, son. Welcome to the Eternals." He explained, handing him his uniform.
It was grey and had the emblem of a sword within a circle within its hood. It was within a plastic bag, and before he could leave, a certain person walked up to him.
'Oh no.' He thought.
He assumed that this gang wouldn't be sophisticated enough to have people that could analyse systems and ethereal emporium sales. However, he cursed himself after noticing the literal base that he was in.
Numerous workers were going across the floors above him. There seemed to be tens of, if not hundreds of people in this place, conducting the operations of this supposed gang.
It was a man in a black cloak, who had his hood up. His appearance was quite frightening, and he slowly lifted his arm up to his head.
[Party Joined!]
[Party Leader: (???)]
[Forced Analysis Ability Detected]
[Forced Analysis Ability Resisted]
The man looked slightly startled before looking at his own palm. He stood there for a few seconds and the guards surrounding them looked on edge.
Those who sold crystals against the will of the dungeon would meet severe punishment or death for affecting profits, and Rhys looked terrified.
With only 3MP, he had enough for a few seconds of his fledgling blitz skill or his sanguinis shield with the human blood that he had stored up.
Even if he attended a military academy, there would be nothing he could do against people of this calibre. The people that stood against him were also clad in extravagant, exquisitely designed battle equipment empowered by beast crystals.
However, in this tense moment, the still warriors backed away as the man signalled them too. Rhys let out an exhale of relief and was then directed by one of these warriors to the exit of the base.
"Here. This is how we'll text you for when we need you. Do not give this phone to anyone else that is not an eternal or certified ally of the eternals. Do not even let anyone outside of those criteria even see or know that you have this." He said, throwing down the device as they walked up a flight of stairs.
It looked ancient to him, seeing the screen light up instead of a hologram being projected. It reminded him of the beat-up TV that he had bought off the Ethereal Emporium for just a few shards. These were devices that were beyond decades old and were pushing a century old.
It required a lot of work to even fix them up so that they worked in modern society.
Luckily for him, this was a base located near the suburbs of Osegan. He knew his direction around the city and his outskirts quite well, and he just jogged back to his apartment. With his superior speed and strength, he managed to run at above superhuman speeds for prolonged time and arrived at his doorstep in just over 15 minutes, even though he had crossed almost 10 miles.
With little MP and energy left, he soundly fell asleep.