"A-anyway... Has there been any response from the supervisors?"
Hunter attempted to swerve away from the subject since the discussion suddenly took a grim and malevolent turn. Although it was made abundantly clear by the array of question marks that Hunter's first home once he made his way to the battlefield would undoubtedly be one of the best across the expansive realm. Merely envisioning the horrors that this battlefield might harbor and one day present to Hunter sent goosebumps racing throughout his body.
"No... Nina has tried to reach them many times, but both seem occupied, likely with Hunter's matters." Nina tossed and tumbled in the snack mountain, locking on to the next victim of her endless voracity. "What does Hunter wish to do? Move onto the next perk or wait for the reply?"
Nina popped her head out of the snacliff and asked. The contrast between her tiny noggin and the hulking snack mound amused Hunter to no end.
"Eh... Is there anything else that ought to be handled besides the perks?"
Hunter questioned while straining his willpower trying to hold back a belly full of laughter.
Nina informed Hunter that most contenders being granted ten or fewer perks had concluded their ceremony and moved on to the next segment of the transitional process. Though Nina declined to disclose any details about this particular segment, she did mention that it wasn't too complex and was merely a formality on the organizer's end.
Nina vigorously shook her head at Hunter's inquiry.
"Not really~ Once Hunter receives all of the perks, Hunter will be moments away from crossing over to the battlefield. The subsequent segment will barely take a few minutes if even that."
Nina flashed a blinding smile towards Hunter and plunged into the snack heap for the final time. She emerged a few moments later.
Nina departed her paradise, drifted over to Hunter, and settled on his thighs. Her haul of munchies included a couple of flavored biscuits, a variety of chips, and a few dozen candies. She had assembled a few beverage options and a few savory bite-sized snacks as well.
Hunter was perplexed and puzzled by Nina's appetite. He had found himself wondering on multiple occasions just where this little creature stored all the food she had been gorging on without a rest. She had already devoured multifold her body weight in snacks, yet still exuded an aura of a beggar who hadn't been fed in ages.
"If we have nothing else on our agenda then let's do it. Nothing good will come out of just sitting around either, right?"
Hunter suggested, but Nina's upturned eyes full of sadness and the tightness with which she held her treasures made it clear that she was disinclined to do her job. The snacks of the Terraia realm had completely ensnared and captured Nina the assistant.
"Alright~"
Nina reluctantly ascended from Hunter's lap and unhurriedly headed to the suspended lottery wheel, glancing over her shoulder several times with despondent eyes. However, Hunter didn't coddle her this time and nudged her to initiate the acquisition of his fourth perk.
After a breadth of perks such as the battlefield tokens which were the currency and foundational aspect of the war, armies that would be crucial in establishing a firm foothold in the battlefield, and an initial location that would ensure Hunter survives through the initial stages of the conflict, this would be his fourth perk, nearly at the halfway point of his perk acquisition expedition.
Nina floated beside the wheel and snapped her fingers. The wheel was altered from monochrome white to one with thousands of compartments with rapidly changing black text.
The wheel wasn't nearly as dynamic as when Hunter proposed his insane bets. During the wagers, the wheel would be split into 20944 partitions that were 0.3 centimeters wide each, barely sufficient to distinguish them as compartments. As such, he could just barely capture some of the perks before they inevitably vanished, but most were specific perks with a clearly stated quantity.
[Commencing the acquisition of perk for candidate {Hunter Tamaniel.}]
[May fortune be with you.]
"Ready?"
Nina lifted her other hand and brought her index finger and thumb together, verifying with Hunter one final time before allowing the wheel to go.
"Mmhmm~"
Hunter rasped while slurping on a vanilla milkshake Nina had so generously furnished him with.
Hunter and Nina have experienced the process thrice, and the initial excitement was nowhere to be found. No matter how novel an experience or how dire the consequences, individuals tend to adapt to situations rather quickly. Not even a fraction of the tension present during the first spin could be felt in the atmosphere this time around.
The duo had vested their unconditional faith in Hunter's talent, hence they didn't feel too burdened by the wheel of destiny, largely because the perk allocation itself posed no threats to Hunter's well-being. The worst-case scenario would be a less-than-stellar perk, which could be salvaged with an intense wager if it wasn't specified.
Hunter took it easy and had a small feast as Nina prepared. The wheel flashed with black and white, his next perk floating somewhere among those thousands of everchanging lines of text.
Snap!
The snap resonated in the surroundings. Clamorous motorized sounds originated from the lottery wheel as it budged from its position, gradually at first, and then swift enough to blur the finer details on the wheel, making it appear as a gray ball suspended in the air. Hunter snacked and slurped as he absentmindedly watched the wheel spin, and thought about his mother and little sister.
A little over a day had elapsed since Hunter had found himself in this neverending white space accompanied by the friendly assistant. If he assumed that the flow of time between Terraia and this mystical space was equivalent, it would be midnight of the day after in Oberon City. Nina had mentioned on multiple occasions that Hunter wasn't the only one to be summoned as a candidate, and many others were abducted from Terraia under similar circumstances.
However, he still couldn't help but worry about his family. The single element that gnawed at his conciousness the most was the monetary concern. Hunter's employment paid rather well and constituted about forty percent of the entire Tamaniel household's monthly income. Losing that capital would be detrimental to his family's survival. Hunter found it somewhat paradoxical that he now possessed wealth in the hundreds of sextillions, yet his mother and sister would have to starve themselves just to survive.
'I hope they find the money I was saving for Anaya's tuition, that could cover rent for a few months at least.'
The wheel attained its maximum rotational velocity, and the force of the wind snapped Hunter from his melancholic reverie. Nina, who was suspended just beside the wheel with her hand outstretched and hovering over the edge seemed unruffled by the fierce speeds. Not even her skirt fluttered by the strong currents but Hunter felt his skin and hair peel back from the unrelenting pressure. Even while sitting over five meters away, Hunter had to grab onto the snacks for his dear life so they wouldn't fly away and make a mess.
The wheel ceased not long after, and the compartment under Nina's arm blinked with a single word that Hunter managed to catch before the holographic window could announce it.
"Bloodline?"
[The candidate {Hunter Tamaniel} has been granted the perk {Bloodline}]
[A well-suited and potent {Bloodline} could be the difference between death and triumph.]
"Nina?"
Hunter glanced at Nina inquisitively. The moniker of the perk was rather self-explanatory. He reckoned he would be conferred a new bloodline, but he didn't understand the implications, considering that this bloodline would be a very high-tier one through his talent.
"It is as Hunter suspects... As Nina mentioned, without the unprecedented tenacity displayed by Hunter, solely based on Hunter's strength as a human, Hunter would receive twelve or thirteen perks."
Nina retracted her arm but continued to drift beside the wheel, implying that the explanation would be brief and they would move on to the specific bloodline allocation without much delay.
"Now, some might assume that acquiring more perks is a boon, but Hunter understands the significance behind that. It just means those individuals are the weakest among the numerous candidates and bear the lowest potential. A big part of this hinges on the bloodline as well."
Nina pointed at Hunter with her sparkly nails and continued to explain.
"Certainly, there are numerous races that don't depend on bloodlines to acquire power. Some mighty civilizations don't even possess the concept of a circulatory system, but for those that do, a potent bloodline can boost one's capabilities manifold. In fact, Nina would go as far as to say that many overlord species are what they are because of their bloodlines."
Nina declared and immediately darted around with a fearful expression.
"Alright, I get it, but I have two questions." Hunter raised two fingers that were covered in snack residue. "How will this bloodline assimilation process transpire? And how will it affect my body?"
Hunter appreciated the bloodline perk and understood the advantages it could bestow upon him, but some concerns pricked at his conscience. From what he understood of bloodlines, they carried everything foundational for an individual and performed an array of tasks crucial for a human body's smooth functioning.
Now, it was a given that a potent bloodline awaited him beyond the wager, and whatever being it belonged to would be quite far from the puny species that was humanity. If biology had taught him anything, it was that one doesn't mess with blood.
Hunter was cognizant that this space and by extension the war and perks were shrouded in a veil of the supernatural, and since they had resolved to present bloodline as a perk, and his tried and tested fortune-enhancing talent sent it to his lap, the result most likely wouldn't be one he would weep over. However, he still desired to be ensured that Hunter as a human wouldn't transform into something that his family wouldn't be able to recognize just in case he managed to find a way back to his home.
"Assimilation will be similar to body reconstruction, just a tad bit more painful~" Nina brought her index finger and thumb together, but it was obvious by her devious expression that the 'tad painful' was the understatement of the epoch. "However, Hunter doesn't have to stay conscious during the process, and this space guarantees Hunter's survival, so it shouldn't be too bad."
Nina covered her mouth as she chuckled boisterously, causing Hunter's forehead nerves to throb in annoyance.
"As for the effect on Hunter's body, Nina understands what Hunter is worried about, but nothing of the sort will happen."
Nina summoned two glasses filled with different colored liquids and slowly poured the blue liquid into the cup that contained the red fluid.
"The additional bloodline will be added to Hunter's body, but nothing will be terminated. Hunter will simply acquire the strengths and weaknesses of this new bloodline, and Hunter's heart, bone marrow, nerves, and all auxiliary organs will be modified to sustain and invigorate the new mixture. There won't be much difference outwardly, but Hunter will be much stronger. If Hunter wins the wager that is~"
"Haha, yeah~"
Hunter merely smiled and nodded in acknowledgment. He gestured at Nina to set up the wager.
Nina closed her eyes to prepare for the wager.
[Commencing the acquisition of {Bloodline} for candidate {Hunter Tamaniel.}]
[A wager sanctioned by the overseer of the sector has been established.]
[The wager shall proceed under the supervision of the attending assistant.]
[If candidate {Hunter Tamaniel} loses the wager, they shall forfeit all their remaining perks, accept penalties in their stead, and give up their limbs, senses, and reproductive organs.]
[May fortune be with you.]
"Shall we do it?"
Nina placed her little finger over the wheel's surface.
"Yep."
Slurp!
Hunter took a huge slurp along with his confirmation, which caused Nina to giggle. He was mere minutes away from experiencing excruciating agony, and he wasn't going down without finishing his milkshake.
Snap!