Under the veil of night, Kang was resting after his long fight with Argon. With his stats nearly hitting a hundred each, Kang prepared to explore the rift in search of the outbreak's cause once again.
Thanks to his blood control, Kang was able to manage his abilities perfectly. For example, he could temporarily tune his acid bomb to work at a lower rank. His purpose in doing so was to reduce his blood consumption, as the low-ranked beasts didn't require as much strength to die as they once did.
The next day, Kang worked hard to make himself appear human enough. He was able to normalize his voice to a certain degree, making it sound somewhat closer to a human's. His appearance, on the other hand, was perfected after practicing for a while; still, it had its own pros and cons, much like the acid bomb modification.
Altering his suit's color, form, or shape wasn't a problem, but normalizing his blood-fiend appearance was nearly impossible. The only solution to hide it was to activate the Crimson Armor at a lower-ranked performance, which reduced its stats in return.
While Kang didn't plan to hide his power, his identity as a blood fiend could spell disaster if discovered, especially while he was a guild leader. As such, the Crimson Armor's full power was something he planned to keep as a trump card along with his lethal tendrils. As for his regeneration, Kang believed he could dodge well enough after all the experience he had gained from his battles with Argon.
Once ready, Kang took a stroll around the rift, casually hunting B-ranked beasts. While at it, Kang began extracting mana stones from the beasts before devouring them, knowing he was dirt poor. His actions brought up a problem he had been thinking about for a while: he had no mana to take a hunter test.
"Well, I suppose that's one way to solve it." Nodding his head, Kang considered causing trouble and bullying other hunters as a good way to prove he was strong enough to be considered a hunter, mana or not.
"It was five, then it became ten, and now it's around 20…" Looking at the required EXP to reach level 15, Kang noted how extremely hard it was becoming. A million EXP was insane, making him consider the fact that the mask was slowly pushing him toward large-scale slaughter.
"Is it because I'm not human?" Unfortunately, the beasts were not behaving as documented in human databases. Contrary to how these monsters swarmed hunters, Kang found it easier because they exhibited nothing more than animal behavior.
Setting that matter aside, Kang decided to test his luck against A-ranked beasts again, now that all his stats were nearing a hundred. Two hours later, Kang met his demise a couple of times from the poison of the forest serpent before claiming his first victory. For the first time in a while, Kang felt accomplished as he read the system message before his eyes.
[Ding!]
[You've successfully killed a Forest Serpent (A) and gained 500,000 EXP]
[Select one option from the following: 7 Strength, 4 Dexterity, 4 Constitution]
"Damn, that's half a level! Anyway, I'll take the strength." Looking at the message, Kang muttered before quietly dismissing it after selecting the stat. With his strength at 100, Kang didn't hesitate to allocate his remaining points into constitution and dexterity. Given that it was an A-ranked beast, Kang guessed how valuable its rank stone would be, so he extracted it before devouring the body.
"Lifesteal!" Throwing the mana stone into his handmade leather bag, Kang swiftly devoured the corpse before him.
[Lifesteal activated!]
[You've stolen 4,000 blood and a hundred years' worth of life force]
[Power Absorption activated!]
[Pick one ability from the following: Snakebite(A), Camouflage(B), Terror(A)]
"Oh my! That's very intriguing." Looking at the ability selection, Kang rubbed his hands in excitement. For the first time in a while, Kang found something he couldn't replicate with his abilities, making him want it immediately.
"First option!" Looking at the ability's rank, Kang chose it, even though he wasn't sure he could use it right away. But just like the acid bomb, which was an altered form of hellfire, Kang knew the system would adjust to fix the compatibility issue.
[Extraction successful… Poisonous Strike(A) added to Absorbed Abilities.]
[Poisonous Strike(A): Strike a target with a weapon for a chance to poison them. Success depends on the target's immunity.]
"I see, that's what the bastard was using to slowly kill me." Looking at the ability description, Kang recalled the battle from earlier. This poison caused his body to slowly destabilize before collapsing each time.
While it wasn't very dangerous to him, Kang knew how effective it was since he hadn't seen the Murder Chicken again after luring it into a fight with the serpent. Now that he had 6 Absorbed abilities and could control their rank at will, Kang proceeded to collect disposable abilities to enhance his class skills.
While carrying out his plan, Kang stumbled upon what appeared to be a gigantic cave. Its unnatural size and the absence of beasts told him that whatever lived inside was something he didn't want to deal with.
But curiosity never failed to grip Kang, casually dragging him inside the cave. The further Kang went in, the more unsettling the feeling became, yet he couldn't identify it. At least he knew it wasn't fear—it was never in his book.
'Yeah, no!' As Kang sneaked further in, he finally glimpsed the humongous size of the beast sleeping nearby. Suddenly, something clicked in his mind as his questions were seemingly answered.
'This thing is like 3 beasts combined just to form a single head…' Looking at the beast's head, Kang imagined a few scenarios if it awakened, which could certainly happen at any moment. For instance, Kang knew it would need a huge amount of food to sustain itself, leading it to large-scale hunting and potentially causing the other beasts to flee in terror.
[Thunder Dragon(S)]
[Description: An extremely loud beast, try to be quite around it or you will suffer.]
'OH FUCK, it's either awake or awakening!' Reading the beast's information, Kang recalled how casually he had entered the cave without being cautious. The beast's eyes told him everything he needed to know. Although one eye was only about 10% open, Kang turned and ran as fast as he could.
Soon enough, the beast's thunderous roar echoed through the cave, sending a ripple through Kang's body and killing him on the spot as he saw the familiar notification.
[-500 Blood | Remaining Blood: 43,674]
Dismissing it, Kang resumed running before dying again moments later as the continuously roaring beast shook the cave with each bellow.
[-500 Blood | Remaining Blood: 38,174] (10x)
"Finally," Kang muttered as he left the cave, no longer dying to the thunderous roars. The sight of beasts fleeing in terror came into view. Having no chance against the dragon, Kang followed the beasts, casually slaughtering a few to replenish his lost blood.
Exiting the rift a few minutes later, Kang kept running, following the remaining beasts.
—End of chapter / Updated status window for you—
{Blood Warlock System}
[Name: Liu Kang]
[Mind Potential: EX]
[Blood: 40,416 | Lifespan: 929]
[Class: Transcended Blood Knight(E)]
[Class Evolution Path: Unavailable]
[Class Upgrade Requirements: 50,000 Blood]
[Level: 14 | Exp: 500,000/1,024,000]
[Strengh: 100]
[Dexterity: 87]
[Constitution: 95]
[Attribute Points: 0]
[Race Abilities]
[Detect(EX): Get a basic report on a target]
[Disguse(EX): Imitate the form of one of your victims and hide your true status]
[Lifesteal(B): Steal 10% of the blood and life force from those you kill]
[Power Absorption(SSS): Absorb, alter, or merge one ability from those you kill]
[Class Abilities (2\5)]
[Crimson Armor(S): Consume 7 blood per second to summon the crimson armor. Minimum blood: 50]
[Blood Weapon(B): Consume 3 blood per second to form and maintain a blood weapon. Steal 5% of a single stat from those you kill by the weapon]
[Absorbed Abilities (6\10)]
[Poisonous Strike(A): Strike a target with a weapon for a chance to poison them. Success depends on the target's immunity]
[Precision(A): Passively allows you to control every cell in your blood precisely]
[Devastating Acid Bomb(C): Consume 800 Blood to fire a massive and bright ball of highly effective acidic blood]
[Compression(D): Consume 2 Blood per second to compress and maintain the blood up to 50%]
[Lightning Field(D): Consume 10 corrupted mana points per second to form and control a lightning field]
[Ability Fusion(E): Consume 3 Blood per second to fuse and maintain two abilities]