This was the year 1333 of the fifth epoch in the calendar, the month of December. The atmosphere had become cold; the sun couldn't be seen throughout the entire day, and the nights became progressively chilly.
The Qortern city was either busy with the preparations for the approaching ceremony or defending against the Archill snakes. After the passage of each night, several corpses were found all over the city, the cause of death easy to distinguish.
The archon of the city and the sanctum had started to hunt down these snakes, though it seemed the sanctum was more interested in the awakening ceremony than in getting rid of the Archill snakes since they just put forward a few weak teams for the dangerous task.
Far across the continent, despite being one of the most influential families, the Korvyn family had been in constant decline for nearly fifteen years. Many believed this downfall was due to the misfortune brought by the daughter of the family head; she went blind at a young age, and from that moment, the family saw one setback after another.
Now, in a nearly desperate attempt, they had sent a team into Zhorian's inheritance to obtain some benefits. That's why they created such a strong team despite the inheritance being just at the 4th Gate; if this attempt failed, they would really be backed into a corner.
Inside Zhorian's inheritance, at this moment, a team of thirty was fighting against several beasts, or rather trying to escape. Unlike their expectations, once reaching the deepest part of the inheritance, they not only did not find any treasure, but they encountered several 4th Gate beasts and one 5th Gate Slug Winged Raptor.
Within moments, one of the 3rd Gate rune masters met his demise under constant attacks while the rest tried their best to defend and retreat.
******
Vritra stared at his arms, wondering the reason that the runic tattoos had appeared on both his arms when normally they only appeared on the right arm of the rune masters.
"Right, that is only for humans, and I am no longer one. Nether-wraith…" Vritra mumbled, looking at the intricate black pattern. After a few seconds, he raised his head and looked at the messages that had appeared in front of him.
[Slimy-Veil Rune had been bound to your heart.]
[Would you like to turn it into a Cursed rune?]
After seeing the messages, he quickly read the description about the cursed runes, and after reading, Vritra pursed his lips as he contemplated this info.
This was a double-edged knife; although the negative effect could be countered as long as he had enough to eat, Vritra was understanding the meaning behind the Hunger meter better as he thought about this.
But right now, there was no point in doing so, since without awakening, he couldn't use runes anyway. Therefore, he would be feeding his blood to this rune for no reason. Instead, he decided to convert it after his awakening as he replied:
"I don't want to do it just yet."
[Conversion of the Slimy-Veil Rune to a Cursed Rune had been postponed.]
Vritra heaved a sigh after seeing that converting it later was still an option. He glanced around at Riham's corpse struck in the wall, at the Demonix child, then at the small beast seated on his shoulder.
"I guess it is time to go back." Turning around, he began to walk back towards the stone door, with the Demonix child following behind him. He walked without any hurry and arrived in front of the door after a few minutes. He looked at the corpses littered around: Harris and Azhar, then his gaze landed on Sana's corpse.
He felt a foul taste in his mouth, remembering how she had sacrificed her own life for him. For a moment, he wondered if he should use his skill, Cursed Requiem, on her.
'Although there are no limits mentioned, what if I can only use this skill a certain number of times? It's better to use it on beasts who already have some abilities,' Vritra thought and began to walk towards the stone door, which was still open enough for him to pass through.
He paused in front of the door, then, sighing, he walked back towards Sana's corpse. After taking a deep breath, he used the Divine skill.
[Cursed Requiem Activated.]
[A Curse had been implanted on the 0th Gate, human.]
[You have obtained a Cursed Creature. The human rises from the dead.]
Instantly, Sana's body was wrapped in black-colored energy, making it difficult to see her clearly. But unlike the giant raptor, her body size didn't decrease. Vritra could vaguely see how the deep wound disappeared from her head. The process seemed to continue for over a dozen minutes, and finally, the black energy began to disappear.
He heard the sound of light breathing, and her chest moved up and down in a systematic manner. Even after seeing it for the second time, Vritra was still quite surprised by this skill.
While she still lay on the ground with her eyes closed, Vritra observed her carefully; there didn't seem to be many changes to her appearance, and the rosy color had already started to return to her cheeks. She really was alive right now. Just as the black energy had disappeared, more messages popped up in front of him.
________________
[NAME]: Sana
[MASTER]: Vritra
[SPECIES]: Sanguine Enchantress
[CLASS]: 1st Gate(Unawakened)
[TALENT]: 2nd tier
[TRAIT]:
『[LOVE-BOUND]』
[RUNES]: None
....
{SKILLS}:
『SUCCUBI:
A natural ability of the enchantress, it will vastly affect her appearance and charms over the time.』
『BLOOD-CRAFT:
This ability allows the Sanguine Enchantress to manipulate and control blood. She can shape it into various forms, such as weapons or barriers, and can sense the presence of blood within a certain radius. Additionally, she has the ability to change the temperature of the blood to a certain extent. 』
『BLOOD-LEECH:
This ability allows the Sanguine Enchantress to grow her strength and talent by drinking the blood of her master. The blood enhances her physical attributes, increases her reserves of essence and physical prowess, and elevates her class.
To survive, she must be fed by the user's blood after every certain period of time.』
________________
Vritra was so busy reading all the messages that he didn't even notice Sana slowly open her eyes as two blood red pupils came into view, she glanced around as her gaze finally focussed on Vritra.
"Succubi, Blood craft, blood leech, I didn't expect her to have several abilities." After glancing over species, class, talent, and trait, he began to read the abilities.
The first ability would change her appearance over the time, for now he decided not to think about this ability as he focussed on Blood craft which seemed like a strong and special ability, his earlier hesitation vanished, with some excitement he read the last skill.
"Wait!! I am going to be her meal from now on? Why are all these thing after my blood?" Vritra spoke with a frown, first the cursed runes and now even Sana.
As he spoke, Vritra felt Bell rubbing his smooth head against the side of his cheek.
"Yeah yeah, you are good." Vritra said as he finally turned his gaze from the ethereal messages to the girl who had just risen from the dead.
"…" He was surprised to suddenly see Sana standing and staring at him, her face exactly in front of his, her blood red pupils seemed enchanting.
Vritra could sense a strong emotion coming from her, it was hunger and bloodlust, it seemed she was about to pounce on him.