Zeing glanced at the blood sphere hovering over the arena. "Can't believe that old man actually passed on the blood rites. Is he so confident in that halben? Or is it..." His gaze returned to a section of the wall perpendicular to the chase occurring several miles away. Zeing's brows furrowed when he noticed the direction the duo were headed. "Coincidence?" His gaze once again traveled to the sphere, then down to Rider. "This lad has gained the recognition of the two geezers. This should prove interesting."

His mind made up, Zeing no longer tarried. Even though he was intrigued by what Syèl would eventually emerge as his instincts directed him to award the daeben his attention. His figure seemed to vibrate for a nanosecond then disappeared altogether.

To those beneath his level, this would have seemed like teleportation, but they would have been dead wrong. The true power of Zeing Ashqoj laid not in his unfathomable muscle strength, but his achievements in earth magic. He had reached the realm of being one with the earth itself. What that meant was that within a certain territory, the entire earth and everything within it were under his control. He could merge with and travel instantaneously within the earth to any location he sought.

Within the interrogation room, Zeing's form appeared from within one of the walls. A stone chair protruded from the wall which he then sat on. A smile played on his face as two figures flashed into the chamber above. Within seconds they would be at the stairs that led down to his location.

***

"Had enough?" Kashi called as he carefully stepped towards a grimacing Froy. Whatever that thing was that increased the priest's speed so much had come at a heavy cost. Froy threw up several mouthfuls of blood as he backed away from the daeben, his skin pale white from excessive blood loss. Kashi recognized the chamber they were in. This was directly above the torture/interrogation chamber. Was there something here that was worth gambling on? Kashi could not recall anything like that.

Kashi observed Froy's bloodshot eyes, the raging furrows between his brows and the way his teeth gnashed hard against each other. Those were not the eyes of a man driven to despair, but one of desperation. The eyes of the scorned who had only one card left to play, even though it might very well claim their lives. Those were the eyes of a man who wished to drag the opposition into hell with him.

Kashi let out an involuntary sigh. Suzuki had faced eyes like that on a few occasions, Razznik on numerous occasions, and now it seemed he was to witness the same. Maybe it was their destiny to always bring pain to others till they descended to such a state. However, Kashi's eyes shone with a dangerous light as an arrow tore through Froy's calf. Whether or not that was destiny, he would make sure this man fully understood the extremity of his error in touching a member of his guild.

Kashi egged Froy further into desperation with one arrow after the other. Some narrowly missed, others drew a line of blood and few pierced into Froy's body but somehow missed all his vital organs.

For all his faults, Froy was definitely not stupid. He knew the daeben could have killed him at any time, but instead chose to deal him a slow death. He surmised that this was all because of that bard girl. She and the daeben must be an item or something. Damn it! He should have just killed the both of them when he had the chance instead of incurring the wrath of such a man.

But then Froy recalled how easily Kashi had escaped the perdition pit. Did that not mean Kashi could have escaped at any time? Gods, he wanted to get captured! Even worse he willingly submitted himself to torture just to achieve his goals. Froy's pale face became as a sheet of paper as he had finally realized just how terrifying an opponent he had enraged. Froy hated, Hated Kashi to death! If the daeben was so strong, why not just attack up front? At least then he would have had a chance to escape. It was too unfair to pretend to be weak when you were that strong!

Froy's panicked brain worked in overdrive as he descended the last set of stairs to the interrogation chamber. Why would the daeben go so far? What did he want? Froy's panicked eyes trembled as he considered a possibility. No, no, that was not possible. It was a huge secret even within the dwarves and the Chaos Brotherhood. There was no way for the daeben to have found out.

Froy looked over his shoulder at the specter of hell. No, if the daeben knew he would definitely have killed him before he activated it. A maniacal grin spread across Froy's face as he arrived at the landing on which a dwarven statue stood. Bloodied hands reached for the hammer by the dwarf's side. HAHAHAHA! Watch as I drag you to hell with me, you stupid elf!

Kashi's instinct exploded with warning signals as Froy reached for the hammer. He swiftly released several arrows at full strength, but...

Crrrackle BOOM!

Kashi muffled his scream as a surge of power blasted him against the stairs behind him. He groaned painfully as his spine smashed against a rough nosing. Instinct guided him as he forcefully suppressed the pain and flipped backward up the stairs.

The earth erupted where he had been a moment ago, releasing heavy plumes of dust. Kashi waited with bated breath for the smoke to clear. He had not seen any of the attacks so he had no way of knowing what exactly he was up against. In such a situation, it would be foolhardy to charge gung-ho through the dust.

Kashi chuckled inwardly as he briefly checked his HP. Whatever the first attack was, it had not harmed him in the slightest. The 20 HP he lost had been from the impact of his spin hitting the nosing. He could not help but laugh depreciatingly. You wanted to know what this guy's trump card was? Now you know. His reverie was cut short by Froy's exaggerated laughter.

"HAHAHAHA! Well, what now dark elf!" Froy's voice was oddly distorted but was strangely full of vigor. Almost like he had received a new lease on life. "You were going to toy me to death, weren't you? Why are you hiding? Come out! I know you're there!"

Kashi sighed. He had hoped Froy would be like one of those idiots who assumed he managed to one-shot the enemy with their new overpowered skill. But it seemed this guy at least had enough ability to have gained such a high ranking. The daeben kept his vigilance up as he stepped through the dust, his left hand relaxing, then clenching around the bow.

Kashi's eyes widened when he exited the dust cloud. Before him, several electric snakes writhed and arced around something that barely resembled the form of a man. The overly skinny frame was over seven feet even with a hunched posture. Arms longer than Kashi himself ended in huge claws the size of a man's head. Its legs were bent somewhat like a werewolf's but that was not the worst of it.

No, it was its head. Somehow, all of its hair and scalp had been burned off, revealing the pinkish mass beneath which was floating in what seemed to be a lake of blood. Kashi's eyes traveled from its head to the chest, only to see something similar. The chest had also completely burnt off, leaving behind a set of black ribs that housed a slowly beating heart.

Even for Kashi, he had to fight off a wave of nausea at the sight. What the hell? Did Froy summon some hell beast? Only when he saw the hammer in the beast's right hand did he realize the terrible truth. Kashi's eyes narrowed as he uttered, "... Froy?"

The beast's blood red eyes glared at the daeben as its mouth widened in a toothy grin. "Die! Die with me!"

A desperate roar shook the walls as the beast charged at Kashi in the narrow landing.

***

In the room, just a few meters from them, Zeing's eyes narrowed as he observed Froy's form. "Another rejection," he muttered. "Still, at least now I know it was not a coincidence." He regarded the fighting daeben with mild curiosity. "I wonder how he will overcome this." But since he knew this fight was nowhere near its conclusion, he turned his eyes back in the direction of the arena. "Hoho. Now ain't that a surprise?"

***

Roughly five minutes had passed since Syèl was encased in the blood sphere. By that point, the sphere had shrunken till it was like an additional layer of skin on Syèl's body. Suddenly, the blood burst into thin layers of smoke which condensed to form a hazy dragon which circled the transformed elf.

As if dyed by the blood, his once silky white skin had darkened to a deep bronze. His blood, muscles, and bones had undergone an explosive rise in quality which caused his body to fill out in size. Gone was the tell-tale frail structure of a halben mage, replaced by a lean, but muscular frame that would leave many a man red with envy. His ears grew longer and sharper and his face more angled, causing him to resemble a savage beast.

But nothing compared to the tremendous pressure that exuded the halben encircled by the dragon as he slowly opened his eyes. The ferocity in his those yellow orbs sent an involuntary shiver down the spines of everyone present. They collectively felt like a god of slaughter had descended into the mortal realm.

Luckily this pressure was only temporary as the dragon issued a savage roar then burrowed deep into Syèl's body, melding with his bloodstream. The pressure reduced with the disappearance of the dragon and Syel winced as streams of blood tore out of his back, then solidified into a pair of wings that spread nine to ten feet on either side of him. The new vampire's lips curled in a frustrated smile as he inspected the changes to his body and the window that appeared before him.

Congratulations!
You have unlocked the Vampiric Bloodline!

Current Rank: Duke

Vampiric Bloodline:

The vampire race was created at the beginning by Ferulic to spite his wife Aethir for abandoning him for the sake of the humes. As creatures created specifically against the humes, they are blessed with stronger life force and strength, especially the magic which would later be known as the Blood Arts. However, these beings created from foul energies suffered from a few curses that offset their tremendous strength.

All Vampires regardless of rank are affected by the sunlight to varying degrees. They are born with a significant weakness against holy weapons and magic. i.e Even simple healing and restoration spells can prove fatal to a low-class vampire.

As the first player to obtain the vampire bloodline, you receive the title: Scion of Blood.

We hope you enjoy being a vampire.... Especially since you no longer have a choice. There is no cure. J

Vampiric Traits:

Blood King

Vampires are beings cursed to forever be unable to feel and manipulate mana naturally occurring in the world. To remedy this, the vampires found ways to transform their own blood into mana.

All MP transformed to HP.

Wisdom Stat Deleted.

All stat points in WIS converted to Vitality.

Enhanced Vitality

Vampires regenerate at a frightening pace, only affected by sunlight and holy artifacts.

Current Rank: Duke

Regen rate: 1.5% Max HP/s

Regen rate in sunlight: 0.5% Max HP/s

Holy magic and weapons 20% more effective against you (Liable to increase or decrease depending on the grade of weapon or magic.)

A/N: (Note that lower leveled vampires would have a negative regen rate in sunlight.)

Blood Art Proficiency: Duke

Strength increased by 100

Agility increased by 150

All magic 150% more effective.

Syèl scrolled through the numerous windows that kept popping up like annoying internet ads. Several new skills and traits flashed across the screens but he did not have time to fully look at each of them. At least, not while he was the center of attention. He made a mental note to carefully go through them later to familiarize himself with the new array of skills, some of which looked ridiculously overpowered.

Syèl closed the stat windows, his interest largely piqued by the Enhanced Vitality trait. His greatest weakness as a blood mage had always been in single combat. He had nothing to fear when he fought large groups because one dead person meant an increase to his health points, but that was not the case for single combat. Without blood bags to suck dry, he would be a great disadvantage if his enemy was as strong as he was as he would eventually resort to using his own HP to enhance his stronger spells.

However, now that problem was taken care off. Not only was his HP ridiculously high, but it regenerated at a god-like level. He could regenerate his full health in less than two minutes! Who would he have to fear? But just as he was at the peak of his excitement, his gaze drifted to a certain blond girl observing him with intrigued eyes.

Syèl could only laugh ruefully as he realized he had forgotten one important fact: He had joined a team of monsters! Excluding Hektor, who even now was growing exponentially as he fused more with the mark of the God of war, the newborn vampire realized he could not be sure of a certain victory against the main damage dealers in their line-up.

Even though he healed extremely quickly and had many new skills, Syèl knew very well what would happen if he was forced into a close range battle with either Shoko or Shadow. Not to talk of the abnormal Kashi and Kira. These people actually knew how to fight—really fight. Not the little skills he had picked up on the streets but real training from masters.

Syèl was confident he would win if the area was wide enough as he could spam his spells while his health regenerated. But who were the maggots? Not one of them was not smart in a fight! Like any of the three would attack him when he held such an obvious advantage. Syèl chuckled inwardly as he recalled the warning words of his mentor/kidnapper when he still lived in hell.

'There is always someone stronger. Keep your head down and observe. Only then will you survive.'

Syèl shook his head, secretly glad he had joined this group. Perhaps if he was alone he would have let the power up fly to his head and go crazy. Then he would have inevitably come up against someone like Kashi and die a painful death without understanding what happened. Still, though, Syèl thought as an evil grin spread across his face, that in no way meant he could not utterly bully the weak.

Syèl gently descended to the ground, the wings on his back flapping gently then dissipated into red mist once his feet touched the ground. Syèl took in the shocked expressions on the other maggots with a huge grin on his face. Naturally, he first turned to Shoko with a huge smirk. "Whaddaya think? Cool right?"

Shoko gritted her teeth but for once could not come up with a reply because she knew any ridicule she thought up now would only be a shallow lie. She stubbornly shook her head, then surrendered with a defeated sigh. "Yeah, it's alright."

Syèl's grin spread to his ears in exaggerated triumph as he continued to tease the swordswoman to repeat her words. That was, at least, until she drew her blade. Finally satisfied, Syèl retained his snarky grin as he turned to Rider who had silently stared at the blood mage the whole time without a single reaction. "So, how'd I do?"

A light flashed in Rider's eyes, bringing him out of his deep thoughts. His eyes held respect, admiration and a hint of fear for a fraction of a second before they once again retained their solemnity. This flash was so fast, none of the maggots managed to notice the subtle change. Rider lightly smiled. "Your only limitation turned out to be time. I daresay if we gave you an hour or two more you would have advanced all the way to King." Rider shook his head. When he advanced to Prince at the age of thirty-five he was hailed as a genius amongst geniuses. But what was that compared to this monster who advanced to Duke in only ten to fifteen minutes? It was almost like he did not require any extra time for comprehension.

Rider shook his head in defeat. The new would always surpass the old. "Do not rejoice just yet," Rider admonished when he saw just how big Syèl's ego was getting. "Most of the reason why it takes vampires so long to advance to the next rank lies not in their comprehension ability but the time taken to accumulate enough blood to activate the blood rites." Rider's words caused Syèl to raise a brow in question. "The blood you pooled from the people you killed are not even close enough to activate the blood rites, let alone keep it active beyond a second."

Syèl's brows furrowed. "But—"

"This time, I added my own blood," Rider explained. "The quality of one drop of my blood far surpasses thousands of these normal soldiers'. If you wish to activate the blood rites in the future, you will have to either massacre entire countries or search for high leveled individuals with powerful bloodlines: Dragons for example," Rider said with a small smile. "If I were to estimate, you would require over two thousand dragons at your current level to activate the blood rites for about a minute." Rider snorted when he saw Syèl's aghast expression. "Did you think it would be so easy to activate the blood rites. It would take the average vampire centuries to reach Duke status. You managed to reach it in mere minutes because of my help. From now on you're on your own."

Syèl stared at Rider with a complex gaze. Slowly a small smile spread as an idea formed in his head. "So... if I kill you and drain your blood, I should have more than enough to activate it for hours... days even?"

Rider's eyes went wide, but then an amused grin spread. "True, if you kill me, it would save you years of effort." Rider's flashed a toothy grin. "I am not so easy to kill though."

Syèl lightly shrugged. "Matter of time..."

***

Elsewhere, Kashi's gaze turned solemn as he stared at the monstrosity before him. He already knew this was not a battle where he could afford to be careless. "Damn, I did not plan on using this until further testing, but..." Kashi flicked to his inventory screen and selected one of his newer bows.

This new bow was completely black in color, with lots of moving gears. The string, made from the silk of cave spiders was extremely tough, but not so tough that Kashi could not draw it. The odd thing about this bow was the presence of a slider along which arrows would be placed. The rest point of this slider was oddly at the middle of the bow itself, causing the shape of the bow to be oddly triangular. Even stranger, the inner part of the bow which the string was connected to, was sharpened to a fine edge.

Kashi's focused gaze tightened as he notched an arrow and glared at the monstrosity. With a loud shout, the stairs beneath his feet exploded. His figure was only a blur as he arrived beneath Froy. The bowstring was pulled to it was taut, then released. The explosive force of the arrow was just short of the sound barrier as it ripped a hole through the beast's midriff.

Froy roared in rage but it seemed it did not feel any pain because it rapidly swung that hammer at the daeben at full force.

"Don't fail me now!" Kashi muttered in desperation as the speed of the blow exceeded his estimation. The bow switched over to his right hand, which then pulled hard on the slider. Sparks flew as a huge bang erupted with the sound of clashing metal. The daeben was flung back up the stairs but this time he fared a lot better.

Kashi softly landed four rungs above the landing, but with a huge smile on his face. Surprisingly, he held an oddly, triangularly shaped double edged sword in his hand. The handle which he held, on closer look, resembled the slider for the bow he held earlier. Kashi smiled as he gazed at the sword in his hand. "Good, with this..."

ѼK