Chương 14: (14) B1 C14: Satisfying the Thirst

It took me a few minutes, but I eventually found a bundle of clothing resting a few inches from Eddie's tent. I carefully lifted them from the ground, all while doing my best to stay as quiet as a mouse, before walking a small distance from the camp to inspect my find. My new clothes were primarily a set of pants and a shirt. There weren't any belts, packs, or anything fancy like a locket to be found alongside them.

The pants were stitched out of soft brown wool and fashioned at the waist with a line of thick yarn, while the shirt was made out of white linen that lacked any embellishments or designs. I only found a bottom set of undergarments, yet even just this half of what I needed was better than nothing. As I quietly slipped the clothes on, I sighed in relief as I felt the fabric brush against my skin.

Once I was outfitted with a new set of clothes, I turned my gaze to the slaver sleeping soundly only a dozen or so meters away from me. The memory of my previous human kill flashed in my mind. I'd only killed the woman, whom I think was named Amy, because she had forced my hand. It was either her or me, yet now I found myself in a position where that excuse could no longer apply. If I killed Dave here and now, it wouldn't be because I had no other choice, but because I wanted to kill him.

Should I have been afraid of that? Should I have run away? The me from yesterday would've said yes before turning back around and disappearing into the forest, but the me from yesterday was gone. I'd tasted human blood, and I knew I was never going to be able to let that go. Even the idea of feasting on the three sleeping slavers was enough to leave my mouth salivating in anticipation. As I looked back to the campsite, I activated Crimson Instinct and watched as the forest around me fell into black and white.

Dave, who was still sleeping against his fallen log, was the only source of color within my sight. His body was glowing red. Or, more specifically, the veins and arteries within him were glowing red. His blood was pulsing fast, as if mimicking a horse's gallop, and was as clean as a perfectly prepared salad. When I looked at the quality of the blood running through Dave's body, it was as if I were a delicious treat that I'd be able to brag about for years.

Not only would his blood taste good, but there were enough Blood Points to fill me up completely. Dave probably had a lot of health. He dressed and behaved like a warrior, but I felt that it was far more wise to assume that he was a vanguard instead. Truthfully, I didn't even know what level he was. I might've been a dumbass to even try fighting him, considering I hadn't even reached level ten yet, but I had the strange feeling that he was most certainly a foe I could take on.

I assumed his HP, therefore, was probably sitting somewhere around the 1, 500-2, 000 range, though I had no idea how high his Arcane Barrier would be. A normal attack wouldn't do nearly enough damage to finish him off. I doubted even a Critical Attack would be able to do the trick either, despite how high my Thirst had climbed. Then again, what if I hit him with several of them? Perhaps? I'd have to attack somewhere especially weak, and probably multiple times, too.

A few attacks through the eyesocket, directed toward the brain, would probably do the trick. I slowly moved back into the campsite as I approached my target, my new sword firmly held in my hands. Dave was completely unaware of the danger that stood only a foot away from him, and as I drew closer, I slowly angled the tip of my sword so that it hovered just above his closed eyes. Then, with my other hand on the tree log to steady myself, I struck.

I only felt a brief membrane of resistance as my weapon pierced through Dave's Arcane Barrier. I watched a spark of blue light flash in the space where I'd struck, then watched as it shattered into thousands of tiny fragments. Most of the momentum from my attack had been halted by the barrier, but there was more than enough remaining for me to dig my sword deep into his right eye. His face flooded with viscera as a fountain of blood began to seep from his wound.

Dave shuddered in surprise at my attack, his other eye widening in alarm, and I began the second part of my attack. I immediately pulled my hand from my sword, then pushed my palm against his lips so that his muffled cries couldn't escape from my hand. To my relief, Dave hardly made any noise in his moment of brief shock. Even with my hand covering his lips, he'd reacted to my attack with physical resistance rather than verbal panic.

I wasn't sure if it was because of the confusion and pain coming from his eye, or whether he was just the silent type, but I felt relieved either way. As I turned my attention back to the fight, I lifted my other hand, fingers slightly spaced apart from each other like the talons of an eagle, before I slammed my claws into his other eye. My fingers dug into his skull, easily reaching further than the blade had, yet Dave was still pushing against me.

He gasped, hands blindly clawing at my wrists as his legs kicked against me. I felt a growl escape from my throat as I dug my fingers even further into his flesh. I felt frustrated that the slaver was somehow still alive. Then, with the hand buried in his eye, I pulled upward and watched as the top half of Dave's skull lifted away from his cranium as his scalp was ripped away from the rest of him. Another fountain of blood coated my hands as I felt my claws lift away from my prey.

Dave slumped against the log, no longer recognizable from the state I found him in. His arms dropped to his sides and his legs finally fell back to the dirt. As Dave's corpse relaxed against the log, I watched the warm trickles of blood slide down his body. I felt a strange sense of satisfaction, like a terrible itch of mine had finally been scratched, as a shudder traveled through my body. Even now, the smell was intoxicating—sweet and rich in ways I'd never be able to predict.

Dave's face was nothing more than meat by this point, yet the sight didn't dissuade me from the smell of blood coating the atmosphere. As I revealed my fanged smile, I realized with a shock that I was happy—a sensation I never would've expected from the act of cold-blooded murder. I looked at my hands, both of which were drenched in the blood of my successful hunt, and I felt my smile grow wider. I looked back at Dave, toward the hands that had captured slaves and the face that had probably smiled when it happened.

He was still human—not like the mundane beasts I'd been hunting for days now—yet the guilt I expected to feel simply wasn't there. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I only felt the thirst, and so sank toward his neck with glee. The taste of human blood was just as amazing as I remembered it being, yet the experience of this kill had only made it a hundred times more exciting.

The lack of guilt made the meal all the more delicious, as my own thoughts finally aligned with the desires of my flesh. By the time I let Dave's bloodless corpse fall back upon the ground, I felt that I had come nowhere close to being satisfied, which left my mind a growling mess. It took me a moment to regain enough control over my emotions to look at the notification hovering at the edge of my vision. +2, 000 BP (Lvl 14 Human Warrior)"Again? This guy had more HP than my Bite Capacity?" I whispered in shock.

Dave's corpse, just as Amy's had the night before, gave me a ridiculously high amount of BP. I mean, they were both a higher level than me, but two thousand Blood Points was still a truly ridiculous amount. Regardless, with the new BP total that I had, another few levels were already guaranteed to me. I could choose to level up now, and honestly it would've been the wise choice, but the thirst was already scratching against my throat.

I was too excited to worry about my status, and unless I found myself facing an emergency, I didn't think that would change anytime soon. Instead I brought my attention to the tents where the other two slavers were sleeping. Both of them were mages and therefore a much scarier threat than Dave had been, but between Eddie and Norman, I felt that Norman was potentially more advanced. He was behaving as the leader of the other two, after all, and therefore must've had the strength required to hold such a position.

I didn't want to start fighting Norman, only for Eddie to wake up and join the fight in defense of his ally. Therefore, simply so that didn't happen, I chose Eddie as my next target. I stood from my discarded prey before slowly moving toward the mage's tent. Luckily for me, the two mages had set up separate tents, so I was easily able to enter Eddie's tent without disturbing the other mage sleeping nearby.

As I entered the tent, I did so with a plan to kill him in the same way I'd killed Dave, but upon turning to look at my prey, I was soon discouraged from that thought. Eddie was sleeping on his stomach, with the majority of his face resting against the ground. Half of his face was firmly planted against his small bed, which left one of his eyes completely inaccessible.

Although I could still hit his eye, the angle wasn't as clean as I liked, so I had to think for a moment in order to find the next best attack angle. As my mind was at work, I used Crimson Instinct to see the quality of his blood. Eddie's body was glowing red, just like Dave's had been, yet his blood was pumping significantly slower. Where Dave's veins had been clean and healthy, Eddie's veins were filled with small particles of dust and a thin layer of fog.

The quality within was ugly, with all of the strange specks bumping around his veins, and I felt a frown grow upon my face as I stared at it. Eddie's blood was more akin to a greasy hamburger from a diner than a delicious steak—it worked well enough to feed me, but it wouldn't be nearly as delicious.

If I had to guess, just based on what I'd seen when looking at Dave and Eddie, Crimson Instinct revealed two traits within the bloodstreams of those I was looking at: The rate of speed, which I assumed was the person's HP value, and the cleanliness, which maybe had something to do with their class? Warriors were naturally more tempting targets, considering their higher health pool, so I was obviously going to prefer them over mages like Eddie.

As I looked over Eddie's sleeping figure, I began to ponder how I'd kill him. Maybe I could run my blade against his throat? If I could keep him silent, then I only had to wait until he inevitably choked on his own blood. I wasn't sure if that was a function in the original FFO, but maybe it would work now? Lucia had nearly bled out from her bullet wound, yet I didn't know if her health regeneration was the norm in this world. It was worth a try.

If it failed, I just had to hit his face until he inevitably died, though if I was forced to use such a brutish method, Norman would most certainly hear it. With no better idea, I positioned myself above his head, my blood-coated shortsword positioned just next to his throat. With one hand hovering near his mouth and the other inching toward his skin, I struck. I slammed the blade against his throat while I covered his mouth with my open palm.

As my sword ran across his neck, I watched a line of blue light stretch across his skin, contrary to the line of crimson I'd expected to see. My sword bounced against Eddie's Arcane Barrier and continued on until it struck the ground below.

"Shit!" I whispered. Before I could recover from my failed attack, I watched as Eddie's eyes shot open, his entire body struggling against my weight like an engine roaring to life. I dropped my weapon, then immediately put my palm against his mouth to keep him from shouting out. He was louder than Dave. That was a problem. Although his voice barely escaped from my grasp, I couldn't completely prevent it from escaping into the space around us.

I felt a pit of panicked dread flood my mind as Eddie's panicked pleas continued to echo around us. Even his quiet whimpers were loud enough to cause a small commotion, and during our struggle I made sure to listen for any sort of sound coming from the other tent. I lifted my other hand, then slammed it directly into the side of his neck. Eddie's barrier exploded into thousands of tiny shards and I watched my fingers continue on to pierce his flesh, each claw of mine cutting through his skin like mini arrowheads.

Then, before I could finish the kill, I heard Norman's voice pierce the silence.

"Eddie? Are you alright?" He asked, his voice groggy and slurring with exhaustion. When Eddie's answer came back in drowning gasps, I heard the rustling of fabric as Norman slowly made his way out of his tent. There was silence for a second or so before I heard his voice shout out, "My god. David!"

'And there goes the stealth approach,' I groaned inwardly. Then, knowing my plan for stealth had been ruined, I began to plan how I'd escape. Eddie was still alive, but I was on the verge of finishing him off. He may have been a mage, and thus would give me less BP than Dave, but there was no way in hell I'd let him go so easily. Unfortunately for me, our struggle had made quite the commotion, so there was no way I'd be able to drink his blood while Norman was just outside. At least not without being disturbed.

I needed to get out, so I turned my attention to the back of the tent. The fabric there was frail and thin—even an ounce of force would tear it apart even without a weapon. So, with the scruff of Eddie's collar in one hand and my weapon in the other, I charged forward and slammed my shoulder directly into the wall of fabric. My body easily ripped a hole into the back of the tent and I used the opportunity to quickly retreat into the forest.