Chương 7: (7) B1 C7: Hounds and Rabbits

Once I found myself back within the safety of my cave, I settled myself comfortably into the deep crevices of my makeshift bed as I waited for the next morning. While I had the opportunity, I brought up my status menu and was shocked to find three new notifications waiting for me. Congratulations! You have acquired enough Blood Points (BP) to shed away your Monstrous complexion!

New Complexion: Famished (60% - 79%) You appear largely indistinguishable from an ordinary person, though experienced hunters may notice the subtle signs of your true nature. Those who have never encountered an Undead are unlikely to suspect anything beyond an unusual appearance. Congratulations! You have acquired enough Blood Points (BP) to shed away your Famished complexion!

New Complexion: Pale (80% and Higher) You're a little pale, and perhaps a little thin, but you otherwise possess a convincing human appearance with little to distinguish you from the living. Unless you deliberately reveal your nature through a monstrous act, even those familiar with the Undead are unlikely to recognize you as one. The first two screens were very similar to each other, and after I turned to look at my skin, I came to understand why.

When I looked at my hands, much of the previous monsteresque parts of my body had disappeared. Previously, my body was frail, boney, and paler than the moon. I'd have visible veins all over my skin, popping up in places all the way from the tips of my fingers to the center of my chest. My claws would be poking out of my fingertips like sharp knives, whether I wanted them to or not, and my teeth would constantly dig into my lips if I weren't careful. Now, that had all changed. The nightmarish creature was gone.

My skin was smooth, my fingers were healthy, and my black claws had all but disappeared. I didn't look like a nightmarish creation starring in a horror movie, but rather a popular model in the prime of her life. I lifted my fingers to my scalp and felt the silky weight of my hair flow through the gaps in my fingers. I brought my fingers up to my lips to feel the flat ends of my teeth. My fangs were still there, only they were much smaller and almost impossible to notice without looking for them.

I slid my hands over my body and felt the smooth texture of my skin brush against my palm almost like a soft breath. I let out a breath and felt the hot air of my lungs brush against my lips. I smiled, finally happy for the first time in days, as I turned to look at the notifications one last time. Both of them were alerts signifying a change to my fourth bane, a Corpse's Complexion.

The first one must've appeared after killing the first rabbit, hours ago, and the second must've appeared after I'd killed the second one. I must not have noticed the ways my body had changed, possibly due to how dark it was at the time or possibly due to the similarities between Famished and Pale. After pulling up my traits menu one last time, I looked at the bane and read out what I found.

"Although you will never be able to perfectly appear as a living human, maintaining a certain number of Blood Points relative to your maximum Vitae Points allows you to better conceal your true nature. Your complexion state, as well as the reaction of those around you, improves with every 20% BP increase relative to your maximum VP," I mumbled. My current BP total was currently 100, so it exactly matched my maximum VP total, which was sitting pretty at a value of 100 as well.

Luckily both of my previous kills hadn't been that long ago, so I hadn't lost any BP due to the sustenance drain. My BP-to-VP ratio at the moment it sat at 100%, which was far higher than the 80% ratio required to reach the Pale state, "So that's how it works." I took one last look at my body, promising myself to keep a certain number of Blood Points at all times so I could remain this good-looking, before I turned to my last notification. Congratulations! You have all of the Blood Points (BP) you need to Level Up!

As you have not yet reached the peak of your Evolutionary Stage, this Level Up will not allow you to evolve, but you will be able to increase your attributes by fifty points. This specific level up will not give you a skill point, but it won't take as long as a full Evolution. Would you like to level up now? [Y] [N]"Fuck! Well there goes that," I mumbled. I knew I should've been glad that I was ready to level up, but doing so now would force me to kiss my pale complexion goodbye.

Although I did like how I looked with this new appearance, I wasn't willing to let vanity get in the way of genuine progress. I'd lose all of the BP I'd collected, but the attributes I'd receive in return would make the trade more than worth it. Or, at least I hoped it would be worth it. I took a deep breath, then pressed [Y] and watched as the notification disappeared. In its place popped up the main status screen, though only limited to my attributes.

At the current moment, all six were equal and balanced, each of them displayed as the number ten. Now, I had to wonder how I wanted to direct my build. I knew that I didn't want to redesign myself to be a vanguard again. It had worked, though it was boring and only powerful in grouped settings. I also didn't want to relegate myself to the backline as an archer as a mage, as it meant I'd be weak to any opponent who'd be able to close the distance between us. I wanted to be fast, lethal, and effective in solo fights.

If possible, I wanted to also focus on increasing my Thirst attribute, as a high Thirst directly correlated to leveling up faster. As far as I could see, that meant there was only one true build I could go for. They were fast and lethal, but rogues and assassins weren't well known for having the highest defense stats. It would be risky to partially ignore Undeath and Authority, as those were the attributes keeping me alive, but more than worth it if I could put more of my stats into my damage.

After all, I didn't need to worry about defense if my opponents were already dead before the fight began. To that end, I focused most of my new points into Thirst. Not only did it increase my Bite Capacity, which increased how much BP I received from each bite, but it also increased my Critical Devour Damage far more than Malice increased my basic Devour Damage.

Now, although I knew I was going to go for a rogueish build, I didn't want to let myself be too easy to kill, so I did dedicate some of my points to Undeath, which increased my Vitae Bar and gave me a BP discount for the abilities I'd receive in the future. I had to sacrifice the points I otherwise would've put into Malice, which meant my base damage was far lower than it should've been, but the increase to my survivability bridged the gap well enough to leave me satisfied.

All I'd have to do was find a way to consistently proc my Critical Damage. The rest went to Malice, as I saw no point in increasing any of my Magical stats. Being able to use Crimson Instinct for longer would've been nice, but I felt that I'd have time to focus on that during future level ups.

Once my points were distributed in the way I wanted them to be, my new Status Menu looked like this: Evelyn Moore Untitled Vampire Fledgling - Level 2 VP: 250 / 250 (+30 /Min) BP: 0 (+400 /Bite) BB: 100 / 100 (+20 /Min) CE: 100 / 100 (+20 /Min) 165 Blood Points Required to Reach Level 2 Attributes Menu MALICE: 15 38 Devour Damage If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

30 /Minute VP Regen HERESY: 10 25 Hex Damage 20 /Minute BB Regen UNDEATH: 25 250 Vitae Points (VP) -30 BP Cost for Devour Abilities AUTHORITY: 10 100 Blood Barrier (BB) 20 /Minute MP Regen THIRST: 40 400 Bite Capacity 300 Critical Devour Damage PROFANITY: 10 100 Curse Energy (CE) 75 Critical Hex Damage Equipment No Equipped Weapon DMG: 0 CRIT DMG: 0 No Equipped Amulet No Equipped Left Ring No Equipped Right Ring - Total Defense: 10% Fortitude, -10% Resilience The biggest change, by far, was the increase in my Thirst stat.

It had gone all the way from ten to forty, which meant my Bite Capacity and Critical Devour Damage had both quadrupled in magnitude. My health had more than doubled and I'd gained a 30 BP discount for my Devour Abilities, though Malice hadn't grown quite as well, considering I'd only dedicated five points to it. Shortly after my points were finalized, I turned my gaze back to my hand and watched as it withered right before me.

My smooth and pristine skin disappeared, replaced by pale and wrinkled fingers that should've belonged to some sort of ancient witch. The rest of my body dried up, becoming thinner and paler as if I'd aged decades in mere moments as another notification window appeared before me. Oh No! You've lost enough Blood Points (BP) to lose your Pale complexion! New Complexion: Monstrous (0% - 19%) Your vampiric nature is immediately apparent to all who see you.

Your unnatural appearance is unmistakable, and all creatures will recognize you as a threat before you have the chance to speak.

"Damn," I mumbled. I closed the window with a thought and let my arms fall back to my sides. Then, I brought my head back to the ground and sighed. I was glad that I didn't have the ability to see my own reflection, as it was incredibly disappointing to see that version of myself gone so quickly after I'd gained it. Now that I'd seen what could be, my wrinkled hands and black claws were impossible to ignore.

I was almost tempted to run back into the forest, just to get the BP I needed to bring myself back to a pale complexion, but when I remembered that sunrise was going to be here within the hour, I held myself back with a disappointed sigh. A few minutes later, once the morning rays of dawn leaked into the cave, I shuffled deeper into the earth. What little light reached me was too indirect to harm me, yet with the sun already rising above the horizon, I had no choice but to wait until tomorrow night. …

Once I had woken up the next night, I decided it was finally time to move on from rabbits to something a little more difficult to kill. Compared to the usual bunnies I went after, wolves and hounds actually knew how to fight back, rather than desperately struggle for their survival. They were hunters and predators themselves, and not like the prey that I had grown used to over the last week. However, despite the danger and risk, I couldn't help but become excited thinking about fighting something with so much BP.

The rabbits I'd gotten used to were delicious, even now, but they were also weak and gave me so little BP that I ended up bored every time I fought them. The newfound strength from my Level Up gave me the confidence I needed to go toe to toe with the stronger foes. Of course, a single level up wouldn't allow me to fight anything extreme, such as a dire wolf or a human slaver, so I made sure to plan my trips through the forest carefully over the following two weeks.

On the first three nights, I spent my time hunting through the forest while focusing on keeping myself hidden and quiet. I kept my eye out for larger animals, but still killed anything smaller that entered my view. I managed to catch a few Rabbits, squirrels, foxes, and even a single bird in the days before I met my first hound, which allowed me to fight it once I had already reached level four.

Killing it was easy, thanks to my high Critical Devour Damage, and although I had a low Vitae stat, I didn't have to worry about being hit thanks to the low damage these enemies were able to output. All of them, as far as I could tell, were Mundane beasts without an ounce of magic running through their veins. Although they didn't have much BP, as they were limited to only being level one or two, I was able to outclass them before I even knew it.

It was during my fight with the hound where I finally solved the mystery as to how Critical hits actually worked. Unlike in FFO, Critical Hits were activated by where an attack struck upon my opponent's body, rather than by random chance. If my claws hit an opponent's weak spot, such as their eyes, necks, or chests, my attacks would almost always be critical, though the inverse was true as well. If I were going for a hound's neck, but ended up hitting their shoulder, my attack simply wouldn't hit as hard.

Because of that knowledge, I was able to reliably turn most of my attacks from base hits into terrifying strikes that almost always depleted my opponent's health bars, though doing so against the faster opponents, such as the rabbits, was obviously more difficult than doing so against the others. Once I reached level five, which happened after killing a second hound a day or so later than the first, I finally put my first few points into my magical attributes.

I didn't care about increasing my magical damage, so I left Heresy alone, so I focused most of my attention on Profanity and Authority. Specifically, I wanted to be able to use Crimson Instinct for more than four seconds, so I put most of my points into Profanity, then dedicated the rest to Authority to strengthen my Blood Barrier. Then, during the second week, I focused almost all of my attention on attempting to find an opponent that wasn't limited to the Mundane classification.

With the low BP yields of the creatures around me, my leveling speed was beginning to slow. Around the eighth night, when I was halfway through level seven, my BP requirements had climbed to a staggering ten rabbits killed to level up a single time. Of course, that was assuming those rabbits were all healthy and not dead carcasses when I found them, in which case I would have to kill even more. Some nights I got lucky and found more than one rabbit.

Some nights I got extremely lucky and managed to find a hound or two. Other nights, however, were less exciting. I was used to returning to my cave after a fruitless hunt and less BP than I started with, so when I found something that wasn't a simple animal on night nine, I jumped at the opportunity to investigate it.