I felt the world spin as I opened my eyes. I was completely dazed and unable to understand anything. I didn't even feel real to myself. My mind cleared, and I slowly gathered up the bits of my consciousness and recalled what happened.
One moment, I was celebrating the System's activation, and the next, I was being put through a lifetime of torture sessions all at once. Was that the System's welcome gift?
I felt my head begin to throb as an insurmountable thirst overtook me. I felt surprisingly energized, but I had no will to move. I bit my cheek and forced myself into action.
Just what the hell happened?
Aches shot through my body as I raised myself onto my feet. When I finally managed to stand up properly, I was hit with a sense of vertigo. The room seemed...smaller. I could now almost see over the desk and on top of the cabinets on the floor. Then it hit me.
'Did I grow!?'
As I was about to frantically pat myself down in disbelief, something else caught my eye. My scarlet claws had grown deadlier. They were definitely much longer and sharper than before, as were my arms, now lined with toned muscles. Looking down, my legs had not only grown longer, but also slightly bulkier as well. I moved my gaze slightly upwards and saw the light outline of abs on my torso.
I had definitely grown, and I was giddy with excitement. If I got to grow 50 centimeters due to that torture, then so be it. It finally allowed me to graduate from a leprechaun to a toddler! I was a big boy now!
But just what happened? I absorbed the blood and suddenly grew so much. Did I evolve? Remembering that I had just unlocked a System as well made me burst with joy. There was no need to ponder on the matter alone.
'System, why did I grow suddenly?'
[Requirements for Stage upgrade were met]
'Stage upgrade?'
Instead of responding, a familiar window filled my vision.
***
[Status Window]
Name: [Nico]
Race: [Bloodfiend]
Gift: -
Class: -
Remembrances: -
Abilities: [Blood Dive], [Blood Absorb]
Rank: [Gifted]
Stage: [Fearmonger] - (Rank 2)
Elemental alignment: [Blood]
***
Strength: [III]
Agility: [IV]
Dexterity: [V]
Constitution: [II]
Intelligence: [II]
Will: [☆ II]
***
I was at a loss for words. I felt like I had just bought my first house after slaving away at a nine-to-five job for years. This was my very own System after all! I almost shed a tear. Almost.
'So, can you pretty please with a cherry on top explain to me what a Stage upgrade is?'
The System kindly responded.
[A Stage upgrade means the requirements to upgrade your Stage Rank were met]
[In this case, it was 100 litres of blood]
The pieces quickly fell into place. I wasn't quite sure what a Stage was, but I had some ideas.
'Oh, I see! So you really did care about me! Your welcoming gift was a surprise Stage upgrade!'
It was like tough love. Working for your reward and being put on the right path, but not outri-
[No, as per the request of my master, I was required to test you]
[I was not to assist you fully until you proved your worth by upgrading your Stage]
My face fell. That damn God!
Before I could inquire further or curse out the sly God, the System continued unprompted.
[A Stage is the progress you have made within your given Rank]
[It is like a sub-rank or tier]
[I will from now on refer to the Stage Rank simply as Stage]
[In your case, you have just evolved to Gifted Rank/ Stage 2, increasing your physical capabilities]
So it wasn't a proper evolution, just a mini one. I was scared to imagine what would happen during an evolution between Ranks. Maybe I would come out of it as some kind of thumb-sucking, mumbling maniac. That's a worry for the future. The System continued.
[The Gifted Rank contains three Stages and one Evolution Ritual]
The System went silent after that. I more or less understood.
Gifted has three Stages of progress and an Evolution Ritual, after which I can advance beyond Gifted. A somewhat strange naming system. The System seemed not to want to elaborate on the three Stages, so I chose to move on for now. As for the Evolution Ritual, I had already concluded from the merry band of Mafia players that, as it implied, it was a Ritual to Evolve past the Gifted Rank in my case.
The System interrupted my thoughts.
[It is common for humans to refer to Fracturebeasts as Gifted Rank 2, for example, since they can not be sure what Title they may have for that Stage]
'Title?'
I was confused momentarily, but quickly pieced it together.
'Oh, so like I'm a Gifted Fearmonger, for humans, it means I'm a Gifted Stage/Rank 2, since they don't know my Title.'
[Correct. A title is determined by the feats and actions you took to reach Stage 2 and will affect your Evolution into higher Ranks. There are some common Titles among species. However, they can vary greatly at times, hence the lack of referring to Fracturebeasts by Title from humans]
Finally, the other part of the Fracturebeast's naming system fell into place.
'Wait, so I got Fearmonger? I feel like Artisan or Strategist or something more...eloquent would've suited me more.'
I mean...was what I really did that bad? I was trying to save someone, for God's sake. Well, kind of.
[You made portraits out of Fracturebeast's guts and terrorized those people, hoping they would turn on each other]
'Point taken.'
Lumina had a part to play in the effectiveness of my plan as well, but I chose not to mention that for now. I looked more thoroughly at the status window.
'Elemental Alignment makes sense, but what does it mean?'
This body definitely had a thing for blood after all.
[Elemental Alignment determines the type of Essence you have the most affinity for]
[In your case, it is blood]
[This plays a vital role in how you progress]
More pieces fell into place.
'So that was why I had to gather 100 litres of blood and not say 100 kilograms of dirt?'
[Correct]
It was very logical so far. I continued looking over the status screen. I had missed a couple of things.
'Hey, what's a Gift?'
Class already sounded like a sub-specialization to me, so I chose to ignore it for now, and I already more or less knew what Remembrances were. However, it was nice to know I would still be able to get them as a Fracturebeast. The System took a moment to respond.
[Limited information available due to low Rank]
[Gifts are special Abilities humans possess]
'I see.'
There was more information buried in that one sentence than meets the eye. For one, if only humans possessed Gifts, why was it available to me as an option in the status window? I could definitely get my hands on one somehow. For the other, special Abilities might be different from the regular Abilities I possess, but what makes them special and different? Maybe how they were acquired? I still needed more info, I suppose.
'Time to figure out what I really am, I suppose. Can I get an explanation on my Race?'
The window in front of me changed.
***
[Bloodfiend]
Description: Once known as a Noble Race, the formerly revered and mighty Bloodfiends have faded into the depths of time, becoming an obscure and extinct Race of Sanctuary Spirits. Before being scorned, hunted, ostracized, and eventually losing their might due to their gluttonous nature, Bloodfiends were known for their threatening ambition and potential for growth. Born from pain and suffering, they have an uncanny capability for schemes, deceit, cruelty, mischief and trickery.
***
'Very interesting.'
There was a lot to unpack here. For one, it turns out, I am in fact a Sanctuary Spirit as the group of youths had guessed. A weird one at that, since I stalked them. And for the other, since this Race suited my disposition, I'm one hell of a bastard. Fair enough.
The other part was that, for some reason, this mighty Race was taken down somehow. How? Why? They could definitely defend themselves, and a couple of pitchfork-raising crowds wouldn't quite do them in. There was definitely some kind of higher power or scheme at play here since they're apparently extinct. Well, not really, since I'm still alive somehow.
I had to be careful. Obscure Race or not, I could still have enemies. Although it seems Bloodfiends aren't recognized widely, since Tessa immediately called this member of a Noble Race a Goblin. I still felt my brow twitch slightly.
'Still, I should be cautious about revealing my identity from now on.'
I decided to move on for now.
'[Blood Dive] pretty please.'
***
[Blood Dive]
Description: Born from blood, you may conceal yourself in its nurturing embrace as you stalk your prey.
***
'Nurturing...'
It seems [Blood Dive] also helps me heal if it decides to call it nurturing. No word was meaningless here, so I had to keep my eyes peeled. I thought it was [Blood Absorb] doing all the healing at first, but I was in the puddles for most of the time as well, I guess. I'll keep that in mind.
I continued.
'[Blood Absorb], please.'
***
[Blood Absorb]
Description: The bloodline of ambition, bloodthirst and gluttony courses through you. Violence, deceit and betrayal shroud the past of your ancestors, forming an unextinguishable flame of hatred within your bloodline. You must take back what was once yours. Your might and health grow through plundering the lifeline of others, gaining the fruits of others' labour and that which was always meant to be yours without discrimination.
***
'I don't really feel much for these dead geezers, but-'
The System immediately commented, cutting me off. It seemed to have understood what I had figured out by my expression and wanted to shoot down my parade.
After all, stealing the power of your enemies would make anybody gleam with excitement.
[I will inform you if you receive any power from using [Blood Absorb], although it is very unlikely at your current Rank]
The Ability was simple, but the simple things are usually the deadliest. I already figured out most of what his ostentatious description was giving me by myself. However, the chance to steal the power of my enemies was also nice, although it seemed it would be up to pure luck. Considering a God managed to accidentally kill me, I wasn't sure how likely it was that I was getting anything.
I moved down to the stats section.
These stats... I hadn't really seen this type of scaling before. It seemed to be using Roman numerals and...a star? to represent my strength in certain categories. The numerals were understandable, but I still had some questions.
'System~.'
[Every numeral increase means an increase in power within that category]
[If you increase the numeral over the number five, you receive a star, which means an increase in Tier within that category]
'Understandable.'
Each star represented a Tier-up. Pretty simple.
Most of my stats were quite believable, although I still didn't have a real standard to compare them to.
My strength at III. I thought I would be slightly weaker, honestly.
Agility at IV. Makes sense. It's my main advantage.
Dexterity at V. I paint quite alright, I guess, but V? Low standards, I guess.
Constitution at II. I am quite frail, but my Abilities make up for it with their healing.
I only wanted explanations for two that I didn't fully understand. Intelligence and Will. Both raised questions in their own ways. I was already a Tier higher in Will somehow, and let's just say I didn't think I was that stupid for Intelligence.
[Intelligence represents your affinity with Essence, control over Essence and your capacity for it. This stat will play an important role in later Ranks]
My intelligence was quite low, but it was fine. I really didn't understand how Essence fully worked, but I have been fine without it for now. I'll try to ask the System for more details later.
[Will is your mental strength. How far you can go until you give up, how much pain you can tolerate, how much it will take to scare you and so on]
My Will was...very high. I didn't think I was that strong-willed, but it's nice, I guess. Not everyone can paint a mural out of monster guts without throwing up and get eaten up alive multiple times without getting life-long trauma, although I wouldn't do it again. It makes sense in a way.
There was one final tab I had yet to unlock, and it was called...
***
[Evolution]
[Locked]
***
And of course it was locked.
'System! What gives?'
The System calmly responded.
[This tab will unlock once you have reached Stage 3 of Gifted]
[You currently have no use for this tab, as it may hinder your growth]
Oh, yeah. I didn't know how to progress further yet.
'And how do I do that?'
[You must coalesce your Core]
Now I heard something interesting.