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Sekhmet drank enough to quiet the thirst and let the rest pool.
Then he decided.
He would summon.
Not one.
Not many small ones.
A horde.
He wanted more eyes.
More wings.
More scouting.
Purgatory was huge. Enemies hid. If he could fill the sky with his own watchers, he would be harder to ambush.
He placed his hand in the blood pool, feeling the warmth of fresh life fading.
He poured chaos energy into it slowly, like breathing into a coal.
Then he spoke the command in his mind.
Blood Summon.
The blood trembled.
Shhhh…
It lifted from the ground like smoke pulled upward, swirling in a small vortex. The air thickened. The smell of iron grew sharper.
Bat Bat hovered above it, eyes wide.
"More bats?" Bat Bat asked excitedly.
Sekhmet's eyes narrowed.
"Yes," he said. "More."
The blood vortex spun faster.
Whirl… Whirl…
Then it burst outward in red streaks that snapped into form midair.
Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.
Small bats formed, one after another, their bodies leaner than Bat Bat's, their eyes less aware, their wings thinner. They looked like they had been made from blood and then taught how to fly.
Within seconds, the air above the blood pool was filled with fluttering wings.
Flapflapflapflap…
A cloud of bats hovered, circling, squeaking softly.
Sekhmet stared.
He counted quickly.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty.
More.
The horde stabilized at around fifty, then slowly settled as they found perches on nearby rocks and trees, hanging upside down like living decorations.
Bat Bat hovered in the middle of them like a proud older sibling.
"I boss," Bat Bat announced loudly.
The minion bats did not respond because they barely had brains.
Bat Bat took that as agreement.
Sekhmet activated Blood Eye on the horde, scanning quickly.
[Blood Bat Minion
Battle Power: 300–400
Intelligence: Low
Behavior: Loyal / Hungry
Note: Requires feeding to maintain stability.]
One bat had slightly higher power.
[Blood Bat Minion
Battle Power: 500
Note: Higher potential detected.]
Sekhmet exhaled slowly.
He had an army of tiny eyes now.
Not strong enough to fight real threats, but strong enough to scout, harass, distract, and alert.
He stored them in Void Land after opening the void connection.
Whooomp…
The bats vanished into his dark pocket dimension, settling somewhere inside like a living cloud.
Bat Bat flew in last, but not before it turned to Sekhmet with bright eyes.
"They live with me," Bat Bat said proudly. "I teach."
Sekhmet stared.
"You will teach them what," he asked.
Bat Bat thought hard, little face scrunched.
Then it said confidently, "How pee."
Sekhmet closed his eyes.
"No," he said. "You will teach them how to scout. How to be quiet. How to not die."
Bat Bat blinked.
"…Okay," it said reluctantly. "But pee also."
Sekhmet muttered, "This is my life now."
Tap… Tap… Tap…
By the end of two months, Sekhmet's blood proficiency climbed near the threshold that mattered.
[Blood proficiency: Ninety percent.]
The number stared back at him like a cliff edge.
Close enough to taste the finish.
Not close enough to claim it.
It became an obsession.
Every time he drank, he watched the system notifications. Sometimes he gained one percent. Sometimes half. Sometimes less, depending on the blood's quality. Sometimes the system gave him nothing because the blood was too weak and the system judged it useless.
Sekhmet learned to hunt quality blood.
Not for pleasure.
For progress.
He killed stronger beasts when possible, but still avoided anything over five thousand. He targeted mid-range predators, humanoid monsters, and opportunistic raiders who thought they could take him.
He did not seek out humans unless they attacked first.
Not out of mercy.
Out of caution.
Human blood came with stories, with consequences, with enemies who might chase revenge.
Sekhmet did not want attention yet.
Not until he understood the full reach of his blood system.
Not until he reached the city's edge.
Not until he could choose what kind of monster he wanted to be in public.
His battle power reading remained the same.
[Overall battle power: 1500]
It mocked him constantly.
But he stopped letting it define him.
Because his actions defined him.
And his actions had kept him alive.
One month remains now.
One month until the border territory.
One month until roads.
One month until other people who were not beasts and were not stupid enough to announce themselves as lake landlords.
Sekhmet walked with that deadline in his head like a drum.
Tap… Tap… Tap…
On the last evening of the second month, Sekhmet moved through a narrow pass between two hills of red stone. The sky was turning darker. The air cooled. The wind carried faint scents from the other side of the pass.
He slowed.
Bat Bat hovered ahead, scouting, wings silent.
It turned back midair and whispered, surprisingly careful.
"Noise," Bat Bat said.
Sekhmet's eyes narrowed.
He listened.
At first, nothing.
Then — A scream.
A sharp, terrified sound that cut through the wind like glass.
"Aaaaaah!"
Sekhmet froze.
The scream was followed by shouting.
Metal clashing.
Clang! Clang!
The unmistakable roar of a monster.
Raaaaaah!
Sekhmet's heart rate jumped slightly.
Ba - dum.
He did not rush blindly. He moved fast but cautious, stepping toward the edge of the pass and peering down through a crack between stones.
He saw a scene unfolding in a rocky basin below.
A battle.
A group of humanoid monsters —broad-shouldered, grey-skinned, with crude armor and weapons— were swarming a small caravan-like formation. These were not animals. They moved like raiders. Like soldiers. Like things that had learned violence as a profession.
In the center of the formation was a girl.
Even from this distance, she was striking.
Beautiful, yes, but not in a delicate way.
In a dangerous way.
Her hair flashed under moonlight like silk. Her body moved with controlled grace even while surrounded. Her clothing was fitted for travel, but it did not hide the fact that she was built like someone who trained, not someone who posed.
She wielded a blade that glimmered with chaos energy, carving arcs of light through the air.
Whoosh!
Beside her were ten escorts, forming a defensive ring. They fought with discipline, backs to each other, covering angles, using formation tactics that screamed "trained by someone serious."
But there were many monsters.
And the leader…
Sekhmet's gaze sharpened.
At the back of the monsters stood a larger humanoid, taller, wider, carrying a heavy weapon that looked like a cleaver made for giants. Its aura pressed outward, making the air feel heavier even from a distance. It watched the fight with calm cruelty, as if it was enjoying the slow wearing down of prey.
Sekhmet activated Blood Eye automatically.
His vision sharpened.
He appraised the nearest monsters first.
[Humanoid Raider Beast
Battle Power: 3,200]
Another.
[Humanoid Raider Beast
Battle Power: 4,100]
Another.
[Humanoid Raider Beast
Battle Power: 3,800]
Most ranged between three and five thousand.
Sekhmet's jaw tightened.
Then he focused on the leader.
[Humanoid Raider Beast Leader
Battle Power: 8,000]
Sekhmet's breath slowed.
Eight thousand.
Above his five-thousand rule.
Above safe.
Above the point where mistakes became death.
The girl and her escorts were holding, but not winning. The monsters were pressing, trying to break formation. One escort stumbled, blood spilling from his side.
The girl's blade flashed again, cutting down a monster that got too close.
Shhk!
But the leader still had not moved.
It was letting its lesser beasts do the work.
That meant it was confident.
That meant it had fought stronger enemies before.
Sekhmet's mind tightened into calculation.
"Should I help or just watch??"
Helping could gain him allies, information, maybe protection in the border territory. A noble girl with escorts did not travel alone in purgatory unless she had backing. Helping her might connect Sekhmet to power.
Watching could keep him safe, let the monsters and escorts weaken each other, and then he could loot the leftovers without risking his life.
But watching also meant letting people die.
Sekhmet stared at the scene, silent.
Bat Bat hovered beside his head, whispering.
"Pretty," Bat Bat said, eyes bright.
Sekhmet stared at it.
"That is what you notice," he muttered.
Bat Bat nodded.
"Yes. Pretty. Also… danger."
Sekhmet exhaled slowly.
Below, another scream tore out as an escort was dragged to the ground.
The leader finally stepped forward.
The ground seemed to tremble under its weight.
Thud… Thud…
The girl's formation tightened, but Sekhmet could feel the shift in the fight even from here.
The real threat had entered.
Sekhmet's fingers flexed.
His blood system hummed quietly inside him like a sleeping beast, aware of opportunity, aware of blood, aware of the fact that an eight-thousand battle power leader carried a feast of power if he could somehow survive it.
Sekhmet's eyes narrowed.
He did not move yet.
He watched.
And inside him, the decision began to form, heavy as stone and sharp as hunger.