Just then, a notification chimed from my system.
[ New Mission ]
[ Defeat Reptorok beast ]
[ Reward: 500 EXP ]
This wasn't a daily mission, but a specific quest issued by the system.
Seeing the mission, I decided to complete it immediately. Night had fallen, and night was the vampire's domain.
I turned back to my friends.
"Jeevan, Dev, I have to go back to defeat that Reptorok beast. Don't wait for me; just go to sleep like logs," I said.
"In this darkness? Is it really necessary to go right now?" Dev asked, concerned.
"Yes. That Reptorok is cunning. If I wait until tomorrow, it might flee the city and escape the sewers entirely. If that happens, I'll have to hunt it down later anyway. Besides, during the day, my stats drop by 20%. At night, I don't just avoid that penalty—I get a boost. So, I'm going," I explained.
"Take care of yourself," Jeevan said.
I nodded at him, opened the door, and walked out of the college, heading toward the town.
It was a full moon tonight. Under the pale moonlight, a boy walked toward the gutter. Most shops were closed, but some establishments—casinos, liquor stores, and black markets—were bustling with noise, as if their day had just begun.
That boy was me.
I reached the same manhole I had entered in the morning. I looked around; the street was deserted. Relieved, I took a breath and jumped down the hole.
Whoosh!
As soon as I dropped, my danger senses screamed.
Ding!
I instantly transformed into my bat form and fluttered into the air.
Looking down, I saw that the Reptorok was already waiting for me exactly where I was supposed to land.
It had a ball of green fire ready in its mouth, prepared to shoot the moment I touched the ground. However, the Reptorok hadn't expected its prey to transform into a small, black flying creature.
I never expected the beast to be this smart. It had tracked my footprints from where I left earlier and camped under the hole, waiting for my return.
Furious that its ambush had failed, the Reptorok roared. Its long, snake-like tongue shot out of its mouth, stretching to snatch me out of the air.
Swish!
I dodged the attack by banking sharply in the air. It tried several more times, but I evaded every strike with ease.
I decided to use my Blood Clone skill.
"System," I commanded internally, "Create 10 Blood Clones."
[ Affirmative. creating Blood Clones. ]
[ Due to Bat Form, cost reduced from 1000 HP to 500 HP. ]
[ - 500 HP ]
I was surprised. I didn't know the cost varied by form. A single bat clone only consumed 50 HP.
Ten bat clones appeared to my left and right. They looked exactly like my bat form, except their skin was a deep crimson red.
[ 7,000 / 20,000 HP ]
I checked the Reptorok's status. It had regenerated 2,000 HP. More annoyingly, the tail I had severed had grown back. However, the new tail was covered in smaller black spikes, and the green flame at its tip burned dimly.
Regenerating a limb that quickly was impressive, but there was a significant difference between the original and the regrowth. The new tail wasn't nearly as strong.
The Reptorok swung its new tail. Several small spikes shot out toward me and my clones.
Zip! Zip!
I dodged effortlessly. My clones, however, barely managed to evade.
I glanced at the spikes that hit the cement. The floor began to sizzle, but the melting process was much slower than before. The beast's power had definitely dropped.
Snap! Crunch!
One by one, the Reptorok snatched my ten bat clones out of the air and ate them.
Despite losing my clones, a smile appeared on my face.
The Reptorok looked confused. It was winning, eating my decoys, so why did the prey feel confident? It didn't think too hard about it; no matter how smart a beast is, it's still an animal. It would never understand human cunning.
"Detonate," I whispered.
I used Blood Control to command the consumed clones.
The clones were just puppets with no consciousness. Inside the beast's stomach, they obeyed my command instantly.
BOOM! BOOM!
Muffled explosions erupted from inside the Reptorok's belly. The force of the blasts threw the beast around the sewer tunnel—slamming it into one wall, then the other.
Crash! Thud!
Massive wounds tore open across its body. The Reptorok coughed up violent amounts of blood.
The internal explosions had stripped away 5,000 HP. It had only 2,000 HP left.
I slowly descended, transforming back into my human form as I landed on the sewer floor.
The Reptorok glared at me with hatred, blood dripping from its mouth.
I activated Blood Manipulation again. Just like in the morning, I pulled the blood from its open wounds, gathering it into the air to purify it.
Due to the continuous blood loss, its HP began to drain rapidly.
[ - 100 ]
[ ... ]
[ - 1,000 ]
It lost another 1,000 HP. Now, the beast was hanging by a thread with only 1,000 HP remaining.
I smiled. Seeing my grin, the Reptorok felt a sudden dread.
I snapped my fingers.
BOOM!
One final explosion rocked the beast's stomach. I hadn't detonated all the clones earlier; I had saved one for this exact moment.
[ 0 / 20,000 HP ]
The surprise attack wiped out its remaining 1,000 HP. The Reptorok realized its time had come. Its eyes were filled with unwillingness. It had been planning to drag me down with it in a final suicidal attack, but my hidden clone ruined its plan completely.
If I had known what the beast was thinking, I would have patted myself on the back.
The Reptorok slowly closed its eyes.
Thud.
With a heavy sound, the massive beast collapsed onto the ground, dead.
System messages flooded my mind.
[ Mission Complete: Defeat Reptorok ]
[ Reward: 500 EXP ]
[ Host has acquired sufficient EXP for Level 2. Level up initiated. ]
I felt something shatter inside me, a barrier breaking.
[ 1,350 EXP / 1,000 EXP ]
[ Level Up! ]
[ 350 EXP / 2,000 EXP ]
I had reached Level 2. To reach Level 3, I needed another 1,650 EXP.
[ Level Up Reward: Two New Skills Acquired ]
[ New Skills: Blood Swipe, Hypnotize ]
I checked the details.
[ Blood Swipe ]
[ Description: The user projects red energy from their hands in a slashing motion Cost: 10 HP per use. ]
[ Hypnotize ]
[ Description: The user's eyes turn glowing red. When making eye contact with a target, the user can bring them under control.]
[ Limitation: If the target's mental strength is higher than the user's, the chance of success is very low . Can be used 2 times.]
[ Cooldown: After 10 minutes, the uses recharge (2/2).]
I walked over to the Reptorok's massive carcass and touched its skin. It felt as hard as solid rock. Now that the beast was dead, touching it no longer triggered the poison effect or drained my HP.
"Possession Plunder... activate!" I commanded.
As soon as the words left my lips, a crimson blood circle manifested beneath the Reptorok's body. The circle began to spin rapidly, glowing with an eerie light.
[ Host has activated the skill: Possession Plunder ]
[ Extracting an attribute from the target's body... ]
[ Target's Green Flame has been seized. ]
[ Host has acquired the Green Flame infused with Poison Power. ]
[ Please provide a name for this flame. ]
"I'll call it... Venom Flame," I decided.
[ Name accepted. The attribute is now registered as 'Venom Flame'. ]
Whoosh!
A surge of green fire erupted from the Reptorok's body and gathered in the palm of my hand. This was the Venom Flame. Though it blazed brightly, I felt no pain or danger. It felt like a natural extension of my own body—a part of me.
"System, show me my status," I ordered.
[ Status Panel ]
[ Name: Aditya ]
[ System: The Vampire Lord System ]
[ Race: Vampire ]
[ Bloodline: Origin Blood Tribe ]
[ HP: 8,400 HP / 8,400 HP ]
[ Strength: 78 ]
[ Agility: 78 ]
[ Stamina: 78 ]
[ Origin Vampire Form: A form synthesized by the System. In this state, all physical attributes are doubled ]
[Level: Beginner Noble Level 2 ( 350 exp /2000 exp ) ]
[ Active Skills ]
[ Blood Control: Manipulate the blood of others (freeze, boil, extract) ]
[ Blood Clone: Create a clone with 50% power. Cost: 100 HP, reduced in bat form ]
[ Blood Manipulation: Shape blood into any weapon or form without limit ]
[ Possession Plunder: Steal an ability or attribute from a defeated foe ]
[ Bat Transformation: Convert into a bat for flight and stealth ]
[ Blood Swipe: Project red energy slashes from your hands. Cost: 10 HP per use ]
[ Hypnotize: Control others through eye contact. 2 uses, 10-min cooldown ]
[ Venom Flame: Control green flames infused with potent poison ]
[ Passive Skills ]
[ Undying Body: Near-immortality; regrow limbs at the cost of blood energy ]
[ Blood Suppression: 20% stat reduction for lower-class vampires in your presence ]
[ Stat point: 1 ]
[ Storage Items: The Holy Cup, Fire Dragon Whip, Reptorok Tail, Green Blood Bottle, Power Crystal ]
I closed the status panel, satisfied with my progress. I had grown significantly stronger in just one night.
I approached the carcass again. Using Blood Manipulation, I gathered the blood still floating in the air and condensed it into the shape of a razor-sharp dagger.
Schlick.
I gripped the blood-dagger and climbed onto the Reptorok's chest. I located the area above its heart and began to cut. The dagger sliced through the thick, stone-like hide as if it were soft butter.
After digging for a few moments, I felt something hard. I reached inside and pulled out a glowing crystal. It was about the size of my fist.
Just as I had suspected from the manga and anime I read in my previous life, these beasts carried a core.
To be continued...