Clavam Sanguine Ferrum.

Ironblood Spike.

A skill supposedly inspired by the ‘soul blood knife’ of the Beast Within, holding the additional effect of Blood Leech.

With 2 BP required per cast, it was supposed to be used ‘one spike at a time,’ a phrase that was mentioned in the skill description itself.

But that was no longer true...

Ding!

[Clavam Sanguine Ferrum II (Ironblood Spike II)- Uncommon: Inspired by the Soul blood knife of the Beast Within, you hurl spikes of Ironblood striking a target.

Blood Leech: The Spike will steal blood from the target, returning a percentage of the damage dealt as Blood Points.

2 BP per spike formed.

(Tier II lifts the single spike limit. Instead, the Kindred’s proficiency will determine the maximum number of spikes per cast.)]

Unknown to Miles, with no notification from the system,, the skill had somehow risen to ‘Tier II’, apparently explaining his sudden ability to multi-cast Ironblood Spikes.

Had he not decided to take a look at his status for a moment, he would never have noticed. He had no idea why the otherwise reliable system would glitch out in this case, but it did make sense...

Miles couldn’t help but think back to what Maximus, Nathaniel’s sire, had said, ‘The Great Father Chaos has blessed us Kindred, with the power of the all-knowing System. The powers it grants us, it will perform for us.

But it is up to us, as great and proud Kindred, to improve and adapt, to make the powers we have been blessed with, stronger, more efficient, and more powerful.’

By reaching ‘Tier II’ the Ironblood Spike skill had changed, or rather, improved. Despite the different wording, Tiers didn’t seem to be much different from Levels.

This definitively confirmed what Maximus had said, that system skills could be improved and adapted, but the question was… how?

After witnessing Xavier’s experiments on Telekinesis, Miles himself had started to entertain the possibility that the same could be done with system skills.

This was what had primarily inspired him when coming up with the half, quarter, and smaller variations, along with the blood spike enhancement using more blood.

However, that had still been within the rules of the system skill, and was ultimately a manipulation of blood points. Miles may have exerted control over the blood points to make certain changes to the Ironblood Spike, but it had still been the same system skill.

He had been unable to truly change anything.

And yet a random memory had succeeded where he had failed. It had brought the skill to Tier II, eradicating the conditional limit of ‘one spike at a time’.

Miles had believed that such a feat would require hours of difficult training and practice. But apparently, a memory from the ancient past had been enough.

What made no sense to him, was the fact that this memory had nothing to do with the multi-casting of blood spikes.

But, now that he thought about it…

In the memory, Nathaniel had been attempting to control the blood spike and shift its path. Even though he had failed, his general proficiency and usage of the skill had been polished and masterful.

The blood had crystallised quickly and with ease, shooting out even faster, as if the act of creating and launching an Ironblood Spike was akin to the flick of a finger and nothing special.

Could it be possible that Nate’s skill proficiency had rubbed off on him? Leading to the increasing of the Tier of his own skill? Did the System not notify him because it was a roundabout way of achieving progress? A loophole of sorts?

Maybe, perhaps.

In the end, this was nothing but conjecture, and ultimately irrelevant.

What truly mattered, was the confirmation that system details were not fixed rules or limits. They were simply descriptions of what he possessed at the moment and nothing more.

The System Status could be changed. And if a random memory could do it, there was no reason that he couldn't.

A heavy breath left his lips, bubbling upwards through the crimson waters.

Cascades of blood continued to gush and thrum around him, rushing and raging through his unbeating heart and veins, clear as day to his scarlet eyes.

Miles was within a bloody sea, floating amidst a vast stormy ocean of red, an almost metaphorical representation of the agitated blood points within him and the blood bank, one which he was supposed to control and tame.

He may have activated the blood points by himself, many times in fact, but the directing of the blood had always been done by the system.

While he was inexperienced, Miles had still been aware of the general process. He knew what he had to do.

The same way he usually controlled the blood points, Miles reached out to the streams of activated blood around him, and slowly exerted his control, attempting to direct them towards his right arm…

Almost immediately, some of the blood hummed, as if in recognition of his touch.

For a single moment, the raging torrents almost seemed to calm down.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last long.

Compared to the little blood that recognized him, the blood that didn’t, was overwhelming. They refused his control, his will, and pushed back with the indomitable fury of an ocean.

Hiss!

A burst of fire flared up within him, burning Miles from the inside out, as the infuriated blood ripped apart the little control he had been able to establish.

He was forced to grit his teeth, both in pain and annoyance.

Miles knew how and what needed to be done, but doing it was something else altogether.

Seeing no other option but to try again, he was just about to repeat the same mistake, when he remembered something...

Nathaniel, or rather, his attempt to control the launched blood spike and divert it’s path of motion.

While it seemed widely different from what Miles had to do, it wasn’t. Not really.

Both were attempts to exert their will and control the blood.

The difference lay in the fact that Miles needed to establish control on the blood within him, while Nathaniel had to exert control upon a released Ironblood spike, a crystallized mass of blood several meters away from him.

It was obviously easier to control that which was closer, than that which was at a distance.

In fact, Miles was confident that Nathaniel could have made short work of the raging blood and easily ended their rebellion.

And if Nate could do it, surely he could too?

As convenient as that would be, Miles wasn’t stupid.

Sure, he could take a note out of Nathaniel’s book and emulate his methods to a certain degree, but he wasn’t blindly optimistic enough to believe just that would be enough.

He would have to… improvise. And he alredy knew how to.

A light breath left him, floating out as a single bubble within the scarlet waters.

Miles called for everything he had, every scrap of willpower he could muster, and willed the raging tides of blood towards his right arm.

Once again, some of the blood hummed for him, prepared to do as he wished, but the rest remained stubborn.

Unfortunately for them… Miles was no longer asking.

Hiss!

Another burst of fire flared up, stronger than before, burning him from the inside.

But this time, it was Miles doing the burning.

He had come to realize that the flowing blood ignited itself to release the energy that would later become the flaming heat that brought him pain. But in exchange for this energy, some of the blood was burned away.

This was exactly what Miles was betting on.

By activating a few blood points to their very maximum, he could burn up the blood himself and use it up far faster.

He planned to use the threat of blood burn, to coerce and force the stubborn blood to bend to his will.

This did not mean the burning no longer brought him pain. On the contrary, it was several times worse. But Miles had always believed that pain was the predecessor to success, and forced himself to stick it through.

He knew for a fact that given enough time, all of the agitated blood could be burned up putting their struggle to a swift end.

It would be torture, agonizing, perhaps even cripple him, but it would work. Any injuries would heal due to Conditional Undeath, and he would emerge the lone survivor.

And the blood seemed to realize this.

Without even a hint of further rebellion or struggle, the blood understood the situation and accepted hsi will.

For a second time, the blood had learned… and adapted.

There was now a sense of order, control within the ineligible chaos of the blood sea.

The tides were violent and the deluges of blood continued to wreak havoc owing to their overflowing energy, but they no longer refused Miles.

And under his influence, the rampaging torrents that had spread throughout the body were gathered into a singular flow, instantly rushing into his right arm.

The ocean of overflowing blood was now limited to a single limb, making the arm feel bloated and heavy, alongside prickles of occasional pain that hinted his veins were quickly reaching their limit.

Miles couldn’t help but breathe out in relief. By threatening the blood, by improvising, he had somehow succeeded.

But he couldn’t relax just yet, for next came the most difficult step. Forging this ocean of blood into an Ironblood Spike.

A step that would have to be done by himself, where threats and ultimatums would no longer work.

However, Miles had no confidence in forging so many agitated blood points into a stable blood spike. Not even a little.

Despite having observed the Ironblood Spike skill for the better part of today, he had no clue as to how the energy-like blood points could become crystallized solid the moment they left his body.

So, Miles made the obvious decision and gave up.

At Least the idea of making a new blood spike.

Instead, he directed the blood towards the pre-existing Ironblood spike (which had already been enhanced slightly), still floating before his right palm, maintained so long for this very reason.

A light pain started to radiate from Miles’s head, as his willpower took on the arduous task of guiding and keeping so much agitated blood under control.

The blood points continued to trickle in and the blood spike began to grow, slowly forming into something larger.

Although comparatively easier than making an Ironblood Spike from scratch, it was still quite difficult to control the deluge of agitated blood.

The massive ocean of blood within his arm was akin to a tsunami, a storm of fury overflowing with energy. This greatly limited the capacity of blood he could control and infuse into the spike, making the process extremely slow.

‘This isn’t enough! I need to control more… MORE!’

The headache started to throb and worsen, as Miles’s control and will expanded, slowly gathering and directing more and more blood towards his hand.

His skull seemed to be getting hammered by an anvil, as if it would split apart in the next moment, but it worked.

The trickle of blood became a flow, the flow became a stream, a river, and finally a raging torrent of its own.

The sea of blood within his right arm rushed forth, now controlled and directed towards a single objective.

His hand began to burn with painful intensity, as the powerful blood energy that had been ravaging his body began to rush through the veins of his hand.

His skull rang and his arm burned, but Miles held on.

The blood spike before him was quickly crystallizing and growing, stronger and sharper.

He could almost feel the strange blackish-red sparks appear within, as the blood spike soon exceeded everything he had made so far.

The crystal continued to grow and the sparks reached a crescendo, gathering at the center of the blood spike almost as if about to undergo a qualitative change.

But the mysterious sparks barely gained a hint of white and a blurred shape was just about to form, when Miles reached his limit.

Even with the blood no longer refusing his will, he just couldn't control so much agitated blood at a time.

His mind was willing, but his attributes, his body and his will-power was insufficient.

POP!

A sound akin to the popping of a balloon rang out, followed by a wet splattering, as a series of soft but unknown objects fell upon his skin.

For a moment, Miles was confused as to what had happened.

He had managed his time well, and owing to his high intelligence barely a few seconds had passed, which meant that this couldn't be the overgrown rat.

So he was truly confused. At least, until the pain hit him.

Pain beyond what the blood burn could do, leagues above what he could handle.

“AAAARRGGHH!”

An agonizing scream rang out, as his concentration was completely shattered and his eyes were forced open.

Miles's gaze fell upon his right arm, or atleast, the stump that remained.

His arm had... exploded. Gone kaboom, eviscerated.

From beyond the elbow, all that remained was bone with random patches of surviving flesh.

But floating before this bone hand, there was also an absolutely massive blood spike, about 3 meters in length. Demonically black, glowing with faint red light, and giving off a sense of absolute destruction.

Miles could barely remain standing, the pain too much to handle. And yet, he maintained his hand posture with the muscles of his biceps and triceps alone.

He could feel the slimy touch of his own flesh splattered over his body, see the dark red liquid paste covering the nearby floor and the walls, the stench of his own blood and flesh overwhelming his sense of smell, but he pushed aside the emotions and held strong as best he could.

He wanted to do nothing but scream again, to fall down onto the floor out of sheer exhaustion, but he didn’t. He couldn’t.

‘I-I can’t mess this up. Be Still! Hold Still!’

His efforts were not wasted as the blood spike continued to be pointed towards his target.

The monstrous rat was still getting back up from its second crash into the reinforced wall. The collision had perhaps dulled its senses as it seemed to be unaware of the danger it was in.

Unfortunately, that was when Miles reached his limit. His mind and body had long since exceeded what it could handle. And his right hand, or the bone that was left, started to fall down.

THOOM!

The wind exploded as the Ironblood Spike rushed forwards, a powerful gust smashing the already weakened Miles onto the floor.

And in the next moment, the crystal spike vanished.

One moment it was there, and the next it wasn't. Almost as if it had never existed.

Any spectator would've assumed this a failure, believing that the attack had failed.

But Miles knew better. He was not worried at all, and this was because he could still see the Spike.

Just like the last time he had enhanced the blood spike, he could once again feel it, sense it.

The path and it’s trajectory were clear to his mind's eye.

It’s speed was tremendous, faster than what he could see even with his Kindred eyes, and yet the mysterious connection allowed him to see through the spike.

And that was exactly how he knew, even though he had wavered at the last second, that the Ironblood Spike would still hit its target.

Despite the fatigue and tiredness that made him want to do nothing but close his eyes and collapse onto the floor, he couldn’t help but curve his lips into a grin.

Ironblood Spike (+43)!