Cult Hideout,

Monoch.

9:52 am, 7 th Ryanem 1091.

Syèl heaved a massive sigh of relief as he turned the final page of the ridiculously large book. The contents of the book were much more complicated than the halben had initially thought. It explored in excruciating detail the anatomy of the body, and how mana was generated and manipulated in the body to achieve the various magic spells mages were known for. Finally, it presented a damn near heretical method of using the lifeforce contained in blood to enhance or create magic spells.

The halben loved every word of the book. Which was why, when a prompt appeared, asking if Syèl wanted to switch class to Blood Mage, he happily accepted.

Quest Complete!

Book of the Damned

Book of the Damned:

You completed the hidden cult’s book and unlocked the secrets of Ferulic's second son, Sycutoc. The book teaches the art of Blood Magic: a forbidden magic practice that draws on the life force of living things.

New Class Skill: Blood Magic [Lv.1]

This forbidden Dark Art cancels all limitations and allows its wielder to draw on his life force to empower his attacks. Increases with each enemy kill. Increases exponentially if the enemy is a hume.

Increases Magic Attacks by 10%

Class Bonus:

+30 to WIS, VIT & INT

+20 to all Stats

Name

Syèl Rífa tora

Alignment

Neutral

Level

3

Profession

Blood Mage

Title

Scholar

Fame

0

Infamy

0

Health

3630

Mana

3630

Ki

345

Vitality

50 +30

Stamina

7 +20

Wisdom

50 +30

Intellect

50 +30

Strength

7 +20

Agility

8 +20

Dexterity

8 +20

Endurance

Phys END

1

Mag END

1

Charisma

10 +20

Charm

14 +20

Stealth

5 +20

Instinct

5 +20

Fighting Spirit

0 +20

Leadership

10 +20

Luck

34 +20

Attack

Phys AT K

62

Defense

Phy s DEF

30

Mag ATK

390

Mag DEF

30

Resistances

Poison Resistance

0%

Ice Resistance

0%

Electricity Resistance

0%

Light Resistance

0%

Fire Resistance

0 %

Dark Resistance

0%

Syèl was intrigued by the increase to his vitality. It seemed the blood from the book had forcefully increased his body’s Vitality to its current limit. While it looked ridiculous at first sight, it had to be considered that this book would take the average person a month at the very least to complete. When looked at that way, it was quite understandable that it would increase the vitality of someone who had that much patience to the limit. Who could have guessed that it would be a freak like Syèl who would lay his hands on the book?

It could be said that the mage profession was perfect for a freak of nature like Syèl.

Syèl meanwhile did not take any of those advantages to mind. Instead, he was grateful for the skill’s reliance on blood to grow stronger. A world where he could not only kill but was rewarded for killing; he owed Akari one heck of a thank you.

The only downside to the blood magic, except for the fact that it drew directly from Syèl’s health, was that the higher tier moves exclusive to the class required health points he was nowhere close to possessing. Syèl decided he had to go level up some.

"You’re done!?” The halben who guided Syèl exclaimed in shock, eyes wide. He could not believe his eyes. He had estimated a week or two, but a single day! What kind of mad speed was this!? Not only that but judging from the bloody aura oozing from Syèl’s body, he had successfully learned the Blood Mage class. The guide stared at Syèl with a bit of trepidation. In the initial plan, they would slowly indoctrinate the halben over time. However, Syèl had completed the book too quickly. What should they do now?

Despite his misgivings, the guide smiled at Syèl and announced, "Now, you can control all spells in the Destructive and Illusion schools freely. Naturally, you will have to begin from the novice spells though."

Syèl raised a brow. "And the remaining schools?"

"You should be able to learn them later on,” The guide replied. “But the Restoration school will prove especially difficult even when you have mastered Blood magic. It's a direct opposite of your class after all."

“Good to know,” Syèl said. A mischievous grin spread on his lips as he asked, "Just wondering, are there any others like me?"

The guide shook his head. "No. Ferulic and his children did not trust us with their powers, so they chose to seal their powers, to be obtainable only by Summoned like you."

A dangerous light sparked in Syèl’s eyes, but the guide failed to spot it. "So right now, I am the only one alive that possesses blood magic?"

“To my knowledge, yes,” the guide confirmed. "And that is why you shall help us co-!"

Syèl's hand stabbed through the elf's throat, shutting him up permanently. "I liked you better when you were silent." The cultists in the room screamed bloody murder and immediately launched fireballs and ice at him.

Syèl flung the guide’s corpse to the closest fireball. Boom! The resultant explosion swallowed up the incoming projectiles and shielded the blood mage from view. Whoosh! Syèl dashed out of the flames with a thin, beginner level mana-shield covering him. Electricity sparked around the halben’s body as he appeared next to the closest mage. [Supercharge] was a beginner-level mage skill that increased the speed and agility of whoever it was cast on.

The mage was shocked at Syèl’s appearance. He, like most mages, focused all his training on magic and thus had little health and poor armor which made him terrible at close range combat.

Easy prey.

Syèl slid under a projectile and kicked the legs out from under the mage, who fell forward over him., Syèl launched himself upwards with an uppercut and punched the mage square on the jaw on the mage’s way down, then finished him off with a fireball to the chest.

Syèl’s expression turned serious as several projectiles flew towards him from all directions. He ran to the wall, and kicked against it, launching himself back over the missiles. Twisting in the air, the blood mage fired two lightning spears into the hearts of two mages. He landed behind the stunned mages and wrung their necks. The remaining three mages glared at him, bloodlust evident in their eyes.

The vengeful mages cast a wall of fire and sent it towards him. As far as they were concerned a low-level mage should not be able to block their combined attack. However, they made a fatal mistake in their calculations. Syèl's high Intelligence made his magic attacks rival that of an average level forty mage.

Syèl snorted as massive ice spears formed in his palms. With an evil grin, he flung them at the firewall. The bolts easily tore through the firewall, then stabbed through the mages. The ice spread from the point of contact until it encased them all in ice.

Syèl then countered the approaching firewall by raising a wall of ice in front of him. As expected, the incoming firewall violently clashed against the ice wall for one second before extinguishing into vast plumes of white smoke.

Syèl grinned. So far, he had only used mana, and he was this powerful. How much stronger would he be once he started to use Blood Magic?. Syèl chuckled as he lowered the ice wall, then walked over to the ice statues. He winked at the helpless mages, then smashed the statues.

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

Syèl’ put all the stat points he gained from leveling to his vitality and practiced one of the exclusive blood magic spells: "[Dawn Pelmut] ." The mages’ bodies suddenly bloated, as if pumped with a massive amount of air, then exploded into a red mist of blood and shredded bone. Syèl’s disturbing grin shone through the red mist as it was sucked into his pores.

Skill Level Up: Blood Magic (Beginner) [Lv.1  Lv.2]

This forbidden Dark Art cancels all limitations and allows its wielder to draw on his life force to empower his attacks. Increases with each enemy kill. Increases exponentially if the enemy is a hume.

Increases Magic Attacks by 20%

Increases attack power with blood. (+30% ATK)

Decreases amount of health lost while using blood attacks

Skill Level Up: Destruction School (Beginner) [Lv.1  Lv.2]

This forbidden Dark Art cancels all limitations and allows its wielder to draw on his life force to empower his attacks. Increases with each enemy kill. Increases exponentially if the enemy is a hume.

Increases Attack Power of Destruction Spells by 20%

Increases attack power with blood. (+30% ATK)

Reduces mana cost.

Syèl looked around the room and discovered only one entrance: the tunnel he had come in through with the dead guide. He could hear footsteps rushing down, drawn by the mages’ death throes.

Syèl looked at his health, then attempted a different blood mage skill [Blades of Blood]. The halben’s health cut to half as blood pooled out of his right arm and solidified into the form of a hilt-less sword.

According to the Book of the Damned, higher Blood Magic mastery would grant him the ability to morph his blood into any form he pleased. Syèl smirked as he once again spotted Genaco's experiments at play. A Summoned with enough skill to manipulate his blood into any shape of his pleasing could only do so after unlocking certain aspects of his mind.

Smiling, Syèl walked into the tunnel and met the mages halfway through. He counted over twenty mages, but as it was a narrow tunnel, only two or three could stand side by side. Not that this mattered much to mages. They could always cast their spells in a parabola to bypass those in front of them.

The mage at the front paused when he saw the blood on Syèl’s clothes. His gaze hardened as he glared at the halben and warned, "You're trapped! Give up now, and we may spare you."

Syèl chuckled. In his ears, such a threat was sounded like the cooing of a child. "I’m not trapped here with you..." Syèl manipulated a gust of wind that blew through the tunnel and snuffed out the lanterns. Within the dense darkness, an eerie laugh traveled into the mages’ ears. "... You are trapped in here with me."

Before the person in front could scream, Syèl dashed forward and stabbed him in the neck. As his first victim crumpled before him, Syèl withdrew his sword and cut an arc in front of him. Blood splattered out from several throats and drenched the blood mage, but he remained unfazed. He was accustomed to the dark, having lived most of his life in such conditions, but the mages did not have that luxury.

The mages panicked and tried to retreat, but they bumped into each other in confusion. In the process, they committed the fatal mistake of showing their backs to a predator.

Syèl did not hesitate to slaughter the lot of them, dancing to the melodic tunes of their bloody cries for mercy. When the last mage fell before him, the halben used [Dawn Pelmut] to regain his health. His Blood Mage mastery only increased to level four which meant the game wanted a new type of blood. However, his base level increased by five. He put all the points gained in agility. An odd choice for a mage, but his fighting style was different from most.

Syèl left the tunnel and reached the large hall he had seen earlier. A single mage stood at the exit, encased in a translucent mana-shield with a skeleton next to him. Ah, no, Syèl shook his head as he revised his thoughts. To call it a mere skeleton would be equivalent to calling a Sabertooth tiger a cat. Standing at over nine feet tall, the underworld monster was fully adorned in black full-metal plate armor and wielded a massive two-handed greatsword.

Syèl recognized the skeleton from a console game he played a couple of years ago. It was a Skeleton Knight – one of the early-level monsters right above their useless predecessors, the skeletons.

Syèl checked his agility. With an Agility of 64, he estimated he should be able to engage in close combat. However, his strength was a paltry 27. He definitely lacked the Strength to land any meaningful melee damage. Then again, he was not using a regular sword, but his own blood. Syèl wondered if the boost from his Blood Mage ability would make up for the lack of strength.

With those thoughts in mind, Syèl looked at the mage. The halben was disappointed to find that the mage looked like any generic mage who focused all his attention on magic and failed to increase his defense. He was also dressed in robes that provided little to no physical protection. ‘How retarded. It's like they are begging to be sliced open.’

Syèl had two options: Face the Skeleton Knight first and risk the mage regaining enough mana to summon another one, or attack the mage head on. The problem with attacking the mage was his mana shield. There was no real way of knowing how much damage the shield could withhold, plus there was no guarantee the knight would disappear if he used blood magic to destroy the shield.

This meant that if things went awry, Syèl would be forced to face the knight, with very little health. It was not worth it. Instead, he chose to first take on the skeleton knight.

This whole thought process was carried out in less than a second. In the viewpoint of the mage, Syèl came out of the tunnel, looked at him, then suddenly charged at the Skeleton Knight with a red saber in his hand.

The Skeleton Knight roared as it accepted the mage’s challenge. It brought down its sword with surprising speed, but Syèl received the strike with his saber placed at an angle over his head. The Skeleton Knight’s sword slid down the saber and struck the earth!

Syèl took advantage of that brief opening. He spun around in the air and tried to kick the knight's head. Unfortunately, the Skeleton Knight read his intention. It quickly let go of its sword and grabbed the halben’s leg.

Rooar!

Boom!

The Skeleton roared at Syèl in an attempt to break his spirit, but the halben responded by unleashing a fireball at its face. The Skeleton Knight cried out and flung the mage across the room in irritation.

Syèl righted himself mid-flight and landed on a table. He sighed as he brushed the dust off his face. ‘Still too weak for physical combat.’

“All right then, let’s do this old school,” Syèl said as two massive fireballs imbued with deep red blood streaks formed in his hands. “Cut this!” Syèl said as he launched the fireballs at the Skeleton Knight.

Enraged by its earlier humiliation, the Skeleton Knight swung its sword at the fireballs as it charged at the halben. By its calculation, the Syèl’s flames should be easy to cut down. Unfortunately, it had made a fatal error.

Syèl held back the first time he blasted the Skeleton Knight. That attack was nothing compared to the fireballs imbued with blood magic.

The Skeleton Knight did not get the chance to remedy its error as the halben’s flame consumed it within. Syèl, for his part, did not rest on his laurels. He continuously fired off several fireballs until the Skeleton Knight crumpled to the ground in a pile of dust.

Syèl turned to look at the mage whose shield was still up. The mage’s eyes paled, and he turned in an attempt to run, but Syèl dashed to the mage and hacked at the shield until it shattered.

"Mercy, mercy!” the mage begged, snot pouring out of his nose. “Please, I beg of you!"

"Sure, why not, I've leveled up enough today already," Syèl said as he dissolved the [Blade of Blood] to a blood pool that dropped to the floor.

"Oh, thank you." The mage bowed gratefully as Syèl walked past him. 'Fool,' the mage inwardly mocked as he quickly drew a hidden dagger attacked Syèl’s exposed back.

Syèl suddenly turned around at met the assailant’s gaze. "You're the fool."

The mage's blade stopped short of Syèl 's neck, his eyes wide in shock. The blood that had fallen to the ground earlier had turned to spikes and tore right through his body.

"I never disabled my ability,” Syèl revealed. “When I do, my blood disintegrates." Just as Syèl explained, his blood did evaporate as the mage crumpled to the ground.

Syèl went around the empty cavern, picking up all the loot left behind by the dead mages. These included several badges they used to identify members of their cult. He found several spell tomes in chests and drawers, and studied them all, learning new skills in the process.

To prevent anyone other than him gaining this power, he took the Book of the Damned for himself, and satisfied with his stash, he left the cave. The morning sun glared harshly at him, as if judging his actions, but even the harsh heat of the sun could not deter his happy mood. He returned to the library and walked to the clerk at the reception.

"You again." The clerk, Nualise, regarded him with unrestrained hostility.

"Woah, take it easy. I was wrong last time okay.,” Syèl apologized. “I went to reflect on my actions, and I have good news for you. I disbanded a cult of those heinous 'Dark Art' worshippers."

"Hmph, such an easy claim to make. Do you have proof to back up such an outrageous claim?"

"Will these do?" Syèl laid out all the badges he had obtained from the mages.

"Wh-where did you get these!" Nualise exclaimed in shock when she saw the badges. They belonged to one of the most wanted cults in the city.

"Their base is in Lower Mònòch,” Syèl revealed. “I can show it to you."

"T-that would be most helpful,” Nualise said. “To think a Summoned of all people would be their downfall. You will be heavily rewarded for your part in this, I assure you."

"Sure, I could not refuse such an offer, could I?" Syèl bowed, hiding the view of his lips which rose in a creepy smile.

The next couple of hours of Syèl’s life flew by in a flurry of meeting several high officials who congratulated him on the feat and rewarded him with several pieces of gold. He was even granted a small home of his own for ending a threat that had been casting terror over the city.

Who knew being evil had its rewards.

Syèl’s local fame increased to two hundred points, and both Summoned and residents alike spoke of 'Syèl the Savior' for several days on end.

Tokyo, Japan.

Genaco Entertainment.

Top Floor: CEO's Office.

3:45 pm, Monday, 13 th April 2043.

The CEO's office could be likened to a dream arcade. Past the doors were several arcade and console games hooked up to individual video screens for visitors to play if they got bored. At a corner was a little mini-golf station with three different holes, and if all those were not enough, there was a small pond close to the main desk, complete with turtles. There had once been ducks, but they turned out to be a disaster, so the CEO stuck with turtles.

All of these were placed on artificial carpet grass and surrounded by a rocket-proof glass that boasted the best view of the city. Some called this CEO eccentric, and a little crazy. He, however, felt it was nice to have all of one's playthings at their workplace.

James Shouyou, CEO of Genaco Entertainment, read the report of the last expo with a wry smile. It was only a matter of time before the world moved into its next phase. America and Britain were months away from merging, and he guessed it was not too long before the previous U.S.S.R joined up again.

China had already absorbed several Asian countries into its wing, Japan being one of the few odds one out.

The reason for all the movement was quite simple: The world wanted Genaco dead. Being the sole company with the knowledge on how to produce the coils, they currently possessed too much political power.

To make matters worse, the world's oil reserves were declining at a faster rate than anticipated. This meant in a decade or two, Genaco would truly be the rulers of the world. Now was the time to strike, and they were all going to hit hard.

"Wish they would relax a bit." James sighed as he wrinkled the report and tossed in an arc into a basketball hoop above a trash can. "Score!"

James thought of the young boy he had ‘recommended’ to the Rebirth Project and jumped to his feet. He ran a hand through his golden blond hair and let out a mischievous smile. "Let's pay the kid a visit..."