Miles had a hard time believing it.

[Conditional Undeath], [Enhanced Senses], leveling up, stat increases, and the Beast Within alone was more than enough to make the Vampires or rather the Kindred, extremely powerful and dangerous foes.

But with Blood Source Assimilation, the ability to steal power from the consumed, on top of all that, the Kindred became something else entirely.

Just like the system described it, a terrifying race with limitless potential.

Of course, there were mentions of the rewards not being guaranteed, and even a limit on the number of assimilations, which made things kind of fair. But really, even with limits, Blood Source Assimilation was too much of a game-changer.

All a Vampire needed to do was be wise about assimilating blood sources, to ensure they gained the abilities they considered useful. And within a very short time, they could cover their weaknesses and enhance their strengths.

Miles couldn’t help but wonder why the Kindred had not already overwhelmed the other races of the Fae and even defeated humanity.

There shouldn’t be any reason not to, considering all that was needed to make someone a Vampire, was a single bite.

Unless there was something Miles was missing. Limits or information he wasn’t aware of.

Really, all he knew for certain was that he had been bitten by a Vampire and Werewolf, and finally saved by a ghost woman, and here he was, a Newborn Kindred himself.

Now that he thought about it, that ghost woman really was a wild card of sorts. The shift into either Vampire or Werewolf, should not involve strange ghost ladies who save you without complaint.

It was very possible her interference may have changed a couple of things, but exactly what, he didn’t know.

Miles shifted his eyes towards the status once more. There had been a minor change.

[Free Points: 2 (1 Blood Source Point Available)]

‘Should I use up the assimilation chance?’

It really did seem like a good choice. Sir Xavier was a Knight of the Capital, an Epsilon who had fought on equal terms with old Zhan, and the only Epsilon with something resembling Flight.

There was a chance Miles could gain the ability to fly, or maybe even that Marionette Core ability. But there was also the possibility he would get nothing.

Unsure of what to do, Miles turned to Zhan Shen. His guardian was far more experienced than himself, especially when it came to battle and judging power levels. It would be a pity if he didn’t make use of the opportunities available to him.

So he asked, “Old Zhan, I have a question. What do you think of the Knight?”

The elderly butler was genuinely confused, “The Knight? What Knight? Is this another thing only you can see?”

Miles was confused as well. Pointing at the fleshless corpse, he asked, “You don’t know who he is?”

Zhan Shen shook his head, “No. Should I?”

It only took a moment for Miles to realize what was happening. Old Zhan didn’t know who he--no, the Beast Within had killed.

“Seriously? You don’t know him? General of the Capital City Military? Sir Xavier Jones? The Knight of the Sky?! The only known Epsilon who can fly?!”

Zhan Shen frowned, scratching his head, trying to remember. FInally shook his head again, “Doesn’t ring a bell. He must not be as great as you say. Huh... So just because he can fly with Telekinesis, he was called the Knight of the Sky? That's kind of a stretch.”

Miles should’ve expected this. Zhan Shen was bad with names, really bad, especially if he didn’t consider them important.

Heaving an annoyed sigh, Miles asked again, “Fine. Just tell me what you think of him? Was he strong for an Epsilon?”

This time, the answer was instantaneous. “Yes, very strong. Not the strongest Epsilon though. And I’m sure you know why, Master Miles. After all, I exist!” he said with a rather cheeky grin.

Miles simply ignored the shameless guardian of his, and raised an eyebrow, telling him to continue.

With his grin growing just a bit wider, the elderly butler continued, “His telekinesis was well-trained. Enough to make himself float. It definitely made him a powerful Epsilon. Not to mention his raw Telekinesis was strong enough to almost bring down a building, merely with his mind.

But what truly set him apart from the rest, was what he did at the end. That ball of blue lightning is a very unusual and dangerous skill, one that could render most opponents helpless if struck.”

Huh. So basically, Marionette Core was the true prize. But Miles didn’t favor the odds of actually getting it. As far as he understood, it was a skillful application of Telekinesis, so he wasn’t even sure if it was possible to just gain it as a system skill.

Flight, even Telekinetic Flight, while undoubtedly desirable, didn’t seem to be as important. At least his guardian seemed to think so.

Meanwhile, Zhan Shen continued, “But what really interests me is why such a talented individual would try to rob our safe house. Especially if he is a Knight of the Capital Military like you said. Sure we have some good stuff here, but nothing that would be of interest to an Epsilon.”

Miles had wondered the same. He felt it was high time they got some answers. he turned towards the rough, muscular man on the floor, at the other end of the room, “Then how about we find out?”

Saying so, Miles prepared to walk over to the scarred fellow, he himself had knocked out earlier, in order to wake him up.

Step! Step! Step!

Suddenly, the light sound of boots hitting the concrete echoed out, rapidly growling louder and closer.

Miles was instantly on his guard, but Zhan Shen wasn’t.

He turned to Miles and explained with a relaxed smile, “Don’t worry Master Miles, it’s just the Faehuman who was standing guard outside. He escaped when the battle began, so I almost forgot about him. I suppose he must’ve decided to come back for his friend.”

Miles allowed himself to relax, “Alright. If you say so.”

But there was also a small problem. If this Faehuman really was so weak, why would he come dashing in? Wouldn’t it be obvious his comrades had lost? Why would he run into his obvious defeat? Was he an idiot or something?

Immediately, Miles’s brows furrowed.

He could smell something in the air. Something sharp and pungent.

Was that… ozone?

Before he could think any further, the Faehuman in question appeared.

It was a youth with a rather thin figure and straw-like hair. In his hand was a strange cube-shaped object, his thumb placed firmly on one vertex, which was apparently pressed in. The four sides of this cube blinked slowly, with a threatening white light.

This youth was sweating heavily, breathing heavily and deeply as if he had run over an extremely long distance. His eyes seemed to find the floor most interesting, as he stared directly below him...

Immediately, Zhan Shen’s eyes widened. He cursed under his breath, “Holy Sh*t! It‘s a Fae Bomb! They don’t build ‘em like they used to! Can’t even sense the aura in these new bombs. Damn it, I messed up!” finally on guard himself.

Miles barely listened, as his mind began to run at full speed, with the force of 75 Intelligence. It only took him a moment to analyze the current situation.

A glowing cube, a pressed in vertex. Possible Fae bomb. And with the smell of ozone. It was almost definitely genuine.

This fellow had his finger on the vertex, the trigger. Smart move. If they attacked, he could lose his grip, killing them all.

The worst part was they had no leverage of their own.

The scarred man on the floor might’ve served as a hostage, but he was quite a distance away.

It was obvious they wouldn’t be allowed to walk over peacefully and hold him.

If Zhan Shen were to dash over with his full speed, the bomber might get spooked, and let go of the bomb. Fae bombs were infamous for their hair triggers. A millisecond of releasing the trigger was more than enough to allow it to explode.

Old Zhan seemed to understand this as well, based on his irritated frown.

It didn’t seem possible to escape the range of the bomb before it exploded either. Especially considering that it could be thrown.

Miles understood the current situation. Sometimes being strong wasn’t enough. In the current world, weapons like the Fae bomb could bring down even the most powerful Deltas, sometimes even more.

He hated himself for relaxing before, especially when he had begun to notice something was not right. It was his fault.

But there was no time for regret. Only for action.

And it was time to take a risk.

He turned his attention back to the status screen.

Without thinking any further, he put the blood source Free point into Wisdom.

[Wisdom: 80 => 81]

The number went up, but nothing happened.

At least for a second, because in the next, Miles felt a throbbing pain in his head.

Instantly, he remembered.

***

“W--Why? Why?! Why did you do that?!” A shocked voice asked him.

He raised his head. It was his sister, his little sister, little Cassie. Her brown hair was in disarray, and her eyes revealed pain, pain at his betrayal.

His right hand held onto a syringe, he could still barely see some light blue drops left within. As for the rest, well, he had injected that into her.

“WHY!? WHY DID YOU DO THAT? WHY!?” she screamed, grabbing onto his shoulders.

Cassie was angry at him, obviously. But she wasn’t, not really.

She weakly shook him, her voice growing softer, “W-Why? Xavier! You deserved it! You earned it! You would be better than me! So why!?”

Xavier smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Because a little girl once told me, she wanted to be a Queen of Ice, to rule over a palace of frost, to be as beautiful and dangerous as winter, just like the princess in her favorite movie. Because I can’t always be there to protect her. Because she deserves the best.”

Cassandra’s anger dissipated almost instantly. She embraced him, burrowing her face into his chest. Her voice shuddered as she spoke, “Y--you’re an idiot, you know that?”

He chuckled, hugging her back, “Only when I’m with you.”

For a moment, they stood still, holding each other.

Cassie’s voice rang out from his chest, sharper than before, “I--I’ll protect you then. I’ll be the Queen of ice, and I won’t let anyone harm you.”

Xavier laughed teasingly, “Ehh? You? Protect me?! Pfft. Impossible.”

Instantly, he felt a stinging pain from his stomach. She was pinching him.

“Ouch. Ouch. Let go. Ow. I’m sorry. Ow. Ow. Let go!”

But she didn’t seem to plan on listening. Xavier had no choice.

Thwack!

A stone flew up from behind and hit her on her head.

“Ouch!” she shouted herself, releasing him from her death grip and reaching for her head.

But now he had poked the lioness. Blazing with anger, she shouted out, “WHO THE HELL HITS THEIR LITTLE SISTER!? HUH!? I’LL SHOW YOU!”

Three balls of Ice formed before her, floating ominously, releasing cold mist into the air.

They wouldn’t do any permanent damage, but they would definitely hurt like hell.

SWOOSH!

The three ice balls shot towards him, accurately aimed at the most painful parts of his body.

But just before they reached Xavier, they froze in the air.

Cassandra was shocked, “W--What!?”

Xavier grinned while waggling his eyebrows, “Did you forget? I still have Telekinesis!”

Swoosh!

The ice balls shot back, striking down a helpless Cassie. She fell down screaming, more in anger than pain.

It shouldn’t have hurt… much. Xavier had made sure they were slower than she had thrown.

But he really was impressed. His sister had used her Fae ability almost immediately after being injected. It seemed like talent ran in the family. It was too bad that only she and he were left...

Xavier walked over to his sister, who was pretending to be unconscious for whatever silly reason. Maybe to make him feel bad?

He held out his hand, “Cassie c’mon. Let’s make you a real queen of ice.”

Her eyes opened instantly, excitement visible within.