Unable to handle his ward’s cheeky grin, so similar to his own, Zhan Shen stood up in a huff, “That does it! I’m going to go and bring that dastardly kid back! No one gets away with making a fool of m-- *cough* I mean, I can’t let law-breaking thieves get off scot-free! Not to mention the fact that Jimmy kid knows about your Vampiric tendencies. Even if they don’t know who we are, it’s still a liability!”

“Wait, old Zhan! I’ll join--” Miles began to speak.

But the elderly butler had already vanished, leaving behind a few words wafting in the air, “No worries Master Miles. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Miles heaved an annoyed sigh, as he observed old Zhan’s figure dashing away with rapid speed.

Sure, he could barely see him. But following after? That was impossible.

He had no choice but to wait, twiddle his thumbs or something.

Wait.

There was something he could do. He had yet to complete the Blood Source Assimilation, and now seemed as good a chance as any.

Miles willed the screen into appearance with a thought.

[Blood Source Assimilation: Faehuman (Telekinesis- Greater/ Touched by the Veiled World)

Insufficient for New Discipline unlock.

New skill available: (Telekinesis-Inferior) {+}

Discipline Expansion available: IHaemomancyI (New Discipline Skills will be available upon unlock) {+}]

He had already decided he would be giving up on Telekinesis. Miles had yet to even learn what the hell Haemomancy involved, and trying his hand at telekinesis right now would be spreading himself thin, which was never a good idea.

If he really needed it, he would just buy a serum later on.

Besides, the Haemomancy expansion now included skills, quite possibly due to that attempt at controlling himself, and that basically sealed the deal.

So without a doubt in his mind, Miles chose.

Ding!

[Discipline IHaemomancyI broadened.

New Discipline Skills available.]

Miles didn’t actually feel any different. He vaguely felt he might be able to do more, more than before, but that was it.

Ding!

[The user may unlock a single skill.

Sanguinem Haze I (Blood Haze)- Common: You blind your enemies’ eyes with blood, spreading the curse of your blood vision, effectively blinding non-kindred.

1 BP per use. Ranged. One target per cast. May be dispelled. {+}

Clavam Sanguine Ferrum I (Ironblood Spike)- Uncommon: Inspired by the Soul Blood knife of the Beast Within, you hurl a spike of Ironblood, striking a target and causing them to bleed.

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

2 BP per use. Ranged. One spike at a time. {+} ]

Miles read through the skills, directly translating the Latin phrases without wasting too much time.

‘Interesting…’

It appeared the skills were based on things he already possessed or had experienced. [Blood Haze] perhaps, due to the clouding of blood over his eyes when [Blood Vision] was used.

And as for [Ironblood Spike], it was mentioned in the description itself that it was inspired by The Beast Within.

‘Damn! Doesn’t that mean I wouldn’t have had any skills if the Beast Within hadn’t been unsealed? And conversely… I could’ve had more skills if I had seen or experienced more?’

It seemed this System wasn’t entirely game-like. The Skills he could gain were based on his own experiences. He should probably consider experimenting…

But for the moment, Miles looked over the two skills.

[Blood Haze] was quite an interesting skill. Blinding an enemy, although only a status effect of sorts, could still be used in a variety of ways. Plus, the Blood Point consumption was less than the other skill.

But it seemed to be limited to non-Kindred, and worst of all was the (Common) tag.

Miles had nothing against the word, but if he had to choose, selecting something considered ‘common’ just didn’t agree with him. Such was the mindset of a rich and spoiled kid.

On the other hand, [Ironblood Spike] was considered (Uncommon), which was much better. It was a direct attack skill and not a status effect like the former. Thus, it couldn't exactly be dispelled.

And the best part was the blood leeching! The Blood Point cost may be higher for this skill, but this more than made up for it!

Despite the fact that blood tasted amazing, Miles didn’t really like the idea of sucking people to get it.

It seemed… unsanitary?

Weird and gross was more like it.

Thus, one of his greatest worries was using up his BP and being forced to suck people for blood.

But with [Ironblood Spike], he would be able to gain back some or all of the BP. Potentially, just keep spamming spikes while constantly earning back the Blood Points spent.

Thus, the choice was obvious.

Miles selected [Clavam Sanguine Ferrum I], and felt the same feeling as before when he got the first skill. It gave him something, he wasn’t sure if he could call it knowledge, but he still understood it instinctively.

However, it was also different from the first time. That had felt a lot more forced, as if something or someone had dragged out and forced information into his brain.

While this, this felt more natural. There was nothing natural about spontaneously learning things, but Miles couldn’t think of a better word.

Either way, he now knew how to summon an (Ironblood Spike).

‘Hmm. It’s probably not too frugal of me to waste 2 BP and shoot a spike on random. But… frugal isn’t really me. Let's see what this can do.'

With a raise of his hand, Miles activated the skill.

***

‘Damn it. Prototype #83 was a failure as well? I knew it wouldn’t be anything close to a real Fae bomb, but that was disappointing...’

James, or Jimmy, as he liked to call himself, was deep in thought, as he dashed through a desolate road, only a few hundred meters or so from the safe house they had tried to rob.

This was the outer city, extremely close to the outer city wall. Which meant that there was next to no one outside, not a single soul brave or stupid enough to face the possible threat of orcs.

Well, except maybe him.

He would still spot the occasional face peeking out of windows and curtains, quite possibly having heard the sound of the explosion. While it hadn’t been too loud, it was still enough to be heard within this block.

‘Well, I suppose, I’ll be going back to the drawing board. At least the explosion process was perfect. I just need to figure out how to channel more energy, more plasma. Besides, it wasn’t a total waste. It allowed us to escape after all.’

Jimmy still couldn’t believe that he had had the guts to run into the safe house, knowing full well that Luther and Master Jonn were in trouble, probably even killed.

He had entered with only a bare skeleton of a plan, with the prototype Fae bomb he had been working on, as a possible deterrent.

He had simply planned to threaten the people inside and leave with Luther.

But that blood-drinking boy turned out to be the one that had killed the Epsilon, Master Jonn! And he had almost drunk all of Luther’s blood as well! To make matters worse, he seemed to have figured out the truth about his bomb, that it wasn't genuine.

Not daring to take any chances, Jimmy had thrown the Fae bomb. He himself had been well aware of its range and had easily escaped with some light burns.

Once again, he was surprised about how calm he had been able to be at that moment. How he had been able to speak without stuttering. How confident he had felt.

Everyone, everyone, had said he was shy and awkward, a spineless, timid person with his brains being the only kind of good thing about him.

Well, except maybe Luther. The only person he’d go so far for, even risking his own life.

Jimmy hated his friend for being so hot-headed and deciding to rob that safe house, but knowing the reason he had borrowed the money from the White Snakes, he couldn’t bear to.

So he continued to rush forwards, supporting the unconscious body of his friend. Luther had lost a lot of blood, and Jimmy needed to get him somewhere safe to treat him as fast as possible.

On any other day, those light burns would’ve been more than enough to completely ruin his day. To make him give up and take the day off.

But today, today he couldn’t. Jimmy held the fate of someone else, someone he cared about, in his hands.

With his heart beating like a drum, adrenaline pumping in his veins, his mind refused to give up, neither the burns nor the weight of Luther could drag him down.

Besides, he was still energized from the rush of excitement about what had just happened.

Jimmy had triumphed against opponents that had defeated both Master Jonn and Luther! He had survived, with the power of intellect alone!

Despite the constant insults he had faced, despite everyone saying the contrary, Jimmy felt all the Fae Serums he had invested in his Intelligence were worth it.

But all of his self-satisfaction went out the window as the path before him seemed to blur.

And suddenly an arm appeared before him.

Whap!

His torso struck against the arm. Jimmy had expected he’d be able to rush through the arm, after all, it was a running body against one arm, but… he was wrong.

Rather than an arm, it was more like an immovable steel rod, a limb of rock-hard muscle.

Jimmy could almost feel his bones trembling from the collision, as the force of the crash sent him reeling backward, falling o his ass, while the unconscious Luther fell down as well, flat on his face.

Looking up, he saw who the hand belonged to. It was that old man.

Jimmy hadn’t expected the old man to be the one to catch up to him.

‘It was the mysterious boy who was strong, right? The blood-sucking monster who killed Master Jonn? So what is this old man doing here? Damn it, don't tell me they're both strong!’

He slowly rasped out, the shock of the crash leaving him out of breath, “A-Aren't you just that blood-sucking boy’s Butler or something? W-Why didn’t he come himself? Did he send you to do the dirty work?

But friend, you understand o-our situation right? So just let us go, p-please!”

The old man seemed intrigued, as he ignored Jimmy’s questions and asked instead, “You weren’t knocked unconscious by that? How?”

Before Jimmy could even consider whether he should speak or not, the old man answered his own question, “AH! An interesting Jacket you’ve got there. A Military issued Steel Orc Jacket, right? No wonder.”

Jimmy was surprised the old man knew about the jacket.

‘Could the old man be Military as well? Perhaps I can use that to establish friendly terms?’

Just as he opened his mouth to ask…

The old man interrupted with grim eyes, “As for your request, I’m afraid I cannot. You made a fool of this Zhan Shen, you made me injure the young master, and no one gets out of that unscathed. No one.”

‘Oh shit!’

Having realized the old man outclassed him by several folds, Jimmy immediately began to shout, “No! Wait! SOMEBODY! HELP ME! HELP US! WE’RE BEING ATTACKED!”

They were still within the outer city, close to a residential area. Surely, someone would help?

But nobody seemed to care. Not a single window or door opened. Noone rushed to help. Nobody.

As always, it was just him and Luther.

The old man shrugged, a grim smile on his face, “Sorry kid. People don’t care about anyone besides themselves and their own. Can you really blame them? That's the way the world works now. And it’s best if you learn that.”

Crack!

Instantly, something hit him on the back of his head. And Jimmy fell down, unconscious, next to Luther.

Zhan Shen stared down at the two unconscious bodies.

Suddenly, his face scrunched up.

“Dammit! Do I have to carry these two back? Maybe I shouldn't have knocked him out? F*ck! I'm an old man, not meant to be doing heavy physical work!”

Cursing once more just for good measure, the elderly butler grumpily got to work.