With a bestial roar, an ape-like monster jumped off from a thick perch of the tree it had been standing on, attempting to land on top of Vaeril. But Vaeril had been prepared. The senses and physical capability of his Sanguis body was far beyond anything what a human body was capable of, more so now that he was no longer starving.

Slash!

Almost instinctively, as if compelled, Vaeril instantly fortified his right arm with Body energy, before tracing the Zenitence longsword into a quick upward slash. From groin to shoulder, the weapon easily parted through fur, meaty flesh, muscles, and thick bones. There was simply no resistance. Like slicing through soft tofu. All the while, Vaeril felt only a casual indifference at the savagery he had inflicted, his mind numbed to such a sight by the horrors he had seen in the apocalypse. And it was not as if he had killed a person.

Flecks of thick, scarlet blood rained down onto him, splattering his face and arms.

From the bond, the giggling of a little girl could be heard. More, more!

The feeling of wetness, and the tangible, metallic delight did not last long against his skin. In less than a blink of an eye, all the blood immediately disappeared from his pale skin, absorbed by a deep hunger underneath.

Holy shit.

Was his skin some kind of super-absorbent sponge made specifically to absorb the blood of living creatures? At the same time, a tiny part of his mind was glad he didn’t have to sink his teeth—his teeth were normal just like a human’s—into the ape-like monsters in an attempt to find out how his shadeblood worked.

From the peripherals of his vision, Vaeril could see the soldiers who were nearby quickly take a few steps backward, rubbing their eyes to see if they were under an illusion. Blood, which had stained the Sanguis’ alabaster skin, a sharp contrast, had all but disappeared in less than a heartbeat. As for the longsword the Sanguis held in his hands, it was still a deep obsidian color, unmarred by nothing. Not even the shafts of light coming from the tall canopies could mar it, the light seemingly distorting around the blade, as if afraid to touch it.

Vaeril was glad that the acquaintances he knew by name did not look upon him in fear or disgust. Mahar simply watched him with a glint in his sharp eyes, while the princess, Jess, and the old scholar studied him curiously.

It seemed to Vaeril that his body’s muscle memory was no joke. Even against the passage of four thousand years, the instincts of swordplay honed into his body could not be forgotten.

Attack, wielder! Leave nothing alive! It has been so long for Loliya!

The bloodthirst coming through their bond sent redness into his vision, a thirst for destruction that threatened to only be able to be pacified by the blood and death of his foes. But Vaeril quickly managed to reign in the sudden bloodthirst. Barely.

A quick, casual inspection of his surroundings yielded immediate results. Many of the ape-like monsters, possibly over a hundred, were perched on the branches of the surrounding, towering trees. And more and more of them were circling in closer by the seconds.

“Oh my Luxuria, not these monsters again,” Kote lamented to his goddess of light and safe havens. “One of them managed to slightly harm my beard.”

Ordered by the commander, the soldiers went into a two-person formation, multiple two-person groups spread into a circle.

Scan.

Vaeril used the system scan on the closest ape-like monster. The creature looked entirely like an ape except for the two curved horns jutting out sideways from the top of its head, right above its round ears. Its light green fur, patterned to camouflage itself with the surrounding trees, further denoted its dissimilarity. The trunks of the surrounding trees were an eerie green, further cementing the truth of the unknown world Vaeril had found himself in.

[Scan successful. Remaining System Scan Uses: 1.]

Name: ???

Type: Living (Mortal)

Race: Green Green Horn

Level: 24

Age: 14

Health: 100%

Description: A new race made by Feyrith Craftstorm through a combination of various ape and horned races. Its race name has come about from being named by Loliya, a Zenitence weapon. The savagery and the hunting skills of the Green Green Horns are praiseworthy, but their inability to use mana and lack of intelligence has severely limited their growth.

It was that name again. The name Feyrith Craftstorm had appeared when Vaeril used a system scan on the Pentagram Gargoyles. And now it had appeared again with the Green Green Horn. But there was a secondary surprise which made Vaeril balk at the description, more from the horrible naming sense and less from the fact that Loliya was the one who had named them.

Who is Feyrith Craftstorm, Loliya? Vaeril mind-asked.

Oh, Loliya remembers that name. Loliya responded with a sharp edge, the bloodthirst, in her tone. She was an elf enamored with Azul. She’s probably dead now, however. Mortal lives are fleeting.

Were he not in the presence of so many people and with an imminent battle against the ape-like monsters about to ensue, Vaeril would have likely groaned in frustration. Asking Loliya for proper explanations about things she was not interested in was like pulling teeth. Or pulling sword, if that made any sense. Like a plebeian attempting to free the legendary Sword in the Stone, Vaeril imagined.

A legendary Sword in Stone that was unscannable. He had secretly attempted to scan the Zenitence weapon before, but all he had obtained was a failure notification.

His contemplation was interrupted as the biggest of the Green Green Horn, most likely the alpha, started beating its chest with a massive roar, signaling the start of the battle.

Vaeril, being at the forefront of the party, was quickly targeted by the closest monster, the one he had used his scan on. Vaeril quickly launched an Airball, a tier one wind spell, toward the ape monster still in midjump. Similar to the Fireball spell, this Airball was several sizes larger than the average Airball.

Like a speeding truck, it smacked into its chest, slamming the monster backward into the trunk of the tree. The sharp cracking of bones that sounded out corresponded with his quick check of the monster’s status screen. It had lost about 38% of its health.

The loss of health made Vaeril wonder just how health was calculated. He knew that if health reached 0%, it would mean death. And that depending on the severity and whether the damage done was aimed at vital spots, the health percentages would decrease accordingly. But could he theoretically kill a high-level dragon through repeated attacks? Even if said damage was the lowest of the lowest, only dealing 1 damage? Would landing a million 1-damage attacks kill a dragon, or a high-level boss?

It was food for thought, but Vaeril would have to shelve the thoughts for later. Taking aim, Vaeril casted two more Airballs at the fallen Green Green Horn. Both spells smacked into its sides, sending it careening into a backflip before it landed back onto the forest floor with a muted thump.

The status screen of the monster automatically closed, confirming its death.

With the temporary respite from battle granted by the death of the Green Green Horn, Vaeril inspected his surroundings, specifically the skirmishes of his human companions. Acquaintances? Associates?

They were an orderly and controlled lot, fighting the tribe of Green Green Horns in a formation. The most efficient of the lot, Vaeril judged, would have to be the princess and her seven deadly guards. Through perfect coordination, they were mowing down the ape-like monsters, barely breaking a sweat. Their slaughter was made faster through the usage of higher tier spells, ones which Vaeril had never heard of. He presumed he would only learn of them once he reached level 30.

From the corner of his eyes, Vaeril saw another Green Green Horn land on his right side. This time, he casted a different elemental spell, using an Earthball. There were ten types of mana-based magic, six of them being of the elements water, earth, fire, air, dark, and light. As for the other four types, they were Body, Neutral, Soul, and Inert, of which the latter two were the rarest out of all ten types.

The Earthball was stronger than the Airball, sending the monster flat on its back. It only took two of them to kill the monster, the last spell hitting it so hard it left a sizable dent on its hard skull, leaving blood seeping out.

A few minutes slowly passed by chaotically as the one-sided battles all around ensued. Even when the princess and her deathguards killed Vaeril presumed to be the alpha, the largest of the them, did not force the monsters into a retreat. It was only when the tribe of Green Green Horns was almost decimated and only five remained that the savage monsters chose to retreat, abandoning the corpses of their brethren.

Breaths were released as the fight finally died down with the retreat of the ape monsters. While it wasn’t a hard battle by any means, it was a battle of endurance, a few soldiers even sustaining some light injuries.

“Though your swordplay is startling fast and your spells far more powerful than the usual, I noticed that you only used tier one spells, Ragna,” Mahar commented, a glint in his sharp, brown eyes. The rogue had been closely watching his new acquaintance, curious as to what his true power was.

Amusement one would feel toward an ignorant child. He thinks your swordplay is fast? Clearly, this human has not seen the zenith of swordsmanship.

Vaeril paused in hesitation. Should he tell them of his abnormality? That he was only level 14 at the moment? Could they be trusted? He had already faced one betrayal back on Earth. He didn’t want to go through another.

In the end, however, Vaeril decided he could reveal his low level, as it would be hard to hide the fact that he couldn’t use any higher tier spells. In addition, he trusted the covenant. And the fact that the humans looked trustworthy helped in regards to his decision. Then again, the pair of siblings had looked trustworthy too.

Vaeril shook his head. “The passage of time and the abnormality, Esotherial weakening, has taken a toll upon both my power and my memories. I am only level 14 now.”

His brown eyes went wide. “Level 14, and you are this powerful?” Mahar exclaimed.

Princess Thalia’s ears perked at the conversation, intently listening to their words.

“What exactly is this Esotherial weakening you speak of?” scholar Johan asked. The inquisitiveness in his voice could not be hidden. And neither could his obvious eavesdropping. “And what was your original level?”

But it wasn’t as if Vaeril was whispering. He had said the words precisely in a normal speaking voice so that it could be heard.

“You do not have to tell us that,” Thalia interrupted loudly, glaring at the old scholar. “The revealing of one’s personal status is something that should not be lightly done, even more so in the presence of strangers.”

Vaeril smiled in thanks at her, to which the princess acknowledged with a slight dip of her head. “It’s fine. My original level was 179.”

Visible shock could be seen on their faces. As well as murmurs amongst the adventurers and soldiers whose names he did not know.

“Impossible, even the strongest adventurer group Radiant Light is said to be only around level 100.”

“—five times higher than my level!”

Thalia coughed loudly, cutting short the gossip. Her gray eyes turned cold, landing on each of the humans. “I trust that since Azul has kindly revealed to us such sensitive information, this information will remain here.”

The princess looked upward. “We will take a short break before moving out to find a place to camp. Night is about to fall. And you all know what nights in this forest are like,” she reminded.

There were a few groans and mumbling. From the long week they had spent in the island forest here, they knew nighttime was a rowdy time. The nightly mating calls of the savage ape-like monsters were a nightmare to their ears.

Observed by many of the humans, some warily and others curiously, Vaeril proceeded to the corpses of the six Green Green Horns he had slain. It was the moment he had been looking forward to. But he would need to hide his suspicious action first.

Loot! His inner gamer Chihuahua was greedily barking.

Anticipation. Loliya, knowing about his ability to loot, was watching with anticipation. Not that the sword had any eyes. The Zenitence weapon had explained to him that her perception worked through her wielder’s senses or through her own mana sense.

Here goes nothing. Kneeling down, Vaeril stabbed his fingers into the thigh of the Green Green Horn, making a bloody hole for his hand to nestle in like a bird. With the wet sensation of blood against his hand the corpse began to visibly shrink. In a matter of seconds, the skin quickly pulled back, exposing lines of muscles along with bones that jutted out unnaturally against the shrunken, moisture-less skin.

In the back of his head, as he watched the morbidly fascinating yet queasy sight, Vaeril vaguely remembered the blood of a human body to be approximately seven percent. And assuming the ape in front of him weighed about two hundred pounds, he was likely draining about fourteen pounds of blood. All of which had disappeared into his body.

Once more, Vaeril thanked the Esotherial, the system, or the gods for not requiring him to use his teeth to drain the blood. He could not imagine draining fourteen pounds of blood through his mouth. He glanced down at the bloodless corpse, a gruesome caricature of its former self. Its dirty fur and long clawed nails, and its smell—

Do I smell too? Vaeril thought to himself, finally realizing an important question. He had not noticed any odor from himself, though perhaps a little scent of decay and muskiness when he had awakened. But that was natural, was it not, given that he was asleep for four thousand years.

Shaking the unimportant thought free, Vaeril willed the word status, wanting to check the percentage of his shadeblood. Surely, fourteen pounds of blood would fill the percentage.

Name: Azul Ragna san’Oblis Xolron (Vaeril Chime)

Type: Living (Immortal)

Race: Sanguis (Nephilim)

Level: 14 *(179)

Age: 4152 *(24)

Health: 100%

Mana: 78%

Shadeblood: 6%

Holy: 1%

Demonic: 1%

Soul: 100% (Amalgamation)

Title: [Demonic User] [Dragontouched] [Dragon Slayer] [*Fireblessed] [Goliath Slayer] [*Guardian of Sanguis] [Holy User] [*Liaison of Arkani] [Mana User] [Magus] [Meandering Lover] [Myriad Killer] [Patron of War] [Sanguine Imperator] [Shadeblood User] [Soul User] [*Sword Saint] [Isekai World Traveler] [Zenitence Wielder]

*Beneficial effects of the titles are not applied. Certain conditions must be fulfilled before the titles can be unlocked.

Talents: [Air Affinity] [Body Affinity] [Dark Affinity] [Demonic Affinity] [Earth Affinity] [Enlightened One] [Fast Learner] [Fire Affinity] [Holy Affinity] [Inert Affinity] [Light Affinity] [Memory] [Neutral Affinity] [Shadeblood Affinity] [Soul Affinity] [Water Affinity]

Quirks: [Akashic Tongue] [Berserker Fury] [Deviant Charm] [Fateful Gambler] [Heroic Visage] [Manifold Compatibility] [Multichanneler] [Nemean Fortitude] [Nether Contractor] [System Player] [Transmigration] [Twilight of War] [Unhindered Growth]

Abnormalities: [Esotherial Weakening] [Soul Fixation]

Six percent only!? Was there an error in his status or something? Vaeril had only gained 3% shadeblood even though he had probably drained about fourteen pounds of blood. A quick mental calculation about how much blood it would actually take to fill the entirety of the shadeblood percentage led to a startling number. He would need to absorb about 462 pounds of blood, though the number was likely to be closer to 500 pounds.

Just how in the world would his body store that much blood inside of himself? Did he weigh heavier than he looked?

So what was your loot? asked Loliya.

His stupor broken, Vaeril willed at the corpse, looting it. Having done such an action more than a few dozen times back on Earth, it came naturally to Vaeril. The loot he obtained would automatically transfer to the system inventory unless the system inventory was full.

And seeing that his current system inventory had only one out of seven slots filled, the loot directly transferred into the second empty slot of his system inventory. Being a looted drop, Vaeril would only need a mental command to see the details of the drop. He opened up his inventory, only to find disappointment.

Inventory:

Slot 1: 3x Yggdrasil’s Dew

Slot 2: 1x Green Green Horn’s Fur

Slot 3: Empty

Slot 4: Empty

Slot 5: Empty

Slot 6: Empty

Slot 7: Empty

It was a Green Green Horn’s Fur.

A fur? You mean to tell Loliya, that all you obtained was some useless fur?

That remains to be seen. The loot drops are random, but there is still some logic to it. Let me see what the other five corpses dropped.

Vaeril slowly stood up, attempting to appear casual to the onlookers, as if he had not just drained fourteen pounds of blood. Ignoring the looks given to him, he moved on to the next five corpses, promptly draining and looting them with quick efficiency.

His efforts at looting were for naught, as the Esotherial had not seen fit to reward him with anything other than the Green Green Horn’s Fur. Amidst the laughter of the longsword and the embarrassment at his luck, he now had six of the damned fur in the second slot of his inventory.

The only consolation was that the humans became tired of seeing Vaeril stick his hands into corpses. It was still a morbidly fascinating sight to them for the first few corpses. But after the tenth, the twentieth, the thirtieth, it had become a part of the scenery as the adventurers and soldiers began to converse with each other.

The mentally tiresome, repetitive task of restoring his shadeblood to full was finally put to an end after forty-two corpses, as a few of them had bled out far too much blood.

But it was a rewarding task. In the middle of the process, his deathly pale alabaster skin was no longer as bleached looking. And the emaciated appearance of his body had disappeared with the first obvious signs of well-defined muscles actually filling out his body.

“Well, you are certainly no human. That is for sure,” Mahar quietly noted.

“Where do you put all that blood?” scholar Johan asked.

The pale, gray eyes of the princess watched him curiously. “You look much more presentable now.”

Vaeril, not for the first time, felt like a specimen under glass.