With a familiar Ding! the system status appeared before his eyes. 

[User: Miles Lykaon]

[Current Form: Kindred.]

[Kindred Class: Newborn Lvl. 2 || (1/10) Varying Blood Sources Consumed. Assimilation possible.]

[Disciplines: |Haemomancy Lvl. 1|- Untrained(?)]

[Kindred Generation: Too sparse to detect. Please evolve first.]

[HP: 10/10] | [Conditional Undeath] | [BP: 15/110]

{Blood Points(BP) in detail: (Personal) 10/10 + (Ripae Sanguine) BP: 5/100}

[Strength: 17+1] {+}

[Endurance: 15+1] {+}

[Agility: 18+1] {+}

[Intelligence: 75] {+}

[Wisdom: 80] {+}

[Influence: 1005] {+}

[Free Points: 2]

[Skills: General- (Magicae Aspectus-Inferior)

Haemomancy- (Ripae Sanguine I), (Sanguine Aspectus I)]

[Titles: Discredited Heir of Lykaon Industries (+1000 to Influence)

Newborn Kindred (+5 to all stats but Wisdom, Kindred Senses.)

Cursed {First: Minor Thirst, Second: The Beast Within, Third: Sol’s Hatred}

Conditionally Undead (Granted by the Ankh, the Key of Life. As long as the user is not burned alive or decapitated, any injury will heal, given time. It is still possible to become comatose due to total blood loss.)

Balanced Path of Life

Vessel of The Beast Within (Sealed)

Last Son of Lykaon (Inactive)]

Despite having been in a slightly sour mood, Miles couldn’t help but be impressed by the various new additions to his status. 

His strength, agility, and endurance had increased by 1 point each, along with 2 free points. 

‘A reward of five attribute points in total, just for killing or rather... consuming Sir Xavier? Does the system want me to consume more people, more blood sources?! Is that why the reward is so great?! Wait, I could be wrong... Maybe all of this is just for leveling up?’ 

Miles wasn’t sure which was directly responsible, as his Kindred class was now Newborn Lvl. 2, along with the addition of (1/10) Varying Blood Sources Consumed. 

For the first time, the system decided to give an answer to his questions, as a small message popped up. 

[Class: Newborn(Kindred)- For all reborn with the Curse of Chaos, this class is the first step into the path of the Kindred.

The Newborn is blessed with high attributes, limitless growth potential, and the Key of Ankh.

Carries the title of Cursed. The curse will grow in power as the Kindred matures. 

The Newborn will be given +5 to all stats but wisdom, along with basic Kindred Senses. Stat gain per level: +1 Str, +1 Agi, +1 End, +1 Free Point. 

Consumption of Blood Sources for assimilation will also provide additional Free Stat Points. 1 per each blood source.]

Miles read through the message with great intrigue. It appeared that most of the attribute points were for leveling up the Newborn Class, while a single one of the free stat points was for consuming Sir Xavie-- the blood source. 

Despite getting the answers he sought, even finding more information about the Kindred Form, he couldn’t help but feel annoyed. 

‘Shouldn’t I have gotten this information earlier? Preferably before I chose Kindred as a Form? There are all these mentions of Curses! Shouldn’t I have been informed about this!?’

Miles might not have even chosen Kindred as a form if he had seen these ominous references to Curses and Cursed.

Huh. Perhaps, that was the very reason he hadn’t been informed? Could the system have manipulated him, to ensure he did choose Kindred? 

But of course, it was entirely possible he hadn’t thought of the question properly. Even now, the description had only popped up as he wondered about the attribute point gain. Based on what he had seen so far, the System seemed to work based on his thoughts. 

In the end, Miles wasn’t sure.

Heaving a sigh, he moved on to the [Skills] tab. Miles had gained two completely new skills within a short period of time, and that was entirely due to the interference of the Beast Within.

Within the Haemomancy category, there was the first skill (Sanguine Aspectus I), once again in Latin for some reason. 

With a direct translation it would mean something along the lines of the appearance of blood, but…

Miles decided it would be best to use the skill first.

The last time, it had activated automatically, or perhaps the Beast Within had used it in his place. But this time, he would be doing it himself. 

He remembered that vague collection of thoughts, knowledge, and comprehension that had appeared in his mind back then, and focused on it. 

It was much easier than he expected. 

His vision shifted, and once again he could see a world of blood red. But now, he could only see two veined silhouettes, one that stood nearby, and the other on the floor. 

That of Xavier had vanished. 

‘Interesting. Is it because he’s dead? Or…  No! Sanguine is blood! Without any blood left in his body, I can no longer see him! This skill only allows one to see blood! Then...’ 

Shifting his gaze towards the floor, Miles could observe a few streaks and drops of glowing red. It only took him a moment to realize they were the blood spilled during the battle between Zhan Shen and Sir Xavier. This confirmed it. 

Suddenly, he heard a voice, “Master Miles… your eyes, their glowing? With a red light?”

‘Oh? It's visible to observers? I should be careful when using this in front of others...’

Nevertheless, Miles instantly turned towards the silhouette that was the old butler, “Oh don’t worry old Zhan, it’s just a skill.” 

He couldn’t clearly see the expression, but he could hear the reply, “Ah, of course. Just a skill. One that makes your eyes glow. I completely understand.” 

Satisfied with his answer, Miles returned to experimenting with the skill and turned his eyes towards himself. 

It was another human-shaped silhouette, veins filled with blood. But unlike the others, the diamond on his chest, the heart, it didn’t glow. It was just… there. Lifeless, dead.

Miles didn’t know how to feel about having an unbeaten heart, so he simply decided to ignore it. 

Still, he was confused. If the heart was dead, but how the hell was blood still flowing in his veins? Magic? 

He could only conclude that was how Vampires worked or something. In short, magical Vampire f*ckery. 

Heaving another sigh, Miles deactivated (Sanguine Aspectus I), or as he had decided to call it, Blood Vision. He might not get any awards for the name, but he liked it. Simple and straight to the point. 

He willed the Status back and turned his attention to the other skill. 

Within a new category of General, there was the skill (Magicae Aspectus- Inferior). 

Once again going over his knowledge of Latin, Miles attempted to make sense of it. In line with the previous skill, this meant the appearance of magic. But unlike before, it kind of made sense. 

When the skill worked, Miles had been able to see that blue thread from the Marionette Core. In a way, he was seeing the appearance of ‘magic’. 

But was that really magic? Wasn’t it just a Fae ability? 

According to the System Notification he had received back then, Marionette Core was a secondary ability of Telekinesis, trained and evolved in line with the nature of ‘the world behind the veil’. Whatever the hell that meant. 

Miles couldn’t help but regret the fact that the wielder of the ability was no longer alive to tell him. 

In the end, he decided to do the same as before and give the skill a whirl. Just like before, he reached for the skill knowledge...

When he realized that he didn’t have it. Sanguine Aspectus came with an ‘instruction manual’, but this didn’t. 

Even when he had seen the thread of the Marionette Core, he hadn’t felt anything enter his mind, he had just seen. 

‘It said something about… achieving true sight? Magicae Aspectus really didn’t feel like Blood Vision, despite the similar name.’ 

Miles wasn’t sure what to think of this. He couldn’t activate the skill to find answers either. So in the end, he simply followed the same route as before and settled down on the name, Magic Sight. 

Miles was about to move on, when he realized something. 

He had accepted the spontaneous appearance of thoughts on how to use skills rather carelessly, taking it for granted. Now that he thought about it, wasn't that dangerous...?

‘What if the System could do more than just add thoughts? Remove? Perhaps even change?’ 

The possible threat of mental manipulation was worrying, to say the least. 

For now, Miles felt he was fine. His mind was intact.

Maybe he was just worrying excessively, but he would be damned if he would let himself get caught unprepared. 

When they got back, he’d have to look into some safeguards. 

Having finished the evaluation of the skills, Miles shifted his gaze towards the free points and the plus signs next to the various attributes.

It was obvious he could add the free points to boost the attributes he wished. It was almost uncanny how this system was similar to the video games of old. 

Going over them, Miles wondered what he should invest in. 

First of all, he needed information about what each stat referred to. He was well informed about them due to his knowledge of Fae Serums, and considering the system didn’t take it upon itself to explain, he could only hope what he knew applied here as well. 

Nevertheless, the physical stats were rather obvious. Strength for physical power, Agility for physical speed, and Endurance for the physical constitution. 

They were important, but considering that the [Kindred Class: Newborn] boosted all three for each level up, Miles felt he should leave them alone for now. 

As for the three non-physical stats, Influence was by far the highest, already in the quadruple digits. Another stat to be left alone for now.

Then there was Intelligence, which referred to intellect, the brainpower used for logic and problem-solving. But a high intelligence stat was also required for better control of Fae abilities, especially if one wished to gain more than one. Considering the fact that Miles already possessed two skills, and would only gain more, he felt this might be a worthy investment. 

Finally, there was Wisdom, the most unusual of all. Fae Serums that could increase Wisdom was the hardest to obtain, coincidentally, more expensive, easily twice or thrice the price of other serums. 

This was because they carried knowledge. The life experiences of the Fae used to make the serum, transferred into liquid form, ready to be injected and transformed into knowledge for humanity to learn from. 

Miles couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he boosted his wisdom stat. 

The moment he thought this, his eyes fell on the [Kindred Class] once again, but this time on the distinct message within, Assimilation is possible. 

‘Assimilation?’

With an audible Ding! a system message popped up in answer. 

[Blood Source Assimilation: All Kindred are newborn with unlimited potential. Blood Source Assimilation is what truly sets them apart from other races, truly making their potential limitless, even determining the paths available for future growth. 

By assimilating with a Blood Source, the Kindred grows, becoming more than who they used to be, gaining some of the powers of the consumed. 

To assimilate, use the free point gained due to the consumption of the blood source on the Wisdom Attribute. 

Possible Rewards: New Discipline Unlock, Discipline Expansion, New Abilities, New Skills.

Warning: All Rewards are only possible, and not guaranteed. Only one Blood Source may be assimilated prior to the next evolution. (0/1) Assimilations.] 

Miles’s eyes widened in disbelief, ‘What in the holy hells?!’