Ding!

[First Kill => First Massacre, Registered.

Class Activation Condition: The First Reaping - Completed!]

Ding!

[Congratulations, Class - Newborn (Kindred) fully unlocked. The Path of the Kindred unfurls before you.]

Miles’ eyes shone with recognition. ‘So, the requirement to completely activate the Newborn class was killing? Possibly the requirement for leveling up as well? While macabre, it is understandable I suppose. Not just for a system that resembles video games, but one meant for Vampires.

But I do wonder why the condition was never explicitly stated, but only mentioned post-completion? A bit strange, but acceptable.’

Ding!

[Class - Newborn (Kindred)

For all reborn with the blessing of Chaos, the Newborn Class is the first step in the infinite, endless path in being Kindred.

A Newborn is endowed with high attributes, boundless growth potential, and the Key of Ankh.

Bestows the title (Newborn), +5 to all attributes but wisdom, and basic Kindred senses.

Attribute gain per level: +1 Str, +1 Agi, +1 End, +1 Free Point.

Consumption of Blood Sources may provide additional free Attribute Points.

The might of Chaos’ Kindred is overwhelming, hence the World interferes and imposes the title (Cursed) upon you.

Evolutionary Condition: Reach Level 10.]

Ding!

[Kindred Class: Newborn has reached Lvl.4 - Stat Points Allocated.]

In the notifications that followed, there was some flavor text about chaos, ‘paths of Kindred’ and what not, which he merely glanced through.

What actually caught Miles’ attention came next.

A point increase in all physical attributes, and a bonus free point, for every level up. This was equivalent to the effects of four gnome tier serums with none of the costs of Faetality.

Miles couldn’t help but take pause.

Even if leveling were to halt at level 10, that still meant an aggregate gain of 40 attribute points. For below Epsilon Faehumans, with an average cost of approximately 5 Faetality per gnome/sprite tier single point attribute enhancement serum, this was akin to an additional +200 in Faetality!

In other words, technically, theoretically, in pure potential he could be considered an ‘Epsilon’ now!

But of course, that was merely self-placation.

Epsilons acted as a demarcation among Faehumans, the benchmark for those that could use Fae Serums beyond the Goblin and Pixie tiers, the level beyond which Fae Serums reveal their true capability.

‘Besides it’s not like system attributes would hold in an actual Faetality test… right? Highly doubtful, but certainly worth investigating.’

However, what if leveling did not stop at level 10? What if he could actually go even higher?

‘Just these enhanced attributes and my current Faetality could hold some leverage in the next executive meeting. And if it doesn’t end there…’

A loud cough, but still politely curt, resounded.

“You’re grinning into the air like a fool, Master Miles. Good news, or have you finally lost the last of your marbles?”

Zhan Shen’s words dragged him out of his reverie, though not from his good mood.

Miles simply chuckled in response, “If anyone has lost their marbles, statistically speaking it would be the elderly of the two of us. Missing marbles aside, I won’t spoil the surprise old Zhan, you’ll see the ‘good news’ soon enough,” and returned his attention to the notifications.

Focusing on his breathing, he calmed his excitement.

The information regarding the levels and attributes were terrific news, but he would not accept it as truth until he could experience the effects for himself. Blind trust in seemingly omniscient and omnipotent systems did not feel wise.

Perhaps the visit to the Faesycian could shed some light on the matter, or else he would simply have to continue leveling up and confirm it himself.

‘But, I suppose, it’s good to know that even if I end up being a blood-thirsty monster, I will be freakishly enhanced…’

Satisfied with that conclusion, Miles moved on. The system notification revealed further flavor text, that the Cursed title was enforced by the ‘world’.

While this happened to be one of his bigger worries, it was nebulous at best, and thus was passed over.

And finally came the notification that hinted at a ‘Class Evolution’ upon reaching level 10. While ‘Evolution’ could be considered self-explanatory, it demanded further explanation, which unfortunately the system didn’t seem forthcoming about.

So, what Miles found far more interesting however was what had been mentioned just prior.

Consumption of Blood Sources may provide additional free Attribute Points.

‘But what defines a Blood Source? A living, blooded creature perhaps? Then what does consumption entail?

Even if purely for the potential in hoarding massive amounts of ‘Free Points’, presumably attribute points that can be freely placed in any stat as one so desires, this is definitely worth experimenting.’

It was potentially, another, almost impossible to believe, source of Attribute Points.

‘Well, it’s not like I have the first clue on how to consume ‘blood sources’, and there doesn’t seem to be any further explanations, so, later. ’

Miles paused. Was that it, or—

The answer was no, for the notifications decided to continue.

Ding!

[Chaos has deemed the Kindred’s destruction to be acceptable, and worthy of reward.

Insufficient for Roster Access…

Insufficient for New Discipline…

Insufficient for Discipline Expansion…]

Despite all that, it didn’t take long for a new window to appear. He called it new, because instead of white text, this one came with a hint of gold, upon a pitch-black screen.

Ding!

||Class Activation Reward||

[The Kindred may choose any of the following.

10 free Attribute Points {+}

OR

Skill: |Haemomancy| – {Sanguis Ardeat - Inferior} {+}]

At that, Miles raised an ecstatic eyebrow, for there was even more to unpack.

‘So, I did something worthy of reward? Perhaps something to do with the fact that the first kill became the first massacre? Was I only supposed to kill one person?’

Miles sincerely doubted he was an overachiever, because apparently there had been a lot more things his ‘destruction’ was insufficient for than things he could have.

‘But, more ‘destruction’, implying a worse massacre, would’ve meant better rewards?’

Miles immediately caught himself and the traitorous line of thought.

Obviously, the system rewarded destruction.

There was no conclusive evidence that this was the norm, or even the only cause for reward, but something told him that at the very least, it was one facet that would be considered.

And they were quite rewarding.

‘Either 10 free attribute points, equivalent to about 10 gnome/sprite tier fae serums, or… a skill.’

The Skill was labeled Inferior, similar to {Ripae Sanguine (Blood Bank)}, the skill that had appeared in his status under the Discipline of |Hemomancy|.

Unfortunately, he didn’t even know how to use it.

In Miles’ defense, he had attempted to use it, or at least get some reaction out of it. Specifically, this was when Zhan Shen and he had been dashing over the rooftops, and the old butler had been too far busy showing off to notice or hear what he was doing.

‘Conclusion, neither thinking nor calling out the skill name, in English nor Latin, did anything.’

But Miles did have an inkling on how he might use the skill, which he planned on trying out immediately at the Faesycian clinic.

Nevertheless, the fact that the system did not explain how the skill should be used, was quite annoying.

‘Is that how it was meant to be? Is it a design flaw? Or maybe something else?’

Miles was unsure, but he had to consider that, before making a decision here.

He glanced at the skill in question, ‘Sanguis Ardeat, that would translate roughly into... Blood Burn?’

Even as the translation applied to the system window, confirming he was sufficiently accurate, Miles continued to ponder.

‘Well, that sounds interesting. Cool even. But, it could range anywhere from shooting blood flames to giving moderate to serious fevers?‘

Miles chewed his lip, deep in thought, before finally deciding to do a minor test, and ask a direct question from the seemingly omniscient, omnipotent existence that was now living in his mind.

‘System, can you explain the skill Sanguis Ardeat?’

Receiving no reply in the first attempt, he repeated it a few times, and tried it out aloud as well, just in case. But as expected, all he got was silence, and a strange stare from Zhan Shen.

Miles felt a bit silly, but he placated himself with the conclusion that this was merely in the spirit of science and the scientific method.

At least now he knew the system wasn’t sentient.

Or, particularly sociable.

Either worked.

But without any further context, Miles was left with a decision between the known effect of attribute enhancement, or an unknown, inconclusive skill, that sounded like it would be amazing.

Being a relatively, arguably, successful businessman, Miles honestly didn’t want to rush the decision without finding out more. Perhaps the Faesycian clinic and planned experimentations with Blood Bank could help him decide if these skills were anything he could actually use?

So, he allowed the Reward window to close, after a quick confirmation that it could be used in a similar manner to the system status of course.

And with that, it appeared he had caught up with all the notifications, and he decided to end with a final thought of ‘status’.

Immediately the previous notifications were blinked away, replaced by a familiar interface.

[User: Miles Lykaon (! Pending Reward Selection !)]

[Current Form: Kindred]

[Kindred Class: Newborn Lvl. 4 || (0/10) Varying Blood Sources Consumed]

[Disciplines: |Haemomancy Lvl. 0| - Untrained]

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

[HP: 10/10] | [Conditional Undeath] | [BP: 8/110]

{Blood Points (BP) in detail: (Personal) 8/10 + (Ripae Sanguine) BP: 0/100}

[Strength: 17 +4]

[Endurance: 19 +4]

[Agility: 18 +4]

[Intelligence: 64]

[Wisdom: 37]

[Influence: 5 (+1000)]

[Free Points: 4]

[Skills: General - {Nameless Movement Art - Unique}

Haemomancy- {Ripae Sanguine (Blood Bank) - Inferior}, {Hereditas Sanguinis (Blood Inheritance) - Unique}]

[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 burnt to ashes or decapitated, any injury will heal given time. It is still possible to become comatose due to total blood loss.)

Balanced

Vessel of The Beast Within (Sealed)

Last Son of Lykaon (Inactive)]

It was nice that the status had been updated to remind him of the unselected reward, but unless the system decided to be a bit more forthcoming and explain certain problematic aspects, it would have to be patient, regardless of how many exclamations it decided to put in.

Miles did however raise an eyebrow at the fact that a dozen white dragon runts only equated to four levels.

‘It is reasonable I suppose.’

Miles clenched and unclenched his fists, and he thought he could feel the effects of the attribute increase, but he should probably test it out again.

As for the four free points, Miles decided he wasn’t in a hurry to randomly boost attributes without much research and decided to reserve them for the time being as well.

All of that can come after the Faesycian Clinic Analysis.

But there was something that did make him pause.

The fact that while his injuries had fully healed and his HP was fully back to 10, the Blood Points (BP) was down to 8. It had not regenerated.

‘That’s… interesting.

If I remember correctly, during the fight, when I... got skewered through my shoulder,’ Miles flexed his arm almost instinctively, glad to feel that it was perfectly whole, ‘I lost 2 HP, and approximately 2 BP. It’s a bit strange that 2.1 was rounded off, but hey, I won’t complain.’

All of that was reasonable enough.

He had been 20% closer to dying, and he had lost about 21% of his blood capacity, a liter to be approximate.

His regeneration had kicked in after he had lost consciousness. The HP had regenerated, but not the lost blood.

‘Huh, so that explains the ‘possible to become comatose due to total blood loss’ part of (Conditional Undeath). If the Blood Points fall to 0, then that will probably be when I fall into the coma. It covers the 'condition' part of the undeath.’

It also gave experimentation with blood quite the high priority in his to-do list. It would be quite terrible if Miles just so happened to lose too much blood and fall into an eternal slumber of some sort,

That seemed to be it, well, besides the strangeness in his Influence attribute. The 5 points from the Newborn title was present as usual, but the supposed 1000 from being the *sigh* Discredited Heir, was presented unusually.

But then again, influence also happened to be the only attribute that could not be measured, and thus also the most esoteric of them all.

So, he couldn’t really do much here.

And with that, he was finally done.

Miles glanced around the derelict rooftop, his eyes falling on Zhan Shen, arms crossed, gazing at the fog laden view of the outer city and the shifting stars above, in silence but tapping his right foot with great, impatient fervor.

“Done. We can proceed now, old Zhan.”

The elderly butler however remained motionless, turning around with a piercing gaze that fixated upon him, “What were you doing, no, what did you do Master Miles? I would have thought it impossible for an undead to die, but over the course of the last few minutes, your aura just… ‘died’ even more. A subtle change, but it is still worse than before.’

‘The hell? Can Old Zhan detect even the complete activation of the Newborn class?’

Since he hadn’t accepted the reward or done any attribute enhancement, that had to be the only change that Zhan Shen could have noticed.

Either way, this time Miles opted to answer with complete transparency.

Controlling his vampiric nature was paramount, and Zhan Shen’s assistance would be invaluable. If he concealed information, it would only serve to hinder their progress.

“Well, it turned out that my Vampirification had been incomplete. Killing was apparently the criterion for achieving completion, and also, accepting the notification.”

Zhan Shen’s brow furrowed, “I suppose it makes sense for a Vampiric ‘System’ to incentivize killing, but why would you comply so easily?” The old butler’s fists clenched, “Was this the reason you were grinning at the air like an idiot? You do understand this makes reversing Vampirism even more difficult?”

Miles frowned back, “First, I had only suspected and was not aware that I would become ‘more’ of a Vampire until the notification appeared. Second, no, my ‘idiotic grinning’ was not solely because of this. And third, did we not have an agreement, old Zhan? Reversing Vampirism will only be considered if it is found to be more trouble than it is worth.“

But he tilted his head with a smirk, “Besides you said it yourself, won’t we find out the answer soon enough?

Zhan Shen fell silent, his tense fists gradually relaxing.

“Let it be so then Master Miles. Let us find out.”

***

The mists of Yumekuro clung to the streets, like an ethereal remnant from the netherworld.

In a familiar street, a familiar mirage-caster continued to weave dreams upon veils of distorted faery dust, projecting the fervor of Capital City’s valiant knights and warriors.

But the rowdy gangsters who had once cheered with patriotic zeal, the same gangsters that had mercilessly trampled upon the fragile existence of the Otheraddicts, were no more.

Much like the Otherworld addicts lost to reality, the fledgling dragons too were lost to the world.

Miles had recoiled, shocked by the sheer cruelty on display, the barbaric manner in which the would-be Hakuryuu had been slaughtered.

What had once been an ordinary street now resembled a butcher’s workshop.

Even with Miles’ best attempts at avoiding what remained of the gangsters, the streets squelched even louder than he remembered, sending ripples through the liquid that had painted the concrete street in a fresh coat of dying crimson.

The smell of iron and blood, dancing with the rancid stench of rotting cyberware, now mingled with the scent of death.

Everything was only made worse by the fact that the Otherjunkies were still there, lost in the OtherworldTM as if nothing had changed. Not a single fate had been changed.

Miles pushed forward, through the grim aftermath of what should only have been a minor altercation.

Zhan Shen walked alongside, assisting in the unavoidable task that had forced him to cover the entirety of this foul street.

His Lykaon Insignia ring and Zhan Shen’s silver winged brooch glowed with a hazy light. It was so faint that it could be easily overlooked, appearing quite ordinary at first glance.

However, as Miles or Zhan Shen ventured near specific locations, where remnants of deceased gangsters lay, the light reacted, a shimmer manifesting upon them and the street below.

While everything remained seemingly unchanged, those who knew would know that the faint obscure glimmer was wholly erasing even the most subtle traces of their presence, what may have been sensed by the most perceptive of fae-humans or even fae.

This was yet another manifestation of the magic of the Amathaka Fairy, a remarkably elusive clan of Faery, not completely different from that which was still active upon their faces, channeled through the Lykaon Network with the insignia ring and winged brooch as intermediaries.

As the pools of blood rippled under his boots, even as he did his best to avoid desecrating the dead any further, even as the ghostly illumination from the ring touched the lifeless forms, Miles donned his usual stoic face, perfectly emotionless, revealing nothing to the world.

It was a solemn, somber process.

The light of the brooch assisted the ring, Zhan Shen remained unperturbed.

Their presence was being obliviated, and soon enough it would be as if the Hakuryuu had been killed by… well, nothing.

Neither spoke, their silence unplanned but tacit. A final gesture to the fallen, just a modicum of respect.