YM778.TV Chapter 40: Darkened Heart
[+5 skill points]
[System: Darkened Heart Mission: Kill the Three-Headed Crow]
[Reward: Silver Rank Gift Box]
"Finally, a mission!" Reign exclaimed. It was the first time he\'d received a task from the system. And he had even begun to think his system was the type that didn\'t offer missions at all.
As for why the system asked him to do this,?
Well, he really didn\'t care, as long as there were benefits involved. There was no need to overcomplicate things in the first place.
"Status"
============
Name: Reign
Level 17
Age. : 18 (+1 year)
Race: Viral Blade Zombie Hunter
Strength :C
Stamina :F+
Endurance : B
Intelligence: C+
[Skill]
Bite - Level III
Undead Eye - Level I
Night Crawl III
Clawer : V
Viral Slash X
[Points]
Attribute Points: 30
Skill Points : 7
Evolution Points : 0
============
Examining his stats, Reign felt satisfied to find an extra 5 skill points, in addition to the two he had received from leveling up when he ate those drug makers in the cave a few days ago.
Skill points normally came with one per level, so discovering another source was a welcome surprise.
Still, there were aspects that left him disappointed after the battle.
One of them was his Viral Slash ability.
It was almost useless unless he landed a clear hit on his opponent. Even then, the effect was minimal against hunters with higher vitality and immunity than humans.
\'Did I choose the wrong class?\' he wondered. \'Maybe the acid power would have been a better choice in the early stages.\'
\'Forget it, it\'s too late for regret now,\' he muttered to himself. Reign wasn\'t the type of person to dwell too much on spilled milk.
He refocused his attention on consuming the corpse before him. He was eager to see what options he would gain from consuming a young hunter like Jake.
*CRUNCH
Reign\'s actions became almost automatic as he fed on the corpse. His mind let go of all distractions, focusing solely on the task at hand.
He tore into the flesh, devouring everything in sight. The taste of flesh filled his senses, and he enjoyed every bite.
At the same time, while devouring Jake\'s corpse, Reign noticed some movements: Jake\'s blood was flowing in another direction.
He figured it must be Anna, getting her share of the spoils.
\'That annoying girl still want to get stronger?,\' Reign muttered, clicking his tongue in annoyance.
But despite his irritation, there was little he could do about it.
He had witnessed how effortlessly Anna confronted the hunters without even revealing herself. In fact, he was certain that she could have handled all three of them alone.
When Reign finished consuming the corpse, the awaited notification finally rang out.
[System : Mutation Option Available ]
>> Hawk Skin
>> Hawk Bones
[The host had devoured a human who practiced the Hawk Breathing Technique. All the parts of the human body had mutated and evolved to cope with the power of this technique. However, due to the human lack of talent , the effectiveness of this mutation had degraded to only 30% ]
"Wait, so that guy isn\'t even a talented hunter?" Reign mused aloud. He finally figured out why he was able to kill Jake with his surprise attack.
Regardless, the mutation options were still beneficial to him, so he clicked Hawk Bones first
[Hawk Bones : Cost 3 skill points]
[Effect: Increase the hardiness of host bones and claws by 10% while making it lighter.]
\'Motherfucker,\' Reign cursed inwardly, realizing the steep cost of this system. Skill points were already hard to come by, and now his system was asking him to sacrifice them.
And not just skill points, even leveling up had become harder. Reign didn\'t even gain a level after consuming a young hunter.
[System: Mutation option will be gone after 60 seconds.]
"Fuck!" Reign wanted to punch the system if it had a physical body right now.
Sadly, he didn\'t have time for that; he had to quickly check the effects of the other option and choose the best one.
[Hawk Skin Cost: 3 skill points]
[Effect: Hardened Host skin by 30%]
\'This isn\'t much of an option,\' Reign sighed after seeing that the Hawk skin effect wasn\'t that good.
So, he decided to go with the Hawk Bone instead. He didn\'t want to spend too many of his skill points in one go because there were still two more hunters who might have better organs.
As Reign purchased the Hawk Bone, he could feel the pain of his bones breaking and restructuring themselves.
Normally, Reign didn\'t experience pain, but this particular sensation emanated from his very being, forcing him to endure it.
Along with the discomfort, there were unexpected benefits; he noticed that his severed leg was now growing faster. Perhaps it was because the system had to reconstruct his body, accelerating the healing process.
For the actual severed leg, it began to decompose until it turned into dust.
He made a mental note of this discovery, recognizing it as a handy loophole for the future.
When the process was complete, he could tell that he had grown much tougher.
"Status"
============
Endurance : B —> B+
============
The increase was satisfactory, especially considering he couldn\'t even dare to imagine how many attribute points he would have needed to increase his endurance.
"Is she done?" Reign slowly stood up and looked in the direction where Anna was fighting.
There was no longer any sound of fighting; all he could see were two red cocoons standing on the ground.
"Reign, are you finished?" Anna\'s voice rang from behind him, catching him off guard. He hadn\'t even noticed her until the final moments.
"Yeah, I\'m finished," he replied casually. He didn\'t want her to catch on that he hadn\'t noticed her, worried she might perceive him as weak.
"Then let\'s go get the other two," Anna suggested, taking Reign\'s clawed hand as they walked side by side towards the Cocoon of blood.
It was really ironic how a powerful and sadistic demon like her was treating him like a king, while she treated others like trash.
As Reign watched Anna, a complex expression flickered across his face.
There was acknowledgment of her strength, but it was coupled with a sense of annoyance at her demeanor.
She continued to assert herself, never giving Reign a chance to act independently. In the end, this kind of life wasn\'t what he desired.
He felt stifled by her constant control, and he was only tolerating her because of her usefulness.
When they reached the two cocoons, Reign could see that they were pulsating like a heart.
"Don\'t worry, I kept them alive and fresh for you," Anna remarked with a wide, happy smile.
Looking at her, she resembled a housewife presenting a delicious meal to her beloved husband after a hard day at work.
The twist?
The ingredients were human meat, and the drink was blood.
\'To think she was able to capture them alive, how strong is she?\' Reign pondered to himself.
Killing and capturing an enemy were on totally different levels. To capture an enemy, one needed to have an overwhelming advantage in every way.
And Anna did it to two people at the same time. He couldn\'t help but marvel at her strength and cunningness.
"Which one do you want to eat first? The boy or the girl?" Anna asked, noticing Reign\'s brief paused.
"Which one of them produced that smoke before?" he inquired, recalling the smoke he had witnessed earlier and sensing its potential usefulness.
If his guess was correct, then it would be highly compatible with his current class. This would be a game-changer for him.
"That one," Anna said, pointing her finger to the right.