Chapter 247: Questions and Answers III
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Before he could say anything more, a knock sounded at the door.
The interruption hit both of them strangely, like ordinary time rudely remembering it still existed.
Sekhmet straightened slightly. "Come in."
A maid stepped inside with a tray at first, then paused when she sensed the thickness in the room and wisely decided the tray mattered less than the message.
"Young Master, Lady Lily," she said with a bow. "It is already lunch time."
Lily blinked once as if she had forgotten time was still moving.
The maid continued, "Lady Elena asked that Lady Lily come down when possible for lunch."
Of course Elena had. Elena probably measured emotional conversations by the hour and made sure no one starved while collapsing under ancestral revelations.
Sekhmet looked at Lily. "Go have lunch."
Lily frowned immediately. "That sounds like a dismissal."
"It is practical." He nodded toward the door. "Elena called for you. And I need a little time."
She searched his face to make sure that meant what it said and not to please leave me before I dissolved into a dramatic puddle.
He gave the faintest tilt of his head.
"I am all right."
Lily stood slowly. "You promise?"
"No."
Her eyes narrowed.
He almost smiled. "I promise I am better than I was this morning."
That, at least, seemed true enough for her to accept.
"All right," she said. "But we are not done. I got a lot to talk about."
Sekhmet looked at her. "No. We are not."
Lily lingered one second longer, then nodded and followed the maid out. At the door she glanced back once, as though checking whether he was truly still there in his own face.
He was.
She left.
The room became still again. Not lonely this time. It was different. It was lighter.
Sekhmet remained standing for a moment, then sat back down and let out a breath he had not realized he was holding.
He had worried for nothing.
Or not nothing. The fear had been real. But Lily had not turned away. If anything, the truth had pulled her closer through its ugliness rather than pushing her off.
That realization settled in him with a strange, quiet warmth. His mind and body felt lighter after talking with her. Not because the problems were gone. Because they were no longer pressing solely from inside.
He leaned back in the chair and let his eyes close briefly.
Then he opened them and called up his status.
[Ding! SYSTEM Notification
STATUS WINDOW
Host: Sekhmet Dawn
Race: Human
Location: Slik City (Null Territory)
Overall Battle Power: 22000
Chaos Energy: 11000
Chaos Body: 11000
Chaos Energy Purity: 13%
Blood Awakening: 5%
Blood Proficiency: 200/100 (Note: The host can upgrade two skills.)
Skills-
Blood Control Lv2
Blood Sword Lv1: Can transform blood into a sword for now.
Blood Eye Lv1: Appraise items and beings.
Blood Summon Lv2: Summon blood minions using blood. Stronger blood = stronger summon. Minimum summon battle power: 1,000. Rare summons can evolve into Harpies.
Blood Puppet Lv2: Cannot betray master. Forced conversion if target battle power is not more than 2x host. Stronger targets require willing acceptance.
Vampire Creation Lv1: Shared Slots. Eligible Targets: Female only. Loyalty: Absolute. Growth: Blood feeding. Creation ability locked at Lv3.]
Sekhmet read the screen slowly. He stared at that for a few extra seconds.
Then snorted quietly.The blood proficiency line pulsed faintly in his sight.
"Two upgrades."
He had known that already, but now that the emotional weight of confession had eased, his mind could turn back toward strategy.
Blood Eye first.
He did not have to think long about that. Information had become too valuable, especially now that he was standing in the orbit of gods, half-gods, ancient houses, and hidden enemies. The more clearly he could see, the less likely he was to walk blind into another noble disaster wearing silk and a smile.
"Upgrade Blood Eye," he said softly.
[Ding! SYSTEM Notification:
Blood Eye Lv1 -> Blood Eye Lv2
Upgrade in progress.]
Heat gathered behind his eyes at once. Not pain exactly.
It was Pressure.
A precise, internal pressure, as if tiny red threads were weaving themselves through his vision and into the structure behind it. The room sharpened for a moment, then blurred, then sharpened again harder than before. The outlines of objects grew cleaner. Energy traces along the walls became faintly visible where before they had only been sensed. Even the table before him seemed to hold a thin residue of touched blood-memory from his own hand resting there earlier.
He exhaled slowly until the pressure settled.
[Ding! SYSTEM Notification: Blood Eye Lv2 acquired.
New effect: Enhanced appraisal detail.
New effect: Can perceive and appraise low-rank gods.
New effect: Greater status visibility for beings below the low level gods.]
Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed.
That alone was worth it.
He would no longer be as blind when looking at the upper tiers around him. Elena. Seraphiel. Perhaps even others if they crossed into his line of sight without suppressing too heavily with chaos tools.
"One upgrade remained."
He looked down the status window again.
"Blood Puppet Or Vampire Creation?"
The second answer arrived almost instantly.
Vampire Creation had been sitting in his mind like an unopened knife ever since he first saw its structure. Shared slots with Blood Puppet made it clumsy and limited. It was inefficient. And if he was honest, the ability itself frightened him enough that part of him wanted to keep it weak.
That was exactly why he should not ignore it.
He needed to understand what he carried, not hide from it.
"Upgrade Vampire Creation."
The response came faster this time.
[Ding! SYSTEM Notification: Vampire Creation Lv1 -> Vampire Creation Lv2
Upgrade in progress.]
The change was colder than Blood Eye.
Where the first had felt like pressure in his vision, this felt like movement in his blood. A deep, quiet rearrangement. As though some sleeping architecture within his veins had opened a second floor. The hunger in him stirred once in recognition, it was not raging, just aware. A sense of possibility spread through his system, subtle and dangerous.