Chapter 12: Bloodline Extraction
Damon made sure that he was in a safe location as he slowly went over all the system notifications. Each one was more bizarre than the previous one, but everything only solidified what he already knew. He then opened up his status screen to take a look.
***
[Blood God]
Class: Primordial Awakening - Class Path Unavailable
Species: Bloodborn
Race: Bloodling (Variant)
Bloodline: Fragmented Ancestral Bloodline???
Status Effect: Bloodline Instability (10 days)
Soul Weapon: Bloodreign (Locked)
Level: 5
Faction: Dark
Experience: 45/600
Health: 120
Mana: 50
Vitality: 12
Stamina: 8
Strength: 6
Intelligence: 8
Agility: 6
Physical Defense: 2
Magical Defense: 2
Available Stat points: 5
General Skills: Primordial Senses (SSS rank, Active), Primordial Hunger (SSS rank, Passive), Blood Swipe (D rank, Active), Bloodline Extraction (SSS rank, Active)
***
Damon opened and closed his mouth speechlessly, studying his status screen. The first thing he noticed was how he couldn't select a class anymore. This was a huge deal because without a class, how the hell was he supposed to progress in his path and learn more skills.
Not all the skills were like Blood Swipe which he had a good skill proficiency of and could be learned just from the muscle memory. He needed to choose a class to get some of the more powerful skills.
"Fuck. Did I wait too long?" He wanted to select a class after awakening to give him the best chance of unlocking a hidden class or a legendary class, but now he had completely lost that chance. Not to mention, without a class, five level-ups have netted him only 5 extra stat points.
With a class, he would have gotten 5 extra stat points per level. This was a big loss. Stats were everything in this game.
"Okay. Let's calm down. This may be a good thing." He knew anything labelled Primordial was definitely a good thing, and he had undergone a Primordial Awakening. There had to be more to this than his inability to choose a class. He decided to check out the skills next.
He had obtained three new skills from the awakening. Primordial Senses, Primordial Hunger, and Bloodline Extraction.
Primordial senses should be an upgraded version of Heightened senses. The only difference was that Heightened Senses were passive, and this seemed to be an active skill. He could see why, though. Maybe the upgraded skill was a powerful one that would completely overwhelm him. Something to test out later.
His eyes then darted warily to Primordial Hunger, which he felt might not be so good. The normal vampiric hunger was a huge problem in the higher levels when bloodlust went out of control every now and then. Damon could only imagine the trouble an upgraded version of that might cause.
Moreover, both of these skills were listed as SSS ranked. Damon had heard of S rank skills before, but this was the first time he had seen an SSS rank skill. That too, he had not one but three of them.
"Why is this stupid hunger also listed as SSS?" He wondered. If anything, the hunger was a drawback, and a big one at that.
Damon then checked out the last and the most interesting skill. Bloodline Extraction. Once again, an SSS rank skill.
"The notification from before mentioned that the extraction failed and that the beast was dead. Did it mean I have to use the skill before the beast dies? So I have to drink the blood of a beast before it dies?" He muttered, rubbing his temple.
There was only one way to find out the answer. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he tried to hear if there were any beasts in the vicinity. Immediately he could hear a few wolves snarling not too far away from him. These were probably the ones who were hanging around with the elite.
All of his fatigue from earlier had completely disappeared with that little meal, so it was the perfect time to test things out. He got up and ran in the direction of the wolves. Within a few seconds, he reached the spot.
Three wolves were standing in front of him, feasting on a dead rabbit, tearing apart the small carcass with wet crunches and low growls.
Damon used this chance to throw a stone at the wolf closest to him. The beast instantly saw him and whirled around, snarling as blood dripped from its fangs. The other two didn't care and continued eating. But the first one lunged at him with a guttural snarl, claws digging into the dirt as it launched forward with reckless aggression.
It was only a level 3 beast, and it did not take long for Damon to get control of the situation. He stepped to the side at the last moment and slammed his fist into the wolf's ribs, feeling something crack. Blood sprayed from its mouth as it hit the ground with a painful yelp.
Before it could move, Damon dug his fangs right into the beast's throat. After playing a vampire game character for more than two years, he was already used to doing this kind of thing. Warm blood flooded his mouth, and this time, he willed for the Bloodline extraction to activate.
Immediately, a notification flashed in front of him.
[Ding! Bloodline Extraction Initiated]
[Target: Forest Wolf – Tier 0 Beast]
[Ding! You have extracted the ability 'Minor Agility Boost']
[Ding! Minor Agility Boost (Lv. 1): Permanently increases Agility by 5]
[Ding! You have killed Forest Wolf Lv. 3]
[Ding! You have gained experience points]
Damon stared wide-eyed at the notifications. He had gained 5 stat points just like that? A permanent stat boost? From one successful extraction? That wasn't just good. That was broken.
"Five agility points... from a Tier 0 beast?" He breathed, still clutching the limp corpse beneath him. "That's the same as a full level-up from a class bonus." He couldn't believe his eyes. How could something be so broken?
In most cases, even rare skill tomes or stat elixirs barely gave 5 or so stat points. And this... this was free. Maybe farmable? Maybe stackable. All he had to do was hunt, drink, and extract.
His hands trembled, not from fear but from excitement.
All the misery he went through in his last life was not for waste. A future had opened up before him, clearer than ever.
He didn't need a class. He didn't need a system-prescribed path. He had a freaking Primordial bloodline that let him bend the rules, devour others' power, and forge his own ascent.
He needed to find out more about this new skill of his!
By now the other two wolves had finished their meal and finally noticed him. They snarled loudly and lunged at him.
One came from the left, teeth bared, while the other flanked wide, trying to circle behind him. Damon didn't hesitate. The rush of combat drowned out every doubt, every question. All that mattered now was blood.
He ducked under the first wolf's swipe and slammed his elbow into its throat. It crumpled mid-leap, wheezing. The second wolf sank its fangs into his arm, but Damon didn't even flinch. He punched the damn thing down, completely knocking it out.
Without any hesitation, he immediately pounced on the first one as it tried to recover, claws digging into its fur. He bit deep into the side of its neck and activated the skill.
[Ding! Bloodline Extraction Initiated]