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Veronica changed Jobs and ended up acquiring the 'Aura of Fear' skill, a skill that most undead monsters such as ghosts and living armors have, but she lacked. ??
She quickly tried to try out this skill, as her abyssal soul began to leak out like an aura that encompassed her body, the aura was dark and eerie, but those with her did not seem to be intimidated.
Aura of Fear was a skill that mostly 'scared' those weaker than herself and that weren't her established allies… it didn't seem to scare people that already knew her very well and had good terms with her.
However, she used it with some monsters that approached their group, mostly Rank 2 Goblin Soldiers and Big Lizards.
"Hmmm… how does this works in targeted enemies?" wondered Veronica as she pointed her index finger to the goblins.
"What if I shot it like bullets?" wondered Veronica as she shaped her Aura of Fear like the spheres she would do with Spirit Magic or No Attribute Magic, and then fired it towards the group of goblins and lizards.
Flash!
Spheres of darkness and crimson colors clashed over the goblins and lizards as they jumped in fear and began to shriek in mental agony, fainting.
"Oh?"
Then Veronica felt a few Experience Points…
"Did they die out of fear? Are you kidding me?"
"Interesting… perhaps Aura of Fear is a reflection of your own soul which had grown to be fearful?" asked Shade.
"It could be… but killing a monster out of fear is… well, they were simply Rank 2, perhaps stronger monsters cannot die so easily," said Veronica.
"Most likely, look at that… is that a Rank 4 monster?" asked Shade, pointing at an Ogre Great Sword Warrior, a Rank 4 monster that recently entered the temple where they killed the minotaur.
Veronica tried out her 'Fear Bullets' as she called them, the Ogre seemed greatly disturbed and began to jump many times out of fear in a comical manner until it hit itself with the temple's ceiling and then ran away without doing anything.
"That was… it didn't faint nor die but it was a very pathetic demeanor for a Rank 4 monster…" said Shade.
"Indeed, this will be more useful than I imagined," said Veronica.
"That was terrifyingly cool… I doubt I will ever learn that skill as I am not scary at all, but I kind of want it…" said Ervas, as he decided to Rank Up before Job Changing.
Ervas sighed over the fantasy of intimidating his enemies to death, and opened the system tab, selecting the 'Rank Up (Evolve)' tab and seeing his available options
[Available Evolutions]
[Crimson-eyed Bloodsucking Spectral Half-Demon], [Phantasmal Lesser Lich Half-Demon]
"These… what?"
Ervas was once again given two incredibly juicy options to Rank up, but unlike jobs, he could only choose one without the opportunity to save the other for another time…
Ervas almost fell from his seat as he tried to calm down his agitated mind… his two evolution options were clear as water, he could go through the path of the vampire… or the lich.
But why did he get such strange evolution options? Could this be because of his new abilities related to the control of undead and to in a way, become more 'phantasmal' by having the ability to change his flesh into phantom?
"Well, my current abilities might explain the Lich option, but the Vampire, why? How? Well, these last days I have felt thirstier over blood and all, but it was never something strong enough to call myself a vampire… right? Well, the race doesn't say vampire, just bloodsucking… but maybe it will end up ranking up to a vampire…" thought Ervas.
"Ervas, but you don't remember? Just recently you were all thirsty for blood!" said Gaia, appearing from atop Ervas's head, she had grown into a beautiful branch filled with leaves, and perhaps would once day become a small tree.
"That's true… I felt like something deep within my instincts asked to me just drink all the blood of this minotaur," said Ervas.
Ervas then decided to consult it with Veronica, who used one of her clones to communicate with Jason, similarly to a telephone.
Jason, who was with the rest of the tamed monsters and tribe members hunting in another location, answered Ervas while fighting a group of Giant Centipede, Rank 4 monsters inside a dungeon he was visiting.
"I… don't recall much about anything like that. Your mother never mentioned being a Vampire… but, she mentioned that she drank blood to recover her wounds and mana faster… and that it was a 'trait' or 'gift' given to her by her grand grandfather… but I never assumed that it could be a Vampire… perhaps you inherited this trait as well?" wondered Jason, crushing a centipede with his metallic club until it became a pile of minced flesh, exoskeleton, and green and oozy innards.
Ervas and Veronica began to ponder this thought.
"Due to how the Samsara System works, perhaps it detected this 'trait' and made it into an evolution… maybe you could become a Vampire if you continue through it, as long as you can evolve, it could be a possibility…" said Veronica.
"Vampire… I would be happy with just a Dhampir though, but it is better to check both evolution options information" said Ervas.
Ervas used 'Appraisal' in both evolution options, and discovered that the first one granted him the 'Bloodsucking' and the 'Superhuman Strength' skills, alongside increasing his other skills, it seemed to be an all-rounder evolution.
Meanwhile, the second evolution option did not give him anything new but increased the level of all magic and death-related skills, while increasing magic and mana.
Ervas was conflicted, he knew that his specialization was still magic, but having physical strength could help him develop faster and create a good foundation for his future.
Although becoming a lich did not seem as attractive, as he imagined that he might end up as a skeleton… It is not like Ervas had anything over being a skeleton, he would not have minded if he reincarnated as one from the beginning, but he was born with flesh, so he wanted to remain with flesh if preferably. …so, he decided to choose the first option.
[You have Ranked Up to a [Rank 5: Crimson-eyed Bloodsucking Spectral Half-Demon]!]
A crimson light-filled Ervas entire body for a small moment. He felt as his canine fangs grew slightly, his claws became sharper and dark-colored, and his eyes were able to see things from afar.
His appearance did not change aside from this, his white horn remained alongside his dark hair, but he gained a few more white strands on it.
"Will I become fully white-haired as I keep evolving? This is weird…" said Ervas.
"White Haired? Your mother was white-haired, Ervas! Oof, it almost got me! Hammer Smash!" said Jason in between shouts and techniques, as he explored the dungeon, he was in.
"So mother was white-haired… maybe I will acquire more of her traits as I evolve… I wonder how she is…" muttered Ervas, as he glanced at his status window.
[You acquired the [Bloodsucking; Level 1] and [Superhuman Strength; Level 1] Skills!]
[The levels of [Bloodsucking; Level 1], [Superhuman Strength; Level 1], [Special Five Senses; Level 6], [Automatic Mana Recovery; Level 4], [Demon Metabolism; Level 4], [Night Vision; Level 2], [Abnormal Status Resistance; Level 3], [Rapid Healing; Level 3], [Death Attribute Charm; Level 2], [Mana Drain; Level 6], [Soul Materialization; Level 3], [Phantom Materialization; Level 3], [Unarmed Fighting Technique; Level 2], [Long-Distance Control; Level 2], [Digestion; Level 2], and [Mind Encroachment; Level 2] Skills have increased!]
"Hm…? My scent, vision, and hearing became very good… and oh? I can talk with my mouth now and I do not need telepathy… I can also extend my claws, which became dark…" said Ervas with his voice for once, it was the voice that you would expect from a young boy. He extended his nails, which were more like claws now, they seemed quite malevolent.
"Is that your real voice my son?! How wonderful! Haah, I wish I were there and not smashing big bugs!" said Jason, seemingly in tears of joy.
Ervas then inspected his enlarged fangs… they were very similar to those of vampires.
Ervas then glanced at the corpses of goblins and other monsters that Veronica left after using her Aura of Fear to kill them out of horror and used her Telekinesis to move their corpse near him.
He used his claws to slice them open and manipulated their blood as floating rivers with Telekinesis, drinking it.
"Sweet… as blood even tasted this good? Ah, goblin blood is terrible, just like the meat… but the lizard's blood is decent," said Ervas.
"You really did become a full-fledged vampire… well, not in race name but you got the traits done," said Veronica while crossing her arms.
Ervas finished drinking all the blood in one go, thirsty for more.
"Yes... I think that the Bloodsucking skill is a bit dangerous, it made me thirstier than I thought" said Ervas.
"Master let me go catch you something better to drink blood from!" said Goliath rushing outside.
"Oh, okay, I appreciated it, Goliath," said Ervas, as he glanced at his available Job Change Options.
"Very well, I'll go assist the rest in the butchery, you change jobs and then come help us," said Veronica with a smile as she helped the rest of the party butcher the minotaur corpse.
"Alright"
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