Bloodstar System: Infinite Evolution Through Beast Slaughter

Chapter 12: Talent Evolution, Bladeborn Frame!

Back in that shabby little rental room, the air carried the smell of mold and the sour stink of cheap secondhand furniture.

Joren locked the door behind him and threw himself onto the hard bed, which creaked under his weight.

His whole body ached as if someone had taken his bones apart and put them back together wrong.

His mind, however, was unusually awake.

This was the aftermath of killing.

After the rush of adrenaline faded, the emptiness that followed could drive a person mad.

Joren took a deep breath and forced down the restlessness in his chest.

With a thought, the pale blue panel that only he could see appeared before his eyes.

[Host: Joren]

[Mental Force: 10]

[Combat Rank: Mortal 20/20]

[Bloodstars: 40]

[Combat Arts: Basic Bladecraft 5/5; Basic Body Tempering 3/8]

[Talent: Bladehand White]

Forty Bloodstars.

This was the blood money he had earned by swinging his blade in the slaughterhouse day and night.

It was also the capital he needed to turn his life around.

In this damned world, only strength held in your own hands counted as truly being alive.

"Put all points into Basic Body Tempering."

The numbers on the panel began to jump wildly.

Bloodstars fell at high speed.

The number behind Basic Body Tempering shot upward as if strapped to a rocket.

4/8.

5/8.

...

8/8!

Boom!

A burning current exploded inside his body out of nowhere.

It was nothing like the slow, lukewarm feeling of ordinary training.

This heat was tyrannical, like molten lava surging madly through his blood vessels.

Joren let out a muffled groan.

Every muscle in his body tightened. Blue veins twisted beneath his skin like vicious earthworms.

Crack.

Crack.

A series of crisp pops rang out from inside him.

His bones were being reshaped.

His tendons and fascia were being strengthened.

His originally lean frame began to fill out at a visible speed.

Not the stiff muscle built in a gym, but streamlined muscle packed with explosive force. Every line of it seemed to contain frightening power.

Only after a long while did the burning heat slowly fade.

Joren gasped for breath. Cold sweat had soaked through him, leaving him looking as if he had just been pulled from water.

He slowly sat up and clenched his fist.

The air popped in his palm with a sharp snap.

This strength.

Compared with before, it had more than doubled.

Vital Force surged through his body, and that full, swelling sensation was intoxicating.

"Basic Body Tempering has reached Mortal Perfection."

Over the next two days, the slaughterhouse became a killing ground.

Brann was a man who meant what he said. Since he had decided to invest, he truly spent money.

No one knew what connections he used, but he forcibly transferred a large number of Feralborn from several nearby breeding farms.

The backyard of the slaughterhouse shook with beast roars.

The stench of blood and filth was so thick it almost could not disperse.

The workers stayed far away, afraid of being injured by those frenzied beasts.

Only one figure moved through that blood soaked place.

Joren held the boning knife that never left his side.

Its edge had already rolled, then been sharpened bright again by his own hand.

[Feralborn Brutebull killed. Bloodstars plus 1]

[Feralborn Ironhide Boar killed. Bloodstars plus 1]

[Feralborn Silverhorn Goat killed. Bloodstars plus 1]

Just as his Bloodstars broke through 100, the system rang.

[Ding!]

[Accumulated Bloodstars have reached 100.]

[Current Talent can be upgraded.]

Talent Evolution?

Joren’s grip on the blade tightened.

"Open the panel."

Swish.

A pale blue screen unfolded across his vision.

[Host: Joren]

[Mental Force: 10]

[Combat Rank: Mortal 20/20]

[Bloodstars: 100]

[Combat Arts: Basic Bladecraft 5/5 Complete; Basic Body Tempering 8/8 Complete]

[Talent: Bladehand White Upgrade Available]

Talent was the foundation.

Only with a solid foundation could the road ahead become wider and longer.

Besides, he was about to become a wilderness hunter.

He needed a trump card that could keep him alive.

Joren did not hesitate.

"Upgrade Talent."

His Bloodstars on the panel emptied in an instant.

Right after that, a vast amount of information poured into his mind.

Countless images of blade swings flashed wildly through his thoughts.

Chops.

Cuts.

Rising slashes.

Thrusts.

Thousands upon thousands of strikes.

Each one more perfect than the last.

Each one more lethal.

The rough muscle memory he once had was forcibly erased, replaced by instinct tempered through countless trials.

The boning knife in his hand seemed to come alive.

It was no longer a cold piece of iron.

It had become an extension of his arm.

A part of his body.

As if his blood vessels had connected to the handle, and his breathing had fallen into rhythm with the edge.

That mysterious sensation gradually settled inside him.

Joren slowly opened his eyes.

His black and white eyes now carried a faint sharpness that made the heart tighten.

The words on the panel had changed completely.

[Talent: Bladeborn Frame Green]

[Description: Your spine and the bones in both arms carry a faint blue green luster. When you stretch your body, your joints release crisp sounds like metal striking metal. Beneath your flesh and skin lies a peerless blade.]

[Effects]

[Great Strength: When using blade type weapons, arm strength increases by 100 percent and blade attack power increases by 100 percent.]

[Vibrating Blade: When attacking with blade type weapons, you can unleash powerful vibrating force.]

Hah.

He breathed out a mouthful of turbid air.

For a moment, it seemed like a white streak had curled through the air.

Joren slowly straightened.

Crackle.

His spine snapped upright, and a string of explosive sounds rang inside him.

It was not the same as the earlier cracking of bones.

This sound was crisp and clear.

Like two peerless blades clashing, ringing with the sound of metal against metal.

This was the Bladeborn Frame.

Joren lowered his head and looked at his hands.

The skin was still the same skin.

But beneath it, the bones of his arms seemed to carry a faint cold blue green glow.

With the slightest clench of his fist, strength threatened to overflow from him.

Joren casually picked up the boning knife.

The weapon that had once fit his hand perfectly now felt as light as a stalk of straw.

Light and weightless, almost without substance.

In the distance, an Ironhide Brutebull that had yet to be processed was growing restless.

The Brutebull glared with blood red eyes, blasting hot breath from its nostrils.

It had smelled the blood of its own kind.

Frantic.

Furious.

Moo!

The Brutebull stomped its four hooves against the ground, lowered its head, and aimed its two sharp horns at Joren before charging madly forward.

A mountain of flesh weighing several hundred jin made the ground tremble as it ran.

Joren held the blade in one hand and casually chopped down at the Brutebull’s skull, which was as hard as iron.

[Great Strength] activated.

Arm strength doubled.

Blade attack power doubled.

Buzz!

The air tore apart in an instant.

Before the edge even arrived, the terrifying pressure made the Brutebull’s hide and hair stand on end.

Pshk.

There was no earth shaking collision.

The boning knife cut through it as if slicing into soft tofu.

No resistance at all.

The edge opened the hide, split the skull, continued downward, and sank straight into the Brutebull’s neck.

Crack!

The Brutebull’s forward charge stopped at once.

Its huge momentum lifted the rear half of its body into the air before it crashed heavily to the ground.

The blood had not even had time to spray.

Joren flicked his wrist.

[Vibrating Blade].

Buzz.

A ripple visible to the naked eye traveled from the handle into the blade, then poured into the Brutebull’s body in an instant.

The Brutebull, still twitching a moment ago, went rigid.

Then a series of dull bursts sounded from inside it.

As if a string of firecrackers had exploded in its belly.

All of its organs were shattered in that instant by the terrifying vibrating force.

Joren pulled out the blade.

Not a single drop of blood clung to it.

The blade was still faintly humming.

"What a domineering power."

A bright gleam passed through Joren’s eyes.

This was the strength of a green Talent.

The simple doubling of power was already frightening enough.

With the addition of [Vibrating Blade], it was practically a divine skill for breaking armor.