Chapter 26: 26
"I promise, I won't give up on my life." Ben said in a determined voice as he opened his eyes again, looking at the floating hologamic screen with sharp yet purposeful eyes.
[Congratulations host! You have successfully evolved into a 'Vampiric Dreadwing Mosquito'. ]
[New quest available...]
[New skills unlocked...]
"Looks like I was somehow able to pull that stunt off," Ben muttered before he rolled his body to stand up, but somehow he was feeling too weak and dizzy to retain his balance properly.
"Hey system! Is there something wrong with my body? Why am I feeling so weak and dizzy?" Ben asked, barely standing on his six legs while looking at the glitchy screen.
[Host, I believe your dizziness is due to your hunger after evolution.]
[If you don't drink some blood within the next few minutes, then your HP will start to decrease at a drastic speed.]
"I see. Actually, I have a few minutes; that's more than enough," he said in a heavy voice before buzzing his wings to levitate in the air. He activated the passive-skill blood tracer to search for a decent, weak blood source for him to consume.
"There it is!" Ben said, finding a weak blood source approx. 500 metres away from him, and with a sound cutting through the air, he arrived in front of a feral chicken.
Ben chanted "blood needle" as soon as he arrived in front of the chicken, not giving his adversary time to retaliate. But, to his surprise, the chicken just stood there with a curious expression on his face, while his blood needle skill was nowhere to be seen.
"Blood Needle," Ben chanted again in hopes that the first time was some fluke.
"Druuurururururu!" The chicken made a sound in response as it walked close to Ben and started to peck on the ground.
"..."
"I am expecting some good answers, System."
[Host, the skill you are attempting to use has already evolved into a different skill called "blood bullet." That's why you can't use the previous skill anymore.]
"Sigh... You should have said that earlier."
"Blood bullet." As soon as Ben chanted, an orb of blood, barely larger than a blood needle, materialised into a bullet-like shape, surrounded by a crimson-red aura.
"Bang," And in the next second, with a sharp sound, the upper half of the chicken's body was missing as a whole, showering the ground with a fountain of blood.
Ben seized the opportunity and dipped his fangs into every drop of blood he could suck from that lifeless body. as if he were a traveller who discovered water after being lost in the desert for months.
Ben paused to catch his breath after consuming the blood to his satisfaction. His vision had returned to normal, if not better. His stability and flexibility were much improved compared to before. Ben turned his head, his crystal-purple eyes observing his new evolution.
His body had grown to the size of a chicken, covered in a black metallic shell; his legs were sharper than before, ready to slice through steel with ease; and his transparent wings had turned a light purple colour.
Purple vein-like structures were clearly visible inside his wings, carrying purple blood around them. Ben felt a new sharpness and awareness of his surroundings before he decided to fly up and sit on a branch of a tree.
"Show me the status screen," Ben ordered, after looking around to see that no stronger blood presence was nearby.
╔════════════════╗
«STATUS»
Name: Ben Franklin
Race: Vampiric Mosquito
Evolution: Evo 2 Level: 1
Exp: 000/ 000 HP: 25/25
Strength: 12
Agility: 15
Stamina: 11
Active skills:
1. Mosquito's Buzz (confuse enemies with an annoying buzz)
2. Blood Bullet (attack with small needles of blood; -0.5 HP)
3. Soul Drain (steal life essence from enemies)
4. Steel Wings [NEW] (This makes the wings as tough as steel; you can use one in an hour for 3 minutes.)
Passive skills:
1. Blood Tracker (enhanced ability to detect blood sources)
2. Mutatic regeneration (healing the body through blood consumption)
3. Immortality [new] (grants eternal life, making the vampire immune to ageing and disease)
╚═════════════════╝
"What in the hell? Hey, system, what's the deal with immortality? Am I really going to live forever?" Ben asked, his eyes filled with shock and curiosity.
[Eternal life grants you immunity to any kind of natural death, but that does not mean you can die unnaturally.]
"Ara!" The system's response made Ben's jaw drop in shock. Immortality was a very desired human fantasy in his world, and achieving it so casually felt like cheating to him.
"And what about the experience points? Why is it 000/000?" Ben asked, noticing something on the status screen.
The experience points indicate that you can't evolve any further from there. [During your fight with normal-tier Black Raven, you have reached enough soul essence to reach the maximum potential a mosquito body can reach.]
[If you want to further increase your strength, you have to retain a humanoid form first.]
"Your words make sense. I was also wondering just how much a mosquito can get stronger. So tell me, what does it require to retain a humanoid form?" Ben asked with a serious expression and excitement to become a human or something similar again.
[New quest updated: evolve into a vampire]
Requirements-
ͯ Normal Tier Beast Core: 0/3
ͯ Human Blood: 0/1 Litres
ͯ Beast Blood: 0/1 Litres
[Rewards: ???? + ???]
"Evolve into a vampire? Are you freaking kidding me, system?" Ben asked in shock, looking at the quest board before him. If being a vampire is the same as in those fantasy novels, then it means Ben is going to get one of the closest human forms available in the universe. "And I thought I was going to evolve into a half hybrid, 'El Mosco' or something."
[ ... ]
"Btw system! Are vampires supposed to be related to bats? I mean, isn't it weird for a mosquito to evolve into a vampire?" Ben asked after catching breath from his rentless laughter.
[ Normally, all the vampires in this world are related to the bat family. But due to our special circumstances, the system found a loophole and made you a vampire.
"Wow, I wonder how the vampires in this world would react if they knew." Ben asked, rubbing his chin in curiousity.
[No one will know...]
"What if someone leaked that information or something?"
[No one will utter a single word...]
"Gulp"
.........
[ Yo guys, author here! First of all, let me thank you all for your wonderful reviews. This book has finally gotten a rating of 4.9 on WN. ]
[ Also, we finally managed to hit our weekly target of 50 power stones, and I will upload an extra chapter by tonight or tomorrow morning, as promised. Let's go for next week and get even heigher mark this time... Gambare Gambare!! ]
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