From the four gates of the Colosseum came twelve Xof creatures. Ace, Cherry, and Jim had fought them before and yet the ones surrounding them seemed more vicious and deadly. "Blood Mutants," Grim spoke from above, sensing the despaired expressions on their faces. "Those are not the same as the ones you fought on the ship. Those Xof will do anything to kill you so fight knowing your lives are at stake." [Manage to Kill three Xof.] [Reward: Double Instant level up.] The Xof creatures were shaped and built like blood mutants, with the exception of their eyes which were more scythe-shaped than crescent-shaped. Their hands had much longer, sharper, and curved claws, and their legs had backward-bending knees. Their mouths were so filled with teeth that they couldn’t close them shut. "Here goes nothing." Cherry said for she was the first to transform. Her veins bulged and popped, sending all her blood to cover her body. Her bones broke and restructured themselves to suit her Blood Mutant Form. ""YEAH!!!"" The Granians, seeing the Blood Mutants transform for the first time, cheered in excitement but terror at the same time. Excitement, for their transformations which were more than astounding, and terrified for their transformations which were quite bone-chilling. The second to transform was Jim with his golden form being both elegant and terrifying as well. Anya and Ace were the only ones who remained in their human forms, causing the Granians to wonder amongst themselves. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝙣𝙚𝙩 "What’s your reason for not transforming?" Ace asked Anya who remained still with her hands folded and eyes closed. With her eyebrows folded, the woman grunted angrily while showing no signs of caring about what was going on around her. "I could ask you the same thing." She answered without batting an eye in Ace’s direction. "I don’t wish to depend on it too much," Ace answered. "These forms have a limit depending on our strength so it’s better for me to use my own strength and only use it when necessary. So, what’s your reason?" "They’re making us do this for their entertainment," Anya answered, "I’ll not give them the satisfaction of doing that. Besides, these look easy enough to take one without having a need to transform." ""FIGHT ALREADY!!"" The impatient Granians shouted while some threw miscellaneous objects at the Humans. The Xof, on the other hand, stood still; neither willing to move from where they stood. With their scythe-shaped eyes, they scanned the blood mutants intently and gauged their strength. The blood mutants, on the other hand, dashed at all four corners of the colosseum, each one having picked the Xof creatures they wished to kill. The Granians rose in roars and cheers as they witnessed a blood bath befalling them. Cherry, being one who liked to show off, stretched her hands forward and folded her fist. The Xof creatures began to struggle and convulse as their pores opened. From them came threads of blood winding and wiggling their way to Cherry’s arms. As soon as they did, she turned them into blood scythe blades and lashed at the first Xof. The blades sliced its pelvis bones, leaving it immobile. The other Xof ignored the fact that they were being drained slowly and lunged at Cherry. Using their long claws, the creatures sliced into her forearms, causing her to suffer great injuries. The Granians winced for what they saw looked painful. Cherry, on the other hand, grinned a little as her blood slowly crawled on the two creatures before her. "A little something I learned from my brother." She grinned and then laughed as her blood on the Xof glowed. A mild explosion destroyed the Xof’s palms, leaving them with bleeding stubs. The female blood mutant created four tendrils which she shot into the chests of the Xof. The Granians cheered as they watched her lift the Xof and drain them of every ounce of blood in their bodies, leaving empty husks of cold skin and bones. Cherry ended with a loud and powerful roar, making the crowd roar with cheers and praises for her. She may have hated the Granians, but she most certainly enjoyed the praise she got for killing creatures before them. Jim, Ace, and Anya remained in the center as the nine remaining scoff slowly approached them. Their strategy was simple; stick together and take out the creatures while assisting the other in any way that they could. Jim attacked first by lashing out a tendril. The Xof quickly grabbed it in its claws and tugged on the tendril. Jim dug two more into the ground to keep him firm in the ground. Anya reciprocated with blood spikes aimed at the creature’s heads. As soon as she threw them, Ace broke them down into smaller, sharper spikes that penetrated certain pressure points on the Xof’s bodies. [Partial Transformation Skill: Activated.] Ace turned his hands into claws and held them towards the Xof on his side. The creatures ran at him at full speed, each one itching to dig their claws into his pale pink flesh. As soon as they were in range, Ace folded his hands and activated his blood control skill. The Xof immediately froze from where they stood, bound by Ace’s control. The blood mutant pressed his fingers together, controlling every ounce of blood inside the creatures. The crowd went silent, each in awe at the boy’s terrifying power. Without laying a finger on them, Ace was slowly killing them from the inside; blocking every artery, vein, and capillary in their bodies to cut off blood supply. After a few short minutes, the scoff fell to the ground. Their bodies were bloated with certain parts swollen. With no life left in them, Ace drained the remaining blood they had left and turned to Jim and Anya. Thankfully, they too had already killed their opponents, and judging by their scattered appendages, it wasn’t a pretty sight to behold for those who lacked the stomach to do so. [Instant Level Up X2] [Level 38>>>>Level 40] The colosseum, once loud with cheers and rampant noises, was now silent with everyone’s eyes fixated on one person. The only blood mutant who didn’t lift anything but his hand to kill his opponents. The blood control skill certainly was amazing, but to the Granians it was more than terrifying to think of, let alone witness. "Such a horrible skill." "That power must be checked and kept under control." "He subdued them with only his hand." While the Granians remained quiet and in awe, a couple of them were amazed by the blood mutants’ skills and those were Grand Master, Grim, a few members of the Council of Elders, and Lord Grania. "For someone who isn’t in the Blood Bishop rank, he certainly possesses an impressive arsenal of skills." Lord Grania spoke to himself. "I must see what else they all can do." With a snap of his fingers, the Granian ordered all of those who watched to leave while the Colosseum turned back into a Castle. The blood mutants were approached by Grim and Grand Master who had blockers with them. "The rest of you, give us the room." The Granian emperor commanded, leaving only him, Grim, and Grand Master in the room with the blood mutants standing before him. "Such raw power you all have. It’s a shame none of you used it well." "Forgive us, my Lord," Grim and Grand Master apologized while bowing. "It is us who failed to...." "Be quiet, I wasn’t speaking to you." Lord Grania frowned before turning his attention back to the blood mutants. "Tell me, what do they call you?" "I am Jim, these two are named Ace and Cherry, and they’re related to each other. The other is named Anya." Jim answered, making sure to be as humble as possible for he felt an uneasy presence radiating from Grania. ’Something feels off with this one. If Grim and that Grand Master guy bow to him so easily, he must be the one in charge.’ "I see," Grania replied. "Welcome to your new home, Planet Grania. By now, the three of you know what is at stake here. Our galaxy is threatened by the alarming growth of our enemies the Ethisians. Since you recaptured one of our colonies, we expect a war to break out at any moment. "In the meantime, I want the three of you to be able to do as he did." Grania pointed at Ace. "That Blood Control skill is a rare one but can be taught easily. That will be your goal for now. But first...." "And if we don’t?" Anya interrupted while glaring angrily at Lord Grania. The emperor, in all his glory, stood over Anya with his reptilian eyes locking with hers. "If I refuse to do what you say, what happens to me?" "You shall be released back to your home planet." He answered with a frightening and false smile. "If it bothers you, you might as well leave." Anya gladly stood up to leave but before she could even get five steps in, Grania spoke again saying, "Of course, in order for you to leave, you will have to beat me first." "Challenge accepted," Anya responded without thinking straight. She looked over at Jim, Ace, Cherry, and the other two Granians whose facial expressions warned her against doing so. "When do we start?"