The mating ritual between Grim and his mate, Huntress (or Helda), has concluded with Helda being filled with seed. According to Granian custom, she was to endure and put her body through intense physical, mental, spiritual, and psychological conditions for the period of her gestation, which was six months. This custom was believed to strengthen the blood of the female Granian and ensure that she would give birth to a strong, future Granian leader. After all, Grim’s mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and those ahead of her had observed this tradition for over millions of Granian years. At the moment, Helda was in a dry, semi-arid location with the five humans by her side. Lord Grim was with her, although his attention was more on the humans than his bride. "Greetings. Today we shall begin your training. By now, you have already had the chance to get accustomed to our planet’s conditions. Now we are going to get you accustomed to the harshest conditions, starting with heat. [Your Internal Body Temperatures are increasing.] "Ace, I believe your system has already given you a warning about the increasing heat," Grim pointed out after noticing the look of confusion on the humans’ faces. "I understand your confusion. You may not feel any heat on the outside of your body, but given your physical build, the temperature is affecting you internally." "We’re cooking on the inside?" Skyler asked, acting amazed and terrified of the new conditions she was in. "If you like to put it that way, yes," Grim answered. He then moved a few feet ahead of the humans and pointed afar. In the distance, past the orange hue of the burning mirage, was a silhouette of One Horn standing with a red flare in his hand. "Ahead of you is two miles’ worth of open, empty sand. Your goal is to get to One Horn." The humans remained quiet, their attention fixated on Grim as they waited for further instructions. However, the Granian, too, was standing looking at them, wondering why neither of them was making a move. "You may begin now." "Wait, that’s it?" Cherry asked. Just then, Helda picked up herself and started running as fast as she could. As soon as she got onto the open space, the ground beneath her started shifting and turning, as if something were crawling in it. Suddenly, a worm-like creature with six rows of teeth inside its mouth jumped out of the sand the way a whale leaped out and into the water. The humans’ eyes widened in shock at the size of the creature. Its body was long, white, and segmented. Its underbelly looked as if it were made of a tough, stone-like substance. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝙣𝙚𝙩 "That field is filled with beasts that will do anything and everything in their power to kill you," Grim continued. "The purpose of this training is to advance your blood skills. Anya, you need to learn how to channel that pent-up rage and use it against the beasts. Jim, you need to learn how to be more vicious in your attacks. Do not think of holding back for one moment, for those beasts will not. Cherry, think before you kill. While your comrade Jim shouldn’t first analyze before killing, you must do so since your mind is fixated on draining and killing as quickly as possible. And lastly, Ace," Grim remained quiet for a moment as he and Ace looked at each other. "Whatever scheme you have brewing in your head should cease at this moment. You have a powerful system. Learn how to use it. You may all begin." Cherry, Anya, and Jim transformed and cautiously ran ahead. Following Helda’s lead, they all moved from side to side, dodging the sand worms that would occasionally spring up from the ground. Meanwhile, Ace remained where he was. His eyes glowed a faint red color, signifying he was using his system scan skill. [System Scan Skill: Activated] [Over two hundred life forms present.] The Blood Mutant spotted creatures lying in wait with their mouths wide open. Knowing where they’d spring from, Ace sprinted into the field while forming two blood swords in both his hands. Having fought for a while and trained with Grim, he had gotten quite accustomed to using swords as his weapon of choice. "One’s approaching," he said while looking underneath where he stood. The mouth of a sand worm appeared beneath his feet, causing him to lunge into the air. With a few feet between him and the worm, Ace pointed his finger at the beast and tried out a new move he had thought of using for a while. [Blood Bullet: Allows you to shoot blood balls from your finger at an incredible speed. However, the skill takes a toll on your appendages and consumes two health points each time it’s used.] As soon as the blood bullet was shot from Ace’s index finger, his nail and nerve endings were shattered, leaving a gaping wound as a result. Meanwhile, the bullet went through the creature’s mouth and hit its inside. It screamed and wiggled violently while blood spewed from its mouth. Ace took the opportunity and extracted as much blood as possible. The sand worm noticed this and faced him, its mouth covered in its own blood. The two foes faced each other, one with the ability to control blood and the other with an ability to move in and out of sand. Having given all his attention to the sand worm before him, Ace was caught off guard by another, which bit and latched onto his foot before dragging him into the tunnels beneath him. The worm dragged him through the hot, cramped tunnels while tossing him around for the other worms to have a bite. In a sense, they were like Orcas taking turns on killing their prey. "Damn it. I dropped my guard down!" He cursed while calculating a way out. "Screw this, I’ve had enough of this." [Transformation: Activated.] Ace, now in his red Blood mutant form, slammed his foot as hard as he could into one worm while grabbing the others on his sides. Now that he was in this form, he was able to drain even larger amounts of blood, allowing him to kill the sand worms surrounding him. [+1 Stat Point earned for obtaining a new blood sample.] Once finished with the worms, Ace clawed his way out from the tunnels and onto the surface. Angered by the fact that he was dragged and caught off guard, Ace decided to go all out and kill every worm that came his way. All of his pent-up frustration was now out, leading him to let out a roar while turning his hands into long blades. "At last, he’s using that form," Grim remarked as he witnessed Ace raging on the beasts. "Now that he’s in that form, it’s time to unleash the rest." With a snap of his finger, Grim watched as the entire field started to shift and move. The four Blood Mutants and Helda huddled in a group while a whole multitude circled around them. "Ace, use that scan skill thing of yours and tell us how many there are," Cherry spoke to her brother while she and the other Blood Mutants prepared themselves to attack. "Hundreds!" He answered. "There are over one hundred worms under us." "Where did they all come from?" Jim asked. "Lord Grim can control the creatures on our planet," Helda opened her mouth and spoke, her voice sounding more serious than usual. "If I am correct, he is the one that has sent these our way." "Why?" Anya questioned. "Is your husband trying to kill you and your child?" "Speak wrongfully of Lord Grim, and I will have your head," Helda answered, causing those around her to cringe a little. "Here they come!" Skyler spoke, her body transforming into the groundhog form. "Please let me kill something. I’m not as weak as you think." While still pleading, the sand worms splashed out from the ground while strategically throwing sand over their eyes to block their vision. With their vision slightly blocked, the sand worms lunged at the humans and Helda with the intent to kill. Helda, having an extra layer of transparent flesh over her eyes, looked past the sand and began killing the worms. She was swarmed left, right, and center, making it harder for her to deflect and kill the worms. Skyler, with her hands twice her size and equipped with long claws, joined Helda and began to grab and choke the worms to death. Her appendages made it easier, and as she did so, the Blood Mutants used the spilt blood and conjured blood spikes, blades, and projectiles. In a few short seconds, a bloodbath was unleashed on the beasts, each one falling after the other. The Blood Mutants exercised their blood skills, increased the amount of blood they could extract, and even learned a few skills of their own. [Level 40 >>> Level 41] [Level up: 41 >>> 42] "That seemed easy enough," Cherry chimed while reverting to normal. "These creatures weren’t much of a challenge." "That’s because we have been fighting the babies," Helda laughed as she de-toothed the killed sand worms to create a makeshift weapon of her own. "The older ones are just a few feet ahead of us. Let us continue, shall we?" [Manage to Kill at least One Sand Worm.] ’Just one?’ Ace froze in place while re-reading what his system just said. Whenever it gave him such objectives like that, it could only mean one thing. ’Are they going to be that tough to kill?’