[Description: The composition of Blood contains blood cells and iron. Iron is a crucial component of hemoglobin, as it binds to oxygen molecules in the lungs and releases them to tissues as needed. The Blood Rust skill amplifies the body’s natural iron content, increasing it to levels high enough to create an iron nugget and then spreading it to every level of the body before causing it to oxidize. The oxidation poisons the Blood and horrifically kills the victim.] [Blood Rust Skill: Activated] "You might want to step back from this." Ace instructed Cherry who took out the daggers and leaped a few meters away from her brother. With his palms pressing on the Ethisian’s head, Ace focused his energy on this new Magic Skill which he had never attempted before. Eyes focused on the Ethisian, he gathered as much energy as he could and started to multiply the energy within his enemy’s body. ’I can feel it multiplying.’ Eyes and hands glowing red, Ace felt the iron content of the Ethisian’s blood multiplying and increasing. Sweat started to trickle down his face, his hands began to twitch a little and his muscles started to bulge slightly. At last, the amount of iron in the Ethisian’s blood had tripled, reaching incredibly high amounts which would be lethal to weaker beings. Once that first phase was complete, Ace started to oxidize the iron which in return poisoned the Ethisian’s blood. It was already bad enough that its chest had a deep cut and now, its blood was slowly intoxicated throughout its body, bringing with it immense amounts of pain. The creature even preferred the pain caused by the daggers rather than the one that came from poisoned blood. "It’s done." Ace smiled and jumped off the Ethisian. With Cherry standing next to him, the two watched as the Ethisian’s body wilted, bloated, and erupted before their eyes. It started with every vein in its body turning a reddish brown with a hint of black. Then, the veins could contract and expand repeatedly while the muscles turned black, contracting intensely to the point where the bones underwent immense pressure which caused them to crack. Afterward, every hole on its body began to ooze with black thick blood that possessed a pungent odor. "Wouldn’t want to be on that receiving end," Cherry sighed in disgust, terrified but also impressed at the skill’s effect. "Teach me how to...." "First focus on your Blood Cloning skills, Cherry," Ace interrupted. "There’s a lot I’m excited to show and teach you but first, we both need to focus on increasing our Blood Cloning abilities and Blood Manipulation skills. There’s so much we can do with Blood, it’s just us limiting ourselves." "Then let’s do less yapping and get to learning, shall we?" Cherry chimed and then stretched her hands towards the Ethisian, draining every last bit of blood from its body which killed it quicker. Afterward, she created a Blood Clone from the poisoned black blood, giving it a luscious, polished black texture. Surrounded by Ethisians on every corner, the Blood Mutant siblings severed, stabbed, gouged, and killed each one of them while suffering a few wounds here and there. In all of this, Cherry had learned how to create Blood Clones which would not only assist her in fighting but would also handle Ethisians on their own. Giving them autonomy, she was now able to have a small squad of clones that did her dirty work with her and for her. As for Ace, he chose to kill the Ethisians with nothing but his Blood Skills and fists. No daggers, no claws, no tendrils. Just plain fists, kicks, and a few Blood Manipulation techniques here and there. [EXP: 227/450>>>327/450] "Blood Essence, Manifest." [+6 New Blood Warriors.] "Very good, Mutants," Lord Grim and Huntress, real name Helda, approached the Mutants, each carrying a pair of Blood Mutant Blockers in their hands. Seeing this, the siblings had a faint idea what the Granians wanted to do with them, and for some reason, it was entertaining to both of them. The thought of fighting them with their current strength would be a good assessment of their abilities. "Seeing the blockers, I’m sure you already know what’s going to happen, yes?" "Sure," Cherry replied and then looked at the baby bump on Helda’s body. "Is she in the right conditions to be fighting? What if one of us hits her...." "Oh you have nothing to worry about," she cockily grinned. "It’ll take more than a few punches from you to harm me and my child." "Put these on, and we shall begin your assessment," Grim ordered and they did as he said. Afterward, they separated into groups of two with Ace and Grim going first. [Your Blood Manipulation Abilities cannot be used.] [You can still Summon your Blood Weapons and use Skills that do not involve the Manipulation of Blood.] Grim and Ace faced each other, not as enemies, but as two opponents ready to gauge each other’s strength. Grim wished to see how far Ace had come in terms of his strength. As for the Blood Mutant, he wanted to gauge how long he could last without using his Blood Abilities. [Blood Sprint: Activated] Both entities darted at each other at incredible speeds that would be difficult for the regular Human eye to keep up with. Clouds and trails of dust formed as the two started to exchange blows with each other. Grim, having the advantage of harder skin, used it to absorb and deflect Ace’s punches. However, the Granian was taken by surprise given how powerful the Human’s punches were. They were heavy and stung, causing a few of his scales to lodge out of place. "Very good," he congratulated Ace while taking his hits without fail. "Your punches certainly have expendable amounts of energy in them. What else can you...." [Blood Step Skill: Activated] Using a short and quick burst of speed, speed faster than Blood Sprint, Ace landed a fist right in the middle of Grim’s chest in the middle of his rants. The attack wasn’t at any level dangerous, but it certainly did pack a ’punch’. Grim found himself skidding backward for less than half a second before getting hold of his footing. Now that Ace had had his fair share of attacks, it was his turn. As soon as the Mutant got close enough, Grim wrapped his tail around his legs and flipped him over before slamming his hands into his face and the ground. Without a second for the Mutant to realize what was happening, he found himself being dragged to the ground at a frightening pace which led to injuries. ’Damn it. I can’t find an opening quickly enough. I can’t afford to lose health points this quickly.’ Since his legs were wrapped, and his face was held down, Ace used his strength and slammed his hands into the ground, forcing his body to shoot upwards. With a few seconds of air time, he used the advantage to get his legs and face free before launching a counterattack. "Quick thinking skills, excellent." Grim congratulated and then deflected a kick that was aimed at his head. "However, you leave yourself open too many times." Again, the Granian grabbed the young man’s legs using his tail and flipped him over while slamming his head into the ground repeatedly. Ace quickly guarded his head while looking for another opening. "Come on, Mutant. Is that all you have to present?" Grim questioned and threw a punch to the Mutant’s stomach out of frustration. Surprisingly, Ace didn’t cough up or vomit any blood despite having taken an incredibly heavy hit. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝗂𝗋𝖾⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥 ’My body’s gotten this strong,’ he grinned in pain while getting back his footing. ’This endurance stat’s proving to be useful. I must focus on keeping it higher than my other stats.’ "You’re breathing heavily," Grim taunted as he flexed his muscles. "Getting exhausted already?" "I’ve still got strength in me," Ace grunted and darted at the Granian. Dust gathered behind him, wind blew against his face with his speed increasing. Instead of heading straight for Grim, the Blood Bishop ran circles around him and created a small dust cloud that hindered his vision temporarily. The longer he ran, the faster his speed grew and the quicker his movements became, all without breaking a sweat. In an instant, a punch and kick slammed hard on Grim’s body at the same time, one on his back and another on his head. The Granian remained confused, baffled at the speed Ace used to land two hits at the same interval. Once again, the Granian was hit three times at once, almost as if he was fighting against three people. "Your speed is impressive." ’That’s because I now possess the power of a Blood God.’ Grim admitted and then knelt on the ground. "You’re growing quickly and incredibly. Let the real fight begin."