{See Author’s Note at the end} [Quest: For each one killed, you will be leveled up instantly.] Upon reading the System Quest notification, Ace looked ahead and witnessed about eight gray-scaled Ethisians approaching him at full speed, rivaling his own. The foes, nearly two-thirds larger, faster, and stronger than the Grand Warrior Class Ethisians, moved with such frightening force that they left tremors with every footstep. The other Ethisians made way for these eight, knowing that they were aiming at the Blood Mutant. To his right, Ace noticed that eight more had surrounded his sister who was holding fairly well at the moment. Her Blood Clones proved helpful, although the Ethisians made quick work of them. ’I have to help her....’ "Halt," one of the eight declared, throwing a battle hammer-like weapon directly at the Blood Bishop’s head. Deflecting it with his sword, Ace spared himself the opportunity of fighting with terrible wounds, a service he could not afford at this moment. "A Human...it’s quite slim for its age." "I don’t see it. It looks more agile than its body shape." "Such red hair you have. Did you decorate it with the blood of your enemies?" "Silence, all of you. We kill it here and now." While they taunted and mocked him, the Blood Bishop used his system scan skill hoping for an advantageous bit of information to ease his time against these eight. Already feeling tense and slightly overwhelmed by their presence, Ace knew he had to act quickly and swiftly for his sister was facing the same breed. [System Scan Skill: Activated] [Rank: Elite Warrior Class.] ’If I kill these lot, their ranks will reduce to Grand Warrior class, just the way the Grand Warrior class reduced to Upper Warrior class when I killed them.’ "Blood Essence, Manifest." [Your Six Upper Warrior Ethisians have been summoned.] From his right arm splashed out a small gush of blood, later forming into six Upper Warrior Ethisians wielding heavy weapons. The eight Elites took a step back, marveling at the sight of their own kind turned into red beings, and then charged at them immediately, not holding back one bit. The source of thɪs content is 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝙣𝙚𝙩 [Blood Iron Manipulation Aspect: Activated] [Your Blood Warriors have been reinforced.] "What sort of magic is this?" one of the Elites asked, disgusted by the fact that their attack did not work out as they hoped it to. "Fight back, and don’t hold back. Have this, it will help." Ace commanded his six warriors while also reinforcing their weapons with some of the Emberwyrm’s blood. Its metallic components were certainly most useful as the Warriors would soon find out. [Blood Control Skill Lv3: Activated] [Blood Harvest Gauntlets Attributes; Acquired.] [Blood Strength: Level 3>>>Level 5] [Blood Drain: Level 2>>> Level 5] [Blood Control: Level 3>>> Level 6] As stated before, the Blood Bishop wasn’t going to hold back. Using his Blood Control skill and current Blood Strength, added with the attributes from his Blood Harvest Gauntlets, Ace chose one of the unoccupied Elites and began manipulating its blood. Starting at its chest, he attempted to coagulate the blood pumped through its heart but was shocked to see how resilient it was. Using great amounts of strength, the Blood Bishop struggled against the Elite, which was also fighting against Ace’s blood technique. "I know of your coagulative abilities, Mutant," the Elite bragged, beating its chest while banging its weapon repeatedly with its other hand. As it was still talking, Ace vanished and reappeared behind it, striking its sword on its leg. The Elite dodged at the last moment, turning around with an attack of its own. Using its fist, it attempted to punch through Ace’s chest, only to end up hitting his Gauntlet. [Your arm is fractured.] [Emergency Healing in progress.] Even though Ace deflected the punch, he was still knocked back a little while the Elite continued with another attack. It swung its hammer at the Mutant’s head and missed, only to see it directly under its body with one hand attempting to get to its chest. ’Just one touch and it’ll die...one touch...ONE TOUCH!!’ Not fast enough, the Blood Bishop missed his shot at using his Pulse Breaker skill. With just one touch, he’d be able to thicken its blood, making it impossible for the Elite’s heart to beat anymore. "Too slow!!" it laughed and then kicked the Mutant, leaping in the air with another attack to its chest. [Your chest has been punctured.] Iron scratched on iron; sparks formed between the two weapons with one slowly pushing the other back. Ace, pinned on the ground under the Elite Ethisian’s weight, was forced to use his durable sword to push back the Ethisian’s hammer. He couldn’t keep it up for too long with his chest aching, blood nearly filling in his cavities. [Blood Mana Lv4: 19,324/32,000<<<17,002/32,000] Ace wasn’t the only one struggling to keep up with the fight. His Blood Warriors were getting slaughtered, only standing in the fight due to the fact that they could regenerate. Still, if the fight continued to go the way it was, it wouldn’t be long until the Blood Bishop ran out of Blood Mana, which would render his Warriors useless. He needed to change the tides of the war, and he needed to do it quickly. Not just to save his own skin, but to save Cherry also. ’If I’m struggling ...I wonder...how she’s faring...’ [Blood Step Skill: Activated] Lifting his leg up, Ace stomped hard, moving his body to the side just before the Elite’s hammer swung down, leaving a hole where his head was. The Mutant quickly sprung to his feet, allowing his body to heal while he thought of a solid plan. Before that, he looked in Cherry’s direction, noticing how she and her clones were faring well against the Elites. With cuts, bruises, and wounds, the Elites she faced were having a much harder time than she was, resulting in her victory which was soon to come. [Partial Transformation Skill: Activated] "I’ve fought Grim before and I walked out without that many wounds. You’re not supposed to be any challenge for me at all. I’m not scared of you," the young man raged, his red curly hair flowing with the wind with his eyes glowing a violent red glow. His hands expanded, veins popping with blood covering his skin in a new layer. His Gauntlets melted and readjusted to fit his new arm shape while his shoes and the bottom sections of his trousers tore, revealing his mutated feet. [Blood Harvest Gauntlet Attributes: Activated] [Blood Strength: Level 3>>>Level 5] [Blood Drain: Level 2>>> Level 5] [Blood Control: Level 3>>> Level 6] [Blood Control Skill: Activated] [Blood Strength Level: Enhanced.] [Blood Strength Stat: Doubled.] [Blood Strength Stat: 410>>>820] The same red energy that frightened Grim and Helda, sparked an interest in Skyler, and partially moved Commander engulfed the Blood Bishop’s body, enhancing him with great amounts of strength. All the blood surrounding him gathered, quickly flowing like a gushing river that overflowed. The blood passed the Elite and surrounded Ace’s body, spinning and twirling like a typhoon about to form. The Ethisian braced itself for whatever attack coming its way. Not knowing what would happen but still preparing, it planted the handle of its hammer in the icy ground and held tight onto the hammerhead, waiting for the Mutant to strike. Using the same move he used on Grim, Ace began to move quickly, creating afterimages of his body with a wall of blood surrounding him and the Ethisian, not allowing anyone else to get involved. As he did all of this, that same energy moved to his Blood Warriors who began putting up more of a fight against the other Elites. The wall of blood got high enough, overshadowing both Human and alien, covering them in shadow. The Ethisian stood firm, trusting its body to take on all of the force that was about to fall on it. However, it was soon surprised when it felt a devastating blow on its head, the right side of its chest, and back, all coming in at once. It felt as though he was being hit by three people at the same time, even though it was just one. Lifting its head, it noticed five afterimages of the Human surrounding it, placing its mind in a state of confusion. The Elite started to overthink, strategizing and forcing itself to at least try and memorize the Mutant’s moves. The scales on its back started to peel off one by one with each hit, exposing the weak parts of its body. Another triple-hit move was pulled off, aimed at its legs and chest bringing it down on its knees. Not wanting to take more chances, the Ethisian turned back, looking for its weapon which it lost after being hit by the Mutant, but it wasn’t there. Cornered, threatened, and afraid, the alien attempted to run through the spinning blood wall which started to enclose itself. A sound similar to tree bark breaking apart was heard, followed by the painful grunts and screams of the Ethisian. The scales on its hands were ripped apart clean by the blood wall which felt like sandpaper rubbed on flesh. The more the Ethisian tried pushing its hand through, the more flesh it lost eventually turning into wounds. "You’re bleeding. Good enough for me" five voices. Five voices, as though five people were speaking at once, rocked the Ethisian to its knees with its heart racing. It was experiencing fear, an aspect that was forcefully removed from its system through training. Still, the Ethisian wasn’t going to back down just yet. Despite being in a terrible position, it wasn’t going to let up so easily. It was just too stubborn and proud to die without trying. "Do your worst, Mutant," it screamed, the swirling sounds of the blood wall deafening out its voice, but it didn’t care. "I’M NOT AFRAID OF YOU AS YOU THINK!!"