The siblings were gone, vanishing like ghosts into the southern clouds, leaving behind only the metallic scent of Vanessa's blood and the fading beat of leathery wings. I stood on the precipice, my blood Wings still nothing more than tattered, steaming ribbons of ichor, slowly weaving themselves back together cell by bloody cell.
I didn't have the luxury of a graceful recovery.
The mountain groaned. A shadow, far larger than any human, stretched across the obsidian ledge. I didn't need eyes in the back of my head to know what was coming, the air pressure shifted with the weight of a projectile.
I threw myself to the side, my bare skin grazing the jagged rock, as a massive boulder whistled through the space where my head had been a second ago. It smashed into the cliffside, sending a spray of stone shrapnel into the air.
I rolled to my feet, my single green eye narrowing. Standing at the edge of the plateau were the Cyclops I had blinded earlier. Their faces were horrific masses of torn muscle and clotted blood where their purple eyes used to be. But they weren't stumbling anymore.
They were adapting.
Without sight, they were using their other senses. They listened for the scrape of my boots, they smelled the fresh, blood dripping from my healing wounds. One of them tilted its head, its nostrils flaring, and let out a guttural, vibrating roar that shook the very stone beneath me.
Another boulder was raised high above a muscular, gray-skinned shoulder.
"Still persistent," I thought, my glasgow smile tightening.
I couldn't fly, and my mana was running low after the fight with the Katt siblings. I was cornered on a narrow ledge with blinded behemoths who had nothing left to lose. But they had forgotten one thing: even without wings, I was the the bounty hunter.
I crouched low, using my fifth evolution blood manipulation, I was molding the blood from my mutilated arm into a long, thin whip. If they wanted to play by sound and scent, I would give them plenty to hear. I lashed the whip against the stone, the crack echoing like a gunshot to draw their aim, while I began to move silently toward the shadows of the crags.
The hunt for Cameron would have to wait. First, I had to put these blind titans into the ground for good.
The mountain air was filled with the deafening roars of the blinded giants, but I moved with the silent lethality of a shadow. I didn't need wings to be fast.
I sprinted across the obsidian ledge, my bare feet barely touching the ground to minimize the vibration. The lead Cyclops, sensing the displacement of air and the faint scent of my blood, brought its massive, tree-trunk foot down in a crushing stomp. The ground shattered, sending a shockwave through my legs, but I had already pivoted.
Using my momentum, I slid beneath the beast's towering frame. I swung my blood sword in a wide, vicious arc, the blood blade biting deep into its Achilles tendon.
The sound was like a thick cable snapping. The Cyclops let out a harrowing, gurgling scream as its leg gave way, and the massive creature crashed to its knees, the impact shaking the entire plateau.
The second Cyclops, hearing its comrade's cry and the chaotic movement, panicked. In its blind rage, it reached for the largest boulders nearby. It didn't aim for me, it aimed for the source of the noise.
CRUNCH.
A jagged rock the size of a carriage hurtled through the air, smashing directly into the kneeling Cyclops' skull. Bone sprayed like shrapnel. Before the blinded thrower could realize its mistake, it launched another, then another, a frantic barrage of stone meant to crush the person it couldn't see.
I stood perfectly still in the eye of the storm, watching as the second Cyclops effectively executed its own partner. The kneeling giant collapsed fully, its life-force extinguished by its own ally's friendly fire.
"Eirene, your wings are fully recovered." Plasma said
As the first Cyclops died, a faint red mist drifted from its cooling carcass toward me. I felt the warmth enter my chest, fueling the final stage of my regeneration. My blood wings finally solidified, the crimson feathers snapping into place with a sharp, metallic sound.
I turned my gaze toward the remaining, trembling Cyclops. It stood alone now, breathing heavily, its hands groping the air for a boulder that wasn't there. It had served its purpose as a distraction, but now, the plateau needed to be cleared.
I didn't use the sword. I stepped to the edge of the cliff. With one powerful flap of my restored wings, I took to the sky, leaving the blinded beast to howl at the moon in the graveyard of its own making.
The moonlight cast long, jagged shadows over the plateau as the last echoes of the Cyclops' roars faded into the wind. I stood over the mountain of cooling flesh, my body still humming with the aftershocks of the Fear Manipulation. The siblings were long gone, their trail lost in the vast, dark expanse of the southern peaks.
I was exhausted, naked, and drained. To continue the hunt now would be suicide. I needed to refit, rearm, and, most importantly, reclaim the strength the S-rank bounty hunter demanded.
I knelt beside the fallen giant. My flesh-and-blood hand gripped the edge of its massive chest as I leaned in.
I didn't use a sword. I unhinged my jaw, the glasgow smile widening as I bared my fangs. With a jagged, predatory hunger, I tore into the jugular.
[Drain Activated Extraction Completed consumed four liters of blood]
The blood of a Cyclops is thick, hot, and carries the heavy, metallic tang of earth and raw power. I drank with a ferocity that would have horrified a normal human. As an hunter who manipulated the very essence of life, this wasn't just feeding, it was refueling.
A minute passed. Then two.
I watched as the giant's massive frame began to wither. The gray skin shriveled, the bulging muscles collapsed, and the very bones seemed to grow brittle as I siphoned every drop of ichor from its veins. When I finally pulled away, the once-mighty beast was nothing more than a leathery, dried-out husk, its life-force now swirling within the depths of my own core.
As I drank the cyclops blood a icon appeared, and it shook me easily.
[Successfully drank 250 liters, ready for sixth evolution]
I saw the icon clearly, I drank enough blood to change my monstrous body once again, my heart pounding like crazy as well as a blissful sensation echoed through my body.
[Evolution Completed: Phase 6]
Blood Capacity increased to 400 liters,
Make fangs grow longer for better drainage and consumption
Enhance drainage of blood, grant a blood siphon ability, sucking the blood easily with the use of your palms
Grant Blood Tracking, with only a sip of blood will track the target's whereabouts.
Sunlight is lethal and a high risk of burning.
Attributes obtained: +100 agility, +50 defense.
The power surges through every vein like liquid fire. My body is changing again.
Phase 6... complete.
I can feel it, my blood capacity has ballooned to 400 liters. Four hundred. The hunger that used to gnaw at me constantly now feels... manageable. No, more than that. It feels right. Like I've finally become what I was always meant to be.
A sharp, pleasurable pain erupts in my gums. I run my tongue over my teeth and feel them lengthening, sharpening into proper predatory fangs. Longer, thicker, more efficient. Perfect for draining a body dry in seconds.
"Mmm... good," I whisper to myself.
Then comes the new sensation in my palms. Heat gathers beneath the skin as the flesh there subtly shifts. I clench and unclench my fists, watching faint crimson lines trace across my palms like living circuits. Blood Siphon... I can already imagine it, pressing my hands against warm flesh and pulling. No more clumsy biting and messy spills. Just pure, effortless drainage.
A dark smile spreads across my face.
"Not only your body changed, your chances of tracking Vanessa will be increased as well, see for yourself." Plasma said
I noticed that I have a tracking skill, nd the tracking... just a sip. One single taste of someone's blood and I'll know exactly where they are, no matter how far they run. The S-rank bounty hunter inside me purrs with satisfaction.
But then the warning burns into my mind like a brand:
Sunlight is now lethal.
"Oh you got to be kidding me, out of all the powerful abilities, this one is the worse." I thought
"Your body evolves through the curse, even though you been granting superhuman abilities, there a cost."
"Still, this is more of a debuff than helping me."
A cold shiver runs down my spine. The price of power. I can already feel the instinctive dread of daylight creeping in. One wrong move under the sun and I'll burn. No second chances.
Still… I looked down through my stats, it was different from the threshold that the blood curse that was giving me, I glanced at it with awe.
"+100 Agility. +50 Defense."
I feel lighter. Faster. Stronger. My body hums with newfound energy. I could cross this entire plain in a blur if I wanted to.
A low, hungry chuckle escapes my throat as I flex my fingers, admiring the deadly elegance of my new palms.
The evolution is progressing beautifully. Soon, even 400 liters won't be enough.
"I want more. I need more."
"Damn, you're monologuing again Eirene."
"Shut up!"
I stood up, wiping a stray smear of crimson from my chin. I felt the mana surging back into my limbs. My blood wings were no longer tattered; they were vibrant, glowing with a terrifying, healthy luster that defied the darkness of the mountains.
It was late, far past the hour of the tavern and the stew. The stars were beginning to tilt toward the horizon.
I wouldn't find Cameron tonight. But the Katt siblings had made a mistake, they had told me who they were, and they had told me I was recognized. The name Elias was the key.
I turned away from the ruins of Oakhaven and the desiccated corpses of the giants. With a single, powerful stroke of my wings, I launched myself into the cold night air. I became a crimson streak, high above the clouds, heading back toward the flickering lights of the city of Caria.