Sanguine Paradise
Chapter 9: [Day 3] – “First blood”

∼ Day 3 ∼

Looking at the bloody rabbits strewn about, I was a little depressed that most of the blood from these had already gone to waste as it had been spilled everywhere, tainting the ground crimson. And even though I already tried to drink from some of the most intact ones, it would seem that the freshness of the blood plays a big factor when using Siphon. The best result I got from the most intact rabbit was a mere two points of EXP.

These rabbits, by my estimations, had already been dead for at least a few hours now. Many critters had already swarmed here and was reveling in their buffet. Leaving the brutalized rabbits behind, I went looking for the humans that must have done this. While I could differentiate the scents from that of the horned rabbits present and humans, I had a very hard time following them.

After a full hour of searching, I came up with nothing. They, unfortunately, didn't leave a trail of bodies behind that I could've followed, so I ended up wondering why there had been so many horned rabbits back where I first found the slaughter, and why they only killed those horned rabbits and none of the many others milling around the glades.

I quickly found my way back to a perch on a tree branch, but with my new frame, I had to land on the thickest one making sure I had enough purchase and security that I would be picked off by a random beast who saw fit of making a quick mosquito snack.

Oh, I completely forgot about advancing Flight since I was so engrossed in trying to bloodhound my way to the humans.

-Skill advancement - Flight!-

[Skill advancement - Flight]

Choose one advancement

-Greater Flight-

Greatly increased flying capabilities.

-Aerial Prowess-

Increased flying capabilities. Increased maneuverability doing rapid movements.

-Long-distance Flight-

Increased flying capabilities. Reduces the amount of stamina spent on flying, effectively increasing airtime.

-Swift Flight-

Increased flying capabilities. Small increase to speed during flight and allows for greater speeds in exchange for increased stamina consumption.

All of them seem really good. But I could already say no to Long-distance Flight since I had zero need for longer airtime, simply due to how much in this forest that wanted to kill and eat me, inadvertently making me spend a lot of time hiding and resting on branches.

Greater Flight seemed in to be in general just overall pretty good, not showing any drawbacks as it simply made the more proficient and effective. But I already knew that Aerial Prowess and Swift Flight seemed a lot more enticing to me as a feeble and squishy mosquito, so I wouldn't be picking this one.

Rapid aerial movement or swift speed? -Hmm, which one to choose?

Although Aerial Prowess seemed really good for dodging, I realized that Swift Flight somewhat also covered dodging in a sense, considering the increased speeds that would inadvertently hasten my dodges with raw speed while also allowing me to escape pursuing opponents by simply making a beeline if necessary. That realization sealed the deal, and I promptly choose that advancement.

-Swift flight!-

[Skill - Flight has been advanced to Swift Flight]

[For advancing a skill you receive 2 skill points!]

Nice, now I have 4 skill points. So I'll just go ahead and by the Lesser Paralyze skill.

-Skill shop - Buy Lesser Paralyze!-

[Skill - Lesser Paralyze has been added to the skill list!]

I immediately felt a strange tingling with the purchase of the skill in the side of where my mouth protrudes from my head out into my needle appendage. Instinctively I could already feel the new gland as the tingling subsided, and I knew that it created and stored the paralyzing compound.

Luckily this skill apparently also came with the instinctive knowledge of how to release and inject the paralytic compound into my targets, so trail runs would most likely be unnecessary. While I couldn't really say how much was able to be stored in there, I could somewhat feel what percentage of the gland was filled when directing my attention towards it.

The progress of it filling seemed very slow, but that didn't stop my giddiness to try out my new skills though, as I took to the air. The instant my wing fluttered through the air, I noticed a massive change in both speed and overall ease of flight, which reassured me that I had chosen the right advancement.

I'm now fully ready - and I think it's about damn time I kill something in this world instead of being some pushover parasite preying on innocent and rather stupid bunnies...

Primed with my new combat and utility-capabilities I began actively sniffing out scents and odors of animals in the vicinity. It wasn't before long, I caught a scent and immediately bolted after it with the frenzied flapping of my transparent wings.

‹ 10 minutes later ›

It...

-was a squirrel...

Or at least it looked like a squirrel. It definitely had the ordinary size of one and were decked in brown puffy fur. But one thing that made it stand out though was the mouth filled to the brim with long jagged knife-like teeth, -and its speed... well, let's just say that it's fucking fast. Covering the distance between two trees and climbing up all the way to their crowns, took it less than a second. Only leaving a blur for my eyes to follow.

Yeah... Hell-Nah.

Even though I was easily multiple times its size, I doubted I'd even stand a chance against the furry little ball of terror. But before getting my little mosquito ass out of here, I appraised it.

-Appraisal!-

[Appraisal: Tengu]

Name: "???"

Race: Tengu

Sex: Male

Rank: H

Level: 2/20

Health: 28/28

Stamina: 18/18

Mana: 0/0

[Attributes]

STR - 4

VIT - 4

AGI - 19

DEX - 15

INT - ???

CHR - 2

WILL - ???

MAG - ???

[Trait, Titles, and Skills].

Skills - ???

Traits - ???

Titles - ???

[Resistances]

Phy. Resistance - ???

Mag. Resistance - ???

Men. Resistance - ???

[Appraisal has reached Lvl: 3]

That is literally a ball of terror covered in fur...

Appreciating the level up, I took only one more glance at the rows of monster teeth, lined within its mouth and slightly shudder before taking my leave. While making the distance between the squirrel and me wider and wider in hopes of never seeing that abomination again, my sight picked up something before any of my other senses were able to.

Before me, was an unsuspecting horned rabbit going about its small little life.

Hehe... It's about goddamn time that I teach these little fuckers a lesson.

I'm the big guy now! - Feel my wrath, experience terror, you furry cretins!

Remembering nobody could hear my thoughts, and I was just hovering in the air while proclaiming my grandiose schemes to myself mentally, I made the mental equivalent of a cough to clear the rather awkward realization that had just invaded my mind. Before I could muse myself with any more unnecessary thoughts, I got to work.

Slowly approaching the horned rabbit, I tried to make the smallest amount of noise possible. With my new form, my wings had yet again increased in the volume of noise produced, and I wasn't sure if Swift Flight also had a hand in this but I couldn't be sure.

As if on cue, I got a level up for my troubles.

[Muffled Flying has reached LVL: 3]

Muffling the ambient noise a bit more, I continued to close in on the unsuspecting rabbit. It only when I was about two meters from it, it suddenly straightened up in vigilance. But I had already been prepared for this and charged at it with a boost of speed from my newly increased capabilities.

Ramming directly into the back of the diminutive creature, I latched my six spindly legs around it; effectively pinning its forelegs to its chest.

(Sqeeak!) It let out a panicked squeak from the sudden turn of events.

With the pointy spikes on my newfound claws, I hooked them into the flesh of where the base of its front legs met the body.

[Horned Rabbit takes 2 damage!]

Securely pinning the rabbit to the ground, I plunged my needle into the side of its neck. It penetrated almost all the way in and ran halfway through the rabbit's entire body.

[Horned Rabbit takes 4 damage!]

Before it could even begin to struggle with its hind legs, I injected all of my paralytic compound directly into its body. Since the time of buying the skill, it had only filled about 30% of the gland, but it was more than enough.

Noticing an immediate shift in the struggle of the little furball in my hold, I sighed in relief. Over the next five seconds, the rabbit grew completely stiff. As I was about the begin draining it, a notification appeared that caught me completely off guard.

[LVL: 4 - Horned Rabbit has been slain!]

[You have been rewarded with 50 points of EXP]

What? -Huuh, I killed it?

How the hell did it die? I'm pretty sure my paralytic compound doesn't do damage.

Dislodging both my needle and hooks, I inspected the small and very dead creature. But it soon became apparent what had happened, and what the cause of death was. Apparently, when I had punctured into its body, I had penetrated directly into its heart. When I had then injected the paralyzing compound, I literally stopped its heart, cutting off circulation and thus killing the diminutive furball.

Holy shit... I guess if you apply your skills, you can make a lot of different effects...

Satisfied in my first actual combat I began to drink my fill.

[Siphon]

[You've consumed the blood of a Horned Rabbit]

[30 points of EXP has been acquired and stats have been added]

Hmm, the EXP from both the kill and siphon isn't much. But I suppose it only makes sense as I've leveled quite a few times since the last time I've fed on one, and not to forget about my evolution who has also increased requirements. After finishing my meal I decided to rest since I felt very weary. It took me only about ten minutes to replace a suitable and safe-looking place for me to rest, where I immediately went to sleep.

‹ 5 hours later ›

I woke up to the sounds of the lively glades, and it would appear that I had slept for quite a while since the morning suns were already shining their soft radiance through the foliage of the trees. Giving my body a good stretch, I prepared myself for some more hunting and tracking.

Now that I had gotten my first kill blood I could start increasing my combat experience. Spreading out my thin and long, transparent red-tinged wings I take off with great gusto. Practicing my skills on random critters while searching for some prey I managed to get one skill level up before replaceing my next furry victim.

[Muffled Flying has reached LVL: 4]

Once again, before me was a horned rabbit that was wholly unaware of my presence and intentions. This time though I was able to actively follow a scent and replace this little bugger. Preparing myself, I began approaching the rabbit the same way I did the last one.

This time I managed to get within one meter of it before it perked up. But by performing the same actions of the previous ambush, I managed to quickly lock it down without much difficulty.

But instead of ramming my mouth into its heart again, I only slightly enter the neck of it and begin injecting a 25%'s worth of paralytic compound of the 100% that I had generated while sleeping.

[Lesser Paralyze has reached LVL: 2]

Nice!

Feeling the rabbit go stiff beneath me, I slowly dislodged it from my grasp. Now the reason why I didn't immediately just kill it was because I wanted to test the limits of my Paralyze skill. For a full 10 seconds, the rabbit was still completely immobilized. But after the 10 seconds had elapsed, it began slowly twitching its limbs again, regaining some of its body's responsiveness back.

It took it another 10 seconds to get back up on its four legs, although it was barely able to move due to the still stiffened state of its appendages. Before it could do anything, I had latched onto it again and pumped the rest of the paralytic compound into it. Although it didn't stop the heart this time, due to the immense amount I used I could easily see that it had trouble breathing properly.

This time it took about 20 seconds before it started twitching again. I already guessed the time spent paralyzed wouldn't increase linearly but would be dropping off for each percent I used. Done with my tests of the Lesser Paralyze skill I drained the small creature.

[LVL: 4 - Horned Rabbit has been slain!]

[You have been rewarded with 35 points of EXP]

[Siphon]

[You've consumed the blood of a Horned Rabbit]

[20 points of EXP has been acquired and stats have been added]

I replace a place to fully recharge my Paralyze gland, which took about 2 hours, and I once again took off for new prey as soon as the time had eclipsed. I dismissed all of the small creatures that I encountered while flittering through the foresty surroundings because I still had one more test, and horned rabbits seemed to be pretty easy for me to handle.

It didn't take long for me to replace what I was looking for as I spotted a rabbit who was leisurely drinking from a pond about ten meters away. Approaching it, I quickly executed my tactic of restraining it which had yet to really fail me. Unceremoniously, I began pumping the small furball full of my paralytic compound, and it grew still.

Now I have about 20-30 seconds of testing. This test was going to be about damage and how it is calculated.

Yeah... torturing cute rabbits wasn't my proudest moment, but hey- I'd rather replace out about this now rather than later if I suddenly found myself without the easy pickings of defenseless rabbits.

Anyways- I knew that once the health value reaches zero, you die. But what I was wondering about what would happen if I attacked non-vital areas enough for its health to reach zero without truly hitting anything vital for survival, would it still die?

So for the next 20 seconds, I began to slash at the paralyzed rabbit in areas where I wouldn't hit any vital or arteries so it didn't bleed out.

[Horned Rabbit takes 3 damage!]

[Horned Rabbit takes 2 damage!]

[Horned Rabbit takes 4 damage!]

[Horned Rabbit takes 3 damage!]

...

...

[LVL: 8 Horned Rabbit has been slain!]

[You have been rewarded with 72 points of EXP]

[Siphon]

[You've consumed the blood of a Horned Rabbit]

[53 points of EXP has been acquired and stats have been added]

[Congrationlations! You've reached level 2]

[You've been rewarded with 1 skill point for reaching level 2]

[Weak Slash has reached LVL: 2]

[Weak Slash has reached LVL: 3]

It took me about eleven strikes in non-vital areas before it died. Its heart simply stopped beating when the health value hit zero which seemed quite intriguing on how it simply died. But this way of slowly widdling down health points with non-fatal attacks was extremely inefficient, and I doubted it could be applied effectively to any combat situation.

Already finished with draining it and dismissing the prompts, I took a satisfying breath of the air. Looking up at the sky I saw the twin suns dancing about each other. From my estimations, it was going to be midday in just a few hours from now. While trying the get the scent of some more prey, my senses were suddenly hit with something very familiar to me but still completely new for my mosquito self. It wasn't scent - but noise.

The sound of people talking...