Chapter 236: A New Weapon And A New Risk

While Layla was out getting her 6th human meat, Fex had his own plans.

As a vampire, there was a way to quickly get stronger through the means of evolving. However, Fex knew that unless he was in a situation that would push him to his limits, he likely wouldn’t evolve. Maybe if he fought against Erin, he could reach that point, but she was busy with something else.

This meant Fex had to use another option of getting stronger. The use of beast gear.

It was something that was shunned in vampire societies to use. You were considered weak if you used the same tools that humans had to use in order to match the strength of vampires. Essentially, it was considered a cheap shortcut.

Thankfully, Fex didn’t care about the rules.

Heading down to the student market, Fex strolled down the stalls searching for anything that caught his eye. Weapons and armor lined the halls, but nothing really stood out.

’Plus, all the weaponry is clearly not useful for someone like me,’ Fex thought as he passed by a crossbow.

Since he didn’t have an inspect skill like Erin did, it was harder for him to choose something that would actually be worthwhile. It was essentially a guess at the end of the day.

While he was strolling, he came across a stall with a familiar looking logo, that of a hammer surrounded by flames.

’Now where have I seen that before?’

"Hey! Are you just going to stand there and window shop?"

Tilting his head down, Fex saw a tall looking guy wearing a black tank top, as well as black dreads tied back in a ponytail. His face looked rough, with bags under his eyes, as well as a slightly annoyed demeanor. Fex wondered if he was a forger since a lot of the forgers he had seen at the market so far were wide and muscular, but the guy in front of him looked far thinner in comparison.

’He seems to have some muscle,’ Fex concluded, ’He’s probably like me and has a sleeper build.’

"Are you going to buy anything?" The boy crossed his arms, a little annoyed.

"Uh yeah!" Fex pointed at some daggers behind the student, "Do you know what those do?"

The boy got up, grabbed the daggers in question, and placed them in front of Fex. They were all different colored and uniquely shaped, but there was one that was silver in color with streaks of black around its handle.

"What does that one do?" Fex said, referring to the black and silver dagger.

The boy held the blade up, eyeing it closely, "Well, I’ll tell you, but only if you buy it."

Fex shrugged, and took out a golden money card, "Sure, now what does it do?"

The boy was surprised that a ’level 2’ was going to hand over money so casually, but he wasn’t going to complain. The credits were always useful.

He smiled, "Well, this baby can temporarily disable a limb for a few seconds. It’s like a paralytic effect. It can easily turn the tides of a battle when the effect is active."

Fex took it in hand, and flicked it around his fingers. There wasn’t a hole for him to easily tie his strings onto, but rather a grove that would serve his purposes. Then, he started swinging the blade on a string.

"Hey! Be careful!" The boy said, holding his hands up, "You’re going to poke an eye out like that!"

Fex caught the dagger midair, and nodded approvingly, "yeah, this is good. Do you have anything else?"

—

Erin’s path of getting stronger was easier than the others. It was a method she employed before, but now that she had a charm skill, she didn’t need to rely on Layla this time.

She could level up to improve her health, but her health hadn’t dropped very far in individual fights. Stats were what she needed.

After class, Erin had spent an hour searching for those who were alone, and asking them all to do the same exact thing for her.

Coming across a person reading a book, she asked them if they could come with her for a second, and they quickly accepted. Due to her popularity as the infamous Ice Queen, getting people to follow her was easy.

Walking towards a more secluded spot of the military school, the two found themselves in an alleyway between two buildings

’Oh my god, is she really confessing to me?!’ The person thought, blushing, then straightened their clothes.

With a practiced measure, Erin stared deeply in their eyes, and her own glowed red.

"Hold still for a few minutes."

The person froze, unable to move a muscle.

Taking out a blade, she created a tiny cut enough for her to touch, and collect a drop of blood. Then she spat on the cut, and stared into their eyes again.

"Now forget the past 5 minutes ever happened. Go back to where you were."

Her eyes glowed red, and the person wordlessly left.

Something the system told her was that vampire spit had a minor capability to heal small wounds like cuts and scrapes. It was theorized to be an evolutionary feature to hide evidence of their puncture wounds, and came in handy now.

Checking over her stats, Erin had gained about 10 in total.

[User: Erin Heley]

[Race: Vampire]

[Level 17]

[EXP: 340/12,800]

[HP 95/95]

[Strength: 30]

[Agility: 34]

[Stamina: 36]

[Charm: 14]

She had gained 4 points in strength, increasing one of her weaker stats the most, as well as 2 additional free stat points. Since charm was her lowest skill, as well as a tool to make sure she could influence people, she spent both points on it.

’I purposefully didn’t upgrade it because of how people acted when the charm skill was active, but so long as I can control when I use it, it should be fine.’

Just remembering how Layla looked at her when the charm skill was active made Erin feel a little weird. Maybe she didn’t mind the reaction so much as it was affecting Layla in a way that wasn’t authentic.

Putting that thought off to the side, Erin turned around quickly, hearing someone coming towards her.

"Whoa, ever the vigilant one," Fex commented as he held his hands up, "I was just nearby and wanted to check up on you and see your progress. Although, I don’t exactly know what it is you’re doing."

Erin raised an eyebrow. She thought it was obviously clear she was drinking blood.

"Hmm, if I had to take a guess though, you’re doing the vampire version of day drinking, correct?" Fex smirked, "I get that what lies ahead may be stressful, especially knowing you’re one of our heavy hitters, but we’re all behind you. You don’t have to worry."

Now Erin was even more confused. Did the system not think to tell her that she was getting drunk? Or some sort of equivalent.

"You’re not getting drunk," the system replied, "Drinking blood like this shouldn’t have that affect on you, and if anything, if you wanted a buzz, alcohol is one of the few liquids that a vampire can enjoy."

Erin sighed, at least that was a relief.

Fex scratched the back of his head, "... Actually, you might have to worry. You see, if you drink too much blood all at once, then you could get something known as a blood addiction."

’A blood addiction?’ Erin wondered, ’System... What does he mean by a blood addiction?’