Chapter 17
Would the effect of the S-rank Item really apply to my Retainers?
The result of using the item with high expectations was…!
[Not enough Blood Power to use the item.]
[Required Blood Power: 120 / Current Blood Power: 100]
[Huh?]
It was a “Beep - Not enough Blood Power.”
Wait. Using an item required a cost too?
There definitely wasn’t anything like that in the item tooltip I checked with [Appraisal Eye].
Besides.
[Required Blood Power is 120?]
My maximum Blood Power is 100, so are they telling me not to use it or what?
I grumbled inwardly.
[TIP: Try using Stat Points to increase your Blood Power!]
Suddenly, this System Window popped up.
Right, I had Stat Points I had gained from leveling up so far, didn’t I?
I opened my status window for the first time in a while.
[Name: Yu-Jin]
[Level: 19]
[Class: Lord of Blood (EX)]
[Stats]
Strength: 3
Agility: 4
Stamina: 3
Attack Power: 0
Ability Power: 0
Defense: 0
Magic Resistance: 0
Blood Power: 100/100
Unallocated Stat Points: 54
[Hmm. Still looks pathetic.]
It was a status window I hadn’t opened much after looking at it a few times early in my awakening and feeling disillusioned.
Strength, Agility, and Stamina: These three were the most basic stats for Hunters.
But all three of mine were in the single digits. They couldn’t even surpass 5!
I found out later, but stats at this level were exactly on par with a middle school girl’s.
The Auxiliary Stats below that, like Attack Power, Ability Power, Defense, and Magic Resistance, were all completely at 0.
[…Sigh.]
Whatever. Let’s just look at the Stat Points at the very bottom.
Unallocated Stat Points: 54
They gave 3 points per level, but I had just been hoarding them all this time.
The Retainers did all the fighting anyway, and since [Lord of Blood] was a hidden class not even on the public class lists, there was nowhere to reference a build.
Thinking about it now, maybe I had been saving them all up for this very moment.
I looked at the value right above it.
[Blood Power: 100/100]
For normal Hunters, 'Mana' would be in this spot, but there were supposedly rare classes that used unique resources like me.
But normally, using items didn’t Consume mana, so why did I have to use Blood Power?
[Still… I need Blood Power to use skills anyway, so it’s good to raise it.]
Currently, the skills I had that used Blood Power were [Summon Retainer] and [Embrace].
[Appraisal Eye], [Sight Sharing], and [Vampirism] were no-cost.
For reference, those two skills each consumed 50 Blood Power…
[Summon Retainer]
- Consumes 100 Blood Power
…Or so it was? What is this?
The Required Blood Power for Summon Retainer went up too?!
[※ Blood Power Consumption increases based on the Summon Count.]
[Ah. I see.]
Then next time, another 50 is added to make it 150?
Or maybe it doubles and eats up around 200.
Either way, it was pretty tight.
At this rate, I could run into trouble with insufficient Blood Power every time a new Skill unlocks or I get a new item.
Then, is investing stat points into Blood Power the right answer?
Even if I raised the basic strength, agility, and stamina stats, they wouldn’t go up much and I wouldn’t feel the difference anyway.
Even if I dumped all 54 points into one spot, it would only be 57 to 58.
That was barely at the level of a D-rank Rookie Hunter, according to the information I saw on Heon-gael.
And that was only if I went all-in; if I split and distributed it across three stats, it would truly be meaningless.
And since I didn’t have any attack skills yet, attack power or ability power was useless too.
[Then it’s all-in on Blood Power!]
Without hesitation, I used all 54 points to enhance my Blood Power.
Ding!
[54 points have been allocated to Blood Power.]
[Blood Power has increased from 100 to 154.]
[Nice.]
My maximum Blood Power instantly swelled to 154.
With this much, I should be able to comfortably use the Book of the Dead, which required 120.
I held the book again and shouted inwardly.
[Book of the Dead, use!]
Then.
[You have used the item “Book of the Dead”.]
[Consumes 120 Blood Power.]
[The effect is applied to Undead-type Summons.]
Suddenly, the Book of the Dead flew wide open, and the pages turned on their own with a rustle.
And as my body floated into the air, my hair and clothes fluttered wildly.
Furthermore, a red Magic circle was engraved on the floor beneath my feet, glowing ominously.
[W-What is this?]
Isn’t this presentation a bit too grandiose?
“L-Liege Lord?!”
“Master!”
Katarina and Si-Yeon also looked up at me in surprise.
And at that moment, a dark red aura faintly swirled around the bodies of the two Retainers.
“Ah…?! The Liege Lord’s power is overflowing!”
Katarina marveled as she looked down at her hands.
“…My body feels much lighter, Master.”
Si-Yeon also moved in place a few times before speaking with a trembling voice.
[It worked!]
I cheered inwardly.
[Vampires really do count as undead!]
My prediction was exactly right.
However,
[※ Class-exclusive hidden effect activated!]
[The true power of the “Book of the Dead” is revealed.]
[All stats of Vampire Retainers increase by 50%.]
[Huh? It goes up by 50%, not 30%?]
I hit the jackpot.
[Ah. So this is why it ate up 120 Blood Power. I can accept this!]
[A 50% buff for kids who are already incredibly strong. This is practically cheating.]
It meant that if I used it once when needed, they would become almost 1.5 times stronger.
Since there wasn’t any particular Range limit, I could just click it remotely from my Home Base.
Tower Climbing would become even easier from now on, and it would be much more reassuring in case of any unforeseen situations.
This is too good.
I should quickly let my Retainers know this happy fact.
“Fufufu… Those who serve this True Ancestor shall be able to receive such power from now on.”
When I roughly told them that I could now give them a Stat Buff, Katarina and Si-Yeon Knelt on one knee at the same time.
“This lowly Servant shall repay the Liege Lord’s grace for the rest of my life!”
“I will do my best to uphold the Master’s will until the day I die.”
“Mhm. Yes, yes.”
In the middle of a Cemetery full of corpses.
As I looked down at them with satisfaction from atop the blood-red Magic circle, I suddenly realized a fact.
[Wait. Isn’t this atmosphere a bit…?]
It was definitely just a wholesome use of a buff item.
But somehow, it had turned into an atmosphere like an evil ritual of a Vampire Cult?!
* * *
[Oof. I’m tired.]
Having successfully finished the ritual (?) and returned home, I flopped down on my bed.
Perhaps because I used a lot of Blood Power, my body felt sluggish.
[Should I check the gallery for a bit?]
I habitually opened the gallery app, looked at the popular posts, and found an absolute uproar.
Because I cleared the 3rd Floor this time, it was plastered with talk about me again.
I am used to this by now.
Still, it was fascinating that it seemed like I had gained fans of my own.
[Hehe…]
Especially when I read posts expressing surprise or admiration about me, the corners of my mouth would creep up without me realizing it.
It’s hard to explain this strange sense of pride.
I scrolled down the screen, clicking on posts that included the name “True Ancestor” one by one.
But then, I found one post.
[Title: Breaking: Hunter Association released an official statement regarding True Ancestor shivers]
[Huh? The Association?]
I immediately clicked on it and checked the post.
It turned out to be a screenshot of a news article.
- Korean Hunter Association President Kim Tae-Seong announced this afternoon through an emergency statement that he strongly requested official contact with the Unregistered Awakener known as “True Ancestor”.
The Association emphasized its stance, stating, “We promise national-level courtesy and full support,” and “Any conditions are negotiable.” Furthermore…
…
It was long, but the gist was simple.
Please just respond to our contact once.
We will meet any conditions.
The country will do its best to serve you.
It was roughly that kind of talk.
…Now a state institution is openly releasing an official statement?
I wondered if it was really okay to keep ignoring this.
But it was also awkward to reveal myself.
For one, I had a frail body, and on top of that, I was now in the position of a felon.
What if my identity was pinpointed and it was revealed that I was the main culprit who annihilated the Black Cow?
Of course, I killed bad guys, but illegal is still illegal, isn’t it?
Even if the Association said it would do anything for me now, there was no telling how it would react if this fact came to light.
[Let’s just stay quiet.]
So, hiding my identity still seemed like the right judgment.
The Identity Issue was still a headache.
Just then
“Liege Lord, Why are the humans making such a fuss?”
Katarina, who had glanced at my Phone Screen over my shoulder, showed signs of displeasure.
“For foolish, lowly creatures to dare covet the Liege Lord’s majesty, it is truly presumptuous.”
Not to be outdone, Si-Yeon added in a calm tone.
“They have no idea who the Master is, nor how noble you are. For such people to even discuss contact is presumptuous in itself.”
“You are right, Si-Yeon. Still, it seems a few lowly creatures understand the Liege Lord’s greatness at least a little… I suppose the Human Realm is not entirely filled with insects.”
Katarina recited after seeing a comment floating on my Phone Screen.
“'The Tower of Trials is not testing True Ancestor-nim. True Ancestor-nim is evaluating whether the Tower of Trials is worthy of existing.' …Hmm. This one seems to have quite decent insight, Liege Lord.”
[Gaaah! It was fine reading those over-the-top comments on the gallery, but hearing them out loud in reality is way too cringy!]
I scrolled down the screen wordlessly and quickly to hide that comment.
Anyway, it was really time to rest now.
I cleared the 3rd Floor, got a new item, raised my Blood Power, and browsed the gallery.
Since I spent the day productively… should I play a round of a game?
“Ahem. This body shall enjoy a bit of amusement, so you two should rest as well.”
“Your command.”
“Yes, Master.”
At that, the two Retainers naturally looked away from me.
I found this out while playing games, but if someone was watching, that weird way of speaking would even come out in the chat, so I made sure they couldn’t see my screen at least when I was gaming.
I launched the game I always played.
The loading screen popped up familiarly, and as I connected to the game lobby, the Friend List Window caught my eye.
[Iced Coffee] (Online)
[Oh. They’re online?]
I thought I could finally play a duo match with my friend after a long time.
Then, I noticed a notification mark on the chat window.
Upon checking it, it seemed they had sent a message.
[Ice Coffee: You said you were climbing the 3rd Floor, right? Should I send you some newbie items if you need them? I have some spares.]
[…Huh?]
I ended up chuckling for a moment.
This guy. He was worrying about me.
I was thankful, but inwardly, I felt a bit smug.
I had just obtained a whopping S-rank Item.
[Newbie items? Hmph. I even have an S-rank.]
I immediately placed my hands on the keyboard and typed a reply.
[Jin-Yu: Lol Thanks, but I’m good]
[Jin-Yu: I cleared the 3rd Floor earlier too]
Then, a reply came back in just a few seconds.