Chapter 7: You're Still Far Too Weak!

“You can extract skills?” Lin Huang was momentarily stunned by the dialogue box that suddenly flashed before his eyes, and immediately asked, “Can I wait until he completes his advancement before extracting the skill?”

【Does the host choose not to extract the skill for now?】

“I’ll hold off for now.” Lin Huang nodded, then began to carefully observe the bloodthirsty creature he had summoned.

This bloodthirsty species appeared to be about Lin Huang’s age, looking no older than fourteen or fifteen, with a refined, handsome appearance. Among a crowd, no one would ever believe he was a bloodthirsty creature. That was precisely the terrifying thing about them; humans had established outposts large and small for more than eight hundred years, yet had never managed to fully eradicate all the bloodthirsty infiltrators lurking within. As long as they didn’t reveal their identities, they were almost impossible to detect.

“Let me see your full form.” Lin Huang issued the command at once.

Receiving the order, the bloodthirsty creature’s eyes rapidly transformed into blood-red orbs without pupils, veins bulged around his eyes, his muscles swelled and knotted, and even his height increased by several centimeters.

Sensing the frightening aura emanating from him, Lin Huang finally realized just how lucky he’d been the previous night. “A bloodthirsty being at the third rank of Black Iron already has such a formidable presence. The one last night was at the third rank of Bronze, yet his aura was weaker than this one’s—clearly, the heavy injuries from before had left him extremely debilitated. If he’d been at full strength, killing me would have been as easy as crushing an ant…”

“Activate blood energy!” Lin Huang quickly gave his second command; he wanted to see the creature’s complete state.

With a furious roar, a wave of blood-red energy with a metallic tang slowly emerged from within the bloodthirsty creature, quickly enveloping his entire body and making his figure appear even more imposing.

At the sound of that roar, Lin Huang’s expression grew uneasy. He’d forgotten that the bloodthirsty species made such a scene when activating their blood energy. With the current atmosphere of unrest, the neighbors would likely call hunters to investigate if they heard it.

But his worry was soon forgotten, for as he saw the two blood-red wings bloom like flowers from the creature’s back, his gaze lingered long and hard upon them. The shocking beauty of it was something his former self on Earth could never have imagined.

The bloodthirsty creature stood quietly in place, waiting for Lin Huang’s next command.

After a long moment, Lin Huang finally regained his composure. “Alright, put it all away. Return to your disguised form!”

Receiving the new order, the blood energy on the creature’s body dispersed swiftly, the blood-red eyes faded, and he reverted to his harmless, human appearance.

Had Lin Huang not witnessed the transformation himself, he would have taken the creature for just another ordinary teenage boy, even standing right in front of him.

“I’m about to use the advancement card on you. I hope you won’t let me down in the upcoming reserve hunter assessment.” The bloodthirsty youth’s short hair stirred gently in the breeze, his face still bearing that indifferent expression, leaving Lin Huang unsure if he’d understood his words.

“Xiao Hei, I want to use the advancement card!”

【The advancement card is consumable and can only be used once. Are you sure you want to use it?】

“Yes!”

【Automatically selecting target within range… Target is the bloodthirsty creature card. Confirm?】

“Confirm!”

As soon as Lin Huang finished speaking, the bloodthirsty creature’s entire body was enveloped in a layer of golden light, forming a massive golden sphere that radiated dazzling beams in all directions.

Lin Huang couldn’t help but close his eyes. After two or three minutes, sensing the intensity of the light through his eyelids fading, he finally opened them.

He saw the golden sphere that had encased the bloodthirsty creature slowly dissipating, revealing the evolved form before him.

The bloodthirsty creature’s physique and appearance hadn’t changed much; only his black hair had turned silver, still cut short just above the ears. However, the student uniform he’d worn had been replaced by a black cloak that draped over his entire body.

“Silver hair, huh—reminds me of a character from an anime. If I called you Kaneki, I’d be infringing on someone else’s copyright. I’ll call you Bai, then!” Lin Huang decided cheerfully, then stepped forward and tapped Bai’s brow with a finger.

The bloodthirsty creature’s body instantly shattered into countless fragments, transforming into a crystal card in Lin Huang’s palm.

Noticing the card’s color change, Lin Huang toyed with it curiously.

The former white crystal card had now turned green, with the front illustration depicting Bai’s new form.

Turning it over, he saw that the card’s information had also changed.

【Monster Card】

【Rarity: Rare】

【Monster Type: Bloodthirsty Species】

【Combat Level: Black Iron Three Stars (Bronze Three Stars)】

【Skill 1: Blood Energy (Level 2)】

【Skill 2: Regeneration (Basic)】

【(New) Skill 3: Blood Burn (Basic)】

【Summoning Authorization: Activated】

【Card Assessment: Still trash!】

“Indeed, after the card advanced to rare, it gained a new skill.” Just as Lin Huang was feeling pleased, he spotted the assessment at the bottom. “Xiao Hei, can’t you give me a more encouraging card evaluation?”

【No!】

Those two words and a big exclamation mark flashed on the black card.

“Xiao Hei, if you keep chatting like this, you’ll never make any friends.”

【I don’t need friends!】

“You’re ruthless.” Seeing that reply, Lin Huang admitted defeat. “Let me see what Blood Burn actually does…”

【Blood Burn (Basic): The bloodthirsty species burns blood energy to double its combat power. After use, it enters a weakened state, unable to fight. Duration: 10 minutes. Weakness lasts 1 hour.】

“This skill is pretty good, but the aftereffects are troublesome.” Lin Huang rubbed his head. “I’ll just have to avoid using it unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, I’ll have to rely entirely on myself for the next hour.”

“Wait, I still have one skill extraction opportunity!” The thought suddenly struck him. “Xiao Hei, if I extract a skill, it won’t disappear from the monster card, right?”

【Skill extraction simply allows the host to acquire a skill from the monster card—it doesn’t affect any of the card’s attributes.】

“That’s a relief.”

Lin Huang looked down at the three skills listed on the card. “Blood Energy is great, but with my current Life Light strength, I can’t use it at all. Regeneration isn’t that useful, but it’s better than nothing. As for Blood Burn, it’s pretty much useless in the short term—my base combat power is too low, even doubling it won’t help much, and after using it I’d be incapacitated for an hour, which would only make me die faster.”

“Xiao Hei, I want to use skill extraction.” After weighing his options, Lin Huang made his decision.

【Skill extraction initiated… Randomly selecting one skill for the host… Selection complete… Congratulations, host, you have acquired the skill—Blood Energy (Level 2).】

As soon as the message appeared, Lin Huang felt something new stir within his body. He immediately opened his personal host card.

【Host: Lin Huang】

【Gender: Male】

【Age: 15】

【Combat Level: None (below evaluation threshold)】

【Skill: Blood Energy (Level 2)】

【Summoning Authorization: Activated】

【Summonable Creatures: 1】

【Assessment: You’re still ridiculously weak!】

Lin Huang ignored the final assessment. Seeing the addition of Blood Energy (Level 2) under skills, he confirmed he had successfully acquired the bloodthirsty species’ ability.

“My summoned bloodthirsty creature is now fully equipped. Next, it’s time to equip myself.”