NOVPUB
Chapter 45: Keep the rewards coming
"You have proven yourself more than worthy," Varnyx continued, "but a true seeker of the Blood Path. It would be an insult to your spirit to offer you the same crude baptism the others receive."
Damon, still panting from the aftermath of the trial, blankly nodded. He couldn’t beleive what he was hearing but oh well, he would take whatever he could get. A body upgrade from a grand ritual couldn’t hurt!
[Ding! You have a new quest available]
[Quest: Rite of True Blood]
Description: You have been chosen to undergo the Rite of True Blood, a rare and prestigious ritual reserved for the future pillars of the Vampire Race. Survive the Rite and awaken a deeper connection to your bloodline.
Present three offerings: a Beast Core of Rank D or higher, a drop of elven blood and a drop of divine or holy blood.
[Ding! Do you wish to accept the quest?]
Damon quickly selected ’Yes’. Getting these offerings might be a little tricky but he wasn’t about to pass up a chance like this. Especially not when the rewards could potentially skyrocket his growth beyond anything he could achieve by normal leveling.
Still, he couldn’t help but grimace internally. A beast core of Rank D or higher? Possible. Elven blood? Tricky. He had never even seen an elf yet, let alone fought one. And divine blood? Holy blood? Wasn’t that just asking for death at his level?
Varnyx seemed to sense his hesitation and chuckled. "Fear not, young blood initiate. Grow your strength and sharpen your fangs. The blood doesn’t have to be extremely pure. Even a mixed blood would do but the higher the purity of the blood, the better would be the results."
Oh? Damon nodded.
"The world beyond this cradle is stirring and when it does, you must be ready to hunt, not be hunted. Prepare yourself and bring me good offerings. I shall personally make sure your body’s potential is unlocked."
Damon inhaled slowly and nodded. "I will do my best, Sir Varnyx."
The vampire turned to leave when he suddenly stopped and tossed a skill scroll to Damon. "Here, take this as an extra reward from my side. A vampire shouldn’t be lacking for blood no matter what the situation."
Varnyx disappeared somewhere leaving behind Damon and the skill scroll.
Damon’s heart thudded loudly. What skill scroll was this? Wait. Could he even learn from a skill scroll?
Answering his question, the skill scroll disappeared from his hand and a new notification flashed in front of him.
[Ding! You have learned the skill Blood Archive]
Blood Archive – Passive/Active Hybrid Skill (C Rank)]
Description: You can store excess blood energy into a separate blood reservoir. Stored blood can be used to instantly recover health, stamina, or trigger bloodline skills without needing fresh blood intake.
Passive Effect: 10% of blood energy gained from feeding or combat is automatically stored.
Active Effect: You can withdraw from the Blood Archive anytime. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
Current Capacity: 0/100 units
Damon blinked once. Then again. A crooked grin stretched across his face. This was way better than he could have hoped for. He no longer needed to desperately search for fresh blood in a crisis. No more risking losing control at the worst moments. More importantly, could he use this skill in real life? He was able to use Shadow Step, so what other skills could he use?
"This... changes everything," Damon whispered under his breath. The last time he had rushed back into the game not wanting to waste his game time but now there was only one more hour left for lock out. He had 12 hours left to test out every little theory he had.
Damon quickly prepared to leave the hall and start working on his new quests when a few more system notifications chimed in. "There are still more rewards for the trial?" He grinned.
[Ding! You have completed four waves of the trial and stepped into the fifth stage]
[Ding! You have been rewarded 5000 experience points for clearing the first wave]
[Ding! You have been rewarded +10 stat points for clearing the second wave]
[Ding! You have been rewarded with a new skill Lesser Blood Magic for clearing the third wave]
[Ding! You have been rewarded with a skill upgrade token for clearing the fourth wave and attempting the fifth wave]
"Finally!" Damon’s smile widened as he got the reward he had come here expecting for, the lesser blood magic skill. Even though learning blood manipulation had a lot of requirements, there was a secret shortcut to it.
If he had enough proficiency with the lesser blood magic then he would automatically be able to learn Blood Manipulation, a high-tier technique that only a vampire of level 200 or higher would be able to use.
Even though he was currently amassing a lot of skills of different different classes, Blood Manipulation was a proven overpowered skill and he needed it in his arsenal asap.
Damon’s gaze moved from the lesser blood magic to the last reward. The moment he saw the words Skill Upgrade Token, his entire body tensed in disbelief.
This wasn’t just a minor boost like stat points or even a rare skill scroll—this was game-breaking."A skill upgrade token?"
It sounded simple.
It wasn’t.
For a player like Damon, who understood how this world worked beneath the surface, a skill upgrade token was a catalyst that could snowball into absurd power gains.
His mind raced.
Normally, evolving Lesser Blood Magic into Blood Manipulation would take weeks of grinding at minimum, even if he was obsessive about it. 𝓃ℴ𝓋𝓹𝓊𝓫.𝒸𝓸𝓂
But if he used the Skill Upgrade Token right now to instantly push Lesser Blood Magic to Greater Blood Magic, it would slash the proficiency requirements dramatically.
The shortcut would get even shorter. In other words, he could reach Blood Manipulation in a matter of days instead of months. However, Damon decided not to do that. Though it sounded tempting, it was also a waste of a godly item if he used it on such a trivial skill.
He had a feeling that this was going to be a huge deal for him in the future. He just needed to pick the right skill for it and he was going to take his time with it.
