Blood Queen Reborn

The scordana beast and Erin stood opposite of each other, watching the other to make the next move.

Erin held her sword ready, and the beast lunged at her, claws raised. She blocked its claws, but its four arms were strong, slowly pushing her.

She redirected the claws away from her, then sliced her sword against them. However, the claws had a hard outer shell, like an exoskeleton. The only marks left were a few scratches.

The beast twisted around, throwing its tail into Erin’s torso, and flinging her across the room. She crashed into a stack of crates, destroying them in the process.

[-10 HP]

[HP 40/50]

Crawling out of the crates, Erin cracked her neck, and spat on the ground. She flash stepped towards the scordana, and jumped on its back. She slammed her sword down on its shoulder. The wound was deep, before being flung off. Erin landed on her feet gracefully.

’The torso isn’t protected by the exoskeleton,’ Erin examined.

She ran up to the scordana, about to strike, when she spotted a claw coming towards her from the corner of her eye. Quickly, Erin blocked the attack with the flat part of her blade, but right above her, another claw was pushing her into the ground.

[-3 HP]

[HP 37/50]

With one hand on her sword, and another hand on the claw above, Erin gritted her teeth as she was being pushed to her limits.

With the girl in front of it appearing to be wide open, the beast’s stinger was about to thrust into Erin’s torso when she flung her head upwards. That was when a dark purple mist formed in front of Erin, and the stinger got caught in it.

[-15 MC]

[MC 85/100]

The beast was surprised by the sudden shadow, and Erin was glad that her newfound ability had worked. The shadowy mist had the power to act as a shield.

She shoved the claws just enough to free her hands, then rolled away before it could attack her again.

When looking at the beast, its stinger had begun to retract into its backside. It was no wonder Erin didn’t see it before.

It swung out one claw at Erin, and she jumped to the side. She thrust her sword forward, and managed to hit its pale torso, creating a stab a few inches deep. Before Erin could yank her sword out, it grabbed her with its other claws. The beast held her in the air, and crushed her body. A few sickening pops, and cracks, the claws cutting into her, squeezing her blood out. Erin physically felt her bones crunch and stab her insides.

[-13 HP]

[HP 24/50]

Erin cried out as her body was put through a level of pressure she hadn’t experienced before. She dropped her sword when the beast grabbed her, and was using her strength to try to push herself out. Realizing something, she used her newfound shadow power to help. It shielded her body from getting any further damage by creating a little bit of space in the tight grip.

[-23 MC]

[MC 62/100]

Gritting her teeth, Erin spat out, "If I’m gonna get hurt, then I might as well lose health my way—"

Inside the claw, she managed to squeeze just enough space out for her palm to face outwards.

[Skill activated Blood Spray]

[-5 HP]

[HP 19/50]

Blood shot out from her palm, which destroyed the claw the beast used to hold her. Erin’s body dropped onto the ground, and she quickly got back onto her feet. Every part of her hurt, but she wasn’t safe yet. Erin quickly grabbed her sword, and jumped back.

Looking up, Erin noticed there was an old metal stud framing near the ceiling. It had eroded over the years, leaving some bars broken and barely keeping the roof up. All it would need were some well placed attacks, and the structure would fall onto the scordana.

Unfortunately, the shadow ability was not very offensive, leaving her no choice but to use blood swipes. Looking at the best places to aim them, Erin quickly sent out 3 red lines to the metal studs.

[-1 HP]

[-1 HP]

[-1 HP]

[HP 16/50]

They cut through them like butter, causing a creaking noise. The scordana perked its head up, searching for the source of the sound when suddenly—!

CRASH!

The scordana had part of the roof fall on it, pinning it onto the ground momentarily.

Not wanting to waste a second, Erin ran up, and sliced the scordana’s head off.

[Scordana has been killed]

[1000 Exp gained]

[First Scordana kill]

[2000 Exp gained]

[4,710/12,800 EXP]

Taking in a deep breath, Erin got off of the scordana’s corpse.

Some part of Erin wondered why the fight against this intermediate beast was a bit more difficult compared to the palewalker, but even within a singular tier, there were differences in power. The scordana was likely an intermediate tier based after its physical strength, while the palewalker was considered an intermediate tier for its ability, not physical strength.

If the palewalker had been able to continually sap her health as a way to heal, Erin could see herself struggling against it more.

On the thought process of intermediate tier beasts, Erin glanced over to the eggs nearby.

’Would killing those grant me even more EXP?’ Erin contemplated.

Erin grimaced a little in pain, and felt a hunger growing within. She opened her system menu, and activated the blood bank skill.

[Blood bank activated]

[HP 23/50]

[HP 28/50]

[HP 31/50]

[0/100 ML remaining]

Immediately, Erin could feel that her hunger dissipated somewhat, and the pain partially went away.

She was about to head over to the scordana eggs when she heard a creature scuttering nearby. Twisting her head, there was a singular rattaclaw, about to open its mouth to squeal. Erin flash stepped and stabbed it into the ground, instantly killing it.

[Basic tier beast killed]

[100 EXP gained]

[4,810/12,800 EXP]

’I was able to silence it, but these flash steps are taking a lot out of me,’ Erin panted, ’I was able to kill it before it was able to alert other beats.’

That was what Erin thought, until she looked up in the sky and she could see it, the deathbat from before, watching for any prey below like a hawk.

Erin kept staring at the advanced tier beast, acutely aware of its supersonic explosion. If she got caught in its blast, there was no way she’d survive long against it.

While Erin had been caught distracted by the deathbat, another rattaclaw hiding in some wreckage saw its dead brethren, and squealed loudly for all to hear.

Twisting in the direction of the rattaclaw, Erin quickly threw out a bloodswipe in its direction, killing the beast, but it was too late.

[-1 HP]

[HP 30/50]

Already, more rattaclaws popped out of the debris, making their presence clear.

Taking in a deep breath, Erin kept her cool.

The rattaclaws all leapt towards her, and she sliced them in the air. One managed to sneak past her, and bite her ankle.

[-2 HP]

[HP 28/50]

She stabbed its head, but then another bit at her leg.

[- 2 HP]

[HP 26/50]

She sliced its head off, then another rattaclaw leapt onto her back, and bit at her shoulder.

"Argh!" Erin grunted.

She elbowed it in the gut, and threw it onto the ground. Before it could get up, a sword was thrust into its chest

[6,110/12,800 EXP]

A series of notifications filled Erin’s vision, mostly about the EXP she just gained, but there was one set that sent a pit in her stomach.

[Your hunger grows]

’I drank blood! I drank it from the blood bank! Why am I starving?!’ Erin thought in frustration.

Had she undergone enough damage to the point where her body was starting to crave blood?

However, there was something slightly more pressing, as with the loud sound Erin had created, beasts were no doubt suddenly attracted to where she was at.

If it were stray basic tier beasts, then there wasn’t much to worry about. Looking up into the sky, Erin wasn’t able to spot the flying beast, until her eyes went back to the streets in front of her, and saw something far worse.

It was the advanced tier deathbat only a mere few meters away.

[Quest: Survive the encounter with the deathbat]

[Rewards: Instant level up]

The deathbat let out a super sonic wave in her direction, and she just narrowly managed to dodge the attack. She wasn’t given much time as another super sonic blast was about to hit her.

Erin was just barely able to lift up her arms, blocking with her newfound shadow powers, but it used up nearly all of her MC points.

[-58 MC]

[MC 8/100]

She was about to run off when something suddenly attached to her arm and tugged her away.

She was dragged quickly out of the hanger entrance, and yanked behind a ruined building wall nearby. Turning around, Erin saw who it was. A teenager with partially slicked back hair, pale skin, and a few strings attached to his hand.

"Did you really have to call over every beast with your fighting?" The boy joked.