Chapter 34 – Sanguine Grasp
The pressure in the town shifted the moment the last group fell.
It wasn’t something visible in the way people moved, not immediately, but Jack felt it through Blood Sense before anything else. The patterns ahead tightened, the signals drawing closer together as the structure reacted to what was happening at its edges. They weren’t retreating. They weren’t scattering.
They were consolidating.
Jack stood still for a moment, letting his breathing settle after the last exchange. The strain from sustained skill use lingered, but it no longer pressed against him in the same way. His body adjusted faster now, the recovery cleaner, the delay between exertion and stability reduced to something manageable.
Then the system responded.
[Level Up]
[Level: 20]
[Class Milestone Reached]
[New Skill Selection Available]
Jack’s gaze sharpened slightly as the interface opened.
Three options appeared.
[Select One Skill]
1. Blood Rend
→ Converts bleed stacks into explosive damage
→ High burst, high energy cost
2. Sanguine Grasp
→ Manifest blood tendrils to bind or pull targets
→ Scales with Vitality and Energy
3. Hemorrhage Pulse
→ Detonate all active bleeds in an area
→ Effective against multiple enemies
Jack read through them once.
Then again.
The choice wasn’t difficult.
Rend focused on finishing power. Pulse on area damage. Both useful, both effective in the right situations, but neither addressed the problem he was already facing.
Humans adapted.
They repositioned.
They created angles.
He had already seen it.
Control mattered more than raw output.
His focus settled on the second option.
Sanguine Grasp.
Not just damage.
Control.
Positioning.
The ability to decide where the fight happened instead of reacting to it.
That was what he needed.
Jack confirmed the selection.
[Skill Acquired: Sanguine Grasp]
The understanding settled into him immediately.
Not as instinct.
As clarity.
Energy extended outward, shaped rather than released, directed with intent instead of force. It wasn’t something sustained passively. It required precision, timing, and awareness of where it would matter most.
Jack exhaled slowly, then closed the interface.
“New skill?” Hanna asked from beside him, her tone measured but attentive.
“Yes.”
“What does it do.”
He glanced ahead, his awareness already tracking the movement of the next group forming between the buildings.
“It lets me decide where they stand.”
She didn’t ask for clarification.
She didn’t need to.
The next wave came faster than the last.
Five this time.
More coordinated.
They moved together through the narrow space ahead, their formation tighter, their timing more deliberate. One carried a ranged weapon, already raising it as they closed the distance.
Jack stepped forward.
Blood Shield activated.
The barrier formed just as the shot came, absorbing the impact with a sharp ripple that dissipated outward instead of breaking through. The force registered, but it didn’t disrupt his movement.
He didn’t stop.
Sanguine Surge activated.
The world tightened.
Movement slowed into something readable.
Jack raised his free hand slightly.
Sanguine Grasp.
The energy moved differently than anything he had used before. It didn’t burst outward. It extended.
Two thin, blood-like tendrils formed in front of him, lashing forward in controlled arcs.
They connected.
The closest guard’s movement snapped short as the tendrils wrapped around his torso, pulling him off balance mid-step. The second caught at the legs, his forward motion disrupted just enough to break the formation.
Jack stepped into the opening they created.
The scythe moved cleanly, ending the first before he could recover, then shifting immediately into the second, finishing him just as efficiently.
[You have defeated: Human Guard (Lv.7)]
[Experience Gained]
[You have defeated: Human Guard (Lv.7)]
[Experience Gained]
The remaining three reacted.
One tried to pull back.
Another pushed forward, attempting to close the gap before Jack could reset.
The third repositioned, trying to flank.
Jack didn’t let the movement develop.
He shifted his stance and extended his hand again.
Sanguine Grasp.
This time the tendrils snapped toward the one retreating, catching him at the shoulder and dragging him forward instead of letting him create distance. The sudden reversal broke his footing completely, pulling him directly into Jack’s range.
The scythe ended him in a single motion.
[You have defeated: Human Guard (Lv.6)]
[Experience Gained]
The flanking guard committed.
Jack turned into him, letting Blood Shield form again just long enough to absorb the incoming strike. The impact pressed against the barrier, but it held, buying him the fraction of time he needed.
He stepped forward and ended it.
[You have defeated: Human Guard (Lv.7)]
[Experience Gained]
The last one hesitated.
It lasted less than a second.
Jack closed the distance and finished the fight.
[You have defeated: Human Guard (Lv.6)]
[Experience Gained]
The space settled again, but not in the same way as before.
The difference was immediate.
Jack exhaled slowly, letting Sanguine Surge fade while keeping his awareness extended.
“…Yeah,” he said quietly.
Hanna stepped up beside him, her eyes moving over the fallen guards before returning to him.
“That looked different.”
“It is.”
She tilted her head slightly.
“You pulled them.”
“I decided where they stood,” he corrected.
A small pause followed.
Then she nodded.
“Better.”
Jack looked ahead again.
The structure of the town had changed.
Not completely.
But enough.
The groups forming now were tighter, more deliberate, but they no longer moved with the same confidence. The edges had broken. The pattern had been disrupted.
And now—
He could control how it collapsed.
He stepped forward again, his pace steady, his grip on the scythe aligned with the shift in how he approached the fight.
This wasn’t just removal anymore.
It was control.
And from here on—
Nothing inside Boiling Springs would move unless he allowed it.