“Yeong-Un…!” He yelled out again, managing to pick himself up to one knee.

It filled his vision–the blinding light.

But, it didn’t reach him.

It wasn’t the well-toned, dual-wielding man in front of him that stopped it, as he looked just as dumbfounded as he was.

“…So loud…Can’t a guy get some sleep around here?”

It was a third figure, standing there with one hand raised, manifesting some sort of crimson shield that completely nullified the destructive impact of the blast, by some miracle saving the two behind him.

“Sol…?” He let out quietly in disbelief.

“Took ya’ long enough, bastard!” Yeong-Un smirked, barely picking himself up as the light behind the shield dispersed.

He didn’t believe his eyes in the slightest: not only was the hazel-haired man supposed to be unconscious, he displayed proficiency far beyond his frantic cowardice from before.

[Player Recognized…]

[Sol. Level: 28 | Class: Blood Knight]

Wait, what is this…? He questioned.

“His level…is higher? His class is totally different, too…! What’s going on here?!” He asked in surprise, exuding his thoughts audibly._.

Yeong-Un stood up, though held one of his bleeding arms as bruises already formed across his body as he smiled, backing up as he stood beside the red-haired, perplexed young man, helping him stand as well.

“I told ya’: Sol is a reliable guy, when he has to be,” Yeong-Un told him.

“That doesn’t explain anything…How is his level different and his class? He seems totally different himself, as well…” He asked, looking forward.

With a seamless swipe of his hand, Sol silently discarded the crimson shield as it broke down into streams of red liquid, merging back with his body as it seeped into the wound on his head.

“…Sol possesses a unique trait–a weird, pretty damn inconvenient one, at that,” Yeong-Un explained, “…Normally, he’s pretty damn useless and whiny, but on the condition that he sees blood and passes out…he awakens.”

“Awakens?” He looked at his spiky, blue-haired companion.

Yeong-Un grinned with his sharp teeth, nodding, “Yeah. The “Angel System” he normally uses alters into his own unique system temporarily: the “Blood Forger System”…it’s a damn strong system, too. And when he’s like this–you can kiss that coward you’re used to goodbye!”

It was difficult to believe, but it was right in front of his eyes. Though he wanted to help, he was in no condition to, and none of them seemed to possess the rare, scarce potions of this world–so they watched from afar.

Sol faced the gargantuan alligator alone with a stunning calmness, though his amber eyes had shifted to a potent, almost glowing crimson as he stood silently, yet firm.

The altered adolescent caressed one of his ears with a disgruntled look, “…You’re going to pay for interrupting my sleep.”

With a smooth, perfect movement, he used his boot to kick up his silver spear as trails of blood coalesced around the sharp-pointed weapon, forming a spiral, large crimson end that turned the spear into a full-blown lance of forged, reinforced blood.

It was almost unsettling to see the jarring shift from the sniveling, quivering coward before to now the calm, absolutely confident figure now who didn’t bat an eye at the angered, thrashing colossus before him.

“Is he going to be alright…?” He asked, wiping the blood that trailed from his nostrils.

“Not like we’re in any condition to fight…heh, but yeah…as he is right now, I don’t see Sol losing to an overgrown lizard like this!” Yeong-Un spoke confidently.

Their conversation was cut short as they witnessed the confrontation between the titanic creature lung towards Sol, keeping low to the floor as it pushed forth with its jaw hanging wide open in an attempt to eat him.

“Look out–!”

Though it didn’t seem he needed to give such a warning as Sol leapt up, easily avoiding the reach of the beast’s jaws as something began to form and spread over his body: the blood that had trickled down his head and onto his body stretched itself over him, crystallization and hardening into a sleek, crimson armor.

“Blood Knight Panoply.”

Sol’s garments were tucked beneath the full-body armor of hardened blood, prompting the quiet, altered adolescent to spin his blood-forged lance around before tossing it downwards towards the body of the snow-white alligator.

Though he tossed it, he maintained a connection with it through a chain-link crafted of blood, linked at the lance’s end and his wrist, allowing him to thrust it downwards without worry as it plummeted against the beast’s back.

“–“

The beast roared out, writhing in agony as the blood-built lance pierced past its scales, shattering them and embedding itself into its back.

As he came downwards, it attempted to claw at him, but he simply pulled back his lance by tugging on the crimson-formed chain, returning it to his hand as he slammed the lance against the beast’s hand repeatedly.

The barrage of pierces blew its hand into pieces, sending a rain of meaty chunks down onto the sewer floor as blood began to flow in tandem with the putrid waters.

“He’s doing it…!” He called out in surprise.

“Told ya’! That’s why I’m so hard on the damn guy–if he could just utilize this power properly…!” Yeong-Un held his fist up.

As if amplified by their words, the blood-armored man moved with blinding swiftness, bouncing from wall-to-wall as he left speedy, unpredictable pierces that tore through the pale beast’s hide; chunking through its arms, legs, and body, it eventually was unable to even hold itself up.

Sol really is…incredible–! He thought.

Another release of energy exerted from the alligator’s mouth, this time in seeming desperation as it seemed to catch the crimson-clad man in midair, missing its target as he simply conjured a temporary chain of blood, pulling himself away.

“…Finish it, ya’ unstable bastard!” Yeong-Un called out.

–

“Don’t have to tell me,” Sol whispered calmly, raising his lance as more blood coalesced at its tip, forming a colossal spearhead that took a vibrant, crimson shine.

Attempting one last, desperate attempt to kill the man, the behemoth of the sewers pulled itself towards him with its salivating, bleeding maw, leaking onto the floor below.

“Blood Forge: Internal Coffin.”

Speaking calmly, Sol stepped forward, thrusting the massive spear of crystalized blood forward and into the mouth of the beast before it could bite down.

As it entered into its body, the spear released, revealing the true form of the invoked magecraft as dozens of jagged blades of blood protruding from the alligator’s body, produced from within it and it came to a stop immediately.

From each of the newly-formed holes in the body of the snow-white beast, arterial fluid seeped out in abundance while its body fell limp with a tremor of its dead weight against the plated flooring.

“…Is that it?” He asked, holding his body, still feeling the throbbing ache within his skeleton.

It seemed the regeneration of the beast wasn’t enough with its cranium being pierced from within multiple times by the skewering of hardened blood.

[“Titanic Maw” defeated. Gained EXP: +1500. Current EXP: 7100/9000.]

The prompt appeared, though it hardly felt deserved to him as he stood there, gathering his breath as he wiped the blood from his nose.

The blood armor dissipated into a mist of red, leaving Sol to his usual, dull-brown coat and leather armor.

“Nice one, Sol, ya’ really–”

Before Yeong-Un could celebrate, they both stopped, looking at the red headband-wearing companion of theirs who turned around to face them, swaying as his eyes faded with unconsciousness.

“Oh, crap–!”

With a [Blink Step], he managed to catch Sol in his arms before he could fall backward, holding him as Yeong-Un rushed over as well, checking on him.

“Is this normal…?” He asked, looking at his scar-faced friend.

“Yeah…and he usually ends up sleepin’ like a log for a while,” Yeong-Un smiled, patting the hazel-haired man’s head, “let’s get him to bed and report this to the ol’ leader.”

“We need some rest, too…You think Dae-Seong will make us pay for potions?” He asked.

Yeong-Un scratched his head before placing the unconscious adolescent on his back, beginning to walk with him to the exit of the sewers, “…He better not, now that you mention it…”

They managed to make their way out of the labyrinth-sewer, released from the nose-burning stench of the vile area as the fresh air of the brisk night nicely greeted them.

“Phew…Take a nice, long breath!” Yeong-Un inhaled with exaggeration.

“Already on it,” he replied, inhaling deeply as they both exhaled simultaneously with satisfaction.

After returning to the hotel, they both ventured to Sol’s room, which Yeong-Un opened with a kick–not even checking the unconscious man’s pockets for a key.

“Alright…to bed ya’ go,” Yeong-Un muttered as he set the hazel-haired man onto the bed.

Yeong-Un wasn’t exactly the most gentle person, simply dropping him onto the bed, but still going the extra length to toss the sheets over him, though not exactly tucking him in.

“Should we go to Dae-Seong right now? Is he even still up?” He whispered, trying not to wake Sol, who was now snoring after being placed in his bed.

“Heh.”

“What’s funny?” He looked at his mesh-shirt-wearing friend.

“Ya’ think the ol’ leader sleeps–I’ve never caught that guy catchin’ a wink,” Yeong-Un told him, as if explaining some mythical creature.

“Huh? Really? You’re not messing with me, are you?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Honest,” Yeong-Un assured him.

“Let’s go then,” he said, taking a step but nearly falling over as he clutched his chest, wincing, “…We could use a potion, or three…”

“Agreed,” Yeong-Un winced as he stretched.