[2 Mana Stats Points have been absorbed.]

Nikolai ignored the message and ran forward as he heard the footsteps approach from behind him. He turned around the hallway as his search for another spirit began.

“He went left!”

The Riders were close behind him, and as soon as they turned around the hallway, they threw their spears at him. Even though he threw himself into one of the rooms, breaking the door, a spear managed to graze him. It was enough to leave a deep wound on his body, but Nikolai kept running.

He found himself in a room full of bunks, but there was no spirit for him to get that last two points of mana. As he heard the Riders run after him, Nikolai opened the window and climbed out of it.

“Where is he?!”

The Riders were momentarily confused as Nikolai climbed the hull toward another window. The strong wind tried to throw him off balance, but he dug his nails into the hardwood.

“He’s outside!”

The sound of the wood breaking under his clutch alerted the Riders. A whistle came from within the room, followed by the flapping of wings. A vulture flew toward Nikolai while he was climbing the hull.

‘You should have learned your lesson already.’ Nikolai took out his gun as he held to the ship by a single arm. He aimed at the vulture and began shooting at its wings.

Another whistle came, and the vulture flew toward the window where the Rider was about to jump. Seeing this, Nikolai knew he had no time left.

His arms bulged with veins as he threw himself toward the window of the other room. He clutched his fist and punched the window, destroying it.

As he climbed in and fell on the ground, the spear struck the window’s edge and penetrated the hardwood. Nikolai huffed as his back burned from the wound.

‘Should I use the Darkmoon Longbow?’

He felt tempted, but his fate points were already lacking. There were only 35 remained after he used so many earlier. If he used anymore, he would gamble away with his Awakening. Then, through his blurry vision, Nikolai saw a spirit pass through the door into the room.

“Haha,” A crazed laugh escaped his mouth as Nikolai stood up. He could hear the flapping of wings, the shouts of the Riders, and the spirit’s low hum as it floated in front of him.

Bang!

His gun’s recoil made his body slam against the wall. Because he infused so much mana into it, the recoil was enough to leave cracks on his muzzle.

The bullet looked like a flame of unbridled energy as it traveled toward the spirit. His points decreased to 32 as a crystal dropped on the ground.

Nikolai ran forward and fell on his knees while grabbing it. He crushed the crystal as his points decreased to 30.

[2 Mana Stats Point have been absorbed.]

Nikolai pulled off the pouch on his neck and opened it. As he got the Bloodline Crystal out, Nikolai stared at it in silence. Once he crushes this crystal, nothing will remain the same.

‘I have 30 points only, where I need 49.’ He hesitated because that meant only 62% probability. So, there was a big chance that his Awakening would fail. ‘I have no other choice. Invest all points!’

Nikolai was about to crush the crystal when a violet panel appeared in front of him from the system. He looked at it with confusion because it wasn’t something that he expected.

[You stole fate. As a result, you obtained 10 Fate Points.]

‘What?’ Nikolai was confused as he looked back for the reason that he would only obtain Fate Points now. Realization dawned on him. There was someone that he almost killed and poisoned, but Nikolai never got Fate Points. 

The Rider he fought on top of Alias.

This man was the only one expected to die. Even the chief thought so, but it was admirable that he held out for some long. Nikola invested the extra Fate Points into his Awakening and raised the chance to 82%.

“He’s in this room!”

Shouts came from outside as Nikolai crushed the Bloodline Crystal. A black light exploded from his hand as it covered him. The Riders opened the doors, but they could see nothing but darkness.

In front of Nikolai’s eyes appeared a panel with three words on it: The Fate System. Below it, several more panels appeared as his Awakening began,

[You have used a Bloodline Awakening Crystal.]

[Bloodline found.]

[Starting the Awakening Process.]

[A System Evolution is underway.]

[Awakening…]

As the panels appeared and disappeared, Nikolai began feeling the change in his body. Then, from the deepest parts of his soul, dark and ominous energy exploded out. It changed everything its path as his body began turning into something else.

In front of Nikolai was the same panel with the three words on it. However, a white dot appeared above the letter ‘t’ in the word ‘fate.’ As the Awakening ensued, the white light began crossing the letter.

‘The… Faᵵe System?’ Nikolai’s heart began beating rapidly. ‘Fate. Faᵵe. Fae?’

[Bloodline Awakened: Fae.]

[Sub-Bloodline Awakened: Dark Fae.]

[Bloodline Rank determined: Lesser Fae.]

[A higher bloodline detected. You need more Bloodline Crystals to awaken it.]

As confusion filled his heart, Nikolai began feeling his body morph into something else. His ears grew longer like those of the Elves. But unlike the Elves, he could feel a pair of horns sprout from his forehead.

His teeth began growing sharper and more prominent as the pain of such a process threatened to break his mind. Finally, Nikolai opened his mouth and let out a deafening howl like that of a beast.

His voice grew hoarse, but it was one he didn’t recognize. It was dripping with darkness as the morphing continued. Nikolai banged on the floor and felt the wood easily break beneath his strength.

The Awakening felt like it lasted forever but also took nothing but a moment. At some point, Nikolai began to regain his senses as only the sound of his breathing remained in the darkroom.

[Awakening completed.]

[Bloodline restriction detected: Curse of the Banished.]