[The Blood is ready to be devoured.]

He stared at the sphere of blood before him, the crimson glow in his eyes increasing as his fangs slowly slipped out of his mouth.

[Would you like to consume the blood?]

“Just a second…” Xavier muttered. “How long does this stay here for?”

[The user can hold this sphere for a maximum of 60 seconds.]

[This amount can increase as the skill’s level progresses.]

“Alright, that’s good enough.” Said Xavier.

Right before the people’s eyes, Xavier leaned in towards the blood sphere and began to drink from it.

*Gulp* *Gulp* *Gulp*

[You are consuming a Vampire’s blood.]

[…+1 Stat added to strength.]

There was nothing sweet or salty about the taste, it was bland. There was, however, an empowering feeling that went along with it.

The sensation of having his parched throat filled was definitely one he would like to continue experiencing.

The size of the blood sphere was shrinking slowly, while the number of stat points he was getting was far less than the small amount of blood he drank out of Sangrea. Nonetheless, he seemed unconcerned.

While staring at the screens before him, he continued to drink patiently.

[You are being healed by the blood orb.]

[Your health is already maxed out.]

[Blood level: 4.5 — 4.8 — 5/5] (Full)

Xavier’s eyes widened.

‘Drinking the blood sphere heals me and raises my blood level…’

*Gulp* *Gulp*

[…+1 Stat added to Agility.]

The sphere was now about the size of a tennis ball. Xavier leaned back and licked his lips before carefully staring at it.

Upon doing so, Xavier noticed a bar to the right, the bar was slowly going down and it appeared to be a timer.

“Only two points… That felt like a waste…” Xavier muttered.

‘At least my hunger doesn’t feel as painful as before… And my throat isn’t as dry.’

‘Still… This discovery. It could be very useful in battle… To be able to heal while I fight… The only problem is having to stop to drink from it directly.”

“Devour, can you make the blood from this sphere travel directly into my mouth-”

The moment Xavier even mentioned it, the blood from the sphere launched towards his mouth in a stream. Xavier, caught by surprise, instinctively swayed to the left to avoid being hit.

In response, the stream altered its trajectory and ended up hitting him right in the center of his mouth.

*Gulp* *Gulp*

[You are consuming a Vampire’s blood.]

[…+1 Stat in Agility.]

Xavier gulped down the remaining blood with raised eyebrows.

[You have stopped consuming a Vampire’s blood.]

[Log]

[+2 Stat in Agility.]

[+1 Stat in Strength.]

[Status:]

[State: Normal]

[Strength: 19] (+1)

[Agility: 25] (+2)

[Stamina: 10]

[Sense: 12]

[SP: 3]

Xavier froze for a moment before giggling to himself.

“Haha… With devour I can drink blood while I fight… Meaning even if the sword consumes my blood, I can just recharge while fighting…” Xavier muttered as he glanced at his Vampire blade in his sheathe.

Xavier’s chest began to inflate with confidence as he began thinking of how powerful he was becoming.

‘But System, wasn’t I supposed to get a skill or at least more stats from the blood sphere?’

[Blood orb.]

[They are orbs of blood which can be consumed generated through Gluttony’s: Level 1 Devour skill.]

[Additionally, the Gluttony’s level is far too low to handle absorbing the target soul’s energy much less Ability.]

Xavier looked over at his energy counter.

[Energy: 174/200]

It hadn’t changed at all, only his health had grown.

‘So to gain energy from the blood orbs or an ability of a target I’ve killed, I need to level up Gluttony… That sucks… But the fact that I can still get strong-‘

Xavier’s excitement instantly faded along with his smile as the people’s quiet whispers entered his ear.

“Did you see the way he drank that blood…?”

“What if he suddenly feels thirsty and ends up attacking us…?”

Left and right, horrified expressions met him as he turned his head towards the train tracks.

“H-He’s looking at us…”

“D-Did he hear us?”

“S-See… I told you… He’s a monster…”

As he noticed his reflection on the shiny walls before him, Xavier turned his head forward. Blood was smeared around his mouth, his eyes glowed a bright red.

Seeing his reflection, he realized what they were talking about.

‘A monster huh… I guess it does suit me when I look like this.’ He thought to himself with narrowed eyes.

Xavier wiped the blood from around his mouth and looked at his reflection once more.

‘But that’s fine… I already decided that I’d do anything to save my family… Even if that means becoming a monster…’

After he noticed that some blood remnants were still left, Xavier’s neck bulged with veins.

‘..That being said… They’re starting to piss me off… How long does it take them to find a route and fuck off?’

[Bloodline Quest: Drink a human’s blood.]

‘Since I’m already a monster in their eyes… Maybe I should just-‘

“Don’t say that!!!” A feminine voice suddenly shouted.

With widened eyes, Xavier turned back to the tracks and saw that it was the short brown-haired girl with the hat and bag.

“Why are you all acting this way!? We were saved by him and yet you’re all saying such bad things… He’s not a monster-”

The girl was interrupted once more as her parents covered her father covered her mouth.

A desperate look on his face, he gestured for everyone to be quiet and stand still while pointing up.

Everyone slowly looked up to find dozens of almost fully opened eyelids revealing veiny blood red eyes on the tunnel ceilings above them

Seeing this, the girl with the boyfriend was about to scream out in fear, but her boyfriend stopped her by covering her mouth.

They all stood their frozen in fear. Everyone made sure not to make a move.

Even Xavier stood still, if they died he would have to start over all over again without seeing the noble.

They stood still for seconds, seconds which felt like hours as they stood on the edge of a cliff. With a single word, the ghouls would fully awaken, killing them all within seconds.

No one made a sound, even the young brown haired girl knew that she had to be quiet. Her father held on tightly to the blade if worst came to worst but even he knew he wouldn’t be able to do shit.

Gradually, the eyes began to close once more as the seconds passed. But not completely, they were eyelids were only partially closed no matter how many more seconds passed.

Everyone knew it was the last straw.

Once things seemed to calm down, they resumed speaking.

“W-We better start moving… We’re all in agreement to travel through the Victoria line and get out of London correct? If we need supplies we’ll temporarily get a few people to leave the station and gather supplies but overall we’ll stick together.”

“Is everyone in agreement?” The girl’s father asked while keeping an eye on the noise level.

Everyone seemed to nod in agreement. He looked over at Xavier but received no response from him.

“Um… Are you not going to come?” The red brown haired girl with dark brown eyes as she climbed up onto the platform where Xavier was.

Xavier found it weird that she wasn’t afraid to approach him. Based on her school uniform, she was probably another college student like him.

“No, and I’d start leaving now if I were you lot.” Said Xavier as his expression grew serious.

With his crimson-red eyes he stared down the deep, dark tunnel only to see three figures approaching from the other side.

Their crimson eyes shone brightly in the darkness as they walked through the tunnel.

“Why leave so soon? The fun is just beginning.” The voice echoed through the tunnel.

All of them froze in their places as overwhelming pressure descended on them.

Even Xavier found it harder to breathe.

‘This pressure… There’s no doubt about it… A noble..’ He thought to himself with a nervous smile.