One Year Later (2)

Chapter 10 — One Year Later (2)

"Kya!!!!"

A high-pitched scream suddenly resounded in a dark alley.

"Please…! Please help me!" A young girl trembled afraidly from the gangsters that chased her.

A group of robust men with black scorpion tattoos slowly neared her with perverted smiles.

"Such a pretty girl… I think she is new here! This is the first time I've seen her."

"Then how should we split her?"

"We'll do it as usual."

"Sounds great!"

The three men licked their lips while approaching the young girl. As they gradually neared, she fell to the ground with tears falling down.

"No! Get away…!"

The young girl went to this town because she wanted to barter and trade. Never did she expect that this kind of situation would happen. Alas, she should've listened to the rumors she heard about this seemingly peaceful town being dangerous.

It was at this moment—

"I found you."

A cold low voice suddenly came from above them.

All of them immediately looked high above to see a dark figure standing solemnly on the tall building.

"A kid…?" The three men wore a puzzled expression.

The figure had a muscular and large physical build, but he was undoubtedly a young boy.

The boy wore a sleeveless martial uniform that clearly accentuated his sleek and very defined muscles. A red scarf covered the entire lower half of his face, silently revealing his icy pair of blood-red eyes that shone faintly underneath his messy black hair frame.

(Image Here)

As he stood under the shining full moon that made him mystical, the tail of his crimson scarf slowly danced freely in the air.

The mysterious boy jumped from the building before landing safely on the ground.

He now stood before the three men with the young girl behind him.

"Who are you?" The leader of the men asked annoyedly. "We don't enjoy the taste of shotas, so scram away!"

Instead of replying, the boy just grabbed the dagger on his waist before abruptly slashing his palm open with it, quickly causing them to be stunned.

And in that short moment where they were stunned, the boy waved his palm at them strongly, splashing his blood into the eyes of the men.

It landed on their eyes, causing it to sizzle with purple smokes.

"Shit! It fucking hurts!"

"It's burning my eyes!"

All of them started rubbing their eyes painfully, making them not be able to see their surroundings.

Although the spread of the poison through the eyes was slow, it still hurts and causes them to be practically blind.

The boy silently walked towards them before rapidly slashing his poisoned daggers on their bodies.

His rough movements while wielding the dagger was extremely brutal and violent with no signs of technique or fanciness, only the pure savageness of killing and inflicting pain.

Soon, the three men dropped to the ground with their corpses suddenly shriveling like dry sponges.

The boy waved his dagger to clean the blood before sheathing it away. As he was about to leave, the young girl anxiously grasped his arm.

"Oh hero, I thank you for rescuing me from those fiends." She gratefully said with her eyes reddening.

The boy nodded his head with his dead red eyes void of emotions.

"Uhm, I know this is too much for me to ask, but can you tell me your name? I want to repay you someday!"

He stared at her face for a moment before finally speaking.

"Vlad."

The boy uttered softly with his eyes leaving her face. He then scaled the walls of the alley with incredible dexterity and flexibility. Leaving the scene, he ran across the rooftops of the buildings.

"Vlad…" The young girl clutched her chest with both hands.

Alas, the beauty was charmed by the mysterious hero.

And just like his charming name, the hero always spilled blood, either his own blood and the enemy's blood.

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"You fucktards! Why is there still no news of hunting that bastard down!?"

"Our side has already suffered many casualties, but we can't still even touch the hair of that bastard!"

"Boss, It's difficult to find him! That fucking coward only launch sneak attacks when the night comes!"

"Then why don't you fucking search for him at night!!?"

"We are already trying many methods to catch him! However, that bastard is just too sneaky and cunning to use different kinds of tools!"

Inside an abandoned factory, a high-level gang member along with many medium-level gang members were gathered.

All of them were talking about the bastard that was hunting down people related to the Scorpion Gang. He was similar to the famous vampire from the myth, always leaving behind corpses that lack blood and nutrients.

"We, the Scorpion Gang, can't take this issue easily anymore! Since that bastard keeps seeking death, we'll mobilize our entire forces to grant it to him!"

The medium-level gang members agreed to that statement.

"Even if it means flipping this entire town upside down, we will search everywhere to kill him! Who does he think he is to mess with our Scorpion Gang!"

"Right!"

"Kill that bastard!"

"Tear him apart!"

They roared while blatantly showing their soul-guide tools that ranged from soul guns and soul swords. Since Sunset Town was just an ordinary town without spirit masters, it was only natural that they would rely on soul-guide tools. With rapid technology advancements, even ordinary people were able to wield power not inferior to low-rank soul masters.

"With our soul-guide tools, there's no doubt that we can easily kill that fox bastard who is only good at sneak attacks!"

"Haha! We'll blast him into many pieces with our soul handguns!"

As all of them were brimming overwhelmingly with confidence, dozens of whistling sounds neared them. They were actually iron needles that suddenly emerged from the darkness.

One by one, dozens of medium-level members were struck before falling on the ground.

"Who's there!?"

The others quickly got alerted and started hiding on different safe spots like pillars that covered them from the attacks.

They then quickly readied their soul guns and soul swords.

Three people were hiding alertly behind thick barrels. At this moment, they suddenly heard a metallic object rolling on the ground towards them. And imagining it was a soul grenade, they immediately jumped out of their cover to escape from the explosion.

However, they soon widened their eyes upon seeing the metallic object.

It was a self-made smoke canister.

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Many flashes of needles abruptly pierced their fleshes, causing them to fall on the ground with twisted expressions.

"He's attacking from there!" The high-rank leader immediately pointed at a certain dark location.

His expression looked grim since there were only about 10 of them remaining.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The remaining members began shooting their soul handguns.

However, they couldn't hit anything with no visual sights of the target.

Swiish!

The previously thrown smoke canister began to release white smoke that quickly covered the surroundings.

All of the gang members were now swallowed by white smoke that limited their vision.

"Quickly retreat! We're at disadvantage because of the smoke!"

With the leader's command, all of them started to run away from the white smoke that covered them.

Suddenly, two streaks of blood-red lights moved sinisterly amidst the thick blanket of smoke, silently nearing them rapidly.

With a flick of two wrist, wave after wave of needles flew towards the escaping gang members. Some of them managed to avoid it, but some were also struck by the poison needles with their bodies soon turning into dry corpses.

The numbers gradually dwindled.

Two daggers were then drawn out, the pair of blood-red lights rapidly charging towards the nearest member, his daggers violently slashing his back multiple times in a frenzy, a huge amount of blood splashing into the ground.

One he died, the daggers had already vanished from its spot—already approaching its next target.

"Goddamn!" The next target rapidly shoot at the incoming killer, but the killer immediately took cover behind a pillar that soon got destroyed.

As it crumbled apart, the killer was already gone behind the pillar.

"Where!??"

Swiiiishhhh!!

A needle abruptly pierced through his chest, making him fall weakly on the ground in pain.

"Boss, you must quickly escape! He's too powerful, so we'll buy you some time to leave!"

The leader immediately nodded. He quickly dashed away to leave the abandoned factory.

As he ran away, he was able to hear the loud sound of gunshots nonstop, but It gradually faded from his ears.

He wondered why he couldn't hear it anymore. Maybe… he had already run so far away to even hear it? Or were they already dead?

He didn't even know how the killer managed to find their location.

But he knew who attacked them.

"Vlad…"

The leader continued to run with all his might until he felt his lungs and heart burning so intensely to the point of bursting apart. His stomach and legs felt so painful from pushing his body to run beyond its limit.

Still, despite his body wanting to give up and rest, he continued to run fearfully, desperately wanting to ask for help from the others.

Until—

A faint eerie whistle resounded inside both of his ears, goosebumps gradually forming over his skin, his heart almost leaping out his chest, cold sweat drenching his back completely.

He heard it—

The sound of death.

'He' rapidly neared him.

Haaaa…! Haaaaa…! Haaaaa…!

"I don't wanna die..! Not yet.. Not yet!" He continued to run with tears spilling from his eyes.

Bang!

A needle stabbed near his foot, a gasp escaping his mouth as he lost his sense of balance, causing him to harshly trip on the ground.

"No… No…" His heart rapidly thumped, his arms and legs desperately trying to move, even to the point of crawling pitifully on the field.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Step.

One after another.

Each and every step inching closer.

Until—

"I got you."

A cold voice devoid of emotions.

Death.

A terrifying pressure caused his body to descend into a frigid winter.

A pale hand descended, slowly growing closer before finally clawing his head to make it look behind.

He finally saw who it was.

Their eyes—one full of fear—and the other devoid of emotions—met with each other.

A boy.

A hollow laugh leaked.

The boy harshly grabbed his face while purple smokes slowly escaped his pores, pouring wantonly inside the nose, eyes, mouth, and ears of the leader.

The leader desperately struggled from the pain. However, it was impossible to escape from the boy's steel-like grip strength.

The leader soon fell to the ground with his body completely turned purple and was now lacking blood and nutrients.

"I'm close to destroying them." I mumbled while feeling another surge of life force entering my body.

Now, I know my body is much more powerful than in the past. The percentage of my pink muscles were nearing complete perfection. My heart was now completely made out of pink muscles that made its performance reach a radical transformation. It was extremely vigorous and efficient compared to before.

The rest of my muscles have also been transformed into pink muscles. As such, I saw my body becoming muscular yet not too lean nor too bulky. It was perfectly carved with extremely defined muscles that had the perfect proportions. It was also very flexible and agile to move, possessing the perfect combination of explosive power, speed, and stamina.

The only thing left to be transformed was my brain. (I know it's not a muscle but nah)

And after absorbing various toxic substances from Ten-Year-Old Spirit Fruits I bought with the money I keep stealing from the Scorpion Gang, I realized my blood evolved to have the ability to spread out of my pores in the form of smokes. Yet it couldn't spread too far from my body since it would just return back to my body again. Its distance was extremely limited, only applicable for short-ranged combat.

It was also the same for the medicinal characteristic of my blood. It further strengthened my stamina and recovery speed. At the same time, it refined my blood vessels to become tougher and wider to allow more blood to flow.

And after killing so many people, I learned how to effectively use my blood. I applied it to needles and daggers that I made using my forging skills to have many methods of killing efficiently. I've gained this idea after reading records from the library about a man who ascended to godhood while using hidden weapons.

I didn't really like to use hidden weapons that much since I prefer using my fists to kill my enemies.

After killing so many times, I've gradually learned how to kill efficiently and effectively. It was also accompanied with lots of pain.

My bloodlust has grown extremely dense along with my rage after slaughtering countless people. Fortunately, the necklace helped to restrain my bloodlust and it also calmed my mind.

And to move effectively, I learned acrobatics and parkour through experiences since it allowed me to use the environment to my own advantage. It was useful when engaging and retreating battles since the town was full of obstacles like large walls and tall buildings.

My life revolved around training and working to earn money at day. However, I solely killed people at night.

This kind of exhausting life continued for one year.

Until nobody from the Scorpion Gang was left.

All the scums in the town lived in fear for one year.

The nickname 'Vlad the Bloodsucker' was deeply engraved in everyone's heart.

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One Year Later.

I've turned six-year-old. I couldn't normally celebrate my birthday with my family like in the past. However, I was extremely grateful for Hu Yu celebrating my 6th birthday with me.

Due to her presence, I felt less lonely and sorrowful.

As usual, I spent three-to-four hours working at the smithy every day. I always completed the countless tasks Hu Yu assigned to me. She would also occasionally train me if we weren't busy with work.

Most of the time, I spent countless hours on refining metals and forging components to train myself.

After spending one year with Hu Yu, I couldn't help but grow closer to her.

And I was afraid.

I was scared of something bad might happen to her if she got close to me.

I tried my best to distance myself from her.

But it was inevitable.

Hu Yu was too kind and patient when dealing with me. She slowly wrapped me with her warmth that resembled a gentle flame.

Slowly but surely, her kindness and warmth managed to gradually open my closed frozen heart.

Hu Yu wasn't the greatest blacksmith to ever live, but she certainly was the greatest teacher to me.

Under her strict training, I was forced to go beyond my limit whenever I held the hammer to refine and forge a metal. Both physically and mentally. Thanks to her, I experience rapid improvements.

I couldn't express the amount of gratitude I held for her.

Hu Yu provided me food, gave me clothes, gave me knowledge, and taught me a lot of other important things.

And a few months ago, I finally bended with her request to live in her house. I was willing to live with her because I noticed she was having problems lately.

She was getting weaker over time. Maybe it was because of her old age, but she was working less and instead used most of her time to teach and train me.

Hu Yu even extended my working time along with my salary.

I have a growing bad feeling about her recent behavior.

To forget it, I chose to avoid thinking, drowning myself by constantly practicing my forging ability and other skills.

I practiced.

And practiced.

Again.

And again.

A total of one year. One month of body and knowledge building. One month of pounding metals to perfect proper force transmission and mitigation techniques. I learned how to properly use the rebounds to make my strikes heavier.

After constantly pounding the hammer using my whole strength, it made my arm strength powerful. If absorbing life forces made my body stronger by making my cells denser and of higher quality, then my workout and forging routines thoroughly grinded and used my body to make itself stronger.

After practicing for so long, the action of swinging and proper usage of strength has been made into a bodily instinct. I developed muscle memories.

And each time I grew stronger, the hammer I wielded also became bigger and heavier that allowed for easier but also more exhausting refinement.

After that one month, I was tasked to do some smelting work and metal extraction jobs.

After seven months of perfecting the basics and enriching my blacksmith foundation, I was now allowed to forge simple forging components. Now, I was able to forge simple components perfectly with the medium components still on the experimentation stage.

My basics have improved vastly compared to the past. My foundation has become very solid.

With increased strength, I was now able to refine metal that has undergone Hundred Refinements. It means purging out most of the impurities to increase the metal's quality.

I have also tried to refine and forge simple components from different kinds of metals available in the shop. It made my experience with metallurgy growing leaps and bounds. I now have a general understanding of metals.

Although I wasn't that extremely passionate about forging, I have to practice hard since Hu Yu was strict when it comes to teaching.

I couldn't let her down.

As for our food, I still cooked for us with my cooking skills slowly improving. I now rival good chefs after reading cooking books from the library.

Hu Yu was happy to eat the food I cooked, making me feel satisfied inwardly.

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