Rena's Darkness
Aki suddenly blocked the disgusting magic that was about to hit me, and he rushed so fast that my mind became blank, remembering the past, like when he blocked a falling sign from hitting me and then spent a week in the hospital.
[You Killed Debola Necromancer - Gained 200 Experience (244/2000)]
"A-Aki...!?"
His beautiful fingers began to melt like butter in a hot pan before he fell to the ground with a loud thud and rolled over.
Yet I had a bad feeling.
The yelp of Yuzu sounded before I could react...
A sound of wind blew from behind me, and out of complete luck, I stepped forward to reach for Aki as the bad feeling revealed itself—a blade pierced the spot where my head was a moment ago.
I looked back to see the bandit chief was still alive!
Gray Swifhand stood with his bloody face—the blow from my Aki seemed to have cracked his right jaw and skull as it deformed his face and caused the entire thing to swell like a balloon.
"Damn bandit!" I hissed, angry because he stopped me from checking on Aki, and he seemed to have kicked Yuzu across the room, knocking her out.
"Ah... you damn kids, ruining everything... Fuck!" Swifthand complained, his body moving with a limp.
His disgusting eyes leered at my body, which was for Aki alone!
I stepped back, trying to protect Akira. I know he is a vampire and shouldn't die, but the hand and shoulder were still melting...
The scent of his flesh burning was disgusting!
"Hey~ don't back away—how about it? I'll let your little boyfriend go if you make me feel good."
*Ba-Dum*
My heart thumped as my blood began to boil, anger, rage, frustration at being useless to help Aki properly...
[Fight]
A gentle voice whispered into my ears.
Was it Medea?
I don't even know. My mind was so foggy that I just listened to the voice.
I clenched my fist and dashed forward.
The bandit chief laughed and swung his sword with his left arm, but I ducked below and punched him in the balls.
*Pop*
His nuts popped like water balloons, but my knuckles didn't break—his defence was weak, and Aki had already broken his body! I knew he wouldn't lose to this garbage!
Swifthand howled in pain, unable to scream because of Aki's earlier attack, before I kicked him in the guts, sending him stumbling backwards.
He crashed into some of the wooden fences, falling backwards as I approached him with slow steps, the heavy black mace appearing slowly the full two-metre length, dragging along the dirt with a deep trail.
"I will kill you."
Swifthand tried to get up, but I slammed the mace onto his leg, crushing them instantly. The feel of his meat becoming tender and the bones cracking before my second blow turned them into dust felt amazing...
"You hurt Aki..."
I wanted to crush the man who attacked Aki and caused Aki to bleed... Ah? His eyes looked scared as he tried to move away—why does this make me feel joy?
"Aki is bleeding!"
He screamed in agony—his scream was so annoying that I smashed his third leg with another swing of my mace, turning him into a screaming worm. Yet, calling it a third leg was pushing it... the thing was the size of my thumb.
"Die."
I lifted the mace and smashed it onto Swifthand's chest, but one hit was never enough. Because I wanted to make sure he died while screaming and enduring a pain equal to the pain Aki suffered when his hand melted!
*Bang!*
I hit him...
Three times?
Four?
The anger caused my mind to blur... his face turned purple, and the flesh of his chest and stomach was dark like raisins.
His ribs cracked before my next few swings, his lungs popped open, and his heart exploded before my last strike—crushing his neck and silencing him forever.
*Pant* *Pant*
[You Gained 150 Experience (394/2000)]
I dropped the mace—exhaustion overwhelmed me as I remembered what happened and rushed towards Aki with unsteady steps and cradled his head, wiping his forehead with his messy, long silver hair as tears formed in my eyes.
"Aki... wake up, please... I'm sorry, I should have protected you..."
His skin was so cold, like a dead person's—what if he never opened his eyes again!?
No... I can't think like that—Akira isn't dead yet! Vampires are hard to kill—Medea said!
Yet I couldn't stop myself from crying...
Vampire!?
Blood!
Akira needs blood!
I bit my finger with my teeth, ignoring the pain before shoving it into his mouth—yet Aki remained motionless and unresponsive despite the blood entering his throat and dripping down his cheeks...
"Not enough... Aki..."
I cut my wrist with Aki's knife, lying nearby, before pressing it against his pale lips, desperate to save Akira...
"Aki... please drink!"
Nothing happened as more blood dripped from my wound, flowing down Akira's throat, yet he remained unmoving...
"Aki... wake up..."
My vision blurred—the exhaustion and loss of blood weakened me, causing me to fall onto Aki's body as my consciousness faded into darkness.
Suddenly, I heard meat and bones cracking and squelching before a warm, hard feeling penetrated my neck, and the nostalgic sucking sounded in my hazy ears.
My blood flowed into Aki's body through a sharp object before a wave of pleasure and weakness overcame me, causing me to smile with relief...
Akira was drinking my blood...
He will be fine!
With a wet slurp and pop, bloody saliva forming strings from my neck and his mouth, I could see Aki's handsome face looking down at me with a smile, and even his hand was restored as it began to stroke my cheek.
"Thank you, Ren—"
"Mhm..."
My consciousness faded into darkness, content inside his loving embrace and happy that Aki was safe...
[Rena POV End]
***
[Akira POV]
I dragged my body towards Yuzu, hugging her and Rena against my chest, stroking them with my fingertips.
Woman, give our two levels—I have achieved my task!
[...]
My words were arrogant and angry towards that woman sending us here without even speaking about the dangers.
Although she said it would be hard, the goddess didn't give a real choice to me.
I was angry at everything.
Myself for being too confident in my attributes! How could I forget that I wasn't a hero, nor could I claim to be one?
Training, fighting and self-improvement.
I needed longer to fight to train all of it than the hero, many times more intensely!
"Sorry..." I apologised to Rena, Yuzu and the goddess for my ungrateful attitude.
Maybe I should have asked, or why did I presume that magic defence would be fine if I just endured?
This was entirely my own mistake.
Intellect was important, and every attribute was important for those who lacked true divine protection...
Honestly, it was good the wake-up call came now rather than later when the enemy was strong enough to kill all of us in a snap of their fingers.
[Apology Accepted...]
[Good work Akira]
The moment her words passed, I felt the feeling of my brain and body aching.
A churning feeling assaulted my body, as my muscles being modified caused me to groan in pain while I felt like someone was pushing a stun gun into my brain and jolting me several times.
It felt similar to gaining a level, but it lasted far longer!
I didn't care, though... it meant Rena, Yuzu, and I gained a level—even better, we gained two levels each!
A magical scene happened as the pale Rena began returning to her beautiful glossy brown self, a lovely pink colour on her lips as she seemed to have mystically restored the lost blood.
"Phew..."
Leaning back, I reflected more on myself and how I acted. Next time, I will properly analyse the area and prepare potions, bandages and anti-necrosis items.
With a flick of my wrist, the page I hadn't looked at appeared... Causing me to feel a shock to my brain.
[Name: Tendo Akira
Race: Vampire (Eros)
Level: 13
Exp: 394/4000
Class: Monster Tamer
HP: 416/416 (+50)
MP: 555/555
STR: 105
VIT: 183 (+15) (Sealed)
INT: 111
AGI: 82
DEX: 115
DEF: 241 (+25)
CHA: 195 (1,505 Sealed)
Bonus Attribute Points: 0]
It seemed me gaining the attributes from Rena and twenty per cent from Yuzu was truly amazing...
[It would probably be better if I tweaked it for you...]
"How?"
[Once you are gaining one hundred per cent of their attributes. Then, after adding the initial amount, you gain a bonus of five points for each level from then onward.]
"Why do you say that? Isn't that worse?"
[It's the same—you would get the same points either way, but now you can control them. Instead of considering your and your pet's attributes, just let them build how they like, and you can do the same.]
[Otherwise, you're status will continue to be heavily skewed towards defence. Rather than attacking stats.]
"..."
"You play a damage dealer in games, right?"
[...]
[A goddess could never play online games, especially the critically acclaimed Last Fantasy 14...]
"I know that damn meme!"