Gang Initiation

Just as he saw this message, he moved one of his glowing system panels to see his stats, and a stat upgrade had been sitting there for the past few minutes, unused. His first instinct was to use it to gain more shards, but he decided to place it into his speed.

Using his fledgling blitz stat now, he could gain a speed of 14 for a few seconds, which would make him a much more able fighter.

[Level: 3]

[User: Rhys Arkwrighte]

[Titles: Fledgling, Lv.1 Blood Mage]

[Strength (STR): 5]

[Speed (SPD): 7]

[Durability (DUR): 4]

[Endurance (END): 5]

[Species: Vampire]

[HP: 14/14]

[XP: 0/300]

[MP: 17/17]

[Stat Upgrades: 0]

[Skills] [expand]

[Tier 1]

[Blood Mage]

[Blood Mana Bolt]

[A hand-sized bolt of blood mana is shot, exploding on impact with any hard surface. Maximum range of 50 metres]

[COST: 3MP, 8ml human blood]

[Super Blood]

[Human blood enters the bloodstream and the user's endurance stat and MP capacity double for 30 seconds. Other skills can be used while this skill is activated.]

[COST: 40ml human blood]

[COST TO UNLOCK: 75 Emporium Shards]

[Sanguinis Shield]

[A circular shield of blood mana for 3 seconds.]

[COST: 3MP, 8ml human blood]

[COST TO UNLOCK: 75 Emporium Shards]

[Tier 2]

[*LOCKED*]

These skills all looked very interesting to Rhys. The blood mana bolt could be utilised at a range, and he could take away the HP and willpower of his opponents through using it repeatedly. On top of that, sanguinis shield could let him have a much better defence from certain skills.

Super blood would also be an asset, but one thing that he just didn't have was any blood to try it out with. Of course, his blood wouldn't work for these skills any longer and he'd have to find a way to get his hands on that.

He didn't want to go out of his way and reveal this information to his friends. News getting out of this new SS-Rank would cause him problems, so he placed the thoughts in the back of his mind for now.

However, what he had noticed was that he simply didn't have enough money to buy things. He was constantly behind on his outrageously priced bills and didn't even receive a steady monthly income to pay for it.

The military were forced to pay orphans like him that they were keeping in accommodation. Rhys was even one of the luckier ones, since he was currently enrolled in a military academy. If not for that, he would've just been thrown to the side and left to suffer in isolation.

While he was thinking of this, he was watching his TV and just kissed his teeth upon seeing the general appear on the screen.

"Thank you, thank you. We have decided to boost our funding for education in the sciences and also our healthcare units. I believe I should give back to the people that give me so much love and we must work together as a nation to better ourselves." He explained.

'He's saying a whole lot of nothing.' Rhys just retorted internally, hearing this.

SCREAM!

He heard the heavy footsteps of a scared individual and initially attributed it to a possible portal opening. He was preparing himself to leave, but then noticed a bunch of vibrantly coloured individuals chasing another.

'Oh, the gangs.' He thought.

The neighbourhood that he was in was run by crime. Not only did they act in the open, but they had connections with the underfunded police that were too easy to bribe. They would just bribe them to stay out of their hair, and they could do whatever they pleased.

Gangs weren't just disorganised mobs but were almost businesses that just operated through committing crimes. They owned their own dungeons, and many would have their own shadow firms that would seem genuine, but just be that gang in disguise.

'It can't be that bad, can it?' He wondered, looking outside his window.

Being a vampire now, he had a lot more confidence in himself and his own abilities. What was the worst that could happen?

These gangsters were easy to find, so Rhys just wore some casual dark clothing that he found in his nearly empty closet.

Rushing out of his apartment, he headed for the streets and started to stroll around. Crime was usually intense by these hours, and everybody had their blinds shut as to not be seen by them.

Rhys, however, was out there looking for them and in mere minutes, he noticed a grey-coloured individual walking in quite an odd manner. He looked from side-to-side, while shoving some weird white substance into his pocket.

'Go time.' Rhys said to himself, inhaling to calm himself.

He rushed over to the man, that looked quite startled by his sudden appearance. However, once he noticed his attire, his fears had vanished and he instead looked quite confused.

"Get out of here, kid, what do you want?" He stated.

He had his hoodie up and had hazel eyes and looked to be in his late thirties.

"Let me join your gang." Rhys stated, making the man bewildered.

He had never heard of anybody as brazen as he was. Most weak individuals would approach him with timidity due to their weakness, but he was totally different.

"Leave me alone and get out my face." He replied.

"No, really. The government aren't even giving me the benefits I owe, I literally have no money whatsoever. I'll join your gang; I promise to do what is told."

At this point, Rhys wasn't too bothered about what he could possibly do. The thought of murder and violence didn't bother him any longer.

The man could hear the desperation in his voice and stood there in silence for a few seconds. He was clearly contemplating his proposition, and in the end, he just waved for Rhys to follow him.

"Come along, then. If you make it past the initiation, you're in. However, if you don't, well, you'll see." He explained, directing him.

"What is this initiation?" Rhys asked, pacing after him to catch up with him.

"We own a dungeon that we throw our new fighters into. If you survive that dungeon, you can search for one of its exits to leave. However, if you die, well you die." He explained.

This was quite a tough job for joining a gang, and it was surprising that it was that severe. However, if he could enter a dungeon, he could maybe get more XP and stat upgrades than ever before.

Facing a number of beasts that were only interested in him would let him do that but he'd just have to use his skills sparingly as to not drain his MP right away.

"You'll have to meet my boss, first. If he lets you through, then we can go right away."

They arrived at a decrepit brick building, with a dusty, dark alley beside it. It had stickers that showed it was a building owned by another organisation. It was to stop people like squatters rushing in and taking over the place even when it wasn't exactly owned by any person or business.

However, it seemed to have lights inside and looked somewhat operational. The man entered the alley and showed an opening in the wall that was used to enter. Rhys did just as he explained and saw a number of weapons littered across the white wall to his right.

Many of the weapons had beast crystals in their handles and frames to power them. They would glow upon being activated by mana and would give the user and weapon various augmentations.

"Just for your information, we're not like those phoney gangs from the past. Think of us more like a mafia. To outsiders, we are just like an ordinary private firm that owns dungeons. Even the DDA have no clue we do all this." He further explained.

Rhys was surprised with how accommodating he was to Rhys with giving him whatever information he needed. In addition, the fact that the DDA hadn't even noticed them was quite surprising.

The DDA referred to the Department of Dungeon Affairs. This was a governmental department run by the government. It was the largest department outside the military itself, and allowed private organisations own and lease out dungeons to hunters and others.

There were hunters that worked for the government, which were usually labelled as hunter-soldiers since they were usually just soldiers. However, there were also hunters that operated under these private firms and finally, there were independent hunters that would be hired by private firms or even the military to conduct these dungeon expeditions.

The man entered a darkened room then started talking to the boss that he had referred to earlier. Out of luck, he was given the chance to enter, and couldn't make out the man's face that was inside the dimly lit room.

He was sat at a desk, illuminated by small, golden lamps but he just followed the man into a car that was parked outside the building. It was a matt black and had bright white lights, and in minutes they were gone.

"You won't be allowed any beast equipment in these dungeons. If you want to survive, I recommend you stay with the other people that'll be there." He explained, as they drove across the wide roads of the Grelcis countryside.