Chapter 5 — First Evolution
Edem Qwasi — Status Screen
Race: Dracula (Lesser)
Level: 5
Crimson Evo Points: 100/100
Attributes
Strength: 26
Vitality: 20
Agility: 15
Endurance: 15
Intelligence: 15
Perception: 15
Skill: Blood Sense
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Edem ran through the forest until the trees opened into the mouth of a cave. It looked safe enough from the outside, but the interior was pitch black. Still, his vision inside was unnaturally clear—every rock, every drop of moisture visible as if daylight had followed him in. Is this because I'm a Dracula? he wondered, marveling at the gift—if it could be called that.
He moved deeper. The cave's echo swallowed his steps, then his blood sense tingled. Something large lay ahead.
Hisssss....
hisssss....
A python. Ten meters long, thick as a waist, its scales a clouded brown pattern. It lay coiled, breathing shallow. The system pinged in his head before he even reached striking distance.
> [Warning: Low-rank Predator Detected — Earth Python Beast]
[State: Weakened]
Edem can't help but break into a cold sweats.😰😰
Whew...."Luckly I levelled up and am now Level five. Time to test myself. To see my current strength" Edem thought to himself.
From close up he could see why the beast was flagged weakened: a chunk of flesh at the side of its head was torn away, muscle exposed and already cooling. It had obviously been in a fight.
Edem didn't overthink it. He let his body move the way his training had taught him—swift, animal, precise. Inhuman speed carried him forward. He coiled his weight into his right fist and unleashed a crushing strike he'd practiced until his knuckles ached.
The fist hit the python's skull.
BAANGGGG
SPLURTT
There was a sound like a melon splitting. The python's head exploded in a wet, terrifying burst. Blood sprayed, and the rest of its body convulsed once, twice, then went limp.
Huff...hufff...huh
Edem stood there, breathing hard. Is my strength really that much? he asked himself, stunned. He didn't realize 26 Strength translated into raw power like that—almost three times what a peak human could manage in a single blow.
He stepped closer. The scent of iron—the beast's blood—rose to meet him. His vampiric Habit and hunger tugged at him both: Draculas gained strength from blood. He leaned in, ready to drink, when something on the ground caught his eye. A round, fist-sized orb sat in the dust near the python's head. It was shiny and it has a brown color.
He ignored it for the moment. He had priorities.
Edem drank the beast blood and was feeling intoxicated.
Warm, metallic nectar flooded his mouth. Energy unfurled through him like a tide. When he pulled away, he gained—three stat points added to his attributes. Not much, but it was something. It's better than nothing. Mosquito meat is still meat.
And then Edem's gaze shifted to his panel.
A red window blazed into view before his eyes on the text in front of him.The text was blunt,that mechanical voice.
> [Race: Dracula (Lesser)]
[Evolution Points: 100/100]
Ready for evolution — Y / N
Fear knotted in his gut. Evolution meant somethings are going to change. Evolution he is going to be in pain. Still, Edem had come this far. He swallowed the fear and answered with the one thing he'd learned to choose when everything else was uncertain.
"Yes."
He Acceptance. The moment the word left him, his bones felt as if they were being unmade and put back together by invisible hands. He screamed—high and low whimpers—while the world contracted to the single point of agony in his chest. Skin sloughed. Bones cracked and reformed. Time stretched and tore.
After what felt like an hour of fire and cold, the pain ebbed. Edem's last conscious impression was of his body being wrapped in something warm and sticky—blood forming a dark cocoon that hummed with power.
Ding…
[Evolution in progress… 0/100%]
Darkness closed over him. Where he went next, even the System did not say.
[Evolution in progress… 10/100%]