It's bad! My legs are still fully stuck. If they saw me half escaped… This should be enough of a reason to kill me.
I fanatically searched for a sharp weapon to break the chains. There was a sharp dagger beside the cute girl, but alas, none near me.
The system was silent too.
I glanced at my free hands, staring at them like I was an edgy main character who just failed to take his revenge, sighing bitterly….
Wait!
My grin returned at what I saw. It was every girl's wet dream, eight inches long, nicely shaped…
Nails!
Polished red by dried blood. They looked sharp enough to cut a man in thin slices…
Can I use them to cut the cuffs?
As I glanced at the thickness of the chains, I got my answer, No way! They were tough, but not that much. Perhaps if I kept rubbing them, but that would be as slow as yanking them.
…
Time was running out, and I was passing it by cleaning my nails; the scratchy sound was kind of fun as I cleaned even the narrowest of dirt-filled parts.
Wait… Narrowest of parts! My eyes brightened. Lockpick…
Without another thought, I force pushed my ring finger's nail directly in the keyhole, taking a feel for every inch of it.
The iron inside felt warm, oddly, from the cold I was feeling from the cold ground.
To my delight, the lock was the most basic of basics with simple pins, something I'd imagine people had in the 1800s.
Three pins. I counted them again happily.
Pins were quite heavy, though, and fitted against tight gaps that I was supposed to twist at. This was an impossible task for my nail that could barely fit inside.
With an ugly face, I tried to readjust my fingers. I gotta make it work somehow, and just as the thought crossed my mind—
Click!
My eyes widened as a soft click echoed… One of the pins was released!
This shouldn't be possible. The keyhole's shape was weird, only meant for the key…
I tried to pull out my nail, and… it was stuck! Oh God!
I wasn't sure if I had the balls to forcefully pull it out and break my own nail.
I tried to move my finger with thoughts of getting it out anyhow, and… My nail… it shortened! I pulled it out with ease, my jaw wide as a properly groomed nail came out.
I tried to push something out from my finger's tip, like trying to puke from it, and the nail grew to eight inches, then ten, then fourteen. It kept growing as long as I wanted, stopping only at thirty.
Not just that, I could even freely curl them in any shape or form. System really didn't mention this skill...
Click!
The second cuff on my calf fell as I took the cold air deep down my lungs, exhaling a foggy breath. Phew! Sweat covered my eyebrows, but I was finally, fully free!
The wounds on my legs began healing with the feeling of blood moving rapidly on command, expectantly, as the urge to fall asleep rose.
The lockpicking had gotten significantly easier after the first lock… I could remember everything so vividly.
This was photographic memory on steroids, no doubt. I could visualise every little curve of the lock without ever even seeing it, an insane speed of learning from any standards.
After a good minute of resting, I finally stood up, stretching my arms, back and legs completely, and oh how good it felt.
My gaze finally fell on my body, which was… nothing like my body!
Upper chest as wide as a tank, broad, round shoulders, thirty-inch biceps that were bigger than my past self's head, all pure muscle connecting through sleek eight abs. He was like six four too.
This was… My new body. My own! My hand was covering my mouth as I shook, hardly standing. This felt… odd.
All the time, I was ill with some sort of cold, and my immune system was deadly weak. Even with that, I really chased muscle aesthetic as any other boy my age, but never, no matter how hard I trained, or how much I ate, I couldn't go beyond a 'pencil' look with chicken legs, and stick arms.
Now I looked tougher than even pro bodybuilders on steroids.
I kept gazing at them; it was a similar feeling to being gifted ten billion dollars one random morning.
My heart skipped a beat as the dreamy look vanished; the sounds of footsteps were getting closer and closer. Fuck!
Should I fight?!
But shit, they literally caught the me at prime, with that girl by my side, probably, now how a nerfed me with no support doing a thing?
Though maybe it's not the person who caught me coming, but still… It could be.
I can open any door with a keyhole with my nails, so… Should I just grab the girl and run away? But, the route outside… I observed with [Eye of Sanguine]… It just had one way out, as far as I could see.
Something I really didn't want to do seemed to be the only option now… They were just too close for me to try to plot anything.
I bit my lip, as my fists clenched, I can't die yet. No matter what!
Maybe I could ambush them with that dagger or something before they could see me. If they were trained fighters, I really found it hard to believe I stood a chance.
My eyes turned back to the bleeding head of the white haired, beautiful girl …Blood.
I had a strong body, and my skills, too, were proof of that. With a good plan, an ambush was possible. But, if I were in my prime…
The thirst returned way worse than before. I could control the urge, but… I was doubting if I really should, which was seriously messing my control.
I could just walk to her, and take a small bite. I gazed at her exposed collarbone.
it's not that selfish, I am actually helping her since I will have a much better chance of saving both of us, and escaping safely. It's not like I want to do anything strange, I just wanna live.
But would that be alright?
I had no memories of the girl no matter how hard I tried to probe.
I couldn't just rely on my instincts or vampire movies I watched.
Her wounds weren't healing, and my fangs were as long as daggers, inserting them in her neck… what if I killed her?
She seemed far weaker than me. Taking risk on her life is not worth it… We have a special bond. Also, add the fact that she knows way more about this world than me, and could probably be trusted, at least more than any random person.
But then again, both our lives are in danger…
I don't know, I can't decide!
All of a sudden I froze as my ears perked up. A language similar to old English with hints of a British accent could be heard clearly with my enhanced senses.