She sensed a presence in the street. Although it was difficult to perceive, she went out to confirm. In any case, she had nothing more to do there; Morgane was clearly no longer present.
Yumiel meticulously scanned her surroundings, her senses on high alert. She would have felt the slightest tremor, vibration, or noise instantly. And yet, despite her thorough search, she found nothing. She decided to leave, thinking it was all in her imagination.
Just before setting off, her hair stood on end. She instinctively dodged a bullet that should have hit her squarely in the head, lodging instead in her left shoulder.
« Ugh, damn it, again! »
Judging by the blast, it must have been a sniper rifle. Yumiel cursed herself; if she'd kept her senses alert, she would never have been hit, but it drained her energy and drove her crazy in the long run. Fortunately, the wound was healing rapidly, visibly. Now all that remained was to find the sniper.
He was in the street, for sure, but where? She would soon find out, walking down the middle of the street, her senses on high alert. The overwhelming information reaching her was starting to overwhelm her mind; she could only manage that for one or two minutes at most.
She had searched before. But by limiting the amount of information, this time it was different. And indeed, it didn't take her long to detect ragged breathing buried beneath a pile of corpses. Yumiel rushed towards the pile; the man, surely surprised, fired a shot hastily.
For Yumiel, the bullet was agonizingly slow; she had already anticipated it by hearing the chamber explode and the powder ignite. As for its trajectory, she anticipated the wind resistance. Taking all these factors into account, she dodged the bullet with ease.
She approached the pile of corpses and reached in to grab the frail sniper, clearly human. Yumiel seized him by the neck, choking him slightly but not enough to allow him to breathe. The man reached for his pistol, clearly a 10mm, but unfortunately for him, he hadn't had time to fire a single shot. Yumiel grabbed his pistol with her other hand and threw it away. The man, suspended in mid-air by Yumiel's grip, struggled as best he could.
« Tell me, what happened to the house behind here? »
Yumiel asked a simple question, not wanting to overthink things, while pointing to the house in question.
« is… is… »
The man found it very difficult to breathe. Yumiel sighed, thinking that even Marie was tougher than him. She finally let go of him. The man fell to the ground, looking frightened.
« Now tell me, what happened to this house? »
The man looked terrified and begged for his life. Yumiel waited for him to finish his rambling. Only when he sensed Yumiel was losing patience did he finally reply.
« This house and this whole neighborhood, we were the first to fall around midnight. The dead piled up, the houses reduced to ashes. »
Yumiel interrupted him: « That's all very well, but I'm asking about this house. »She pointed again at Morgane's house.
« Yes, yes, of course, » he said, terrified. « I know that family well; they're friends of mine. If you're looking for them, I can help you. »
Yumiel understood that he knew nothing. But she returned to a point that had been bothering her.
« You said that at midnight, this neighborhood was affected, developed. »
« Yes, of course, as long as you leave me alive, I'll tell you anything you want, haha. »
Yumiel rolled her eyes, as if she would let such a juicy prize go.
« It was around midnight. My wife was asleep and I was reading my book, Siaw. When suddenly my wife started suffocating. Her skin was changing color, outside we could hear screams, then gunshots, explosions, the authorities intervened afterwards. Over time everything became as you can see. My wife left, I haven't seen her since. »
The man wanted to continue, but Yumiel had other ideas. She jumped on him and began sucking his blood.
But the effects weren't like the first time; it was good nonetheless, not divine. She felt invigorated, though not particularly stronger. She continued until he was drained of blood.
« This is weird, I thought I was feeling a change. System, what do I need to do to become stronger? »She had already asked the question. But she was hoping for a different answer this time.
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Becoming stronger is entirely up to you and your choices. You can refer to your inner nature.
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« But deep natures? »
« Well, it's still blurry. » Yumiel closed her eyes. And, concentrating, she asked, « Deep nature? »She searched deep within herself again and again. Until she saw a heart, beating at full speed. She thought it was her own, but touching her chest, she now heard two hearts. Surprised, she turned around and returned to the man's corpse, laid her head on his chest, and heard his heartbeat. Though faint, it was beating slower and slower with each passing second.
« That's impossible, I sucked all his blood? »
What was astonishing was not the man's beating heart, but her inexplicable thirst to devour him. She plunged her right arm into the man's body and pulled out his heart. It beat weakly in the open air, almost stopping; Yumiel waited for no one. She held the heart above her, opened her mouth, and squeezed out the blood within.
The blood from the heart fell into Yumiel's mouth. She felt the effects instantly; her own heart began to race, she felt her strength increase, her muscles contract, her mind adrift in a frenzy of pleasure. Though slight, she felt the changes. Once the blood had finished squeezing, she discarded the heart.
« Wow, » was all she could say. For her, it was incredible. An experience that was as enjoyable as could be.
The night was well underway. She headed back towards the nearest centers near her home.