30 The Banished

[Evolving into Hel'Slakter!]

His transformed form reverted back into the first one, normal human appearence, now having sharper nails and two lumps on his forehead.

However, as the transformation once again began, the horn lumps retracted along with the nails. Turning back into something which would be counted as building blocks.

The first thing to note down was the black lines which formed around on his built body. They stretched out into every corner, carving out every mucle shape there was. He looked like some sort of butterfly, or rather, a warrior painted by some tribal tattoo.

The next was the curved dark horns which shot out of the sides on the sides of his head. Weren't they supposed to be white? Anyways, they fit better with the black hair, so he did not complain.

The next were the eyes. They seemed to...get a little larger? The iris was still golden, with a clear vertical line in the middle. Not much change there.

His face did not transform much, but the canines in his mouth grew a little sharper.

The mucles grew a bigger too, along with the bones and spine. His height reached the 1.90 mark before he stopped growing.

The nails were seemingly longer too. Now having a gold line on the tip, marking where their black ends reached.

He looked more mature in this form, not very handsome, but the increase in height and tissue growth certainly made him better off.

As his black clothes once more emerged, Micharl looked at the black linings which were circling around his enlargened biceps and chest. Even his now robust abdominal mucles were marked. They would almost turn his new appearance from handsome to somewhat demonic.

"I feel much stronger while like this. Let me try the [Hel'Bölger]"

With but a thought, he transformed once more.

The black linings turned silver as his skin once more were molded into scales. Two new curved horns made their homes on his temples. Turning into the same color as the lines.

The two eyes turned back into golden bulbs, but there was a new set making their home over the originals. Giving of a arachnid like feel.

The six fingers on each hand trembled a little as silver linings rounded out the available knuckles.

His scales were now much thicker than before, making him look even more powerful overal.

"This...This is atleast a hundred times better than previously.."

He tried to bend his hands backwards, but noticed that they worked the same as a squids tentacle. Bending in any direction he saw fit.

"That must be the addition the second evolution gave me. I could probably catch any opponent off guard with this flexibility."

He looked back at the caged wendigos with his four eyes. However, now they seemed to not move a mucle. Affraid of alerting him of their presence.

This futile atemt of escaping only made him chuckle with the new dark 'dual voice' varming up the cave.

He walked up to the unmoving beasts. Just impailing every one in the head with his sharpened claws. Their brain seemed to slowly melt as he pulled it back. Mabye that corrosive chemical his body emitted was a passive ability now?

"System, show me my current level and skills if I have gained any."

[Calculating...]

[barely enough experience to reach max level]

[Level:20/20] Max!

[Hel'denger: Makes your fists and claws emit a corrosive substance which rapidly makes flesh break down]

[Hel'Beiner: Can harden bones in your body, increasing impact damage by 200%]

[Hel'Regner: You can spit out a pressurized bullets of liquid. It will containt the same effect as the 'Corrosive substance']

[Hel'trasher(new): Turn damage into physical power, increasing your strenght for every time you take a blow. This is always active]

"Very good. Let us see where that guy is hiding."

He continued to walk deeper after putting the documents inside i enlarged storage ring. Not bothering himself anymore with the wendigos.

The further in he went, the more cramped the tunnels became. Mabye large enough to fit a truck inside now.

The walls got more and more well made. Turning into a sort of worn down concrete. Continuing his quest to find the owner, he met another damn door. It had very fine carvings on, must have been expensive in old times.

However, this did not matter. Michael walked it down in his hel'börger form, finally finding the guy who built this place.

The room was similar in size to the one where Jenkins had set up that weird tree. Only now, there was a small block of ice surrounded by some metal equipment.

There laid a handsome young man with long black hair inside. A rather thin guy overal, but he was certainly built. The long black hair was tied togheter, flowing down to his hips. And of course, he was naked....

Marss looked at a grey lever laying next to a bunch of tubes, trying his luck with that first.

Just flicking it to the side, the tubes began to shake.

'Was this the right one?'

He looked back at the cube of ice which began to melt.

'Nice one Michael...'

All that was left was to watch as the ice disappeared, letting the handsome man fall to the ground along with the black rope growing out of his head.

'Should I catch him before he...'

*DUNK

'never mind...'

As he was twated out, the man laid on the cold grey floor alongside his setup. Michael only looked around while waiting for him to wake up. Examining some of his gear and papers which were spread around.

"Sun time, 159. I have built this setup with the help of some supplies I stole from that weird elf I fought. I promose, if I meet him again, I will kill him. What a damn lunatic. Anyways, I will now be able to freeze myself with the help of the magical energy contained in the dungeon core. The lever closest to the rainbow colored tubes will make it start melting."

All four of Michaels eyes widened up, starring at the first lines on the document.

'What?! How old is Jenkins? I should ask him what year it is today before trying to pry his mind open."

As he kept throwing more documents into his ring, he heard some weak grunting from behind.

Instantly, Michael reverted the transformation, now looking like the tribal horned warrior with black clothes.

Michael turned towards the naked guy, going to help him up.

"You there?"

the black haired man stood up on his own. Straightening up his back and stretching his thin white arms out.

"I...Have finally returned."

His voice was deep, but still held a light tone to it, making it more elegant.

He opened his eyes, turning them towards Michael.

Everything other than the long hair made him look like a really handsome bachelor. But the blood red eyes holding on at the sight of Michaels head also enhanced the sort of mysterious feel he gave off. Almost as iflooking at some dish.

"You freed me. No?"

Michael could only stutter as this guy did not even care he was naked.

"A..ah yes! I read your papers.."

The man smiled back, nodding his head.

"Yes, then you wish for the potion I made? Good. Just follow me then."

He began to walk towards the door Michael had punched down. Not caring that it laid on the stone floor in the least.

"Yes, also."

He snapped his fingers, making a dark red cloak cover his body.

"Are you coming?"

He turned towards the dumbfounded Michael. Snapping him out of his trance.

"Y..Yes!"

Michael just started to walk alongside him, not wasteing any more time.

He followed the black haired guy throughout the cave complex. Exept the one entrance where the wendigos were laid, the rest seemed pretty nice. How long had he been here?

"You can just call me Halrel. As for who I am, that matters not. But you..."

He looked at the tattooed Michael walking beside him. Swirching his gaze from the eyes to the horns.

"A Hel'slakter? Thought they were infertile. Well, things happen all the time..So, may I ask for your name?"

Michael was just as dumbstruck as when he found out this guy knew Jenkins, but he answered anyways.

"Michael. Just call me Michael."

He gave a light smile back as they continued to walk.

"Nice to meet you Michael. I do not know much about your race, but feel free to ask me anything while we walk. I used to like spacy rooms, so they are a little longer than you would prefer."

Michael proceeded to question him about several topics regarding his race and what he did down here.

"Ah, Yes. Well, I am what you may call a Vampire. You could say I was in a sort of....argument with my parents, and was sendt here to repent."

"As for the experiments I did, they involved evolving bloodlines of different creatures."

He continued, immersing himself in what was going on here.

"You see, Wendigos are able to climb from a normal human to a lower 'Energy' realm practitioner Instantly."

"What? Energy realm?"

"Oh, so you are also from this world.... Well, it wouldn't matter, really. The layers of power in this 'common' world as refered to by the system only work to messure what kind of level your internal energy has reached. You know?"

DIVINE

ASCENDED

PRIMORDIAL

EXALTED

EMPEROR

KING

GENERAL

MASTER

SOLDIER

"So..What are the other layers then? If energy is the lowest of them?"

"Sorry, my memory is a little weak. But if I remember correctly, the first realm was the 'ENERGY' realm. It is here you master your internal energy, slowly shaping it into a purer form so that you may rise from the common world. Or this 'locked' part."

'WHAT?!'

"The next is the 'SOUL' realm. That is where you fuse all the powers in your body. Creating what is called a 'SINGLE' being. Quite handy if you don't want to die from a short lifespan."

"The last one I remember is the 'TRIBUNAL' Realm. It is there you make your path. Where you will either fall or rise, choosing what kind of existence you are."

"The rest will surely come back."

Michael starred wide eyed at this guy. What was this? There were other higher worlds he may have to traverse?!

"C..can you tell me about yourself?"

"Yes, why not. As you know, I am a vampire. A Blooded Vampire, too be exact. that is the second layer reached in the nine vampire realms. My energy is crippled due to the argument I had. Pretty cruel, right?"

"Yeah. Sure is."

"That's it. But I am pretty good of with my body, as I shouldn't lose to anyone bellow the level of the 'emperor' energy layer."

As the kept talking, the Vampire suddenly stopped in front of a white wood door. The color was very ragged, and it was obviously very aged from the texture.

"Yes, we are here."

He just opened the door with a small push, showing the laboratory he had mostly worked in. All the items inside were viewable thanks to the strong metal bulbs hammered on the stone wall.

There were several glass tubes filled with different colored liquids all over the place. Some had long wires connecting to several small metal boxes. They covered the entire place, even the wide bench they sat on was filled to the edges.

Halrel just walked past the tubes. Not minding them at all as he came closer to what seemed like a sort of rusted iron locker.

He smacked it open with his pinky, showing three red vials of some red and blue liquid sealed within.

A proud smile blossomed on his face as he looked at the vials. Reminding himself that the hard work he did these years paid off.

"This, Michael. Is a mixture I made with the bloodline of several different creatures and wendigo blood."

"You see, wendigos are able to grow instantly. That, and go brain dead. However, lets ignore that."

He picked one up, letting the dusty light bulbs in the room illuminate the vial.

"In this there never happens anything without a reason. Every 'Effect' has an 'Action' behind it. Even fate is a sort of sentient being which influences the universe. But that's not important.."

"What is, is that I managed to crack the code for how to instantly evolve a bloodline with the help of that disgusting creature. The founding blocks which build up every cell of our body can instantly ascend. I researched this in hopes of advancing in vampire rank."

He then gently put the vial back, looking at the bare legged Michael who was scratching his left horn with one of the black/gold nails.

"Would you mind following me again? There are some notes to gather before I perfect it."

Michael only nodded at him, following him back to where the wendigos he killed were spread around in that cage.

He starred at the corpses in the cages he had made, then at Michael with some weird expression.

"Well, they aren't needed anymore anyways."

Michael felt his beastial senses fully charge up, telling him to run and never come back.

With his will, the armour and silver linings shot out togheter with his two horns.

Halrel smiled kindly at him, showing the sharp teeth grase his bottom lip as the extended out.

"Sorry, but such a rare bloodline walking into my chambers has to be put to good use. Especially a Hel'Slakter. I mean, your blood would most definitely improve my physique to the current limit."

His eyes glowed more red as he spoke, and a flying red straight sword manifested itself in front of his body.

"I senses that you are not even a full 'king' yet either, so I can only view you as a token by fate. Given to me for this atrocious endavor that has finally come to an end."

His eyes glowed brighter, like two suns warming up.

Halrel grabbed the sword floating before him, stancing himself like he was challenging Michael to a stand off.

"Now...Michael.."

He aimed the sword in his direction. The smile on his face began to lengten and expand, showing the pale gums holding onto the white sharp teeth.

"COME AT ME!"