Chapter 24 24: Bloodline Cultivation

-You have reached level 8 - There are four attribute points; please use them well!

"Hey, strange system lady, from now until I leave, this night ends. Increase strength by 2 points, endurance by 1 and willpower by 1!"

-I don't have that...

"Just do it!" Faust whispered in a deep voice.

Although Maria managed to get her revenge, still feasting on their corpses, Faust heard a familiar groan, the one that caused him to become this way, a benefactor or sort.

'But also the reason I am so far from Sarah now!'

Thus, his anger dominated any thanks from transforming him into this strange ghoul.

The girls began to sift through the belongings; Faust decided to split everything fairy and didn't care for these items; once they started building up their forces.

These items might be useful, but Faust couldn't be bothered with all that rubbish right now.

In secret, Samantha began to manage all the items and skills dropped, only allowing Mildred to take things she would use, like a portion of the Apocalypse coins and some extra clothes.

"Follow me", Faust said with a low voice, holding Eien at his waist with his left hand grasping the sheath.

Ghouls could see easily in the dark; it was convenient as he approached the large building looking at the billowing flames; there was no sense of urgency, and neither did the mass of zombies cause Faust to falter; he walked forwards.

He focused on that single mutant in the back, the same one from the other day.

Crack, his feet stepped on a piece of glass that seemed to have flown over here; looking down, he saw a humanoid lump filled with blood, breathing slightly.

"Samantha, Maria"

"Mmmm?"

"Nnn?"

"Enter the building and slaughter the zombies; save those girls on the second floor; only a few remain; kill any infected. I cannot save those who are that far gone."

Due to the time passed and the level of these zombies being average, over level 3, none of the girls bitten would last much longer.

The cafeteria was completely different from half an hour ago, filled with dark smoggy smoke, blazing flames almost covering the first floor, and zombies piling around from all directions from the loud noise of broken glass and destroyed buildings.

Faust watched as the staircase collapsed, slowly being used as ammunition for the massive zombie to toss at the distant buildings where bystanders and cowards hid.

Mildred, take care of Laura, cover those two girls and don't let my cute ghouls get hurt.

"Ah?"

She was stunned, thinking she would be joining him on the assault as she watched him carrying the huge nodachi, slightly pulled from his sheath, a graceful yet violent pace and stance.

"If you do well, I'll let you taste heaven."

The moment his charming voice sounded in her ears, she was shocked as his body suddenly changed completely; there was no sense of useless movements as he walked forwards; any zombies that lunged towards him were torn apart by his right hand.

A simple swipe of his claws was now strong enough to crush a low-level's face like soft fruit.

Faust stepped forward as the zombies dropped to the ground around him, white and red lights swirling around his body; like an evil fairy, he stepped forward, looking at the gigantic zombie.

Maria was fast and wild, using anything to balance her body as she darted around the destroyed cafeteria, ripping, tearing and devouring any zombies she clashed with; in a mere few moments, more than 10 now filled her stomach.

The orange flames shone upon her face, showing her beautiful faint smile and flushed cheeks as she enjoyed hunting the corpses.

Samantha tried to copy her at first, using her spear as a pole vault to get onto the second floor, sweeping the silver blade across several zombies, and slicing off their heads before piercing the throat of three girls as instructed.

'I thought this would be harder for me...' She thought before ignoring the terrified looks of the four surviving girls and taking on a protective formation, watching Faust from the corner of her eyes; he now stood a few steps from the huge zombie that yanked a massive stone pilled from the cafeteria and holding it high above him.

'Ah, master....!'

Arrows began to shoot from a distance as the bloody body of Laura was placed beside Mildred in the recovery position.

However, it looked grim for her as blood was seeping through a wound caused by a thick piece of glass lodged in her throat.

'Faust, this teacher of yours is going to die; why didn't you do your thing to her? Are you going to abandon her?'

"I feel quite lucky, despite slacking since the day I died... It seems you have, too, right?"

"Grrrk...?"

The huge zombie would normally attack straight away, but Faust was no longer human, same with Maria, which allowed him to get closer, now standing under the zombie's nose, watching as he grasped the stone pillar and yanked it.

'Is it because regular zombies cannot improve you anymore that you don't devour them?' Faust wondered before a familiar voice sounded in his head.

That bitch of a goddess.

-Correct! I am surprised you are still alive; the panel stated you died three days ago... Strange... Why can I no longer affect the women around you apart from the elf? How exciting! Keep struggling, pathetic insect, to entertain me!

As she spoke, the world slowed to a mere fraction of the speed before, yet Faust could think normally and still move at a decent pace before her voice continued.

-Once a monster, or zombie, reaches the second stage, only special first-stage creatures and second-stage monsters can help them evolve; unlike humans, other races and creatures do not have this easy-to-use level system.

"What about that elf over there or me?"

-Half-elf, thus, she is part human, and you're a freak, most likely because you started as human, then you will get both ways to improve; truly annoying! But so interesting!!

"How can I evolve?"

-Fufu~ silly cockroach, wait until level 10, and you will know everything! Seek the safe zone and ask the innkeeper!

Each moment she spoke, the time grew closer to normal speed as the huge stone pillar slammed down towards him, slowly accelerating.

Faust closed his eyes, spreading his legs and tracing his memories back to the past, watching Sarah and her father training; he held the nodachi slightly away from his hip, twisting it to the side before grasping the handle.

'Sarah...' Alex, the human part of him, grew stronger but no longer the same; he and Faust began to mix from earlier today, eventually fully merging to create something neither monster nor human.

Woosh! The wind began to sound as the club was a metre from his head.

Clink! Pushing the guard of Eien with his thumb, his entire body's muscles contracted for an instant before they exploded out.

A flash of silver.

That was followed by the sound of his blade slicing through the rock from his swift draw, using pure power to force the blade to rotate over his head, following up with a downward slash in a few moments.

Splatter! Black, coagulated blood dropped onto the wooden floor, followed by a loud thud; he managed to sever the arm of the powerful zombie as its body staggered back, groaning with a scream that attracted the other zombies to come flooding towards Faust.

"Hah... Fuck, Sarah's technique is tiring with someone who lacks finesse!"

Faust stepped forward, not letting the huge zombie recover too fast. He swung his nodachi with extremely rough movements, violent attacks with no grace of finesse as the zombies that lunged towards him were torn apart as they fell into a chainsaw.

'This feels so good!'

The huge amount of white light that filled his body almost caused his cock to explode; that's how amazing it felt, every swing restoring his willpower and stamina like taking drugs, causing him to become excited and filled with bloodlust as he dashed forward.

Bang! The mutant zombie's right arm smashed into his abdomen, several cracks sounding as Faust coughed up black blood, spitting it onto the ground, before throwing a headbutt into the zombie's chin, causing it to stumbled backwards; his sword sliced across its muscular bulking chest.

'Fuck! My ribs are burning, but my heart is on fire!'

He cut a portion of its flesh before he tried to rush forward and continued the assault, stopped as he coughed another clump of blood; it was now oozing from his nose.

"Hah..."

Mildred stood in the distance, her chest floundering as if falling off a cliff; she watched as Faust began to fight in a brutal melee with the huge zombie, almost a full head above him, smashing into each other, fist meeting claw, sword meeting brutal might.

'Why must he fight so recklessly? Why does he look so happy!?'

"Most of all... Why am I so worried!" Her thoughts transferred to a whisper as she realised a flurry of arrows from her bleeding hands, the magical arrows killing several zombies that tried to attack him from behind.

None of the women understood the significance of this zombie to Faust; not even Sarah would know.

To him, this zombie symbolises his death, a moment of weakness and why he was so far behind, and she had already left, now in a different city and out of his reach.

"Hah... fuck, why won't this fucker die!?"

Faust leaned against a bunch of destroyed tables, his body filled with deep bruises, his left arm seemingly broken, yet his face was filled with delight and the desire for combat.

-You have reached level 9 - Your attributes have been distributed as wished!

Maria's body was like a dancer, swaying and lunging around the room with a gruesome dance of death, killing most of the zombies so far; thanks to the support of Mildred, her body became stronger as she closed in on level 8.

'M.....master?' She noticed the delight, pain, guilt and countless frustrations of her master.

The moment she felt his damage and state through her connection, she became more wild and fierce with brightly glowing eyes, ripping out their spines and snapping their jaws before tearing apart their flesh.

She did this to protect his back, stopping the zombies from reaching him while he enjoyed this fight. Mildred supported her as the three women seemed to synchronise during Faust's extreme moment; Samantha stepped forward, although the girls behind her could have been killed.

Samantha nor Maria cared!

'Faust comes first!'

Nothing would get past them and attack him!

A burst of pleasure filled his body, levelling up and starting to repair his body as he sheathed Eien, wanting to finish this zombie with his brute force; taking his usual stance when fighting against Sarah, he pictured the zombie as her.

'There was never a moment I surpassed her; no matter how many hours or days I practised double the regime, now it will be different!'

Crack! His left arm's break began to fuse; the bruise started to fade as he narrowed his eyes, now glowing a deep red as the swirl of white light, the strange mist of his level increased, and his adrenaline began to spike.

Woosh!

Faust leaned to the side, watching the zombie's every move, before countering with a swift jab to its body, the muffled sound of a bone breaking; finally, his strength was greater than the zombie's defence.

'You big bastard, at least move with a fraction of her grace and speed!'

The tide of the battle changed completely as Faust began to ravage the zombie, tearing at his flesh and crushing his bones.

He didn't try to end it quickly, holding back his damage and throwing countless blows into the body and limbs of the zombie that began to slow down, causing Faust to discover that more evolved zombies seemed to feel pain.

With a sweep of the giant's legs, Faust mounted the zombie smashing down with his hammering fists and lethal elbows, crushing the zombie's face, cracking his jaw and causing his nose to crunch flat as the zombie's head popped from the ruthless blows; grey matter oozing from its nose and ears.

Maria's hands were filled with flesh and blood as she landed with a silent drop a few steps behind him, her eyes watching as Faust devoured the huge zombie's head with his crazed look.

You have reached level 10 - Your attributes have been distributed as wished!

-Bloodline Cultivation unlocked.

Devoured Stage 2 Mutated Zombie - Gained 100 Bloodline points

Devoured Stage 2 Mutated Zombie - Gained 100 Bloodline points

After receiving 400 points, they stopped coming as Faust leaned back, still kneeling on the huge zombie's chest, his body throbbing with intense pain and feeling of growth, but limited by something like it wasn't enough.

'....It's not enough... I feel constricted!'

"Maria...." His tired voice sounded; only so much fatigue a level up could restore as he rolled off the corpse, looking towards the frightened girls and Samathana, who gazed at him with worried eyes, watching as his red eyes returned to emerald green.

"Devour the rest of the zombie; it will be good for you."

Faust stroked their hair off Maria, slipping his hand down as if habitually stroking her soft back and firm, perky ass.

'What a fine ass....' He thought to himself, reaching further and enjoying her smooth silk flesh; despite fighting so long, she wasn't sweating.

Maria did not dislike his hand squeezing and caressing her, instead pushing her hips against, rubbing against his rough palms, before darting off and eating, consuming the stage 2 zombie with delight in her eyes.

Faust stumbled towards the exit, his body screaming for more rest, making him feel embarrassed; during the moment of passion and excitement, he ignored what the voice said, rushing his improvement by trying to advance.

He grasped Eien, signalling for Samantha to follow him, before walking towards Mildred with a slight limp.

'I need to find a safe zone; my body feels tight and like it could explode...'

********

Alex Faust

- Leser Ghoul Stage: 1 | Lord Type (400/???? Blood Essence)

- Level 10 (Immunity: Level 20)

- Occupation: N/A

- Title: N/A

- Strength: 20 [10]

- Agility: 19 [10]

- Endurance: 14 [10]

- Stamina: 20/20 [10]

- Willpower: 15/15 [10]

- Apocalypse Coins: 86

Skills: Eagle Eyes, Contraception, Novice Sword Talent

Spells: Blood Lance

Items: Novice Executioner's sword(Destroyed), Novice Gauntlets and Grieves(Broken), Novice Nodachi "Eien"

Maria's status looked like this compared to his.

Maria Lancelot -

Ghoul Rank - Lesser Vesta

********

- Maria Lancelot

- Vesta Stage: 2 | Speed Type (540/1,000 Blood Essence)

- Level 8 (Immunity: Level 16)

Master: Alex Faust

Loyalty 100

Affection 101

- Occupation: N/A

- Title: Maria The Defiled

- Strength: 12

- Agility: 24

- Endurance: 7

- Stamina: 15

- Willpower: 5