Chapter 8 First Skill And Historic Event

[You have successfully learned: Tangible Bloodlust]

[Would you like a tutorial?]

I stared at the panel in front of me, confused as to what any of this meant… well, the tutorial I kind of understood.

It's just successfully learning… what? Tangible Bloodlust? Is that like… wait.

『Status』

[Name: Orion]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 1/10] (1/100) XP Needed

[HP: 10/10 MP: 5/5 SP: 5/5] - Normal Human

[Strength: -1] - Sub Human

[Defense: -1] - Sub Human

[Magic: 0] - Normal Human

[Speed: -1] - Sub Human

[Skills: [Tangible Bloodlust]

…

"Ah, so it is a skill," I mutter, and just as I was about to accept the tutorial, I heard a clatter from behind me.

But, I didn't look back until I hid behind a tree, gazing at the massive tower.

Slowly, the ground began to rumble as if an earthquake was approaching.

The tower swayed in the air like a flag.

And as I had a bad feeling that staying any closer to the tower would cause me to end up in more trouble, I ran farther into the forest.

[A historic event will begin]

[Ascension of the Greatest Mage in History has begun]

VWOOM

The tower was suddenly enveloped in a pillar of white light.

[You are witnessing a historic event]

[A slight buff will be applied for 24 hours]

All of a sudden, my body felt lighter than a feather, as if I was flying on the ground.

VWOOM

But before I could check out the buff applied to me, the white beam suddenly doubled in size, almost killing me in a flash.

I stumbled back, tripping on my own feet as I raised my head to get a full view of the white beam.

I was in complete awe, unable to close my dropped jaw.

"What the hell," I mutter.

All of a sudden, the white beam shrunk into a pea-size beam, but I noticed the entire magic tower had disappeared.

[Ascension Complete]

[The Goddess of Mana and Alchemy watches over the world]

I didn't know what to do from there.

Like always, I had too many questions but too few answers.

"Orion,"

Suddenly I heard a voice from behind me, frightening me... but strangely... it sounded familiar.

I slowly turn my head towards the familiar voice from behind me.

A goddess draped in beautiful blue and white robes floated before me.

I choked on my words, not from her beauty but from her familiar face.

"It's okay… It's okay… I told you I'd see you again," She mutters, pulling me towards her with a strange invisible force.

It was warm.

"I'm sad that I couldn't teach you anything, but I'm glad you escaped that prison," My mother says before drifting off into the sky.

I thought I would've cried, but for some reason, I struggled to produce any emotions.

I didn't know if it was due to shock or exhaustion, but all I could mutter was,

"Goodbye…"

…

It was currently the next day, and I wasn't doing so well.

My body was sore all over, and my mind was a bit numb from the number of events I had gone through yesterday.

First, my mother died.

Second, I escaped the tower.

Third, my mother ascended into what I presumed to be a goddess.

"*sigh*... Let's just do this… Yes," I agree to the tutorial, and like before, I was punched out of my own body into an ethereal form.

I floated in the air as I watched my body stand up on its own.

.

[Tutorial has begun]

.

[First step: Activate the skill]

.

My body muttered something, causing panels to appear next to it.

Then my body raised its hand slowly, causing a red substance to appear around my entire body as if it was a suit of armor.

But, the raised hand moved through the thick, red substance as it if it was just water.

.

[Second Step: Imagine the form you want your aura to take]

.

My body closed its eyes before the substance expanded to the very top of the tree line.

And then, my body waved the raised hand down, causing the substance to turn into a wave that bashed against the trees.

But my expectations weren't exceeded nor disappointed as the tree had a small dent in it, but it was in an ethereal form, so I knew the actual tree wasn't damaged.

[Tutorial Complete]

[Would you like to review the Tutorial once again?]

"No," I muttered, causing me to be sucked back into my body.

The feeling was nauseating as always, causing me to throw up onto the grass, emptying my stomach, which held absolutely nothing besides the red potion from before and my stomach acid.

The acid burned my throat as it came up, but my body couldn't stop hurling until I felt completely drained.

[Tutorial has ended]

[An insatiable hunger eats through your mind]

[An insatiable thirst shrivels your throat]

[Your health begins to deteriotate]

"So hungry… and thirsty," I muttered, but nothing was in sight.

The magic tower had completely disappeared, and I couldn't see any animals from where I was.

"Uh, why do I feel… So exhausted?" I mutter once again before checking my status, desperate to figure something out.

And upon opening it, something immediately caught my attention.

[HP: 9/10 MP: 0/5 SP: 0/5] - Normal Human

Whatever SP and MP were, they had completely run dry.

But, I didn't feel like this before, so I connected it to the tutorial, which used my newly acquired skill.

And though it seemed stupid, I activated the skill again, even after pretty much figuring out what had happened.

[Unable to activate Tangible Bloodlust]

[Insufficient Mana]

[Insufficient Stamina]

"Ah… Nice. Very nice,"

I finally figured out what the MP and SP stood before.

Immediately, I assumed MP was mana as it had an "M" in it, and SP is stamina because it has an "S" in it.

But even though I answered some of the questions in my pile, I couldn't ignore the fact that I felt like I was dying.

"I need to eat something,"

And so I glanced around, my eyes landing on the corpse of Leo and the large man.

I swallowed a large drop of saliva before I crawled my way over to their bodies.

My pupils seemingly vibrated as a drop of sweat ran down my cheek.

I reached my hand towards the large man's coat and ripped it off with all of the might I could muster.

Thankfully it was already pretty much torn to shreds, so I actually had a chance with my feeble strength.

And so I slowly opened my mouth as I got on my knees.

Chomp

I bit down, ripping the skin away due to my pitiful strength.

I bit down again, this time reaching the flesh, juices flowing down the side of my mouth.

I bit down again and again until I reached a hard center that I couldn't gnaw my way through.

"*sigh*... That was refreshing," I mutter, throwing the apple core to the side.

After wiping the fresh apple juice from my mouth, I searched the other pocket but found absolutely nothing to my disappointment.

"Dammit… I'm still hungry," I mutter.

But now, I could move slightly.

The apple's flesh helped sate part of my hunger, and the juices helped moisten my parched throat.

"Okay, let's get moving… I'll find something on my way to the ci-"

But before I could finish talking, a loud beating sound came from above me.