Chapter 62: "I Didn’t Go to Play with That Strange Man in the Woods, I Went to Kill Him!"

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: "I Didn’t Go to Play with That Strange Man in the Woods, I Went to Kill Him!"

Lucien stood there, breathing evenly.

’Well, that went down faster than expected.’

He checked mentally. ’Let’s see, it should be less than twenty seconds. Meeting the guy in the forest to killing him in under twenty seconds.’

’Vane took considerably longer than that.’

The realization settled, making him laugh. "I’m getting stronger way too fast. Even by this world’s standards, that’s not normal."

"Or maybe not, there must be other people just as talented and aorund my age out there, like Aurelia, she was SS rank before, and there are other races too, dragons, Elves, Mythical beasts, etc." He said thinking about it a little more.

He recalled the blood threads, watching them dissolve back into mist and return to his storage.

[Ding!]

[Blood Recovered.]

[Blood: 350 / 500 → 470 / 999]

"Seems like I lost some blood , not much but I still gotta refill it. Even the amount I can store increased after reaching Peak C Rank."

Next he he pulled up his status, curious as he was way stronger than he expected even accounting for Crucible Overdrive, he literally destroyed the assassin.

[ Strength: 515 → 608

Agility: 550 → 567

Constitution: 525 → 592

Intelligence: 520 → 521

Vitality: 600 → 617

Mana: 555 / 555 → 467 / 556

Blood: 470 / 999 ]

He stared.

’These aren’t C-Rank numbers anymore, I’m sure of that.’

He tried calculating where that actually placed him, comparing rough averages for each rank tier based on his stat improvements and when he was E Rank with no talent and a low bloodline, and gave up somewhere around the third attempt.

’Whatever, somewhere around Mid-B, probably. Maybe higher with Overdrive stacked on top.’

He glanced at his own hands.

’Orc Strength. Enhanced Musculature. Thick Hide. Predator’s Reflex. None of them individually overwhelming. But when stacked together,’

’They’re turning me into something genuinely ridiculous.’

’And that’s from D, C, and A-Rank blood. What happens when I start fatming traits from actual A-Rank monsters in a dungeon? What happens if I ever get my hands on something S-Rank or higher?’

He allowed himself a slow, slightly unsettled grin.

’Guess I’ll find out tomorrow.’

---

He turned, and his eyes caught Vane’s withered, bloodless corpse still lying undisturbed a short distance away, exactly where he’d left it.

’Right. Forgot he was still in here, maybe I should give him a proper burial outside, doesn’t exactly feel right to just leave his dead body here?’ He thought before looking between the two bodies.

"...Two assassins," he murmured. "Neither one had any idea how bad their day was about to get, one even delusional enough to start day dreaming mid battle."

He crouched beside the fresh corpse and reached for the edge of the cloak.

"Let’s see who you are and who sent you this time."

Lucien crouched over the body and pulled the cloak free.

The hood came with it, exposing the severed head still with the hood on, lying a few feet away.

Four arms, ash-gray skin, short black hair, damp with sweat from a fight that had lasted all of ten seconds and eyes still wide open in surprise. Lean almost thin rather than bulky nothing like the tank-built Asura warriors he’d pictured.

"Asura," Lucien murmured.

’Confirms what Appraisal showed,but that doesn’t automatically mean he or from Aurelia’s family.’

’Vane worked for Silas, this guy could be completely unrelated to maybe even someone’s deliberately dressing this up to look like House Astrax.’

’Don’t jump to conclusions, I’ll bring the head home and let Aurelia look at it, maybe she might know.’

He stored the head separately to the side, careful to keep it distinct from everything else.

He turned back to the body.

’One more thing before I close this out.’

He drew on Blood Manipulation, and the remaining blood rose from the corpse in thin crimson ribbons, gathering into his palm, compressing smaller and smaller until it formed another candy-sized sphere as the body was mummified much like Vane’s.

He popped it in his mouth.

His face immediately twisted. "...Sour."

’Why does everyone’s blood keep getting worse. Seraphina tasted Divine in both ways, the wolves tasted fine, Vane tasted like regret and this guy tastes like biting a battery.’

[Ding!]

[Blood Trait Activated.]

[Blood Detected.]

[Race: Demon (Asura)]

[Bloodline Detected: Peeper’s Prowl (Rare)]

[Bloodline Description: A rare Asura bloodline oriented entirely around reconnaissance, pursuit, and stealth.]

[Trait Extraction Beginning...]

[Ding!]

[Trait Extraction Successful.]

[Traits Extracted:

[Peeper’s Gaze (Rare, Lv.3)]

[Description: Grants exceptional long-distance vision, tracking fine movement at ranges beyond normal eyesight. Develops toward genuine telescopic clarity at higher levels.]

[Sneaky Little Legs (Uncommon, Lv.2)]

[Description: Significantly strengthens tendons and supporting leg musculature. Improves acceleration, jump height, sudden directional changes, and balance.]

[Iron Peeper Bones (Rare, Lv.4)]

[Permanently increases bone density and structural strength while preserving flexibility. Fractures become significantly harder to sustain.]

Lucien read through them, snorting despite himself.

’Sneaky Little Legs. Iron Peeper Bones. What kind of bloodline names itself after peeping.’

’...So I ate an Asura and got stronger bones and other weird sounding traits out of it. I’m starting to understand why my talent seems to genuinely enjoy monsters, they give normal traits most of the time atleast.’

He looked at the remaining blood still hovering, considered it, and stored it away untouched.

"Nope, I’m done drinking blood for tonight. Absolutely done."

---

He searched the body next, finding a modest spatial pouch. Inside were a few thousand gold, several hundred B-Rank mana crystals, healing and mana potions, antidotes, throwing knives, spare clothing, a communication crystal, a handful of unidentified pills, a small black badge, and a worn leather notebook.

’Not exactly Vane’s ninety thousand stash,’ he thought, unimpressed by the gold, ’but the crystals are decent, and I can invest these into the girls.’

He flipped through the notebook, shorthand, names, locations, scattered observations, nothing immediately readable in the dark.

’Tomorrow’s problem.’

He activated the Netherbound Deathscape, and the forest dissolved around him.

---

He reappeared exactly where he’d vanished, real moonlight settling over real trees with the estate glowing faintly in the distance.

’Later than I planned, Girls are probably still asleep.’

He crossed the barrier quietly and slipped through the front door, careful with every footstep as he headed up.

He made it two steps into the hallway.

"You’re late."

He froze.

Aurelia stood outside the master bedroom, arms crossed, expression carved from stone.

"...Hello to you too, dear," he said weakly.

She crossed the distance in a few strides, eyes sweeping over him, blood (not his), sweaty clothes and the exhaustion he clearly hadn’t managed to hide.

"What happened?"

He told her everything, Borin’s feeling of being watched, then him deciding to check the forest, to the peeper, then the Deathscape and finally the almost insta-kill.

"You went alone," she said, once he’d finished.

"Didn’t want to leave an unknown threat near you three, when I’m not around."

"You could have died."

"I didn’t."

"That isn’t the point," she said, and something in her tone made it clear this wasn’t a fight he’d win by pointing out the outcome.

’She’s not angry I fought, seems like she’s angry I didn’t tell anyone first.’

"Got it," he said. "Next time I’ll leave a note."

"You’ll wake me up."

"...Also noted."

"You better note it, husband or else you’ll sleep on the couch." He said jokingly while looking threatening early making him laugh.

---

"I kept the head," he said after some time joking around. "Thought you might recognize him."

Aurelia’s expression sharpened. "An Asura?"

"Yes."

Something colder settled over her face. "We’ll examine it tomorrow, for now let’s rest."

"There’s something else," Lucien said. "His bloodline, it’s called Peeper’s Prowl, you know anything about it?"

Aurelia blinked. Then, slowly, her mouth twitched.

"...What?"

"That’s what it’s called. Peeper’s Prowl." He shrugged. "Gave me some traits called Sneaky Little Legs and Iron Peeper Bones. I don’t make the names, I just receive them from the absorbed blood."

Aurelia actually laughed, a real and surprised sound.

"You’ve heard of it?"

"Everyone in my family has heard of it," she said, composing herself. "It’s rare, embarrassingly so. Nobody quite knows when it first appeared in the asttax bloodline pool, but it’s been passed down for generations regardless." She shook her head.

"Traditional Asura bloodlines burn with battle instinct, strength, ferocity, war, etc. This one strips all of that away entirely. No dense muscle, no iron skin, almost completely useless in a straight fight."

"So what’s it good for?"

"Running, watching and at not being seen." A faint smile. "It’s an excellent scouting bloodline but a terrible combat bloodline."

"...That tracks what I got," Lucien said, thinking of how fast the guy had died. "So why’s it called Peeper’s Prowl specifically?"

Aurelia’s smile widened. "Family legend says the first Asura to awaken it was a complete pervert. Spent his entire life perfecting the art of sneaking around and watching people without being noticed." She shrugged. "The rest of the ability names apparently followed his personal interests, and from what I heard, he had quite the interests, seeing the names he gave them."

Lucien stared at her. "So I extracted my new leg strength from a bloodline literally founded on being a creepy pervert."

"Essentially."

"... What’s with me and getting all these weird traits recently?" He sighed.

She laughed again, softer this time, before her expression sobered.

"If he genuinely had that bloodline," she said, "it’s unlikely to be coincidence. That trait doesn’t spread outside my clan easily. Someone from House Astrax or a branch of it, likely sent him and on someone’s orders."

"Your haters?" Lucien asked.

"Probably, those bastards," Aurelia said, jaw tight. "We’ll know more once I see the head and if I know it."

---

She studied him again, exhaustion clearly winning the battle against his usual composure.

"You need sleep," she said. "You have a dungeon to run in a few hours."

"I’m fine."

"You’re swaying."

"...Only slightly."

She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the master bedroom.

"So why were you waiting here wife, missing me?" he asked teasingly.

She looked away slightly before turning to face him confidently. "Maybe also the room was finished today."

A pause.

"And you were very excited about it."

Lucien’s mouth curved knowingly. "So you came to test drive the new bed with me?"

"I was considering it," she said, a faint smirk forming. "Then I discovered my husband decided to spend the night playing swords with some strange man in the forest, instead of with me."

"Technically true," he said, "but please don’t phrase it like that. I went to kill him, not play swords with him."

She laughed properly this time, before getting on the massive bed and hugging he chest teasingly to him.

"But first you need a shower if you want a taste, you reek." she said laughing, some more.

"Make it fast, before I go to sleep, then no tasting for you husband."