Monster Paradise - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: You are still a scrub!

“I’m able to absorb a skill?” Lin Huang was stunned by the line that appeared before him.  

“Can I leave it for a later? I want to advance its rank first.”

[Do you wish to postpone the skill absorption?]

“Let’s postpone it then.” Lin Huang nodded and turned towards his familiar.

The vampire seemed to be the same age as Lin Huang and had delicate features. If anyone were to look at him, the word “vampire” wouldn’t have crossed their minds at all. This was the scariest part about vampires. It had been 800 years since the strongholds were established but humans had yet to purge the vampires hiding in them. As long as the vampires did not expose themselves, it would be nearly impossible to find them.

“Show me your true form.” Lin Huang issued a command to the vampire.

The command took effect instantly. The vampire’s eyes turned blood red as the whites of its eyes disappeared. Veins popped out around its eyes, forming a Crow’s Feet. Its muscles began bulge out and tighten. At the end of its transformation, the vampire grew by a few cm.

A drop of sweat trickled down his face as he finally came face to face with a vampire at its full strength. He realized how lucky he was when he had met that severely weakened vampire.

Such a fearsome aura and it’s just a Third Ranked BlackIron vampire. Last night’s vampire felt so much weaker despite being a Third Ranked BlueCopper vampire. It must’ve REALLY been injured. If it had been at its full strength, it would’ve squashed me like an ant.

“Activate your Blood Arts.” Lin Huang sharply issued a second command. He wanted to see the full extent of its abilities.

A howl echoed throughout the room as the vampire’s Blood Energy seeped out from its body. A sickly scent of blood wafted through the air as the Blood Energy started engulfing its body. The additional layer of Blood Energy caused the vampire to grow in size slightly.

Lin Huang grimaced slightly. He forgot that a vampire’s Blood Arts tend to be accompanied by a token howl. Hopefully, none of my neighbors heard the howl and decided to report it…

However, his worries was swiftly tossed aside as the vampire’s Blood Wings took shape. Its Blood Energy bloomed like a flower, painting a resplendent blood red rose in the air before coalescing into a pair of wings. Beautiful. The beauty of this spectacle took his breath away.

The vampire silently stood there awaiting Lin Huang’s next order.

Time ticked by as Lin Huang took in the unforgettable scene he just witnessed. “It’s fine, you can revert to your human form!” Lin Huang finally gave another command as he recovered from the shock.

Upon receiving the command, the vampire reverted back to its meek and delicate human appearance.

His disguise would’ve fooled me if I didn’t witness his transformation firsthand.

“I’m going to use an Advancement Card on you. Hopefully you won’t disappoint me in the upcoming Reserve Hunter Exam.” The vampire stood there mutely staring at Lin Huang with an icy expression on its face, his short hair flowing in the wind. Whether the vampire truly understood Lin Huang’s previous statement ,remained a mystery.

“Blackie, I want to use my Advancement Card.”

[Advancement Cards are consumed upon their first usage. Please confirm its usage]

“Go ahead!”

A bright flash of golden light engulfed the vampire and formed a giant golden sphere around him. Lin Huang closed his eyes as the sphere’s radiance blinded him momentarily. A few minutes passed before the light subsided. Sensing that the light had dimmed, Lin Huang opened his eyes.

The vampire’s evolved form slowly revealed itself as the golden sphere slowly dissipated. His appearance remained largely the same except for his hair. It turned from black to silver. His outfit changed from a school uniform to a billowing black cloak which covered his entire body.
 

“With that head of silver hair, Kaneki would be a perfect name for you however that would infringe on the author’s copyright. I’ll call you Shirou!” Lin Huang quipped in a satisfied tone.

He walked up to Shirou and tapped Shirou’s forehead.

The vampire shattered into glass-like fragments and transformed into crystal card on Lin Huang’s palm.

Seeing, the card’s changes, Lin Huang started inspecting it.

Its white crystalline body was turned signifying its ascendance into a Rare Card. The portrait on the card front had also changed into Shirou’s current appearance.
 

On the card back, the attributes had changed as well.

[Monster Card]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Monster Species: Vampire]

[Combat Rank: BlackIron- 3 stars ( BlueCopper- 3 stars)]

[Skill 1: Blood Arts (Lv. 2)]

[Skill 2: Resurrection (Lv. 1)]

[New Skill 3: Blood Rage (Lv. 1)]

[Summoning Status: Unlocked]

[Card Rating: Still Crap!]

“As expected, the card gained a new ability after its rank increased.” His elation was short lived as he noticed Card Rating. “ Blackie, couldn’t you have given a nicer sounding appraisal?”

[Nope ! ]

The “Nope” even came with an enlarged exclamation mark…

“You know you won’t make many friends this way.”

[I don’t need friends!]

“You win...”

“Now let’s see what this Blood Rage is all about.”

[Blood Rage (Lv. 1) : The vampire immolates his blood in order to multiply his strength temporarily. This is followed by a period of frailty as the vampire loses its ability to fight.

Duration: 10 mins Frailty Duration: 1 hr.]

Not bad. However, this side effect is slightly troublesome. Lin Huang massaged his head slightly. I’ll have to use this sparingly or I’ll be left without a familiar for an hour.

A thought suddenly occurred to Lin Huang.Wait. I still have a Skill Absorption available!

“Blackie, if I used my available Skill Absorption, will the absorbed skill disappear from the Monster Card?”

[Skill Absorption is merely a way to attain the Monster Card’s skills. It doesn’t affect the card itself in any way.]

“That’s good.”

Looking at the 3 skills on the Monster Card, he mentally evaluated them. Blood Arts is pretty strong but with my current Prana strength, it’s clearly not possible to use it. Resurrection might not be of much use offensively, but it’s still better than nothing. As for Blood Rage, it’s basically useless. With my current combat strength, multiplying it won’t make much of a difference plus the frailty will only cause me to die that much faster.

After a round of evaluation, Lin Huang was mentally prepared.

“Blackie, I would like to use my Skill Absorption.”

[Commencing with skill absorption… Selecting a random skill… Skill selected… Congratulations Master, You’ve gained : Skill ---- Blood Arts (Lv. 2).]

As soon as the last word materialised, Lin Huang felt a change happening in his body. He was unable to describe the sensation but he knew he gained something. He quickly brought out his personal Master Card.

[Master: Lin Huang]

[Gender: Male]

[Age: 15]

[Combat Rank: Nil (Below the minimum threshold) ]

[Skills: Blood Arts (Lv.2)]

[Summoning Authority: Activated]

[Available Summon Count: 1]

[Rating: You are still a scrub!]

Let’s ignore that last line...Seeing that his skill row had a new entry, he confirmed that the skill absorption was successful.

Now that my familiar is prepared, it’s time to gear up myself.