Chapter 5 Training Draining Explaining
Day 4
Since the Doom Wolves were intelligent & adaptable they adjusted quickly to their new home inside a cave. We fed them some Ogre meat to fill them up and possibly increase their stats. Eating monster meat had a low probability to increase
stats, even more so if the meat is prepared by a chef specialized in monster cuisine.
Monsters would kill each other to gain experience to level up & increase stats and they would also eat the losers to gain bonus stats. Cannibalism wasn't uncommon in this world, it was literally a dog eat dog world, it was kind of a fucked up world.
Demon bunnies, the level 1 monsters in the beast forest also had the special ability called [Scavenge] where they could gain extra stats and experience from consuming enemies.
Spawn slaughters happened every time a new batch of monsters were summoned from the world's mana and were killed by the previous batch of monsters or by 'champions' or 'natives' to raise levels.
I named my new Doom Wolf Angus, he looked like a cross between a siberian husky & a wolf, he looked quite adorable for a murderous monster. Ren named his Doom Wolf Barta and she was slightly smaller than Angus.
Night 4
Tim & Tom were back so we decided to raid the Ogres again.
They were surprised by our new pets, typically Doom Wolves were only used by Monster Tamers & Druids. They were used quite often in parties with Druids as they were agile & smart & used to working in groups and at level 60 [Alpha's Roar]
could double a party's damage.
"We weren't gone that long & you replaced us with dogs." Tim said.
"What can I say? I like my fluffy little monster." I nuzzled with Angus, rubbing his fur, which was nice and soft. Angus wagged his tail & woofed in amusement.
Tom shifted the topic back to the night's hunt "What are we hunting today?"
Ren and I exchanged a look & said at the same time "Ogres."
I explained "Need to power level them. Ogres are the perfect prey for them."
Tim said "Let's bag a lot of the bastards today."
And with that, I used [Blood pact] on Tom & my Doom Wolf Angus, Angus gained 92 strength, Tom gained 83. Angus was a higher priority for receiving strength as he was a close range fighter by nature. He would have about half the strength
of an Ogre but with his partner Barta they could take down an Ogre ten levels higher than them without too much trouble. Doom Wolves excelled in quick attacks, though their low vitality & limited burst damage resulted in their nicknames
being the assassins of the wilds.
Angus's stats at level 50 were
Strength: 100 + 92 Dexterity: 200 Agility: 200 Intelligence: 100 Stamina: 100 Charisma: 50 Vitality: 100
Ren used [Blood Pact] on Barta & Tim, granting Barta 158 extra strength & Tim 142. Allowing them both to do far more damage than normal.
Barta's stats Strength: 100 + 158 Dexterity: 200 Agility: 200 Intelligence: 100 Stamina: 100 Charisma: 50 Vitality: 100
It was much easier now to drain and kill Ogres now that there was 6 of us. Barta's & Angus's teeth & claws did serious damage to the Ogre's flesh while Tim's arrows did critical damage on unlucky Ogres. Tom played mostly support, casting [Haste] to speed up attacks, [Heal] to help keep the front line attackers alive & throwing an infrequent [Wind Blade] to distract Ogres.
The downside was that using [Blood Pact] on two Blood thralls reduced the profit margin for me to 225 strength and 200 vitality. The Doom Wolves also ate up half the experience Ren and I gained from battle. It wasn't a great concern
since the stats gained from a level up (+10), paled in comparison to the stats I gained from draining Ogres (4 strength & 2 vitality per Ogre).
The Doom Wolves leveled up 4 times over the course of the night's hunt, which wasn't too surprising considering they were level 50's helping to kill level 60 Ogres and we had killed hundreds of Ogres. I was thinking that we might even try a raid against the Ogre Chieftain next time we went out, presuming the Doom Wolves gained [Alpha Roar] by then.
After we had finished killing Ogres, I collected the fruits that the Ogres ate in order to feed the 2 Ogres we had captured a couple of nights before.
Everyone had gained at least a level except for me. Tom & Tim were now level 63 as was Ren and Angus & Barta were level 54. I did gain another 400 strength and 200 vitality and 4 more captured Ogres. Ren gained 800 strength, 400 vitality
& 100 stamina.
My stats were Strength: 1148 Dexterity: 310 Agility: 310 Intelligence: 103 Stamina: 260 Charisma: 10 Vitality: 811
Ren's stats Strength: 2080 Agility: 400 Stamina: 500 Dexterity: 400 Intelligence: 300 Charisma: 100 Vitality: 1500
Day 5
Tim asked a very loaded question to Ren "So how did you turn Derek into a Dhampir?"
"Yeah isn't a dhampir a product of a vampire & a human boning ?" Tom asked.
Ren looked embarrassed "I just followed my dad's example & drained him to the brink & refilled him with my blood but after I told my dad about it, he told me I went overboard as I gave him too much blood."
"Is that why you've been sleeping so much?" I asked.
"Part of the reason. Apparently I was only supposed to use 20% of my blood to convert you & only after I had used [Blood Pact] on [Soul Contract] on you and only if I had learned [Master's Vengeance] first."
There was so much to unravel out of that so I asked the first question that sprung to mind. "How much blood did you use?"
"60% of my blood and stats, which was why you got the bonus Dhampir's Paramour."
Tom derailed my train of thought with another question. " How high were your stats before then ?"
"Strength: 375, Agility 500, Stamina 100, Dexterity 500, Intelligence 500, charisma 125 & Vitality 500."
"That's quite high." Tom said
"Shouldn't your stats have been higher?" I asked
"Stats aren't as important as you might think, experience & skill level are far more important." Ren replied.
"Doesn't really answer the question. Why were your stats so low & why did you give up so much just to make me a dhampir?"
"Well it's not like here where I can drink till I reach my limit, I only drank once a day & there's blood taxes & blood sacrifices & learning blood magic which all costs blood & stats."
It looked like I had a lot to learn about vampires still.
Tim threw another curve ball at Ren. "So can we become dhampirs?"
Ren ummed & ahhed for a bit looking between Tim & me for a bit before answering. "Probably but it'd be easier for you to become vampires though daylight would become fatal."
"Can't you just turn us like you did Derek?" Tom asked.
"Um there's reasons you might not want to become dhampirs or vampires."
"Like what?" Tim asked, his tone becoming shorter & sharper.
Even though Ren's a cutie, he does have a way of coming across as one of those characters that just withholds information solely so that it can be revealed later for a bigger dramatic impact. I always found it to be annoying.
"Um well, you're both Champions right?" Ren asked.
"Yeah" Tom & Tim both answered.
"Well you might lose your unlimited resurrections for starters."
"WHAAT???" we all shouted.
Ren dropped his head to the ground & said "I'm sorry Derek, I didn't know you were a Champion."
I had been waiting for the other shoe to drop since becoming a dhampir. It all had seemed way too easy, gaining stats & skills from drinking blood was way too much of a game breaker if there wasn't an equally powerful demerit.
"So it's hardcore mode then?" Tom asked.
"Yeah, that's cool, we'll stick with the Blood Thrall power up, that's good enough."
Ren snuck a peek at me "Are you mad?"
I thought about it for a moment, I had died several times during the game, mostly to stray monsters & the occasional fuck up. Hardcore mode wasn't my ideal style of game play but it added a level of realism & excitement to the situation.
I shrugged "Just means we have to be strong enough to survive anything that might come our way."
Ren nodded eagerly. "Yes and if we offer enough tribute to Sharn then we'll be resurrected if we die. Or if we gain blood mastery level 5, we'll be able to resurrect ourselves."
Guess we needed to amp up the training & draining.
"I'm going to teach you some swordsmanship, you rarely ever use the sword I give you."
"Yeah my instructor said I'm hopeless with a sword, which is part of the reason I rely on magic."
I worked closely with Ren, demonstrating my swordsmanship then having him mimic me until he had learned some basic sword skills.
He really sucked with a sword, his stance, his timing, his technique with the sword but with the telepathy from the Dhampir's Paramour & repeated instruction, Ren finally got the basics of beginner level swordsmanship.
[Warrior Class unlocked] Special conditions 1000 strength 1000 vitality Warrior's skill gained Warrior's apprentice
Warrior's Health – Vitality results in five times the health
I felt a bit better now that Ren's health had drastically increased. Now all that was left to do was train my magic & power level the pets some more.
I spent the rest of the day practicing different spells, I managed to level up [Fireball], [Rock Break] & [Earthen construction] to level 2.
I handed Tim & Tom my remaining strength elixirs, they'd be more use to them than they would be for me. During my time as an apothecary apprentice I had learned how to make 2 potions, a low grade strength elixir & recovery potion. I knew
the general ingredients & theory behind several other potions but hadn't invested the time or ingredients into making them enough times to be able to recreate them perfectly.
I had chosen to use my valuable sub class to learn the subset skill of alchemy because I thought it'd be useful. It wasn't as useful as I hoped as the human body could only accept one elixir a day though the alchemy storage was a useful
side bonus as was the low level identify item skill.
Night 5
Another interesting development, Tim & Barta had gained 1 extra strength point after the [Blood Pact] had worn off. Ren explained that at level 1 [Blood Pact] that every hundred points of stats transferred would allow for one stat point
to be permanently kept. Seemed like an extravagant waste of stats from my point of view but Ren insisted it was more important to raise our blood mastery. I wasn't convinced but he had the most experience with vampire skills so I let
him dictate the strategy.
We raided the Doom Wolves together with Tim & Tom. Ren & I used [Blood Pact] on each of our Doom Wolves boosting their combat ability significantly. Angus gained 115 strength, Barta gained 208.
Ren's skill with using [Stone Wall] improved enough that he could do more than simply block their progress temporarily. He developed enough to use [Stone Prison] where 4 [Stone Walls] would raise around a target. This allowed the rest of us to focus on the other Doom Wolves.
Doom Wolves typically came in several different formations, loner (self explanatory), mated pair (like Angus & Barta), family unit (mated pair + litter of cubs), hunting pack (6 to 7 Doom Wolves) & Alpha pack (6 Doom Wolves led by an Alpha). Luckily we didn't run into an Alpha Pack or things would get complicated.
Based on the difference of strength, Barta became the lead attacker, rushing towards any Doom Wolf in the way while Angus became more cautious & cunning, dealing finishing blows to weakened Doom Wolves.
Ren and I drained 100 Doom Wolves each and I gained 100 strength, 200 Agility, 100 stamina, 200 Dexterity, 100 Intelligence & 100 vitality. Angus & Barta both gained a level, bringing them up to level 55.
After the night's hunt I had a net loss of 15 strength from [Blood Pact] bringing my stats to
Strength: 1133 Dexterity: 510 Agility: 510 Intelligence: 203 Stamina: 360 Charisma: 10 Vitality: 911
Ren gained 200 strength, 400 agility, 200 stamina, 400 dexterity, 200 intelligence, 100 charisma, 200 vitality.
Ren's stats Strength: 2072 Dexterity: 800 Agility: 800 Intelligence: 500 Stamina: 700 Charisma: 200 Vitality: 1700
Day 6 12 hours was lost to the mandatory log out time.
Night 6
Hunted level 70 trolls with average stats of
Strength: 300 Dexterity: 30 Agility: 50 Intelligence: 40 Stamina: 100 Charisma: 20 Vitality: 600
Level 70 Trolls were typically a pain to hunt as their high health & health regeneration made them difficult to put down unless you had really high damage.
Typically parties took them down with a combination of poison attacks and strike and retreat tactics (or in the case of Mages, bombardment of spells).
To allow Tim, Tom, Angus & Barta to stay alive, Ren & I used [Blood Pact] on the rest of the party to boost their stats. 113 of my strength went to Angus, 102 strength went to Barta.
My Strength dropped down to 898 so that the third [Blood Pact] ate away at my vitality instead. 91 vitality went to Tom dropping my Vitality down to 820.
The fourth [Blood pact] took 90 strength and went to Tim. Dropping my strength to 808.
My stats became
Strength: 808 Dexterity: 510 Agility: 510 Intelligence: 203 Stamina: 360 Charisma: 10 Vitality: 820
Ren used [Blood pact] on Barta, Angus, Tim & Tom. Barta gained 207 strength & Angus gained 186.
Tim gained 170 vitality. Ren's vitality dropped to 1530
Tom gained 168 strength, Ren's strength dropped to 1511
Ren's stats Strength: 1511 Dexterity: 800 Agility: 800 Intelligence: 500 Stamina: 700 Charisma: 200 Vitality: 1530
Ren held a Troll while I drained it of blood.
[Rapid Regeneration has been gained].
[Rapid Regeneration level 1: Regain 10% of health every minute.]
With [Blockade] & [Rapid Regeneration], I felt like I was on top of the world.
Ren explained that Trolls was one of the most valuable monsters to drain due to their impressive vitality & regenerative properties.
Ren told me that if I allowed the Troll to recover for ten minutes, I'd get something valuable.
So I waited ten minutes & drained it again. This time when I drained it, it's blood tasted bland like stale soft drink.
[Regeneration has been gained] [Regeneration level 1: Regain 1% of health every minute]
Ren & I drained and killed a hundred Wild Trolls each. They provided 6 vitality, 3 strength and 1 stamina each. After a night hunting Trolls, I had gained 600 vitality, 300 strength and 100 stamina.
Level 71 Warrior, swordsman, apothecary apprentice
Strength: 1108 Dexterity: 510 Agility: 510 Intelligence: 203 Stamina: 460 Charisma: 10 Vitality: 1420
Vitality now outshone my strength stat.
Ren gained 1200 Vitality, 600 Strength, 200 stamina & 100 Agility
Ren's Stats were Strength: 2111 Dexterity: 800 Agility: 800 Intelligence: 500 Stamina: 900 Charisma: 200 Vitality: 2730
Angus & Barta both reached level 61 after the night's hunt. Level 70 Trolls were great experience for them, as the Trolls low agility & dexterity made them slow to counterattack. However if they did manage to load a blow with their Troll
clubs, the Doom Wolves would need to retreat as the Doom Wolves had low vitality comparatively. A couple of hits & they'd die.
Angus & Barta both had [Alpha's Roar] now & due to them being the same level as boss monsters, they evolved which doubled their stats.
Angus's stats Strength: 240 + 186 Dexterity: 440 Agility: 440 Intelligence: 200 Stamina: 240 Charisma: 100 Vitality: 240
Barta's stats Strength: 243 + 207 Dexterity: 440 Agility: 440 Intelligence: 200 Stamina: 240 Charisma: 100 Vitality: 240
Tim & Tom both gained a few levels from hunting prey above their levels. They were both level 65.
We dragged a couple of Trolls home with us.
Ren told me that we should practice our draining skills on our captive Trolls of their blood every chance we got in order to increase our levels of [Bleed] and [Concentrate]. He explained that the Troll blood was a useful commodity for
vampires to recover health & gain a minor boost to health regeneration for a month as well. Trolls were the favored prey of vampires & could be sold to blood farmers, Arena staff or to the city of Ratede to be used to stock the blood bank.
It sounded cruel and unusual but considering how adventurers killed monsters & skinned & pulped them to make weapons & armors, I didn't have a moral high ground.
Ren used earthen construction to create stone jars to pour the Troll blood into.
After draining the Trolls a few times, Ren said "Now it's time for us to drain our Blood thralls".
Tim's, Tom's, Angus's & Barta's blood ended up in their own jars, labeled with their names & levels, along with jars of the Troll blood & were stashed in my spatial storage to keep fresh as time didn't pass inside the dimensional storage.
Night 7
Tom & Tim had a family thing to attend to so they were unavailable & Ren had some kind of super secret thing to attend to deeper in the cave so I was left without human/dhampir companionship on the night's hunt.
I used [Blood Pact] on Angus & Barta, I lost 142 then 128 vitality in the process and [Blood Pact] rose to level 2.
[Blood Pact Level 2: 9% of stats transferred through blood, lasts for 2 days, increased chance of residual stat transference. ]
I hunted Ogres with the two Doom Wolves, it was a lot more efficient than normal as the Doom Wolf pair had boss level stats along with [Alpha's Roar] which they used frequently to boost the party's damage.
[Alpha's Roar] doubled attack damage for 30 seconds & along with [Gigantism] could provide a short term killer move to counteract the Doom Wolf's normal low attack power. The cool down for both skills were 5 minutes.
After draining the requisite hundred Ogres, I gained 400 strength & 200 vitality.
Strength: 1508 Dexterity: 510 Agility: 510 Intelligence: 203 Stamina: 360 Charisma: 10 Vitality: 1350
*************************************************************** Author's Note
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