Ancient Blood (2/3)

"So, was that truly Eliza's real face?"

Herbert opened his eyes, touched his neck, and silently breathed a sigh of relief upon confirming that his good head was still firmly attached to his shoulders.

Phew... Thankfully, the big head is still here.

To be honest, that was truly a lifelike viewing experience!

When Prince Fatter was decapitated by Eliza, Herbert genuinely felt as though his own head had rolled off right along with hers.

It rolled around on the ground a few times, making a *gurgling* sound, and he had almost passed out.

Good grief.

What kind of Louis XVI trial ticket was this?

After muttering a complaint about the overly realistic sensory experience, Herbert squinted his eyes and recalled the "Eliza" he had witnessed within that memory.

To be honest, Herbert had some doubts. Was she truly the vampire he was familiar with?

"Well, it's not that I'm being prejudiced, but I really find it hard to connect her with that bottom-feeder vampire."

What was Eliza like in Prince Fatter's memory?

Mad, arrogant, icy, cruel... She fulfilled all of Herbert's fantasies of vampires being both evil and formidable.

And what was the Eliza that Herbert knew like?

Sneaky, radiating a heavy aura of guilt, prone to shattering under pressure, whimpering and barking wildly... Well, she fulfilled Herbert's fantasies of a bottom-feeder vampire.

If not for the prompt, who on earth could ever connect these two entities!

However, thanks to the industry's early foresight, all kinds of vampires already had precedents.

Things like the ultra-pauper vampire, the vampire who freezes time for five seconds and aggressively carries people down the stairs, the vampire who drinks his own nosebleeds, the vampire holding dual pistols and laughing with a sinister, cackling tone...

Therefore, no matter how disgraceful Eliza was, Herbert wouldn't find it strange or surprising.

But then again, if the Eliza in that memory was truly herself, just what on earth had she experienced to become what she was today?

Child, what on earth have you encountered?

He shook his head and sighed helplessly, "So, what on earth turned her into such a ghostly mess?"

Was it Tokiomi's fault?

["Yo, you're awake?"]

Herbert, lost in thought and zoning out, didn't even think when he heard this voice and answered purely out of reflex, "Uh, the surgery was a success? Did I turn into a girl?"

["Um... Huh? Do you want to?"]

Nenasha was momentarily stunned upon hearing this and said with some uncertainty,

["Uh, while I wouldn't recommend you do that, if you're dead set on it, I suppose I could help you out..."]

"Never mind, pretend I didn't say anything, I was just half-asleep and out of it."

Herbert's face remained completely unblushed and his heart rate steady, replying in a flat tone in an attempt to gloss over the topic entirely, shifting to ask instead:

"What abilities did I acquire?"

["Hmph... Fine, let's just go with that."]

Nenasha let out a meaningful hum, and unexpectedly dropped the matter without probing further, answering him as if nothing had happened at all:

["Your luck remains quite good this time~ That little bat gave you nothing less than the ancient blood of vampires."]

["Though somewhat diluted, it is undeniably the primordial essence of the vampire progenitor, capable of distilling some rather decent abilities."]

The Blood of the Progenitor?

Just hearing it sounded pretty good.

Herbert felt a stir of excitement, rubbed his hands together, and asked eagerly, "What kind of things? Serve them up quickly!"

["Hehehe..."]

At that moment, Nenasha suddenly let out a bizarre laugh and spoke in a lingering, ethereal tone: ["Explaining is rather inconvenient, I'll let you experience it firsthand~"]

Herbert: ?

Wait, what was she planning to do?

"Hold—Nmph!?"

Thud-thud!

Just as Herbert was about to speak, he suddenly felt his heart beat violently.

He felt the blood within his body flowing at a blistering speed in that very instant, and his entire body temperature soared abruptly!

"Th-This is?"

Herbert swayed slightly, instinctively taking a step forward, only to find himself springing right off the spot, nearly crashing straight into the ceiling of the private compartment.

Hn!!?

Startled, Herbert raised a hand to block just before impact and quickly dropped back down to the floor.

Instead of crashing heavily onto the ground, he swiftly executed a movement to absorb the momentum, producing only a faint, minimal sound.

*Tap.*

Within just a few breaths, he had rapidly readjusted his overall state, adapting to the discomfort brought about by the explosive surge in physical attributes.

Herbert raised both hands, discovering that his skin had turned slightly reddish, looking almost as if it had been scalded by heat.

Beyond that, he could clearly hear the sound of his heartbeat echoing within the room from inside his chest—*thud-thud-thud-thud!*

His heart was beating with fierce and potent vigor!

Nenasha's voice chimed in right on cue, light and breezy: ["Can you feel it? This is the first ability you've acquired, Boiling Blood."]

["This is a rather rare ability among vampires. By raising blood temperature and increasing blood flow velocity, it ultimately stimulates physical capabilities, boosting them by at least twofold."]

For vampires, their hearts had long since stopped beating, making this ability utterly incomprehensible to many of their kind.

["The duration depends on your bodily limits; the higher your physical fortitude, the longer you can sustain it... You can probably hold out for about three minutes right now?"]

["Don't feel insecure, three minutes is actually a long time~"]

Yet, facing Nenasha's malicious interpretation, Herbert did not see it that way at all.

He shook his head and said in a deep voice:

"No, this ability shouldn't be called Boiling Blood."

["Hmm?"]

"This is—Gear Second!"

That's right!

Accelerating blood flow, reinforcing physical strength... It all lined up!

So I'm going to become the man who becomes the King of Pirates!

Well, I'm already a man.

The next step is to find a curvy, busty Pirate King...

["What nonsense are you spouting again?"]

"Ahem, nothing, pay me no mind."

Herbert gave a light cough and continued to ask, "Isn't this an ability exclusive to vampires? Will I be found out?"

["Of course not~ To outsiders, this will merely look like some kind of special berserk ability, and the most they will suspect is that you possess barbarian bloodline traits."]

Berserk-style abilities were not uncommon in this world.

Just as Nenasha said, who didn't have a few methods to temporarily stimulate their physical capabilities these days?

No one would be so idle and bored as to deliberately investigate him.

"Alright, stop keeping me in suspense. Are there any other abilities besides this?"

["The others, well, there aren't many. Just a bit of night vision, enhanced hematopoiesis, and a minor boost in regenerative recovery."]

Indeed, compared to Boiling Blood, these abilities could only be considered minor bonuses.

"Right, do they have any negative side effects?"

["As for the side effects~ I am terribly sorry to inform you that you probably won't have much time for sleeping in the future."]

A gloating mischief crept into the eccentric deity's voice as she teased:

["Vampires are the sleepless ones, and having acquired their abilities, you will be affected as well."]

["Gradually, your need for sleep will diminish more and more, until you are entirely sleepless, forced to recover your energy through means other than slumber."]

Yet, faced with this somewhat sorrowful notification, Herbert blinked strangely and asked in incomprehension:

"Huh? Isn't this an advantage?"

["Hmm?"]