Life Is A Game : Rise Of The Bloodvolva

"- So it's like one of your games but in real life? There are levels, ... skills? And stats?" Say my mother in shock.

"- Yes. There, for example, if I use my skill [Identification] I would see ... that mom is level one, like Alyssa, you grandfather you are level three, you had to kill several orcs right ?

- Those things with a pig heads? Yes indeed. And so one of your stuff there, "skill" , allows you to control these ... dog-headed guys?

- Kobold, and it's a kind of submission by blood yes. They obey me of their own accord, however. I did not have to force them to anything, it's out of good will. And I like them. Inukami is level thirty, which is huge. Inuyama and Inuyasha are level sixteen. As for me I am level twelve now but my stats bring me closer to level sixty I think.

- Blóðvölva powerful. Blóðvölva just. We follow Blóðvölva".

It was Inukami who spoke. Obviously I am the only one who can fully understand what he says because of our Dominator / subordinate status and my half-monster nature.

"- He can speak ..." My grandfather looks at him with surprised eyes.

"- An effect of our relationship I think, at first it was only dog ​​grunts.

- They call you ... Blóðvölva? Why ?" Asked my sister

(I would have preferred to avoid that subject ...)

"- Because it's my title. One of my titles. I am a Blóðvölva, a Magus and a Dominator. The last is because of the contract with my kobolds, the second is because I am a "mana manipulating genius". The first ... it's ...

- The Blóðvölva are former warriors of a clan attached to our family ... old Nords whose misdeeds on the battlefields are still told today in the northern regions. The Vikings were terrified by these people. Is that it Lukas ?"

I remain silent in front of my grandfather.

(He knows the contents of the Library too ...)

"- Effectively. You know that our family always had peculiarities, and that we were generally hunted for that. My blood has always been strong and special, we know that. That night it ... was activated ? I guess because I do not know well either. I became the only descendant of Blóðvölva, the Blood Sorcerers. I can do all kinds of things with blood. If I have to give an image I would say that I am closer to the vampire except that I do not fear the light. The more I absorb my enemy's blood the more powerful become.

- Cool ... "

My sister does not react as I expect and looks at me with bright eyes. The vampire myth has definitely lost its terror nowadays ... my mother looks at me incredulously, surely refusing to see her son as a bloodthirsty monster. My grandfather, on the other hand, scrutinizes me with his dark eyes. Then he sighs.

"- It seems like the story of our Family has made you so passionate since your childhood that Fate has decided to make you a new mythical warrior of our Family. You have fought and defeated monsters and gained powers worthy of our ancestors ... you are indeed a Maîtres*. A master among men."

He stops and stares at me again with a smile.

"- I was right to say that you were the Heir of our Family and the Library.

- Show us what you can do !"

My sister is all excited. It makes me laugh as well as the rest of my family, relaxing the atmosphere.

"- Ahah ok ok. Mom, do not be afraid", I say while grabbing the blade of a dagger. I slit my hand, and obviously my mother screams.

- Are you out of your mind ?! I know you do not bleed a lot but ...

- Calm down ! Watch"

I show her my palm: the wound is there but do not bleed. Suddenly I put my hand flat and blood comes out of the wound, floating, defying gravity. I make a ball the size of a billiard ball. My sister looks without blinking, my mother's hand is in front of her mouth and my grandfather smiles. I twirl my blood and changer it into a mini cyclone in my hand, then give it the coarse look of a kobold. They also look with p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. The operation is complicated and requires concentration and mana. The more complex the shapes, the more it makes me feel tired. But it's a good training.

I stop my show when I feel my energy running out. Immediately and without understanding, Inukami opens his palm and shows me his blood. I look at him incredulously.

"-Take Blóðvölva, you're tired right. I offer you my blood for you to absorb".

Given the face that my family makes, I understand that they have not understood anything about the exchange. I smile at my kobold and accept his blood. I put a finger on his wound and absorbed the blood under the dumbfounded eyes of my family. I then use [Blood Manipulation] and have his wound coagulated and also apply a [Heal]. My loss / gain ratio between the absorption and the healing of such an injury leaning more in my favor. So I recover from my loss of mana and heal Inukami as if nothing has happened.

"- Well I must admit that I fought for several hours now and I'm hungry ... mom is it possible for you to prepare me something, I'm going to take a shower. Also prepare something for the Kobold, they fought with me and deserve to eat".

I say to the Kobolds that they can rest, but they tell me that they want to help my mother. I translate it to her but I see that she is not comfortable with them. I ask them if they want to monitor the front and back of the house from the first floor.

"- I do not want any more trouble here, and if there are any enemies your priority is the protection of my family".

I go upstairs, my floor. I have my room, my bathroom, my playroom. My sister is on the third floor, my mother on the first floor and my grandfather on the ground floor. The bas.e.m.e.nt has two floors, a rare thing for a house: it is used by our Library / Museum.

I get rid of my clothes and b.r.e.a.s.tplate quickly and jumps in the shower. The hot water runs over my body and I feel my worries disappear with it in the syphon. I remained here a moment, calm, thinking no more and just savoring the sensation. Finally I come out and go past a mirror. I see myself there n.a.k.e.d, and I understand then that I have changed: something new is emerging from me. My eyes, my attitude, the aura that I release now, everything looks different. It's not a bad feeling but it's ... strange. I almost have the impression to see a stranger. It's my body but not the one I know. I activate [predator's eye] and see that my eyes are changing. I cut my finger slightly and bleed blood around me.

(Yes definitely the impression that I give is not the same anymore)

I am domineering, imposing, scary ... alluring too !

(Does "demonic charm" apply to me now ? I guess...)

I smile at my reflection. I leave the bathroom and head to my room with just a towel. I see the leather plastron on the floor and my clothes. They are ruined, covered with dust and grime and my shirt is open on the front. Fortunately, no blood thanks to my skills but I often finished on the ground in the forest, the quarry, my garden etc ... and I was attacked ! So my pants, my shirt and my sweater were in a sorry state.

(what kind of head I had so far when my family saw me !?)

I sigh and then take new clothes : dark cargo pants with several pockets, a black tank top and a night blue denim shirt put over. I also get out of my closet my black boots with metal reinforcement from my metalhead period and a military jacket with pockets everywhere. I identify everything and is happy to see that some things in my clothes and personal items increase my stats:

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Reinforced Rangers boots (customized)

Solid pair of military shoes

They have been modified and reinforced by metal plates

bonus:

+5 Str (+10)

+3 Def (+10)

* information: familiarity with the customized object adds an extra bonus

Familiarity : 10

____________________

(familiarity? It gives me a new bonus ?)

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Cargo pants

Simple pants with many pockets

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Military jacket (customized)

A standard army jacket

It has been modified to add reinforcements at the elbows as well as pockets in addition

bonus:

+2 Str (+15)

+5 Courage (+15)

familiarity: 15

____________________

(courage?)

Having no information I simply continue my inspections:

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Ouroboros pendant

A mysterious silver pendant

(???)

bonus:

+5 Courage (+5)

familiarity: 5

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(Hey, my grandmother's pendant has hidden information ... weird)

I continue to increase my skill by identifying all the objects in my room, but since its passage at the intermediate level it seems to advance much more slowly.

(It looks like the familiar bonus only applies to objects that I modified ... well, now let's see my own weapon collection ...)

I press a panel at the bottom of my closet and slide it to the side, revealing my secret hiding place. Inside any kind of weapons are waiting nicely. My hobbie of collecting them will finally pay. My family having money, I must say that I took advantage of it, but when I was old enough to make a living my grandfather forced me to do it. I learned the value of money, especially with all my expensive hobbies. Having no other area of ​​expenditure than my hobbies, all my money since I was a child was spent there. I therefore have many different items, including weapons, some even forged on request by a blacksmith. At least until I bought myself all the material for forging. Since then I make myself jewelry and weapons of all kinds. And here lie before my eyes my most beautiful pieces :

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Combat knife (customized)

A fighting knife whose back side is notched

you are the blacksmith who made it

damage: 15-18

bonus:

+ 10% chance of critical strike

+2 Str (+30)

+10 Agi (+30)

+15 Dex (+30)

durability: 20/20

Familiarity: 30

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I am completely speechless in front of the bonuses related to the familiarity of the object of which I am the creator.

(It's amazing! My weapons will give me crazy bonuses ! Just a knive gives me mort than a hundred stat points)

I'm thrilled, I never imagined having this kind of bonus. I continue to watch the rest of my weapons with enthusiasm:

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military machete

A heavy machete used for jungle mission by soldier

you are its blacksmith

damage: 25 - 36

bonus:

+10 Str (+30)

+5 Agi (+30)

+10 Dex (+30)

durability: 40/40

Familiarity: 30

____________________

(It's short enough to take one in each hand, the bonuses will be awful with that, my critical hits and even my simple hit will kill almost any weak creature!)

____________________

Throwing knife

A balanced knife made to be thrown

you are its blacksmith

damage: 10-12

bonus:

+10 Dex (+30)

+10 Agi (+30)

durability: 15/15

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(with them I increase my possibilities ...)

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kusarigama

Japanese weapon, a sickle whose handle is connected to a thin 5

meter long chain with a weight at the end

you are its blacksmith

damage: 15-18 (Sickle)

18-20 (weight)

bonus:

+10 Str (+30)

+10 Agi (+30)

+10 Dex (+30)

durability: 25/25

Familiarity: 30

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(mmh it is a weapon with good stats but it's horribly complicated to handle ... Let's forget this one)

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War ax "Special ops"

An all-metal one-handed ax whose head is hollowed for easier

handling, used by some special military groups

you are its blacksmith

damage: 40 - 50

bonus:

+20 Str (+30)

+5 Agi (+30)

+5 Dex (+30)

durability: 40/40

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(I think I have found my main weapon until I can switch for the halberd)

I still look at my other weapons but there are only weapons ordered and not forged directly by me.

____________________

Japanese Katana

A Japanese saber of excellent quality

damage: 40 - 50

bonus

+15 Str

durability: 60/60

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(It inflicts the same amount of damage as the kobold katana and has better durability but it does not have the bonus [half-monster] and is longer ... let's also forget it)

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Wakisashi

the intermediate version of the Japanese katana

damage: 35-43

bonus

+12 Str

durability: 50/50

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(well it would already be more suited ... it deals more damage than the machete but again the bonuses are really lower ... no I think I'll stay on my first choice: my machete and my ax in arms main, my battle knife in secondary weapons and my throwing knives for ranged attack ... shame that I broke my hunting bow last week ...)

I equip myself completely: my rangers, my cargo pants, my tank top with the leather b.r.e.a.s.tplate over and finally my sleeveless military jacket, my kobold bracelet and necklace and my gauntlets. I then put my weapons on me : my ax in the back, tied securely to avoid falling when I run but is easily accessible thanks to a special sheath, my machete on the hip in a leather sheath. My combat knife at my c.h.e.s.t in a small case and finally my six throwing knives attached to my t.h.i.g.h and my left arm. I looked at myself in a mirror and ...

(Well I admit that I look a little ridiculous with all this but I prefer to have these weapons with me now, we never know.)

Let's forget the side "Rambo will wreak the douchebags" that I have now and think more about the survivability, with this equipment my stats must be monstrous.

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Strength (Str): 40 (+63) | Agility (Agi): 40 (+9)

Vitality (Vit): 23 (+10) | Dexterity (Dex): 38 (+8)

Intelligence (Int): 39 (+10) | Wisdom (Wis): 18 (+10)

Chance (Cha): 14 (+4) | Charisma (Chr) : 10

Defense (Def): 10 (+46) | Courage (Cou) : 0 (+35)

Unallocated point: 28

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(Holy sh** !!! My new clothes have increased my Str, my Def and my Courage in a huge way ! With the boost given by my weapons I should have increased my survivability I think ... I imagine that the Courage stat must help me to resist fear or something like that, when I heard the scream coming from the cave of the quarry I felt like fainting, there must be some kind of bad status)

I then decide to place my points obtained with the massacre of orcs: 10 Agi to compensate for my loss of movement related to my new equipment load, bringing it to 50 natural and 60 with my bonus. 10 in Str, for the same reason as my Agi, bringing it to 50 natural and 113 with bonus, with the weapons it will be even more. 5 in Vit, bringing it to 28 and thus increasing by 10 my Hp and the last three point in Chance, the amount going up to 18. I then notice something in my status which I have not paid attention so far: my endurance. It has increased since the beginning. But not by level won, it's ... something else. I began to think and quickly found the reason: my basic stamina was 200, probably high like my other basic stats, and it increased by 39. This being the halving of the result of my Str and my Hp added. So I earn 0.5 per point in Str or Vit.

(Good to know, the fights are tiring so if I can increase my stamina in one way or another I'm less likely to be exhausted in the middle of the fight. Well with [Blood Absorption] I can get back some fortunately but hey we never know, it's better to have more ...)

I close my status window by thought and get ready to leave the room when the object on which I spent most of my time before captures my attention: my computer.

(Is internet still working ? And if yes, maybe I will find out about what is happening in the world ...)

* Maîtres = master in french

I forgot to put that in the chapter 5...