The air in the room didn't just grow heavy—it felt like it was physically crushing the floorboards. The moment Kaelen activated his CRIMSON OVERLORD SYSTEM using the B-type Reaper blood, a massive, obsidian-red weapon manifested in his grasp: The Heavy Battle Axe.
It was a brutal, monolithic slab of jagged metal, pulsing with a crimson aura so violent that Saymon and Quen recoiled in pure terror. But there was a problem. Kaelen's arms were trembling; the sheer weight of the weapon was more than his human frame could handle.
"What... what is this pressure?" Saymon gasped, his knees buckling under the aura. "The energy coming off that thing... it's monstrous!"
With a resounding thud, the axe slipped from Kaelen's grip, cracking the floor as it fell.
Ailza let out a melodic, mocking laugh, her eyes dancing with amusement. "Oh, Kaelen. It seems you're still far too weak to handle even a 'Normal' level manifestation of your system."
Kaelen stared at the axe, sweat dripping from his chin. "Normal? If this is a normal weapon, what the hell does a High-Level one look like? How am I supposed to wield something this terrifying?"
Suddenly, the System interface flickered back to life, glowing with a sinister red hue.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: WEAPON PROTOCOL]
Duration: This weapon will exist until you harvest the soul of the specific Reaper whose blood was tasted.
Constraint: This weapon is 'Soul-Locked.' It will deal 100% damage to its source Reaper but is useless against others.
Expansion: To fight multiple enemies, you must ingest multiple blood types simultaneously. More blood equals more weapons.
Kaelen wiped his brow. "So there are two massive flaws. I can only kill the one I've tasted, and if I'm outnumbered before I can taste them... I'm dead meat."
Quen stepped forward, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't overthink it, Kaelen. That's why we have a team. We'll cover your blind spots."
Saymon scoffed, crossing his arms. "Teamwork doesn't mean anything if he's a liability. Look at him—he can't even lift his own weapon yet."
Ailza clapped her hands together, sashaying toward Kaelen with a suggestive sway of her hips. "I have faith in my O-Negative boy. He'll master it." With effortless grace, she reached down, swung the massive axe into the air, and spun it like it weighed nothing. "But he's right. If you even graze the Reaper with this, they won't just die—they'll be incinerated into ash."
She tossed the burning red axe toward Kaelen. He caught it, grunting as the weight nearly took him down again.
"But I need a way to actually get the blood first," Kaelen argued.
Ailza smiled, unbuckling a sleek, beautiful sword from her thigh. "This blade doesn't care about blood types. It cuts anything." She pressed the hilt into Kaelen's spare hand. "Use this to draw the first blood. Then, let your system do the rest."
Saymon's face twisted with jealousy. "Miss Ailza! You're giving him that sword? Just because he's an O-Negative?"
"Calm down, Saymon," Ailza purred. "He's special. Now, go. Show him the Academy."
An hour later, Saymon and Quen were leading Kaelen through the sprawling grounds. As they walked through the massive central plaza, Kaelen felt hundreds of eyes boring into him.
"Why is everyone staring?" Kaelen muttered.
"They aren't looking at you," Quen whispered. "They're staring at the aura leaking from that axe on your back. It's terrifying them."
They passed the D-Rank, C-Rank, and B-Rank blocks. Finally, they stood before the A-Elite Wing. It was a towering, majestic structure, but it felt strangely silent.
"It's empty?" Kaelen asked.
"The Academy is new," Saymon replied, his voice tinged with rare respect. "Only one team has been strong enough to reach the A-Elite Rank. They are known as the Steel Arch Heroes."
"They are legends," Quen added solemnly.
Kaelen smirked, his competitive streak flaring. "Steel Arch Heroes, huh? I'd love to see what their blood looks like."
He looked further up the mountain toward a building that seemed to be made of pure shadow. "What about that one?"
Quen paled. "That's the SSS-Rank Sanctuary. No one is allowed there. It's forbidden for E-Ranks like us. Don't even think about it."
Kaelen just locked his hands behind his head, a defiant grin on his face. "Forbidden? That sounds like an invitation to me."
He started walking toward it. Quen tried to stop him, but Saymon pulled her back, watching with a dark curiosity. Before Kaelen could take another step, three figures blocked his path.
The Steel Arch Heroes.
In the center was a girl named Belina. She wore clothes that were barely there—scraps of fabric that fought a losing battle to cover her curvaceous body. Her gaze was predatory.
"Where do you think you're going, little boy?" Belina asked, her voice dripping with lethal arrogance.
Kaelen didn't even look at her body; his eyes stayed locked on the path. "Just taking a stroll to the SSS-Rank block."
"Are you insane?" a boy named Tansu (AB- Rank) snapped. "You don't go there without permission."
Suddenly, a blur of movement occurred. A third boy, Warsan (AB+ Rank), appeared behind Kaelen. "This axe... it's exquisite," he whispered into Kaelen's ear.
Kaelen's heart skipped a beat. He's fast. I didn't even see him move.
Belina stepped closer, her body swaying provocatively. "I know who you are. The O-Negative. The first of your kind here." She reached out, her fingers ghosting over Kaelen's chest.
Kaelen gripped the handle of his axe and slammed it into the ground. A shockwave erupted, sending a cloud of thick dust into the air.
Belina gasped, her hands moving to her breasts as a wave of sheer, raw power washed over her. Her breathing became shallow, her face flushing with heat. "This... this pressure... it feels like he's already pinning me to the bed," she moaned, lost in a trance of dark lust. "I need to see his power... I need to feel it."
Tansu groaned, rubbing his temples. "This woman is a nymphomaniac. How many has she slept with this week?"
When the dust cleared, Kaelen was gone.
"He played us!" Tansu roared. "Find him!"
Kaelen was sprinting, his lungs burning as he reached the gates of the SSS-Rank Sanctuary. He looked up at the black spires, a grin of triumph on his face. "Magnificent."
But then, the atmosphere shifted. A thick, suffocating black fog began to pour out from the cracks in the building.
Kaelen froze. Cold sweat poured down his neck. This isn't a Fog Spirit... this aura is something much, much worse.
He stepped back, but it was too late. The dark fog coalesced into a gargantuan, demonic hand. It lunged at him with a speed that defied physics.
I can't dodge it, Kaelen thought, his eyes wide with the reflection of his impending death. It's over.