Chapter 26: 26: The Lake That Complained V
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He looked down at his current coat, the old grey one falling apart, stitched with survival and dirt. He tossed it aside without ceremony and put on the nightmare coat.
The mont it settled on his shoulders, he felt the difference. The coat hugged him without restricting movent. It ward slightly, adjusting to his body. The air around him seed to change, as if his scent was being wrapped and muffled.
He pulled on the nightmare boots next, replacing his hole-ridden shoes.
The boots fit perfectly, as if they had been made for him. When he stood and walked a few steps, his feet felt lighter, more secure. His steps made less sound.
Tap...
Almost silent.
Sekht exhaled slowly.
"Better."
He glanced down at the bat perched on his shoulder. The bat looked at the coat and boots, then looked at Sekht like it was evaluating whether he was finally worthy of existing.
"Do not judge ," Sekht muttered.
The bat blinked, then made a satisfied sound.
"Batbat."
Sekht rolled his eyes and turned his gaze back toward the wilderness.
"Three months to the city."
That ant three months of walking, fighting, hiding, and cultivating on the move. He had spent over 4.6 years in purgatory already. That number sat heavy in his mind, but he did not let it beco a spiral. The past did not matter. Only the next step mattered.
"By the ti I reach the city, my training will be over."
That was not a comforting thought. It was a deadline.
"I need to raise my chaos energy purity as much as possible and raise my blood proficiency too."
He had one goal now.
"Get stronger."
The bat chirped, as if agreeing, though it probably just wanted more food.
Sekht began moving forward, leaving the lake behind. He followed the natural terrain, keeping to higher ground where possible. The nightmare boots helped. He moved with less noise, less strain. The coat reduced the scent of blood that still lingered faintly in his body no matter how clean he was.
Hours passed.
The sun climbed.
Heat shimred above rocks.
Sekht drank water when needed, but he did not trust it to solve his deeper problem. He could feel the blood thirst now like a quiet creature inside him. It did not scream like last night. It did not claw at his throat. It simply waited.
Waiting was worse.
Waiting ant being patient.
He moved through scattered trees and rough ridges until the terrain shifted again into a more broken region. Tall stones stood like pillars. Shadows pooled between them. The air cooled slightly, and the wind carried a faint scent of fur.
Sekht slowed.
His instincts sharpened.
The bat peeked out of his pocket and sniffed the air, then made a quiet sound.
"Bat..."
Sekht’s gaze narrowed.
He heard it.
A faint scrape.
A crunch of stone under sothing’s weight.
Then a low growl.
Grrrr...
Sekht ford Blood Sword instantly, but kept it low, ready.
Shhhh...
He stepped around a pillar.
And saw the beast.
It was wolf-like but larger, with a body built for sprinting and tearing. Its fur was dark grey, mottled with streaks of purple. Its eyes glowed faintly. Its mouth hung slightly open, saliva dripping, and its teeth were too long.
A purgatory predator.
It watched Sekht with hungry intelligence.
Sekht activated Blood Eye.
[Ding! System notification- Voidfang Wolf.
Battle Power: 2600
Status: Hungry. Aggressive.
Note: Pack species. Others are likely nearby.]
Sekht’s jaw tightened.
Pack.
Of course.
The wolf took a step forward, growling louder.
Grrrrrr...
Sekht did not back away. Backing away invited chase. He stood still, blood sword ready.
"Co," he murmured.
The wolf lunged.
Whoosh!
Sekht sidestepped with the nightmare boots, the movent smooth and silent. He slashed across the wolf’s side.
Shhk!
Blood sprayed.
The wolf yelped but did not stop. It twisted mid-lunge, snapping at Sekht’s leg.
Snap!
Sekht kicked it in the jaw.
Thud!
The wolf stumbled back, then snarled again.
From the shadows between pillars, two more wolves erged.
Grrrr... Grrrr...
Sekht’s eyes narrowed.
"Three."
Manageable.
But not trivial with his current battle power and ongoing injuries.
The bat crawled out, clinging to Sekht’s shoulder. Its eyes were bright, alert.
"Batbat."
Sekht muttered, "Do not pee on them."
The bat blinked innocently.
Sekht moved first. He did not wait to be surrounded. He rushed the wounded wolf, slashing deep.
Shhk!
The wolf collapsed, gurgling.
The other two lunged together.
Whoosh!
Sekht spun, bringing the blood sword up to block one set of jaws while he elbowed the other wolf’s snout hard.
Crack!
He used Blood Control to pull the blood from the dying wolf on the ground, shaping it into a floating shard, then flung it like a spear.
Shhh—Thunk!
The shard pierced the second wolf’s shoulder.
The wolf scread.
Sekht did not waste ti. He drove the blood sword into its throat.
Shhk!
The wolf spasd and fell.
The last wolf hesitated, eyes flicking between Sekht and the corpses, deciding whether hunger was worth death.
Sekht stepped toward it slowly.
The wolf growled, then turned and ran, lting into the pillars.
Sekht did not chase.
He stood still for a mont, breathing hard. The battle had been quick, efficient. The nightmare gear helped. His movents were steadier now.
But the sll of fresh blood hit him.
And the quiet creature inside him stirred.
Sekht’s throat tightened.
His mouth felt suddenly dry.
Not water-dry.
Blood-dry.
He stared at the dead wolf closest to him. Blood pooled under it, dark and hot in the sun.
His stomach twisted.
Then he rembered the relief from last night.
The fatigue dissolves.
The clarity.
The warmth.
He hated that he rembered it as relief.
He hated that his body reacted to blood like a starving man reacting to food.
His jaw clenched.
The system chid softly.
[Ding! System Advisory: Host blood thirst rising.
Recomndation: consu blood to maintain optimal condition.]
Sekht stared at the corpse.
His hands trembled slightly.
He did not want to do it.
He did not want to beco that kind of creature.
But he also did not want to collapse in the wilderness because of pride.
He inhaled slowly.
Then his thoughts ca, quiet and bitter.
"If blood keeps
alive, then blood is what I will drink."
He crouched beside the corpse.
His body hesitated.
His mind scread.
Then he leaned forward and bit.
His teeth sank into the wolf’s neck, finding a vessel, and blood rushed into his mouth.
Hot.
tallic.
Wild.
It tasted different from the werewolf blood. Less intelligent. More animals. Still alive with chaos energy, still thick with the violence of purgatory.
Sekht swallowed.
Gulp!
The relief was imdiate again, a warm wave spreading through his chest and limbs. The thirst eased like a knot loosening. His breathing steadied.
The disgust did not vanish.
But it was quieter now, pushed aside by survival.
He drank again, forcing himself to treat it like dicine rather than pleasure.
Gulp!
His stomach ward.
His muscles relaxed.
He pulled back, wiping his mouth quickly with his sleeve, as if hiding the act from the world would hide it from himself.
He sat back on his heels, chest rising and falling slowly.
The bat watched him.
It blinked once.
Then it made a small sound.
"Batbat."
Sekht’s lips twisted.
"Yes," he muttered. "I know."
He stood, grabbed the two wolf corpses, and stored them in Void Land for later use. The remaining blood sar he left. The wilderness would clean it. The wilderness always cleans.
Whooomp...
He continued walking, the sun sinking slowly toward the afternoon.
Then the system chid again.
[Ding!]
A new notification unfolded.
[System Notification-
Blood Proficiency:
0.5%
Source: Voidfang Wolf Blood
Current Blood Proficiency: 1.5/100]
Sekht stared at the number.
One and a half percent.
It was small.
It was nothing.
And yet it represented sothing he could not unlearn.
Every ti he drank, he grew.
Every ti he drank, he stepped farther from the man he used to be.
Sekht exhaled slowly, eyes fixed ahead.
He did not let fear stop him.
He did not let sha stop him.
He simply kept moving, because in purgatory, movent was life.
And sowhere far beyond these ridges, beyond these pillars, beyond these beasts, a city waited three months away, full of answers, lies, and new opportunities for his blood harem.
Sekht walked toward it.
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