Blood for Power: A LitRPG Apocalypse

The cultists were quickly closing in on the man in the water. I had to get their attention. The thing is, it's tough to make a loud approach when walking in sand. So, as I walked down the hill, I repeatedly banged my sword against a knife. The clanging of metal caused them and the man they were hunting to turn.

The cultists were shocked. They murmured amongst themselves and spread out with their weapons, ready to face me. The man they were after had a different response. He grinned at me and flopped backwards into the water, floating in the oasis without a care in the world.

He didn’t look surprised to see me or the cultists. Was he drawing them here for a trap?

I continued cautiously down the hill. There seemed to be no sign that anyone or anything was lurking nearby for an ambush. But there were a lot of bugs that could burrow under the sand and remain there undetected. Still, I was confident that I could handle whatever was waiting for me.

Hugo: What are you doing?

He was surprised by my approach. I could’ve snuck up and taken out at least three of the eight before they even realized what was happening.

But I had a good reason for my loud entrance.

Lucas: I’m introducing myself.

Hugo: Should I be sitting down for this?

Lucas: Probably. I am hoping for a little conversation first.

The cultists were two women and six men. All of them were relatively young and fit, which made sense. You wouldn’t send more senior people out chasing down threats. They held their weapons in front of themselves protectively. A mixture of short swords, axes, and one crossbow. They were being cautious and weren’t sure what to make of me yet.

I didn’t know whether they were involved in the apple ritual that had almost killed me, and I didn’t care. I just wanted to know why they were chasing this man.

As soon as I’d made my presence known, the cultists ignored the man in the water. The one holding the crossbow stepped forward to announce himself as the leader of the group. Dark-haired, and with a square jaw. He looked like someone who should be doing TV modeling rather than running around for religious zealots.

Crossbows are tricky. Even with all the points I’d put into Dexterity, I wasn’t sure if I was fast enough to dodge fire from one. But there were good things about facing it too. I wasn’t worried.

“What are you doing here?” he asked me.

“Hey, that was going to be my question to you,” I said.

He glanced back at the others. Their mouths hardened and the grip on their weapons tightened, but they still didn’t make the first move. There are eight of them and one of me. The odds should be in their favor, but they know I’m a Tower Climber. They aren’t sure if they can take me. I wonder what level these people are at?

I put the knife and sword away in my inventory, which relaxes them a little.

It shouldn’t. The weapons were just for the noise. I never had any intention of fighting with them. My sword was for more serious threats and besides, I wanted to try something new.

“You need to leave. This doesn’t concern you,” he said while hefting his crossbow.

He didn’t directly point it at me, but the implicit threat was clear. I chose to ignore it and ask my main question before things got bloody.

“Why are you after him?”

The leader clenched his jaw. Not used to being questioned that one. Perhaps he was a rising star within his church? Though I doubted he was too high ranking. They wouldn’t send someone that important to run out into the desert like this.

One of the women put a hand on his shoulder and whispered something. He nodded and relaxed slightly. I didn’t hear all of it, but the gist was that they can still talk me into walking away.

The leader sighed and said, “he has repeatedly broken into our church despite numerous warnings to stop.”

That’s it?

I looked past them to the bearded man who was doing the backstroke in the water. He noticed me looking and gave a lazy wave before continuing to swim.

“He defiled our stoup!” yelled another cultist.

“Your what?” I frowned.

A flicker of disgust passed over the leader’s face. “He urinated in the holy water,” he said. “We’ve tripled security, and yet he keeps finding ways inside. We need to know how he’s doing it, and then he must answer for his blasphemy. But none of this has to concern you. You can walk out of here alive right now.”

I smiled, flashing my teeth. “I’d say the same to all of you, but then I’d be lying.”

The leader raised his crossbow and fired. It was the smartest thing he could’ve done, and had I been someone else, it might have caught me off-guard. But I’d been waiting for it.

I darted left and felt the bolt cut through my lower side and fly out the other end. Damn, still too slow. Luckily, the guy was a terrible shot. He’d aimed far too low. The bolt was also a through and through, which causes less damage. Though it was hard to feel grateful when there’s a hole in my stomach.

I spat some blood out onto the sand and straightened up like the bolt was no big deal. “The reason why you won’t be leaving here alive is that my friend and I are out here experimenting,” I continued. “I’ve spent so much time worrying about appearances that I’d neglected one of my better powers. But I don’t have to worry about that anymore. The time for holding anything back is over.”

“The Harvest Mother herself protects us,” he insisted. “We are her faithful. Her chosen.”

“No. Your practice.”

I opened two Hemorrhage Gates in front of me and activated Cardinal Arm twice. Blood flows out from the portals to coat my forearms and hands. It hardens, giving me armored gauntlets that end with razor-sharp claws.

The leader realized his mistake. He scrambles under his robes to reach for another bolt to reload with, but by the time he does so, it will be too late.

I spring forward, closing the distance with a few short bounds. He’s too distracted to notice. Still too busy fumbling with the crossbow’s mechanism instead of dropping it or using it as a club.

I slice open his throat with one swipe and begin to drink. A System message pops up, giving me his name and telling me his level 115, but I don’t care. There’s only one message I’m looking for.

*DING!* Class: [Blood Reaver] has reached level 120 – Experience Acquired.

Distantly, I feel something poke me in the back. Looking over my shoulder reveals another cultist. They’ve cut me with an axe and I can’t even feel it. The cultist pulls back for another swing. I ignore him and keep drinking. He hits me again, but the wound heals almost instantaneously.

“Do something!” another cultist screams.

“Go for his head!” shouts another.

He listens to his friends and raises the axe high above his head. No fancy decapitation, just a straight swing down to split my skull in half.

I keep drinking, though there isn’t much left.

[Sanguine Lord Bonus from Blood Consumption Activated]

*DING!* Class: [Blood Reaver] has reached level 121 – Experience Acquired.

That’s strange. I’ve never seen that message before. This wasn’t an ordinary level gained from killing. The System is explicitly telling me that drinking the blood will net me extra levels.

The axe swing comes down. I suddenly let go of the leader’s lifeless body and sidestep it. His overcommitted swing causes it to hit the sand and put him off balance.

My claws rip across his back. I feel his spine break and watch him fall. He’s still alive, but paralyzed. I leave him like that and turn my attention to the others.

The two female cultists and one male muttered a prayer. Their eyes were wide and their hearts raced as their tongues tripped over the words. With my face covered in blood and my claws, I must have looked like a demon to them.

Another two held swords and were praying over them. Their faces were hard and angry. They wanted to fight.

I almost joined them until I realized I was missing a cultist. I looked around and saw one of them fleeing. He was running back towards the city, but first he’d have to make it up the steep sand dune.

A Hemorrhage Gate appeared, and I drew out enough blood to form a javelin. A high Dexterity stat had helped hone my aim with throwing weapons into an art form. I watched the fleeing cultist. Measured his stride and speed, before pulling the weapon back for a throw.

Wind blasted around me as I launched the javelin with all my strength. It flew up high in the air.

“Go! Keep running!” one of the men shouted.

The one fleeing didn’t look back as he sprinted up the hill. None of them realized that it wouldn’t matter if my aim was off. I controlled where the javelin went.

It arced down and pierced through the man’s chest as he reached the top of the hill.

“No!” one woman cried.

Using the javelin as an anchor, I dragged his body back towards me and tossed it in front of the others.

This pushed the two with the swords into action. Only their blades were glowing purple now and the other three cultists had joined hands. They continued to pray and were empowering the blades somehow.

The swordsmen sneered at me with unearned confidence as they approached. They thought a god was on their side. I would tear that delusion away from them as I took their lives.

I summoned the javelin and twirled it in front of me like a staff. Their eyes focused on it. So much so that they missed the Hemorrhage Gate open below their feet. Blood spikes erupted, impaling them both.

A level 110 and a 112. A few days ago, they might’ve been a serious threat. Now they were just fodder that was in my way.

Even after they passed, their bodies still twitched. I could feel the blood still inside them calling out to me. But it would have to wait.

The final three cultists were the most scared of all. They’d dropped their weapons but did not try to run or fight like the others. They merely held each other and continued to pray with their eyes closed.

“What can you tell me about the ritual with the apple?” I asked them.

They ignored me, but my words made their legs shake. Their bodies desperately wanted them to run screaming. It wasn’t just faith keeping them here. They were leaning on each other for support.

If this was a strategy, then it was a clever one. It made them look innocent, and it made me want to spare them. I’ve still got blood from the other bodies to collect. I doubt I’d miss what clearly looks like the three weakest members of the group. They could also run back to the church to warn them of the threat I pose. That could potentially get the church to leave me alone, or it would make them double down and come after me.

Decisions decisions.

“They’re not innocent,” the man from the water said. He was suddenly standing right next to me.

How had I not seen him or heard him coming?

A hollowed-out coconut appeared in his hands with a bendy straw sticking out of it. He took a sip and a Hawaiian shirt formed on his body.

“A week ago, these three, along with another, tracked down a girl from their congregation who had missed the church’s service for several days in a row. They broke into the girl’s house while her parents were away. They thought she was a sinner who’d abandoned her faith. Instead, they found a sick girl laid up in bed. Of course, that was just confirmation that the Harvest Mother had turned her back on the girl. They killed her and threw the body down into the sewers.”

It was an interesting tale, but I wasn’t particularly moved by it. Especially since his whole appearance undercut the seriousness of the allegation.

“Why should I believe you?” I asked.

The man shrugged. “I’m just telling you why I started pissing in their stoup.”

“Doesn’t seem like much compared to murdering a child.”

His eyes twinkled. “And yet it was all I needed to bring them here.”

What the hell kind of powers does this guy have?

“You’ve seen the kind of company these three keep,” he continued. “Decide quickly. We can’t stay here for much longer.”

He had a point there. I wanted to ask why we couldn’t stay much longer, but when I turned back, the man had returned to the water.

Deciding to finish this quickly, I tried to summon another Hemorrhage Gate. An explosion of pain burst through my brain and I cried out.

[Magical Exhaustion Imminent]

*State Identified!* [Magical Exhaustion] – When you use too much magic so suddenly, you overburden your soul. This leads to spiritual and physical pain. Pushing even further in such an exhausted state can be fatal. Magical Exhaustion cannot be cured with conventional healing potions or blood healing. Time and rest are the most common ways to recover from this condition.

Right, this was new for me. I’d focused primarily on fighting with a sword and knife while only using magical abilities sparingly. By using only my magic, I’d pushed myself close to my limit. I also knew that if I used another ability right now, the pain in my head would be far worse than before.

Still, I did not regret testing my limits or drinking the blood. I would gain levels far quicker this way, and I needed as much power as possible for the fights ahead.

My blood gauntlets had fallen away as soon as the magical exhaustion message had appeared. So I took out my sword and quickly dispatched the last of the cultists.

*DING!* Class: [Blood Reaver] has reached level 122 – Experience Acquired.

*DING!* You have gained [Consume (Legendary)] – Blood and all of its inherent power can now be absorbed by touch alone on those you have slain.