PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

580 Chapter 580 Dark Blood (two)

“Do you have something in mind, Revna?” Arriving at his room, Desmond closed the door behind him and asked quietly.

Revna stepped out of the shadows and answered. “I don’t claim to be smarter than you, Master, but that blood gives me a strange feeling. I thought using it would be more than just a little dangerous.”

The security mask Desmond was wearing broke. Given Revna’s affinity for dark mana, and likely related arcane laws, the girl’s instincts regarding certain things should be pretty reliable. Desmond himself had also felt something in this blood, something similar to darkness.

Desmond took a second look at the vial of blood in his hand, and his confidence wavered. Desmond took a deep breath, pushing away those feelings of insecurity that threatened to stop his path. “I understand what you are saying. I have a similar impression as you, but I cannot give up this opportunity. Revna, we humans are too weak, too pathetic. With barely the minimum qualifications of a sentient, intelligent race, our adaptability amounts to next to nothing.”

Revna felt a little uncomfortable with how Desmond talked about the human race, but she didn’t comment. Revna lives with members of other races daily, and it doesn’t take long for her to see how weak the human race is by comparison.

Desmond didn’t know what Revna was thinking, but he added still. “You witnessed Sasha’s power when she fully activated the abilities hidden in her lineage. Honestly, I wouldn’t be able to beat her even if I quadrupled myself. Did you know that she and I are supposed to be just as strong? Sasha and I are both in the lower-level two-star class. I’m usually stronger than her due to my experience and combat prowess. However, the gap becomes too wide once she uses her innate abilities.”

Though aware of Sasha’s overwhelming strength when she displayed her true form, Revna still couldn’t help but gasp in surprise. Revna couldn’t believe that her beloved and revered Master would accept that he was no match for Sasha.

Revna had seen Desmond’s ridiculous destructive power and prowess in battle firsthand. She didn’t think anyone in the world could beat him. Of course, Revna knew that her way of thinking was biased and subjective, but she still found it hard to believe what Desmond had said.

Desmond’s words echoed through Revna’s mind once more. “Humans are too weak.” If such a thing was so painfully true, then she needed to find a way to rid herself of her humanity.

.....

Since Desmond, her beloved Master, had rejected the weakness of humanity, Revna would too. So she could be of use to her Master so that he would continue to need and love her. “Those are thoughts for the future, Revna, focus.” Revna thought to herself, trying to focus her attention on what Desmond was about to do.

Desmond had no way of knowing what Revna was thinking, nor did he have the time to find out. It had become quite apparent that time wasn’t exactly on Desmond’s side, so he wanted to get it over with. Having a good idea of ??what would happen next, Desmond removed his clothes as he headed for the bathroom.

As if struck by lightning, Revna froze as she watched Desmond undress. It wasn’t like she had never seen Desmond naked; Revna had seen much more than that. But in all those cases, she wasn’t the one sharing that moment with Desmond. No, she was just a spectator while another woman writhed with pleasure under Desmond’s caresses and thrusts.

All kinds of steamy scenarios ran through Revna’s mind like an erotic gallery. Yet, it all came to a halt when she saw Desmond leave the room to go into the bathroom. “Focus, Revna, you can’t just get lost in your fantasies... You’ll have your chance in the future. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have accepted that gift you gave him on his birthday.” Revna tried to calm herself down, but by the blush on her cheeks, it was obvious she was having trouble doing it. Thinking about the chain, she gifted Desmond suggestively wasn’t helping.

As the hot water filled the tub, Desmond couldn’t help but chuckle briefly, wondering if Revna had noticed that she had been muttering her thoughts for a while now. Desmond found the whole thing a bit amusing, something that helped him relax, that dark feeling coming from the blood had made him too tense.

Eventually, the tub filled with hot water, and Revna cleared her thoughts long enough to step into the bathroom. Already submerged in hot water in the bathtub, Desmond said nothing as he saw Revna walk in. Desmond concentrated on the vial of blood he was placed in a strange rune-filled injection device.

According to Elaisa, obtaining a bloodline could be quite complex unless it was obtained directly from the source. Any superior race willing to give up their bloodline, with powerful innate qualities and abilities, used to have their own method of giving up said bloodline.

The blood in the vial would have to be infused into Desmond via direct injection into the heart accompanied by ritual magic carved into the injection device.

Desmond took a deep breath, thinking about everything he wanted to protect. The helplessness he felt when an enemy superior to him crushed him as he would do to an ant. Soon, an aggressive smile found its way to Desmond’s lips. He knew that sometimes you had to be cruel to yourself to get what you wanted.

“Since when did I get so indecisive?” Desmond commented wryly before stabbing himself through the heart with the injection device. Without any hesitation or uncertainty, Desmond activated the device, injecting the blood inside directly into his heart.

Pain, now an old friend of Desmond’s, invaded his body again. Starting from the heart, an intense burning spread throughout his body. Desmond felt like someone had filled his veins with acid. Even for someone as determined and used to pain as Desmond, the process was brutal; and it was only beginning.

Immediately, the runes on the injection device lit up as a strange power took effect under the guidance of an unknown arcane law. Magic circles formed one after another over Desmond’s chest, over his heart, resounding, guiding the strange blood to purpose.

Although Desmond didn’t know exactly what was going on, he could still identify the place where the blood was being led. Perhaps because of all the times, Desmond had undergone some kind of physical baptism. Desmond could feel the blood being guided and injected directly into his bone marrow.

The pain of being pierced by millions of needles couldn’t compare to what Desmond felt when the foreign blood invaded his bone marrow. The pain of being changed on such a fundamental level was not something a mortal could endure with sheer willpower.

The blood was doing much more than invading the bone marrow inside Desmond’s body. As the part of Desmond’s body that produces blood, the first thing to have to be altered was precisely the bone marrow, but that was far from enough. Desmond would undergo a metamorphosis that would change his body profoundly through the new blood produced and the blood injected.

Revna watched in horror as Desmond began to vomit blood in large amounts. The process of changing species driven by magic led to Desmond undergoing all the changes in a matter of minutes.

The sound of bones breaking and flesh being torn filled the room. With Desmond’s bone marrow now producing new blood, his body was flooded with change. Desmond was changing on a genetic level, ascending as a life form, becoming much more than human, something else.

It was only because of the magic, infused into Desmond that he didn’t completely collapse. Every fiber of his being was transmuting under the baptism of blood. Desmond began to vomit more than just blood as the process progressed. A disgusting and strange mixture of unidentified matter came out of his mouth in great quantities, residues of the changes he was undergoing.

At some point, Revna had to drain the tub he was in, refilling it with hot water. Revna could hardly believe what she saw, as Desmond had vomited up enough matter to equal his body mass.

It was as if Desmond’s entire body had been destroyed and liquefied to be discarded at the same time that he was replaced by a superior version of himself. Revna had no idea how accurate her thinking was. Desmond didn’t stop vomiting and secreting strange matter until there wasn’t a single bit of what he used to be inside him.

When the process was over, Revna saw how much Desmond had changed. Desmond had grown an inch and lost quite a bit of muscle mass. In a way, Desmond looked as strong as before since his muscles now seemed more compact and solid than they had been.

Desmond’s body now emanated a feeling of raw, barely contained power combined with an elegant, almost unearthly grace.

Revna could see the traits of a born predator in Desmond’s perfectly built body, but Desmond had lost that wild feeling he had in the past. It was as if Desmond had evolved into a different kind of predator, one more refined, graceful, and...deadly.

Of course, the most noticeable change in Desmond was in his hair and eyes. The jet-black hair was now as white as the moon. Those sea-blue eyes were now a deep red; it was as if there was an ever-spiraling sea of ??blood inside them.

In her distraction, Revna didn’t see that Desmond had regained consciousness. And when she noticed it, it was too late. Faster than Revna was able to respond, Desmond leaped out of the tub and jumped on her, knocking her to the floor and forcefully subduing her. And it was there that Revna felt it again, that darkness and an unknown hunger that came from Desmond.

Then, Desmond parted his lips, revealing a pair of long fangs, and bit into Revna’s neck. To Revna’s complete disbelief, Desmond was feeding on her.