"You... Get your hands off me." Ryker twisted around to look at San. His eyes were cold and dangerous.
San felt a chill run down his spine. This wasn't what he expected at all.
San pulled his hand back quickly and stumbled backward. He lost his balance and fell hard on his butt. The old floorboards creaked loudly under his weight. Ryker didn't even look at him. His cold eyes were fixed on Stella.
"Y—You, why are you staring at me like that?" Stella's voice shook as she backed away from Ryker. She pressed herself against the wall. Something in his eyes made her feel like death was coming for her.
Ryker didn't answer. Instead, he smiled. Then he threw his head back and laughed like a madman. "She really tried to sell me!" His laughter echoed through the smoky shop, making both Stella and San shiver.
"I knew it! I should have killed her and everyone right there in the middle of town, but I decided against it! Yet this girl tried to sell me when I thought I'd spare her. How funny!" Ryker rambled to himself, his eyes wild with anger and amusement.
San stared in shock, but quickly pulled himself together. He gritted his teeth and touched the top of his ring, making it glow softly. A signal.
Stella saw her chance and tried to run for the door. But Ryker was faster. A blood-red arc flew from his sword and struck her in the center of her back. She fell to the floor screaming.
"Ahhh!" Her scream of pain filled the shop.
Ryker walked over calmly and grabbed her legs. He dragged her back to the center of the room, leaving a trail of blood on the wooden floor.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you. But you'll wish you were dead!" Ryker raised his sword and swung it across Stella's throat.
Blood sprayed everywhere. He had wanted to cut a specific part that would make her unable to speak, but he ended up cutting too deep. Her throat opened wide, blood pouring out like a fountain.
'Well, it was expected. I'm not an expert with surgical cuts anyway,' Ryker thought as he watched her choke on her own blood.
He raised his hand and tried to control the blood around her neck. The red liquid swirled and moved, but after a moment it just burst and splattered. More blood stained her neck and chest.
Ryker had planned to heal specific parts of her body so he could torture her more. He wanted to cause deep scars that would haunt her for life. But he hadn't practiced enough, and it showed in his failure.
He needed guidance. Maybe he could find a way to get the Bloodbound family book and improve his bloodline skills.
The only skills Ryker could perform without the family diary were attack-related ones. His family had plenty of epic fights in the novel's future, and he had read about many attack skills.
But the healing parts were different. They were mentioned when Bloodbounds evolved to [Blood Saintess] and healed people. Healing wasn't unique to these classes, but it came easier to them. For normal Bloodbounds like Ryker who had no class, they had weak control and effect when using blood skills.
Bloodbound healing was complex. Ryker would need to learn about the human body in detail. He'd have to study organs, veins, arteries, and even work with dead bodies for maximum effect. It showed how complicated some bloodline classes were.
Stella was gasping for air, drowning in her own blood. Ryker swung his sword at her stomach, tearing it open. He was careful not to cut too deep so her guts wouldn't spill out and kill her immediately.
With cruel precision, Ryker cut parts of her body. Each cut was placed to cause maximum pain. When she was on the brink of death, he pulled out a vial of red liquid and poured it into her mouth. The wounds on her body slowly closed, healing completely.
"Are you ready for round two?" Ryker asked with a devilish grin.
Stella shuddered. Tears streamed down her face. The memory of the pain was too fresh, too horrible.
"N-n-no p-please I'm sorry!" She begged, her voice barely a whisper. She didn't want to go through that torture again.
Just then, three men burst through the shop door. Their bodies were large and muscular. Their faces were hard and mean.
"Where's the little runt!" the first man shouted, looking around the blood-soaked shop.
The leader was massive, with arms like tree trunks. His skin had a gray, stone-like texture. A Stonekin bloodline holder. The other two were normal humans, but they carried heavy weapons and looked experienced.
"There he is!" The second man pointed at Ryker, who was still standing over Stella's broken body.
"Kid, you just made the biggest mistake of your life," the Stonekin said, his voice deep and rumbling. His skin began to harden, turning more stone-like. "San paid good money for you. You belong to us now."
Ryker looked at the three men and smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. It was the smile of a predator who had just found new prey.
"Perfect timing," Ryker said, wiping blood from his sword. "I was getting bored with her anyway."
The first normal man charged forward with a battle axe. He was fast, but Ryker was faster. The blood on the floor responded to Ryker's will, shooting up like spikes. They pierced through the man's legs and chest.
"Argh!" The man screamed as blood spikes held him in place. Then Ryker moved. His sword cut through the air in a perfect arc. The man's head separated from his body and rolled across the floor.
The second normal man tried to attack from behind. He had a long spear and thrust it toward Ryker's back. But Ryker spun around, grabbed the spear with his bare hand, and yanked the man forward. His sword went through the man's heart so fast that the man didn't even have time to scream.
"Is that all?" Ryker asked, pulling his sword out. The man's body crumpled to the floor.
The Stonekin was more careful now. He had watched his two companions die in seconds. His skin was now fully stone-like, gray and hard as rock.
"You're strong, kid. But stone beats blood every time." The Stonekin charged forward, his massive fists ready to crush Ryker.
Ryker dodged the first punch, but the Stonekin was faster than he looked. The second punch caught Ryker in the shoulder, sending him sliding across the floor. The stone fist felt like being hit by a mountain.
"Ha! Not so tough now, are you?" The Stonekin laughed and charged again.
But Ryker was smiling. Blood from the dead men on the floor began to move. It flowed toward the Stonekin like red rivers. The man didn't notice until it was too late.
The blood wrapped around his stone ankles like chains. More blood shot up and covered his arms. The Stonekin tried to break free, but the blood was stronger than it looked.
"What is this?" The Stonekin struggled, but the blood held him tight.
"You said stone beats blood," Ryker said, walking closer. "But you forgot something. Blood flows through everything. Even stone."
The blood around the Stonekin began to glow red. It started to heat up, getting hotter and hotter. The man's stone skin began to crack under the intense heat.
"No! This is impossible!" The Stonekin screamed as his stone armor began to melt and break apart.
Ryker raised his sword. "Nothing is impossible when you know how to use your power."
The sword came down in a perfect strike. It cut through the weakened stone skin like it was paper. The Stonekin's body split in half, and blood poured out like a waterfall.
Ryker stood in the middle of the shop, surrounded by bodies and blood. He looked down at Stella, who was still alive but barely conscious.
"Now then," Ryker said, his voice calm and cold. "Where were we?"
San cowered in the corner, his face white with terror. He had never seen anything like this. The kid wasn't human. He was a monster.
***
Sorry for the late update was really bussyyyy