I'm liking this new reality

(Some more info dump but a lot less. Don't worry, it's only a little explanation about blood codes, gifts, and blood veils…. Also a bit of info about the weapons)

I stared at the leader of the goofballs that had held us captive.

Sharp features with a smirk that I barely couldn't resist smacking off his face. A pair of brown eyes, probably the color of his soul. And long-styled dirty blond hair with red extensions.

Will make sure that the color of the extensions becomes natural.

Wait, does hair dye still exist in the apocalypse? Maybe it is natural… can't be too sure in a world with anime vampires and over-the-top hot topic esthetic people have in here. I mean, Io and Anderson have distinctive hair colors and they don't look out of place… well, out of place as much as they can be between ex-human immortals who use their superpowers through blood wizardry.

Gotta remember that this is a new reality that shares similarities with a JRPG of sorts.

Anyway, throwing the useless thoughts at the back of my head, I made damn sure to burn the image of the bastard in front of me in my head.

There had been slight changes in his explanation as to why we are being sent to collect blood beads. Although now it's more of a speech.

First, he didn't have one of the twins beaten up for no reason. Though it makes sense, they don't seem to be able to take any more punishment.

Second, he explained how it's actually Silva's hounds, Cerberus organization from the Provisional Government, that WE have to do this.

That if they don't get their blood beads tax, everyone will suffer. We get our shirts ripped out of our backs and will be left defenseless.

Trying to make this situation be a 'them against us.'

But in reality, it is them against others while we are caught in the middle.

Really trying to sell the whole 'we are victims of the circumstances' type bullshit. The difference between the game and this reality is that he at least tried to shift the blame more.

((Tried)) with some big fu*king emphasis. He was spouting such raw bullshit while we are being unmistakably worked as slaves for them. But he still wore his barely used and tidy blood veil.

Hypocrisy is a tribute that vice pays virtue to.

He will get what's coming to him and I pray to ROB that he survives so I can make a hole where his rotten heart lies.

Aside from those 2 little differences, the rest remained similar…

This means that he still stopped Io from coming with the yet-to-be-introduced Oliver and me.

Motherf*ckers!

Probably took a look at her when I was unconscious!

For fu*k sake.

And so, here I stand gazing at the c*nt who I hope I get to finish off when I come back.

"Woaaahhh!" My new scouting partner tugged my arm, "let's calm down and get going…"

I finally broke eye contact and from the corner of my eye saw Io give me a nod, meaning that she will do as I told her.

Well, there is no use staying here any longer. Have to get to the ruined underground city where I need to meet Louis no matter what.

And like I said before, most things remained similar…

Like how we got spartan kicked off the ledge leading to the maze assembled by a destroyed multi-level parking lot filled with Lost!

"Sonsob!tches!!" I managed to land with my legs and kill most of the momentum by rolling.

Not gonna lie and put up a brave front. I didn't do cool like a cucumber would've done because the height gave me a good scare. Thankfully, superhuman instincts kicked in real quick.

Have you ever had to run in a dream and no matter how hard you tried, you just wouldn't get it right? Like running underwater? Well, I experienced the exact opposite. My body moved as I wanted it to.

That little scare left me rather excited. Mostly because of the fact a fall that should've gotten me engaged with the ground permanently was something I could just bounce up from like a dad leaving to get some milk.

This is Fuc*ing Amazing!

I took a deep breath and looked at my partner, slumped on the ground. He didn't quite stick the landing. He was in a bit of a hurry as he believed that I was about to cause trouble.

"You okay there?" I walked next to him.

".y..eah" Yeah, no. Not believing that one, chief. A mosquito from a mile away could've been louder.

"Very convincing." I extended my hand and he wobbly reached for it.

I yanked him up from the ground.

"big fall…air out… mask worse…" I somewhat understood what he muffled through the mask and just let him be for a few seconds.

The guy needed to recover some breath.

He is a rather tall brunette with pale green and gentile eyes. He gives the vibes of a gentle giant.

The blue vest that he wears above that grey dress shirt would give a gentlemanly image to anyone if it wasn't for those military pants and combat boots. That and the blood veil above his clothes, which looks like a really big jacket, make him look like a classy rebel.

He is about 2 inches taller than me and has considerable muscle mass. Easy to tell that he is a tank.

I looked up and saw that the fall was about 6 to 7 stories. Around 19 meters / 59 feet.

To think that this kind of fall would leave me with just some numbness in my feet.

Hahaha.

"Can you talk now?" I turned to the now-standing straight Oliver with hands on his hips as he took a few more breaths.

"I can manage." He nodded.

"Good." I extended my hand for a handshake, "Name is Adam Hart, thanks for pulling me back there." I tried my best to appear friendly.

Although I can't explain that I wasn't going to do anything rash without looking like I'm just making excuses, I can make it seem like I'm someone who recognizes their own faults.

Hopefully, I set up a good image despite what had transpired.

I will have to be more active in interacting with others, my new appearance may put them off and make them have second doubts about approaching me. Although approaching first can have the opposite effect, that just means that I will have to trick them into interacting first or believing they did.

"Right," he nodded, surprised that I didn't take an aggressive approach after he dragged me here, "Oliver Collins, nice to meet you."

Good. He seemed more than happy to shake my hand.

Although it's not a big deal as Oliver is one of the most good-natured characters in Code Vein along with best boi Louis.

But such game knowledge will have to be taken with a grain of salt now. After all, I don't see a metal door anywhere near that could lead to a shortcut like in-game. It is still good for reference though.

This meant that he would probably give me an honest answer to what I'm about to ask.

"Give it to me straight. What do my eyes look like?"

He flinched like a cat being splashed with water.

I decided to explain myself. "Honestly man, you wouldn't know the half of it but I woke up without memories, thirst making me almost go mad, drinking a blood bead the passing out right after, then I woke up in a cell!" I shook my head, indignant and utterly confused. Good thing I had a mask that hid my expression.

Thankfully, my pity card worked wonders with Oliver. "Oh!" He visibly relaxed, "Damn, that just sucks man."

"So you really don't know what you look like? Your eyes are red, and I mean RED." The brunette pointed to his face. "Really, almost like shining and you have slits! I don't know how to put it into words but, I feel like I'm not staring at a… Well, we aren't humans anymore." I told him to give me a straight answer, not a scary campfire story!

"... is it that bad? Even under the mask?" This dude was describing me as the boogie man.

"Yes," Oliver admitted with some shame. He did assume the worst back then based on my looks.

"Thanks, everyone I met avoided the subject so I didn't know." I tried to comfort him.

Maybe this has something to do with my Blood Code.

Because this isn't normal, not even in a world filled with actual vampires and monsters.

Was there something else to my eyes? Maybe just better kinetic vision? If so, I haven't noticed. I've become a revenant and can recognize that my senses have improved exponentially. I mean, I'm still getting the hang of what it feels to be superhuman even now.

But my sight isn't one of the outstanding factors I have felt. Only the feeling of power in my heart, that I feel amazing in general, and that's about it. No extra sensations like an extra limb that controls fire or x-ray vision if I squint.

Oh well, a rolling stone gathers no moss. I get nothing by standing here theorizing about my gifts when I could just go and fight some Lost to find out.

Speaking of fighting, "where are our wapon-" my question was cut short as I heard a heavy object falling above me.

I stepped aside without much thought and saw an absurdly colossal hammer smash the concrete ground where I stood a second ago, shaking the floor under my feet…

And also a metal pipe, its arrival deadened by the hammer almost crushing my skull.

I looked at the metal toothpick that I would use to kill monsters that can tear metal barehanded for a few seconds before taking a deep breath.

I Will F*cking Skin Them Alive when I get back.

"Whatever." I picked the metal pipe. I would just get a weapon from the Lost. If they have any that is. But anything can be better than what I have at the moment.

Now that I was down in these ruins, it was time to learn how to use my blood code and gifts.

Blood Code is the set of powers and physique revenants gained through their revival after implanting the BOR Parasite in their corpses.

They can't be changed even after their death. It's like their fingerprint. Their physical constitution will depend on the person's affinity to the parasite and Blood Code. Some will revive with a stronger constitution while others will have better reflexes and dexterity.

What really sets these Halloween weeaboos apart are their Gifts. This is when the blood wizardry shenanigans come in.

Gifts can either be buffs that make your skin hard as a diamond or straight-up casting Amaterasu. Just as your physique, it will depend on your affinity with the BOR Parasite and Blood Code.

But you can't spam such spells all willy-nilly. You will consume Ichor which is a substance created by the BOR Parasite that functions as the mana does for wizards. So it's basically the fuel used to cast Gifts.

Ichor can be replenished by absorbing blood from a fellow revenant or a Lost. You can use blood beads too but since they are scarce nobody does that.

And as for how you can absorb the blood, you use Blood Veils. They are the armor and tools that every revenant uses.

It's like a Swiss army knife.

Offers defensive and offensive capabilities as it has different types of forms it takes. It generally takes the appearance of a cloak or coat form when it's inactive.

They look like just some resistant clothing but they are weapons too. When activated they will take different forms. Hands that become claws, scorpion tails materializing from your back, dog jaws sprouting from your shoulders, and sword-like thorns.

Oh well, enough reviewing info.

I turned to Oliver who just carefully picked up his hammer.

"Any idea how to use blood veils?" He looked away from his hammer, confused but quickly remembered that I basically have no memories.

"Hm, I use it as if my power comes from my heart. Because of the parasite, you know? Mine is a hound blood veil, so I just imagine the Ichor moving from my heart to my shoulders..."

What Oliver demonstrated to me will be a sight that I will never forget in my new immortal life.

The sleeves of the jacket that Oliver wore over his shoulders gained life.

The black stripes on the sleeves turned a vivid crimson while the rest of the cloth became obsidian black tendrils coiling around the former in crossing zigzag patterns.

They constructed together a sort of snake-like limb but the zipper, buttons, and buckles became frames for the skull and the terrifying jaws of the canine heads that took place above his shoulders.

The crimson threads underneath the black tendrils of those feral maws radiated unrelenting brutality.

METAL AS FU*K!!!

I just stood there, completely agape.

Never in my life have I ever needed something so much and never known until I received it.

Is this what it feels like to fall in love?

Just visualizing myself tearing through the Lost hordes with bestial wolf heads over my shoulders biting heads off made me want to jump in joy.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahhsqosldwkdnfnqoqoskwjedb

*WHOM!*

The sound of the savage hounds launching forward and biting nothing but air interrupted my little enlightenment about my newly discovered worldly desires.

"Unfortunately," Oliver began to deliver the hard truth to my little and pure heart devoid of malice. "You can't control them when activated. Their actions are predetermined."

I visibly deflated.

Ah yes, of course!

It was too good to be true!

Although I think I know why their actions are predetermined. I already had a good idea about it before I transmigated to this place. Being here and seeing it by myself has cleared some of those theories.

Ichor is created inside the BOR Parasite and then usually roams freely around the body. The revenant can control the concentration of Ichor inside their bodies and move it around as they please, making the blood veil react.

From the explanation that I was given by Anderson before and Oliver just now, my theory is that they react to Ichor the same way muscle tissue does to electrical signals from the brain.

After all, blood veils are made with blood from the Queen and BOR cells. It's not just armored plating and treated fabric.

Besides, there is only one way for the contractile tissue to respond to an electrical signal… which is to contract!

Big surprise, ain't it?

So, it must be the same for blood veils. They are like a leg that is being shocked to kick. It will bend only one way. And if it happens to bend another way, then it's broken.

With that in mind, I tried to come up with a mental image to activate my blood veil.

I imagined a blue substance moving from my heart to my arms as I flexed the muscles from my pectorals all the way to my forearm. Flexing the tendons in my hands, I felt them getting warmer as a similar occurrence to Oliver's hounds took place.

Obsidian black threads twisted around the crimson cloth that seemed to enlarge underneath it as if trying to escape its jail and run wild. They spread all the way up to my shoulder.

The buttons and protection on the sleeves sharpened and grew large to become claws that could only belong to the king of beasts.

At that moment I realized what Oliver meant by blood veils having predetermined actions. I felt that if I stopped flexing my hand, my arm would launch forward.

And so, I let go and felt my arm swing sideways. Even with the incredibly sharp claws cutting the miasma, a wave of air pressure spread into the area in front of me.

Clearing some of the dust on the floor…

That swing was hard…

"Can you feel the heat on your hand?" I could already guess he was about to unintentionally rain on my parade again before I could even enjoy it.

"Yup," I answered, getting ready to hear the cons of using such an incredible move.

"Overheating of the main blood veins is something you want to avoid. It will deteriorate your blood veil, but that only happens when you fail to acquire Ichor. So as long as you land one hit, it will be fine."

"Noted." I sighed, looking at the sky.

It wasn't as bad as I thought.

Wait, could I climb by using the claw…

No. They are probably ready for such a situation. Besides, they have bayonets AND the high ground.

Anakin lost that hard against someone with the high ground and a sword. Now, what if Obi-wan had a gun and the high ground?

Oh well, time for some action and let loose a little!

I had to stop myself from trying to activate gits and the blood veil in the confinement as the guards would surely be alerted and I would be turned into swiss cheese.

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Word Count: 2,875

Do you listen to Songs or soundtracks when reading?

By soundtracks, I mean music from video games and similar media. Music that is made to go along with a scene, gameplay section, or just story in general instead of being listened to by itself.

Because my phone is FILLED with soundtracks. Just realized that I have a lot of piano melodies too. One of my favorites is Where We Used To be from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Another one is Bpf1 from Blue Exorcist. Composed by Hiroyuki Sawano, the man that has a stroke every time he tries to name something.