3 More Fighting

Battlefields. Full of so many people that one extra person didn't draw any attention.

Even if that person was a 13-year-old. Though I guess at first glance I did just look like a short man. Turns out the system can give me measurements of my body. When I asked for my height, I got the answer 171cm.

But any close looks at my face should show I was a kid. I'd seen my reflection in a puddle and apart from not really being able to make out anything other than my facial features, I could tell that I looked as young as I was.

I knew my hair was somewhat grey but it looked kinda silver-ish as well. But I couldn't make out my eye color. Well, I could tell it wasn't blue or brown. Maybe a green? I don't know. Puddles aren't the best mirrors, honestly. Neither did I feel the need to spend time on something that felt so useless to me right now.

I was in 5th century England. My appearance didn't really matter.

I tore to my left, impaling a man right through his chain mail.

...These claws are pretty good, huh?

Impaling him, I brought him up and to the right of me, blocking another volley of arrows. Once the coast was clear, I swung him forward, letting go of my grip and letting him rocket forward.

Anyway, it'd been a few weeks since I came here. Time honestly moved pretty quickly when the only thing you ever did was fight. Battlefield to battlefield. Fight to fight. Kill to kill. That's how I spent my last few weeks, as you might have expected. And the rewards were quite high.

Feeling the air behind me slowly becoming uneasy, I ducked down just in time for an crossbow bolt to fly over where my head would have been. Looking over my shoulder, I saw a hooded figure and I couldn't resist the hiss that came from my mouth.

These fucking bastards again. Absolute pricks just won't leave little ol' me alone.

Spinning around, I began to charge at him as the man's repeater crossbow - which was very, very ahead of it's time - began to start spinning before spitting out bolt after bolt at me.

After a few run-ins with these guys, I was practically used to their tactics by now. I raised my arms up, covering my head while letting the rest of the bolts to hit my torso. A few hit my arms, bursting through them in spurts of blood and gore but I pushed through it. I'd experienced a lot of pain like this over the past few weeks so this much didn't bother me anymore.

I could've dodged the bolts. But on a muddy battlefield, throwing yourself about...well, it's pretty stupid. Even with my balance, I'd probably slip up once or twice and that'd end up in a headshot.

It wouldn't kill me. But it would knock me out until my blood melted away at the bolt.

Oh, yeah, I did have acidic blood like the Xenomorphs but due to my age and how I was practically a Chestburster when compared to full-grown Xenomorphs, my blood wasn't as acidic as it could be.

Like, it doesn't even burn through metal. It erodes at it, very slowly, but going through wood is very possible if given a few minutes.

Though, those few minutes have allow me to find myself in a box, in a sack and burning on top of a fire. None of which were fun. Especially the latter. Being burned to death when you have a healing factor is honest to god the worst pain I've felt so far in this new life.

After I escaped that ordeal by killing everything within a few hundred meters - gotta get some more control over that instinctive rage - I calmed down and began to ask my system why, despite having four pretty strong bloodlines, I was still so weak.

I got my answer in a pretty round-a-bout way but let's keep it simple:

My four bloodlines are like oil and water - they don't mix. So, right now, despite my genetic prestige, I'm not living up to my full potential. I'd still be heads and shoulders above the common man when I'm fully grown but when compared to the real powerhouses of the MCU? I'd be weak as hell.

But, fret not, the system gave me a solution to my problems. Fight. Every fight would help calibrate my bloodlines and bring them closer into sync/alignment.

The more they were brought into sync, the more traits I would show and the stronger I would become.

Yet before any of that came to fruition, I had to deal with this guy in front of me.

By now I was in striking range of him but he pulled out a pouch before swiping it in my direction. The opening for bag cracked open and a cloud of silvery dust came out of it, blanketing me and getting in my mouth.

"Ack--" I coughed, feeling the metallic taste on my tongue before I swiped through the cloud, "Is that fucking silver?!" I gave a shout before dodging under the mace strike sent at me.

These guys call themselves the...God it's such a cliche name...the Brotherhood of Man. And they hunt supernatural creatures - which they seem to think I am.

"How are you still alive, Vampire?" the man asked in a thick yet posh English accent, his mouth which was the only thing shown of his face, turning downward into a harsh frown. He spun his mace around, using the momentum of his earlier strike to get off a backhand strike that curled the air around the metal mace head that looked both remarkably heavy and sharp.

Oh and these guys are incredible strong for humans. Like, we're talking peak human in everything.

I dodged under the strike, however, making it look too easy. My precognition is very helpful when I'm up against strong opponents. Though it isn't really precognition in the sense that I know exactly what they're going to do.

I can just see the potential actions they can currently do and every subtle muscle twitch and movement narrows down what they're about to do.

Basically, it isn't me seeing into the future but instead seeing possibilities.

The man had obviously put too much strength into that strike, so his mace carried him to the right a little too much, which gave me enough time to get a slash in. I'd have tried punching him but they wear some pretty impact absorbent armor - any punches I can currently do would do nothing but hurt him without causing any injuries.

On the other hand, my claws had no problem cutting through the armor and leaving a long and deep gash on the man's side.

Bringing my hand back, I flicked off the blood before looking at the man who was suddenly incredibly pale, "Because I'm not a Vampire, you dimwit," I said before I charged at him, jumping onto him and using my shorter height to my advantage as I kept myself close enough for his attacks to be ineffective while staying far away enough from him that my attacks were effective.

He thrashed, trying to get me off of him but like all the others, he was physically strong but when his bag of tricks failed on him, he was just another strong human. And humans have a hell of a lot of weak points.

These guys gave me a few problems the first few times I ran into them or they ran into me but like I said, I'd figured out how to fight them after those bad experiences.

I was ever learning and ever adapting. Fight me once and you might have a chance. Fight me a second time and you're more than screwed. If you still come back after that...well, I pity the fool who thinks third time's the charm with me.

Smirking at my own little joke, I preceded to rip out the man's throat but by this point, he was already in shock from the severe head trauma so he fell to the floor without much of a hassle.

[Bloodline calibration underway...]

Oh~!?

Another one of those, huh? Well, growing stronger is always fun. I'd undergone this once before and it was when I gained a single percentage in the alignment of my bloodlines.

I could only assume it would be another percentage.

I felt my muscles thrum and my bones began to vibrate as I felt something moving underneath my skin, fusing itself with the deep layers of my skin. It felt like armor under my skin. No doubt from my Xenomorph bloodline.

A wave of heat flushed through me and I felt my muscles re-organize themselves in such a way that was relaxing instead of painful like you'd think it would be. I felt my bones slowly expanding and thickening, in something that felt more odd than painful, before they came to a stop and I felt a new wave of enriched blood flow into my body. This was no doubt from my Hanma and Fanalis bloodlines.

My Guts bloodline didn't do much for me, physically, because while Guts was especially strong in the Berserk universe when compared to other humans, he just wasn't that strong compared to the Hanma's or the Fanalis let alone the Xenomorphs.

What I did feel change, however, was my mentality. Like my mind was a wooden shack that would be blown down by the slightest horror or inconvenience but after this calibration, it was now made of stronger wood.

I felt more determined. Slightly more level-headed. But I also felt the usual simmering fury inside of myself. It was just more tightly controlled. I felt like I could actually let out some of that hatred and anger and actually be able to control myself. More than usual, at least. I also felt like if I let it out, I'd gain a boost to my power.

Nice.

After a few dozens of seconds uninterrupted - lucky me - I felt my muscles settle down in new ways, being stronger and more effective at their jobs.

Flexing my hand and doing a small bit of stretching, cracks and pops rang throughout my body as I let out a satisfied laugh.

Status.

[Name: Gabriel]

[Age: 13]

[Race: ??? (Bloodline Alignment: 2%)]

[Power: 3.3]

[Physique: 11.6]

[Control: 3.1]

Ahh~ Progression in strength truly does feel amazing. Now I understand why every one in Baki keeps training and striving to be stronger. It feels so intoxicating!

Feeling like now was as best a time as any, I closed my status and let loose a little of simmering rage inside of my mind. Instantly, a blast of energy filled me, signifying that I'd started to release adrenaline into my body. Something clicked inside of me and I let out a snarl before chuckling, "Well...doesn't this just feel dandy?" I asked to no one in particular before I rushed into the nearest group in front of me.

I felt a boundless power inside each of my muscles and I was ready to test just how boundless it was.

. . .

I think I've finally tested myself enough.

Even if I thought otherwise, I don't see anyone near me to test my strength against. Everyone is gone from this battlefield. I got a small bit carried away and they all ran off screaming about a grey demon.

Talk about overreactions, right? Though, I must admit that it was clever of them to leave. I was really on a role toward the end and while I didn't have the necessary bulk stats in Power or Control to take on an army, my healing factor practically gave me unlimited stamina and whatever injuries I took healed within seconds.

So, it was a game of attrition. One that I won.

*Grumble*

...Hm. I guess it's that time of the week again. Food eating time. There should be a town nearby, right? Just have to steal a few domesticated animals. A few pigs. Maybe a cow or two?

Thinking about it, I haven't had bacon or a steak in a while. I usually just eat the flesh raw seeing as my new digestive tract can handle it. Maybe I should try my hand at cooking now that I have some time.

And with that, I got up off the small hill of corpses I'd made, like a throne, and began walking in the direction of the nearest lake.

I needed to wash up before eating. I'm a half-human not a no-mannered beast, after all.

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