Scarlet

This time I set up the portable bath I got from Gramps in my own room, since it’s far better than any baths we have here on Earth. Something that I have Leonidas and his Blood Runes to thank for. And unlike the other times I’ve ascended, I just go right into it, not hesitation one single bit.

[Confirmation received. Ascension to Class V will now begin.]

Then, just like the ascension to Class IV, that extremely uncomfortable and also painful feeling returns. The one where it feels like my body is covered entirely in paper cuts. But unlike with the ascension to Class IV, this time the pain grows more and more and more all the way till it gets close to the amount of pain I felt when I had my reality damaged by that lunatic undead kitsune from before.

I scream until my throat goes hoarse, all while the lovely soundproofing of the bath keeps my voice from anyone in the base. Because unlike on Tartarus where blood lycans are aplenty – at least at the Bloody Duchy – there isn’t anyone at this base that can hear through the soundproofing.

The pain continues on for who knows how long, but thanks to my battle with the lunatic – which wasn’t much of a battle if I’m being honest – I manage to at least think mostly straight through the process. Which goes to show how my pain tolerance is developing.

Not sure if I should be proud of that or not, but meh.

I continue screaming despite my thoughts going on a tangent, trying to distract myself from the pain. And eventually the pain finally fades.

Then it’s replaced by a bone chilling cold that has me stiffening up in the hot bath, feeling like everything around me is nothing but ice. But in just a few seconds, it changes to a boiling heat that has me rushing to turn down the temperature of the water to freezing, only for it to turn bone chilling again. And as I can’t help but feel tears run down my face at this, I rush back and forth, turning the water freezing cold back to boiling hot to combat the feeling.

After who knows how long it eventually ends, leaving me sighing in relief as everything returns to normal.

Is it finally over?

As if mocking me, I suddenly feel a strange sensation begin under my skin that has me raising my bare arms above the water to find it beginning to ripple a little. Then little red pockets appear. And just like when I use blood boil on enemies, little bubbles of blood begin popping all over my skin.

Little bubbles that hurt far more than they really should.

And as if that weren’t enough, the bubbles soon start to explode, sending tiny little droplets of my blood flying to pierce into the walls of the bath around me, literally destroying the walls until the self-repair feature repairs them. But from what I sensed with Blood Manipulation, those droplets of blood continue until they slam into the walls of my room, leaving dents in the heavily enforced walls.

Holy fucking shit those droplets are breaking through Blood Metal and damaging the walls outside of it even after that.

Then the draining sensation starts. Like something is life draining me.

I slowly begin to feel like I’m losing all my energy, leaving me sinking into the bath, unable to move.

And by this point, I just want it all to end.

“Just a little more…” Tar mutters, sounding both scared and worried, and even a bit hopeful right about now.

Everything just stops out of nowhere. All of the bubbles exploding on my skin, the life energy draining, and even the pain. And without missing a beat, I feel my eyes widening as I suck in a breath, seeing black spots appearing over my skin along with purple, green, blue, and practically every sickly color under the damned moon. Then more bubbles start appearing and the life energy draining repeats itself, just with the bubbles exploding to send what I can only assume is plague infested blood everywhere.

“FUCKING HEEEEEELL!!!!” I eventually scream out loud, possibly loud enough for my neighbors in the rooms next door to hear considering the holes repairing themselves in the walls of the soundproof bath.

And all at once, everything stops again, leaving me slumping on the bottom of the bath while panting in exhaustion, my skin returning to normal. At the same time, the anemic and slightly starved look my body was taking on from all of that suddenly reverses as I feel my body filling with energy. Like I’d taken some sort of wonder drug of something.

But I just continue panting in exhaustion despite the energy, even as System Messages appear in my vision.

Ascension complete.

User is now class V.