Ouuch!!
He winced from the intense pain.
Akhil felt his proboscis recoil from the impact.
It felt like a needle hammered straight into a metallic bar.
His body trembled.
This pain, it was real.
He could feel it in every nerve, every fibre of his small frame.
It spread instantly like a wave.
It took a moment to regain his composure.
He flew back to his target’s neck, resting on it.
He gently shifted the hairs to the side.
And then he spat on the spot to soften the skin.
’Now I know better,’ he thought to himself.
He was previously so excited that he had forgotten all the procedures.
Now he could finally achieve his mission!
Akhil’s eyes lit up with excitement as he stabbed his needle-like proboscis into the softened skin.
But he felt it stick there.
There was a resistance.
’What the hell is this? When did human skin become so tough?’ Akhil thought, rather confused.
He was sure he didn’t make any mistakes, so why was it still so hard to get some blood?
It felt like he stabbed a kitchen knife into a tree trunk.
It was in, but not enough to get the blood.
He could feel the veins just beneath.
They weren’t far, they were right there.
Within reach. Yet still so far.
He could feel the rush under the skin.
He could feel the warmth of the blood, streaming through his target’s veins.
He didn’t know if it was the innate feeling of this species.
But there was a thrill, an excitement just knowing that the blood was within reach.
His round eyes were completely fixed on the target.
’Just a little more... a bit more.’
He kept pushing, stabbing deeper.
And deeper.
Until he felt it.
The gush of warm blood just below his syringe-like mouth.
’Finally!’ A feeling of triumph welled up inside him.
He sucked greedily, taking as much as he could.
He felt the warm blood flow into his own body.
’What’s this?’ Akhil thought to himself, a strange feeling of satisfaction washing over him.
The taste was magnificent!
Unlike anything he had ever tasted, even as a human.
He didn’t know why.
But the warm feeling left him wanting more.
He kept sucking, and then the system notification blinked into existence in front of him.
{O+ blood essence!}
{Strength +2}
{Lifespan has increased significantly}
Akhil could feel his muscles tighten.
He could feel his proboscis dig deeper into the thick flesh with seamless ease.
It wasn’t just words from the system.
He could feel it—he had become significantly stronger than before.
’Can I activate my abilities now?’ Akhil’s thoughts quickly went back to his abilities.
It was finally time to see if the skill worked.
{Gene absorption!}
Instantly, he felt a different surge of energy flowing through his body.
It was within the warm blood, but he could tell that there was something different.
There was a different taste...
And before he could fully grasp the strange sensation, a tremendous pain tore through his body.
He wanted to scream.
But no words came out.
His muscles ached terribly.
His vision turned into a blurry mess.
The red and yellow lines seemed to join together.
But slowly, he began to regain clarity as his vision returned to normal.
{Level 2 Beast Gene absorbed}
{Race: Orc}
{1 Day}
While he was still staring at the flurry of notifications from the system, he felt the subtle yet noticeable shift in the air.
"What the heck is that?" Nibo asked, feeling the stinging pain at the back of his nape.
He instinctively shifted his hand, moving with a blur as he reached out.
Akhil could sense the subtle waves in the air and quickly turned his gaze to the source of the vibration.
He could see the large red pattern coming straight for him.
’Shit! An attack!’ Akhil panicked.
His muscles and body still weak from using his abilities, he used all his strength to push himself up.
Dragging out his needle from his target’s neck, he looked at the incoming attack—the hand was already terribly close.
’Shit, shit!’
Akhil mustered all the energy he could, flapping his tiny wings as fast as he could.
He flew straight out of the way.
And just as he did, he sensed the vibration in the air as the hand slapped onto the nape with brute force.
PA!
The sheer impact from the force sent out a powerful wave that pushed him through the air.
Force like that would have turned him to meat paste in seconds.
He took several minutes to finally control his flight.
’Heck, that was close!’ Akhil thought to himself, letting out a sigh of relief.
He had finally succeeded on his first mission.
But there was one issue.
’Why didn’t my ability work?’ Akhil thought angrily.
Not only had he been put in the worst situation ever, his ability that was supposed to bring him out of the deadly predicament was utterly useless.
When he saw the ability, he had some sort of hope.
Now he just realized how bad his luck was.
’How the hell am I meant to survive as a mosquito in this new reality!’
Akhil was frustrated. While everyone had re-engineered, getting new skills and insane abilities, he was stuck as a mosquito.
Heck, it would’ve been better if he just turned into one of the mindless beasts.
He looked at the system’s notification again, just to be sure he wasn’t seeing things.
However, it still appeared that way, but he also noticed something he had failed to notice the first time.
{1 Day}
’A day for what?’ Akhil pondered, his thoughts churning.
But just as he was thinking of what that could possibly mean, his antennae stood tall, sensing the dangerous presence around him.
Akhil moved instantly, barely dodging the clap by a hair’s breadth.
’What the?’
"You little pest! Come here!" Nibo roared as he chased after the little mosquito.
Akhil steered through the air, dodging the attacks by a wisp.
He felt invisible tears well up in his eyes.
"Come on! It was only a little blood!"