Seeing no other way but to put his faith in the system's non-existent hands, Ashton turned off the werewolf genes as he was told to. This was the first time since his awakening that he had turned the genes off, thus he felt a bit uncomfortable.
After all, how the heck was he supposed to fight two level 10 Bloodsuckers with the help of two level zero genes? No matter how he thought about it, the system's plan was flawed. At least that's how it seemed to his pea brain.
'Desperate times indeed call for desperate measures... but this is too much.'
Ashton did not know what the system was trying to accomplish by putting him in more danger. With the werewolf feet gone, his speed was reduced drastically. There was no way he would be able to dodge their attacks if they went all-out now.
In the meantime, the Bloodsuckers could also see the physical changes in their opponents' anatomy. Vampires were known to be great at shifting shapes, but they could never change their form into a different species. They only had three states they could transform into, Humanoid form, True form and their bestial form which was often a large bat.
'I need to put an end to whatever this miserable creature is... If I don't then I have a feeling it will get too strong for anyone to control.' Jacob communicated with Mera using their bond link.
'Don't even think about it, Jacob! We have come so close and I'm not going to give up this opportunity for your false sense of loyalty towards the countess!'
'It is not about the countess anymore! Can't you see for yourself? If we let this kid live, he might as well end up killing everything in his path. It's better to nip him while he is a bud than to let him grow into a monstrous fly trap!'
Thanks to their arguing, it gave Ashton enough time to witness the wonder the system was trying to pull off.
'The hell is this...' Ashton's mouth fell open when he read the blinking information in front of him.
[Genes in use: Undead & Vampire.]
[Unique Gene Combination acquired! The combination has been registered in the system. You can not access this form quicker and painlessly.]
[Type: Undead Rhapsody: Automatically activates when genes of only undead creatures are present inside a host's body. Provides bonus boosts to the host and increases their performance during battle.]
[Drawback: This state should not be maintained for long durations of time. If done so, the body of the host might suffer through burnout. If the state is forcefully maintained after a certain period of time, then the body might end up receiving permanent damage as well.]
All of a sudden, Ashton could feel weird coldness wrap his body up. He had gotten used to living with the warm body of a werewolf thus the sudden coldness in his skin took him by surprise. However, the coldness did not make him uncomfortable in any way, in fact, he felt relaxed like he had never before. His eyes also turned into the deepest shade of crimson that was possible.
[Your stats have been boosted as an effect achieving a new gene combination never seen before.]
[You are recommended to assume this form for 2 minutes only. Any more than that and your body will start suffering through burnout.]
By this time Jacob and Mera were done arguing amongst each other. Thye would have gained more power if they could feed on a living target, but at this point, it was clear to them that won't be happening. The best bet was to kill the kid and consume his blood instantly.
Because, unlike werewolves and humans, the undead creatures like Vampires did not rot from outside. They start rotting from the inside which meant their blood vessels were the first things to rot before anything else and this process was instantaneous.
The moment a killing blow was delivered to a vampire, the body starts destroying itself. It was an evolutionary trait and it was thanks to this trait that none of the other species was able to know much about them. This trait was called 'The Coffin' amongst their kind.
However, it had its downside as well. Countless vampires had lost their lives when they could have been saved using a pro[er care and attention. However, the thing that truly made the coffin a double-edged sword was that its trigger was not dependent on physical injuries only.
For example, while fighting their archnemesis, the Zombies, they had to be extremely careful. If zombies' fluids somehow entered the body of the low-grade vampires, their last defence mechanism would get triggered and they would die in a matter of seconds.
The fluids could be anything, the saliva from a bite or blood from a scratch. However, generally, vampires having a grade lower than C, and levels below 25 were susceptible to this false activation of the 'Coffin'.
Vampires having higher grades than stated above, did not have the Coffin activate upon coming in contact with the bodily fluids of zombies. But even they might suffer through hellish pain which sometimes made death a better choice.
'I will kill the kid and let Mera consume the blood if she wants. I have no interest in doing that.' Jacob thought to himself and charged straight towards Ashton, ready to slash his head off his shoulders, 'Die now!'
Jacob swung his swords with all his might, however, the blades did not touch Ashton even though Jacob had completed his swing.
He looked in front of him but the kid wasn't there. The following moment he heard a scream he did not think he would hear ever again.. It was his own scream as a hole was punched through his stomach.