Chapter 26: Bloodletting (2)
Ackster hoped he had hit his mark since that meant he would only have to stab himself once.
His target was the major artery in his leg, something that was relatively easy to hit as long as he didn't just scrape the edge of his leg. With that severed, Ackster's blood would quickly start filling up the bathtub and supply the Doppelganger Slime with the blood it needed to perfect its Ackster disguise.
And when he pulled out the knife, Ackster got the answer to his hopes. It was positive. He had struck the artery, and blood spewed forth from his leg like it was a fountain. But even if he had succeeded on the first try, Ackster had a hard time celebrating.
Celebrating for stabbing himself was difficult, to begin with. And it was even more so when that stab had severed a major artery in his leg.
Ordinary humans, both on Earth and Millmeria, the fictional world where the original story takes place, could die within a few moments of having that artery severed. Yet, here Ackster was, having cut it himself and intentionally at that.
It would have been suicidal if it wasn't for the fact that he had done it for the sake of his survival.
But even with the slightly stronger body humans of Millmeria naturally had due to the presence of mana and the slightly more medieval lifestyle they lived, and his skill, Strong Body, Ackster would die if he didn't do something about his bleeding.
So, when he realized he had been wasting time staring at the gushing blood in a trance as if he was surprised at the outcome of stabbing himself in the leg, Ackster grabbed the first plate.
Since his priority was to regenerate blood, he focused on the iron-rich meat dishes since their nutrients would be the most useful. And he needed to start breaking them down as quickly as possible if he didn't want the few minutes he had before he bled out to run out with his blood.
He also had to take into consideration the fact that he would grow dizzy and faint before dying, so he had even less time to eat.
Fortunately, he had gotten used to eating a lot over the last couple of days.
While trying his best to ignore the warm, wet sensation filling the bathtub and the chill already creeping into his bones, Ackster threw piece of meat after piece of meat into his mouth. He had cut them up into smaller pieces for ease of consumption, and he felt that it was a wise decision as he could already feel his vision start to go blurry.
He didn't know how he would have made it if he would've had to waste time cutting apart the meat while he could barely sit upright despite having the bathtub supporting him in three directions and the Doppelganger Slime's legs supporting him in the fourth.
Biting and tearing the meat apart would have also wasted a little time, at least when compared to throwing the morsels straight into his stomach, where they were instantly digested and used to fuel the Strong Body skill's regeneration.
Ackster felt a difference as soon as his healing started taking off, and his vision stabilized a little. But it didn't recover. His vision merely remained as it were, with the edges blurry and dark spots swimming around wherever he looked. But it was better than it continuing to get worse.
Ackster glanced down at the bottom of the tub and saw that his blood had covered it.
His body was still pumping more, but after his blood had filled the bottommost layer, he would need to lose a lot more to fill it up further.
However, even if he lost more now, it would never be enough to fill up the bathtub.
The Doppelganger Slime had already started absorbing the blood through its feet and buttocks. Since its clothes were part of it and its disguise, they weren't in the way. But they did act as clothes dipped in blood, which only showed Ackster how incredible the Doppelganger Slime's ability for disguise was.
Even if someone threw a bucket of water or blood or whatever else on it, the Doppelganger Slime would react like a human with human clothes and human hair would. It wouldn't melt away or start blending with the liquids.
Though if one looked closely, really closely, they might notice the blood disappear into the Doppelganger Slime.
But unlike the hypothetical Doppelganger Slime, Ackster's Doppelganger was nothing but subtle. It was obvious that the liters of blood pouring out of Ackster were entering his duplicate.
Ackster would have been awed by it had he been conscious enough to think about anything but eating the food the kitchen staff had prepared. He briefly thought that it hadn't been enough but quickly realized that wasn't the problem.
Blood wasn't only made of nutrients and things he could get from eating solid food. It was mostly water. That was a part Ackster had forgotten about since he had been so preoccupied with the thoughts of supplementing his blood loss using only Strong Body's regenerative capabilities. He had forgotten that the quickest way to recover from a couple of the side effects of losing tremendous amounts of blood was to consume tremendous amounts of liquid. And since the only liquid that would work that Ackster had nearby except his own blood was water, Ackster made use of the moment his body finally patched up the severed artery to get a bucket from below the bathroom cabinet and fill it with water.
He was happy that the bleeding stopped, and he once again realized how strong his skill was. The severed artery was technically a small cut, but it would have been fatal for most others. Yet, Ackster's Strong Body fixed it in almost no time.
Ackster also understood how the original Ackster's ego had been so inflated. If he had been born with this kind of skill in a world where like the one he was currently in, a world where it was easy to get caught up in one's own small world. No world wide web or unlimited access to literature filled with examples of what happens to people without self-awareness and humility.
If the original Ackster had been properly disciplined, put in his place, and received a hard-working attitude, he would certainly have reached pretty far had he pursued a career in combat. But it was far too late for the original Ackster. Now it was up to the person who had inhabited the original's body to step up and change the fate of the world, at least if he wanted to use this second chance at life to its fullest.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone