Now that they finally got the respite they so rightfully needed, Kazuichi sat down beside Arisu so he could learn more about the strange phenomenon that occurred in his body.

Arisu assured him that the bloating and the sudden spike in power were normal, but this was the first time Kazuichi encountered something like that, that’s why he felt weirded out by it. Obviously, it was a visible change so anyone who witnessed it would start asking questions.

"That’s called a Blood Art," Arisu mentioned. "As I mentioned before, the Hybrid rankings could be divided in Roman Numerals, and the more powerful you are, the greater your Blood Art is. We call it Blood Art, but essentially, it’s just the body utilizing the zombie virus and squeezing out power from it.."

"I see. So... so Blood Art is used to determine the rank of a Hybrid. That’s new. Where did you get all this information? I doubt the news stations still existed." Kazuichi asked, curious as to how Arisu knew more than him when he was the one who spent more time outside.

"Ah, mostly from radios and newcomers to the shelter. Jurou also attends auctions from time to time so he’s updated in a lot of things." Arisu said. "I’m surprised you don’t anything about the Blood Art, but then again, it’s quite a new phenomenon so not a lot of Hybrids are aware of it."

"And Arisu-san can also do this so-called Blood Art?" Tris couldn’t help but ask. After all, she remembered Arisu talking about her Hybrid ranking and she wouldn’t have that unless her Blood Art was existent.

Nodding her head, Arisu casually responded to Tris, much to her surprise. Initially, Tris assumed that Arisu would have a hard time showing off her Blood Art but in essence, she didn’t really care. Besides, she knew that Kazuichi trusts Tris by a lot, and showing what she was capable of wouldn’t hurt her in the long run.

"As mentioned before, the rankings of Hybrid are divided by their Blood Art. I’ll explain later on the known types of Blood Arts so far, but for now, let me show you mine."

Just like what happened to Kazuichi, Arisu’s aura changed as bloodlust leaked out from every pore of her body. A steady low growl could be heard from her throat as she crouched like a mindless hybrid.

Then her eyes turned bloodshot before completely becoming scarlet red in color. She gritted her teeth, smoke seemingly coming out from her body.

That’s when her legs became more slender, more compact. And it continued to get thinner until her thighs looked like streamlined metal, and her calves transformed into hardened red blades. Red veins coursed through the entirety of her body.

Upon transformation, Arisu then reverted to her human form as smoke came out of her body. She panted heavily as if she just sprinted a mile or something along those lines. "I can only transform my calves, which puts me at Hound I level. If I could transform my entire legs and a little bit more, then I’d be put at Hound II."

Arisu went on to intricately explain how the ranking worked. Apparently, a single appendage transformation counts as a level, and since Arisu could only transform half of both her legs, that puts her in an awkward first-level spot. No matter how hard she tried to control the virus in her body, her transformation was only limited to her ankles.

"And that type of transformation... you said there were many types of Blood Arts, right? What type do you ha— or rather, what type do I have?"

"Currently, there are four known types which are pretty self-explanatory: Project, Encompass, Detonate, and Synthesis. It depends on how your Blood Art works. If it helps you with one of those known types, then it falls under that category.

"Mine’s a Project type, which is pretty useful since I’m a Hound. And yours... it probably falls under the Synthesis type, which is pretty rare, granted that everything is actually rare in and of itself."

Quite frankly, Kazuichi had no idea how those four abilities worked, that’s why he continued listening to Arisu as she continued explaining what it does. In the meantime, he began preparing food for everyone. They have the entire day to rest up so there was no need to rush.

"Project Blood Art lets a Hybrid project the virus, transforming an appendage into some sort of weapon. I’ve met a lot of Aberrants who use this ability, but the only thing they do is either transform their hands into a great club or a blade."

"Then there’s Encompass Blood Art, which allows one to cover themselves with an extra layer of defensive protection. Usually, muscles would come out of the skin and cover the body. But the muscles that could be used depended on the level, so the coverage is usually limited if you have a low ranking"

"Detonate Blood Art is just like Project Blood Art, but the only difference was Detonate Blood Art focuses more on agility and speed than offensive power. This blood art allows someone to utilize the virus and make their appendages explosive. Speedy Aberrants usually use this type of power-up, allowing them to dart here and there without difficulty."

"Last but not least, we have the Synthesis Blood Art, which is a combination of two Blood Arts in one. I think that’s what you have, Kazuichi, and you’re probably a Hound IV.... or not? I’m still not sure what type of Hybrid you are, Kazuichi, but we don’t have to sweat out the small details."

"I guess..." Kazuichi trailed off since he was first bitten by one in the past. Then again, he had no idea if he really was a Hound, considering that he had been bitten by other Hybrid types and yet he didn’t turn into a mindless infected.

Now that he thought about it, it seemed like the stronghold leader of the Scarlet Blood Stronghold knew about his peculiar hybrid type. ’I guess I forgot to ask about that, huh.’ Kazuichi said to himself, making a mental note to bring up the topic when they meet again.