After being engulfed in blood, my vision went dark, and my mind and thoughts slowed. But I wasn't truly unconscious; it was more like I was in a vegetative state. I was unable to move, speak or even bring up the system screens. Like I was only going to be a silent witness to whatever was to happen next. The two warring bloodlines that had wrestled for dominance over my boy originally had now become one. However, they still seemed to be radiating completely different concepts. At one moment, the energy was freezing cold and acted like it was just waiting to drain me of all my vitality. Then it would switch. Where it now felt as if the energy was as hot as the sun, filling me with an endless surge of vitality.
This new, contradicting energy swarmed into my heart first before spreading from there to all over my body, even up into my head and into my brain. With no sensation over my body, I wasn't aware of the changes taking place, but the moment the energy reached my brain, it felt as if thousands of voices were roaring into my ears. The voices were indistinguishable from each other at the start, but the longer the rambling went on, the more individual voices began to stand out. One voice was that of a young girl. Even though I couldn't understand what language she was speaking, I knew she was clearly venting over something, going by the frustrated tone in her voice. Another was of an aged man, speaking in a much calmer voice than the girl, sounding dignified and upright.
They all spoke different languages, but none that I was familiar with. They rambled on insistently for several minutes, until a voice, more dominant and explosive than the other two, took over. This one I did understand; I even knew who it was. "What have you done, you little bastard!? You've mixed my noble blood with that of one of these disgusting natives. How dare you! If I were still alive, I would rip your head off." Gabriel's gloomy voice raged inside my mind for several minutes before finally petering out in a huff. His final words before going completely silent, sent my calm spectator's heart a flutter, "You'll probably die soon, anyway. Wasting my noble lineage and bloodline heritage. This next part is going to be very painful. Hehe. With no fresh blood to supplement yourself, you're in for a world of despair. Hope you don't go mad too soon, you little shit."
My mind, which was the only thing active in the darkness that surrounded me, felt as if it would explode as a foreboding sense of unease swept over me. I wasn't given long to ponder over Gabriel's deathbed words though, as an intense feeling of pain swept over me. It felt like someone was running razor-blades across my skin and then pouring lemon juice on the exposed flesh. Even though I couldn't see my body, nor control it, I could still feel every part of it. After the feeling of my skin being peeled subsided, a new sensation swept over my body. I could particularly feel as if something was being pumped inside my now exposed flesh and then, like a turbulent river, it swept through my entire being.
My body expanded one minute and then shrank the next. This happened many times. And each time, it was excruciatingly painful. My blood vessels, veins, muscle tissue, everything, absorbed as much of this violent river raging inside me as possible, before bursting. This sent my body into violent shakes, as another river of energy was absorbed into my body that swiftly healed my burst organs, before the other raging river swept over to fill them again. At first, each time I felt an organ go past its limit and break, I thought I was going to die, not only cause of the damaged organ but also because of the severe pain that wracked me. After this happened over ten times, Gabriel's words felt like they were coming true, as my mind began to shut down due to the pain.
If it wasn't for the healing river sweeping through my body straight after a part was damaged, I'm sure I would have already fallen into a comatose state. After this revolving energy flowed through its fifteenth circulation, the subsequent circulations took longer. With my body absorbing more energy for longer before bursting. Which gave my fracturing mind some time to breathe between ruptures. However, to my rising horror, I also noticed that the soothing river of energy began to heal slower and slower as if it were running out of whatever energy it was made up of. Once I reached the nineteenth circulation, and my body reached its limits and burst, the healing energy was nowhere to be seen. My body shook uncontrollably under the pain, while my mind howled in suffering, as a primal need began to take over all other thought.
'Hungry! Ah! I need, need, need! Blood! So Hungry!' A violent maelstrom took over my mind, even though I was wracked with pain, and I felt my body begin the process of absorbing whatever that river of raging energy was for the twentieth time, even with my insides being nothing but mush, this new desperate feeling of hunger was all that filled my mind. My brain became hazy, and before I knew it, some unshakeable will took over my body, as my true mind took a backseat. Even though darkness was still all I could see, I felt my body, which had been doing nothing but revolving in a fetal position, begin to move.
The next few minutes were a weird feeling. As if my body was being auto-piloted, and all I could feel were weird sensations. Besides pain, I could suddenly feel the fresh air tickle my skin when the heavy liquid surrounding my body finally disappeared. Then, there was an ache in my jaw for a moment, as a weird suction force drained something. If I had had my full faculties in that moment, I am sure I would have been terrified of the unknowns happening to me, but I was far too focused on my pain. After the suction force, I felt a new river of soothing feeling run down my throat and sweep through my damaged innards. Finally, bringing some sweet relief to me. This was short- lived, however, as the new cycle of absorption began, this one far stronger than all the others. Luckily, much to my frayed and tattered mind's relief, my insides didn't rupture this time.
As if they had finally had their fill, my expanded body stopped absorbing right at the brink before another suction force brought more healing energy down my throat. This time the energy didn't have anything to heal and instead saturated over the top of my insides, like it was adding a coating of protection. My expanded organs and vessels then began to shrink under this new coating before returning to their original size. After this finished, a wave of intense exhaustion flooded my mind, as if it was originally being forcefully held back and only now that my bodily changes had finished being let free. The darkness that covered my vision was also swept away, and with bleary eyes, the first thing I saw was the face of an emaciated corpse. That looked like it had been left to dry in the sun, like a wrinkled, dried-up prune.
'What in the hell happened to you?' This was the only thought that entered my mind before the darkness swept over me again. This time, however, it was a more natural darkness. A natural function of an overtired body and mind, forcing me to sleep.
Not knowing how much time had passed, my fluttering eyes opened once again to the sight of a corpse lying right next to my own, with even its shriveled face facing mine. Turning away from the horrible sight, I gazed around my surroundings and, much to my relief, I found that I was still inside the church. However, a few things had changed. Although the place was already a wreck, with broken furniture strewn all over the place, it looked like someone had taken another round at destroying it. With even large single slash marks in the stone floor, and the original well-kept red carpet that ran down the center being half shredded at one end.
As I was looking around from my place on the floor, the sight of a familiar horrifying creature's still forms caused me to spring to my feet. 'Ghouls!' With wild eyes, I spun around and saw a second corpse, but after doing several circuits, I heaved a loud sigh upon seeing no other Ghouls in the vicinity. Besides the other dried-up human-looking corpse that was lying in the middle of the shredded carpet, there were only two ghoul corpses. Looking down at the shriveled human corpse at my feet and the ghoul only a couple of feet away, I asked myself, "Mutual destruction? What were they even doing here? And why am I over here and not in the blood pool?"
These questions flooded my mind as I gazed at the scene laid out before me. Oddly enough, the entire blood pole was now nothing but a large hole cut into the ground near the altar of the church. 'Where the hell did all the blood go?' Oddly enough, I also noticed that all the blood, some of which was mine and some of which was from the poor injured knight I had killed earlier, was also gone. Leaving the stone-cold floor spotless besides the dust and debris. Even though the entire situation perplexed me, and my mind was still a little foggy, there was something tickling the back of my brain like I was missing a crucial detail to explain everything.
Looking down in thought, I finally noticed that I was completely naked. Even though the cold air hadn't been affecting me at all, my ingrained sense of propriety still took over. And with a yelp, I covered my privates with my hand and rushed over to the two shriveled-up corpses. Weirdly enough, next to the man, I noticed an assortment of random goods was splayed out as if someone had upended a backpack on the floor. However, there was no backpack in sight. Regardless, none of that mattered at the moment, only the fact that there were several items of clothing among the piles of assorted items. Swiftly grabbing a pair of pants, I attempted to put the shirt on but found to my surprise that it wouldn't fit my shoulders. The thin material split the moment I tried to force it down.
"What the?" Looking down at my chest, I was shocked to find that not only were my little pot belly and love handles gone but it had seemingly been replaced with a set of chiseled abs and muscle-filled pecs. Not only that, but my shoulder width was also enlarged. Glancing over my bare body, I started to breathe repeatedly as I shuddered in excitement. "Lord help me." I muttered as I looked over my arms and legs. My muscle definition wasn't exaggerated like a bodybuilder or some of the genetic soldiers I had seen; it was more like a professional swimmer. Looking streamlined for efficiency.
While gazing at my new body, and feeling a certain vanity fill my mind, as I thought of finally being able to turn some heads when I go out now, my roaming eyes paused at my hands. My hands were a little bigger than before, but I didn't find that surprising as without even measuring I knew I was over six feet now. What did surprise me though was my fingernails. I don't know if I could even call them nails anymore; they were closer to claws. Appearing an inch longer than usual and ending in a sharp point. And to add a cherry on top, they were a deep black, which contrasted greatly with my pale skin. "I guess I'll be wearing gloves when I get back." I muttered. With my odd new nails taking my thoughts away from how muscly I had become, I now looked over the changes with a more critical eye.
Besides my height and muscle density, there didn't appear to be any other changes I could see. My skin looked to be a little paler, but I was already quite pale to begin with so that wasn't a problem. Turning my head to the side, I felt my hair move slightly and tickle my shoulder, which caused me to frown as I gazed at the long black locks streaming past my shoulders. My hair, previously curly and sandy blonde, was now a soft black that, in the shine coming from the large windows, looked closer to a dark red. It was also three times as long as I usually had it and perfectly straight, like I had brushed it only moments ago. "Well, that's certainly going to be hard to explain." Saying so, I thought over the excuses I'll have to conjure for my family. It wasn't too hard to cover my hands and head, but I knew it wasn't a long-term solution.
Moving on from these changes, I took off the already ripped shirt and went over to the other shriveled human corpse. This one also had a pile of items right next to its corpse. Several pieces of clothing were among the pile, and they all appeared to be several sizes larger than the ones found in the other pile. Looking down at the corpse, which looked like nothing but bone wrapped in skin, I guessed this man must have been a rather rotund fella. Putting on the brown cotton long-sleeved shirt, I found that although it was a size too big, it still fit comfortably and appeared to be of a much better quality than the other one.
After sorting out my clothes and seeing I was in no immediate danger for the time being, I took a seat behind one of the pews and addressed the several notifications that had been tickling me ever since awakening. I had to admit that there was one part of me that was excited about what I was about to discover, while there was another that was absolutely terrified. The system notification told me right before engulfing me in the weird blood cocoon that I was undergoing not just a bloodline change but an actual race change. With a deep breath to psyche myself up, I mentally summoned the system notifications.
[Congratulations Lifeform! You have successfully transformed from a Human to a Silverstar Vampire. With a change in your very blood, striding further down the Great Path you will find many of your options now limited; however, those options may lack in variability, but they will make up for it in raw power. Great power always comes with a Great price.]
'Well, that doesn't really set me at ease.' The first notification left me pondering for several seconds, before opening the next.
[New Race - Silverstar Vampire: Silverstar Vampires are the combination of two bloodlines that are antitheses of each other. Vampires, being beings of the night, have a natural vulnerability to solar energy. Silverstar Moon Elves are also beings of the night; however, they derive their power from the solar energy radiated from the moons turning them into natural hunters of necrotic-filled creatures. As a being of both bloodlines, you hold the advantage of the vampires' natural superior strength, agility and increased senses, along with their prodigious regeneration abilities. With the Moon Elf's blood also running through your veins, you are not vulnerable to solar energy; instead, your blood holds a certain amount of solar energy instead. However, you are especially vulnerable to Necrosis-based attacks.]
'So, I'm an elf vampire?' The description of my new race left much to be desired. Leaving me with far more questions than answers. I hoped the next set of notifications would clear up some of my doubt.
[Due to the merging of two higher bloodlines, your Silverstar Vampiric bloodline is the first ever created and has earned you the exclusive Talent Title: Progenitor. System note: Talent Titles do not take up a Talent slot.]
[Talent Title – Progenitor (Unique): A progenitor is the first of its bloodline and will hold a certain sway over future generations. Progenitors will find their natural bloodline talent and skills stronger than acquired or trained skills, and they will also have the chance to conjure more or alter their inherent bloodline powers.]
"Well, butter my biscuits." I couldn't help but speak out loud after reading about my Talent Title. It was simply far too extraordinary. There was so much to unpack in that notification that I was left in a daze as my mind whirled. Especially the part about future generations, I wasn't sure if it meant my literal children or, being a vampire, people I possibly turn in the future. And it also led to thoughts about how much sway I actually had. Could I force them to do things even if they didn't want to? Shaking my head, as I knew none of the answers could be gathered right now, deciding I had to stop procrastinating, I opened the remaining notifications one after the other, to get it all over and done with. I was also acutely aware that reading notifications out in the open and then sitting in a daze in this city filled with monsters wasn't a good idea.