"WHO ARE YOU?"
Minato started walking backward, laughing awkwardly while scratching his head.
Suddenly, a transparent screen with a light red highlight appeared right in front of him.
[DING]
[COMMENCING ETERNITY SYSTEM, SYNCHRONIZATION PROTOCOL]
[ANALYZING HOST AND FAMILIAR'S BOND... 1%... 5%... 15%... 30%... 60%... 90%... 100%]
[ANALYSIS COMPLETED]
[CONGRATULATIONS, THE HOST HAS BEEN GRANTED: THE ETERNITY SYSTEM]
Minato's eyes widened in shock. He could not believe what he was seeing. These were things he usually read about in manhwa, novels, or watched in anime.
[WELCOME TO THE ETERNITY SYSTEM]
[NAME: Minato Katana]
[RACE: HUMAN]
[RANK: F]
[CLASS: SUMMONER]
But before he could sort out his thoughts, the girl's hand passed through the transparent screen and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him off his apartment floor.
"Stranger, I asked you a question... WHO ARE YOU, and what is this place?" She pressed down on his neck with intense force.
"I don't think I have seen you at the main Palace before?...She sniff him... And you don't smell like one of us."
Minato still remained quiet, engulfed by fear as her fingernails pierced through his skin. In a matter of seconds, his eyes started closing, and blood started running down his neck.
[DING]
[WARNING... HOST'S LIFE IN DANGER]
[YOUR FAMILIAR HAS GONE ROGUE. VIOLENCE BETWEEN HOST AND FAMILIAR IS NOT TOLERATED. IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED.]
[INITIALIZING SAFETY PROTOCOLS...]
[SAFETY PROTOCOLS: (1) DISTANCE, (2) SCAN BOND, (3) IMMEDIATE SUBJUGATION]
[SO... WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE, HOST?]
[ACTION REQUIRED: PLEASE SELECT RESPONSE]
Minato shouted out loud, while still in the air... "Immediate subjugation!"
[DING]
[OPTIONS: | RESTRAIN | ELIMINATE]
"Restrain," He murmured with his feet dangling around, almost out of breath.
Instantly, his apartment began to shake violently. The blood from Minato's neck injuries that had spilled on the floor started coming together, twisting into a rope made of blood, restraining her.
Minato staggered backward, holding his neck briefly, his breathing becoming stable.
Then he quickly noticed something strange: the drops of blood left on the floor moved in sync with his hands. Every gesture he made in the moment was being mimicked. It was as if he were a snake charmer.
A chill ran down his head to his feet. "What… the hell is going on…?"
Weirded out by the sudden supernatural events, Minato quickly dropped his hands. At once, the blood collapsed, splattering to the floor, leaving only the girl's restraints.
Suddenly, a knock came from his apartment door. Minato quickly rushed and grabbed a towel, and cleaned his bleeding neck, tossing it aside. He went for the door, carefully opening it sideways.
"Good evening, Neighbor, how can I help you?" Minato exclaimed, forcing on a fake smile.
"Good evening, my ass! Because of all the noise coming from your apartment, I can't seem to sleep. Can't you see that it is 1 am in the morning?" While the neighbor was shouting at Minato, saliva was flying out in all directions.
BANG... BANG...
"Did you hear that?" The neighbor asked while trying to look inside his apartment...
Minato quickly blocked his view, smiling awkwardly... "Haha, yes, it's my cat...haha... It's hungry, so I decided to give it a late-night snack, so if you would excuse me, I would like to continue feeding it."
The Neighbor nodded... "It's okay, I understand, having pets is tough, but try and be a bit more careful."
Minato bowed and immediately closed the door, locking all the deadbolts.
He leaned his back on the doorframe, exhaling for a few minutes, before he finally stood upright.
Minato didn't know what to do with this whole magical situation. Instead, he turned his back and walked calmly into the kitchen, and dragged his small plastic chair across the floor.
He set it down in the opposite direction from her and slowly sat down, not timidly, but with confidence. Her red eyes locked onto his, not an ounce of fear in them, unblinking, steady.
The girl knelt down with the blood rope all around her body, magnifying her curves. Her breath was uneven, and her clothes were faintly stained with blood.
Minato then took a brief exhale...
"Listen, lady, I know all this is confusing to you, but please understand, even I myself don't know what is going on," he exclaimed truthfully, but she remained quiet.
Her red eyes were fixated on him without blinking for a second. The silence between them stretched for close to a minute, awkward and uncomfortable.
Minato scratched the back of his head nervously.
"Look… I didn't even mean to summon you here. I was just… reading a weird book that I got from an old woman. That's all."
Finally, she tilted her head slightly, her expression unreadable.
"... Stranger, can I ask you a question. Is that okay?"
Minato cleared his throat and sat upright, glad he was making progress in the conversation. "Sure, why not?"
"First, unhand me, this position I am in, is not befitting of a princess." She exclaimed while lowering her head.
"Princess?"
[DING]
[FAMILIAR... CONDITIONS MET]
[RELEASE AUTHORIZATION AVAILABLE]
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO RELEASE HER?]
[OPTIONS: YES / NO]
For a brief moment, Minato instinctively thought about freeing her. The way she looked at him...so vulnerable...made him hesitate, but he knew he had to stay logical. What if she decided to attack again? The weird system might intervene, but he just couldn't take that risk, not while his life is on the line...
"If I let you go, would you promise me that you would not attack me?"
"Yes," she murmured, biting her lips.
"Uh-oh... Your body language is not convincing." Minato added, narrowing his eyelids. "Swear with your life."
"How dare you... "
"Listen." Minato cut her off... "The quicker you do this, the quicker we figure out this situation together."
"So I would ask you again, would you like to swear with your life that you would not lay a finger on me?"
She swallowed and paused for a few seconds, measuring her win-to-loss ratio before nodding, "Yes."
"Then do it."
"I, Amelia Alexander Earhart, swear with my existence… that I will not harm you."
Minato smiled and then clicked the yes button, immediately releasing her.
[DING]
[CONGRATULATIONS, HOST]
[YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY SUBDUED: THE THIRD DAUGHTER OF THE DEMON LORD OF DAMNATION]
[YOU HAVE UNLOCKED THE PATH OF DOMINANCE]
[TITLE: VAMPIRE MASTER]
Minato blinked rapidly.
"...Wait... what?"
[THE ETERNITY SYSTEM]
[NAME: Minato Katana]
[RACE: HUMAN/VAMPIRE]
[RANK: E]
[CLASS: SUMMONER]