2023-06-23 20:54:33[More Than a Week Ago]
[Vancorg Tribe][Edwin’s and Jimmy’s Birthday][Midnight]***Jimmy was being carried strapped to a woman’s chest. Even as the woman ran from the unknown danger, she brushed his hair, all the while murmuring, “It’s going to be alright, Gav. I’ll protect you. I’ll keep you safe.”A sudden force struck them, and Gav—or was he Jimmy, felt a burning pain in his head. The world spun around him. Jimmy could feel his mind slipping away. Something… shifted. Jimmy-Gav found himself sprawled on the ground, his head throbbing, barely conscious. A woman with blonde hair and red eyes placed a red spherical stone the size of a thumbnail in his chest and backed away.There was a flash of red and a roaring sound. Jimmy fell into the world of shearing pain as if thousands of burning needles were pressing against his skin—every part of his skin. The pain kept on rising and rising and rising. The sharp burning pain seeped into his sinew, his bones, and the marrow till it ripped his soul apart. He wanted to howl, to move, to do something—but nothing worked. Why must he suffer pain, so much pain? He Just wanted it to stop. Better death than such pain.Jimmy bolted upright in his bed, screaming. He threw the blankets away, gasping, hands on his chest. Sweat beaded in every inch of him, they slithered down his body like a cold reminder of his terrors. His heart hammered like thunder. That was one of the worst nightmares that haunted his life. It was so vivid, so real. Jimmy shivered. It had nothing to do with the icy wind of the night.Jimmy looked around, frantic, just to make sure he was in his room.Safe! His room was mostly empty. There was only a bed next to a window, a small closet, and a table, nothing more. Jimmy looked outside the window. The moon was still up, showering the world with its ambient purple light. The ever-present throbbing head and distant yet perpetual tone in his ears greeted him. It never went away. After all these years, Jimmy had become used to it. It still hurt like hell, though.
An emotionless, unfamiliar, mechanical voice sounded in Jimmy’s head.[Booting System]“Who is there?” Jimmy Jumped at the strange voice. Well, at least he tried to. Some unseen force rooted him into the place. He couldn’t even move his finger. He should be panicking, but something strange washed over him, soothing his emotions.[System Online.][System Error!][Error Code—E07-1134: Insufficient power supply! Shutting down most functions of the system.][Congratulations! You are now the host of the Blood Heart System.][Good luck with your advancement!][PS: Please do your best to survive! The creators sacrificed a lot to develop this system.][New Quests Available: Open the Quests menu for more details.]The voices in his mind stopped, and Jimmy gained back the freedom of his body. He flexed his shoulder just to make sure he could move again.A Red, transparent thing like a glass window appeared in front of his eyes, hovering in the air. Jimmy tried to touch the thing, but his hand went right through it. As if it was the most natural thing in the world, he was unperturbed about it. He just couldn’t understand it. Jimmy read the writings in the glass thingy. They were the same information he had just heard.[Information: The window in front of the host is called a Screen. For more information, please think of the command ‘User Manual.’]Jimmy did so.The information on the screen in front of him changed. The first information was about how to use the system with simple thought commands. Then it went on about the detailed information on various menus and how to switch between them. It took Jimmy almost four hours just to understand everything. He knew there were seven menus; Profile, Inventory, Quests, Shop, Legacies, Notifications, and User Manual. He learned how to open and close the screen and switch between the menus—he just had to think about them with intent. The menus; Shop, Inventory, and Legacies were locked. He couldn’t open them.‘Why am I not affected? Why am I not freaking out?’[Information: The system is suppressing all the emotions related to Blood Heart System, to help the host cope with it.]“Oh!”Already forgetting about his questions, Jimmy willed the system to open his profile.[Name: Jimmy Wright][Race: Vampire Soul/Human Body (Quest Available)][Spirit: None][Spirit Ability: None][Soul Status: Damaged By 0.001% (Quest Available)][Greater Relm: Foundation][Lesser Relm: Ordinary (Not Advanced)][Relm Stage: None][Advancement Progress: 0/0 (Cannot Advance)][Core: Blood (Red)][Core Level: 5 (Max.)][HP: 7][Strength: 9][Agility: 15][Stamania: 5][Healing Factor: 1HP/Hour (Self)—1HP (Per minute)/1ml Blood][Drogen: Not Available (Requirements Not Met)]After skimming through his profile, Jimmy stitched to his quest menu.[Quest 1: Cultivate 3 ordinary level blood cores to heal the damage to your soul. Reward: 5 stamina points.][Quest 2: Cultivate 3 ordinary level blood cores to become a full vampire. Reward: 3 Strength points. (Complete Quest 1 to unlock the quest.)]After Jimmy read the second quest, a ding sounded in his mind. A third quest appeared on the screen. He also heard the quest.[Quest 3: An energy source has been detected. Travel east to reach the location of the energy source. Reward: 3 HP.]The first two quests were well enough, now that he and his brother were 15. His brother could hunt blood creatures and collect the blood cores for him. Jimmy wasn’t much of a fighter. Edwin had taught him how to use weapons, but he wasn’t confident in them. The third quest, however, was a death sentence. He would never survive outside the walls of the tribe. There was no way he could ever complete the third quest.Jimmy Couldn’t go back to sleep, now. It was almost dawn. So, Jimmy waited. After some time, a knock came at his door. The knock was rhythmic and gentle, but demanding.“It is time, Young Master.” That was Thom Smith, Jimmy’s blacksmith master, who had been training him for the past seven years.Jimmy opened the door. The deep brown and bald figure of his master greeted him. His master was a giant of a man with chiselled muscles in contrast to Jimmy, who was scrawny and sickly for a blacksmith. Something was preventing Jimmy from having a proper figure as a blacksmith, even after seven years of sweaty work in the smithy.After exchanging a few stuttering pleasantries with his master, Jimmy followed him to the smithy. A voice sounded in his mind even as he followed his master.[An energy source has been detected. Travel east to reach the location of the energy source. Reward: 3 HP.]It was the same notification of the third quest given by the system. Jimmy Ignored It.
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The Drogen's Law I am Gav (Jimmy)
In the smithy, Jimmy removed the bar of metal from the furnace, which was glowing with the proper heat. He placed the bar on an anvil and worked, ignoring everyone else in the room. He hammered the metal bar, producing sparks with each strike. This was Jimmy's escape from reality—from pain—this was his sanctuary. The sounds of metals, the sparks like shooting stars, gave him peace. They protected him from the constant ringing in his ears, the never-ending pain in his head. Today, however, was different. Blacksmithing couldn't protect him today. For there was a different sound ringing in his head. [An energy source has been detected. Travel east to reach the location of the energy source. Reward: 3 HP.] With each sound of the hammer, the voice in his mind only got even louder, giving him a splitting headache. The constant ringing notification in his mind was buzzing like bees and was so loud that every other sound in the room was like a distant whisper—an echo. It was hard to focus.
The Drogen's Law Wendigo (Edwin)
Edwin’s eyes popped open. The worried face of Chris greeted him.“Oh! Thank god you are alright,” Chris said, sighing in relief. “You are alright. Right?”Edwin just looked at her mesmerizing face before answering. “O-yeah, yeah, I’m good. I’m alright. I can dance a jig if you want proof.”Chris cryishly laughed, wiping the drop of tears from her eyes. “There is no need for that. You are a disaster when you dance.”Edwin just grinned at her. His radiant face fell when he remembered his brother dropping like a sack of potatoes after emitting a flash of red from his body.“Chris, how is Jimmy? Where is he?”Edwin looked around, frantic. He was inside a tent, lit by an oil lantern. There was no sign of Jimmy.“He is fine, Edwin. A few drops of my blood did the trick.”It was Edwin’s turn to sigh in relief.“I think..” Chris hesitated just a tad before continuing on. “I think your brother is going mad. That red light must have done something to his mind. He is seeing things, hearing them.
The Drogen's Law Killing The Windigos (Edwin-Chris-Edwin)
Edwin looked around, inspecting each wendigo—trying to determine the best course of action. But everything happened so fact, he didn't even have time to think. The larger wendigos caught him by the shoulder and tossed him away like an unwanted toy. He slammed into a tree, which knocked him out for a few seconds. When he came to, he saw Jimmy was on the ground, unconscious. Chris was protecting Jimmy—clashing against all seven of them. Edwin didn't believe she could have fought them all with unarmed hands and feet—though barely—if not for the green spirit armour she was wearing. The spirit armour was indeed amazing. She fought like a beast. She sometimes avoided them, sometimes defended against them—never letting a single beast get too close to Jimmy. 'She will not last long with this guerilla tactic of her. She will be overwhelmed soon. I have to do something—ease the pressure on her.' While Chris was keeping them busy, he could deal with them one by one. Edwin produced two daggers
The Drogen's Law Killing the Epic-Level Wendigo (Chris-Edwin)
Chris looked above the ash of the two wendigos—a thin layer of golden mist was swirling there. She took in the power of the golden mist into herself as she had done with the red mist. She turned towards the last surviving ordinary-level wendigo and released the power that was churning within her at it—her hands upraised. The ball of fire erupting from her hands struck it and incinerated the monster. She had expected the fire as gold was the colour of fire affinity—thankfully she wasn't wrong. She turned, looking at Edwin, who was engaged in combat with an elementary-level wendigo. She squinted her eyes as she saw the battle between them. Something was wrong. It was just an elementary-level Wendigo. She knew Edwin's skill with his sword—why could it parry Edwin's sword so easily? She looked closer at Windigo and, to her horror; it had red markings along its black fur. It was an epic-level Wendigo. Sparks flew everywhere as Edwin Struck at the beast who blocked every one of his attacks
The Drogen's Law The Bonding Day (Linden)
Linden stood in front of the mirror. A "servant boy" named Tim draped a green cloak with a symbol of golden wings over his shoulder. His coal-black hair complemented his pale complexion. He had deep red eyes and sharp jaws. Lindon wore a green and gold coat and pants of a similar color. A golden wing-shaped broach was strapped to his chest. Again, he wore a brownish-gold belt with a wings-shaped buckle. A sword hung on his hips, and a knife was strapped to the back of the belt. All in all—Lindon hated it. The clothes were ostentatious and taxing to the eyes. Whoever designed the formal attire for the Aether tribe must have done it during a fit of madness. He wished he could go back in time and murder the person. His hatred for the ceremonial clothes aside, he was ready for the ceremony. He could barely make himself stop fidgeting. "Is there anything else you need, young master?" Tim said. Everyone may think that Tim was nothing more than just a servant, but he had a bigger role to p
The Drogen's Law Fate (Linden)
The crack in the air spread like a hammered mirror. The crack bulged towards Lindon. A pair of small, glowing white hands emerged from the bulging crack. The two hands tore the very fabric of reality apart. An oval-shaped hole hung in the air that led to eternal darkness. A translucent white female spirit stepped out of the hole in reality. The spirit was no bigger than Lindon's palm, but she had a human figure even though she mildly glowed with white light. Lindon let out a breath he had been holding for who knows how long. He couldn't help but tremble. A spirit had accepted his summons even though it took its blue moon. 'Thank the heavens.' The spirit wore something like a shirt and skirt, made from, it seemed—her own essence. His spirit was beautiful, even if she was slow. Why did she have to wait so long before accepting his summons? Lindon felt a tinge of anger brewing within him. He didn't want to be petulant, but he couldn't help it. He had been so scared for a minute there.
The Drogen's Law Becoming A Full Vampire (Jimmy)
Jimmy opened his eyes, feeling like he was the most useless being in the world. He saw two familiar faces of Edwin and Chris smiling at him. His sour mood turned into a happy one as soon as he saw their smile, forgetting why he was feeling sour in the first place.“Welcome back to the land of the living, Jimmy,” his brother said.“I’m glad you are okay, Jimmy,” Chris said right behind his brother.Jimmy just grinned at them. Edwin's smile suddenly faded. Jimmy knew what that meant, Edwin was going to say something to him that would make him feel very uncomfortable.“Jimmy, I know you don’t like being confronted, but I really, really need you to answer this one question truthfully.”Jimmy gulped, gritting his teeth. He clasped his hand together to prevent them from shaking. Even though he was not confident, he wanted to feign confidence in front of Edwin and Chris.“Who is Eli?” Edwin asked. “I have heard you mention that name many times before. I have always ignored it. But I no longer
The Drogen's Law The Dark Shadow (Jimmy-Edwin)
The ringing and the pain in Jimmy’s head stopped. Jimmy had never felt so... he had no words to explain how he felt. He could not help but weep for what felt like an eternity before going over the new feature he had unlocked.[Information: Core Smithing is the process of breaking down a single core of a higher level into multiple cores of a lower level or vice versa.][Available Smithing process:]Jimmy did not understand half of what he read on the system screen, so he read it aloud. He even wrote some words he could not read. Once he finished, Chris and Edwin had strange looks, wide-eyed, before looking at Jimmy.“Jimmy, are you sure it’s exactly what is written on the system screen?” Edwin said.“Y-yes.” The str
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Scripting (Jimmy)
Jimmy listened to the elder, who taught them the properties of various metals. “This is Firesteel, this is Watersteel, this is Bloodsteel…” The elder got out seven metals and introduced them to the class. These were the best conductor of said Law and amplified their effect. The elder produced another seven metals and explained about each of them; Firebane, Spiritbane and Earthbane and so on. These were poor conductors of corresponding Laws—almost an insulator. These metals either diminished or nullified the effect of the corresponding Law. Jimmy learned much in his Blacksmith class. The identities of unique metals, their source, their properties—and how and what to forge with them. How to make an object of power? It was a simple process, impossible as it was to believe. First, forge a required item, take a beast core, and after that reach out with spiritual sense to the item through the core and push the power of the core to the item—the spiritual sense was the medium to such tran
Blood Moons (Rina)
Rina repeatedly tapped the table with her index finger. This was getting on her nerves. The man no older than her, who sat opposite her, inspected the inscription on the dagger she had carved, turning it round and round in his hands. Rina scoffed. As if he knew anything about the scripts. Scripting was The Most technical art of Drogen. “You have excellent calligraphy,” the man said.Rina snorted. “A fish that can’t swim is worthless.” “Point. Shall we test your handiwork? I hope they are as powerful as they are beautiful.”The scripter woman nodded. Finally! She would earn her keep and be rid of the man soon.The runes in the dagger glowed golden. The man flicked his wrist and the dagger cut through the air and struck the wall. There was little sound. Golden lines of runes flickered across the room. The dagger quivered for a second and dropped.Her pride swelled like a balloon. She had done a better job than she had believed. “To think the dagger activated the protection formation
Distant Threat (Chris)
“Why are you doing this to yourself?” Edwin asked on their way to class. “You had to visit a healer three times this week. Please tell me what is happening with you, maybe I can help.” “I am fine,” Chris said. A wave of nausea struck her. The world must hate her. Why did it have to happen now when she had just told Edwin she was fine? If the man hadn’t caught her, she would probably be bleeding from her nose right now.“Chris, can you stand by yourself?” The man looked ready to princess-carry her if need be–that she would not allow.Chris pushed herself out of Edwin’s arms and jumped up and down to show she was perfectly fine, thank you very much. She was, and anyone who said otherwise be damned. “See, I am fine.”“You weren’t, just a second ago. I think it best to go see a healer.”Chris caressed Edwin’s hand. She did her best to make her voice as soothing as possible. What she was about to say Edwin wouldn’t like. “You needn't worry about what’s happening to me. You know how we were
The Old Man in the Bed (Chris)
Only when Chris was well away from Linden and the arena did the consequences of what she had done dawn on her. What was she thinking dunking him in the water? If Linden had taken what she had done as offence and not as a joke, she would be howling in pain for who knew how long. Perhaps forever. She must have been mad. Why did she always let the anger get the best of her? She had to learn to control it better. ‘What’s done is done,’ she told herself firmly. ‘There is no point in fretting over it.’ Aside from her horrible mistake with Linden that could have ended up with her head on a pike, her days went smoothly—with only one sour note. It was, of course, Rina. Chris asked herself a thousandth time why she was sharing a room with her. The woman had no decency at all. None. Two nights a week, sometimes three nights, the woman brought a man to spend the night with. The partners she brought were sometimes young, sometimes old. The woman changed her partners like men changed their cloth
Icy Water (Chris-Linden)
Linden stopped laughing, gave her a lopsided glance, and struck. Chris brought her sword before it to intercept the attack. At the last second, Linden twisted his sword, and it landed on her wrist. She almost lost her grip on her sword. Still, she powered through the pain and kept her hold of it. Chris was just glad she hadn’t yelped in pain and had just winced. That would be beyond embarrassing. They exchanged dozens of blows, and with each blow, her anger spiked up a notch. Linden had thwacked her left and right—blows that would bruise. Yet, for the life of her, she couldn’t land a single hit. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t. Why should she be bruised and in pain, while the other man was grinning like a fool? She knew he wasn’t using vital technique or any form of Drogen. That would have left behind a residue that she would have undoubtedly seen, being a collector as she was. So, what was it he was doing? There had to be something. He can’t really see the future, can he? No, that w
Funny Shadows (Chris)
Chris watched as the heir strode towards them. The bare-chested man walked like any heir should, back straight, one hand resting on his sword hilt as if he were assuming a sword stance. He could have made any girl’s neck turn in his direction and made their heart flutter. Not hers. Her heart fluttered for someone else. Someone next to her, no less regal than the heir himself, standing there, hand poised on his sword hilt, ready to draw at a moment’s notice. The man she suspected to be Linden’s bodyguard. Tim, was it? He could do with an earful. Holding a sword at her throat like that. When her eyes shifted back to the bodyguard, her mouth went dry. Sweat glistened along his abs. She gulped. Her knees wanted to buckle. She wanted… ‘Heavens above, what am I thinking?’ She wanted to get into good graces with the heir. Not canoodle with his bodyguard. She wouldn’t mind doing it, though. It could be warming. Gods, she had always prided herself on having great control over her thoughts.
Canvas and the Sword (Chris)
[PRESENT TIME] Chris Scoured through the sect library searching for information on collectors. She had hoped to find some record to understand her powers. Useless, there was nothing she didn’t already know. All that knowledge in here and they were all deadwood to her. Unless she broke into the restricted section of the library, there was nothing new she could learn. That meant she would have to learn everything by experiment. The thought of experimenting with her powers sent a shiver down her spine. Playing with something she didn’t understand didn’t sound healthy to her. All her classes went well, better than well actually. She was one of the best in her class—aside from a few mishaps like that one time when she had turned into a giant; it was one of the most embarrassing things that had ever happened to her. What surprised her most as she navigated through her powers was the fact that her abilities were incredibly similar to that of a Dweller and, at the same time, quite differen
Chapter : Her Past (Part 2)
Chris stood next to her brother as she watched him paint on a massive canvas. The strange amalgamation of colours slowly began to gain cohesion and shape. Slowly, the paintings began to gain more shapes and details. She saw villagers washing clothes in the rivers. Children playing near them. Why couldn’t her life be so peaceful as well? Why couldn’t she be as happy as that? Children playing in the river. This was the first time her brother’s paintings had made her feel more pain than soothing her.However, she did not blame her brother for her mood. She knew something like this could happen. She had been lucky that it hadn’t happened before. And her brother had never drawn a painting with people before.When her brother finished his art. She asked him a question. “What will you call this painting, brother? I always like it when you name your paintings. It is the most enjoyable part of all this.”“I will call this one A Vain Dream.”“Why do you want to name something so beautiful? Somet
Her Past
Five Years Ago. It had been about five years since her mother died. Killed was more accurate. A band of people made from Dwellers and Vampires had killed her mother. And even after five years, Chris still wept herself to sleep. She had abandoned her in her time of need. They punished the murderers of her mother for their actions. They were flogged and tortured publicly before being killed. And yet Chris still could not feel at peace for the death of her mother—like everyone told her to do. Even though they had already received their punishment. Even though they were already dead, she still hated them for taking her mother away from her. How could they do such a thing? How could they have no regard for human life? That question always haunted her. Their death wasn’t enough. Someone else deserved punishment—it was her.A part of Chris wanted to forget about her mother. So that she did not have to hurt, so that she did not have to cry so much, so that her father would not have changed
