Valor: Brave Souls

Chapter 3: Bloodline Pact

Chapter 3: Bloodline Pact

“S-Solomon, is there any skill I h-have here to hide m-myself or make myself i-invisible from the sight of that a-armored dragon?” I asked my virtual assistant with my voice shaking. The rumblings of the earth became stronger stronger as time passed by. I gulped as if there’s a lump blocking my throat. 

“There’s none, master. But you can activate your special skill, Omnicognition, to gain awareness of yourself and your skills and to accelerate your thinking even without asking me as your virtual assistant,” he replied to me. 

“Okay, but h-how can I activate t-that skill?” I inquired, stuttering. Nervousness is eating me. 

“Just give me the command, master.” 

“Got it! Solomon, activate Omnicognition for me,” I ordered.

“Copy that, master. Activating Omnicognition in 3… 2…” Please hurry or I’ll die waiting here. I uttered mentally. I can’t help but to close my eyes.  

“...1. Omnicognition is activated successfully,” Solomon stated. As I opened my eyes, I saw different images on my vision. And at the center of it, there’s an image of a wolf flashing in different angles. And I think that’s me. 

Then afterwards, it seems like the time is moving so fast. And suddenly, there were many letters and symbols projecting before my eyes, giving me a quick grasp of the details about myself and my skills but I can catch up. 

I looked at the entrance going here when that monster released another roar echoing in the whole place. Here it comes. A giant shadow has appeared on the wall of the cave and it is approaching. I prepared myself for a surprise attack. I wasn’t an assassin in my past life for nothing. 

I quickly run and was able to change directions easily. The body I have now is more agile than the body I had have when I was still human. And it’s light too, making me move faster. I stepped on the cave’s wall and head towards the ceiling to release an attack from above. I’ll use my special skill, Enhanced Strength, to land a heavy blow on that monster. 

My eyes widened when an upright creature with a body of hard stones and minerals sprinted towards the lake and drink from it. I suspended my movements on the air when I was about to kick it as I sensed no harm from it. The creature rejoiced the moment it tasted the white liquid and released a cute little sound as if it was very happy. It jumped on the lake, creating a big splash of Dairy Mineral all over the place and a sudden earthquake. 

“Report: A baby armored dragon has been spotted. It seems like it was only roaring and making strong vibrations of the earth earlier to drive away predators or scare enemies,” Solomon segued in my mind. 

Oh, I see. It’s its defense mechanism to make itself safe and to reach this spot without being hurt by another monster. I heaved a deep sigh. I was just worrying for nothing. But wait… it’s a baby armored dragon. Its mother might be just around. I should go now before it showed up.   

I was about to leave the place but the baby armored dragon noticed my presence and splattered my whole body with that Dairy Mineral. And now, I’m all wet. I turned my gaze on it and darted a glare. My teeth were gritting as if I am preparing myself to bite. But the furious look in my eyes immediately vanished when it made an adorable chuckling sound, turning into a music for my ears.

However, I didn’t let my guard down. I turned my back on it and was about to march out of the area but my feet came into halt when the creature behind me created a sound as if it was begging me to stay. My eyebrows mentally furrowed. I can’t help myself but to look at it. There were moving circles appeared on my vision, analyzing the baby armored dragon’s body. It’s a male and only five months old. Its HP is 2500, MP is 2350, EXP is 1367, and magicite status is 3524 and still rising. Woah, its status points are higher than me.  

I am not yet finished analyzing its status points when I suddenly saw memories in my mind. They weren’t mine. They are that dragon’s memories. I am seeing things from its past. From the time it hatched from its egg to the moment its mother was slaughtered by a greater monster. And til then, it was living its life alone in this cave. So this is what my skill, Omnicognition, can do. It can also gain awareness and information about the living creatures within my vicinity. 

I took a glance on the baby dragon and it’s intently staring at me too with its eyes squinting several times. I don’t know but I suddenly felt sympathy towards this monster. But it’s none of my business anymore. I, too, need to survive. And it might get into my way; it might slow me down in leveling up myself and achieving my goal, which is to get my human form. I want to leave it here but, ugh! Why does my conscience tell me the other way around? 

“Solomon, what do you think? Should I befriend myself with this creature?” I asked my virtual assistant. 

“Report: Based on situation analysis, there’s a higher chance of survival when taking an adventure with a companion, in group or in pack,” he answered. 

“So are you trying to imply that it gives me a bigger chance of survival if I team up with this monster?” 

“Affirmative.”  

“I see. Okay, I’ll let it join in my adventure now,” I uttered. 

“Copy that, master,” Solomon said, then, an image of a wooden chest materialized on my sight. 

“To confirm, are you sure you want to befriend with this monster?”

“Yes!” I answered without any hesitation. 

“Report: Armored Dragon has been acquired as a companion in your adventure. The monster you have obtained is requesting to form a bloodline pact with you and be in your family’s lineage. Accept or decline?” Solomon asked. I mentally frowned because of that question. 

“Bloodline Pact? Family’s lineage? For what are those?” I replied with a question, too. 

“Bloodline Pact is a union between monsters, humans or adventurers in which they agree to work together and share each other’s skills. In Valor, if a monster, or an adventurer wanted to form bloodline pact and be in someone’s lineage, this means that he or she is submitting himself or herself to that someone and to all of his commands,” Solomon explained. 

“Wait, so that means if I and this armored dragon successfully formed a Bloodline Pact, it would follow all my orders and become loyal to me? Is that so? No, no! I don’t want that. I don’t want to rule in anyone’s lives,” I refused. 

“You are 50 percent right and 50 percent wrong, master. Whilst it is true that monsters or adventurers would follow all of your orders and become loyal to you if you accepted them to be in your lineage, they still have the free will to own their lives. The sole purpose of forming Bloodline Pact is to create a familial relationship with each monster or adventurer. The founder, whose lineage is being taken, would be the head of the relationship and his last name would be passed down to the monster or adventurer submitting to him,” my virtual assistant cleared.    

Hmmm… sounds interesting, huh. I stopped for a moment to think about it. And after some time of deliberation with my mind, I already came up with an answer. 

“Okay, I accept the request. So how are we going to do it?” 

“To form a bloodline pact, please give this monster a name. Your last name will be automatically passed down to this armored dragon after being named.”  

“Okay… give me a second and I’ll think of a good name.” I looked at the baby armored dragon sitting innocently in front of me. It’s blinking its eyes as if it’s trying to charm me. Oh, it’s adorable! I can’t help it. 

“Lumond. From now on, this armored dragon’s name is Lumond Cathwulf. Please register it on the system, Solomon,” I uttered, instructing my virtual assistant. 

“Copy that, master… The baby armored dragon has been named successfully.” Lumond rolled its body on the ground as if it has a liking on its name. I laughed but I immediately came into halt when I felt a sudden dizziness and I saw my magicite status on my vision, slowly decreasing to 500. Oh, so this is how bloodline pact works. It takes away a certain amount of the founder’s magical energy and will be transferred to the monster or adventurer who inherits the founder’s lineage.

Lumond’s body is enveloped with a blinding bright blue light. Wait, is it evolving? Its size is getting bigger and bigger. 

“Report: You have tamed a higher-ranking monster. 

Special Skill, Crystallization has been acquired. 

Special Skill, Rumbling has been acquired.

Special Skill, Metamorphosis has been acquired.

Unique Skill, Manufacturer has been acquired. 

EXP has been raised to 1500.

The HP has been raised to 2500.

The MP has been raised to 2500.

The Magicite status has been raised to 3500.

Your level has been raised to Level 2.

The Armored Dragon has been evolved into a Crystal Dragonoid－a dragon in the form of human,” Solomon stated in my mind without any interruption. I was deeply bewildered by those new skills I’ve got and was fascinated by the unexpected augmentation of my status points. 

When Lumond’s body stopped shining, I was even more astonished. There’s now a tall man standing in front of me dressed up in blue clothe that glitters when light strikes on it. His height, according to my omnicognitive analysis, almost reaches 6 feet. He has crystal-like scales on his face, arms and below his jaw. He has a robust body that looks very strong. I got to admit but he is handsome. He has firm lightly-tanned skin, brown eyes, pointed nose, and exceptional jawline. He is carrying a heavy giant sword with its handle placed on his right shoulder. The sword is not made of metal but a hard diamond. He has this aura of a strong warrior. 

My mouth went agape as if my mind can’t register all that happened. It’s too fast for me to catch up. I came back into my senses when my omnicognition skill automatically analyzes the different skills I got from the bloodline pact with Lumond. 

I mentally creased my forehead when I noticed the new skill, Metamorphosis. It’s a skill that let me change my physical features and transform into something I want. Just like what this skill did to Lumond. Wait… with this skill, I can turn myself into human again. 

“Am I right, Solomon?” I asked my virtual assistant because I might be wrong again in understanding my own analysis. 

“Affirmative! Metamorphosis skill allows you to take the form you want, master－be it in the form of another monster, a human or an adventurer. To activate the skill, just imagine what you want to be.” Solomon answered. And just as expected, I got a detailed answer from him. I nodded my head as a sign that I understood what he was saying.

“Master Luna, let me serve you for the rest of my life.” I almost jumped in astonishment when Lumond suddenly talked at me. He startled the hell out of me. But I managed to regain my composure when he bowed at me. He already learned a language and acquired some of my skills too. And he also know my name now, huh. This bloodline pact is pretty fascinating. 

I didn’t respond to him immediately. Instead, I closed my eyes and imagined myself as a fine young lady wearing a close-fitting long sleeve black dress with gold flower accents on its hem. Then the next thing happened, I was enveloped with silver-white lights and my imagination of me came into reality. 

Lumond just stared at me with deep fascination in his eyes. But he was able to withdraw his shocked expression as I smiled at him and he smiled back.  

“No, I don’t want that. Let’s be friends and stay loyal to each other forever. Is it a deal?” I extended one of my hands to him, expecting him to take it. Without further much ado, he held my hand.

“Deal, master,” he said. And that time, we sealed our friendship with a handshake while the diamonds and crystals around us shining through the area.