I Awakened The Ancient Vampire System

The system interface materialized in his vision.

╔═══════════════════════╗

║ CHAIN QUEST — International Champions League ║

║ □ Make it to the team of 15 ║

║ Reward: +500 SC (Claimed) ║

║ □ Make it to the Round of 32 ║

║ Reward: +2,000 SC (Claimed) ║

║ □ Make it to the Round of 16 ║

║ Reward: +3,000 SC (Claimed) ║

║ □ Make it to the Quarter Finals ║

║ Reward: Light Burst Evolution (Pending Claim) ║

║ □ Make it to the Semi Finals ║

║ Reward: +5,000 SC (Claimed) ║

║ 10 Mid-Grade Mana Stones (Pending Claim) ║

║ □ Make it to the Finals ║

║ Reward: +10,000 SC (Claimed) ║

║ Bloodline Seal: -3% (Pending Claim) ║

╚═══════════════════════╝

"Claim all."

SYSTEM CREDITS: 88,500 SC

BLOODLINE SEAL: 79%

The Light Burst evolution notification appeared next.

╔══════════════════════╗

║ SPELL EVOLUTION ║

║ OLD: Light Burst (Novice) ║

║ — Blinding flash, short range, single direction ║

║ NEW: Solar Flare (A-Rank) ║

║ — Omnidirectional burst of concentrated light energy ║

║ — Range: 50 meters ║

║ — Effects: Temporary blindness (5-10 sec), thermal burn, mana disruption ║

║ — Can be charged for increased power ║

║ — Full incantation: "Light that devours shadows— Solar Flare"║

╚══════════════════════╝

Solar Flare. Lucian’s lips curved. That’s actually useful. I better try it out later.

The ten Mid-Grade Mana Stones materialized in his shadow storage. Each one pulsed with dense energy — equivalent to roughly one hundred low-grade stones each.

Then the final quest remained.

╔════════════════════╗

║ ◈ ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE ◈ ║

║ Win the International Champions League ║

║ Reward: ║

║ ├─ Vial of Arcane Ascension ║

║ │ (Evolves any single ability by one tier) ║

║ ├─ +20,000 SC ║

║ └─ Key to D-Rank Dungeon ║

║ Penalty: ║

║ ├─ -40,000 SC ║

║ └─ Thrown into C-Rank Dungeon (Solo. No exit until cleared)║

╚════════════════════╝

The Vial of Arcane Ascension. If he used it on his Light Control — A-Rank — it would jump to S-Rank. The implications were staggering.

But first, China.

From what he had observed in the Chinese Vanguard semi-finals, those guys were very strong. That fight would push his limits. So far, any Mid Core Realm without a bloodline couldn’t even put up a fight with him. Even among all the geniuses in this tournament, even a Mid Core Realm with a bloodline couldn’t put up a fight if he decided to go serious.

But the Chinese Vanguard was different.

Wei Chen. Late Core Realm. S-Rank Sword Spirit. Unmatched mastery over the sword. His intent was so powerful it had pressed down on the entire stadium like a physical weight. Lucian had felt it from the stands and his skin had prickled.

Then their vice captain. Liang Feng. Mid Core Realm. S-Rank Earth Dominion. Crazy control over the terrain of any battlefield. He had turned a flat plain into a maze of stone corridors that split the American team apart.

Then there was the prodigy of the Ryu clan. One of the most powerful clans on Earth. Ryu Yichen. Mid Core Realm. SS-Rank Dragon Body. The Ignis Bloodline of the Ryu clan flowed through his veins. When he activated it, his skin turned to scales, his muscles multiplied, his physical stats rivaled Late Core Realm fighters despite being a realm lower.

Those three would be the main focus of China’s attack.

Lucian dismissed the system and closed his eyes. Clara’s warm breath was steady against his skin.

The next day, Arthur gave them rest.

"No training today. Your bodies and your mana need to recover." He looked at each of them in turn. "The finals are in six days. We’ll begin prep tomorrow. For today — eat, sleep, if possible, do nothing."

Clara left after lunch to train anyway.

Of course she did, Lucian thought, shaking his head.

He lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The system notification blinked in the corner of his vision.

╔═══════════════════╗

║ BLOODLINE EVOLUTION AVAILABLE ║

║ Current Seal: 79% ║

║ Would you like to evolve now? ║

║ [YES] / [NO] ║

╚═══════════════════════════╝

Lucian stared at the notification. He remembered the last time. The Full Vampiric Transition. The agony of bones cracking, muscles rebuilding, skin tearing and reforming. It had been the worst pain of his life.

But that pain had given him everything. His vampire body. His bloodline abilities. His current power.

It can wait, he thought. I have the finals in six days. If I evolve now and something goes wrong—

He paused.

But if I evolve before the finals, I’ll be stronger. The evolution at 80% gives new abilities. I might need them against China.

He thought about it for a while.

Fuck it.

He tapped YES.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Lucian frowned. It seems there’s no pa—

The pain hit.

It came from everywhere at once. Not from a specific body part — from his blood itself. Every drop of blood in his veins ignited simultaneously, burning hot, then freezing cold, then burning again. Like lava and liquid nitrogen taking turns flooding his circulatory system.

"AAAGH—!"

Lucian collapsed off the bed. He hit the floor hard — bam — and curled into a ball. His back arched. His fingers clawed at the wooden floor, leaving deep gouges in the wood.

"AAHHHHHH—"

His skin flushed red — then pale — then crimson — then white — cycling through colors so fast it looked like he was glowing. His veins stood out visibly beneath his skin, black lines pulsing with dark energy.

His eyes snapped open. They glowed red with an intensity that lit up the dark hotel room like twin crimson lamps.

"Nnnnghhh—"

The pain wasn’t just physical. It was existential. His bloodline — the Ancient Vampire Origin Bloodline that predated all known vampire clans — was rewriting his biology from the inside out. Every cell. Every fiber. Every strand of DNA.

His muscles shredded and rebuilt. His bones cracked and fused back together stronger. His organs contracted and expanded. His nervous system burned and reformed.

"Aaaah— fuck— aaaahhhh—"

He couldn’t think. Couldn’t focus. Couldn’t do anything but scream into the floor as his body tore itself apart and put itself back together over and over and over.

Blood seeped from his pores. Dark, thick, ancient blood that pooled around him on the floor, black and shimmering with inner light.

The blood moved on its own.

It crawled upward along his body, coating his skin, wrapping around his limbs, his torso, his face. It hardened. Crystalized. A shell of blood-red crystal formed around him until Lucian was completely encased inside a cocoon of living blood crystal.

The pain faded.

His body was still changing inside the cocoon.

His screams faded to groans.

"Nnnghhh..."

Three floors below, in the hotel training room.

Clara was mid-strike — an ice lance aimed at a training dummy — when her head exploded with pain.

"AAAAHH—"

The ice lance shattered mid-flight. Clara dropped to her knees, both hands clutching her head, her fingers digging into her scalp. Her scream echoed off the training room walls.

"Clara!" Rose dropped her sand barrier and rushed to her side, kneeling beside her. "Clara, what is wrong? Clara!"

Clara’s eyes were squeezed shut. Tears streamed down her face. Her fangs were fully extended, her vampire instincts screaming.

"I don’t— aaaah— I don’t know—" She gasped between waves of pain. "But it has— nngh— something to do with Lucian. I can feel him. I can feel his— aaaahhh—"

Another wave hit her. She doubled over, forehead nearly touching the floor.

"Take me to him," Clara choked out. "Now. Please— nngh— take me to him."

Rose didn’t hesitate. She grabbed Clara by the waist and lifted her. Clara weighed nothing to Rose’s enhanced strength due to the aftermath of the past zombie DNA. She ran.

Three flights of stairs. Rose burst through the hotel corridor, Clara trembling in her arms. Clara pointed at a door.

"That one."

Rose kicked the door open.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

The hotel room was destroyed. The bed was overturned. The floor was gouged with deep scratch marks. And in the center of the room sat a cocoon.

It was made of blood crystal — deep crimson, translucent, glowing faintly from within with dark red light. It was the size of a person — Lucian’s exact shape — sitting cross-legged on the floor. The surface pulsed. Veins of darker red ran through it like rivers on a map.

Inside the crystal, barely visible, was Lucian’s silhouette. Naked. Still. His silver hair pressed against the inside of the cocoon like frost on glass.

Rose’s eyes widened.