Chapter 86: Encounter with Bloodline
What... what is this?
The dragon’s massive eyes fixed on him. It studied him. It assessed him. The weight of its gaze pressed down on him like a thousand mountains.
"Who are you?" Lucien wanted to voice out these words but he found out he couldn’t speak.
His mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. Nothing came out.
His body was frozen. His mind was racing. The dragon’s presence was overwhelming, suffocating, ancient.
"Me," the domineering voice replied, shaking him into confusion. "I am you. You are me."
What does it mean by these words?
Lucien’s mind spun. How could he be this thing? This ancient, terrifying dragon that looked like it had existed before the stars themselves.
His thoughts churned like a storm. He tried to make sense of it. Reincarnation? A bloodline echo? Some kind of ancient possession?
"No need to stress yourself," the dragon’s domineering voice came through, waking him from his thoughts. "The answer will come at the right time."
Lucien stared at the massive head. His voice finally came back, shaky but audible. "Right time? When is that?"
The dragon’s eyes gleamed with ancient amusement. "When you’re ready to understand. When your mind is strong enough to accept the truth."
Lucien frowned. "That’s not an answer."
"It’s the only answer you’ll get right now," the dragon rumbled. "You’re still weak. Still fragile. If I told you everything now, your mind would shatter."
Lucien opened his mouth to argue. Then he closed it. The dragon wasn’t wrong. He could feel it.
Fine. I’ll wait.
"Well," the dragon said, its voice shifting to something more serious. "You should meet another person."
Lucien blinked. Another person? He was about to ask what the dragon meant when—
He felt something sharp behind him.
It wasn’t pain. It wasn’t a touch. It was a presence. Cold. Cutting. Like a blade pressed against his soul. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to move, to run, to fight.
He spun around, his guard instantly up. His body tensed. His hands clenched into fists. His eyes scanned the expanse of stars.
And then he saw it.
A figure stood behind him. A man. Pale silver hair flowed down his back like moonlight. A mask covered his face, simple, smooth, featureless. The mask was white, almost glowing, with no eyes, no mouth, no expression. Just a blank surface that seemed to stare right through him.
The figure didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He just stood there.
But Lucien could feel it. The pressure. The weight. It was different from the dragon’s presence. The dragon was ancient, vast, like a mountain. This figure was sharp, precise, like a blade that could cut through reality itself.
Lucien’s breath caught in his throat. His heart pounded. His body screamed at him to step back, to put distance between himself and this figure.
What... what is this?
He tried to speak. His mouth opened, but no words came out.
The figure tilted his head. Just slightly. A slow, deliberate movement. The mask seemed to focus on him.
Lucien felt like he was being cut open. Like this figure could see every thought, every memory, every part of his soul. It was terrifying. It was overwhelming. It was like staring into the edge of a blade that could end him in an instant.
This is... this is the blade bloodline.
The realization hit him like a wave. This figure, this masked man with pale silver hair, was the representation of his blade bloodline. Everything clicked now. The dragon was the representation of his draconic bloodline. And this figure was something else entirely.
But where the dragon was vast and ancient, this figure was sharp and deadly. Where the dragon’s presence pressed down like a mountain, this figure’s presence cut like a knife.
Lucien’s body trembled. His mind raced. He felt small. Insignificant. Like a piece of paper standing before a sword.
The figure didn’t speak. Didn’t move. It just watched.
And Lucien understood. Even though he didn’t get why his bloodline had a sense of life, he understood that this figure was not hostile. It was simply present.
The figure raised one hand. Slow. Deliberate. Its finger pointed at Lucien’s chest.
Lucien froze. His heart stopped.
And then,
The figure lowered its hand. It turned and walked away. Each step was silent. Each step cut through the starlight like a blade.
Lucien watched it go. His body was frozen. His mind was blank. All he could feel was the lingering chill of that presence. Like a knife that had been pressed against his throat and then withdrawn.
The dragon’s voice rumbled behind him. "That was your blade bloodline. If you think it can’t speak, then you are wrong. It’s just that you can’t hear it yet."
Lucien’s voice was shaky. "What... what was it saying?"
The dragon was silent for a moment. Then, slowly, it spoke.
"That you are sharp enough to survive. But not yet sharp enough to cut."
These profound words resounded in Lucien’s mind, setting a wave of confusion and curiosity in him. He wanted to know more about this bloodline he held. Now the mystery covering them was greater than he thought.
He wanted to ask another question, but when he looked before him, all he saw was an expanse of white. The stars had disappeared. The dragon was gone. The masked figure was gone. Only silence remained.
And then,
"A dragon doesn’t cower or hide when provoked," the dragon’s voice echoed, distant but clear. "And a blade shows its edge when tested. Don’t limit yourself, or you wouldn’t know your depth for improvement."
The last words of the dragon reverberated in his mind.
In a blink of an eye, his view returned to the desolate land. The raging and boiling blood calmed down. It began to mend and reconstruct his broken bones in a soft manner. It was delightful. Lucien felt comfortable.
He sensed his surroundings before him, realizing the fact that time hadn’t changed. The encounter he had with his bloodline had happened within a split second.
Lilith and Seraphina were relieved when they saw that Lucien had calmed down, going through whatever transformation.
Ding!
[The second awakening of Host’s bloodline has been completed.]
[The limit of the Primordial Anchor Body has been removed partially.]
[The limit of the Infinite Origin Core has been removed partially.]
As Lucien heard the system’s words, he was relieved. His body relaxed as he slumped to the ground.
But everything began to turn blurry as a wave of weakness washed over him.
"Darling!"
He heard two familiar panicking voices before everything turned dark.