Each bloodline flaunted unique traits - some specializing in shadow manipulation, others leaning heavily on magic. But I wasn’t about to join the brooding shadows club just because it looked cool. Instead, I found a few contenders that stood out. And before you ask, yes, I’ll give you the highlights:

First up were the Cursewalkers. Now, these guys had a neat trick - resisting curses and reflecting hexes, with a bonus wolf-form transformation when things got real spicy. Now, tell me that isn’t some serious “legend of the midnight hound” material.

Then we had the Heartseers. Think vampire therapist with actual powers. Heartseers could sense and manipulate emotions - calming or riling people up with the flick of a mental switch. Not exactly my vibe, but hey, some people have unresolved trauma. Maybe they’d get some use out of this. Me? I’d end up being more like, “Have you tried not being an emotional mess?” Probably for the best to leave this one alone.

And the Shifters - this was intriguing. Descendants of Pandora vampires, apparently, and they could adapt their powers to fit the situation. Environmentally flexible and adaptable? Hello, tactical advantage. The Pandora connection felt a little on-the-nose after that “bloodline detected” thing earlier, but I filed it away as a solid choice.

Then there was Bloodbound, with a touch of elemental influence. They could change the temperature, create breezes - a subtle but versatile edge. I’ll admit, this one was tempting. Who wouldn’t want to literally cool down a heated situation?

And then, finally, I saw it. Pulseborne. Alive. Alive-ish. This option offered the benefits of both sides of the mortal divide: healing, immunity to disease, and the uncanny ability to blend into human society. You know, things people tend to overlook until they’re gone. And, well, call it human instinct or maybe sheer stubbornness, but the idea of staying in the “mostly alive” club was winning me over. So what if it wasn’t the most mystical or flashy choice? I’d still be breathing… mostly.

Decision made. I mentally selected Pulseborne, expecting a cool confirmation or maybe even a sense of accomplishment. Instead:

Choose starting ability:

Error, Primordial bloodline detected, Pandora. Recalculating. Complete.

Choose three starting abilities.

Three abilities. Now that’s more like it. If this was anything like the character creation screens I’d lost hours of my life to, then I was ready for the ultimate upgrade.

Option 1: Elemental Influence

Control over minor elements, like air or warmth. Nothing dramatic, but enough to make the environment work with me. Could be handy in a pinch - or if I ever wanted to make a dramatic exit with a swirling breeze at my back.

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Option 2: Enhanced Human Sensibilities

The ability to fully blend into human society without detection. This one was designed to help me pass as human seamlessly, with an intuitive understanding of people’s emotions. The healing or calming effect I could inspire in others wasn’t something I was used to, but it would definitely help in a tricky situation. And it came with slow aging and none of the depressing decay that typical vampires suffered through.

Option 3: Adaptive Physiology

Similar to Enhanced Sensibilities, but more focused on survival. This one was all about endurance, and given my current track record of getting nearly drained, crushed, or dismembered… yeah, I’d take it.

I locked in my choices, expecting fanfare, fireworks, maybe a drumroll. Instead:

Warning: Your choice is permanent and cannot be undone. Choosing one option forgoes all other options.

If this was a test of commitment, I was passing. After a second’s hesitation - a little dramatic for effect, let’s be honest - I thought a simple, resolute “Yes” at the notification.

The world went hazy as a chill swept through me, like I’d been hit with a bucket of ice water straight from the Arctic. Every nerve came alive, electrified, vibrating. I couldn’t move, couldn’t blink - couldn’t even breathe.

The notification pulsed, the last bit of clarity I had before my body slipped into transformation. It felt like my bones were rearranging, like molten energy was filling my veins, rewriting every cell, every piece of what I had been.

And let me tell you, it wasn’t exactly gentle.

***

While my mind drifted towards the inky blackness of a dreamless void, my body was assaulted by a profound transformation.

A change that affected more than just my body, it affected my soul.

Before I drifted off I was able to look down at my prone form and watch as my body slowly morphed.

My old body was dead, I think.

Ashen complexion, sunken eyes, bared teeth, and hollowed cheeks. Yeah, I was a veritable corpse. And yet as I watched I could see a transformation taking place under the surface.

As I drifted, my body shifted, changing in ways I couldn’t fully comprehend. In that haze of near-death and rebirth, I saw flashes - glimpses of what was happening, as I watched it unfold from somewhere outside myself.

My skin, once drained and deathly pale, began to regain color, the grayness replaced by a warm, almost human flush. Emaciated muscles filled out, my limbs solidifying as the hollow spaces in my chest, ribs, and arms found substance. My hair - which I’d always had a soft spot for - I have nice hair- I’d assumed was past saving - took on a strange, dark sheen, glossy and full. I even felt the faint stirrings of a heartbeat, the quiet echo of breath filling my chest.

And then, just as my form completed its transformation, I felt my consciousness slip, tugged back toward that new body like a magnet. The last tether holding me in this strange, drifting place was cut, and I crashed back into myself with an awareness so sharp it was almost painful.

Transformation complete. Tier 1 starting abilities upgraded.

Well, damn. That's nice.

With that, my sense of the world faded, and the darkness remained, waiting to swallow me up all over again.