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When Vlad opened his eyes again, all the pain and agony he had gone through in that trial felt like a distant dream now, leaving no scars in his mind.
He still felt how weird that feeling was. Whatever this game did, it was pretty impressive how it made the things that happened in the present feel so real and traumatic, but once they ended, they left no damage at all in the mind.
If anything, this game was perfect for people that were prone to having panic attacks or had social anxiety like him, as it helped them experience many new things without the anxiety that comes with it.
It slowly built their courage and made them a bit less shy; over time, it could probably help Paul stop having so much anxiety sometimes and become better.
Although yeah, thanks to Chris, he had been gaining a lot more confidence in himself already.
“Brother! Are you okay? You fell to the ground, and I barely managed to get to you before you hit your head." Camilla was at the side of Vlad.
“Ah, so that’s what happened,” Vlad felt slightly sleepy. “I’m alright, Camilly. Thank you for taking care of me… Ugh. Now let’s see.”
After petting her head, Vlad slowly stood back up, seeing the system notifications.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have passed the Ancient Blood Demon test, and you have gained their trust after showcasing your never-ending ferocity and will to live.]
[After having calculated how many Blood Demons you’ve killed, it has been estimated you’ve earned 625.782 Score Points!]
[Your points have surpassed the 500.000 points necessary for the highest upgrade for your Class and Subclass.]
[The surplus points had been used to further power up your Class and Subclass Rank Up!]
[Your [Class]: [Arcane Vampire Prince of the Crimson Moon: ★★] has Ranked Up into the [Class]: [Ancient Crimson Demon Prince of the Bleeding Moon: ★★★]!]
[Your [Blood Power] Stat has increased by 10.000!]
[Your [Soul Ether] Stat has increased by 5.000!]
[Your [Strength] Stat has increased by 10.000!]
[Your [Arcana] Stat has increased by 5.000!]
[Your [Vitality] Stat has increased by 10.000!]
[Your [Dexterity] Stat has increased by 5.000!]
[You learned the Class Skill: [Ancient Blood Demon’s Skeleton (S): Lv1]!]
[Your [Subclass]: [Spirit Ki Farmer: ★★] has Ranked Up into the [Subclass]: [Demonic Spiritual Blood Ki Harvester: ★★★]!]
[Your [Blood Power] Stat has increased by 3.000!]
[Your [Arcana] Stat has increased by 3.000!]
[Your [Vitality] Stat has increased by 3.000!]
[Your [Dexterity] Stat has increased by 3.000!]
[You learned the Subclass Skill: [Spiritual Blood Ki Harvest (S): Lv1]!]
[You have gained +1 Racial Skill Slot!]
[You have gained +1 Class Skill Slot!]
[You have gained +1 Subclass Skill Slot!]
[All your Equipped Class Skills have gained 1 Bonus Level!]
[All your Equipped Subclass Skills have gained 1 Bonus Level!]
“Oh!”
Vlad felt surprised over what he gained; his Ranked Up Class gave him a bunch of bonus stats—more than he ever expected!
And that didn’t stop there, as he gained two very interesting and strange Skills born from the combination of the Blood Demon’s Powers.
“It truly evolved them around the Blood Demon theme, even the Subclass…” He felt rather excited to equip these Skills right away. “Huh?”
However, before he could start doing that, he saw yet another notification.
Ding!
[The Fallen Deity {Blood Demon King} has granted you its Last Legacy before its Divine Presence were to fully dissipate.]
[You have inherited the {Blood Demon King Legacy}!]
[A Legacy is a power that remains within your Soul and Body, and it shapes and transforms how you learn other Skills, Magic, and how you progress, boosting your ability to grow stronger towards a certain Path.]
[You have unlocked the [Character’s Legacies] Section in your Status Window.]
[Your current Legacy, the {Blood Demon King Legacy}, requires more time and resources to fully activate, as it is currently in a state of dormancy.]
[You will receive special Legacy Quests you must complete for your Legacy to progress and become stronger, unlocking more of its powers.]
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Oh, there was such a system this entire time?”
As Vlad rubbed his chin in surprise, he saw more notifications appearing.
Ding!
[The First {Legacy Quest}: {Blood Demon King Legacy Act 1} has begun!]
[As the inheritor of the fragmented Legacy of an ancient and powerful God of the Ancient Era of Obscuritas, you’ve gained an unprecedented power that promises you incredible strength in exchange for effort and blood.]
[As a small and young Blood Demon, you still are not qualified to receive the Legacy’s powers. And you must prove yourself to the Legacy that you’re worthy of its blessings and boons.]
[Therefore, feed the Legacy with the Blood of your Enemies.]
[Slay 1000 Foes At Your Same Or Higher Tier Level And Offer Their Blood To The Legacy]: [0/1000]
[When offering blood to the Legacy, you will be unable to drink that blood or use it to hasten your Blood Core Cultivation.]
[Rewards]: [Awakening of the Blood Demon King Legacy] [???]
“Interesting… I don’t know why knowing this belonged to a Fallen God doesn’t surprise me anymore,” sighed Vlad. “I’ve been dealing with these way too much lately…”
Nonetheless, Vlad still found it fascinating that there were other Gods in the Past Era, some that had died in fact. Meaning that the current Gods, the Moon Goddesses and the Seven Evil Gods weren’t everything.
Fallen Gods might have already died for causes he didn’t know, but they left behind powerful Legacies! Meaning that they were up for the taking, powerful boosters that could give an incredible edge above other Player’s growth.
“But one thousand foes?!” he asked angrily. “That’s way too much! What the hell? I’m going to—Oh wait.”
He quickly recalled that at the end of the week, a big war was coming… So it wasn’t so bad anymore!
One thousand foes? That’s easy!
“Let’s see…”
After all of that, Vlad checked his Status to see the changes.
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[Player Name]: [Vlad Von Sange VII]
[Titles]: [Iron Blood Empire’s Seventh Prince]
[Blood Core]: [Blood Evolution Realm (Tier 6: Rank 1)] (Blood Energy: 0/200.000)
[Bloodline]: [Lesser Vampire Chimera Bloodline (Tier 4: Rank 1)]
[Soul]: [Spiritual Golden Red Sea Psyche (Tier 4: Rank 3)]
[Race]: [Dhampir (Weak Bloodline)]
[Class]: [Ancient Crimson Demon Prince of the Bleeding Moon★★★]
[Subclass]: [Demonic Spiritual Blood Ki Harvester: ★★★]
[Blood Power]: [56.850]
[Soul Ether]: [24.350]
[Strength]: [33.200]
[Arcana]: [41.300]
[Vitality]: [44.500]
[Dexterity]: [31.650]
[Credits]: [10.250.000]
[Character Background Traits]: [Insatiable Gluttony (Legendary Grade)] [Heavenly Demon’s Soul (Legendary Grade)] [Blessing of Achlys, the Goddess of the Crimson Moon (Epic Grade)]
[Character Background Flaws]: [Triple Shattered Meridian Physique (Legendary Grade)] [The Lonely Demon’s Last Wish (Legendary Grade)]
[Racial Skills (6/7)]
[Blood Demon’s Immortal Chimera Body (SS): Lv2] [Blood Bending (A): Lv4] [Moonlight Boost (C): Lv4] [Blazing Soul (A): Lv3] [Blazing Doppelganger (A): Lv3] [Blood Fever (C): Lv2] [Mist Form (B): Lv1] [Blood Bomb (A): Lv2]
[Class Skills (8/8)]
[Soul-Eating Fist Technique (S): Lv6] [Treacherous (D): Lv6] [Beast Hunter (D): Lv6] [Dual Blazing Blade Arts (S): Lv5] [Crimson Moon Arcane Arts (B): Lv3] [Flames And Thunder Of Judgement (S): Lv3] [Cursed Obsidian Insectoid Exoskeleton Creation (A): Lv3] [Magnetism Manipulation (S): Lv3] [Ancient Blood Demon’s Skeleton (S): Lv1]
[Subclass Skills (8/8)]
[Alchemy (C): Lv8] [Crafting (D): Lv6] [Runic Engravement (B): Lv6] [Sewing (D): Lv6] [Echolocation (D): Lv5] [Spiritual Ki Farmer Agricultural Arts (A): Lv3] [Blessing of the Martial Spirits of Harvest (A): Lv3] [Spiritual Blood Ki Harvest (S): Lv1]
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“It looks good so far,” he nodded to himself. “But what does this Skeleton and the Harvest Skill even do?” he wondered, rubbing his chin.
“Brother…” Camilla called for him. “Did you get something strong?”
“Ah! Yeah, I did; I’m quite proud of it myself, although it was really harsh,” sighed Vlad. “Now it’s your turn, I suppose.”
“Hm! I’m looking forward to it,” Camilla nodded. “But… Do you have any tips? About… what should I do there?”
“Hmmm…” Vlad wondered. “Don’t sell yourself out to the Gods, if they appear. Also, don’t look at their eyes; don’t look at any eye, actually, period. Always keep your eyes on the floor; don’t let them convince you with sweet words either. And choose something you really want, not what they want you to choose… I really hope you don’t end up meeting the gods, though.”
“Uh-huh…” Camilla nodded without much of a reaction about whatever her brother said. “Noted. I’ll go then.”
She touched the Class Stone nonchalantly, surprising Vlad once more because of how… cold she could be sometimes about things that were very serious.
FLASH!
The moment she touched the stone, Camilla felt her mind expanding and then falling through an endless darkness, landing on a pure white area, a realm of endless whiteness.
“Huh…”
She looked around curiously; unlike what her brother had told her, there weren’t any eyes glancing at her or something, although there were three moons.
A silver moon, a green moon, and a red moon.
“Moons?”
Then she saw new notifications, showing her Class Rank Up options.
There were very few, but it seemed they were made for her; three of them were sponsored by the silent moons.
“Hmm… I don’t know; I don’t like any of these.”
She didn’t seem to like any moon-themed things; the girl was rather sassy.
The Moons felt a bit hurt by her words but didn’t say anything either; it was her choice, and unlike the Seven Evil Gods, the Moon Goddesses didn’t force anybody to worship them.
“Hmm.. I guess I could… Huh?”
Suddenly, Camilla glanced at something behind the three moons.
There was something hiding there, something only she could see.
The three Moon Goddesses were completely unaware of it, unable to sense a single thing.
But Camilla’s eyes and her psychic powers, which were completely present in this mind realm and perhaps even enhanced, could see it clearly.
A shapeless entity, a being within the whiteness of this world…
It had an eye—a big, blue eye—but it wasn’t menacing.
Was it friendly?
It seemed to not even be staring at her, but at the void.
It was unaware of her existence as well.
“Hey, who are you? Are you also a God?”
The Moon Goddess glanced at one another, thinking she was referring to them.
“No, not you three… move aside!”
Camilla said angrily, and as she waved her hands, the three moons suddenly were pushed away by an incredibly strong psychic force!
RUMBLE!
The three Moon Goddesses were astonished by the girl’s power within a Mind Realm, but remained in silence as they too felt something.
Something wiggling across space and… time.
“Gyogyogygooohh…”
A strange, soul-piercing voice echoed from within the endless void; the whiteness spiraled together and then melted away as if it were candlewax, giving birth to a deep darkness.
And from the deep darkness, stars emerged, piercing through reality and the concept of the present.
Wiggling, amorphous appendages emerged, beginning to pierce and break through the Mind Scape, as something strange, something bizarre, and something beyond even the Goddesses’ imagination surged.
The entity glared at Camilla because she noticed its presence, and Camilla floated in midair, looking at the creature more.
The more she glanced at it, the more it became “real” within her perception of reality.
And the more it could influence said reality.
“You’re so big and wiggly, hehehe!”
Camilla wasn’t scared, even though even the Gods were.
She touched the entity’s appendages, and they touched her and patted her head.
Its massive, blue, and gray eye glanced into her very soul, but it could only find the innocence and kindness of a child.
“Gyooohh…”
The corrupter found nothing to corrupt, a pristine vessel, a blank slate; it could not harm with its corruption, yet it remained stable within her view of perception and reality.
It was strange; its very existence caused madness, but this girl wasn’t going mad…
Was she already mad? Someone born mad? Someone born with a strange mind?
It seemed that Camilla’s special mind caused this being to not be harmful to her.
And so the being realized its existence could extend into something more than a living concept that predated antiquity.
“I’m Camilla! What’s your name?”
The entity was asked to speak.
And it spoke.
A scream that pierced the minds of all beings.
“The Hollowed.”
“Nice to meet you, Hollowed! What a weird name.”
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