Atlas eyes snapped open. A cold, suffocating stillness pressed down on him.

The ground beneath him was cracked and dry with barely any semblance of soil, more like hardened clay.

Steadily, he pushed himself up, his hands scraping on the rugged and brittle surface.

The sting didn’t even register as his gaze swept across the surroundings.

“Fuck!”

The words burst out but did nothing to ease the storm within.

Regret, nervousness, horror and anger all surged inside him like a torrential wave.

He tried to steady himself, but it was useless. He stood there, rooted in place, taking in the landscape for what felt like an eternity.

Sparse patches of gray-green grass clung to life among withered trees, jagged boulders, and scattered bones, some far too large to be human.

‘A fucking wasteland!?’

Before he could dwell on it further, his nose was assaulted by a stench, a pungent, vile, like rot marinated in death.

He staggered, nearly doubling over to retch.

His stomach twisted, but his body adapted unnaturally fast. Within seconds, the smell dulled to a faint, lingering discomfort.

Relief began to creep in that is until he looked down.

His skin was pale, almost grayish, with long black nails curving slightly at the tips. He felt taller, his limbs leaner, yet stronger.

‘Right… my being.’

The memory of the source star selection struck him like a hammer.

His chest tightened, he had a rough idea of what he had become but he needed to be sure.

As the thought formed, a strange sensation washed over him like reality shifting to answer his call.

A blood red screen appeared Infront, the same type of screen as in his memories.

His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the screen, both at the 3d image of himself, but also lots of rows of text.

Though the text was of secondary concern as his eyes were glued onto the man on the image.

‘I knew it.’

His chest tightened, but as his eyes lingered on the image, he couldn’t deny… he looked good.

Pale skin, lean but strong and there was an elegance to the predatory form.

Compared to himself from earth, there was not even any competition.

For the first time in his life, he felt… powerful. Dangerous

His thoughts began turning in a weird direction, so he switched his attention.

[Zareth (Set Lord Title)]

[Race: Vampire (Noble)[?] ]

[Power: Stone ★]

[Territory: Set Territory Name[?] ]

[Lord Talent: Bloodforged Empire[?] ]

Understanding what little he could of it, with his brain he could guess and predict what everything meant by just remembering the words seared into his brain.

‘I am a Noble Vampire… And I have a new name.’

Thinking about it for some time was all he needed to adapt.

‘This is for the better, I finally have a new chance!’

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His thoughts started to race as he thought of the endless possibilities.

‘But what exactly is this Power?’

Zareth directed the question towards the system hoping for clarity. It had given him pointers before, maybe it would again.

A familiar, mechanical response echoed in his mind.

[Power represents your rank along the Path of Power.]

‘Path of Power? What is that?’

[The Path of Power reflects an individual's strength and growth.]

[Advancement is commonly achieved through: Killing, Training.]

[Alternative methods may exist depending on circumstances.]

[As a Lord, you gain 10% of the energy accumulated by your subordinates.]

[Energy is the essence required to advance in rank.]

[Each rank advancement results in a significant increase in strength and overall capabilities.]

[Ranks are as follows:]

[Ordinary → Stone, Copper, Bronze, Iron, Steel, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Crystal, Emerald, Sapphire, Mithril, Obsidian, Adamantite, Diamond, Celestial, Divine, Transcendent]

[Each rank is divided into 3 stages:]

[★ - Initial Stage]

[★★ - Intermediate Stage]

[★★★ - Peak Stage]

Feeling that he had finally understood the main part of the place he had been transported to, he sighed.

He understood it was a strength-based society, where the strong prosper and the weak die.

Deciding to understand everything it showed him, he interacted with the race, Lord Talent, and Territory.

[Noble Vampire]

[Race Traits]

[Regeneration - The vampire can regenerate if there is enough blood]

[Blood Pool - Able to store immense amounts of blood in their body. Increases with power]

[Night Crawler - Strength increased by 100% during nighttime]

[Sanguine Arcana - Grants mastery over blood magic, uses blood as a medium to cast spells]

[Swarmform - Can turn into a swarm of bats. Usage cost blood]

[Crimson Thralls - Able to create and control lesser undead. Depends on Casters power and the being’s power before death]

[Crimson Sire - Grants the ability to turn willing creatures into lesser vampires with the lord’s bloodline]

Looking over his racial traits, a grin began to tug at his lips, this was good, better than he dared hope.

Regeneration… blood magic… the power to create thralls and spawn vampires.

This wasn’t just a new life, this was a chance to build something.

‘Looks like it was a pretty good pick.’

He lamented about if someone would have been able to pick something like a slime or something.

Shivering at the thought of it, he tried to open the next part but was stopped.

[Set territory name]

Thinking deeply about it, this was going to be his future so it couldn’t be something stupid and had to fit.

‘Crimson Keep’

He finally thought of a fitting name for his territory that would represent him.

Happy with the name, he scanned the information about his territory.

[Territory]

[Crimson Keep]

[Rank: Ordinary]

[Size: Tiny Camp]

[Resources: Wood:0, Stone:0, Cores:0]

[Population: 0]

[Buildings: 0]

[2 buildings awaiting placement]

Everything was easy to understand, so he quickly thought of something.

Looking around he saw a reddish curtain covering some area around him.

‘Inside this must be my territory right now.’

‘It’s really not much.’

He sarcastically laughed at the tiny area before voicing out to the system.

‘What buildings do I need to place?’

[Buildings in need of placement]

[Lord’s Shelter: The core of the territory and the lord’s personal area]

[Blood Altar: Used to summon subjects at intervals]

‘Pretty easy to understand, I will have to go over the summoning building later.’

Looking around him he chooses the Lord’s Shelter and placed it in the northernmost area.

Seeing a timer appear in the system of ten minutes, he directly places the Blood Altar next to the shelter.

Both buildings when waiting for the timer, was covered in a black and red eerie fog, probably until the construction was done.

‘To kill time, I will check the last things.’

‘It sounds like a powerful talent, but I can’t get my hopes up.’

Zareth interacts with his lord talent and sees all the information

[Lord Talent]

[Bloodforged Empire – Diamond ★★★]

[The Strong Prosper - Can use the blood of creatures as a substitute for resources in the territory]

[Blood Tribute – Subjects and conquered lands offer blood as a tribute]

[Blood Is Power - The more blood absorbed the stronger the lord becomes]

[Crimson Rebirth - Fallen family members can be revived by the lord blood]

Reading all this gave Zareth some things to think about.

Diamond, his eyes lingered on the rank, it was high, very high.

Each trait read like a promise of power, blood fueling his empire, his strength growing with every drop.

Just by seeing all the effects of it, he was sure it would be of great use later down the line, but also now.

Looking over at the timer for the buildings and seeing it still not done, a thought struck him.

Zareth looked over at the reddish barrier covering his small territory and moved over to it.

Slowly but surely, he reached out with his pale hand ready to touch it, but it went right through.

Taking a few more steps, he arrived outside of it and felt no difference, so he made his way back to the buildings covered in red and black fog.

‘What is the meaning of the red barrier?’

[The Novice Lord Protection Barrier will be up for a maximum of one month]

[Under the barrier no monster or enemy will be able to enter or attack you inside]

‘Oh, thank you!’

Thinking of having some time where he was safe, to understand this new place was a lifesaver for him.

[The lords can choose to deduct time of the Novice Lord Protection barrier for a reward]

[The more they shorten it the better the reward]

‘A reward this early in the game would be a lifesaver, but is it really worth removing the safety?’

Mulling it over he came to a conclusion as he remembered a quote from a famous general of his country.

“Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash” General George Patton

Safety was a luxury. Growth was a necessity.

‘Fifteen days… That should be enough. Anything more was wasting time.’

‘Half the Novice Lord Protection time.’

He held his breath as even though it was somewhat calculated, it still made him uneasy

[Ding, Claim the reward.]