Carnova city was famous for its beaches, seaside views and local guilds. Before the Gate appeared this city was a tourist spot as it was the only coastal city within the neighboring region.
Beyond the city lay mountain ranges, vast plains, treacherous valleys and other natural wonders. Being the only city with a coastline naturally meant that the dwellers would also have their homes near safezones bordering the sea.
Laura's house was also within such settings. Her late husband worked for a guild in the capital so she used to live there a decade ago but after she became a widow she decided to go back to her hometown with her childrens.
Thus after settling all the remaining matters in the capital and lawfully gaining the full inheritance, she sold that house back in the capital and used that money to buy a three-floored luxurious mansion by the beach with an excellent seaside view.
Both she and her late husband used to be an orphan thus they didn't have any relatives either in the capital or in this remote Carnova city. This mansion held a significant meaning for her as she spent a big part of her life raising her kids and tending to her herb garden here.
She even ended up opening an herb shop for the unawakened as she had a degree in herbology after completing her mortal craft education, which unawakened are obligated to complete.
Anyways, this herbalist was now heading towards her mansion along with her daughter and a teenager tagging along behind them. Anywhere they went people would stare at them with a gawking expression. To be more precise, those people were staring at the teenager with no regard for manners.
Thus this herbalist was extremely flustered and anxious to get to her home as quickly as possible. She always disliked being the center of attention since her young age. So she made a habit of wearing a cap or in this remote city, a straw hat to obscure her face. Even her two daughters ended up developing such habits.
Just this twenty minute walk from the orphanage to her mansion has become an arduous task. Let alone the constant stairs that sweeped by her and eventually fell on the teenage boy, there even seemed to be some people following behind them at a distance with a curious and awestruck expression on their face. She really can't take this anymore. So she hurriedly opened the front gate of the mansion and after the two folks behind walked inside, she swiftly closed the gate.
Only then did she heave a sigh of relief.
She then looked at the otherworldly handsome teenager with a complicated expression. Now, she couldn't just scold him for attracting others attention by existing, could she?
"Karla, show him around the mansion. You can pick any vacant room as your own from now on. If you have any questions or requests don't be shy to ask us, okay?"
She said gently after instructing her daughter. She then opened the main door of the mansion and walked in while rubbing her temples as she sensed an incoming headache from the hectic day.
From going to the orphanage to completing all procedures and returning back home it only took an hour and half. Yet she felt extremely tired for some reason. She surmised that it was best to take a quick nap and dispel all the lingering thoughts in her head that has been pestering her since the beginning of this cloudy morning.
°°°°
The teenage boy said his goodbye with a polite smile to the young girl who seemed to show symptoms of clinginess. He then closed the door and looked around the room he had chosen from all the vacant rooms within the mansion.
This room was on the second floor at the end of the corridor. It had a window facing the beach which let in the salty breeze from the sea and plenty of sunlight from the rising sun.
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A medium sized bed allowing two adult to sleep comfortably, a wardrobe, a small round table with three chairs around it, a wall mounted man-sized mirror, a small cupboard by the bedside with a lamp on it, it also had air conditioning, air purifier and a small chandelier on the ceiling emitting warm light.
The teenager dropped the backpack, which had some insignificant stuff from the orphanage marked as his belonging, on the bed as he slowly walked towards the mirror. The mirror reflected his image. He held his chin with his right hand as he turned his head left and right to observe. After doing that, he opened his mouth and observed the interior. He then nodded his head as he said in whisper,
"Every single time I see this face with no horns, scales and fangs… tsk! tsk!"
He clicked his tongue in exasperation. He then remembered the second requirement he must have fulfilled by now so he decided to check.
He focused on his mind to connect to the "system" that might have brought him to this world. Sure enough, he was able to connect with it as it seemed to reside within the depths of his soul.
Ding!
[Requirements for system evolution completed]
[System evolving from Level 3 to Level 4]
[Estimated time to complete the evolution: 1 hour]
[Please wait for 59:59]
[Please wait for 59:58]....
As those pieces of information appeared in his mind the teenager had a satisfied smile on his face. He then went to the bed as he removed the jacket and dropped it on the side. Now he was laying on the bed with a black t-shirt on his body. This teenager really seemed obsessed with all-black fashion sense.
"Hmm, six years of hard work finally paid off. Sigh… a mortal human's lifespan is truly pathetic. Anyways, that director did me a solid for the past six years. I should let him go down with a bang. Keh Keh!"
The teenager chuckled as he planned for someone's death. After sorting out other miscellaneous thoughts he closed his eyes for an hour-long nap.
When he opened his eyes he saw an upside down pyramid floating in the air in front of his eyes. This pyramid was glowing with a dark hue.
"This so-called 'system' should be usable from now on. Let's hope its usefulness is proportional to the hardships it brought to me."
The teenager sat upright as he said those words. He touched his left ear even though he already knew the answer to his inquiry. Those silver earrings were now gone. In front of him now floated its enlarged version which seemed holographic to say the least. He moved his right hand and touched the upside down pyramid.
Nothing happened.
He frowned. Not expecting the first interaction to be fruitless. Then he thought back to the only method which seemed to have proven to work every single time he tried connecting with this mysterious system. He focused on his mind to search for that connection. He found the connection and then…
Ding!
[Conditions for system activation completed]
The familiar ring of the bell resounded in his ear as the information confirming system activation entered his mind. Following that sound the upside down pyramid shapeshifted into a spectral screen half a meter tall which appeared in front of his eyes.
He closed his eyes to check and found his hypothesis correct that he could still observe the screen with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes and in that spectral screen which only he could see was a bunch of information orderly written for his convenience.
[The Progenitor System]
[System Level: 4/??]
[Evolution Rank: Awakened (Initial)]
[Next Evolution Requirements: ??]
[Menu Unlocked: 3/??]
[Host Stats] [Appraisal] [Mission] [??]...
The teenager nodded his head as he gained a new understanding about this mysterious system which eluded him for a long time. He first decided to check the [Host Stats] menu.
Ding!
[Host Stats]
[Name: Blue (Azure Limbo)]
[Existence Level: 0.01/100]
[Physical Race: Mortal Human]
[Body Age: 18]
[Spiritual Race: Abyss Spawn]
[Soul Age: 3,150,438]
[Bloodline: Lust Incubating Abyss Spawn]
[Physique: Obsequious Charm Physique]
[Aether Vein Attribute: Unawakened]
[Ability: 22
Innate Ability - Premonition
Bloodline Ability - Memory Palace, Cognitive Distortion, Memory Shifting, Perception Dissonance, Anomaly Creation, Rules of Anomaly, Body Corruption, Mind Corruption, Soul Corruption, Lustful Murmur, Lust Desire Amplification, Rules of Lust, Lust Siphon, Lust Transfer
Physique Ability - Sculpted Form, Center of Attention, Persuasion, Melodious Voice, Scent Pheromone, Opposite Sex Allurement, Sweet Liquid]
After reading up to here he heaved a long sigh as he said in a baffled tone,
"This system is really wondrous. I had no idea about this innate ability or the physique abilities. So it was called Obsequious Charm physique, hmm, bloodline abilities are missing quite a few as expected. This 'existence level'... Damn! 0.01 out of 100. How weak am I?"
Just as he was grumbling about his pathetic strength he suddenly thought of something he overlooked.
"Since this system can measure my existence level then doesn't this mean that it already has the data of the individual who is considered 100 in the Endless Void. Progenitor System, just what are you?"
Blue said in his mind with a grave expression on his face.