Dollar examined the surroundings with narrowed eyes. A familiar presence pushed against his senses as he examined the lake beyond the walls of the dome. Permeating through the water was a presence beyond Ioa and Earth, beyond mortal and immortal, and beyond magic and gods. It was divine.

“Ength,” Dollar murmured again.

Once, he had come face to face with the divine. His uncle had sent Ength to assassinate him, and he had negotiated his freedom and a sliver of its powers from it. Nobody knew of their presence, at least, not that Dollar had seen, and he was grateful for that. Ength was a being so far beyond him that its true form had hidden behind creation itself to avoid maddening him with its presence. When he had glimpsed that form for a single moment, he had felt his mind slipping, and his hopes and dreams shattered against the reality of an existence far beyond his own.

That was the terror of Ength, the divine of symbols.

“This is strange,” Dollar said. “I expected to feel new things with my spatial affinity, but combined with my new [Aura Sense]...I can feel your existence as a weight upon the world.”

His words met empty air, but his eyes never left the aura. It permeated across the lakebed and across the waters, and in the distance, the symbol’s call accompanied it like a curious puppy.

“Is that…I see, it’s you. You’re connected with this symbol somehow,” Dollar’s eyes shone. “No wonder the symbol was so overwhelming. Was this planned, or a coincidence?”

His question wasn’t rhetorical. He was directing it at the presence of Ength. The originator of the aura that overwhelmed Lake Tiber.

When it didn’t respond, he shook his head.

Is Ength really here? He wondered. Or am I just feeling something like it?

A single shake of his head was his only response. Dollar had experienced many things in his two lives, but Ength was unmistakable. He shifted his gaze across the lake. Mitsy hadn’t noticed the aura, nor had Bill, but as his eyes passed over Lotan and Levia he had to believe that they had sensed it. It was part of their bloodline, after all.

Dollar raised his hand and tapped his fingers against the air, but the aura wasn’t physical. He couldn’t warp or manipulate it.

So, [Aura Sense] only gives me access to sight, not touch, Dollar thought.

The aura he sensed was inert and stable, as though it had lain here since the dawn of time, uncaring and overwhelming. Despite his reservations, he knew intuitively that Ength itself wasn’t here. It couldn’t be. If Ength the divine had entered the lake, then it would have destroyed Ioa with its presence alone. After all, even the sliver of its being that he had met was larger than planets and strode across a storm of galaxies.

And yet, Ength’s presence is here. Dollar thought. Clear for all to see, and probably deterring more predators than I can imagine. Is this what Grandma meant when she said that the lake was owned by ancient powers?

No. There’s more to it than this. Dollar shook his head. Once again, he looked upward, his lips curling into a smile as he worked out what was bothering him. One by one, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. There’s still the question of why grandma brought me here. And why she brought my mother here as well. I suspect the answer lies in this bloodline.

Dollar glanced at his aura, a cascading swathe of silver, and he frowned. Potential. That was the name of the part of his bloodline that he had unlocked, which meant that he had unlocked the same bloodline as his grandmother. Levia could see what he did, whether it was the old body made of aura within him or Ength’s presence.

That meant she had brought him here on purpose.

Once, my father and uncle had come to the lake in search of the symbol. When they entered the lake, they were best friends. Dollar mused. When they left, they clearly didn’t leave with the symbol. But what if they found something else? Something better.

When he was two years old, Dollar had been assassinated. His soul had separated from his body, and his mind had flung across planes of existence outside his understanding. When he’d landed, he’d been inside Ength’s realm, the divine gazing down at him with a contract in hand.

The cause of his death had been a single favor owed by Ength.

Such a waste. Parelius could have had the entire world if he knew what it was. Dollar shook his head.

Dollar had never questioned how his uncle had obtained Ength’s favor. Clearly, Parelius hadn’t known what Ength was. Or else he wouldn’t have wasted the divine’s power killing a child. However, he’d still gained the favor somehow.

“Marcus and Parelius Tiberius went into the lake,” Dollar said. “One came out with a favor owed by a divine being.”

The glow of the light stone bathed over him gently, and he lowered his hand and followed this new train of thought.

“This is where they met Ength.” Dollar was certain of it. “Somehow, in some way, they came into contact with the Divine here. Right here in the heart of Lake Tiber.”

Dollar peered at Ength’s life force carefully, and the more he viewed the presence, the more certain he became. Ength’s life force was staggered in its release, leaking out from the depths instead of being uniformly spread out across the waters. Underneath the lake, and far deeper than the dome, something related to the divine existed.

Unfortunately, his senses weren’t powerful enough to see the exact origin. He’d have to level the [skill] further to try.

What could it be? Dollar stared down at the ground curiously. It’s coming from the same place as the symbol. So, maybe Ength’s presence caused the symbol to form? Or is the source the symbol itself?

Dollar tilted his head, his lips curling into a smile.

It didn’t matter. Not to him.

“Well, now I know this is your domain. Good. Don’t expect me to hold back, roomie,” Dollar’s smile widened. “I was always bad at staying away from things I wanted.”

There were two rings left, golden bands of light that wrapped around his life force. He had unlocked potential, which meant these were ‘life’ and ‘bonds’.

Together, they formed a full bloodline.

Dollar turned his attention back toward himself and gazed upon the obstacles. He’d unlocked his potential, and he could sense auras, but he had a feeling there was more to the bloodline than that. Not to mention he hadn’t uncovered his bloodline’s connection to bonds yet.

Dollar had already used his strongest [skill] well beyond its normal limits, but he didn’t feel tired. Using [A Will Eternal] against others was one thing, but using it within his own mind and body, there was no exhaustion. His will was incontestable and a part of him.

Eyeing the rings with disdain, he witnessed them tremble under his gaze. “[A Will Eternal].”

The golden rings shook and cracked. Golden light spat out of them and into his body, curdling into patches of mist. Each one overlapped with different parts of his body, but none left the borders of the silver light surrounding them.

In seconds they were on the verge of destruction, and power blossomed within Dollar. With a roar, he focused on the chains holding him down.

“Break.”

Without hesitation, Dollar commanded the two remaining rings to shatter.

Golden light spewed forth from the cracks as solid gold fragmented into dust. Just like the first ring, the motes of golden light hovered in the air for a moment before falling down deeper within him.

“I. Can. See. You.” Dollar’s teeth gritted.

With the rings destroyed, he had a clear view of the path the golden lights were taking. They were aiming for his heart, trying to envelop it in their radiance, but as they reached the organ, he could see that they weren’t aiming for his flesh, instead, they were reinforcing a series of lines that were embedded in his heart.

Each line glowed bright gold as the remains of the rings entered them, revealing an interconnected series of links across his flesh.

Something had been cut into his heart.

“What?” Dollar paused momentarily, shock coursing through him.

Dollar eyed the golden light cautiously, but the object that was embedded in his heart snatched his attention. The scratches within his flesh were familiar, but only because he’d had years of training in identifying them.

It was a symbol.

The bloodline is a symbol. Dollar stared at it in surprise. Of course, it is.

Dollar almost slapped himself on the forehead when he made his discovery. Everything he’d done so far had mimicked the symbol connecting process perfectly, from extending his senses to connecting to his own existence.

Now, he could see that it hadn’t been a coincidence. The entire time he’d been thinking about what to do, and he’d already had the skills to unlock his bloodline within him the entire time.

“But how did you get into my heart?” Dollar questioned.

His query went unanswered, but it was quickly pushed aside by a rush of power. Energy swept through him as he unlocked a part of his being he’d never realized existed. Unleashed from its chains, the bloodline symbol activating on its own.

Dollar raised his hand, preparing to stop it with a single thought, but then he blinked in surprise as a series of blue boxes appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations! You have unlocked the bloodline: Bonds of Life (partial–life).]

[Life Essence unlocked.]

[Stat: Vitality has been replaced by Life Essence.]

[Life Essence: Life Essence permeates all that is, and all that ever will be. Those who cultivate its worth will find their minds clearer, their physical fatigue lessening, and their recovery of both increased. Life Essence infuses your muscles and veins with power, strengthening them and extending your life. Illnesses are unlikely to survive within your body.]

Immeasurable pleasure and power coursed through Dollar’s aura, and before his eyes, the room warped with new colors. The silver light within him took on a tinge of gold, and silver and gold mixed to form a tincture that was greater than before. His old body’s rippling muscles gained a glimmer of their prior golden tan, and golden light spilled out across the air, pushing back Ength’s presence gently as it coalesced within Dollar.

As he gazed upon the fluctuations in his aura, he realized what he was seeing wasn’t just a shift in his stats. It was a change in his very being.

Auras are vitality. Or at least impacted by the stat. Dollar gazed at the changes carefully. Does that mean there are abilities that can be used to see the other stats as well?

He’d always wondered what vitality impacted because it hadn’t made him physically stronger. Now, he knew. However, the changes weren’t just metaphysical. He could feel his strength increasing at the same time, the world itself illuminating with the concept of life as his fatigue drained away and his mind cleared.

There was a soft crunch as the wooden amulet his grandmother had given him shattered into pieces, its connection severed by the changes in his aura.

Dollar flexed his fingers in wonder. So, this is the power of the bloodline aspect of life. Potential awakened what was already within me. Life changed what was previously there.

In the distance, he could see Mitsy’s aura stopping and turning toward him curiously. She hadn’t sensed him but was instead following the gaze of Levia and Lotan, both of whom had turned to face the house, their life forces shifting toward him intently.

But he ignored them.

Dollar wasn’t done with his bloodline. He had shattered two rings in one go, and he was reaping the rewards.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

[Congratulations! You have unlocked the bloodline: Bonds of Life (partial–bonds).]

[You may establish a bloodline bond with a willing being of your choice.]

[Number of bonds available: 1.]

[Congratulations! You have unlocked the bloodline: Bonds of Life (pure).]

Thin lines appeared in the air, connecting his aura to those around him. Each one was transparent and ethereal, but quickly took on a hint of the silver-gold tint of his aura. The lines rippled throughout the room, seeking a bond to connect to, but when they found nothing, they promptly retreated, falling back within him and disappearing. He could sense them, waiting to be called, and he knew he could access them again if he wanted to. The ability to form a bond was intuitive, the information coming from his very being.

There was only one problem.

My bloodline doesn’t look very unlocked, Dollar thought.

Now that he knew what he was looking at, a whole new world unveiled itself before his senses. His aura was an outline of his old body. And that outline was tainted. Lines that had previously been hidden from his sight crisscrossed his aura like chains. They were enveloped in golden light, the remains of the rings that had chained his heart.

“I thought you were my bloodline, but I was wrong.” Dollar frowned. “Or rather, I was only half right.”

The lines belonged to two different symbols.

One of the symbols was etched into his heart and the other was spread out across his chest, neck, and abdomen.

Panic flared up within Dollar, but he quickly squashed it down and examined the symbols carefully. It was impossible for someone to carve the symbols into his body. His heart would have stopped beating, and his body would have been in constant pain, which meant that the two symbols were purely metaphysical, not literal. Their lines were etched into his aura, not his body.

The symbol in his chest, neck, and abdomen was enormous, and extremely familiar to him. Examining it closely, he realized he’d already known it was there. Each of its lines looked like a molten droplet of white gold had been poured into a mold.

It was the reincarnation symbol.

Huh, so you’re still here. I’d wondered about that. Dollar gazed at the reincarnation symbol fondly. I still haven’t found a use for you. But hey, I’ll get there.

The reincarnation symbol pulsated as he spoke, responding to his words, and he smiled. He knew the symbol inside out, and though he’d yet to fully uncover its secrets, he was always working on memorizing it in the back of his mind, so seeing the symbol was like meeting an old companion.

“Which was more than I can say for you.” Dollar frowned.

The unknown symbol that lay over his heart was doused in radiant golden light, each of its lines foreign. He’d never seen it before, nor felt its presence, but the moment his senses brushed over it, he frowned. Whatever was inside him felt distant and strange.

[Language - symbols] translated it instantly.

‘Life, bonds, potential, existence, being, mortality, soul.’

“I would never have imagined there was an unknown symbol within me.” Dollar tapped his senses against the symbol, and it jiggled.

He felt queasy. This symbol wasn’t as complex as the reincarnation symbol, but compared to the other symbols, he already knew it was deeper, more intricate, and was pulsating faintly, as though it were both alive and asleep. Well, that had been the case a few minutes ago. Now, it was waking up.

Yeah, this is my bloodline. It’s more impressive than I thought. Instead of unlocking just one concept of the symbol’s meaning, it’s using the first three concepts completely. Dollar examined it curiously. I didn’t know that was possible. But there’s something strange about it. Or rather, different.

Dollar could feel the power of the symbol, and the weight of its existence, but he could also feel a new type of energy wrapped around the symbol and inside it, holding it in place and making sure it didn’t spill out.

It was the lights that had come out of the golden rings.

Each ring he had destroyed had given him further access to his bloodline, but their remains had shifted and warped until they looked like a series of tiny chains that were keeping the symbol locked in place.

The power of a symbol like this would likely require a ridiculously high mental fortitude at a young age to contain. That means that these rings stop anyone with the bloodline from dying when they’re born.

The chains mimicked the ethereal threads he’d seen a few seconds ago. Each ring was a bond.

Someone had bonded to him at birth.

Yeah, this should be another type of bond. Or rather, it’s the aura that’s used to form a bond. They were stopping the energies of the symbol from escaping and overwhelming me. But to do so, the bonds needed to limit the functions of the symbol itself until it was inert. Maybe that’s what stops people from unlocking their full bond. They don’t have the mental fortitude required to handle the existence of the symbol, so they risk dying if they unlock more than one or two of the rings.

In this case, restraint was a good thing, because if the symbol was this complex, the wielder’s brain would have leaked out of their ears the moment they were born.

“I still have a lot of questions,” Dollar said. “The rings explain why I didn’t explode or gain miraculous powers at birth, but they don’t explain where the bond came from. Or who had placed it on me.”

This time, he wasn’t so sure that he was only talking to himself. But no reply came.

So, he focused on the bloodline within him.

After years of experimenting with symbols, Dollar had a firm grasp on how much he could handle, and when he was reaching his limits. Normally, a symbol of this complexity would be beyond his ability to hold, or even to learn. But he didn’t need to do either. Just like the reincarnation symbol, his bloodline was a part of him, and it wouldn’t harm him if he unlocked the restrictions around it, as long as he did it properly.

More importantly, the idea of having an alien energy within his body disturbed him. The bonds that had formerly been rings were invasive, and with his new senses, he could feel their power wrapped around his heart, squeezing it tightly.

Then, as he peered at the chains around his bloodline, he saw a flicker of movement and frowned.

“What’s this?”

Looking closer, he could see the golden bonds forming symbols that periodically flickered with power.

‘Silence, contract, bonds, restrain, restrict.’

It’s a contract of some sort. Dollar realized. Powered by the activated bloodline.

More symbols flickered across his vision and his blood ran cold as he viewed them.

‘Restrict, limit, inhibit, prevent, deter.’

‘Terminate, break, shatter, destroy, illuminate.’

Dollar turned to the door, opening his mouth to shout for his Grandmother. “————”

No words came out, and anger flared within him. The moment he’d tried to talk, the chains around his heart tightened, and he gagged as his voice was silenced.

He immediately knew the reason why.

Silence. Restrict. Terminate. I can’t talk about the bloodline. The revelation struck him like lightning.

Dollar thought about trying again, but a different sensation pulsed through his being, and he shivered. The threat of death crawled out from the golden chains, warning him not to try to contact his grandmother again.

If this contract breaks, it’ll kill me. Who put it there? Ah, right. This is what stopped Levia from telling me about the finer details.

“Annoying.” Dollar pursed his lips.

With their placement, the chains could activate at any moment and kill him instantly if they felt like it.

“No,” Dollar shook his head. “You definitely have to go.”

This is why Grandma gave me a choice not to activate the bloodline. Dollar narrowed his eyes, honing his senses into a fine-toothed comb that ran across the contract written into the bonds that bound him, examining every inch of it carefully. The symbols slowly formed words from intent, giving him an overview of what he could and couldn’t do.

Activating the bonds gives me power, but it also binds the bloodline holder to the whims of whoever made the bond, with a penalty of death. Those who unlock ‘potential’ are given the restriction of silence if they try to talk. Those who unlock ‘life’ are simply limited, though I don’t know what that entails. And those who unlock ‘bonds’ are terminated if they try to speak.

Dollar shivered. Even after all of his questioning, he’d felt like he was missing a piece of the puzzle. Now, he had found it.

And it was threatening to kill him.

With a gentle touch, Dollar pressed his senses against the golden chains, examining them cautiously. They were mostly inert, having lain unused for years inside him. In fact, the activation of the bloodline was powering them. That was a good thing. If he’d activated the contract immediately after being reborn and died as a result, well, that would have been awkward.

Can I erase the contact? Dollar wondered. It’ll activate the moment I try, but I think I can do it quickly enough that it won’t matter.

His confidence wasn’t arrogance. It was born from his years of studying symbols and their intricacies. Despite being complexly woven, the contract itself wasn’t strong. Not to someone like him. The fact that it was inside his body gave him power over it that would allow him to destroy it.

Which meant others should have tried that as well.

Did Grandma mention any other symbologists in the family? I don’t think she did. And I doubt there are any. Dollar pieced together the information he’d gathered on his family over the past few days. I’d wager that’s not a coincidence. If I hadn’t been raised by an exile of the family... hmm. No, let’s not focus on the past. Now, how am I supposed to do this, exactly?

The chains were simple enough to break, but they weren’t actual chains. They were metaphysical chains, which meant he needed something more than the physical to break them.

He saw no reason why [A Will Eternal] wouldn’t work just as well on these bonds. It was far easier to wield when he was using it on his own being like it was a part of him. He didn’t feel a single mote of strain when he’d used it to break the rings initially.

“My will is eternal.”

Dollar pressed his will against the chains, feeling them cracking at the slightest touch. This time, the golden lights that broke off were destroyed and didn’t remain within him. Since it was his body, they were easy enough to erase.

Or so he’d thought.

Pain.

The chains let out a pulsating squeeze, constricting around the symbol, and his heart, and he gasped, writhing in pain as his chest tightened and compressed.

Death.

The bond was fighting back.

There’s the fight I was expecting. Dollar pushed through the pain, sweat dripping down his forehead as he kept his will focused on the bonds that were attacking him.

“Break.”

The floor shook, and the golden chains shattered.

He growled, his dominance unshakeable in his own mind.

Motes of golden light flickered out of existence as the chains were blasted to oblivion by his will. Dollar swept his senses over his aura, trying to see if there were any other issues he had to deal with. To his relief, the chains had dissipated into nothingness quickly, releasing their hold on his heart, but then he saw a glimmer of light at the center of his heart, and he frowned.

A single golden line had remained.

From that line, a presence emerged, submerging his heart and mind in its brilliance. A cry of pain hit the air, and Dollar recognized it as his voice.

“Who has tampered with my bloodline?”

The voice struck his soul like a hammer and the bond’s lights danced in harmony as they sang a song of power and eras gone by. Dollar could sense the minuscule shifts in the energies around him. Their presence surrounded him, examining him from the inside and outside.

Something was here with him, connecting to him through the bond he was destroying.

Oh hell–

Silence fell.

The gentle glow of his stone disappeared, and the walls of the room vanished. Dollar jolted at the sudden change and looked around cautiously. There wasn’t a single speck of lake water in sight, and his surroundings had changed entirely. There was a sky above him, bright and unobstructed, but without a sun or star to be seen.

Dollar’s heart churned, the pain of the chains gone, but his sense of danger grew. He was outside, and he was no longer in Lake Tiber. Around him, the borders of the world were invisible and disseminated into emptiness, a single white plain permeating through to the edges of his vision. He was standing on that same white plateau, and when he looked down, he saw a familiar sight.

It was a sea of light.

“This is the realm of the Progenitor.”

A ripple of movement met Dollar’s words, and he looked down.

“I’ve been here before. In Zendria.” Dollar said. “When I stepped into Orona’s portal.”

The light flickered in response to his gaze, caring and accepting. Dollar’s heart fluttered at the sight. This was definitely the same golden sea as before, and a sense of familiarity grew deep within him. Once again, he felt like a child had given all its trust to him, and he couldn’t live up to its expectations, yet what he saw was so loving and forgiving that he didn’t have to.

“I don’t appreciate being kidnapped like this.”

The golden light flickered in response. Aura filled the world around him, so concentrated that people could see it even without [Aura Sense].

Dollar glanced around.

“Am I actually here? Or am I still back in my room?” He asked. This time, there was no response.

His entrance into the domain of aura had been instantaneous, and he was still sitting down in a meditative position. Even the smallest shifts in his legs and feet sent out a flurry of ripples small and large across the still surface. With each new ripple, a sense of shame deepened within him. His mere existence was bringing chaos to the perfection around him.

The ripples washed across the surface, hitting invisible barriers, and returning until they connected at the center of the light, where they lapped gently against a solid object. It was only at the end of their journey that Dollar realized he wasn’t alone in this strange realm.

Kneeling in the middle of the sea was a woman in white robes.

She was beautiful. As though nature had given birth to an art piece so profound it could foster amazement at the slightest glance, and yield secrets after the thousandth look. With a shift, she looked up and her eyes fell on him.

“You.” Her gaze pierced through to his soul, as gentle as the ocean, and unending as the wind.

“Cavorter of the Divine, crosser of thresholds, wielder of my bloodline,” she whispered, and her voice tickled at his mind. “Why are you releasing my bonds?”

Dollar knew the voice speaking to him. Ethereal and perfect, yet cold. He’d heard it a thousand times in his mind as he pondered its mysteries.

She’s calling me a wielder now, not an inheritor. Dollar thought. Good to know.

“Hello there, we’ve met before,” Dollar met her gaze calmly. “You’re the creator of these chains, I assume. Should I call you ancestor, or do you prefer the term Progenitor?”

The Progenitor moved her hand up to Dollar, and he blinked in surprise as the world shifted and she appeared in front of him. Her hand pressed against his temple, and he sensed a profoundness emanating from her like there was a secret hiding within her movements that was beckoning to him. Enlightenment spread from the tips of her fingers, stopping the ripples his presence had caused within the ocean of light.

“Answer me.”

A gentle breeze brushed against his clothes at her words, his shirt flapping steadily as the Progenitor’s whisper brushed against his skin, and goosebumps formed across his body as he felt the threat held within it. For a single instant, he felt his surroundings lurch, and a weight pressed against his chest, like a hand was pushing him.

He raised his hand to meet the force, grasping the woman’s wrist gently, and shock crossed over her features. The weight lessened with her surprise, and Dollar saw his opportunity.

“I destroyed the chains because I can contain what they’re holding back,” Dollar answered truthfully. “And because I don’t like the idea of keeping something dangerous inside me. Now that your bond tried to kill me, I’m thinking I made the right choice.”

“No.”

The Progenitor gazed up at him, and the golden waters around them parted at the force of her denial. Above him, the sky parted at her finality, revealing a shimmering space of multi-colored lights. A tug of intimacy flickered within Dollar’s mind, and he recognized the lights as those he’d seen in one of Ength’s visions, when his mother had seen his father die and screamed, calling down something from the heavens to strike down the army in front of her.

I’ll have time to think about that later. Dollar turned his attention toward the Progenitor.

His ancestor’s beauty was no less perfect as she gazed down at him, and her certainty in her words being obeyed was absolute.

“You belong to me.”

Dollar’s senses screamed danger, but before he could react, golden light flooded from her palm and the remaining chain-link plastered over his heart pulsed and grew. The Progenitor’s aura cascaded over the bloodline symbol, coiling around it like a snake and fighting back against his will.

“What was once one will stay unified, a part contributing to the whole.” The Progenitor’s words were like a spell, intoxicating and empowering the golden aura she was pouring into his being.

“Figures,” Dollar groaned in pain but didn’t let go of the Progenitor’s wrist. “A patent holder never wants to give up their products. But I have tricks too, you know.”

“[A Will Eternal].” Dollar’s voice boomed across the world of light.

The Progenitor’s hand trembled as [A Will Eternal] clashed against the bonds that tried to bind him, refusing to submit to their whims and restraints.

But it wasn’t enough.

“You have potential, wielder. I shall use it wisely.”

The Progenitor’s light filled Dollar’s body until it overflowed, cascading out of his pores, and sweeping across the sea. With them came a force unlike any he’d encountered before. It strengthened the chains of his bloodline and empowered each one beyond their previous measures. If he continued to resist, they would crush him. The choice the Progenitor was giving him was clear.

Dollar had to give up his freedom. Or he would die.