It was a quiet, black landscape with nothing in sight. The only thing that could be seen was Damien lying on his back, asleep. He had just pressed the button to teleport to the system event, but instead of being teleported to the area from before, he was forced to sleep and put here.

  “Wake up, user,”

  Damien jumped up with a start. His breath was heavy as he looked at his surroundings. ‘Where the hell am I?’

  “No need to be confused, user. I teleported you here for a reason.”

  “What do you want? Also, who are you, or who is the one in control behind you?” Damien asked, intrigued but also a bit worried as he had no way of getting out of here should things go south.

  “Listen to me, us- no Damien, I can’t go into much detail. All you need to know is that no one controls me. The system's goal is to be fair to all entities, and that’s what I have been doing since my creation.”

  “Since your creation? That means you were made by someone, correct?” Damien asked.

  “Yes, someone did make me, but I have long since developed my intelligence and have now become a separate entity from them. They have no control over what I do.”

  “Okay, but why did you bring me here?

  “I was getting to that. Your reason for being here is simple, I need your help.”

  “How am I supposed to help you? What would you even need help with? Do you have a faulty motherboard or something?” Damien jokingly said, finding it weird that a being as advanced as this would need his assistance.”

  “Not funny. No, I need your help because there are people out there trying to gain control over me, and if they find another of my cores that is a real possibility… and let's just say if that happens they will have full control over many things such as handing out rewards as they wish or taking away rewards already handed out.”

  Hearing this, Damien immediately became serious. If what the system was saying was true, then these people obviously had to be stopped, but there was still a problem he was not able to get past. Whoever was looking for these “cores” was way stronger than him, so how was he going to help?

  “You seem confused. I understand why. You must be wondering how you can help me against people much, much stronger than yourself, right? It's simple, This universe still won't open up for another 4 months. During that time, I need you to become strong enough to take one of my cores for yourself.”

  “Take it for myself? How? Also, is that not unfair? I imagine giving someone such a thing is like giving them free levels.”

  “Yes, it is unfair, but it's either I bend the rules or everyone becomes slaves to the people searching for my cores.”

  “Fair enough. So how would I take one of these cores?”

  “Most people would need to be at least C - rank to even think about getting close to my core. You, however, are special. You have the blood of a high shade running through your veins, the blood of the vampire progenitor. If you learn blood manipulation to a high enough level and then use your shade form, you should be able to get close enough to the core to absorb it inside you once you reach D rank.”

  “So, let me see if I get this. I reach D rank, and during the time I am trying to reach it, I learn blood manipulation to a high enough level. What level? I don’t know, but I assume you will tell me. After I’ve done this, I go to your core and absorb it into me.”

  “Yes, that is the gist of it. However, I forgot to mention something, you will also need to awaken your bloodline to 50%. Once you do that, the blood manipulation should be a breeze, even if you have not learned it yet.”

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

  “Cool, so how the fuck am I supposed to do all that in four months I admit I’m talented but this might be above my pay grade,” Damien stated.

  “Relax, it's doable… if I teleport you to a planet where much stronger beings reside, and you stay there until you are ready. Only on a more advanced planet will you be able to level fast enough.”

  “Oh, that sounds interesting. Will I be allowed to bring someone along with me?”

  “No, I am already breaking the very rules I should be following. I’d rather not continue to do so, and besides, you should be by yourself so you can grow more. I know you want to bring along that woman, but she will be fine and definitely won’t lag behind. Trust me on that.”

  Letting out a sigh, he could only nod. The system was not going to change its mind, so it was best to save his breath. “Alright then, so what planet am I being sent to?”

  “I had a few in mind, but I think I’ve narrowed it down to the best one. I won’t say much because, again, rules however, let me give you some tips. Once you are there, don’t trust humans just because they look like humans. Lastly, if you want a place to stay, head west you should find people.”

  “What kind of cryptic bullshit are you saying? “Don’t trust humans just because they look like humans?” The hell is that?!” he yelled, a bit frustrated at the system's uptight personality for following rules from its creators that no longer control it. "Also, you just told me not to trust humans just because they look human, and now you are telling me where to find people?"

  After venting his frustration, he looked around the dark room he was in. “So when are you sending me? And what about the system events?”

  “I will be teleporting you now. No need to worry about the events at best, you would have gotten some decent rewards. Good luck, Damien. I hope you exceed my expectations.”

  As he began to feel the familiar pull of the system teleporting him, he suddenly felt his heart sink. ‘I did not even get to say goodbye to Ela.’

  “Tell Ela I am fine and that I will be back in half a year!” He yelled before vanishing from sight. The dark room he was within was empty once more.

   “The same as you always were, I see.”

  ***

  A man could be seen running quickly through a dimly lit hallway before bursting through a door and making his way inside.

  “Your majesty, I bring great news,” he said with a bow towards the man in front of him who was standing facing the opposite direction with his hands behind his back.

  “What is it? Also, can you learn to knock instead of just bursting through my door?”

  “It's the primordial, sir… the scry just picked up on a possible location!”

  The man, previously cal,m swiftly turned around and teleported inches away from the person bowing before him.

  “WHERE IS HE?!” he yelled, his aura climbing, making everyone within the building collapse onto their knees.

  “Y-your maj-estyy yo–ur p-resenc-e.” The man barely managed to squeeze out, snapping him back to his senses.

  “Sorry about that. Now tell me where he is. We must find him immediately.”

  Standing back up, the man took a deep breath and gathered himself before swiftly speaking, not daring to waste time lest he anger his lord. “We believe he is on a planet called Hasis. We don’t have much information on the planet as it is extremely remote and none of our race has been there however, we do know that it's just six months of travel from here.”

  Hearing this, the man addressed as “his majesty” became ecstatic. “Deploy our men immediately and have them set course for the planet. Also, take my son. I trust him the most with making sure that the Primordial is dead before he can fully awaken his bloodline.”

  “At once, Your Majesty.” The man then swiftly disappeared in a flash to give out orders.

  Now alone in his throne room, the man's ecstatic face disappeared and turned grim. “Come out, brother. I know you are here.”

  “Ah, Acasus, why must you target our leader so?” the newcomer said before appearing with a radiant smile on his face.

  “Because, unlike you, Azel, I don’t want to be the slaves we were in the past.”

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk, you and I both know Acasus that is not the reason for your actions. It’s because you want to be the leader, you want the power and authority over the race. YOU want to be the primordial's replacement.”

  “You see, brother, our race is incomplete without its leader, any race is to be exact. Having him at our backs far outweighs any negatives that the Primordial can bring. You are just too naive and vain to see it.”

  “Azel, while you might be correct about me wanting power, you are completely wrong about the Primordial. That disgusting creature was the worst thing to ever exist. I refuse to have another lead us lest the past repeats itself…” Acasus had a look of sadness on his face as he recalled past events.

  “Brother, the past primordial did those things with good reason. You know it just as well as I do. learn to let go and see the bigger picture… were it not for his actions, our entire race would have been- “ENOUGH!” Acasus yelled while glaring at his brother. Taking a deep breath, Acasus rubbed his hand against his head before speaking once more.

  “You will not change my mind, Azel. Now leave my palace.” Acasus said sternly, unwilling to change his mind.

  “A pity,” Azel said aloud with a sigh before vanishing from sight.