The underground chamber pulsed with raw power, the air thick with the metallic tang of blood and the unbearable stench of twisted magic.
Bang! Under the influence of Leylin's blood, the scarlet spell formation blazed a dozen times brighter, its crimson glow flooding the room like a tide of molten fire.
The powerful flash of light brought forth a strong energy wave, rippling outward, slamming against the four walls with a force that made the stone tremble.
Leylin sat at its heart, cross-legged on the black stone platform, his body a map of wounds, each cut a testament to his resolve.
His breath came steady despite the pain, a quiet thrill of anticipation coursing through him, his heart pounding like a war drum in the silence.
On the walls, magical blue runes flickered to life, greedily absorbing the leaking energy waves, their glow straining under the onslaught. His summons—Great Withering Mankestre, Black Horrall Snake, Black Steed, the Bear-Modified Acolyte, Fire Spell Acolyte, Torash, Saurun, and the Rune and Curse Acolyte—stood guard, their forms shimmering with effort as they used their own bodies to suppress the chaos.
One by one, they crumbled, their essence unraveling in wisps of shadow and light, sacrificed to contain the formation's fury.
Leylin's chest tightened, his focus remained unshaken, eyes fixed on the scarlet tide engulfing the roof.
The scarlet color burned brighter, swallowing every corner until the world was a blood-red haze, a realm of primal power that set Leylin's nerves alight with awe.
A layer of black smoke materialized, swirling in midair, shifting into shapes—snakes, claws, eyes—before coalescing into a denser form.
"Abiding by the ancient contract, my strength will now be that of the bloodline!" Leylin declared, his voice resonant with reverence, spoken in the flowing cadence of the Byron language.
The words echoed, the room quaking with their weight, a deep rumble that stirred his soul as he felt the ancient pact take hold, binding him to something vast and eternal.
Weng Weng! The thick black smoke surged toward him, clinging to his body like a second skin, seeping into the triangular wounds that marked him. Their grim black light pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat, and Leylin shivered, an icy chill charging through his nerves, sharp and unrelenting, as if winter itself had claimed his bones.
"Cold…" he whispered, his voice trembling with wonder, goosebumps prickling across his skin. Then, as the freeze reached its peak, a burning sensation erupted, setting every cell ablaze with a fire that roared through him, fierce and alive.
"Hot!" he gasped, awe and pain threading his tone, his body trembling under the dual assault.
[Warning! Warning! Mysterious energy discovered infiltrating and beginning to consume copious amounts of the Host's lifeforce.] The A.I. Chip's red alert flashed in his mind, urgent and stark, but Leylin barely flinched, his focus razor-sharp.
Along with the continuous burning of his body, he could distinctly feel that his spiritual force was increasing at a crazy rate, surging toward the boundary of an official Magus.
"It's working," he murmured, calmness in his voice, but a wild grin breaking through the pain as he sensed the threshold drawing near, tantalizingly close.
"Great Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes, eternal shadow of the abyss!" he chanted, his voice rising, fervent and pleading, as he praised the snake goddess. "Your coils cradle worlds, your venom births terror! Kemoyin Serpents, ancient lords of ruin, your gaze petrifies, your scales shatter mountains! Grant me your might, weave my blood with yours!"
The incantation poured from him, each word a pulse of devotion and dread, his heart swelling with the weight of their legend, the air humming with his plea.
Leylin reached for the vulcanised crystal test tube, its cool surface steadying his trembling hand. The Kemoyin bloodline within shimmered purple-red, alive with promise.
"Here we go," he said, his voice thick with resolve, a flicker of fear buried beneath his certainty. He poured the blood onto his wounds.
Hua La La! The liquid writhed, transforming into countless tiny snakes that burrowed into his flesh, their movements a searing violation.
"Arghhh!" Leylin's scream tore free, raw and guttural, his bloodshot eyes nearly bulging, muscles contorting as agony clawed at his nerves. The pain was a living thing, shredding his senses, blurring his vision into a haze of red and shadow. Yet, clinging to the Kemoyin's Pupil meditation technique, he pushed forward, his mind a fortress against the torment, striving for the Warlock's breakthrough.
Time slipped away, the world beyond the basement fading into irrelevance. By the morning of the second day, Dexter, Greem, Faisal, Mandal, Fred, Fraser, and seven young Knights stood sentinel at the manor's gates, their faces stern, weapons gleaming in the dawn's pale light.
"Hold fast," Greem growled, his voice low with duty, pride stiffening his spine as he scanned the horizon, ready to protect their master's seclusion.
Inside, the scarlet light intensified, a relentless blaze that strained the blue runes to breaking, their creaking protests echoing like a dying beast. Leylin drifted in a long dream, his mind ensnared by visions of a tiny snake—himself—slithering through a world of peril, hiding, hunting, learning to thrive.
'I am so small.' he thought, a wistful ache in his chest as he witnessed the snake's cunning, its unique gift to absorb prey's souls, growing stronger with each kill.
The landscape burned—lava rivers, black boiling stones, a fiery-red expanse that scorched his senses, the heat a distant echo of his waking pain.
He grew, no longer sneaking but stalking, a predator reigning atop the food chain, shadows parting for him as followers gathered—silent, devout, their loyalty a mantle he wore with pride.
"No creature could stand against me." he mused, a fierce joy surging as he devoured foes, their soul essence fueling his ascent. He roamed new territories, driven by instinct, until he reached a place thrumming with his kind.
Home… and defiance, he felt, longing and rebellion warring in his heart as he pressed deeper, the aura of stronger kin suffocating yet exhilarating.
Flames and sulphur faded, replaced by pitch-black nothingness, a void alive with shadows that embraced him like a hero's welcome.
At its core, a giant ball of snakes loomed, spanning the horizon like a planet, eternal and mighty.
"Gods…" Leylin breathed, awe choking his voice, each serpent's power dwarfing his own, their presence a humbling tide.
"Hissssss!" he hissed, tongue flicking, a primal call that felt like the truth.
The ball parted, revealing a black-haired woman, her beauty otherworldly, vertical slit pupils glinting like glazed ceramic, her writhing hair a cascade of tiny snakes.

"Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes," Leylin whispered, reverence trembling in his tone, her allure a dangerous pull.
"Interesting. Are you an usurper or a devotee?" she asked, her voice a melody in his heart, her language was strange to him yet he understood, stirring a mix of fear and yearning.
A pulse of energy shattered the vision, and Leylin stood as an emperor, countless creatures bowing before his iron rule, his might unrivaled.
'Sovereign...' he thought, pride swelling—then a blinding light flared. He raised a hand to shield himself, startled to find it human.
"I'm… awake," he gasped, his voice hoarse, the dark room swallowing his words, its light crystals shattered by his breakthrough's momentum.
"Who am I? I am Kevin? No, I am Leylin. What was I doing? Yes, I was in the middle of a breakthrough," he said, confusion clouding his voice, a flicker of panic tightening his throat. The dream's life felt real, a serpent's existence that blurred his humanity, a veil obscuring truth. Memories surged—academy, bloodbath, Kemoyin—anchoring him.
"The summons are crushed, and the reinforced barrier is almost destroyed?" he noted as he eyed the crumbling structure, barely holding. With Leylin at the center, the surroundings were in a mess stone cracked, runes faded, debris scattered.
"It seems like even though I properly estimated the disturbance of advancing, I underestimated my own progress…" he said, a wry chuckle escaping, tinged with awe at his own power. Naked, he felt strength pulsing beneath his skin, his spiritual force a roaring tide.
"More than I imagined," he murmured, excitement sparking as he delved into his sea of consciousness.
A scarlet light filled it, a red expanse woven with a Pale Weave linking his body. At its core, an octagonal crystal floated, radiating power.
"There it is," Leylin breathed, joy flooding his voice as he sensed the innate spell within, grinning wide. "I've done it, an official Magus!"
[Detected traces of suitable composition for Host's absorption! Determined to be the blood essence of the Giant Kemoyin Serpent! Beginning absorption] [Blood essence burning! Host spiritual force increases significantly!] The A.I. Chip's voice rang clear. [Successful completion of the first level of the Kemoyin's Pupil! Host advances into a Rank 1 Warlock! Various stats have been greatly boosted!] [New scanning of Host's data…]
[Leylin Farlier: Grand Knight. Rank 1 Warlock. Bloodline: Giant Kemoyin Serpent. Summons (8)—Great Withering Mankestre, Black Horrall Snake, Black Steed, Level 3 Acolyte (Bear-Modification), Level 3 Acolyte (Fire spell, unnamed), Level 3 Acolyte (Torash), Level 3 Acolyte (Saurun), Level 3 Acolyte (Rune and curse spell, unnamed). Strength: 11.1, Agility: 9.1, Vitality: 11.7, Spiritual Force: 32.9, Magical Power: 32. Status: Healthy.] The data gleamed before him, a testament to his leap beyond his prior limits
[A/N: OG STATS—Strength: 7.1, Agility: 6.7, Vitality: 8.5, Spiritual Force: 27.9, Magic Power: 27].
Leylin clenched his fist and punched, a shrill air explosion cracking the silence. "My body is even stronger than a powerful Rank 1 creature," he said, pride swelling in his chest, voice rich with satisfaction. He glanced at his chest glossier skin, defined abs, balanced perfection.
"Not bad," he chuckled.
"A.I. Chip, what's the progress of the Grand Knight advancement technique synthesis?" he asked, curiosity sharpening his voice, a spark of ambition flickering.
The A.I. Chip, enhanced by his breakthrough, recalibrated swiftly. [Grand Knight advancement technique synthesis—Saint Knight stage: 92% complete. Estimated time: 2 days. Bloodline assimilation data integrated.] Leylin's eyes lit up.
"Saint Knight," he murmured, excitement threading his tone. "I wonder how many of my servants would even be able to realize that level. Rune inscription, spell casting, alchemical products, potions, and probably blood reagent—there's so much untapped potential." His voice grew fervent, a visionary's zeal.
"Can I create a whole new path of power system?" The question hung, bold and daring, his heart racing with possibility.
"For now, I should focus on myself," he said, resolve steadying his tone, though a trace of frustration crept in. "Unfortunately, even with my breakthrough, I don't really understand the Soulbound Devourer. I guess I have to go through with my experiment." A flicker of coldness in his words.
"I have a feeling that with my superior spiritual force, I can stabilize the soul merging to some degree."
After wearing pants, Leylin warmed up, feeling his strength and agility flow like a river, each movement a joy. "So fluid," he marveled, voice soft with wonder. His thoughts shifted to the Kemoyin's Pupil and Book of Giant Serpent, deepening his grasp of innate spells.
Regular Magi chose Rank 1 defensive models with Grine Water, their potential capped without rare resources.
"Pathetic," he scoffed, pity in his tone. High-level meditation techniques, like those of organization heads, fixed spells per level, predictable but potent. Warlocks, though, were wildcards—spells shaped by bloodline purity and luck.
"I refined the blood essence of the Kemoyin Serpent!" he said, joy surging as he probed the crystal with his spiritual force. "Thus, it's highly compatible with this high-level meditation technique, and would thus be good for me." Instinctively, he knew his innate spells: Eye of Petrification and Scales of Kemoyin.
Concerning Warlocks, in the process of forming their innate spells, there was another scenario that could happen. That only occurs when the blood essence of the bloodline is extremely rich, almost the same as the origin of the bloodline. In such circumstances, there would be an additional innate spell.
Of course, the two innate spells Leylin obtained were rank 1 spells, not that he immediately advanced into a rank 2 Magus.
Inside a rank 2 Magus, they would have two innate spells too. However, one was a rank 1 spell while the other was a rank 2 spell! As for now, Leylin only had two spells that were of rank 1.
Only after advancing to a rank 2 Warlock, the rank 2 innate spell would be formed!
As for the might of the rank 2 spells, they would naturally overpower the rank 1 spells.
Even so, having an additional spell will allow a warlock to be proud and unyielding amongst rank 1 Magi.
This was equivalent to having an additional spell amongst the magicians of the same level, so naturally he had a great advantage.
"Well, I guess dreaming of a third innate Rank 1 spell with just a Rank 4 creature isn't viable," he admitted, a wry chuckle softening his disappointment. "I assume it needs to be a higher-ranked bloodline Warlock for that to work, and very pure at that as well, but with A.I. Chip and summon skills, I don't really have to worry about spells." Confidence laced his voice, a flicker of ambition in his snake like eyes.