Death was the end for many, but for some Bloodmages, Shadowmancers, and Necromancers, it was never the end; on the contrary, it could be the solution to escape many problems…
This was the case for Zima. Since being enslaved by Baron Bones and killed by Rafael, she patiently awaited the opportunity to let her soul escape while carrying a concentrated drop of her blood to return to her tower, where she could be resurrected.
This opportunity only arose when the barrier that blocked everything, including the souls of the dead, disappeared. Zima slowly left without attracting Baron Bones' attention, extracting the golden drop of blood from his corpse.
She regretted leaving her valuable items behind, but she needed to be discreet, and this drop of blood was very special. It was the essence of her race, and without it, she would not be able to recreate her body, being forced to live only as an Undead race at best.
But as Zima was about to leave the battlefield, a powerful aura spread from the red cocoon that Blood Armor and Greed had unearthed.
The cocoon first cracked, but before the shards could touch the ground, they transformed into a red mist covering parts of Rafael's body, preventing his naked body from being seen. The red mist then transformed into a blood-red cloak covering his body.
The moment he saw the Red Sage's appearance, Zima stopped his escape to admire him. The Valyrian face, already very handsome, became even more beautiful and charming, as if he were a God of Beauty. His long silver hair shone like strands of pure silver as it fluttered in the winds caused by Baron Bones' army's fight against the Mummified Giant. Rafael's red eyes swept across the battlefield, observing all the survivors, and a slight smile formed on his face.
Zima preferred masculine and strong men like King Kane, but when Rafael smiled, it was as if she had been bewitched by his beauty. If she still had a body, her heart would surely be racing at that simple smile.
She wasn't the only one who felt this way; Blood Armor looked on in surprise, his mouth twisting as if filled with extreme envy. Baron Bones, who had turned into a cloud of black smoke and emerged from the nostrils of the Firewyrm after being swallowed, also lost himself for two seconds, looking at Rafael's appearance. He shook his head and quickly recovered, returning to the fight.
Greed was the worst part; he looked like an idiot staring at Rafael as if he had completely lost his mind.
Zima finally snapped out of her stupor and realized that, besides his natural beauty and charm, Rafael also possessed a kind of natural mind-bending spell. Luckily, she didn't have a body, and her soul was powerful enough; she quickly escaped the spell and began to move out of Rafael's reach.
But at that moment, the drop of blood that her soul carried began to fight against her. Something was pulling the golden drop toward the battlefield. Zima looked and saw that the blood of all the dead was accumulating around the Red Sage as if they were part of him.
It was with great resistance that Zima managed to prevent that single drop from slipping from her grasp and heading toward Raphael, ruining his resurrection…
***
[Racial Change Completed!]
[A New Primordial is Born!]
[Your race has reached the pinnacle of all races in this world!]
[Do you wish to name your race Blood Lord or Vampire?]*[1]
[Attention! Choosing a name will influence some of your new race's racial traits and spells, think carefully!]
"Vampire!"
All this interaction with the system happened in less than a second. Rafael already had a vampire in mind when he began collecting the blood of powerful creatures, as he was certain that such a race did not yet exist in this world.
But it was thanks to the advancement of the system and its artificial intelligence that he realized he was wrong to only collect the blood of powerful creatures… Therefore, following its guidance, he began collecting blood from all types of creatures and races in this world. Only then would he have the kind of control over the blood he sought.
Of course, his second objective with this race was for it to have infinite longevity and the ability to transform other people. And he had such a glimpse while studying the Demon and Half-Demon. That's why he also began creating many new races within the Tower City to collect even more blood types.
Soon, Rafael emerged from the blood cocoon, realizing he was naked, and thinking of taking some clothes from his inventory, the blood around him quickly responded to his desire to "want to have clothes" by creating a red cloak that had a strong smell of fresh blood from the remnants of the cocoon. The system messages continued, and this time, shocked Rafael…
[Vampire Race confirmed!]
[You are the Ninth Primordial of this world!]
[The other Eight Primordials sense your birth!]
[You have given rise to a new magical affinity (Blood). The Will of the world blesses you as the Progenitor, Ancestor, and Lord of this new race!]*[2]
[Due to the blessing of the world, your soul has been greatly strengthened!]
[As the creator of the Blood Affinity, all spells you create will have a 300% enhancement in power, range, duration, and casting speed!]
[As the Primordial of the Vampire race, you can have double the innate spells for the affinity you created: 3>6.]*[3]
[You can also create all 6 innate Blood spells without the cost of Primordial Materials!]
[From today onwards in the world of Planetos, all newborns of all humanoid races have a chance to be born with the Blood Affinity!]
[From today onwards, new Magical Beasts and Mutants will be born with the Blood Affinity!]
[Due to the birth of the Vampire Primordial, the energy of Blood flows stronger by Planetos for the next 50 years!]
[There will be a greater chance of Blood Affinity appearing in newborns with magical talent for the next 50 years!]
[The chance of the rare magical material "Primordial Blood" appearing in the world has been improved for the next 50 years!]*[4]
[The birth of magical beasts and mutants with Blood Affinity is increased for the next 50 years!]
[Whenever a magic practitioner creates a new basic spell, advanced spell, or ritual with Blood Affinity, you will automatically learn it and can use it with a 200% effectiveness bonus!]*[5]
[You have learned 5 Racial Spells!]
-Blood Control
-Blood Embrace
-Create Primordial Material
-Primordial Charm (Passive)
-Primordial Agility (Passive)
[You have obtained Mind Affinity!]
[Mind Affinity was improved by 150% due to the Primordial Charm racial passive!]
[Due to Primordial Charm, you can create a new innate Mind Affinity spell at no cost!]
[Due to Primordial Agility, you can create a new innate Body Affinity spell at no cost!]
[Body affinity has been improved by 150% due to the Primordial Agility racial passive!]
[Space affinity has been improved by 200% due to racial elevation!]*[6]
[All innate spells have their effects improved by 100% due to the enhancement of your soul!]
[The innate spell "Regeneration" has its base structure and effect improved!] (+)
[The permanent negative status "Corruption" has been removed!]
[You have recovered a total of 8 basic spells!]*[7]
[Several Resistances have been improved!] (+)
[Due to a racial incompatibility, the Fire Affinity has had all its effects permanently reduced by 50%!]
[The power of blood flows through your lineage!]
[Being the Primordial Vampire, your descendants…] (+)
[Being the Primordial Vampire, your blood relatives…] (+)
[A new tab has been created in the system for tracking vampire lineage and using Blood Embrace…] (+)
[All your body alterations have been removed!]
[By becoming one of the Nine Primordials, you have obtained a Fragmented Divinity!]
[The Fragmented Divinity has expanded the Primordial Magic tab…]
[A quest has been completed…]
[The system has been leveled up…]
[New benefits…]
[New rewards…]
Even with his incredible speed of thought and powerful soul, Rafael felt he would spend all day reading all those system messages. He left reading the additional messages, those related to new mechanics, spells, and abilities, for later…
Of course, he still looked at those who could change his power and influence his current fight, quickly perceiving his new strengths and the only weakness, which wasn't really a weakness from his point of view…
He was so strong now that his enemies on the battlefield were all frozen for a while just by looking at him…
Observing everyone, he saw Vulcano first, who had now grown larger, had new black markings on his body, wider and longer legs, and a small pair of deformed wings on his back.
He then saw Blood Armor lost in thought before his armor wounded him to pull him out of the trance that was probably caused by Primordial Charm.
Baron Bones easily escaped Vulcan using some kind of life-saving spell and was also affected by the Charm, but only for 2 seconds before regaining his mental faculties.
Greed was the weakest of this group; without being a Master Shadowmancer, Master Necromancer, and still being of the human race, he was completely enchanted by the charm of a superior race. This made Rafael remember his encounter with the Reaper of Stygai…
"The mere presence of a Primordial and its passive effects are lethal to inferior races… I'm sure the Reaper shouldn't have reached that level; otherwise, I wouldn't have even been able to escape."
The mummified giant, who was still fighting, was only now noticed by Rafael. He had paused to pay attention to his unique appearance, but realized that he was unaffected by the charm, while all the skeletons of Baron Bones and the Shadow Souls were paralyzed…
Rafael felt a certain burden on his mind from enchanting thousands of creatures and almost unconsciously changed his charm to a form of invisibility. All the minions on the battlefield now ran around as if they could no longer see him.
Using Blood Control, he drew all the blood from the battlefield towards him. He felt a drop of blood belonging to Master Zima resist his attraction, but let it escape without pressing it; after all, she was also a victim…
Before Master Greed could recover from the charm's effect, Rafael took a single step, using his Primordial Agility. He moved like a red blur, all the blood drawn to him formed red claws on his fingers, and he cut Master Greed into several pieces.
Not satisfied, he transformed another portion of the still-floating blood into a large blood spear and hurled it toward Master Blood Armor, piercing his powerful body and armor, sending him flying far from the battlefield.
Finally, he made a small portion of the gathered blood turn into a red mist, temporarily obscuring the giant's face and blinding him.
Only then did Rafael smile and look at the only one left on the battlefield.
Feeling a gaze upon him, Master Baron Bones ignored the Firewyrm and turned to Rafael, who seemed very calm and was smiling at him. A chill ran through his body, and he knew immediately. The roles had reversed, and now he was no longer the hunter but the prey…
Author's Notes:
Note 1:A Blood Lord would be a more powerful race in the sense that they would already start with an apocalyptic-level spell like "Hammer of the Waters" (a spell used by groups of many Masters with the same affinity). But in exchange for such power, they wouldn't be able to transform other people into their race due to low fertility, nor would they have the mind affinity.
Note 2:Yes, the world of Planetos, as a world of magic, possesses a Will (a type of consciousness), but it is very young, like a newborn, able to sense things that are bad for it, and things that are good. It is this "Will" that punishes Demons, Half-Demons, and Necromancers for desecrating souls. And that at this moment unconsciously blesses the Primordials...
Note 3:Reminder! Each Mage can only create 3 innate spells for each affinity they possess. This limit is also related to the number of Relics each can possess, and also the 3 animals they can control.
Note 4:Reminder: In case you don't remember... Primordial Materials are the items used to learn innate spells. They are extremely rare, and few have appeared in the fic so far. These include the flame left on Rafael's body by his mother, the poisonous item found in test 2 of the Garden of Beasts, and the 3 hearts from the Mage's Throat.
Note 5:Space Affinity is very strong; therefore, it gains 200% in its effects due to being in the body of a race much more powerful than a Half-Demon.
Note 6:Due to the blessing of the world, Rafael's already strong soul improves even further, enhancing his existing innate spells. (Power, range, duration, recharge, etc...)
****
Special thanks to the Patreons:
Sage's Supporter: Jan, Vinnie, frimorigo, Parsa, Scott Robertson, Pato Senalima, Lily Monarch, and Adriele Rodrigues!
Magic Apprentice: Axel Bour, Gabriele Sulpizio, Takatchi, mandeep singh, Austin, Kobe Robertson, Paul Gaslac, Niteo akuma, 704Corleon, Rodrigo, WhoisMitch, Leery Falcon, Grave Walker, adam, Evil King, and Emotional!
Senior Magic Apprentice: Cole Bromley, Avacus, and TabbyRabbit!
[1] At the end of the chapter, I explain the difference between these two...
[2] Note *2 at the end of the chapter!
[3] Note *3 at the end of the chapter!
[4] Note *4 at the end of the chapter. (Just a reminder for those who don't remember this rare material...)
[5] Note 5 at the end of the chapter.
[6] Note 6* at the end of the chapter.
[7] All the basic spells Rafael lost when his soul was wounded and he became a Half-Demon have been recovered!