Inside the estate library, I searched through various books for the past few hours and my results were incredibly disappointing.
There was a few records of vampires but they were never a good record, they were always at war with the humans. In the books that i've read, the vampires aren't just humans with special powers, but they were seen as evil humanoid creatures.
I thanked the lord that i've refrained from exposing my bloodline to my father.
Unfortunately, this information brought me more trouble than I wanted.
I contemplated several ways I could hide my vampire bloodline whilst introducing my awakening. After weighing the options carefully, I settled on two strategies that should work together effectively.
First, I was going to announce my bloodline awakening tomorrow. The timing would be perfect, this would provide a natural explanation for any power I displayed during training.
I wasn't foolish enough to believe that I would be able to hide my strength during training from my father. A commander-level warrior.
Second, I would tell my father that my bloodline has to do with physicality, just like his did slightly. There was no worry in me being caught out for lying, because there was no true way to find someone's awakening, people could only guess what it was based on its effects, as for the rank, there was indeed a way, but who cares, it was my family anyways.
My father had sacrificed himself in the original timeline just to avenge my death, and he would certainly protect me.
Besides, it was a soul-bound item, which meant it was permanently linked to me and unusable by anyone else.
These two revelations should solve my immediate problems.
I glanced at the pendant on my neck.
The pendant was actually a Superior grade item, which made it incredibly valuable. The ranking system for magical items went: Mortal, Enhanced, Rare, Superior, Epic, and presumably higher tiers that I didn't know about yet.
Having a Superior grade item at my current level was extraordinary. Even in the kingdom's treasury there was only a few items at the superior-grade, and they were national treasures.
The pendant's true power wasn't just in its life force conversion ability. What made it truly remarkable was its growth, it could process blood from Noble rank all the way up to Royal rank creatures.
In theory, if I somehow obtained Royal-rank blood, I could enhance my body so dramatically that I might be able to kill a Commander-level beast while still at Noble rank myself. That would mean jumping three major power stages in effective combat ability.
Of course, that was purely theoretical. Royal-rank blood wasn't exactly something I could acquire, and the pendant's enhancement effect probably had limits I hadn't discovered yet.
But even with just Elite-rank blood like what I'd collected from the serpent, the boost would be substantial enough to explain high performance during training without raising too many questions.
I decided to shower and get some sleep. Tomorrow would be a long day, starting with revealing my "awakening" to my parents and then beginning intensive combat training with one of the kingdom's most skilled warriors.
At least now I had a plan that should keep me alive, whilst growing stronger without completely derailing the timeline or drawing unwanted attention from the protagonist or his crew.
…
The next day arrived, and after waking up I felt incredibly thirsty. I had barely slept, around five hours when I used to need nine to ten back on Earth. My vampire physiology was clearly operating on different requirements than a human body.
Despite my low sleeping hours, I felt energised.
The first thing I did was drink blood instead of water from the pendant. The crimson liquid immediately quenched both my thirst and what I realized was actually hunger, it seemed like I apparently didn't distinguish between the two sensations, clearly I needed to get used to my new body some more.
After satisfying my needs, I went and washed up out of habit. I didn't actually need to anymore; my vampire body didn't require the basic maintenance that human physiology demanded. But old routines died hard.
As I was about to open my door to head downstairs, I heard a polite knock.
I opened it to find Charlotte standing respectfully in the hallway.
"Young Master, breakfast has been prepared and is waiting for you in the dining hall. His Grace the Duke and Her Grace the Duchess are already seated and have requested your presence when you are ready." She said with a curtsy.
"Thank you, Charlotte. I'm heading down, now."
Charlotte seemed conflicted, I can tell from her eyes that I was clearly being too nice to her. Basic courtesy like 'thank you' was something that Adrian probably didn't do.
I headed downstairs to find my parents seated at their usual places, my mother arranging fresh flowers while my father reviewed what appeared to be correspondence from other noble houses.
When I entered, I deliberately avoided sitting down and instead remained standing near my chair.
"Good morning, Father, Mother," I greeted them. "I need to speak with you both about something important before we eat."
My mother looked up with immediate concern. "Adrian, darling, you look pale again. Are you still feeling unwell?"
"Actually, that's related to what I need to tell you," I said, taking a deep breath. "My bloodline has awakened."
Both of my parents' faces immediately lit up with excitement and relief.
"What rank is your bloodline, son?" My father asked eagerly, setting down his papers entirely. My answer would determine everything, a weak bloodline would mean that our family had no real heir for it, and a strong one would mean that I needed to be strengthened.
I had prepared for this question beforehand, If I told them I had awakened a bloodline of the Supreme or even Rare quality, my family would help me as much as they could regardless.
You might ask why? Well, it's because my father possessed a rare bloodline himself, and that was considered the crème of the crop in our city. So of course they would support me completely, believing I was destined to inherit his power.
But the distinction that stopped me from choosing that option remained. If I told my parents I had awakened a Supreme bloodline, they would question my entire existence. Bloodlines were mostly hereditary, and being born with a Supreme bloodline while my father only had Rare—and a bloodline completely different from theirs—was something not just unusual but unprecedented.
Seeing me not responding, my mother immediately spoke. "You don't have to worry, no matter what rank it is, we will still love you the same,"
"It's a mythical bloodline," I announced, watching their expressions carefully.
"You said what! A mythical bloodline?! Adrian, this is no time for jokes." My father stood up with a stern gaze.
"Father, why would I joke? I have awakened a mythical bloodline, you can bring the bloodline crystal."
My father did not hesitate, taking out the crystal from his storage ring before telling me to place my hands on it.
With a wry smile, I did as instructed.
The colours kept changing, until a bright golden light erupted from the crystal, illuminating the entire room.
"Oh my God!" my mother exclaimed. "He really awakened a mythical bloodline, thank god! Our family has been blessed!"
A Rare-ranked bloodline was genuinely impressive, Duke Marcus himself possessed a Rare bloodline, which had been part of what made him such a formidable force in the city.
So, having a bloodline that was two ranks above it made me even more fearsome. As for the reason why they believed it was mythical, well…it was the same reason as the protagonist.
Supreme rank bloodlines simply didn't exist, or at least our kingdom has never heard of it. So, their crystals were only able to measure until the mythical rank, and anything above that indicated that it was mythical.