The moment Valdis sank beneath the surface of the awakening pool, the world fell silent.
Not the absence of sound, but the kind of stillness that came with peace.
The murmurs of the elders, the faint echoes of the hall, even the pulse of his own heartbeat seemed to stretch, as though time itself had begun to hesitate.
Valdis felt completely at peace; it felt like he had returned to his mother's womb.
He still felt the coldness of the water, but it no longer bothered him, as his body had grown used to it.
But at the peak of that moment was when it arrived.
Pain — gruesome, mind-bending pain.
The cold water from the outside entered his body through his pores.
As soon as it entered his body, the cold feeling transformed blistering hot.
It felt as if lava entered his body through every pore and flowed through his veins.
It penetrated deeper than flesh, brushing against sinew and marrow, stirring his essence.
That's when he felt it — the blistering heat flowing in his veins started converging from all directions toward his chest — his heart.
The feeling was excruciating; each stream of heat felt like lead moving through his veins.
As it reached his heart, the pain increased exponentially. He wanted to scream, but no sound left his mouth.
It felt as if whatever energy entered his heart kick-started a transformation that couldn't be stopped.
He felt each cell in his body being destroyed, then rebuilt and destroyed again — each cycle making his body more powerful than before.
The viscous cycle went on for a few minutes, but to Valdis, it felt like hours had passed.
Just as he thought things couldn't get worse, they did.
The energy seemed to finish with his body and dove into his skull.
It felt like his head was about to explode while his soul felt like it was about to be crushed.
Soon, everything became blurry, and his consciousness started slipping.
It was at that moment that a shiver ran through him, clearing his thoughts.
A stream of warm energy emerged from his body, reinforcing his cells, and for the first time in what seemed like ages, he felt warmth — life within life, a resonance he had never known.
The tri-color light of the pool responded instantly. The red flared, pulsing along his veins, igniting a rhythm that matched the thrum of his heartbeat.
The blackness swirled, crawling along his blood like ink spreading through water, and the silver flickered along his skin, barely perceptible but undeniably present.
Just as Valdis allowed himself to believe the worst had passed, something shifted.
A new power awakened without warning.
Heat flooded his body instantly, not the violent heat of flame, but the oppressive intensity of a furnace at its peak.
It pressed inward, searing yet controlled, as though his very existence had been placed on an anvil.
Impurities rose first.
They surfaced from deep within his flesh — residual weakness, hidden fractures, imperfections born from mortality.
His bones groaned as the heat flowed through them, tempering marrow and reinforcing structure, compressing them into something denser, harder, yet more resilient.
Each rib, each finger, each segment of his spine was reforged, not enlarged, but perfected.
The refinement spread.
His organs were next, the furnace heat wrapping around his heart, lungs, and core with merciless precision.
The heart beat once — twice — each pulse heavier than the last, its walls thickening, its rhythm growing steady and powerful.
Veins widened and strengthened, their walls reinforced to withstand the surging blood-essence now coursing through them.
Tendons tightened, fibers weaving together into cords of terrifying durability, while muscles were compressed and refined, stripped of excess, leaving behind strength that was compact and lethal.
When his body could no longer be pushed further, the heat did not fade.
It descended.
Valdis felt it touch his soul.
The sensation was worse — cleaner, sharper.
It peeled away residue he had never known existed, compressing his soul into something purer and more cohesive.
There was no escape from it.
No resistance,
Only endurance.
It felt worse than the initial bloodline awakening, but his body had been properly tempered by that awakening.
During all these changes, Valdis's body was paralyzed; he was like a prisoner in his own body.
So, although the pain felt worse, his body could handle it without losing consciousness.
But that didn't mean he didn't feel pain.
The pain he felt was excruciating and bone-deep, like maggots latching onto bone.
As his soul was refined, flames erupted outward, enveloping his entire body. They did not burn his flesh. They ignored it, diving inward instead — into his blood.
His blood ignited.
The crimson within him surged, churning violently as the flames scorched it, stripping away dilution and weakness. Drop by drop, his blood grew denser, purer, carrying within it the unmistakable authority of his awakened lineage.
His body was washed by the power of his bloodline.
That's when he felt it — his blood had two authorities that previously lay dormant, but under the influence of the new power, were stirred awake.
One felt all too familiar; it was vampiric bloodline power, the same power he felt from every member of House Ebonhart. It just felt ancient and more powerful.
The second was strange; it felt extremely powerful, regal, and full of authority. When it awoke, he felt like he was in the presence of an ancient beast. The pressure that rolled off it was enormous.
His vampire bloodline, although powerful, couldn't be compared.
When the unknown bloodline noticed the vampiric blood, it became restless — it attacked the vampiric blood, aiming to wipe it out.
But the issue was if both bloodlines fought inside him, his reinforced body would be blown apart during their clash.
Valdis was a spectator about to watch his own body get destroyed.
Just as the bloodlines were about to clash, a flame appeared between them. The flame emitted an oppressive feeling.
As the bloodlines noticed the flame, they reeled backward, turned, and fled.
Valdis was shocked — these bloodlines, which treated themselves as kings and his body as their domain, were fleeing from this strange flame.
But before they could go too far, the flame released a pulse that halted them in their tracks.
Then, the two bloodlines seemed attracted by an invisible force; they thrashed around trying to escape, but the attraction persisted, pulling them closer.
As they reached the flame, it expanded and engulfed both of them.
Instantly, Valdis lost connection to both bloodlines. That's when he felt a faint connection to the flame.
Immediately, he reached out through that connection.
As soon as his senses touched it, his consciousness was pulled into a dark space.
In that space, he felt cut off from heaven and earth, as though it was isolated from the heavens.
At the center of the space, he saw both bloodlines inside a blue flame, as if they were undergoing some kind of refinement.
The vampire's bloodline intertwined with the bloodline of the unknown creature, fusing into something deeper, ancient, and far more dangerous.
Not long passed before the two bloodlines were completely fused into a single drop of dark red blood.
He sensed the familiar aura of both bloodlines from that drop, but also felt it was different.
Before he could fully comprehend what was happening, his consciousness was expelled from that space.
As his consciousness returned, a dark red drop of blood appeared where the flame had been.
The drop of blood was covered by faint blue flames.
The drop immediately shot toward his heart.
As it reached his heart, it fused with it.
Soon, the fusion was complete, and immediately afterward, his body was hit with another wave of pain.
Valdis cursed silently.
Before he could complain further about how torturous his awakening was, he felt like he was marked by something terrifying.
The fusion of the dark red blood caused significant changes to his body.
His muscles and bones were torn apart and rebuilt — stronger, more resilient.
His muscles felt as if they had been forged rather than grown, layers of strength folding upon themselves until even their stillness carried the promise of destruction.
Beneath his skin, blackened bones lay coiled like the spine of a sleeping dragon, each inscribed with golden sigils that glowed softly, ensuring the monstrous power of his muscles had a formidable foundation.
The blood within him gleamed faintly gold, refined beyond impurity, coursing through his veins like liquid fuel in a divine engine. Each pulse infused his body with strength, not just sustaining it but preparing it to unleash devastating force.
Beneath his skin, something shifted.
It hardened gradually, as if darkness itself were weaving armor beneath the flesh — small, obsidian scales forming silently, unmistakably present.
Once the transformation was complete, he immediately regained mobility.
But as if toyed with by an unseen hand,
His body began ascending uncontrollably, and a vague sense of doom grew stronger.
It was as if the last transformation was designed to prepare him for the dangers ahead.