The slums were never silent.
Even at night, something was always moving.
But tonight, the air felt wrong.
Dominic moved through the shadows, his steps light and soundless. His stolen instincts guided him—his body adjusting without thought, his breath steady despite the weight in his chest.
He wasn't sure what he was hunting.
Only that something inside him was searching.
Something his blood whispered for.
---
Earlier, he had found an abandoned storage shack near the outskirts of the slums. It was damp, reeking of mildew and old wood, but it gave him something he hadn't had all night—silence.
He had sat there, staring at his hands, flexing his fingers.
They looked the same.
But they felt different.
His body was lighter, faster, stronger. His awareness had expanded—he could hear the breath of the city, sense movement in ways he never had before.
It was instinctive.
And that was the terrifying part.
Because they weren't his instincts.
They belonged to the man he had killed.
He didn't just take his bloodline. He took everything.
His memories, all the lives the man had taken everything about his life was connected to his bloodline.
Dominic clenched his fists.
He had wanted to be stronger. He had wanted to escape weakness.
But this wasn't normal.
This was something else.
Something dangerous.
And worst of all?
He wanted more.
---
He had left the shack. His body refused to sit still.
The slums felt too quiet.
No drunks. No thieves lurking in the alleys.
Something was wrong.
Then—
A clicking noise.
Low. Hollow.
Dominic's body froze before his mind did.
His breath steadied, his muscles coiling.
The slums were full of dangers—but nothing that sounded like this.
He moved toward the sound.
And then he saw it.
---
It was hunched at the edge of the ruined marketplace, its elongated limbs shifting as it fed.
At first glance, it looked human.
But then its head tilted unnaturally.
Mandibles twitched.
Its skin was bone-white, stretched over a wiry frame. Its spine jutted through its back, its fingers ending in obsidian claws that dug into its prey.
The prey was still twitching.
Blood dripped from the creature's fangs as it took another bite.
Dominic stared, unmoving.
His brain screamed to run.
"What kind of monster was this?"
"Even the wiry's man memories didn't have any knowledge of this monster".
The monster noticing his present locked eyes with him, letting out a low growl.
Dominic looking at the monster was strangely not afraid of it.
If it were the former him, before he had awakened his bloodline, he would have been paralyzed with fear.
But something in his blood burned.
With hunger.
The thrill of the fight. The urge to attack.
It called to him.
And he listened.
The monster noticing that the prey in front of it wasn't scared. He let out a low screech, lunching itself to Dominic with blurring speed.
---
Dominic moved.
His foot slammed into the ground, propelling him forward faster than he thought possible.
His balance adjusted. His stance shifted mid-air.
The monster twisted—
Too late.
Dominic's heel collided with its skull.
A thunderous crack echoed through the alley.
The creature staggered back, a sharp, inhuman screech ripping from its throat.
Dominic landed smoothly, his body coiled and ready.
The thrill rushed through his veins.
For the first time in his life—
He wasn't the one being hunted.
---
The creature recovered fast.
Its empty eyes locked onto him, something intelligent lurking beneath the hunger.
Then it lunged.
Fast. Too fast.
Dominic barely had time to react.
Claws ripped toward his chest.
His body moved before his mind did.
He twisted—just in time.
The wind from the strike brushed past his ribs.
The monster's claws buried into the stone wall behind him, shattering it.
Dominic's pulse spiked.
"Shit".
"If that had hit me—No. Don't think. Move."
His body adjusted again, his weight shifting.
Then he attacked.
---
Dominic's palm shot forward—
And the moment he touched the creature's flesh—
Nothing.
No rush of power.
No instincts.
No stolen bloodline.
Nothing.
His breath caught. His fingers twitched.
His bloodline—the thing that had changed everything—didn't work.
The realization threw him off for a fraction of a second.
And in battle, that was all it took.
The monster struck him full-force.
---
The impact sent Dominic crashing into the ground.
Dust exploded around him as he skidded backward, his ribs screaming in protest.
Pain.
Real. Sharp. Unforgiving.
His lungs burned as he forced himself up, coughing.
The monster stood over him, its mandibles twitching.
Dominic's mind raced.
"Does my bloodline power only work on humans".
It didn't work on this.
He had expected to steal something. To take power.
But there was nothing to take.
His greatest weapon had just failed him.
And now, the monster was about to kill him.
---
The creature lunged again—but then it stopped.
For a brief moment, its body stiffened.
Its empty eyes flickered.
Dominic saw it hesitate.
Then—
It turned.
And fled into the dark.
Dominic lay there, his breath ragged, his body aching.
He didn't understand.
The monster had the advantage. It had almost ripped him apart.
So why did it run?
His hands shook as he pressed them against the ground, trying to steady himself.
The feeling of overestimating himself almost killed him.
He thought he was strong now that he had a bloodline.
But the world taught him that he was still weak and naïve.
No matter what had happened in the alley, the feeling of finally being in control of his destiny, was just a pipe dream.
Dominic gritting his teeth, tears falling from his eyes, his fingers clenched deep in his palm.
Taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He rose up from the ground, cleaned his eyes and looked at the skies, his gaze filled with anger, determination and resolve.
"I DOMINIC WOULD NEVER LET ANYONE CONTROL MY DESTINY, I WILL RISE AND BECOME THE STRONGEST. Dominic yelling this in his mind, felt a sudden rush as his bloodline was resonating with his will. A spark of fire burning inside him as he looked at the skies.
Unknown to people something dangerous had awoken in him.
Something that almost ended the world has be awakened.