The days following Dray's escape from the turrets passed like whispers in fog—unseen, unheard, but never truly gone. Inside Dominion Bunker E7-Black, buried beneath the bones of a fallen civilization, he found temporary solace. The wounds on his arms had begun to knit together. The sting of flesh and burn was dulled by the healing properties of his Vitality stat, though not strong enough to erase pain entirely.
He'd made this ruin his sanctuary.
Metal crates became furniture, broken control panels turned into dim lanterns, and mossy walls bore the scrawled notes of his restless mind. Everything here felt old. But not dead.
Sometimes, the walls pulsed.
Not visibly, not always audibly. But Dray could feel it. Like the heartbeat of something ancient buried far beneath the surface.
And then there were the dreams.
Blood oceans. Winged figures with blade-like arms. Cities hanging upside down in voids of crimson starlight. Faces that wore his father's crown, then melted into ash.
He always awoke drenched in sweat, lungs gasping for air.
Status: Fatigued
-10 Vitality (Temporary)
Despite the nightmares, the system had been oddly quiet. No new messages. No guidance. Only the same interface, hovering before him whenever he summoned it.
Name: Dray Ballack
Bloodline: Locked
Race: Human (???)
Level: 5
Class: None
Strength: 6
Agility: 7
Endurance: 2
Vitality: 5
Skills:
• Night Adaptation (Passive)
• Blood Sense (Passive – Incomplete)
• Blood Echo (Passive)
Inventory:
• Broken Pipe (1)
• Rusted Circuit Knife (1)
• Obsidian Data Chip (1)
System Shop: [Access Granted – Insufficient Permissions for Purchase]
Next Level: 45 EXP
Status: Fatigued
Dray pushed the interface away and stood up, stretching tired limbs. He couldn't sit idle any longer.
"I need to move," he whispered to himself. "Need to understand what's down here… what I'm becoming."
The deepest levels of the bunker had long been collapsed or corroded by years of disuse. But one sealed hatch resisted all efforts to pry open. It bore strange inscriptions—swirls and runes that hummed faintly when touched.
Today, as Dray's palm pressed against the hatch, it reacted differently.
The symbols flared to life with a pulse of red.
The lock disengaged.
Hidden Passageway Unlocked
The steel door creaked open, revealing a stairwell descending into utter darkness. A rank, earthy scent wafted up—like wet soil mixed with rusted blood.
He stepped inside.
With each descent, the air grew colder. The silence more profound.
And then, after thirty-two steps, the stairwell opened into a dome-like cavern.
It was ancient.
Stone pillars surrounded a central altar made of obsidian, shaped like a lotus in bloom. Bones littered the ground, some clearly human, others… not.
Dray felt it instantly. The pressure. The weight.
The presence.
He dropped to his knees as a wave of power crashed over him.
System Alert: Unfamiliar Energy Detected
Initializing Protective Layer...
Shielding Active – Limited Duration
A soft hum emitted from his skin as a transparent veil shimmered over his body.
Then he heard it.
A voice unlike any he'd encountered.
"Who dares step into the sacred hollow?"
It came from every direction at once, echoing across the chamber like thunder in a vacuum.
Dray tried to stand. Failed.
"I'm... Dray Ballack. I found this place by accident."
A moment of silence.
Then laughter. Deep, guttural. Neither human nor digital.
"There are no accidents in bloodlines, child."
The altar pulsed.
A shadow peeled away from it, taking shape. Humanoid. Yet flickering like static. A figure cloaked in mist, with eyes glowing like molten garnets.
"You carry his scent. The forsaken emperor."
Dray's breath hitched.
"You know him?"
"Knew him. Respected him. Betrayed him. We all did."
System Alert: Forbidden Entity Detected
Engaging Passive Scan
Dray tried to summon his knife. The system blocked him.
Combat Unavailable – Entity Ranked [???]
"What do you want from me?"
The shadow leaned closer.
"To remember. To be remembered. Before the end consumes even us."
A tendril of mist slithered toward Dray's chest.
The Blood Echo flared.
Images flashed through his mind: the vampire throne shattering, his father bleeding atop black marble, the traitor—a man with the emperor's face but colder eyes.
Then darkness.
Skill Update: Blood Echo - Tier I
New Functionality: Bloodline Memory Fragment (Locked)
The pressure lifted. The shadow withdrew.
"You must climb, Dray Ballack. Rise. Level. Survive. For when the gates crack, and the stars fall, the last echoes must remain."
The cavern dimmed. The vision faded. The altar returned to silence.
Dray stumbled back up the stairs, gasping for breath.
By the time he reached the surface, the sky had darkened. Twilight draped the city ruins in shadows. His head throbbed. His blood burned. But his resolve had never been clearer.
He pulled open his interface one last time that day.
Name: Dray Ballack
Bloodline: Locked (Anomaly Detected)
Race: Human (???)
Level: 5
Class: None
Strength: 6
Agility: 7
Endurance: 2
Vitality: 5
Skills:
• Night Adaptation (Passive)
• Blood Sense (Passive – Incomplete)
• Blood Echo (Tier I)
Inventory:
• Broken Pipe (1)
• Rusted Circuit Knife (1)
• Obsidian Data Chip (1)
System Shop: [Access Granted – Insufficient Permissions for Purchase]
Next Level: 45 EXP
Status: Stable
And in the upper right corner, a new line had appeared.
Main Quest Initiated: Rise of the Bloodline