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13.58% Reborn: Evolving From Nothing / Chapter 28: A New Form

Chapter 28: A New Form

The echoing booms of thunder rang out across a pitch black sky, rumbling the air itself. Chaotic gusts of wind rattled off against a dark, forbidding castle, set atop a lonely plateau.

The plateau protruded alone from an enormous ocean, the only visible land for dozens of miles. It was large, spanning seven or eight miles in width and length, and several hundred meters up above the sea below.

Huge waves crashed to and fro near this plateau, frothing waves that tried to wear away the stone that had stood for tens of thousands of years.

Atop the dark plateau was a small, dark forest, and a large, expansive castle made out of a strange, black material, glistening even through the dark, overcast sky above. Several large spires shot up from the castle, giving it a magnificent appearance.

In a room at the center of this castle, the sounds of the outside world could barely be heard. Only a few faint rumblings indicated the presence of thunder at all, most of the noise blocked out.

This room was well lit, contrary to the dark exterior of the castle. A large, stylized wooden table at three meters across lay at the center of this room, its circular shape resembling the shape of the room itself, a large circle.

Ornamental sets of armor decorated the sides of this chamber, interspersed between large tapestries depicting scenes of battle. Overhead several chandeliers were set in the ceiling, glowing and giving off light.

Atop the round table at the center of the room was a massive chart, covered with tens of thousands of small circles, and tens of thousands of lines, drawn from circle to circle.

A man wearing a smooth pair of black leather pants, and a relaxed grey vest with a white undershirt stood, with a glass of wine in his hand, staring at this map. His handsome face, with a smooth jawline and piercing green eyes, made him look the very picture of elegance. His long white hair was wrapped up, atop his head in a bun, with an ornamental needle keeping it in place.

The man smiled, drawing a sip from the glass of wine in his hand, revealing two sets of pointed teeth.

"Ahh. A most excellent vintage. Is it from Touranat?" Marcus Aurelius, the Head of the Aurelius Family, said aloud, staring at the complex map.

"Yes, milord, first created 936 years ago, by the Petruscent Kingdom's finest winemaker." From the shadows that covered the edges of the room, a woman emerged, wearing a tight, form fitting red dress. She had brilliant black hair that rolled off her shoulders, carrying herself with an elegant and powerful air. She smiled as she spoke, her beautiful lips warming while her purple eyes gleamed.

"But…" The woman said as she stepped forward, giving Marcus a light bow.

"But?" Marcus turned slowly, the very picture of a powerful Vampire ruler. His eyes gave off a sense of endless mystery, a dark stranger in the night.

"But you really should consider your health, milord. Drinking so much in the evening is bad for your livelihood, I've heard from the humans, and don't you remember what happened on the planet Vixoriant when you got drunk and destroyed half of the Augustus Ancestral Castle-" The beautiful woman began, her eyes earnest.

"Julia." Marcus cut her off, still maintaining his powerful image.

"Milord, I'm just saying we really should consider th-"

"Julia." His voice contained iron in it as he spoke again, turning to glare at her,

"Woman, I just- you know what- okay. Okay. We're doing this again." He gave her a second glare,

"Go, off back to the shadows with you." He waved his free hand at her dismissively, motioning for her to step backwards.

Julia rolled her eyes as she turned around, and marched back into the darkness at the edge of the room. She stood at the very border, still in plain sight.

Marcus sighed deeply, and then looked back down at the map before him. He slowly moved the wine glass in his hand, sinking in to the mood of the moment. A majestic air seemed to gather around him as he leaned forward, dignity wrapped around him like a cloak.

He slowly raised it to his lips, drinking it slightly, his movements full of calm assurance.

"Ahh. A most excellent vintage. Is it from Touranat?" He said, his eyes studying the map before him.

"Milord, do we really have time for thi-"

"WOMAN! I AM 7,000 YEARS OLD, I HAVE TIME FOR EVERYTHING!"

Marcus glared back at the darkness, and then gave up on the moment, turning around and setting his wine glass down with a small smile. He wiped the smile away from his face as he turned around and gave Julia another glare for good measure.

"Alright, come forth. What's the latest?" He asked, his voice calm. All of a sudden, a powerful, almost overwhelming Aura seemed to flow around his body, tightly constrained. Authority rolled off his voice as he spoke, any faint traces of mirth dying off completely.

"I've just heard word from Brutus on his and Gaia's investigation of the Anomaly on Hasnorth." Julia began, rubbing her nose slightly askance at Marcus,

Marcus frowned, folding his hands together,

"They survived?"

"Indeed, though Gaia had her soulbound Blood Beast destroyed." Julia responded.

Marcus nodded, his eyes flashing, a hint of pleasure in them,

"That's what happened to Galeria on Paxtol, and Septimius on Yabound. These Anomalies really do possess the ability to destroy anything related to blood." Marcus picked up the glass of wine, swirling it lightly in his hand.

"Almost as if they are our natural predators." He contemplated the thought for a moment,

"But how did these two survive?" He had received previous reports unfolding over the past week, of the investigative teams he had dispatched meeting terrible ends. It had only been a preliminary investigation, and the teams were only to take action if they felt confident.

Yet these vile creatures had destroyed them without mercy. He silently grit his teeth, a seed of anger long since planted.

If he had known they were this powerful ahead of time... it was a moot point. Who could have expected this?

"It was a very odd situation, sir… The Anomaly in question apparently let them go." Julia responded with a shrug.

"It… let them go?" He looked at his assistant and Spymaster, taken aback.

"Yes sir. It also scared off a group of humans before, and didn't take action unless provoked. This is all according to the report Brutus has sent and sworn by."

"It showed mercy… Huh. How very odd." Marcus swirled the glass of wine again.

"Julia." He spoke aloud, abruptly,

"Yes, milord." She responded, focusing on him.

Marcus' voice took on a grand air as he began to speak, a sense of majesty flowing from him,

"Send out my command. The Reavers are to appear to the castle the first thing tomorrow morning. I refuse to accept that we vampires, the dominant species, the protectors, have a natural predator. Fate may twist in their favor, but even Fate cannot stop overwhelming power. A river must bend and flow, at the will of the land around it."

A small breeze blew out as he finished speaking, the needle holding his long white hair up falling out, setting his hair to flutter like a godly phoenix shaking its feathers. His eyes pierced forward with the resolve of a unstoppable lion, powerful and mighty.

Julia sighed,

"Milord, this world is trapped in eternal evening and has no morning."

The Vampire Highlord seemed to deflate slightly,

"Ah, then have them arrive first thing in the evening."

"Milord… It's always evening here… there can be no first thing in the evening…"

"…"

"…"

..

Far away from the planet trapped in eternal evening, a hulking, four and a half meter dragon stood tall, shaking its luscious green scales. Its long, spiked green tail shined brightly in the morning light, giving off a deadly gleam. A set of wings stood attached to its body, long enough to glide with, but too short to achieve true flight. The dragon had a pair of muscular, scaled arms ending in sharp looking claws.

This dragon was currently standing atop a small cliff, overlooking a large, widespread savanna. The odd thing about this savanna was that if one looked off to the left or right, instead of directly forward in the direction Dorian was looking, very gradually, the world seemed to curve.

The sky above this savanna was even odder. At first glance, it appeared like a normal, everyday blue sky. If one studied it, however, one could see odd distortions permeating the air. Sometimes small ripples would appear, almost as if the sky above was constantly being torn apart and then almost immediately repaired.

Dorian took a deep breath, tasting the morning air with a hint of a smile.

It felt good to be alive.

Sure, he had a lot of things weighing him down. But, right now, he was alive.

And that was a thing to celebrate.

He smiled wider.

'Alright Ausra, give it to me.' He said, continuing a discussion he'd been having with the genie in his Soul Spell Matrix.

'It is possible to combine your Red Salamander bloodline with your Myyr Dragon bloodline. However, the Myyr Dragon bloodline reaches its growth potential in the Grandmaster Class, whereas the Red Salamander maximizes at very peak of Sky Class. Your own Red Salamander form was only able to reach Master Class due to your Master Class Soul.' Ausra continued,

'Combining such a low level Bloodline with your Myyr Dragon form will almost certainly weaken it, and result in a waste of energy.'

Dorian mulled over the words of the genie, and eventually nodded, his large draconic head bobbing up and down.

What Ausra said made sense. There was nothing particularly rare or powerful about his Red Salamander form. It had a decent amount of strength and regenerative abilities for its level, but it was nothing compared to his Myyr Dragon form.

He couldn't fault the Salamander for that, however. Without the first Red Salamander he found, he'd never have been able to create his current strongest form, and might not even be alive today.

'Hmm, alright. Let me see my status once more.'

-

Dorian - Soul Status

Soul Stage: Grandmaster Class (Middle)

Health: Perfect

Energy: 97%

-

'And my Growth Stage.' He mentally added.

Another screen popped up in his head.

-

-Myyr Dragon - Growth Stage: (4/4) Elder Myyr Dragon-

Growth Progress – 6,232/0 -

-

'Alright.' He contemplated what to do for a few seconds before making a decision.

'My Red Salamander form isn't good enough to work with, and my Myyr Dragon form is maxed out.' He began, thinking it through,

'It's time to choose a new form to Evolve to.'

'Ausra, pull up a list of all the bloodlines I have, minus any useless or worthless ones.'

-

- Bloodlines Stored -

Red Salamander

Forested Ancient Snake

Hollow Lizard (Degraded)

Brown Treasure Clam

Myyr Dragon

Golem Wolf

Black Mire Wolf

White Rain Wolf

Virulent Wolf

True Vampire

Titan

Human

-

He was presented with a long list of bloodlines, far too many for him to simply focus on all at once.

'Ausra, show only the Bloodlines that have the potential to naturally evolve to the Lord Class.' He ordered, his heart hopeful.

'You have no bloodlines with natural Lord Class potential stored.'

Dorian sighed, and then shrugged, an odd motion in his large draconic figure. It had been worth a shot.

'Fine, show only Grandmaster Class bloodlines.'

The screen in his mind blurred for a moment and then reappeared.

-

- Bloodlines Stored -

Myyr Dragon

True Vampire

Titan

Virulent Wolf

-

Dorian looked over the choices.

'Ausra, can you give me a general definition of each bloodline?'

Instead of responding, several screens appeared in Dorian's mind, answering his question.

-

- Myyr Dragon -

A creature renowned for it's lustrous green scales. It is a draconic creature, with a draconic form. As an adult, its height normally reaches around 4 meters tall, not including its flight-incapable wings. At its highest potential growth stage, it reaches the Grandmaster Class

- True Vampire -

A powerful humanoid being, renowned for its powerful sense of perception and innate talent in regards to Blood Magic. True Vampires possess powerful regenerative properties, as well as a strong physical form. At its highest potential growth stage, it reaches the Grandmaster Class.

- Titan -

A powerful humanoid being, renowned for its sheer physical strength, and its unique Ability known as Condense. Titans possess mid to strong regenerative properties, as well as an enormously powerful physical form, rivaling Pseudo-Lord Class beings when Condensed. At its highest potential growth stage, it reaches the Grandmaster Class.

- Virulent Wolf -

A resilient wolf-type creature, renowned for its incredible regenerative properties and its unique healing Ability known as Restore. These wolves have a very powerful life force. Valued for their rare bloodline, these creatures are often harvested and used in magic spells. Virulent Wolves possess incredibly powerful regenerative properties, but weak physical strength, and are easily captured. At its highest potential growth stage, it reaches the Grandmaster Class.

-

Dorian looked over all the information he had been presented with, and then nodded his head, making a decision.

'Alright, Ausra, I've made my choice.'

.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
AuthorWiz AuthorWiz

Thanks, Devlin, for leaving me a tip :) You + Tiberius' previous tip, have pushed us over the Jar limit again!

That means tomorrow will be a Double Release day!

Also WOW Tiberius, 8000 SS?! That's wild! Same for everyone else sending me SS Gifts! Crimson, Eternal, all you people :) When it reaches me, it'll go in the jar!

Fyi, only paid SS come to me. So don't use free SS on me, save that for reading! :)

Chapter 29: Third Evolution - (Hidden for spoilers)

The first one Dorian struck from the list was the Virulent Wolf. It was true that the Wolf seemed to have some incredibly useful abilities and powers, and its powerful regeneration would no doubt be a huge boon.

But what Dorian needed most right now was power. Pure, unadulterated strength.

He only had one Absorption left, and he couldn't rely on that to save him. The King Class Aura he'd stored up was all gone. He'd used it up in a rush when he was fighting that Titan, and nearly died.

He mentally berated himself for this. He might've been able to get some more use out of it if he'd been more careful. The sheer shock and surprise of the attack had forced his hand, however.

Next, Dorian looked between the two other choices.

Becoming a Vampire, or becoming a Titan.

After a few moments of consideration, the choice became clear to him.

He would first become a Titan.

Those Vampire Nobles had been very powerful when he faced off against them, and he had personally witnessed their awe-inspiring Blood Magic.

But Dorian knew his limits. From what he knew, it took years to get anywhere serious with magic, and even if he gained an innate sense for it, it would still take time for him to take full advantage of it. He'd never practiced magic before, after all.

Magic, through the baptism of the laws of the universe, could lift a creature above its normal limit of growth. But it required a great deal of understanding and time.

Vampires were strong, but it was clear that in sheer power, Titans held an advantage.

Especially with the Ability the Titan Race possessed.

'Ausra. Evolve me into a Titan.'

A flash of light surrounded him, and he abruptly found himself in a misty white landscape. His Evolution Space, an intangible mental area where he would begin to Evolve.

In the real world, it would simply appear as if he was dozing. Time ran oddly in his Evolution Space, his thoughts accelerated.

A ball of light appeared in front of him, Ausra's form.

A visualization of a Titan appeared in front of Dorian. A huge, brawny humanoid with light red skin, and shocking white hair. It was covered with muscles, and just by looking at it, Dorian felt a sense of dominance.

His eyes glinted.

'Evolve me into it, Ausra!'

A pair of mental updates appeared in his mind.

-

-Absorbing Titan bloodline-

-

-Body Reconstruction in progress-

-

A brief period of time passed, but what seemed like forever for Dorian.

His enormous, hulking draconic body shifted and transformed, collapsing inward. The entire process took only a few seconds, but any onlooker watching would have been horrified. Muscles twisted, bones curled, it was an incredibly odd sight.

His went from a huge 4 and a half meters to a diminutive half a meter.

A small form, covered in smooth, light red skin with a slightly chubby but adorable face. He had a small nose and a strong chin, with calm brown eyes. Tiny muscles could be seen bulging on his arms, giving him a somewhat fierce look.

-

-Titan - Growth Stage: (1/4) Titan Child -

Growth Progress – 6,232/2,200 -

-

Dorian looked down at his tiny body in consternation.

'After Evolving, your soul requires a short period of time to adapt to a new form. Because your soul is at the Grandmaster Class, this adaptation period is reduced to 6 hours. The stronger your soul, the less the adaptation period.' Ausra's voice rang out in his head.

Dorian sighed. He had forgotten about this.

Thankfully, he could still feel a powerful strength resting within him. Despite being in the body of a child, Titan children were strong. In addition, his Soul Spell Matrix was at the Grandmaster Class. That greatly boosted the base strength of any form he was in.

A gentle breeze rolled by, across the small cliff he was standing on, making Dorian shiver and start.

As he looked down again, he realized something else he had forgotten.

He was completely naked.

..

Helena Aurelius paced back and forth outside Highlord Marcus' Map Room, her mouth twisting.

She felt as if her stomach was on fire with nervousness. She clutched at the sides of her long black dress, stretching it to make sure it fit her slim form perfectly. She pulled a small mirror out of a Spatial Ring she owned, checking her appearance. She frowned as she saw what looked like a smudge on her pale, delicate face, wiping at it.

A few more minutes passed while she stewed outside, walking back and forth.

A rumbling sound rang out as the large door to the map room began to open, revealing a few familiar faces.

Trajan, Tacitus, Probus… she gave them a sidelong glance as they left the room. Each of the Vampire Nobles were dressed in sharp looking suits, a mysterious air of elegance found in their bearing. Powerful Auras clashed around them as they left, a fierce sense of purpose emanating forward.

Powerful Wizards, and all members of the Aurelius Reavers.

Members of the Aurelius Reavers were the strongest group of Wizards in the Aurelius Family, apart from the four Family Generals, and Marcus himself. Even the weakest vampire in the Reavers was at the Lord Class.

The Reavers acted as the arms and legs of the Highlord, and of the Family, personally enforcing his will.

Helena also happened to be a member of the Aurelius Reavers, a title she bore with joy.

"Helena. You may enter." A beautiful and elegant looking woman appeared at the front of the door, motioning for her to enter.

Julia, the Spymaster for Highlord Marcus, and, rumors had it, his secret lover.

Helena gulped and then gained control of herself, giving Julia an austere nod, stepping forward.

Unfortunately, she was so focused on having that air of elegance that the other Vampires had, she didn't notice that the Map Room was set slightly lower than the outside hallway, and that she needed to step down.

"Eek!" Her foot slipped, and she began to fall forward, her tight dress limiting her movements.

The instant she began falling, she automatically twisted her body, shifting her foot forward as her training took over. Her arm raised upward in a supernaturally fast movement, adjusting her balance by offsetting her weight.

She managed to perfectly regain her footing in a split second. She then continued walking into the room, as if nothing happened.

'Helena! You idiot! Oh my gosh!' She mentally berated herself, embarrassment trying to force its way onto her face.

She held her emotions down with an iron grip, however, doing everything she could to not make more of a fool of herself.

"Oh? Everything okay, Helena?" A warm, powerful voice rumbled through the air to Helena.

Internally, Helena blushed with shame, her nervousness almost overwhelming her.

"Highlord Marcus. Everything is fine." She bowed down smoothly, staring up at the Highlord with a demure expression.

"You called for me?" She looked up at the Highlord, the protector of her Family, and the man she respected the most in this world. His eyes were like fathomless pits, unending pools of mysterious darkness and light. Every movement the man made was calculated and immaculate, the very picture of vampiric perfection.

She shivered very slightly as she stared at the man, unconsciously clenching her fists.

Marcus gave her a warm smile,

"Yes, I have a new mission for you, my dear."

..

"Are you sure it's a good idea sending out Helena?" Julia queried as she finished closing the Map Room door.

Helena had left, walking away from the room with an excited, but nervous, kick in her step.

Marcus picked up his customary glass of wine, swirling it about in his hand again, one of his habits.

"Yes, she's the perfect choice. She is far stronger than she believes, and if that Anomaly does turn out to be different from the rest…" Marcus nodded,

"The girl just needs to build up her confidence. She sets far too high a bar for herself."

Julia walked up next to him and nodded, placing her hands on Marcus' shoulders, starting to massage them,

"She was there when you fought against the Shade King." Julia traced her hand across the front of his chest. Underneath her fingers, she felt the outline of an enormous black scar, burnt into Marcus' torso. Her eyes tightened.

Marcus shrugged.

"It was my own fault for letting my guard down-" He began, but was immediately cut off by the woman at his side.

"If you hadn't been injured in your duel with Telmon-" Julia responded, her voice heated.

"Hardly a duel, now was it? All three of us went at him-" He cut her off back,

"Only because he is a freak of nature. No single being would dare to take on the Mad King alone." Julia cut him off once more, and then glared at him, daring him to respond.

Marcus held his hands up in defeat, and then sighed, shaking his head.

"You're not wrong. That man is more of a monster than any beast I've faced. For any single Vampire to want to challenge him…"

He sighed again,

"That is, indeed, too high a bar to set."

..

The World Bridge to Taprisha was not the most popular World Bridge, and it was one of the smaller ones. Very few people chose to live on it, due to its scale, and the fact that almost the entirety of it was made up of a long, wavering savanna, interspersed with a few rivers.

Rain, and other types of weather, were uncommon on World Bridges, but did occasionally spawn, created from the ether by the laws of the universe.

It was Dorian's luck, good or bad, that a large, expansive rainstorm had started to sweep over the World Bridge, letting loose a thin layer of water.

It had been several hours since Dorian had transformed into a baby Titan. In that time, he had continued his journey, traveling forward on the World Bridge.

Despite being in such a young form, he still had the physical strength in the range of the Sky Class thanks to his powerful, Grandmaster Class Soul Spell Matrix.

This meant he could still take huge, leaping steps, and cover a large amount of distance in a short period of time.

Dorian smiled and laughed as he looked up at the twisting rainclouds in the sky above, enjoying the feeling of water falling on his face and his body. It was the first time he'd experienced rain since coming to this universe.

He frowned after a moment, however, hearing something on the very edge of his sense of hearing, through the loud rain.

He looked off into the distance a few miles to his left. Very faintly, he could make out a caravan.

In the hours he'd been running on the World Bridge, Dorian had already passed over eight separate caravans. A few of them had been small, four or five wagons long, with only a few guards. Several others, however, had been huge, massive trains of colorful wagons, dozens or even hundreds of sets long, swarming in protective guards and Wizards.

This particular caravan in the distance was one of the smaller ones. And, like the other smaller caravans he had seen, this one seemed to be one that wasn't run by humans.

Instead, the denizens leading the caravan, according to what Ausra had told him, were members of the Aeth race.

Almost identical in appearance to humans, but with pointed ears, and slightly paler skin. They had delicate features, and all of them and piercing violet eyes and blonde hair. Renowned for their beauty, the Aeth were one of the more common humanoid species in the 30,000 Worlds.

They looked almost exactly like what Dorian imagined Elves would look like, though known in this universe by a different name.

Members of the Titan race possessed extremely powerful bodies, and one of the perks of such a body was the greatly enhanced vision that came with it.

Even from this distance in the middle of a rainstorm, Dorian could still get a relatively clear image.

The small, six wagon long Aeth caravan was being overrun by several black, burly bear-like creatures. The guards protecting it were fighting back to defend it, but being overpowered.

Dorian frowned when he saw this, clenching his tiny fists.

He didn't hesitate as he began to run forward, his eyes gleaming.

.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
AuthorWiz AuthorWiz

Thanks, David and Thomas, for leaving me a tip :) Y'all have teamed up and pushed the Jar over again, meaning tomorrow will be a Double Release day as well!

I'm glad I can surprise you, Thomas, and David, I read your message and will!

Removed an offhand mention of "Elves" from ch 3.

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