(Before the Crimson empire and the creation of the youngest persona, Valerian.)
Location: A wild forest in the primordial era.
*****
Samael was flying cautiously through the skies looking for the next beast to aid in in his evolution but soon a terrifying existence came into view and was big enough for Samael to see without using any of his enhanced abilities.
The blood of this creature was like hitting the jackpot. Securing its DNA opened new possibilities that Samael had not even considered yet.
'It's wounded.' He thought. Sam felt no empathy. Instead he felt relieved. If it was healthy then he would have had to retreat and lose out on this opportunity.
In his mind he was prepared for an evolution but his life was just as important. Seeing the creature wounded ignited his greed. He did not care now. He would sleep for another three hundred years, if he had to, just to get this beast's DNA.
But this was as reckless as Sam would allow himself to be. He needed a plan.
Brute force was not an option. Wounded or not, he would be no match for this creature if he fought it head on.
Its scales were black with hints of purple. Its smallest teeth were the size of full grown pine trees. Its obsidian wings blacked out the sun as it circled the forest.
Each time it flapped its massive wings, the trees below would be completely stripped of their leaves. Older trees would even fall down. It was chaos.
But Sam still wanted to take his chances. However there were two problems that Samael had to deal with. Firstly, physically, he was not its opponent. Secondly, he had no idea what this beast's skills were.
It gave no signs of what its abilities were and if Sam tried to use [Mind's Eye], his instincts told him this beast would feel his gaze and attack him.
All Sam wanted was its blood, fresh. It was already wounded. So blood was definitely available. He would get some of it and he would leave. F*ck it, he would have to flee.
He could not use [Blood Frenzy] either, although he had more control of his berserker mode every time he levelled up, this "do or die" skill seemed to interfere with his recovery abilities in battle and multiply his exhaustion.
Samael was about to formulate a plan when a voice entered his head.
[Enoch: A being of great power is trying to invade your mind. Information is being pushed through. Systems are failing to resist.]
[You have learned Draconic. The language of Dragons.] A notification popped up.
Samael was so surprised and shaken that he subconsciously flew backwards.
[Did you think that because I am wounded and you used your little hiding ability that I would not sense you? I am not so weak as to not feel your avarice nor am I afraid to defend myself.] - ....
Valerian was too stunned to speak.
[You smell old and your soul smells even older! You are older than my father but a lot weaker than me. That is sad. I could have used you but I have no use for the old and frail. Come a me and die!!!] - ....
Just like that the circling dragon broke its flight pattern and charged Samael.
It roared and the vampire felt his powerful eardrums being overwhelmed.
'What could have wounded this creature?!' Was all he could think when it flew over him unleashing a massive inferno over the vampire.
Sam wasted no time. He ran. He ran for his life. He moved faster than he had ever moved before stepping sideways, forward then zigzagging along the way, leaving afterimages that even confused the dragon's keen eyes!
But this was not enough. The dragon went lower, closer to the forest fire that it had started.
[Listen to this, Old one, and if you survive, you are worthy of praise!] - Dragon.
The dragon's voice rang out in Sam's head. It flew over him, completely eclipsing the sky and covering him in its shadow.
BOOM!!!! BOOM!!!
It was like two huge sonic bombs had gone off one after the other!
A few trees were completely destroyed. The ground cracked. Scorched soil was sent flying into the air and rained back down.
Samael was tossed into the air like a rag doll and landed like trash thrown onto the sidewalk.
'What the Hell was that?!' Sam thought as he tried to recover. His body had cuts all over.
He tasted blood but it tasted awful, almost rancid. He quickly spat it out. It was his own blood! He was bleeding internally!
His ears did not want to stop ringing. His vision was blurred.
But his rapid healing was already kicking in.
[You survived my heartbeat! I am pleasantly surprised. If you live long enough maybe you will tell me what you are.]
'Heartbeat?!' Sam was shaken but even more importantly, his pride and body were wounded by this f*cker's heartbeat?!
Samael was desperate and close to losing his self-control. Not desperate and mad enough to use his forbidden ultimate skill but dammit, close to it.
How long before the next one?
Dragons are big creatures.
The bigger the beast is the slower their heartbeat is. If Samael was lucky, he'd have some time.
The dragon turned around and flew over him again!
BOOM!!!! BOOM!!!
It happened all over again! This time when Samael fell back down he began coughing up even more blood.
"Infuriating!" Samael dared not risk using [Blood Frenzy] either. He was not sure he could win if his recovery speed was slower.
[Ha! You survived another round. I shall grant you a gift. I shall let you know my name. I am...] the dragon had began to speak but was interrupted.
[Shut up, you talkative, overgrown lizard!] Sam thought back.
He began releasing killing intent that spread to even untouched areas of the forest.
If any beasts had remained after the fight had started they would have been incapacitated by Samael's fury but they had all fled when the dragon arrived.
Samael had fought Demon worms that lived underground and the annoying things had gravity abilities that made them harder to kill.
The first one to attack him had been targeting him but the other thirty he fought, he searched for himself to get their gravity abilities, and one unique skill in particular was perfect to put this dragon this overgrown reptile in its place!
[ The world skill Pin Down and the world skill Gravity Lock have combined to form the unique skill Gravity Pin.] This was the notification he received that day.
[The Unique skill Gravity Pin has been activated.]
The dragon came back. But this time an unseen force grabbed it and pulled it down into the ground! The dragon did a one hundred and eighty degree rotation then went down head first.
Samael did not have much time. [Gravity Pin] was supposed to stop it from moving completely but the dragon was clearly fighting it and this dragon was winning.
Samael flew into the sky. Summoned his sword. He would bury it in the dragon's chest even if he had to sleep for three thousand years to take this fucker down! Retreat was impossible. The march moved forward.
"Do you think you are the only one that can breathe fire?!" Samael shouted.
He was flying directly above the dragon. The beast stopped moving and actually looked at his adversary. The dragon's purple eyes locked with the golden eyes of the vampire.
[Show me.] - Dragon
These two words infuriated Samael. He took a deep breathe. His chest was partially revealed and a bright, orange glow was showing from deep within his chest.
It rose to his throat and came out of his mouth with a deadly ferocity. The flames started yellow, turned orange then became red but Sam was angry, the fire changed again and finally a hell blue baptised the dragon's face.
He directed his fire at the dragon's horned head. Then stopped. The flames died down. Samael waited to see the result of his fury.
BOOM!!!! BOOM!!!!
[Gravity Pin has been negated.]
One of Samael's wings got torn. He fell out of the sky and was met by the dragon's tail!
He got tail whipped and thrown deep into the forest thus leaving the vampire unconscious, wounded and without anyway to defend himself.