Discord Link: https://discord.gg/bgrFavafvR
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"I have high expectations for you, space girl."
Merciless spoke to Anastasia, giving her a pleased glance. After all, she is incredibly powerful for a newborn vampire, but with his current pace of growth, the battle was practically one-sided. He didn't even need to utilize his flames, whip, or shield to defeat her, let alone the souls he was now carrying inside him to enhance his other abilities that he stole from Keziah.
And let alone use them as an additional lifeline; he possessed billions of them within his body, and souls for a vampire were essentially extra lives; of course, one human soul would not be enough to resurrect a vampire from the dead. In all honesty, he was a clan heir; hence, the number of souls required to resurrect him may be rather large.
So Keziah's gift to him was exceedingly generous, all things considered. But it made him question how, in the world, twenty billion plus souls could be deemed a small amount for her. How many people has she murdered throughout the years, and how many souls are currently trapped inside her right now?
This was a puzzling question, but one he knew he wasn't going to get an answer to.
On the other side, he had successfully gotten his hands on two powerful servants to join him. The calm and composed Hector, with the power of creation via imagination and boundry cutting; the charming and possible Yandere Slime, with the capacity to duplicate genetic information within her being Substance; and now, his most recent experiment and extremely proud kilde Anastasia, who has the ability to manipulate space and time.
'Hehehe, everything is going wonderfully. I am not an elder, but at the pace I am developing, it won't be long before I have the power to rival them. Although there is one more thing I want to do before I return, I have quite a few souls, so I believe I can pull it off; father did mention souls are required to even achieve this.'
Merciless said to himself, but before he did that, he looked at the naked Anastasia with a casual face and told her as such.
"Either way, space girl, your loyalty is truly appreciated; however, we have a lot of things to do. But for now, can you step back? I am about to create a familiar."
"A Familar?"
Anastasia inquired, slightly perplexed by the term. She had heard of vampire familiars before; after all, it was Lord Seven's familiars that destroyed her former father's kingdom.
In the royal archives, a vampire familiar was defined as the physical manifestation of their creator, Ichor, who gave them shape and form at the cost of sacrificing the captive souls of the dead. Using the essence of the deceased's spirit to create a new entity. These familiars are essentially spiritual beings, and their strength is determined by the number of souls utilized or the quality of the souls used to make them.
But she didn't want to test her master's patience and move out of the way, giving Merciless enough room to create his familiar.
Merciless, on the other hand, was unfamiliar with this, and after abusing his right to ask anything you want at anytime pass given to him by Michelle, the walking encyclopedia, he called for him once again, stating.
'Father, I need your help.'
When asked this, Michelle reappeared inside of Merciless mindscape and stated as such.
'Let me guess, you need help creating your first familiar, right? No worries, this is far easier than mastering jet snipe and other vampire techniques.'
Michelle announced as Merciless responded to him, a little astonished by what he said.
'Wait! Really? Well then, father, like always, please enlighten me.'
'Of course, as I previously stated, to create a familiar, all you need to do is imagine the shape and power you want them to have, and depending on how many souls you have, you can literally create living spiritual beings to serve you in battle, and it doesn't stop there; soul manipulation allows you to do all kinds of crazy things; familiar creation is one of many basic techniques any vampire can learn on their first try. But first, a little explanation: when it comes to creating familiars, there are four different sorts that can be created.'
'The four kinds are as follows: Type 1: Lesser Familiars also called grunts: These familiars require anything from 1 to 50 souls; they are not strong but are far superior to normal people; they can assume the form of animals, such as birds and cats. And are mostly used for reconnaissance and other minor tasks.'
'Type 2: Greater Familiars, often known as guardians: These familiars require hundreds of high-grade souls, although they may also be created with hundreds of thousands of low-level souls. And, unlike other familiars, these are far superior to grunts. They have all the innate powers of a vampire. One or two, if not all seven, of these powers, have undergone an unusual mutation, causing them to emerge as blood talents. They can also speak since they are intelligent. And depending on the unpredictable course their blood talent takes, they may become living calamities.'
'Now, going on to type-3 familiars, these are quite distinct entities from the ordinary familiars; in fact, the word familiars is merely a title at this stage. These entities are now classified as high-level spiritual kings or queens, powerful enough to be born with a name. These familiars can be born with either millions of high-grade souls or billions of low-grade souls. These familiars are known as patrons. They are born with all of the powers of a vampire, including both the standard seven racial abilities and the clan's abilities, but without the vampire's vulnerability. They also inherit a variant of their creator Ichor, which is not true Ichor but a unique ability that can rival the creator Ichor. Aside from that, they can possess persons lesser than themselves, influence matter to some extent, and even control spirits that are lower to them. These beings are no longer calamities but rather they are classified as living phenomena given form.'
'Finally, the most distinct of the four categories of familiars. A type four familiar is unique in that it creates life rather than spirits or entities. These types of familiars are known as kinfolks or life created by your own mind. The number of souls you must sacrifice will be determined by the abilities you desire for these living entities. For example, suppose you wish to create a familiar with the ability to time travel one hour into the past or future five times every day; however, the cost is 100,000,000,000 souls.'
'It's like that; you're no longer merely creating spirits; you're creating unique and esoteric lifeforms, utilizing the souls of the dead as a foundation to bring them to life. That is what it means to create a familiar; as a result, vampires value the thought of murdering so much; souls are more than simply additional life, unique money for making deals with demons or a method of healing others and curing ailments through burning these souls.'
'However, because the soul carries the essence of life in its most basic form, vampires may employ the collective life essence within them to create living weapons or new servants to serve them. And, before you ask, yes, vampires are the only known supernatural species in existence capable of doing this through soul manipulation.'
Michelle explains to Merciless, who responds with.
'Again, why are real-life vampires so fucking powerful? They make vampires I know in movies, games, novels, and other media appear like a joke.'
'Well, vampires in those are merely fictitious characters, inferior wannabees in the end; our weaknesses aren't even the same. In reality, the main reason we are vulnerable to sunlight is because of the curse of the creator, although varied sunlight has various effects on us. Orange sunlight kills us, blue sunlight drives us insane, pink sunlight makes us extremely horny to the point where we lose all reason that a hole is a hole to us, green sunlight makes us one hundred times stronger, and red sunlight severely weakens us, as we lose 80% of our powers, and platinum sunlight, well, that's a little different; that sunlight only affects the progenitors, and it makes us extremely depressed and tired of life, leading us to constantly commit suicide, but that in and of itself is pointless, as we cant die.'
Michelle said, surprising Merciless, who was as astonished as he responded to Michelle.
'Stop, stop, hold up just a minute; you mean to tell me that the weakness of sunlight is far more extensive than just being turned to ashes? If that's the case, we're practically similar to Cryptonian in that regard, holy shit. Now that I think about it, why hasn't someone tried an idea like that in the novels I have read? Vampires and sunlight are a match made in heaven for any vampire story, but to think how various stars have these kinds of effects on us. Men that is just sad; if only we had a green sun instead of this stupid orange sun.'
Michelle chuckled at Merciless' statement, and he responded as such before leaving him to his own devices.
'Well, it kind of is, but most suns, with the exception of the green sun, wreak havoc on our kind. But, again, the chances of discovering a green sun are one in infinite alephs. It's impossible to find one to begin with; sunlight was never meant for us to benefit from, or that's what I would have said if she didn't exist. A green sun is extremely rare; no! extremely unique, and I have only seen one in my entire lifetime. That was the day when Scáthach ascended from a Dampa to a peasant vampire, awakening her Ichor for the first time. But when she began to speak, expressing her hatred for the sun, she...she... no-no that isn't important right now. Yeah, that was a horrifying memory. The entire power balance became messed up due to the insane buff that thing gave us. As a result, the largest coup d'état began, and the balance was broken. But either way, Merciless, I will leave you alone now.'
With that, Michelle disconnected from Merciless's mind, leaving him even more perplexed, as Merciless said to himself.
'What was that about? He speaks as if the green sun never existed in the first place; in my view, if vampires were 100 times stronger than they are today, not even the gods and their hounds would take us lightly. But that last bit with Scáthach... when she speaks, ha? Is speaking harmful for Scáthach, or is she simply shy? No, it must be more than that, right? I wonder if Scáthach was the one who created this fabled sun that exists to benefit vampires rather than fucking us over like the rest of those celestial bodies.'
'No, that's preposterous; a peasant vampire couldn't create a star-like structure upon awakening, right? Honestly, I'm not sure, but wasn't Scáthach a goddess or something before she turned? Yeah, Father mentioned something about a fabled divine race called the Tuatha de Danann. I really need to study history more. But let's move on from that; I'll do my research later.'
With this in the back of his mind, he proceeded to focus on a more pressing matter: the construction of his familiar. He had enough soul to create a Type Three if he wished, but that was not his plan. No, he wanted to create a unique familiar to help him use his Ichor. So far, all he's done is rely on the minimal evolution it gives and use the vampiric techniques he learned from his father.
And, as powerful as they were, it wasn't enough; this power was something any vampire could obtain with proper training or skill. It wasn't something unusual or distinctive. While his unique power was via his Ichor, and its name was Biokinesis, this envious ability was just wasting away in his hands. He had the ability to create life, clone, and study DNA samples, shapeshift, and actually control his own evolutionary tree. If that wasn't overpowered, then he doesn't know what is; sure, Beatrice could help him, but that would depend on her timing and not his. The house of Ghal was filled with members who had a biological type like Ichor's. He, on the other hand, basically had everyone's power here and more, as he could control all forms of biology.
'Hahaha, how hilarious! I have what it takes to be the greatest biopath in the entire universe, but I can only use this power if I first get a thorough understanding of the subject. Fuck this weakness and flaw stuff. I intend to get rid of it, if not at the very least. I'm going to speed up my learning and analysis, and these souls will be the key that will propel me to new heights.'
Merciless thought to himself, and with that in mind, he began to compose; he already had a broad notion of what he wanted to produce. It was rather easy; he didn't need any more slaves; these two were sufficient. Instead, he was going to concentrate exclusively on himself this time around. The familiar he was planning to make would be a living lifeform, but one with whom he would have a symbiotic connection and who would fuse with him down to the atomic level, i.e., a parasite. He intended to familiarize a parasitic kind with the idea of merging and becoming one with it.
As a result, Merciless began to envision his own set of personal modifications; for one, this parasite would be attached to his spinal cord, which would then be linked to his brain. If he dies, this parasite dies; thus, if he is unable to move or is in a situation beyond his control, the parasite will take over and make the best option to ensure their lives are secured. It may sound dumb, but Merciless has a purpose, and he doesn't care who has to sacrifice or what he has to do to achieve it.
Their minds will combine, and they will both converse with one another. In some ways, they would be identical, almost like his second personality. Merciless had one aim in mind, which he would share with this monster as well. And that purpose was to become the perfect lifeform, the ultimate creature—something more than God, something eldritch in nature, or even something much greater. Everything that got in their way will be their meal; in order to achieve perfection, he must consume all other imperfections into his essence.
This was the attitude required to reach the top, and he was about to face an exam in which he was certain he would be confronted with monsters or aliens. He was going to take full advantage of this. As a result, the parasite in issue would have two abilities: greater genetic analysis, similar to his Ichor, but instead of taking so long to analyze his opponents' genetic code, this monster could accomplish so instantly if Merciless consumed a substantial enough chunk of their being, significantly shortening the time by multiple years.
The second ability was intended to be "Super Alteration," which is the ability to take stolen genetic features from various monsters via "Greater Genetic Analysis," or enemies in general, and modify these qualities in any way. Such as combining several traits together to make them stronger, as well as duplicating the innate traits into himself; this would allow him to overlook the knowledge required to utilize his Ichor. If anything, each creature he eats. It will allow him to also get the memories in their cells, learn how to fight as much as they can, and better himself by using the stolen innate abilities.
And why stop with simply living biological beings? He was also going to steal evolutionary features from plant life as well; even spiritual ones weren't going to be safe from him once he found a way to eat them, of course. So the question was how many souls he was willing to sacrifice to create this thing, or how many souls were required. He knew exactly how many souls he needed based on instinct alone; the price would be seventeen billion souls, but he didn't need the extra lives, and to hell with making deals with demons, he'd rather eat them because that was the only use he'd have for them anyway.
As a result, Merciless expended all 20 billion or more souls within himself, each of which was rapidly burning away. The vital life energy within the souls gave birth to what is inside Merciless' mind.
A dark, crimson-red aura erupts from him, and as a black spot in reality soon came to be, it grew rapidly, like a foreign limb regrowing back into its original shape and form. And that was when everyone could see it—a large black tentacle-like tail came into existence. It was 1.5 meters in height and about 24 inches thick. It was pure black and tender to the touch, but despite this, the skin on this thing was more durable than even a hundred diamonds stacked upon each other.
Immediately after its creation, the ominous red light faded as the black tail fell gently and settled in Merciless's hands. And, despite its enormity, it seemed light as a feather. Of course, he had no idea if this was due to his superhuman strength or if this thing was genuinely so light in weight in general.
However, as soon as it made contact with Merciless, an eye appeared in the center of its tail. It was purple in hue and featured a big nocturnal slit in the center. The eye looked at Merciless and said something via some kind of telepathy.
'Brother, Shall we begin?'
'Yes, let us become one, and together we shall climb in harmony. To attain absolute 100% synchronicity, you will devote your consciousness to me, and I will devote my consciousness to you. There will be no fighting among us due to our joint submission, and as a result, we can operate as two minds occupying one brain; in layman's terms, we will have a dual consciousness. You will be in charge of general characteristic analysis as well as the alterations of genetic material; I will be responsible for acquiring the material in the first place, while our Ichor will be in charge of evolution and continual adaptation.'
Merciless said, to which the tail responded.
'Understood. With that expressed and solved, let us begin our ascent.'
'Agreed.'
With that stated, Merciless submitted his consciousness to the black tail, who in turn surrendered its consciousness to Merciless. As a result, their consciousness clashes and collides with one another, causing them to merge into one. Merciless and the black tail had merged into a single creature, entity, existence, consciousness, and body.
The tail in his palm sinks into Merciless' body via his arms, merging with his spinal cord, Brain, and Ichor, as well as his blood, nerves, and cells.
The fusion happened swiftly, and the two of them became one: Merciless in the front, and Black Tail at his side and rear. Merciless' primary body began to shift somewhat, and he grew a couple of inches taller, reaching 6'6 and becoming slightly more muscular. His golden hair develops black tips. On the other hand, new alterations develop. He gained sharper fangs, and his teeth became a little pointy, his tongue was a glowing dark purple, and was slit like a snake.
He now also had thick black claws, and the outlines of his dark insect tattoos were flashing a dark neon purple. Merciless was now also levitating above the ground. However, this was not your normal floating; rather, it was significantly more straightforward.
If you look at Merciless' lower back, you will notice an extremely long, thick, and broad tentacle-like black tail that appears delicate to the touch. It was so long that it reached the ground because Merciless had such strength in it, that he was raising his entire body slightly off the ground while the tail anchors down on the floor.
His presence, on the other hand, felt much darker than before, with his aura changing from blazing gold to an eerie layer of black surrounding it. But the most significant alteration for Merciless was the formation of two slits beneath his existing eyes. And when they open, you'll see two frightening and monstrous-looking purple eyes. Moments later, Merciless' consciousness began to detect the environment around him as he looked at his hand. In comparison to before, he felt significantly stronger, almost as if his entire body had been rebuilt and reinforced to ensure the fusion proceeded smoothly.
Merciless, of course, suddenly had a much better understanding of himself; the magical nature he couldn't control before seemed so trivial now; he didn't master it. Instead, he gained control, so much so that the huge vagueness that surrounded him was turned off because Merciless wanted it to be. Not only that, but he sensed the existence of a mystical cluster within his left arm; within this cluster lies the existence of a series of magical natures. He currently had eleven shagoths with whom he had a deep relationship. But If he tried, he could only pull out one of their corrupted powers; therefore, he did so in order to get more strength.
The first magical nature came to him in the form of memories of the witch Alizia, who was once revered as the witch of Terra, the third sister of the Gaia triplets, a part of one of the four ancient titan houses, the Gaia house. Alizia always felt as if no one noticed her, no matter how hard she worked; unlike her sisters, she couldn't break mountains like eggs, or create super tsunamis to emerge with just a thought. However, she was always skilled at gathering different elements from the earth and crafting weapons and artillery with them.
Year after year, she moved further away from her family, and no one truly loved her. They even cease recognizing her as one of the sisters, going so far as to fabricate a tale about how the third sister perished in a strange accident, transforming Gaia's formerly revered triplet sisters into the Twins of Mother Hellmora. So what became of Alizia, and what did they do to her? They just sold her and used her beauty and rank to arrange a political marriage, pushing her into a relationship with a guy known far and wide as the wife killer. A man who likes tormenting women.
This was Alizia's breaking point, so she did something that would allow her to regain control of her life. She committed the fall, a witch-specific act. By doing this, she took Gaia's magical authority over the earth's components, corrupting them with the miasma of Ulgramadi, a great demon from the House of Greed.
As a result, she was reborn as a shagoth, and the power of the earthly element became perverted; initially, she had control and manipulation over the earth's elements. But she suddenly possessed the ability to solidify every elemental force around her. For example, imagine if you were wielding a sword composed of solar energy with a blade that was as solid as granite but burning as hot as the sun. Imagine surfing on a board made of solid protons, or creating firearms composed of pure cosmic radiation in space that can fire radiation bullets.
In her peak as a Shagoth, she was feared as the Shagoth of Solidification. A being so strong that she could easily create extremely enormous world-ending meteors half the size of the moon out of pure solar energy, but here is a far more terrifying thought and fact, she could solidify the air, causing these meteorites to appear before the naked eye as completely invisible.
However, she died at the hands of her own father and two sisters. Her soul was destroyed, but a bit of it lingered in her corpse. One thing led to another, and she ended up in the hands of the Elderblood clan, with a piece of her soul lingering in her hair. Merciless now had this magical nature as a result of assimilating with the Neitherlanders whip, and perhaps one day he, too, would be able to achieve what Alizia did with it, if not more.
And as Merciless received these memories, he began to fall, his feet reaching the floor, and he looked about with a blunt expression. Anastasia, on the other hand, blushed at the sight of Merciless, as this was the first time she saw him without his physical idea being obscured.
But he paid her no attention; after all, now was not the moment to flirt with her; instead, he wished for a gigantic skyscraper to appear before him in the white room, a kilometer away from him in the white room. Merciless then extended his hand out and grasped onto something, yet to the naked eyes, Merciless appeared to be clutching nothing at all. However, in truth, he created a long sword made of compressed air, rendering the weapon invisible.
With a tremendous slice, the wind whistled into the distance, and a loud supersonic was heard, making everyone their ears in distress. However, in Merciless hand, the blade of the sword produced a massive invisible blade formed of pure wind, slicing the structure of the building, and cleaving it into two. And instantaneously, displaying no resistance at all, as the strike was quicker than sound itself. Mach six, to be precise.
And, upon seeing the devastation, Merciless couldn't help but smile, as he stated.
"Hehehe... this exam is going to be so fun."
[End of Season One]