After bidding goodnight to his mother and Aunt, Sam went straight to his bedroom, though not with the intention of sleeping, as he had told them.
Once inside, he closed the door, removed his clothes, and stood before a large mirror that was as tall as he was. The mirror allowed him to see his entire figure, from head to toe.
As he gazed at his reflection, he couldn't help but take note of his features. His dark black hair framed his face, and his eyes glistened with a vivid shade of blue, much like his mother and aunt. His body was lean, with a balance between muscle and slenderness that appeared perfectly normal. However, what stood out as abnormal was his undeniable charm; he was exceptionally handsome.
"Did I just become more handsome?" he muttered, raising an eyebrow at his own reflection. "Just what the hell happened to me?"
"Maybe I've been bestowed with some kind of power?" he pondered further. "Let's check it, shall we?"
Feeling somewhat compelled to test his newfound self, he moved to his open window and shouted, "Shazam!"
The sky: "..."
Nothing Happened.
"Hey, keep it down, will you?" Sam heard his neighbor's voice angrily chastising him.
"Sorry, Mrs. Bowerson," Sam replied, scratching his head awkwardly.
"And why are you half-naked?" Mrs. Bowerson narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her neighbor. 'Is he watching something dirty again?'
Not wanting to let her jump to conclusions or think anything strange, Sam quickly clarified, "It's not what you think, Mrs. Bowerson. I was just checking myself out in the mirror."
"Oh?..." Mrs. Bowerson was at a loss for words for a moment. "Well then, I'll leave you to it."
Up until this point, she had only entertained a few passing thoughts about Sam, but now, thanks to his peculiar behavior, he had inadvertently complicated things and left her with a rather perplexed impression.
Sam sighed in frustration. "What am I even doing?"
He had already tried everything he could think of, like attempting to shoot webs from his hands, but nothing had worked. It seemed like he was out of options.
However, there was still one thing he hadn't attempted.
"Okay, one last try, and then I'll give up," he muttered to himself, attempting to calm his racing mind.
"System?" he called out, hoping for some kind of response.
But once again, nothing occurred.
Suddenly, Sam felt a peculiar sensation welling up inside his body, and a radiant light burst forth from his eyes. In an instant, an ancient-looking book materialized before him, and he instinctively caught it in his hand.
"Now, where did you come from?" he muttered in disbelief as he examined the enigmatic book from all angles.
The book appeared remarkably old yet exceptionally sturdy, as though it were forged from steel. Its cover was a deep, mysterious black, and Sam could feel an aura of power emanating from it.
Curiosity getting the better of him, he decided to open the book. However, to his surprise, he could only access the first page. When he attempted to turn the pages, he discovered that they were inexplicably stuck together. To add to the intrigue, the first page of the book displayed a name: "Sam Flareheart."
Sam furrowed his brow, perplexed by the unfamiliar name that had appeared in the book. As far as he could remember, his name had always been Sam Hailstorm.
"Maybe my father's family name was Flareheart?" Sam pondered aloud, considering the possibility. He knew next to nothing about his father, as his mother had always told him that his father was deceased. She had given her son her family name, Hailstorm.
According to his mother, their family consisted only of three of them: Sam, his mother, and his aunt. Despite their lack of immediate relatives, they led a peaceful and affluent life. Sam distinctly remembered his mother mentioning that she had come into a significant inheritance from his father's side after his passing.
Each time the subject of his father came up, he could recall the simmering anger that flared in his mother's eyes. It was for this reason that he refrained from ever asking about his father. Furthermore, he had never felt a void in his life due to his father's absence, so he had never made an effort to learn about him on his own.
Sam let out a sigh. "I guess I should ask my mother about this," he muttered to himself.
His gaze fell once more upon the ancient book's cover, which read, "The Codex Of The Supreme Immortals?"
"All right, what can you do?" he inquired of the ancient book, half expecting nothing to happen. To his surprise, the book began to emit a soft, ethereal glow, as if responding to its newfound master's request.
Before him, a translucent screen materialized, visible only to Sam himself.
-----
[ Master: Sam Flareheart ]
[ Status: Confused, Healthy, Bloodlines suppressed, Weak ]
[ Titles: Master Of The Codex Of The Supreme Immortals ]
[ Age: 18 ]
[ Inheritance: None ]
[ Cultivation: None ]
[ Body Cultivation: None ]
[ Race: Noble Dragon (Unawakened) ]
[ Bloodline(s): Frozen Abyssal Dragon Bloodline (Unawakened), Crimson Inferno Dragon Bloodline (Unawakened)]
[ Spirit Vein(s): Ice-Fire Spiritual Veins]
[ Innate Abilities: Devour (unawakened) ]
[ Bloodline Abilities: Cryokinesis (Unawakened), Pyrokinesis (unawakened) ]
[ Physique: None]
[ Divine Powers: None ]
[ Cultivation Method: None ]
[ Body Cultivation Method: None ]
-----
"This just looks like some cliché cultivation novel scenario right here," he said with a bewildered expression.
"And this book is called the Codex Of The Supreme Immortals? And I'm its master now?" He sighed, not that he wasn't surprised, but after reading countless cultivation novels, he had grown somewhat tired of them.
You know why?
"All of them are the same old stuff, that's why." With this valuable treasure now in his possession, he was well aware that things were just getting started.
He just wasn't quite ready for what lay ahead.
He scanned the screen one line at a time, growing even more bewildered with each revelation. "I'm a dragon? Does that mean my mom is also a dragon then?"
He wondered if what this screen was saying was true, then his whole life could have been a lie. He believed the system because if reading countless system novels had taught him anything, it was that systems always told the truth.
But he wasn't angry at his mother. He believed that she wouldn't lie to him unless she had a good reason.
"I have an innate ability, I also have bloodline abilities, and I have spiritual veins too, but all of them are unawakened? Will they awaken when I start cultivating, then?" he mused, scratching his head.
He was new to all of this. Up until now, he had been going with the flow, relying on his knowledge from cultivation novels to navigate this strange new world.