Beneath Ethan's penetrating gaze, the duo of vampires swiftly prostrated themselves on the soil of Avalon Continent, a gesture of fealty and a silent testament to the bind of their contract with Ethan. They were tethered to his will, their lives hanging by the mere thread of his whims.
With a flicker of curiosity, Ethan unveiled the vampire attribute panel, and there, as clear as day, lay the option to dispatch the vampires into oblivion. This revelation steadied his heart.
"I place my trust in you. Now, I shall grant you the opportunity to amass an army of vampires, a force to span a hundred miles, within the span of a month," Ethan proclaimed with a gravity that belied the monumental task.
"Count, your command is our utmost pursuit. We shall not fail," they pledged, their voices a blend of determination and dread.
After setting the vampires on their daunting task, a semblance of tranquility settled over Ethan.
"Alas! The summoning staff's limitation to but two entities a day is indeed a lamentable constraint," Ethan mused regretfully to himself.
As he set forth the vampires on their expansive conquest, Ethan remained blissfully unaware of the staggering consequences his alteration of summoned entities would unleash upon the world.
Above the realms, within the sanctum of the vampiric echelons, a young man, his hair a cascade of fiery red, wore a countenance marred by fury unbound.
"My rage knows no bounds. The moment I uncover the architect of this affront, retribution shall be swift and unforgiving," Ned seethed, his eyes alight with the madness of vengeance.
He glared at the two Minotaurs, standing awkwardly in the magic circle, a stark departure from the moment of elation he had experienced at the summoning of the Vampire Progenitor. In a cruel twist of fate, the majestic Vampire Progenitor had morphed into the form of two grotesque Minotaurs.
"My Lord!"
Trembling, the Minotaurs faced their new master, a daunting figure of authority and power.
"How we yearn for the days under our previous lords," they harbored in their hearts, a silent ode to a lost grace.
"Vanish from my sight!"
Ned exploded, the words escaping him in a venomous hiss.
Yet, the storm within him subsided as quickly as it had arisen. The die was cast, and no amount of fury could alter the fate of the two Minotaurs now standing before him.
Besides, in these times of need, every soldier was precious...
His wrath was not unfounded. Vampires, particularly those summoned first, carried the purest of bloodlines, revered as the Progenitors. Their unexpected transformation into Minotaurs was not just a shock but a profound loss to the arcane strategy he had envisioned.If evaluated through the lens of power, the vampires summoned on the second occasion might well be considered as having deviated from the pure essence of the original Vampire Progenitors.
As Ned scrutinized the Vampire Wand's guide, a pang of anguish coursed through him, igniting suspicions of a possible system glitch — what else could account for such a bewildering scenario?
In a different quarter...
"Blimey!
What's this phenomenon?
My two Kodos have metamorphosed into two Skeleton Warriors? Hit the jackpot, indeed," chuckled a man of modest girth from the Avalon Continent, his laughter echoing.
He had dispatched the Kodos to cleanse the temple's outskirts of monsters.
Yet, what returned were two Skeleton Warriors, the Kodos mysteriously vanished.
Without the specific elucidation for the Skeleton Warriors, he might have speculated whether these Skeleton Warriors were an alternative evolution of the Kodos.
"In any case, after summoning the Kodos tomorrow, I'll send them out from the temple once more, keen to see if they might transform into Skeleton Warriors again!
"Bai Rufeng squinted thoughtfully, musing over the serendipitous ordeal his two Kodos might have encountered.
"By the gods, what transpired!
How did my Minotaurs morph into Kodos?" a white-bearded elder voiced in shock. He had been engrossed in the manual when, abruptly, a flare of white light whisked the Minotaurs away.
"Esteemed Beast King...
The elder rolled his eyes in dismay; these two Kodos were undeniably inferior...
Unbeknownst to Ethan, these developments unfolded.
Upon unveiling the temple's capability to whimsically swap his summoned units, he embarked on a thorough inspection of its premises.
To his chagrin, the arrangement and the utility were akin to those he had previously encountered.
"It seems I possess merely one trick up my sleeve!"
Ethan mused, stroking his chin.
"Host, brace for the upcoming phase. The temple is now in its fledgling stage, which will last for three days. Beyond this period, the temple's sanctuary will be no more," the system's voice intoned in his consciousness at that moment.
"The Dawn of Trials on Avalon Continent!
Ethan's mind was preoccupied with the forthcoming peril—a mere three days until the myriad tribes would mount their first offensive against humanity. The motive behind their aggression was painfully clear: in the eyes of the myriad races, humans languished at the bottom rung of strength, making them prime targets for those in pursuit of merits. The myriad tribes, driven by their insatiable quest for these merits, set their sights not only on humans but also on the Treants, Stonefolk, among others...
"A relentless chase for merits," Ethan reflected with a bittersweet smile. Merits went beyond mere symbols of prowess; they were the keys to ascension and the currency for acquiring the myriad treasures of the Arcane Warrior Academy's system shop—legendary weapons, mystical elixirs, and secret skills all within one's grasp.
This very conflict had precipitated humanity's downfall in his previous existence, a somber chapter he hadn't forgotten.
[Ding! ][Congratulations to the host for the successful corruption of a Lion Beast, awarding 3 merits from the system][Congratulations to the host for the successful corruption of an Ironclad Beast, awarding 2 merits from the system][... ]A cascade of victories surged through his consciousness, heralding the onset of battle...
"The confrontation begins!" Ethan's eyes lit up with a mix of astonishment and elation.
Such rapid advancement was unattainable with Skeleton Warriors alone. For example, it would take two of them an entire incense stick's time to overcome an Ironclad Beast. In stark contrast, vampires required only to inflict a mere cut and imbue their prey's bloodstream with corruption, significantly accelerating the process.
Within moments, he witnessed the corruption of multiple beasts. Reviewing the merit panel, Ethan saw he had garnered 18 merits, ready to be allocated towards enhancing himself, bolstering his vampire legion, or upgrading Fei's Temple.
His priority lay with Fei's Temple. Elevating it would not only solidify its defenses but also unlock additional, formidable capabilities. A three-star Fei's Temple, for instance, would include a cannon capable of devastating foes ten miles away.
Safeguarded within Fei's Temple, Ethan rested assured of his invulnerability; every element within its walls was under his dominion. The progenitor vampires, shielded by their nascent army, were secured from any threats.
[Ding, successful corruption of a Giant Troll, adding +5 merits]"The moment has arrived!"
Ethan was staggered. A Giant Troll, a colossus unmatched in might, typically required the might of three-star Skeleton Warriors for its subjugation. Yet now, a nascent vampire had achieved this feat!
Ethan accessed the upgrade interface for Fei's Temple.
[Would you like to upgrade Fei's Temple to a two-star status for twenty merits? ]The query emerged on the transparent panel in stark, crimson letters.
"Yes!" Ethan confirmed with a decisive press.
"Boom!"
A profound tremor shook Fei's Temple, signaling its transformation.
Whoosh—propelled by an arcane force, Fei's Temple soared, its dimensions tripling as it underwent a metamorphosis. Its facade, once aged, now radiated with a renewed vigor. At its core, a circular stone column rose majestically, topped by a control panel.
"The advent of the Mirror System is upon us!"
Ethan was taken aback. Leveraging the knowledge from his past life, he quickly realized that a temple upgraded to two stars would gain the capability to cast projection images, covering a hundred-mile radius. In essence, he could project an image to any specified location, allowing him to observe events unfolding there as if he were watching a live broadcast.