Lucivar staggered back as a vicious punch landed squarely in his stomach.

It was wintertime, and he was hunting in a forest but he was unfortunate enough to meet the worst person to meet after managing to land a deer. "I'll be taking this—you do not need it as much as I do. After all, I'm a Hybrid, and you're not"

A bald-headed man said, grabbing the deer by its antlers and pulling it his way.

Even though the deer was big and heavy, it seemed to weigh no more than a feather to him.

Recovering from the punch, Lucivar smiled, "Ah, yes, I understand..."

Even though he had been hunting for hours on end from the first sight of the sun to the peak of the day to get that deer, he didn't resist when the bald man, claimed the deer. He only put on a smile as if everything was alright.

However, this reply somehow displeases the bald man.

His face darkens, he approaches quickly, grabs Lucivar's head, and squats.

"Is that an appropriate response from someone who is nothing more than a dog, like you?"

"Eh...?"

It was then Lucivar watched in horror as the bald man's index finger transformed into a green plant and stabbed him in the chest. Almost instantly—his body tensed and dropped. His eyes and veins bulged grotesquely as waves of excruciating pain coursed through him.

"Raarrgghkk!!" He screamed in utter pain.

The agony tore through his very being, as blood began to pour from every orifice.

All the snow around him was stained crimson from his blood.

"Seems like you still don't know your place," the bald man looked at Lucivar nonchalantly and reached out his hand to tap Lucivar's face a couple of times—condescendingly. "A dog could only bark so now... bark. Bark if you want the pain to stop"

Lucivar, convulsing on the ground, forced himself to look at the bald man, "It hurts..."

Venom was creeping up to his face already, turning the veins in his neck a sickly green.

"I SAID BARK!" the bald man shouted angrily.

Upon hearing this, Lucivar forced out a bark through his painful grunts, "Grhkkh... W-Woof!"

Only then did the bald man laugh aloud, finding the situation to be funny.

He turned around to leave and brought the deer with him.

"Don't worry, the pain is temporary. See you later," He waved his hand as he left.

Minutes later.

Lucivar panted heavily, as he lay on the snow-covered ground—his medium-built physique, athletic—and balanced was now covered in blood. Now the coldness from the snow stings, creating stabbing sensations to his opened wounds.

Soon, the pain disappeared, "Ah... I forgot, he already became a Hybrid," He muttered wryly.

A Hybrid is someone who has successfully unlocked the dormant bloodline inside of them.

Some powerful Hybrids who stood at the very top had eminent bloodlines within them, also referred to as named bloodlines such as Dracula the Dark Prince, Naamah the Whisperer of Sin, and even Chi Long the Inferno King.

Becoming a Hybrid would make them surpass normal people in everything.

Strength, agility, reaction time—literally everything was pushed to an extreme inhuman level.

Depending on the grade and purity of the bloodline, the changes vary from person to person.

In addition, they could also have special abilities like the bald man used earlier.

Not many people have the chance to become a Hybrid, so a Hybrid has a very high standing.

Lucivar would be twenty-one this year, and that would also mean, it would be his last try to awaken his dormant bloodline, and become a Hybrid or fall to the lower class for the rest of his life.

Being a normal person is not a problem for Lucivar personally, but not for his condition.

Not if he wanted to keep the warmth of his family.

'I hope I can awaken my bloodline. No, I need to awaken my bloodline,' He thought resolutely.

Grabbing a handful of snow, he wiped the trace of blood on his body before his amber eyes, golden and brighter than normal with a tinge of exhaustion turned to his bag on the side. He checked the content and found a meager amount of mushrooms, acorns, and crickets.

"I don't think Mother will be satisfied with this," Lucivar mused exasperatedly.

All of this was the only thing left after the bald man took his deer.

Nevertheless, Lucivar clapped his face and smiled, "No matter, I'll make it up tomorrow!"

Deciding not to lament, staying positive, he headed back to the city with slow strides.

Against the cold wind blowing directly to his face, he coursed through the forest on the city's west side. A snowy forest with towering white firs, their identical forms made it quite hard for some to know where they were going.

But not for Lucivar who has been going to this forest to hunt for years.

It took him a full hour to reach the city's entrance, a robust wall of compact stone.

Entering the city—he coursed through the street and saw a flabby man, being tied to a wood pole while being lashed by a wooden rod. It was a sight that was normal for Lucivar, this was normal for a slave city under the reign of the Supreme Titan House, the House of Ashbourne.

A rule dictating the appearance and weight of all citizens exists here in Veegend City.

Anyone who looked fat or above a certain weight would be severely punished.

Reaching his house—a humble house crafted from wood and bricks with smoke gently rising from the chimney, Lucivar knocked on the door and entered, "I'm home," He announced with a slight tremble to his tone, knowing the result of today's hunt.

Coming from the living room was a middle-aged woman with sharp features and brown hair.

She was Lucivar's mother.

Despite that fact, she wore a tightened, cold mask face—her eyes were devoid of warmth.

Ignoring Lucivar, his mother went straight to take his bag and opened it to see its contents.

"Useless—absolutely, useless. You can not even get your hands on meat?!" Lucivar's mother barked, pointing viciously at Lucivar's face. "Do you expect us to eat this? Do you want us to starve to death?!"

It has been like this ever since his father was killed after offending a Hybrid.

His mother became depressed after that incident.

Even though his mother was never the one to show love, it has never been this bad.

Lucivar had been enduring all of the beatings and curses on the outside in silence, knowing that his mother was like this. His family was in a bad spot after the incident—and he did not want to make it worse by creating more trouble outside.

"I will make sure to get meat tomorrow, ma'am" Lucivar replied, trying to calm his mother.

But his hand was quickly swatted away, "Don't touch me, you're filthy"

"Come on, Mom, what do you expect?" Suddenly, a voice came from the other room before a fifteen-year-old boy appeared. He is Edward, Lucivar's brother. "I'm sure he tried his best but it only amounted to that much. As always his best is not enough. Look at him—he is not even a Hybrid at his age"

Clicking her tongue, his mother grabbed Edward and brought him to the kitchen.

Lucivar could only watch them left in a daze.

Both of them didn't question the bloodstains across Lucivar's body, and that's normal.

"Edward saved me from Mother's scolding, is he starting to warm up to me?" He mused.

Humming happily, undisturbed, he took off his jacket and went to the backyard.

His backyard was open and quite big, it was used for potatoes but it was empty now as they were harvested before winter came. Lucivar went to kneel beside the door, right in front of a pet bowl and waited there patiently.

As he waited, he couldn't help but think about what Edward said earlier.

It was true that he hadn't become a Hybrid, but his mother and Edward didn't help either.

Several times he had been offered to participate in a pre-awakening training and all of those times he declined because the training was held in another city for a month, and he couldn't leave his family for that long.

But he couldn't defend himself using that, it's not right to be calculative with his family.

"Or maybe I'm just talentless..." He mused in ridicule.

Thirty minutes passed, and his Mother came out and poured potato soup into the pet bowl.

Upon seeing this, Lucivar smiled, "Thank you, ma'am"

Not even responding, his Mother only cast a disgusted look and went back inside.

It was a bad treatment, this is no way for a human being to be treated but Lucivar could not find himself to say anything. Since he failed to awaken his bloodline three times in a row his family, especially his Mother turned cold towards him.

All Lucivar hoped was that he would become a Hybrid tomorrow night during his last test.

Maybe then, the kindness he showed them would be repaid.

Maybe then, they would eventually become a happy family once again.

"Oh, I got three potatoes today, that's one more than the usual!" He cheered.

Taking it as nothing but a good sign, Lucivar started devouring the potato soup heartily.

Moments later, when the sun was setting.

"I should sell the crickets first before going to the cathedral"

Lucivar walked through the street with a bag strapped on his back, and a bouquet of flowers in his hands. He saw the date on his phone earlier, and it was the last day of November—the day before the day that everyone in the city hates—the Black Kalends.

Every first day of a new month, the Ashbourne House expected a sacrifice from the people.

As a slave city under their reign, it was their priority duty to meet this quota.

In exchange for this submission, the city would be protected from the Primordials.

An alien race that sought to rule the world from hundreds of years ago.

People who were chosen by the city to be the sacrifice are called Death Volunteers, and with no exception, Lucivar always brought flowers to give to these Death Volunteers—as a sign of gratitude and respect he had for them.

He crafted the bouquet of flowers himself, believing it a necessary gesture in his eyes.

"Uncle Johnny, I'm here to sell some crickets!" 

"Oh, Lucivar, I'm surprised that you are here and still as vibrant as ever"

"What do you mean, Uncle? It's not like I'm sick or anything"

Lucivar stopped by a merchant stall, the regular place he came to sell the result of his hunt.

Despite being confused by the remarks from Uncle Johnny, he didn't put it to mind and gave away his crickets. As Uncle Johnny went to take his money to pay—Lucivar saw a young girl sitting behind the stall, drinking hot tea.

It was Uncle Johnny's daughter, Kathya, she's about eleven years old.

"Kathya, do you want a flower?" Lucivar asked, handing her a flower.

But with an utterly unimpressed face, Kathya raised an eyebrow, "I think you need it more,"

Upon hearing this, Lucivar's smile froze but Uncle Johnny came to the rescue.

"Here's the money," He said, handing over a pouch of gold coins.

Just as Lucivar was about to grab the pouch, Uncle Johnny held onto it and gave him a slight peculiar gaze, "Also—thanks for everything you've done. It's going to be lonely without a man like you around here"

Lucivar took the pouch, but he now had a frown on his face, "U- Uh... thanks?"

After that exchange, Lucivar began to feel uneasy.

Uncle Johnny was talking to him as if he was going to die, but that shouldn't be the case.

"What is there to worry about? All Death Volunteers are the elderly or the sickly," He mused.

In a couple of minutes, Lucivar reached the Basilica of Strength, a massive cathedral with the God of Strength statue—above the entrance. Not a lot of people were here—but almost all of them were crying, presumably the family of the Death Volunteers.

Giving a polite bow, Lucivar went inside, to the Offering Dome where he met the priest.

Seeing Lucivar, the priest was startled, "Are you delivering your usual bouquet?"

"Of course, why are you so surprised, Father Bellomond?" Lucivar asked back, confused.

Judging from Lucivar's answer—Father Bellomond knew exactly that he was still oblivious to what was happening, "Didn't you see the vote? It's young master Arkan's birthday today, and he wanted the last one to be young, not the usual elderly. It's either you and Bianca—and I'm sorry to say this, but I think you're going to get chosen,"

Lucivar felt his eardrums turning dampened, and the noise around him became subaqueous.

He looked at Father Bellomond, asking if he was serious.

As a response, Father Bellomond took out his phone and showed the ongoing vote.

Upon seeing this, Lucivar wasted no time and ran out of the cathedral—straight to his home.

'I'm going to be chosen...? But why? Why is everyone choosing me and also Bianca?'

Remembering his past years of being good to everyone and anyone in his surroundings, he couldn't fathom how, out of hundreds of thousands of people, living in the city—he was the one being chosen.

It was too cruel, he shouldn't be suffering this fate.

He also didn't want Bianca to be chosen too, she was his childhood friend.

Nevertheless, the situation is not right.

Arriving at his home—Lucivar was about to enter his house—but stopped, when he saw a car parked outside. Only officials could have a car, and there were not many officials living in this city so he knew whose car it was.

Entering the front door silently, he clung to the wall and heard a conversation.

He peeked from the corner and saw that it was his mother who was talking to the governor.

"Bianca and Lucivar are both young, but Bianca is younger..." 

"Stop beating around the bush governor, tell me what you want"

"People are divided into two, those who voted—and those who don't want to vote. We could not expect the result of the vote but I went to Bianca's family—and Bianca was able to show the aptitude to awaken her dormant bloodline while Lucivar hasn't. He's about to be twenty-one, and the chances of becoming a Hybrid at that age... is minuscule at best"

"So? Do you want me to offer that thing as a willing Death Volunteer regardless of the vote?"

"Yes, that's what I'm here for, but not without compensation. If you agree to this—the city will compensate your family handsomely, and Bianca's family even offered to do all in their power to compensate you too,"

"Done, I'll take it. I was planning to get rid of that useless thing anyway"

"A-Are you being serious? Will you regret it? Tomorrow is Lucivar's last test, no?"

"He would fail again, so I don't bother to hope. He's not even my real son, I don't care"

Bam!

Lucivar's mother and the governor were startled when they heard a banging sound.

It was very loud, and it came from the front door.

Exchanging a meaningful look—both of them ran outside, and looked around, only to find a bag on the snowy ground. Upon seeing the bag, Lucivar's mother nodded, gesturing that it belonged to Lucivar.

Realizing that Lucivar eavesdropped on them, the governor's expression soured.

He took his phone and called someone, "Search the city and find the kid, he escaped"