From the moment, I entered the bloody lake, I was slowly absorbing the blood and fusing with it until the concentration was tolerable. I would then keep heading down for more concentrated blood.

I did not care about the time I lasted in here. All I cared about was doing things properly.

The violet body absorbed the blood like a bottomless pit. As I kept a close watch on what was happening inside my body, I discovered that the violet body and this foreign blood were fusing in an unprecedented manner. It seemed that the foreign blood’s mission in life was to find a body to strong enough to house it. The violet smoke, at the same time letting a few droplets pass by, it nourished itself with the blood maintaining a balance in which I was not even hurt during the process. The violet smoke in my body would become stronger and the foreign blood would continuously fuse with a body it could not destroy.

I did not know what I would look like after the last mutation. Everything from my skin to marrow was violet before I jumped into the lake. I was not human anymore.

I did not understand why a being as strong as this would need wings. A set of wings was sprouting on my back. What saddened me was that I was starting to look worse than that demon. I could also feel a few changes to my bone structure as well as my face. As for my flesh, it kept adding up to what was last there. I would probably be a giant after this. I could not wait to see the corpse at the bottom to understand more about this strange benefactor. At least no matter how I end up looking like, my slave days will be over.

It took an eternity to reach the bottom of the lake. At that point, no matter how much blood I absorbed, it was pointless.

Through these new eyes, I was surprised to see inside this bloody water. There were elements of water, which proved that the corpse’s resting place was once just a normal underground lake.

I was seeing what resembled a lighthouse not far away. It was the same light emitted by the pool’s blood, but more intense. I released the same light, but compared to that lighthouse that I assumed was the corpse I was looking for, I was still lacking. As I grew closer, the absorption that had stopped a long while ago was restarting again. As I inched closer, the lighthouse lost its luster and the light I emitted increased. I finally arrived.

It was a headless winged humanoid body. It had not rotted away. I wondered if it could. This strange being had been decapitated. It had the same height as a human in contrast to me who was at least a fifteen meters giant. It wore a shattered armor. Only the gauntlet on the right arm was still giving signs of life. It was a magical item. The fact that it stayed behind despite the state of its owner was a testament that besides the head, the killer wanted nothing to do with the rest.

I grew thoughtful for a while. Why would I become a giant when this fellow looked like a human being despite the wings? I totally looked like a nightmarish fiend.

I tried to see if my height could be altered in any way.

It could.

As my body and wings retracted into themselves, I became even more powerful. I simply returned to the simple skinny body of my memories.

I wondered if these sudden strokes of insight came from me fusing with the violet smoke, given how I did not need to think much to come up with a simple solution to everything related to the use of my powers. I was not born favored by the elements like the magicians were, yet I found myself shooting for a weird path to power.

The gauntlet did not even need me to steal it as it flew directly to my side. I immediately wore it.

With the amount of blood remaining in this gigantic pool, it would be possible to create even more monsters like me.

“If in the future I find someone worthy enough, I will help him absorb a little of it.” I thought.

The quantity of violet smoke stored in my heart had become a hundred times more powerful than before and at the same time, its quantity had increased to a degree I could not even fathom.

“Turns out all this violet smoke needed was to nourish it with a specific energy and it would grow in strength and quantity.”

With this level of fusion, even if the demon came back to retrieve it, he would have to take me along with it. I was prepared to fight him to the death to keep this hard earned and slightly borrowed power.

It was time to finally leave.

The cloak was no longer suitable with these annoying wings. I simply created a hood and remained topless.

I willed my body to fly out of the lake and only managed to stop myself before I hit the ceiling. It was too fast. It was a good thing I forgot to use the wings. I wanted to keep the humans inside the city of gods above out of harm's way. I needed to find a safe way out of this place. Any useless movement I made, could endanger all the lives above me.

I could no longer make myself turn into smoke, this body had become too powerful to put back together again. Should I attempt it, I would just recreate a lesser version of what I used to be. The violet smoke that had fused with my body still needed a few snacks to allow me to repeat my earlier feats of disappearing into puffs of smoke. I could feel that I could tear through space even by accident with this new overpowered body.

I was not interested in the violet smoke anymore as it had become boring at this stage. There was no need to use it to heal as this overpowered blood had had granted me powers of regeneration that did not lose out to the improved violet smoke. Turning invisible was still possible. But why would I hide now?

In short, I was scared of myself and scared for the world around me. One wrong move and this subterranean world could see the stars.

“I wonder if I can create clones?”

“In theory, it should be possible.”

The duo from before had waited here as expected. Their subordinates were even more numerous than in my memories.

“They came for nothing, I am afraid.”

“Oh, they share the same ancestry as that corpse? Was it their ancestor? ”

I could see now that the bloodline I had stolen was also the duo’s ancestor. The power inside their blood looked like little stars coursing through their veins. Just like the white shining bloody lake I could see now, instead of the plain red bloody color. I had gained a useless ability of recognizing members of the bloodline I had just stolen.

“ It must be the reason I have these glowing red eyes. How annoying, I cannot get around it. I am stuck with glowing red eyes for the rest of my life.” I had eliminated the horns, the monstrous teeth, and weird ears upon turning back to my human form earlier, but just like my violet body, I was stuck with red glowing eyes as well.

Besides the duo, other little red lights appeared in my vision. Those subordinates of theirs were also of that same ancestor. They looked pitiful. They were born almost close to humans. I then looked up and my vision reached the city of gods, almost half of the humans of the eighth floor were also from that ancestor.

“So, I was never meant to survive in the first place, even if I was healthy. I was there to make up for the numbers. What was that Elias after when he saw me succeed and knew it was impossible?” Another question that went unanswered.

“Even if they share the same ancestor, there is still a limit to the power they can steal back. Those two are not even at one hundredth of my strength now. The rest are not even worth mentioning. Their main obstacle is the concentrated power of their ancestor’s blood. Otherwise, they would have had enough time to grow closer the strength I have.”

“ I do not know if it is a side effect of replacing their ancestor, but I feel so much pity that I want to offer my help. Sigh… Half the world outside probably has the same bloodline as mine. I cannot help them all .”

“I’ll see what I can do for now. Besides, I probably have an eternity of freedom left to live in this body. A few more years in the subterranean world will not harm me.”

I tried to regulate my speed as best as I could and headed for the shore. Surprisingly, they did not try to attack me this time nor were they surprised to see this violet winged body. I assumed that the information I got from the outside world was unreliable. They must have seen weirder beings than me. At least I felt good at something. I was not alone in this world.

“This way of feeling sentimental is new to me. Is it the power I gained or the new blood inside me that long for those emotions?”

I instantly forgot it.

When I arrived at their side, I decided to levitate in the air as it was safer than causing accidental earthquakes if I dared to put my foot on the ground.

“You must be the leader?” I asked looking at the young man called Jonas.

“Yes, ancestor.” He said after putting his right knee to the ground.

There was a weird feeling about him. He clearly belonged to the Nethewyrm bloodline.

“Netherwyrm bloodline? Where is this coming from? Memories? Or the violet smoke gifting me information again.” I thought.

“He must be a necromancer who saw the opportunity of owning such a bloodline.” I thought again.

“How do you know I am your ancestor?” I asked. Could every member of this bloodline tell who I was from a glance like I could?

“ I once sent slave souls to the depths of the blood pool to look for clues and the body I found inside looked exactly like yours except for the violet color. Also, the pressure you exude is foretelling of the fact that you are my ancestor.” He said. At least it was a short satisfying answer.

“Well, I am sorry to disappoint you but I am more like a long-lost blood brother of your ancestor. Just call me Alwyn.” I said feeling amused of the whole situation. The clueless Jonas was bowing to his former slave.

“Let us go outside to talk. I fell the need to stretch my body a little bit.” I said.

“Yes, sir. Please follow me.” Jonas said in a servile manner. I could tell that it was nothing but smoke and mirrors. I chose to ignore it.

I willed the violet smoke in my heart to take the shape of a chair in front of me. It was simple to control the violet smoke rather than this overpowered body of mine.

It took us a few minutes to reach the world on the surface.

I reabsorbed the violet smoke and said without turning around:

” I am going to stretch my legs, I will be right back.” I said.

I did not wait for his answer. I flew toward the clouds.

I accelerated gradually, I was trying to see the limits of my speed. I had started the journey a few seconds ago and before I knew it I was in a starry sky. The world I had gained my freedom from and thought was boundless was instantly rendered insignificant in my eyes. As I turned to every direction, I could feel other lifeforms from every corner of this starry sky. It was seeing your eyes opened again to a new world. A world of wonders. I longed for adventure. I wanted to see it all.

It was then that I turned to my home world, the red little land mass, it appeared red in my eyes because of every member of that bloodline that lived in it.

I decided to go back and help them.

The moment I made that decision, the Netherwyrm bloodline inside of me ignited and the violet smoke followed suit to tone it down.

A soundless roar escaped my mouth. I could feel myself trying to roar as loud as I could. I was just a spectator in my own body. I had no control over the bloodline.

It felt like I was being granted a gift. I was engulfed in blackish flames. They were comfortable to wear and I could feel a connection to them at the same level as the violet smoke. Once again, my strength surged as if it was already not enough.

In this place where I could not breathe, I inhaled the flames as if it was the most normal thing I could do.

***

In a distant part of the universe…

A bodiless monstrous head that was used as ornament in a palace room abruptly opened its red eyes and looked in a certain direction of the universe. The eyes zoomed for an eternity before a reflection of a black sun appeared on them. It then started crazily laughing.

The laughter only died out when the head realized that a woman had appeared inside the room. She was looking in the same direction the head was looking at previously.

She saw a young man swallow an endless amount of Nether flames.

“This was your plan all along. I knew something was wrong when your body teleported itself away that time. It was to give a chance to your wretched bloodline to reappear again.” She said with gritted teeth.

“ You kept yourself alive for millions of years while we thought you had already died. That bloodline of yours is really a good research material for us all. No wonder we could not find out anything from that pig head of yours. What are you going to do now? Hahaha. That new protégée of yours will fall prey to every god or Prime god around his area with all the ruckus he just caused. He is practically a beacon in this entire universe. All those bored and crazy fellows will pounce on him and cage him like the animal that he is and I will also be among them. You waited all this time only to see your bloodline being extinguished for fifth time. hahaha” She could not hold it anymore and just kept laughing in front of the expressionless monstrous head.

“Go as fast as you can, but it will still be too late by the time you all arrive.” The head said before the red in his eyes intensified and started glowing. Shortly after, the left red eyeball disappeared from its socket. It had been teleported away.

“Again with your little tricks. You know, even I am interested in how you can use magic, space magic at that, with that cursed bloodline of yours that cannot practice magic.” She said before she started to slowly walk towards him.

A body had already started appearing beneath him and was in the midst of being built. He was whole almost instantly. The right eyeball dissolved inside of him and power surged inside his body before a blood red armor started appearing. The armor was crafted from blood that seeped out of his pores.

He took a fighting pose and said: “ We have always been hunted, it is true. But like I told you last time, it is impossible to steal our bloodline without the permission of the Prime Netherwyrm god himself. The Prime god is the bloodline itself. It is a weapon. It chooses who inherits it on its own. Did you see those black flames? They are the proof of a new Prime Netherwyrm god wielder. Just like me he is a Prime god as well. But how can two Prime Gods of the same bloodline exist at the same time at the same level? It is impossible in and on itself. But it finally happened. You all did this. You’ve been pestering the bloodline for so long that it finally decided it was enough. It purged its will and decided to find a way to create as many Prime Netherwyrm Gods as possible. I was only the errand runner at the time. It was not all of you who purged the bloodline for the fourth time, it was itself, further purifying itself. When you all took my head as trophy it was really the only part of my body that was mine. The rest that teleported away contained the bloodline itself. As of now, it has finally awakened. From now on, as long as there is enough mana and a drop of blood it can never disappear and will grow stronger. All that is needed is to find new hosts to imbue with power.” While he was talking, new red eyeballs had taken place inside his eye sockets. He clenched his fists and space rippled before he punched a metallic shield that had sprung out of nowhere to protect the woman.

The metallic shield absorbed the impact but the entire palace had turned to dust due to the aftershock.

Several figures were heading towards them at high speeds.

She had been prepared the moment the blood armor appeared. As a Prime God, she only had her prime element of metal as the sole weapon she could use in the time she had to defend herself. Against the enormous physical strength her opponent wielded, she was lucky she did not choose another element as her prime element. Her body had entirely turned to Prime metal.

All she needed to do was survive the onslaught of this freak until reinforcements arrived. No one was crazy enough to fight with a member of the Netherwyrm bloodline alone.

“ You are thinking about reinforcements? I can already inform you that you will be half dead before they arrive. What do you think I’ve been waiting for all this time?” he said before unleashing a barrage of punches toward the regenerating shield.

“ Some alone time, I suppose.” She said. She was still trying to stall for time.

“ Exactly.” He screamed out.

He swallowed all the air around before letting out a torrent of blue fire.

“ What do you think of this new fire of mine. I have been dreaming about having you try it out and see.” The moment the variant bloodline awakened inside Alwyn he had also gained the right to use his own variant bloodline from the breaking of the seal inside him left behind by the Prime Netherwyrm bloodline. From this moment, all the other bloodlines will be variant bloodlines of the same source. Each new member of the bloodline who is found worthy by the bloodline will receive his own variant power.

“ Just like that kid I received this weird fire as my variant power, but I cannot tell what the others will turn out to be. The days when I was the only Prime Netherwyrm god are over.” He said

For tens of miles, a blue sea of fire was vigorously dancing. He walked towards the shivering and half dead woman in the middle of the sea of fire and said:

“Rosa, when you round up all your friends and decide to try and kill us all again, be wary because by the time you all arrive there may be at least dozens like me with more to join in the future, that kid will not be able to fight the bloodline will inside of him, he will have already created an army before my arrival, just like I am going to help do the same thing as well. I am leaving you alive because I know that you can never let go. I am sure we will see each other soon. ” he said before igniting his grey body with blue fire and flapping his wings.

His departure snuffed the fire he had unleashed and remade the terrain into a gigantic crater. The monster who was patient enough to wait for millions of years sealed by the same bloodline that gave him power had settled his grievances in minutes before disappearing.

***

I made a few turns around the globe and made sure to commit all the places to memory. After a while, I went back to the little land mass.

When I came back it was still day and everyone was still waiting outside. I could see a few disappointed faces, they were probably hoping that I would not come back.

I was greeted with Jonas followed by Lucius. Apparently, they held important positions in this little organization of theirs. They led me to a spacious room inside the tower.

When we arrived, there were already seven other Grand magicians waiting inside the room. They were all humans.

They all offered their greetings but I could see that there were still doubts about me being here in their eyes. Each leader of every faction was present as well as the members of the prime Council who included Jonas and Lucius.

“I can take care of the concentration of power in the blood in a way that even normal human beings will be able to have access to the Netherwyrm bloodline. All I ask is for you to give it freely to those who are a part of this bloodline and only sell it to normal human beings.” Alwyn Kane’s voice echoed inside the hall.

There was an eerie silence that took place for a while. There were still doubts in their eyes but in front of them, there was still a violet winged man whose wings resembled those of the headless winged statue in their main hall at the tower’s entrance. They had named their organization ‘the Headless Dragon’ upon finding out about the corpse at the bottom of the lake.