“Why are you showing up like this, Jack?”

Terden Sidus, one of the members of the Aristocratic Consortium, ruler of Blackcrest city, and one of the three Dukes of the Militant Syndicate.

The Duke, a 48-year-old man, once the commander of the Lion Legion, sat behind his desk and, with a deep frown, stared at his most trusted confidant, Jack.

Jack was Terden’s right hand, a loyal subordinate who had served his master for five years. On the outside, Jack was but a bodyguard, an inconsequential individual hired by the Duke for extra protection. However, their relationship was not that superficial, and amongst all his servants, Jack was probably the only one privy to most of Terden’s secretive affairs.

While scratching his itchy and visible scar, Jack wryly smiled and apologetically bowed his head.

“It’s nothing to worry about, Master. I’ve met an old friend of mine.”

“Old friend? Which old friend? One of those from the South?”

“You could say that hahaha…”

Seeing that Jack was refusing to elaborate, Terden did not insist and simply dropped the matter. He wasn’t particularly interested in the matter and though Jack was bloodied, he wasn’t that severely injured, at least to the point of being unable to move.

“Anyway…”

Terden Sidus stood up and paced around the cozy office, his hand caressing a large black ring on his right left middle-finger.

“The shipment has been prepared. As always, you will be managing the transfer and make sure there is no mishap.”

“As you will, Master.”

Jack was about to turn around and leave but Terden stopped him, “Also… Amare Na Xivia will be present to oversee the process.”

“What? Why her?”

“Not just her.” Corrected Terden, “She and Armen both.”

Jack, annoyed by this revelation, gritted his teeth and barely held back his frustration.

“Is there something important in the shipment, Master?”

“No, not really. I don’t know why Marjory sent her youngest daughter but it’s better to be cautious and avoid any complications that might ruin our deal. I want you to be alert and not let any rat sniff around.”

“Of course.”

Jack bowed and excused himself thereafter, leaving Terden alone and pacing around.

…

A bit later, while he was bandaging his wounds while cursing outloud, someone barged into Jack’s room.

“I heard you got beat up, lil Jackie!”

It was a muscular and tall woman; She was noticeably taller than him and had tanned skin and scars all over her unnecessarily revealed body. Although they were rare, her appearance suggested that she hailed from one of the barbaric tribes in Southern Marshes. Her physique was more than enough to reveal her origins.

“Shut the fuck up.”

Jack snarled at her as he tightened the bandages and leaned against the wall while sighing.

The woman gave him a mocking grimace then, after checking the corridor, closed the door.

“Who beat you up?”

“None of your damn business. Go play elsewhere, Reb.”

“I’m genuinely curious… after all, there has been nothing but inactivity as of late and I’m itching for a fight.”

“Oh really?” He grinned and scoffingly retorted, “You’re in luck, then! Amare will be here soon.”

“Who?”

“You already forgot? It’s the lass who beat you half-dead last year.”

“...”

“Why the long face? I thought you wanted to fight.”

****

“Tsk! Five hours… five hours to find one book that mentions parasites. Nothing about the System, though…”

Arthur found himself a comfortable spot and began reading the book. The library was impressively big, so much so that it was hard to inspect all the books even though the bookshelves had basic labels.

Due to that reason, it took Arthur five painstaking hours to find what he came here looking for; A book regarding parasites, or so the title said.

The author of the book, unsurprisingly, was an Archeologist and Historian whose last name was Boulard.

It was not a secret that the Boulard Family was filled with people obsessed with History and the myriad Races, extinct or not.

Arthur had not read that many books, but a few of them were written by the Boulards, specifically the ones about the seven Eras and the Twelve Creations Gods.

With no one to interrupt him, Arthur spent almost two hours engrossed in the book’s content, hoping to find one or two useful clues.

Fortunately, the book did not disappoint…

‘Extinct Races: The Baleful Parasite Race.

Author: Elric Boulard

Introduction

The limited records and lacking knowledge about the Parasite Race warrants a proper explanation and introduction to its origins and History.

The first ever Parasite appeared in the Era of Beginning, and it was by the hands of none other than Zaarae, one of the Twelve Creation Gods. Titled as the Parasite Empress or the Lady who Reaps, she was the one who created the Parasite Race.

She, born from the Primordial Darkness, sought to acquire ultimate strength, thus creating Parasites: A Race capable of infinite evolution and equipped with a potential to outshine even the ancient Gods.

It would be impossible to name every type of Parasite, however, they could be categorized into three ‘sub-races’.

The first is plainly called ‘Genesis Parasites’ and, unlike the rest, were few in number, so few-in fact- that all could be named.

The Genesis Parasites were Zaarae’s first creations and were considered as her direct descendants, beings that were granted a sliver of her essence. In total, there were seven of them, but in the 1st Era, one was killed by the Shadow Emperor (Moriah), and in the 3rd Era, two were killed by Poseidon, leaving only four alive.

The second sub-race is the Mutant Parasites; Those ones have a vague and undocumented origin, their existence seems to be mere happenstance, the accidental merging of several bestial Genes with the progeny of the Genesis Parasites.

It was said that the Mutant Parasites had erratic and highly-unstable mental faculties, which, in most cases, made them act in a maniacal manner. As a matter of fact, the Parasite Race’s overall notoriety is due to the Mutant Parasites’ unrestrained malevolent acts over the course of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Eras.

By the 5th Era, however, the Arman Empire spared no effort in exterminating any living Parasites, going as far as creating self-sufficient and sentient machines that were programmed with the sole purpose of searching and eliminating them.

Last but not least, the Ultima Parasites: Separate from the other two sub-races, Ultima Parasites did originate from Zaarae, but were not necessarily uniquely her own creations. Put simply, they came into existence in the coincidental and paradoxical convergence of Primordial Darkness and Primordial Light.

Verified Records from one of the Arman Facilities (prior to their destruction by the System) mention that Ultima Parasites were the unanticipated result of the long battle between Zaarae and Sedos.

They did not strictly obey the Parasite Empress and were known to act on their own. Notably, however, Ultima Parasites lack the ability to continuously evolve and require harsh and specific requirements. Additionally, they were difficult to kill due to their incorporeal bodies and the inherent ability to make use of Light and Darkness.

Amongst the three sub-races, only the Mutant Parasites were capable of changing hosts while ignoring any potential backlash, but due to their limited and influenced mental capacity, they lacked free will and were extremely power-hungry, seeking to evolve no matter the cost.

Genesis Parasites, on the other hand, could only possess hosts that were ‘compatible’.

As for Ultima Parasites, as they existed mainly in spiritual and intangible forms, they did not require physical hosts to live or get stronger.’

“It’s still not satisfactory.” Grumbled Arthur as he closed the book and sighed.

While it did provide much-needed details about the parasites of old, it did not answer all of Arthur’s questions. Even after having read that section, Arthur still had no clue about his Race and what he had become.

The System provided vague, inexplicit, and incomplete descriptions, whereas the book, while useful, lacked any meaningful clues.

Basically, even after taking current facts into consideration, Arthur didn’t know which sub-race he belonged to.

From what he had read, it was improbable that he was an Ultima or a Mutant Parasite, and since the Genesis ones were numbered and unique, he also couldn’t be one of them, thus he was left more confused than ever before.

Still, it was not all for nothing… After all, he learnt that, as a parasite, he could evolve more than once. Yes, the System did not deign to show him any specifications or requirements, but-in due time- he will inevitably evolve just like what happened after his ‘rebirth’.

When he had possessed the Vampire, he had instantly evolved into a Blood Parasite, which had its boons and burdens. While the benefits were undeniably good, they weren’t enough for Arthur since he had to avoid silver and was forced to not fight during the day as his stats would be lowered by a significant amount.

With the absence of plausible leads, Arthur had to make baseless speculations and theorize by himself. So far, he had possessed a Vampire, several humans, a Hollow Alligator, and a handful of small fish, and if that wasn’t enough to warrant an evolution then, maybe the host needs to be special.

“Perhaps something rare… deemed unique or uncommon by the System.” Mused Arthur as he intently stared at the closed book.

“Humans are common in Astria, but vampires… not as much. What if the requirements are not necessarily tied to the nature of the host? For example, the trigger could be a special skill? Or a distinctive yet infrequent racial trait?”

As Arthur pondered about it, the motivation to apprehend the Bloated Murderer and acquire his magic increased. Whatever that dark-green mist was, it wasn’t normal magic and that was enough for Arthur to chase after the killer. Of course, his objective wasn’t to apprehend and lock the target… no, it was to kill and possess him.

It would be risky and dangerous, but such was the nature of things. Furthermore, Arthur had Evelyn by his side, and after his battle with the artificial reptilian beast, Leonis’ Barrier Magic had leveled up, which made it less costly to use, stronger, and more versatile.