The Academy received its ominous signals as dusk turned the sky into iron-colored ash.
Like a stark reminder of the day's fatigue, evening arrived all at once. The training rings were empty, students floated like clouds into pairs with drifting conversations. Nclai sat high on a stone ledge.
The fight still replayed in his mind.
Nclai watched with catching agape as her blade flowed in precise curves, every movement calculated. It was beautiful. But when she started losing, intense fury took over, and for the first time, the girl's blood made him feel alive.
A reflex... but not his.
His body had moved too well.
No thought. No calculation.
Just instinct.
And that word...
.........
Sanguine Reflex Activated, Lv. 1
Reaction speed increased temporarily.
Source: Dormant bloodline response.
.........
He screwed up his eyes. This is not my skill.
No. A thing inherited. Something buried.
The system mechanism woke again.
.........
Sync Ratio: 5% Achieved
New Interface Available.
Bloodline Codex: UNLOCKED
Hidden Traits: 1 Detected
System Access Panel: Online
......
A soft flicker passed across his vision. Then...
.........
CRIMSON SOVEREIGN PROTOCOL
Status: Stable
Sync Ratio: 5%
Blood Mana: 40 / 40
Tier: Unclassified
Classification: Pending Reclassification
Skills
Passive
Bloodline Sensitivity – Lv. 1
Effect: Sense proximity of vampire blood. Range: 4.3 meters is.
Mastery: 2.9%
Linked: Sanguine Reflex Lvl. 1.
Effect: Brief physical enhancements triggered by strong enemy bloodlines
Mastery: 0.3%
...
Bloodline Codex – Active
Crimson Thread Vein Sealed Opens at 11%.
Blood Spike Conjuration Secured (Activates at 15%.)
Sanguine Pulse Secured (Releases at 30%.)
.
.
.
At 100% and with the Sovereign Rite.
...
Nclai let out a calming breath as he unsealed the Codex.
The panel was stretched out as a dozen sets of overlapping hieroglyphs, lightly shining in the air. It throbbed with a crimson sigil at its center, which resembled a crown of veins, an archaic twisting.
.........
Unidentified Pure Variant.
Lineage Depth: Royal Class.
Identified Inheritance: Blood Red Sovereign, Broken.
Status: Pending.
Authority Core: Sleeping.
Known Record: Former user.
Designation: CRIMSON SOVEREIGN.
Sovereign Traits: Sealed.
Authority Access: REJECTED (Full Sync and Rite Completion).
.........
Nclai froze.
Sovereign...?
He looked at the words which did not disappear.
There was but also only one other user. And now. it is him.
His chest rose once. He shut the panel quickly. No wonder the Awakening Stone broke.
No wonder nothing registered. This isn't a normal bloodline. It isn't even hybrid.
It is a throne...
And he had been thrown into its shadow.
...
A soft tone echoed again.
.........
Reminder: Pending reclassification.
Reassignment Status: Unresolved.
Administrative Review in Progress
.........
He furrowed his brow at "Reclassification?
His eyes narrowed, that was not a student language and it was not public.
Are they trying to switch me to another track?
Or to put me in my place?
Nclai rose from the ledge.
The bells chimed in the distance again, three slow chimes that was the dorm hour signal.
He turned his head.
Lyra was standing at the stairwell, pretending she hadn't been watching, her arms crossed.
She waved. "You looked like you were talking to yourself again."
He didn't reply.
She jogged up, voice lighter than before. "Sooo..." She leaned close, almost nose-to-shoulder with him, her violet eyes playful. "Mister Brooding Ghost-From-The-Ring... gonna tell me what that weird flicker around you was?"
He said nothing.
She pouted and clasped her hands together.
"Nclaiii... tell meee. Pleaaase..." she whined in a high pitch. "You know I'm cute enough to be trusted with secrets, right?"
She even bounced a little, puffing her cheeks and swaying like a child pretending to beg.
Nclai gave her a long, expressionless look.
"...What are you doing."
"Aegyo," she said proudly. "They teach it in the south. Effective technique right? Now spill."
Still, he said nothing.
But the silence between them felt less heavy now.
Just slightly.
...
Much later that night, long after curfew, Nclai stood again at the window of his chamber, watching the red moon climbing over the old tower.
He tapped on the Codex panel again.
The Sovereign's mark glowed faintly.
And, buried in the back of his head …
No words.
No whispers.
Just weight.
And the cold hum of something old awakening from deep slumber.
...