The first one Dorian struck from the list was the Virulent Wolf. It was true that the Wolf seemed to have some incredibly useful abilities and powers, and its powerful regeneration would no doubt be a huge boon.
But what Dorian needed most right now was power. Pure, unadulterated strength.
He only had one Absorption left, and he couldn’t rely on that to save him. The King Class Aura he’d stored up was all gone. He’d used it up in a rush when he was fighting that Titan, and nearly died.
He mentally berated himself for this. He might’ve been able to get some more use out of it if he’d been more careful. The sheer shock and surprise of the attack had forced his hand, however.
Next, Dorian looked between the two other choices.
Becoming a Vampire, or becoming a Titan.
After a few moments of consideration, the choice became clear to him.
He would first become a Titan.
Those Vampire Nobles had been very powerful when he faced off against them, and he had personally witnessed their awe-inspiring Blood Magic.
But Dorian knew his limits. From what he knew, it took years to get anywhere serious with magic, and even if he gained an innate sense for it, it would still take time for him to take full advantage of it. He’d never practiced magic before, after all.
Magic, through the baptism of the laws of the universe, could lift a creature above its normal limit of growth. But it required a great deal of understanding and time.
Vampires were strong, but it was clear that in sheer power, Titans held an advantage.
Especially with the Ability Titans’ held.
‘Ausra. Evolve me into a Titan.’
A flash of light surrounded him, and he abruptly found himself in a misty white landscape. His Evolution Space, an intangible mental area where he would begin to Evolve.
In the real world, it would simply appear as if he was dozing. Time ran oddly in his Evolution Space, his thoughts accelerated.
A ball of light appeared in front of him, Ausra’s form.
A visualization of a Titan appeared in front of Dorian. A huge, brawny humanoid with light red skin, and shocking white hair. It was covered with muscles, and just by looking at it, Dorian felt a sense of dominance.
His eyes glinted.
‘Evolve me into it, Ausra!’
A pair of mental updates appeared in his mind.
–
-Absorbing Titan bloodline-
–
-Body Reconstruction in progress-
–
A brief period of time passed, but what seemed like forever for Dorian.
His enormous, hulking draconic body shifted and transformed, collapsing inward. The entire process took only a few seconds, but any onlooker watching would have been horrified. Muscles twisted, bones curled, it was an incredibly odd sight.
His went from a huge 4 and a half meters to a diminutive half a meter.
A small form, covered in smooth, light red skin with a slightly chubby but adorable face. He had a small nose and a strong chin, with calm brown eyes. Tiny muscles could be seen bulging on his arms, giving him a somewhat fierce look.
–
-Titan – Growth Stage: (1/4) Titan Child –
Growth Progress – 6,232/2,200 –
–
Dorian looked down at his tiny body in consternation.
‘After Evolving, your soul requires a short period of time to adapt to a new form. Because your soul is at the Grandmaster Class, this adaptation period is reduced to 6 hours. The stronger your soul, the less the adaptation period.’ Ausra’s voice rang out in his head.
Dorian sighed. He had forgotten about this.
Thankfully, he could still feel a powerful strength resting within him. Despite being in the body of a child, Titan children were strong. In addition, his Soul Spell Matrix was at the Grandmaster Class. That greatly boosted the base strength of any form he was in.
A small breeze rolled by, across the small cliff he was standing on, making Dorian shiver and start.
As he looked down again, he realized something else he had forgotten.
He was completely naked.
..
Helena Aurelius paced back and forth outside Highlord Marcus’ Map Room, her mouth twisting.
She felt as if her stomach was on fire with nervousness. She clutched at the sides of her long black dress, stretching it to make sure it fit her slim form perfectly. She pulled a small mirror out of a Spatial Ring she owned, checking her appearance. She frowned as she saw what looked like a smudge on her pale, delicate face, wiping at it.
A few more minutes passed while she stewed outside, walking back and forth.
A rumbling sound rang out as the large door to the map room began to open, revealing a few familiar faces.
Trajan, Tacitus, Probus… she gave them a sidelong glance as they left the room. Each of the Vampire Nobles were dressed in sharp looking suits, a mysterious air of elegance found in their bearing. Powerful Auras clashed around them as they left, a fierce sense of purpose emanating forward.
Powerful Wizards, and all members of the Aurelius Reavers.
Members of the Aurelius Reavers were the strongest group of Wizards in the Aurelius Family, apart from the four Family Generals, and Marcus himself. Even the weakest vampire in the Reavers was at the Lord Class.
The Reavers acted as the arms and legs of the Highlord, and of the Family, personally enforcing his will.
Helena also happened to be a member of the Aurelius Reavers, a title she bore with joy.
“Helena. You may enter.” A beautiful and elegant looking woman appeared at the front of the door, motioning for her to enter.
Julia, the Spymaster for Highlord Marcus, and, rumors had it, his secret lover.
Helena gulped and then gained control of herself, giving Julia an austere nod, stepping forward.
Unfortunately, she was so focused on having that air of elegance that the other Vampires had, she didn’t notice that the Map Room was set slightly lower than the outside hallway, and that she needed to step down.
“Eek!” Her foot slipped, and she began to fall forward, her tight dress limiting her movements.
The instant she began falling, she automatically twisted her body, shifting her foot forward as her training took over. Her arm raised upward in a supernaturally fast movement, adjusting her balance by offsetting her weight.
She managed to perfectly regain her footing in a split second. She then continued walking into the room, as if nothing happened.
‘Helena! You idiot! Oh my gosh!’ She mentally berated herself, embarrassment trying to force its way onto her face.
She held her emotions down with an iron grip, however, doing everything she could to not make more of a fool of herself.
“Oh? Everything okay, Helena?” A warm, powerful voice rumbled through the air to Helena.
Internally, Helena blushed with shame, her nervousness almost overwhelming her.
“Highlord Marcus. Everything is fine.” She bowed down smoothly, staring up at the Highlord with a demure expression.
“You called for me?” She looked up at the Highlord, the protector of her Family, and the man she respected the most in this world. His eyes were like fathomless pits, unending pools of mysterious darkness and light. Every movement the man made was calculated and immaculate, the very picture of vampiric perfection.
She shivered very slightly as she stared at the man, unconsciously clenching her fists.
Marcus gave her a warm smile,
“Yes, I have a new mission for you, my dear.”
..
“Are you sure it’s a good idea sending out Helena?” Julia queried as she finished closing the Map Room door.
Helena had left, walking away from the room with an excited, but nervous, kick in her step.
Marcus picked up his customary glass of wine, swirling it about in his hand again, one of his habits.
“Yes, she’s the perfect choice. She is far stronger than she believes, and if that Anomaly does turn out to be different from the rest…” Marcus nodded,
“The girl just needs to build up her confidence. She sets far too high a bar for herself.”
Julia walked up next to him and nodded, placing her hands on Marcus’ shoulders, starting to massage them,
“She was there when you fought against the Shade King.” Julia traced her hand across the front of his chest. Underneath her fingers, she felt the outline of an enormous black scar, burnt into Marcus’ torso. Her eyes tightened.
Marcus shrugged.
“It was my own fault for letting my guard down-” He began, but was immediately cut off by the woman at his side.
“If you hadn’t been injured in your duel with Telmon-” Julia responded, her voice heated.
“Hardly a duel, now was it? All three of us went at him-” He cut her off back,
“Only because he is a freak of nature. No single being would dare to take on the Mad King alone.” Julia cut him off once more, and then glared at him, daring him to respond.
Marcus held his hands up in defeat, and then sighed, shaking his head.
“You’re not wrong. That man is more of a monster than any beast I’ve faced. For any single Vampire to want to challenge him…”
He sighed again,
“That is, indeed, too high a bar to set.”
..
The World Bridge to Taprisha was not the most popular World Bridge, and it was one of the smaller ones. Very few people chose to live on it, due to its scale, and the fact that almost the entirety of it was made up of a long, wavering savanna, interspersed with a few rivers.
Rain, and other types of weather, were uncommon on World Bridges, but did occasionally spawn, created from the ether by the laws of the universe.
It was Dorian’s luck, good or bad, that a large, expansive rainstorm had started to sweep over the World Bridge, letting loose a thin layer of water.
It had been several hours since Dorian had transformed into a baby Titan. In that time, he had continued his journey, traveling forward on the World Bridge.
Despite being in such a young form, he still had the physical strength in the range of the Sky Class thanks to his powerful, Grandmaster Class Soul Spell Matrix.
This meant he could still take huge, leaping steps, and cover a large amount of distance in a short period of time.
Dorian smiled and laughed as he looked up at the twisting rainclouds in the sky above, enjoying the feeling of water falling on his face and his body. It was the first time he’d experienced rain since coming to this universe.
He frowned after a moment, however, hearing something on the very edge of his sense of hearing, through the loud rain.
He looked off into the distance a few miles to his left. Very faintly, he could make out a caravan.
In the hours he’d been running on the World Bridge, Dorian had already passed over eight separate caravans. A few of them had been small, four or five wagons long, with only a few guards. Several others, however, had been huge, massive trains of colorful wagons, dozens or even hundreds of sets long, swarming in protective guards and Wizards.
This particular caravan in the distance was one of the smaller ones. And, like the other smaller caravans he had seen, this one seemed to be one that wasn’t run by humans.
Instead, the denizens leading the caravan, according to what Ausra had told him, were members of the Aeth race.
Almost identical in appearance to humans, but with pointed ears, and slightly paler skin. They had delicate features, and all of them and piercing violet eyes and blonde hair. Renowned for their beauty, the Aeth were one of the more common humanoid species in the 30,000 Worlds.
They looked almost exactly like what Dorian imagined Elves would look like, though known in this universe by a different name.
Members of the Titan race possessed extremely powerful bodies, and one of the perks of such a body was the greatly enhanced vision that came with it.
Even from this distance in the middle of a rainstorm, Dorian could still get a relatively clear image.
The small, six wagon long Aeth caravan was being overrun by several black, burly bear-like creatures. The guards protecting it were fighting back to defend it, but being overpowered.
Dorian frowned when he saw this, clenching his tiny fists.
He didn’t hesitate as he began to run forward, his eyes gleaming.
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