The Progenitor's Gift Of Blood

I am abnormal.

From the moment I understood what concepts were as a child, I knew I was different from everyone else.

Fear, hatred, happiness, sadness, love, jealousy, excitement, every emotion humans are born with, none of it applied to me.

Even the sensations of pain and pleasure were absent from my existence.

If you’re wondering why I’m telling you this now, when I’ve never shared it with anyone before, it’s because today… I will take my own life.

I’ve always wondered, what is death like?

Will I finally feel fear?

Will I regret killing myself?

Those were the only thoughts swirling in my mind as I stood atop a building piercing the clouds, the ground below an endless abyss.

In the silence of the cold night, beneath the shimmering stars, I stepped forward.

The howling wind rushed past my face as I spiraled downward. A normal person would feel the air’s chill, would scream for their life…

But I felt nothing.

No fear. No sadness. Not even a single memory flashed before my eyes.

I stared upward, my gaze fixed on the starry void above, a blood-red moon illuminating my falling figure.

The color of blood.

A color I’d seen countless times when trying to experience pain.

The sound of honking cars and distant chatter reached my ears after a long, uneventful fall… followed by the ticking of an abnormally loud clock.

{Tick, tock.}

My death was sealed as the ticking grew slower the closer the ground came into view.

{Tick.}

Was it counting down my end?

{Tock.}

The last tick echoed, and then time itself froze. The world turned pure white, painting over reality.

Above me, the white split open, swirling into a spinning vortex. From within its depths emerged a figure draped in stars and nebulae, defying all laws of gravity.

Featureless, yet magnificent. As it descended, it grew larger, until its immense hands enveloped me completely.

Inside its palms floated a single orb, crimson red, glowing like the heart of creation, swirling with countless colors beyond comprehension.

Then came a voice, soft, feminine, and impossibly beautiful. I think.

“What do you desire? Speak, and it shall be granted.”

As her words lingered, a figure manifested above my frozen body.

Hair whiter than the purest snow flowed upward like waves, while crimson eyes gazed into my soul. She reached out, cupping my face with gentle hands.

“I permit you to speak. Tell me, what does your heart wish for?”

There was only one thing I wanted…

“I want to experience emotions.” My voice was dry as always, utterly devoid of excitement.

“Mizuki Shin, I shall grant you my seventh Unique Blood.”

Her words carried a weight that could shatter worlds. She leaned closer and pressed her lips against my forehead. For the first time in my life, I felt warmth, a gentle stream flowing through me, spreading to every corner of my body.

After the kiss, she spoke again.

“Mizuki Shin, as my seventh bloodline, I grant you the name Ildna Bloodarch. From this moment forth, you shall carry half of mine.”

Her expression remained unreadable as she asked,

“Do you accept?”

“Yes,” I answered without hesitation. If she would grant my wish, I had no reason to refuse.

Her mouth opened, revealing elongated canines. Her pupils narrowed turning red, like a predator's while her eye color became black, as she lunged at my neck and sank her fangs in. There was no pain, only a surge of energy, static like an electric current, coursing through my veins, my cells, every fiber of my body.

“Ildna Bloodarch, my seventh descendant—may my blood dwell within you for eternity.”

Her voice faded as blood dripped from her lips onto my cheek. Then, like an illusion, she vanished.

Light poured through the cracks of the colossal hands, retreating into the vortex. The starry void collapsed into nothingness, leaving behind the white abyss. Slowly, even that whiteness faded, until the ticking clock returned.

Time snapped back. The blood moon still hung in the sky, crimson as her eyes.

And then, impact. Darkness swallowed me whole.

That night, I died beneath a blood moon, shining brighter than ever before.

***

The scent of dust seeped into my nostrils. My eyelids felt heavy… then light, as I slowly opened them.

I knew I had died, yet here I was, alive again.

The first thing I saw was the crimson moon, bathing me in its glow. I blinked and raised my tiny hands. They were small, like those of a newborn. A muffled sound escaped my lips, barely human.

Turning my head, I saw two rows of crumbling pillars stretching alongside a torn red carpet. I looked down, a broken throne supported my fragile body.

Moonlight streamed through a gaping hole in the ceiling, casting the chamber in a bloody hue.

My vision was sharp, my senses heightened. For the first time in my existence, excluding her kiss, I could feel.

The rough wood beneath me.

The cold breeze whispering through the ruins.

And yet… I felt no excitement. No joy. No hope.

Did she lie to me?

Even suspecting betrayal stirred nothing within me. No anger. No disappointment.

Unable to move, I closed my eyes. My body obeyed, and so I slept. For a very, very long time, dreaming of nothing.

***

Sixteen years later…

At the age of six, I finally awoke from my deep slumber. The moon had returned to its silver glow by the time I took my first steps in this unfamiliar world.

Since then, ten years have passed. I spent them buried in books salvaged from cracked shelves along the right wall. Many were too damaged to read, but some remained intact.

At first, I struggled, the language was alien to me. But within a few years, I mastered it. Once again, I realized, I was far from human. My capacity to learn was beyond anything ordinary.

Hunger never plagued me. Sleep never claimed me. And yet… my throat would itch, craving something. But not enough for me to seek it out.

I have never wanted anything, except emotions. Not in this life, nor the last.

My new name is Ildna Bloodarch, the name granted by the first progenitor of vampires, the one who carried the name Altia Floriel La Sanguinarch.

Almost nothing is known about her, only that she wielded power so absolute that her mana alone could annihilate the world.

Mana Manifestation, the phenomenon where raw magical energy leaks from one’s body, visible to all.

I raised my hand. Countless crimson particles drifted from my palm, glowing faintly before fading into the air.

Blood Mana, the essence of pureblooded vampires. Only we can wield it, alongside Dark Mana. Lesser vampires possess only the latter.

And as their names suggest… Dark Mana for dark magic. Blood Mana for a pureblood’s Unique Blood.

I remember her words, she granted me her seventh Unique Blood. Yet I have never tested it. Until now.

Why? Because a Unique Blood demands immense mana. Mana I lacked then, but possess now. Ten years of absorbing ambient energy have changed that as we vampires are beings that grow stronger the longer we live, in our immortal lifespans.

I bit my thumb. A single drop of blood trickled down, my key to awakening this power.

The name of my Unique Blood formed on my lips, when my ears twitched.

Footsteps.

Someone was approaching. Beyond the massive doors that sealed this chamber for sixteen years… someone was coming.

Why didn’t I leave? If you’re wondering, let me answer.

The reason is simple: I knew nothing of this world. I couldn’t read. I didn’t understand magic. So I stayed, to learn. To prepare.

I’m not stupid enough to wander blindly without knowing my circumstances. And as you already know… I don’t feel curiosity.

The footsteps drew closer. The massive doors creaked open.

And for the first time in sixteen years… the outside world came to me.