I Have to Conquer the World, right?

Basileus POV

Once he shut his door, he turned to look at an otherwise out-of-place cushion laid across his floor. Upon its surface were dozens of Architectural markings to direct the energies that will be forcefully riled up during the ritual. The ritual process will cause his self-replenishing core to awaken, which is the purpose of every potential architect who undergoes this ritual. With this evolution, excess Life Energy generated by his body can be used for whatever he desires, without a permanent loss of the vitality spent.

He had studied all of this many times before and felt that he might be the foremost expert on the Awakening ritual itself, having anxiously broken it down into its constituent parts and forced his mind to assimilate everything involved with the ritual. He felt confident that he had adequately prepared the ordering of his mind, having meditated constantly on his character in the weeks leading up to this event. The ritual required the greatest degree of self-knowledge to promise the best effects possible, so of course Basileus's dad forced him into long hours of deep meditation so he could attain the best results.

He went over the steps required of him in the ritual once more, just to ease the tiny bit of anxiety he was feeling over the process. The ritual was essentially performed with a catalyst to provoke the Life Energy dormant in his body, followed by the assistance of the Architectural markings placed helpfully on the designated cushion. These markings would force his vitality into the best 'shape' to help the body's evolution to form the architect's core. This catalyst was an unassuming concoction produced by masters of the second Architectural Art: Astral Chemistry.

Bas went ahead and stripped off all of his clothes and sat down on the cushion. He knew the liquid in the fancy bottle in his hand would work quickly once ingested, so he went ahead and got into a comfortable position before uncorking the bottle and swallowing its contents after a few seconds of quick gulping. Once the bottle was emptied, Bas placed it down harshly, already feeling his body slowing and heating up. His fingers began to twitch as his breathing slowed dramatically.

He was only capable of gasping out a quiet, "Oh," before his body slackened and by all accounts lost life, breaths no longer coming.

*scene break*

Where Am I? Bas came to consciousness with intense confusion. He was in an entirely unfamiliar environment. Above him was the tapestry of the night sky appearing bold and unobscured, seeming to glare down at him. Around him were numerous gravestones, surrounding a large but steadily decaying tree, its bark white, but chips were aplenty. Bas got to his feet and observed the strange graveyard, noticing the presence of the name 'Sayre' plastered across each grave. "Greetings, Ancestors." Basileus said with reverence, as he bowed his head a respectful distance.

After this entirely instinctual response, Bas still stood warily. He had studied about this ritual and never had any accounts occurred in which someone was transported to a graveyard of their ancestors. Am I dreaming or…? It was difficult for him to even begin to answer the question of where he was at and why he was here. For one, the Awakening ritual is not something one loses consciousness for. People generally are awake and aware of the energy coursing through their body and forming a core.

Yet Basileus felt nothing of the sort, which should be impossible. Maybe at the introduction of the catalyst, my body reacted abnormally and caused my mind to enter a temporary state of-. His thoughts were interrupted as a loud crack occurred in the eerie silence, sending up a plume of dust from the cracking stone. Bas jumped into a defensive position, gazing warily at the exploding grave.

His entire body froze immediately. Out of the grave proceeded the most terrifying aura he had ever felt. It held his body in place and felt inhuman as it coursed through his body, appearing to bring even the most minute parts of his body under extreme judging scrutiny. It lasted for ten seconds, in which the only sound that could be heard was his own panicking breathing. The non-physical assault ended, at which Basileus could only feel relief before a voice that felt sounded like swords clashing spoke into the graveyard.

"Young Sayre, will you accept the burden of Our Family?"

These words ground themselves painfully in his ears, forcing him to his knees and fighting to breathe calmly, a feeling of imminent destruction hanging over him. "Yes! I accept!" he forced out with strength, refusing to shame himself anymore to this representation of his ancestors.

"Young Sayre, will you etch Our Family's Name into the hearts of every man?"

He only paused for a brief moment, noticing the ominous air that came along with such a vague, yet menacing obligation. "I will!" He said boldly, his former confidence returning as he saw that this phantasm did not mean him any harm.

"Young Sayre, will you live free from slavery, only bound by the choices of your own will?"

This affirmation was the easiest for Bas to agree to, never being the type of man that would accept living his life as a slave to anything. He puffed out his chest when speaking his third affirmation, feeling his entire ancestry's pride in their name coursing in his very soul.

"Young Sayre, will you reward loyalty with loyalty, and love with love, reserving wrath for the enemies your will decides?"

It only took a final, "Yes," before the process seemed to finish as a bright light sped out of the cracked grave and floated before him for but a moment, before speeding towards him and entering his forehead, robbing him yet again of consciousness.

*scene break*

Upon waking up for the final time, Bas couldn't help but moan at the extremely pleasing sensation shooting over his entire body. He could feel the Life Energy condensing into a core visibly shining in his chest. His ability to sense the excess vitality floating around was dramatically improved, making his previous ability akin to blindness compared to this new sight. He flexed his arms and wondered about the feeling of infinite energy running through him. He felt that he could exercise harder than he ever had before and could do that for multiple days straight without difficulty! He could only feel awe at the thought that this is what is was like to experience life as an Architect. And my core isn't even fully formed yet!

The process to fully condense a core took anywhere from thirty minutes to many hours, relative to the amount of vitality the Architect has to integrate. The longest time in the literature about this ritual, records that an Architect born a few years earlier than Basileus possessed the longest time in known history of nine hours and twenty-seven minutes to finish the ritual. I was born to be great! He could only clench his jaw and affirm mentally that he will have a higher time than anyone else.

Hours passed and Bas was sitting with his legs crossed on the cushion, he was meditating, which ensured the Life Energy being fused with his core is integrating in such a way as to be usable. It was one thing to possess excess vitality, it was another to intentionally manipulate it. This ability to manipulate it was the object of his current meditation, sensing and seeking to understand every strand of vitality he could sense attaching to the spiritual organ located in his chest.

Eventually, he could feel the vitality in the air beginning to lessen in intensity and could feel the last few strands being absorbed into his core. Once the ritual finished, the urge to laugh was strong in Bas. He was amazed at how good he felt. He felt like his body moved with the slightest thought. He felt like the walls surrounding him lost the caging nature they hold for ordinary humans. There was also the visible changes.

Bas walked to the mirror located in his large closet and could only shake his head at the amazing display. His appearance, which he had always believed was attractive, seemed to have just gained an indiscernible quality radiating power and accentuating his positive aspects. His appearance was not physically changed, yet this permanent aura was grafted on top, subtly influencing creation itself to remove any external blemishes present. Suffice it to say, for Bas with his larger than normal core, his 'beautifying' was particularly effective.

Suddenly words begin to flicker across his vision, before settling down into a rather obtrusive line in his vision.

[Greetings Host! Congratulations for awakening the Vitality Specification System!]

Basileus felt his blood singing throughout his body as he gazed upon the words, which intrigued him greatly. "Hmm, this is unexpected."

[I would like to introduce the Host to the functions of this System. May I proceed?]

He was extremely ready to get into the fun functions of the System, but felt it was more important before proceeding to first get answers regarding the origin of the System. In no recorded Awakening ritual in history has an Architect awakened the fictional trope of web-novels: Systems! "Why is my Awakening different than others?" It only took a moment before another line of text materialized before him.

[Allow me to explain! I am the inheritance that has existed latent in the Sayre bloodline since the founding of the family but was only made possible by the sacrifice of Architectural potential in ten generations of the Sayre family. The patriarch of the family over five hundred years ago performed a ritual to take away any ability from any Sayre descendant to form a core, influenced by an encounter he had early in his life. He proclaimed this was necessary until, 'the One to come is born!' Is there anything else you'd like to know?]

That short explanation answered the initial question he had but spawned a great more to replace it. He realized that what he just discovered is monumental to explaining his family's history, but realizing her could question more about the lore later, he refrained from asking more questions. "Not for now, you can continue with explaining the System functions."

[Excellent! There are four sub-menus that are accessible. They should be displaying now!]

The moment those words flashed across his vision, another menu flashed into sight. He could clearly make out the words.

[Status] [Abilities] [Stats] [System Purchases]

He jumped slightly as he heard an audible voice echo through his mind, 'Click on the first menu to begin the System explanation.' Obeying immediately, Bas opened the [Status] menu with a mental command. The screen taking up his vision changed again.

[

Level: 0

Level Points (LPs): 0

Class: None

Class Level: N/A

]

The voice sounded out again in his head, 'Your level will increase by completing tasks given by the System or spending level points to manually raise your level. Level points will be distributed as rewards for completing tasks. Your class will be chosen once you reach level 5, and your class level will increase in the same way as your normal level. Can we proceed to the next menu?'

Bas gave a mental nod of acceptance, which was somehow perceived by the entity facilitating this System, as immediately his vision shifted to viewing the [Abilities] menu. There were only two lines visible in this sub-menu.

[

Bloodline:

Sayre blood (dormant): needs to be active to read description.

Traits:

Proud: the Life Energy in your body will be characterized by a proud disposition, causing greater awe in weaker Architects but appearing threatening to hostiles. Will also cause the Host to be more likely to react negatively to insults to his pride.

Resolved: makes the host more likely to overcome past limits when presented with harsh odds.

]

'You are only gifted two traits upon awakening, further traits can be unlocked through committing actions embodying the desired trait. Do you have any questions?' He did. He wondered what the conditions for unlocking his bloodline were and whether he could attain another bloodline somehow. The system proved it could read his thoughts as it proceeded to answer both of his questions, 'The condition for activating your bloodline is hidden but is achievable with the resources you have at your disposal. It is only possible to attain additional bloodlines through either the Forbidden Arts of Architecture, or through purchasing the ability once certain conditions are met.'

Bas just nodded at the slightly roundabout answer, but felt it was the best he would get. Mentally nudging, he caused the screen to flicker again, now displaying the third sub-menu: [Stats].

[

Strength: 1

Defense: 1

Stamina: 1

Agility: 1

Dexterity: 1

Constitution: 1

Charisma: 1

Willpower: 1

Perception: 1

Intelligence: 1

]

The System proceeded to explain before any prompting was needed. 'Any stat of 1 is equivalent to a base human's max potential. So, to have a 2 in Strength means you are twice as strong as a base human's max potential. This trend follows in each Stat. Stats work as a sheer power metric and say nothing about the skillful use of that power. Is anything unclear?' Wanting to get this process over with so he could experience the power he recently gained, he didn't ask any questions and directed his mind to open the last sub-menu, [Purchased Effects].

[Specialization Converter is unavailable. Unlocked at Level 10!]

"I'm assuming there's no explanation for this one yet, huh?" Bas asked. The system said in his mind, 'System features are explained as they become available for the Host's use.' Not being anything against his expectations, he made the mental command for the screen before his eyes to close, leaving him gazing at his familiar room. He marveled at how much more he could see and the ease by which his eyes saw his surroundings with ease despite the near pitch-black darkness blanketing the area. He was coming to terms with his new life, made possible by his successful awakening and the gift that required generations of his ancestors to endure the curse of not forming an architect's core, all so that he could experience this reality-defying System that an ancient Patriarch of the Sayre family created, guided by some mysterious entity he met early in his life.

Disrupting his thoughts that felt noticeably more orderly and quicker that he recalled experiencing before, he heard a sharp rap rap rap on his door, before it was opened and shut quickly, and a brown-haired warmth collided forcefully into his side, rubbing her cheek on his bare chest. "Big brother! Why did you take so long?! Dad wouldn't let me come in until the energies coming from your room calmed down. It was so intense! And it took you fourteen hours!" Benaiah seemed content to continue her worried rant, but Bas embraced her forcefully, breathing deeply in her scent, which sweetened and was made more potent as a result of her own Awakening.

As she pulled away from him to look up at his eyes, Bas felt his heart stop. He had appreciated his sister's beauty for so long now that it no longer was cause for much grief for him any longer. But he had never felt such a pressing need as he did in that moment. Every blemish or imperfection in her face appeared to have been erased, slight though they may have been. Her skin glowed with a healthy hue, exuding such an aura of softness that his hand began to caress it unconsciously. "Bas, what are you doing?" His sister let out quietly, as her own breath seemed to have gained a ragged quality with her brother's palm caressing her face.

Bas turned his gaze to her eyes which gained a dimension he didn't realize eyes could possess. He felt like he could feel something in her eyes, something that was distinctly her! It felt like everything about her, every big defining character trait or hidden quirk was condensed and communicated by simply gazing at her eyes.

He moved his eyes to their final destination. A pair of lips that were more inviting than her glowing skin. They were plump, seeming to possess a permanent pout, and were a soft shade of pink. Benaiah's eyes widened and she blushed once she saw where her brother's eyes were. She could not control her own unconscious reaction and cursed internally as her tongue ducked out of her mouth to moisten her lips in anticipation.

With a soft growl of acceptance, Bas felt his long-tested resistance fade away, and leaned his head forwards. His eyes flicked up to glance one final time at his sister and found her glancing at his lips and opening hers slightly. Her eyes closed and he followed her example, closing his own eyes the moment his lips touched hers.

He grasped her chin firmer and used his other hand to pull her closer, melding her body against his. His light sucking of her lower lip was followed by the burning desire to taste more! He lightly pressed his tongue to the little opening in her mouth and was met by an immediate widening of her lips, as she welcomed his own tongue and caressed it with her own.

This was the single greatest moment Bas could recall experiencing in his life. It felt like the very Life Energy recently awakened in the twins was singing with joy at the kiss they were engaged in. Thirty seconds of mutual effort in the dancing of their tongues passed before Benaiah suddenly froze.

Being so close to him, practically melded to his front, she was coming out of the initial bliss of tasting her twin brother's saliva, and felt the hot hardness pressed against her abdomen. She broke the kiss with reluctance and pulled away, finding herself incapable of resisting the urge to look down at her brother's hard cock. With an aroused gasp, she was entranced by the sight of her brother's naked cock. It was extremely large, probably the size of her forearm in length and exceeding it in girth. It was harder than she even knew a dick could get, his cock head possessing a purple hue from how aroused he was. Her mouth slightly watered when she noticed the copious oozing precum that gathered on his tip. She immediately leaned towards it before she could stop herself and took a deep whiff.

She could feel a large volume of musky fluid drench her already wet panties. Her body felt as though it took an extended screenshot, and her entire frame shuddered. Did I really just cum from smelling his cock? She thought this with incredulity and great embarrassment. With a final glance at her brother's expression, she could tell he knew! All she could do was let out a rambling apology combined with her congratulating him on Awakening, before she left the room with a slam of the door.

Huh? I guess she feels it too. Was his final thought before he sat back down, determined to meditate and make sure all of the vitality in his body was properly integrated.