Chapter 9: The Forgotten Ruins
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Kael moved with unnatural silence through canyon full of moss choked stone walls, carved with fading vampire glyphs he could now understand.
Beside him, the book floated like a lantern casting a bright red glow on the walls.
> [Location Identified: Vault-Ruin of Val'drakar]
▸ Vampiric Seat of Knowledge (Abandoned for 900 years)
▸ Blood Memory Fragments - detected nearby
▸ Warning: Sealed Guardian Activity forgotten
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The entrance loomed ahead, half-buried in collapsed rubble and bone. Kael crouched, pushed aside a slab, and entered the darkness.
Immediately, the air shifted.
Thick. Still. Charged with old power.
His fingers brushed across a stone mural.
The image depicted a vampire kneeling before a child…
With Kael's exact eyes. Behind the child, a halo of dripping blood formed the shape of a crown.
He froze...
It wasn't coincidence.
/> "Who was I before I was forgotten?"
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The deeper he went, the more the ruins came alive.
A broken tablet whispered as he passed.
> "The Ninth Throne shall awaken in the time of collapse. A vessel born of filth, forged in hunger, crowned by blood. He shall remember what others buried."
Kael touched the wall. The symbols burned into his mind.
The book flared red.
> ▸ Blood Memory Fragment 002 Absorbed
▸ Origin Trait Hinted: Lineage - Forbidden Heir (Suppressed)
▸ Trigger Locked: Incomplete Blood Core
He stumbled back.
He was heir to one of the Nine Progenitor Thrones?
How? He was just an orphan. A nobody.
Unless…
He was meant to be forgotten.
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Suddenly, the ground shook.
A low growl echoed from beneath the floor.
Stone cracked.
Bones rattled.
A clawed hand burst from a blood-soaked seal ahead.
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> [Vault Guardian Detected - Revenant Thrall]
▸ Constructed to destroy any who access Progenitor knowledge
▸ Undead Tier: 4 - Controlled Mutation
▸ Corrupted Aura: Mental Disruption Field Active
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The creature rose, twice Kael's height, stitched with steel bands, armored in bone, its skull half-exposed and eyes glowing blue. It moved like a puppet dragged by chains of magic.
Kael didn't hesitate.
He activated his mutation.
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> [Blood Veins Active – Strength Surge Engaged]
The world slowed down.
Kael's red veins lit up, his reflexes sharpened to a terrifying edge. He dodged the first slam, skidded across rubble, and flipped up a fallen sword.
Too slow.
He dropped the blade and leapt onto the Guardian's back, claws out.
The thrall spun... Then caught him midair, and slammed him into a wall.
Kael coughed blood. His eyes burned.
And then, they changed.
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> [Blood Instinct: Predatory Gaze Awakened]
▸ Unlocking Visual Prowess: Phase I – Ocular Surge
▸ Time Perception x2
▸ Micro-motion Prediction Enabled
Kael's pupils narrowed like a beast's. The Guardian moved again...
but this time, Kael saw everything.
The twitch of a shoulder, The shift of balance and even the the arc before the swing.
He sidestepped with inhuman grace... Then struck.
Fast, precise and ruthless.
He clawed deep into its chest, tore out the necrotic core, and let the thing collapse into dust.
Silence.
Only his blood echoed in his ears.
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The book reopened.
> [Progenitor Vault Cleared]
▸ Memory Fragment Absorbed
▸ Stat Boost – Blood Focus +5
▸ Mutation II Path Updated: Crimson Heart Now Accessible
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Kael sat among the ruins.
He looked down at the crumbling murals.
He saw more than history now.
He saw identity. Hidden. Suppressed. Stolen.
And somewhere… out there… were those who had sealed it all away.
He was done running from the past.
From now on…
he'd make the world remember what was forced to be forgotten!
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End of Chapter 9
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/> Lore Fragment - "Chronicles of the Blood Moon Court"
"The Progenitors whose thrones forged from blood, even way before kingdoms were carved and gods are worshipped. After all the oldest blood remembers what the world wants to forget. "