Bloodlines

Mark opened his eyes and found himself in an unfamiliar location. But this time, he was calmer and looked around more coolly. 

He was in a forest full of black trees. The ground was as dark as coal, and the sky above, a lusterless grayish white. As far as he could see from there, nothing was around except for trees and more trees expanding to the ends of the horizon.

Flinching slightly at the harsh rays of the red sun that shone down through the black foliage, he sighed.

For a second, Mark stood rooted to his place. 

Finally, he had time to process everything. For once, nothing was coming to kill him.

Slumping back against a black tree, he took weak but long breaths.

Mark closed his eyes.

After a long time, he opened them back up. 

"So I reincarnated as a Demon in some hell?" 

There was no other explanation.

He was the most normal of the normal person while he was on Earth, but he had been reincarnated with his memories intact—

As a Demon.

How?

Why was he reborn?

Do all dead souls reincarnate in a place like this?

His guts said no.

Mark spat out the remaining pieces of the eggshells in his mouth and wiped his face. Honestly, he didn't really know how to feel about it all. He just felt a bit numb. And for now, he just wanted to breathe air calmly.

Just like that, nearly a quarter of an hour passed by. 

Only then did he feel a bit more comfortable in his own skin; he was nowhere near accepting of his current appearance nor shape, but he had no choice but to accept it—

He was a Demon from now on.

'It's not like I had something I couldn't lose on Earth anyway…'

After a second of hesitation, Mark focused inwards on the regal violet screen floating in the void of his mind. There was more to it that he hadn't yet unraveled as of now. 

With a thought, its interface buzzed up in front of him in the real world; a virtual screen of violet haze. It was crispy clear.

_

[𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐮𝐢𝐥 𝐕é𝐱𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢ú𝐬 𝐍ó𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧â 𝐀ë𝐫𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐫]

[𝐓𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝟎—𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠]

[𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞: 𝟎.𝟑]

[𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝: 𝟎.𝟏]

[𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬: 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞]

[𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞: 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 (𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬)]

[𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬: 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐫.]

[𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐒𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬: 𝟎.𝟑]

_

Mark could understand most of it without checking, so he clicked the first and most confusing part, '𝐓𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝟎—𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠' with a thought. Immediately, an explanation of the subject arrived.

_

[There are ten Tiers of existence. Tier 0 is the weakest while Tier 10 is the strongest. You are of the weakest Tier of Existence among Demons, a 𝐓𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝟎—𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.]

_

That made Mark smile awkwardly. Indeed, he was a Demon now. The weakest kind.

Then, his gaze moved further down his attributes and focused on something he found interesting. "Demonic Tricks."

_

[Demonic Tricks: innate powers derived from a Demon's bloodline.]

"Ah, of course, a demon needs his tricks. And of course there would be magic..." Mark muttered.

He looked at the only Demonic Trick that he himself had.

_

[𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐫]

[The Demonic Trick that all Demons share in common—the ability to devour souls to grow stronger.]

_

'No wonder those demons who ate the egg grew stronger so quickly… so did those eggs have some kind of soul of their own?' 

Mark contemplated the meaning of that down the line in his future and shook his head with an inward sigh. Eating souls, murder, demons, everything made his head hurt.

He focused on "Bloodline."

_

[Bloodline: Impure Bloodline (more than ten kinds)]

[All Demons have a Bloodline ancestry, and from these Ancestries, they can gain their own Demonic Tricks.]

[You are a demon born out of the mix of multiple demonic ancestries—the most common kind. Thus, you don't have any complete demonic bloodline.]

[Each of your bloodlines works to negate each other, as one body could only house one bloodline.] 

[You can use (0.1) Soul Sphere to cleanse all the unwanted Bloodlines from your body and keep only one to earn a functioning Bloodline—Do you wish to go through with the process?]

_

Mark contemplated briefly. 

Honestly, he felt rather vulnerable now, and maybe gaining some abilities might just be the way to get used to the chaos currently going on around him.

He also began to feel a bit excited.

Magical powers?

That was something you couldn't get on Earth.

"Maybe this reincarnation is not so bad after all…"

He will cleanse the unwanted bloodlines!

But before that, a bit uncalm, he placed the sole of his hand against the black ground and felt the grains of the mud with his skin. He was incredibly sensitive and he could feel a faint warmth from the ground. 

It all felt so surreal, but it was all real, hard truth.

It was not a dream.

'Why am I excited?' 

Why was an unerasable grin growing over his face?

As if reading his mind, the violet screen flickered.

_

[You have decided to cleanse your body to keep only one bloodline.]

[A demon cannot thrive by only eating Demonic Souls, as that would lead to a strange disease that will permanently cripple the growth potential of a demon.

[Thus, demons infiltrate the Other Worlds once in a while to gain more souls of foreign races to devour and grow stronger.]

[Bloodlines protect a demon from the Other World's World Will while they are infiltrating, and it also significantly affects a Demon's actions after they move into the Other Worlds.]

[Each Bloodline has its own unique skillset and Innate Abilities.]

[Choose your Bloodline wisely!]

_

"Finally, some important information…" 

Demons ate souls to grow stronger. It was a fundamental part of their existence and eating more than a certain amount from their own kin, cannibalism, would end up giving them diseases.

So, the funny idea he had about killing weak demons around to reach Tier 10 first didn't seem like a nice possibility anymore.

Eyes glued to the screen, he thought of it deeply for a long time.

A Bloodline would be an incredibly significant thing in his path. Right?

It apparently decided what abilities he would get after all.

Which should he choose?

Options flickered before him.

_

[Dungeon Demon Bloodline]

[Unique Type]

[Dungeon Demons can build a Dungeon (a unique space where they can cast their authority over) out of any structure once they enter the Other Worlds. The built Dungeon would hide them from the World Wills, and they can then lure seeking adventurers of the Other World into their lair full of traps to kill and devour their souls.] 

[Limitation:

1. Cannot leave the Dungeon and can only expand it.

2. Has to choose the structure they would turn into their Dungeon within 30 seconds upon arrival to the Other Worlds.

3. If someone conquers your Dungeon Core, you could be killed or enslaved to their will.]

_

"Harsh conditions, but there is potential…" 

Mark had, for now, put aside any distracting thoughts and contemplated deeply about his future. 

Building dungeons in other worlds didn't sound bad, but the limited mobility would be pretty irritating. If he were somehow taken notice of by some powerful enemy, he wouldn't even be able to run away.

Putting that aside, he focused on the next option.

_

[Incubus Bloodline] 

[Mental Type]

[Incubus demons thrive in depravity and can manipulate people's emotions of Lust. They cannot hide from the World Will and can only enter Other Worlds through the summoning of Dungeon Demons into their Dungeons.] 

[Limitation:

1. Cannot enter the Other Worlds on their own.

2. Would die if they fall in love.]

_

"It's… reasonable, but I don't want my survival to rely on someone else. Hmm, I'll think about this one."

A Limitation that limited how he would think was a no-go in his books, though.

_

[Heart Demon Bloodline]

[Unique Type]

[A Heart Demon is an obsession, trauma, or negative sentiment that hinders a sentient creature from making progress in their lives.]

[A Heart Demon will enter another person's thoughts upon entering the Other World, and that will hide them from the Wills of the World. They can linger inside these emotions and can worsen and manipulate them to make the creature they are manipulating kill others to collect souls.]

[Limitations:

1. Will not be able to choose who you will posses upon entry to the Other Worlds.

2. You will die if the person you are residing in gets over their heart demons.]

_

"Damn…"

He will become people's heart demons?

_

[Flame Demon Bloodline]

[Elemental Type]

[A Flame Demon can manipulate or generate fire. They cannot hide from the World Will and can only enter Other Worlds through the summoning of Dungeon Demons.]

[Limitations:

1. Cannot enter the Other Worlds on their own.]

_

This one seemed really basic but the lack of a Limitation that could make him die if he failed it still made Mark contemplative. But in the end, he would have to rely on Dungeon Demons after a while.

_

[Minotaur Demon Bloodline]

[Physical Type]

[A Minotaur Demon has incredible physical prowess. They cannot hide from the World Will and can only enter Other Worlds through the summoning of Dungeon Demons.]

[Limitations:

1. Cannot enter the Other Worlds on their own.]

_

This was the only Physical type Bloodline that he had and this made him rather curious for the rest.

He skimmed through the remaining ones and found that most of them were Elemental Bloodlines. Ice, Shadow, Mist, Illusions, Strings etcetera.

All of them were similar to the Flame Demon Bloodline, just that they gave access to different elements. They were also put aside for now.

But there was one more Unique Type Bloodline.

_

[Dream Demon Bloodline]

[Unique Type]

[A Dream Demon can manipulate the Dreams of a person and travel through different dreams. A Dream Demon will enter the world of dreams upon entering the Other World, and that will hide them from the Wills of the World. They can linger inside other's dreams and can change it using their Mind.]

[Limitations:

1. Will not be able to choose who's dream you will posses upon entry to the Other Worlds.

2. You will die if the person you are dreaming with wakes up.]

_

That 2nd limitation was just too much.

It totally made it impossible to predict anything and this one was a total no-go, at least Mark believed so. 

He became deeply contemplative. 

Which one should he choose?

In his mind, the only reasonable choices were Dungeon Demon Bloodline, Heart Demon Bloodline, Incubus Bloodline, or one of the Elemental Bloodlines.

But Mark was deeply conflicted.

Each of them had its pros but so did they all have their cons.