20 Bloodlines

Bloodline Awakening, one of the least understood phenomenon on the path to cultivation. There are many theories explaining what it is or how it came to be. Some theories suggest that humans are the descendants of gods or powerful beings, and that part of their divine power could be awakened, giving one, extraordinary strength. This was the most accepted theory. Others state that it was a random mutation that gave one a boost in strength.

Despite the different theories, everyone still came to the same conclusion. If one had awakened a bloodline, then one's strength would increase by leaps and bounds! It also provided many benefits, depending on what bloodline one has aroused.

One person has the potential to awaken lots of bloodlines, as procreation is the combination and fusion of multiple gene pools, but once you have awakened a bloodline, you can't awaken another. Most awaken relatively weak bloodlines, some awaken stronger ones. The strength of your bloodline is roughly determined by the might of the apparition that appears at the moment of your awakening.

The more tangible and greater the aura of the apparition, the mightier the bloodline one had awakened. These apparitions were also the beings from which the bloodline originated from.

Take for example Bastian. His bloodline originated from that massive two headed dragon. Its aura and size were so ridiculous, so much so that V almost lost her sanity, despite having an incredibly fortified mind. Just one claw from the dragon was able to blot out the sun!

This was clearly an extremely powerful bloodline. Another sign of its might were the changes made to Bastian's appearance. The changes that occur to one who has awakened a bloodline, depend more on how much of the bloodline was awakened, rather than the strength of the bloodline itself, however both points still factor in at the end of the day.

For example, two people could awaken the same bloodline, but one would be able to awaken more than the other. The one who awakens more would have more strength, and would have their body further enhanced to the point where their physical appearance was altered, just like Bastian.

V stood there with a frown on her face. That was the kind of frown she always had when she got a surprise. She did not like surprises. "What's the name of your bloodline?"

When one awakens a bloodline, especially a strong one, they would usually receive information with it. Usually it would be just a name and some properties of the bloodline. As your cultivation increased one would gain more information. Yet Bastian's bloodline came with a martial technique! A high class one at that!

What information will he receive if his cultivation increases?

V trembled at the thought.

Bastian showed a pondering expression on his face. He had received too much information at one time, so he was still busy trying to sort it out. After a while, he breathed in deeply and sighed. "Tyrian Double Headed Storm Dragon. Ever heard of it?" asked Bastian.

V shook her head. The less powerful bloodlines were much easier to awaken. The more common and well known they were, the easier they were to awaken. Thus the general consensus was that unknown bloodlines are powerful.

V came from the Inkume, a tribe that had been in existence for thousands of years. Although information had been lost to the sands of time, they still had far more knowledge than almost all other groups on the sovereign continent. V had been educated by some of their most knowledgeable scholars, yet she had never heard of such a bloodline.

If even my tribe has not heard of it, who has?

When she connected the dots together, she started breaking into a cold sweat, an unknown bloodline, with an extremely large apparition, so big that its footprint was the size of a small country.

She wanted to ask Bastian more but he interrupted her with serious news.

"V you were right. You definitely were not the only person who saw this apparition. Odds are people in the city are going crazy. We need to get the general and his men to leave....fast."

V nodded. Such a large apparition with such an imposing aura no doubt caught the attention of a lot of strong cultivators. The higher your cultivation level, the more sensitive you are to such things. There was no doubt that many strong cultivators were on their way.

"Let's move! Now!"

Bastian took V's hand and ran back toward the city. V was being pulled like she was a piece of cloth. Bastian's strength surprised her. He had barely cultivated, yet he was strong enough to lift her and move her along like she was a kite!

Not only that, but his speed was shocking. He was moving at least 3 times the speed of a physically fit human without cultivation.

Bloodlines are such a cheat!

V's unhappy thoughts were evident on her face. Yet Bastian could not care less. On the contrary, he was just happy that he was messing with her body instead. This was revenge for her sudden action of chucking him to the sky.

Her body was extremely strong and resilient, so the movements did nothing to her. She simply allowed Bastian to pull her along whilst she was deep in thought. She guessed that most of the strong cultivators in the sub region sensed what had just happened, and odds are some of the stronger ones would move.

Unfortunately, she had underestimated Bastian's bloodline severely.

.....

In a secluded room very far away, a middle aged man wearing white robes was sitting cross legged meditating. At some point he opened his eyes and dashed out of the room.

In an instant, he appeared on top of a small hill and looked toward the horizon. His expression became ugly.

"What in the world is that? Where is it? Hhmm Shandelar? Interesting."

His expression quickly turned into one of intrigue and he disappeared as quickly as he left.

....

Similar reactions were occurring in a lot of places. Many extremely powerful cultivators, who were often in secluded meditation, would sense something and look toward the horizon.

The farther away from Shandelar they were, the stronger they became.

V had made a miscalculation as to the area of effect created by the apparition. It was not merely people in the Great Desert of Shandelar who sensed the awakening. It was the entire 10 sub regions surrounding it as well!

Meanwhile Bastian was enjoying the fruits of his new body. The feeling of strength and invincibility coursed throughout his veins. He felt like nothing could stop him, like he could smash an entire house to bits with one strike. As he ran he jumped and bolted around, getting used to his new body.

He laughed like a madman as he did this, much to V's displeasure. Then, as suddenly as he started, he stopped. V was caught off guard and clung to his back.

"What on earth are you doing? Why did you stop?" said V, in an unhappy tone.

Bastian raised his head and sniffed the air. "We have a visitor." He said in an unusually somber tone.

V found this rather hard to believe.

He discovered something before i did? Impossible!

Bastian could tell without even looking back that she did not believe him. "See for yourself," said Bastian, as he threw her off his back.

V was about to complain about the sudden abuse, but then the moment her toes touched the ground, she stopped speaking. She landed with practiced finesse. She crouched and placed one hand on the ground, clearly focusing on something.

After a few seconds of contemplation, she stood upright and sighed in relief. "Its large, but it feels weak. Judging from its shape and aura I would say it's a-"

"Kalari Scorpion!"

V's explanation was interrupted by a surprisingly correct answer. It was quite clear why she could sense the beast, whilst it was a bit further away.

Warriors with the earth attribute had a unique connection with the ground. They were very sensitive to vibrations in the earth. Warriors with an earth attribute at the Teacher level could even detect an ant that was crawling on the ground a kilometer away.

V was also not an ordinary warrior, she was an Inkume! Her skills and talent were almost unmatched. She was also a potential world class assassin. Detection was one of her most important skills.

She even had to concentrate to properly tell where the scorpion was. It was still about a hundred meters away.

Yet Bastian, an untrained young master surpassed her detection ability. All he did was stop and sniff the air a little.

Could it be his bloodline?

Dragons were well known for their sharp senses, especially their sense of smell. If he was able to smell the scorpion from a distance, it did not seem especially strange. The odd thing was not the fact that he could smell it.

How did he know what kind of beast it was?

That was the real question. He was just a normal person some time ago. Although she did not know Bastian through and through, she did know most of his history. During the few months they had spent together, Bastian had told her about his past. She knew the full extent of his physical abilities. A powerful sense of smell was not one of them.

"Unless he knew the scent of a Kalari Scorpion?" Impossible! They virtually have no scent!

Indeed. Kalari Scorpions were hunters that relied on the vast sands of the desert to surprise their prey. Over the years, they had evolved many features to improve their stealth. Stifling their scent was one of them. V started realizing that she did not know Bastian as well as she thought she did, and she was right. There was one thing she did not know. E-vision.

Bastian had activated his e-vision from the moment he started running. He did not know whether it was due to his bloodline, or the fact that he was then a cultivator, but his e-vision had improved greatly.

When the scorpion showed up, he could see the world energy moving around in its body. Creatures that could take in World Energy, like the scorpion, were called daemons. Since they could absorb World Energy to enhance their bodies, they were far stronger than normal animals, and were on top of the food chain.

Bastian's e-vision previously could not see World Energy inside beings. Now he could see a lot of it. It gave him the image of a brown shaped Kalari Scorpion. As a noble, he had received lots of education on daemons. His e-vision was like heat vision. Normal objects like sand could not obstruct his view. Especially, since the scorpion had so much World Energy. So its shape and his improved eyesight allowed him to identify it.

Bastian's now body also had a very powerful sense of smell. It allowed him to detect the scorpion even though it was far out. Bastian knew that the scorpions were able to stifle their scents, so the fact that he was able to smell one from so far away was quite the surprise to him.

Both V and Bastian were staring intently at the direction the scorpion was coming from. When it was twenty meters from them, it came out of hiding. It could tell that it had been spotted, so there was no point in hiding. The scorpion was large, far larger than a normal one. It was roughly the size of a donkey. Fully grown ones were the size of a bull, so this one was clearly not mature.

"You are lucky, to even get an immature one. They normally travelled in packs, with their parents until adulthood. This one is perfect for you," said V, her voice trailing off toward the end.

Bastian was nodding his head the whole time, until he stopped and realized something.

Pause. Perfect for me?

Bastian looked around for V's presence, only to see that she was already a hundred meters away already.

So fast! Wait, that's not the point.

Bastian shook his head, in an attempt to clear his mind. Then presence of the daemon forced him to look ahead. It made him unable to look back for too long. He was forced to keep looking forward.

"Good luck!" shouted V with a mischievous grin on her face.