I was a fool for thinking I was safe

I sat at the bedside, my right hand pinching the bridge of my nose as I muttered to myself.

"So… Haaah…"

But instead, a sigh leaked from my mouth. Taking a deep breath, I continued.

"I, or rather, my body has a tiny bit of DNA of some Ancient fucktard from the past, who somehow magically passed down his "heritage/powers" in his bloodline. And I was one of the owners of that bloodline. Also, due to my special condition and Perfect Body skill, it mutated into a unique power which is now basically Taming along with a couple other nifty skills and perks. And among them, the skill 'Impassive Indifference' in particular, is a special skill that was derived from the remains of the "will" of the ancient fucktard."

[Correct. As I said, I tried to salvage it and it was one of the best things to come off of it. This was what I was talking about when I said one of the skills will help you in making hard choices. Though, the original ability was far too worse for your mind and also permanent, apparently. You would have completely lost your ability to feel emotions. But that would have been the case IF you didn't have Mind Field. So, you can thank that skill for helping you plow through all the bad parts.]

Iris's explanation caused me goosebumps.

'Damn, I dodged another bullet there, then. Seriously, thank god for that OP skill. It's been really helpful and possibly my best skill.'

The relief was only short-lived, however. Things were still messy.

"But there's still the other problem. Leaving aside the mess with me almost getting an incurable curse and the said fucktard's "will" living in my goddamn head all this time(thank fuck he's gone now), even if dormant, and the most recent one that you told me about just now. There are others like me—well, sort of— who I don't have any information on, like their identity or powers. And they have likely been inflicted with that curse that I avoided and are most likely hunting for the other successors… possibly including me."

[There is a fair possibility, yes. Though, I'm unsure how they'll find you, assuming they even know about you. The "will," hidden in the guise of the original skill 'Monarch's Apathy,' was supposed to act as a beacon, telling you about the others who had the same bloodline and vice versa. But since it was part of the side effects, it was eliminated. Also, I forgot to mention this, but the curse isn't completely uncurable. It's something along the lines of: "It is uncurable for people of this world." You can take the hint.]

'Ah, there are items in the Eroge Shop that can possibly negate its effects.'

[Yes. Not only that, there are in fact other, more powerful races and beings, that can heal it.]

'Good to know. I need to see if someone in my family also possesses this bloodline when I go back. I hope not. I'll need to find a way to fully cure them and erase those "wills" if they by any chance also activated it so that they don't get afflicted by the horrible curse. Damn, that won't be good. Speaking of, I don't remember Emma having anything like that in the game. She did have that special ability, but that was not bloodline power, was it?"

[Actually, it was likely something very similar to this, unless there's something we don't know. Still, I think you should know this. First of all, you're very special. And it wasn't just a simple compliment or my feelings of adoration for you. Rather, your body is special. Due to possessing the 'Perfect Body,' your bloodline was enhanced to unprecedented levels. I think your case might have been the worse because it made you the best.]

"Wow, good to know I'm so unlucky."

'She just casually complimented me, haha.'

My lips curled up a little from that. Iris had been so upfront about expressing her 'adoration' for me, as she called it. So, even an indirect compliment was nice.

[Hey, at least you got more powers from it than anyone will possibly get. While there's a chance that a lot of inherent talents of present-day people with this bloodline come from the said bloodline since it belongs to a very ancient bloodline, it is highly, and I mean HIGHLY, diluted in nature.

Of course, it can be the opposite too and maybe the said bloodline is already too diluted and now it's not in shape or form to project its will. Barring your case, of course.

So, if I had to make a guess, there's a very rare chance of encountering this serious of a case. Though, the probability of it happening with lesser effects than yours isn't absolutely zero.]

I sighed once again.

"… Okay. I'll take near-zero possibilities. Still, pessimistically speaking, in the worst-case scenario, I now have to live my life knowing that there are people with strong bloodline powers trying to hunt me down because some ancient dildo has fucked with their brains and wants to play "Kill the others to be my Successor" on us."

[That's a worst-case scenario with a very low probability, yes. I would advise you to make a few trump cards and start leveling up properly, just in case. It's better to be safe than sorry. Ah, wait, that's what you're thinking too, aren't you.]

"Precisely. I'll have to work on that. But I really hope this bloodline bullshit doesn't get any more complicated. I don't like that some ancient asshole from thousands of years ago is fucking with people now, especially if it's me and my family. He must have been a Legendary level fucktard asshole. Bitch ass motherfucker…. Anyway, this calls for a serious change of plans. I don't like this new revelation. At all."

I had been dawdling here for the last 2 days trying to find a way to get to my first location. And luckily I already had found it. A carriage traveling straight to my first destination, the city of Hogford, near Fauxhampton Hills tomorrow morning. I already had my reservations with the travel company made. Cost me a substantial chunk of my already meager savings, but whatever. I was going to earn a bunch of money quickly anyway.

"I can't wait to get my hands on some of those nice dungeon loots."

I smiled. The future seemed bright to me.

***

I was a fucking idiot for thinking I was safe and the future was bright.

I lamented my stupidity as I looked in front of me, sweating profoundly, as a man stared back.

'Damn it.'

I walked backward, my broken sword tightly clutched in my shaking hands; my legs trembling, feeling like jello. My entire body ached from the pain I had been experiencing since a while back.

'Damnit. Damnit! DAMNIT!'

My breath was hitched and my throat felt dry, something seemingly stuck in it as I tried to forcefully gulp.

'Fuck! Why is it happening so soon?!'

"Why are you doing this? What the hell do you want from me, damn it?!"

I spoke, half angry and half terrified of the man in front of me.

The man, however, remained silent; his face adorned with stark cold expressionlessness, as he slowly walked closer and closer to me. He was absolutely unreadable from the outside. And he was too fast and deadly until now for me to do an idle reading of his 'Observe' page right now.

No matter how fast I tried to backstep from him, our paces seemed to have a great difference and the distance between us was ever-closing.

'Damn it all! It happened just 3 days after I gained that stupid Bloodline power. What is with my fucking luck, dude?! And how the hell did he find me so quickly?!'

My tense mind went into overdrive, trying to find ways to remedy this dire situation. I couldn't run away. He was too fast for me. I couldn't talk my way out of it either. He won't listen or care for anything that I had to say until now.

And fighting him had been one utterly futile and painful endeavor. He was still as impeccable as the first time I (unwillingly) met him and I was in tatters. My entire body felt sore and I had many wounds on me.

No matter how much I slashed and swung my sword, no matter how many spells I fired—depleting my entire mana pool in the process, no matter how many skills or items I tried to use that I had in my possession… it was all futile.

Nothing seemed to work on him and I had yet to gather something that could help me. I had just arrived here, for fucks sake!

But I had to wonder if anything I could have collected in the past 3 days could have helped me from him.

I was a mere high Tier-3, almost reaching Tier-4. And the man in front of me was on a whole another plane of existence.

My eyes darted to his 'Observe' page once again when he seemed to have slowed down, my eyes fixated on only one line.

[Tier: Monarch Tier 1(Foundation grade: Platinum)]

It was hopeless. I was helpless. And there was nobody around to help me.

'I shouldn't have roamed around so freely. I should have hidden. I… should have gone back to my home, to my family.'

***