He leaned in closer, breath fogging faintly against the fountain’s surface. His reflection stared back, tired, dirty, bleeding in three places, and still annoyingly handsome.
“An elixir that removes all progression caps,” he muttered. “Restores lost affinity. Unlocks new potential.”
His fingers twitched.
“This is either the biggest break of my life… or the setup to an extremely elaborate prank.”
He could barely breathe.
The water glowed like a captured aurora, violet and silver and palest blue. It wasn’t just light, it moved. Danced beneath the surface like possibility itself was waiting to be claimed.
He was already leaning forward, his reflection broken by the current. His lips hovered centimeters above it.
And still, part of him didn’t believe it.
This is too much.
A liquid that leveled the playing field. No caps. No blockages. Even now, half his skill sheet was greyed out, half-finished training logs, affinities permanently stalled at “Insufficient Compatibility.”
Gone. All of that could be gone.
“If this isn’t the epitome of drinking your problems away…” he muttered.
But even his quip rang hollow. He was trembling. And it wasn’t just the magic.
This was it. The thing he’d needed without knowing how badly. A path forward where every door had been locked.
He remembered failing to learn even the simplest of spells. His mana dissipating, the spell fizzling. Not because he wasn’t smart. But because the system said “No.”
As a vampire, Light, Life, Radiance, Restoration, they weren’t just off-limits. They were lethal.
But now?
“Imagine that,” he whispered. “A vampire who frolics in the sun. That’d turn a few heads at the council.”
He laughed once. Then leaned forward.
And drank.
The taste was like nothing he’d known. Not sweet, not bitter, just… raw. Magic in liquid form. It hit his tongue like lightning and surged through his body like fire laced with starlight.
System Notification
[Consumable Used – Dew of Possibilities]
Affinities raised to 100% (cap)
Blocked skill progression unlocked
Duration: 7 days
His veins lit up.
Not figuratively.
Actually lit.
He staggered back from the basin, blinking at the glow pulsing under his skin. His breath caught.
“Holy shit,” he whispered. “I can feel it. Magic. Possibility. Like I’ve been reborn.”
[Affinity Updated]
Dark Magic Affinity: 100%
Swordsmanship Affinity: 100%
Concealment Affinity: 100%
New paths unlocked. Skill evolution possible.
He laughed.
Loud. Ragged. Like something broke loose inside him.
“Seven days,” he said, pacing in a circle. “Seven days to climb out of the gutter. Seven days to become someone they can’t ignore.”
Then, softer, with something close to reverence. “Seven days to become dangerous.”
Seven days to matter.
Seven days to stop being the joke. The failure. The Soulbinder with no bonds and no future. He clenched his fists. “I don’t care what it takes. I’m not going back.”
He blinked, and the world didn’t just feel different.
It was different.
A soft chime echoed through his skull, not the usual sharp ping of a skill notification, but something deeper. Resonant.
[Class Progression Paths Unlocked]
A panel unfurled before his eyes, wider than anything he'd seen before. Clean. Elegant. Vast.
Branches curled out like veins of light, sprouting nodes and icons that shimmered faintly.
The usual skills, Light Armor, Blades, Dark Magic, sat to the side like familiar tools in a dusty kit.
But now there were new paths.
Massive ones.
At the top pulsed his core class:
Class: Vampire Lord
- Predatory Sovereignty – Trait Locked
Description: ???
Requirements: ??? - Crimson Mantle – Trait Locked
Description: ???
Requirements: Minimum Charisma 25, ??? - Throne of Bone and Bloom – Trait Locked
Description: ???
Requirements: Founding Crystal Required
Alistair’s breath caught.
He tried to focus on one, Crimson Mantle.
The system pulsed, then snapped back.
Access Denied
Trait Locked – Prerequisites Not Met
Suggested Focus: Improve racial reputation, raise charisma score, survive
He huffed.
“Helpful as ever,” he muttered.
Still, he grinned.
Because for the first time, the system wasn’t telling him “Error” or “Incompatible bloodline” or “Try not being you.”
It was telling him: Not yet.
He could work with not yet.
Another section opened beneath the first:
Soulbinder – Latent Progression Detected
Bond Threads: 0 / ?
Synergy Traits: ???
Activation Condition: ???
Note: Bonded individuals will unlock unique combat and passive enhancements. Class synergy unknown. Progression path nonlinear.
He reached toward one of the glowing nodes, instinctively, the way you flex a muscle you’d forgotten existed.
It flickered. Teased open.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Then locked again.
[Trait Unavailable]
Requirement: Emotional compatibility not met
Core link required
Alistair narrowed his eyes.
“Emotional compatibility,” he said, flat.
The window closed itself.
He stood there for another long second, staring at the fading light of the interface.
Then exhaled.
Long.
Tired.
And smiling like someone who had just learned there were still things worth wanting.
He wiped his mouth and stepped back from the fountain, still smiling from the surge of magic.
He could feel the way the mana flowed through his limbs, clean and unobstructed, was proof that the mythic water had done its job.
But the Dew still shimmered faintly in the basin.
He hadn’t drunk all of it. Not even close.
It wasn’t the kind of liquid you could just gulp down and burp triumphantly. It was potent. Dense. Magic in liquid form. A single mouthful had nearly short-circuited his entire nervous system.
But the rest… he wasn’t leaving that behind.
He rummaged in his makeshift pouch and pulled out one of the vials he’d collected earlier.
[Item – Minor Healing Potion]
Restores 25 HP over 10s
Restriction: Incompatible with undead physiology
He stared at it a moment, lips tight.
Then he popped the cork and poured it out onto the dirt.
[Item Discarded – Minor Healing Potion]
“Waste of bloody gold,” he muttered.
He knew it wouldn’t work. He’d learned that the hard way. Vampires didn’t regenerate from potions. No chemical fix for undead flesh. The system rejected it before it even hit his throat.
Only blood healed him.
Real blood.
Warm. Living. Sourced directly.
And people wonder why I’m cranky, he thought.
He rinsed the emptied vial in the edge of the fountain, then carefully filled it with the remaining shimmer at the bottom.
[Condensed Dew of Possibilities] Acquired (Trace)
Effect: +1 day extension to active Dew effect
Max Stacks: 3
He sealed it, tied the cord tight around the neck, and hooked it to his belt beside the others.
It pulsed faintly. Duller than before, but still real.
Still power.
Still his.
He looked down at his hands, still stained with dirt and dried blood, trembling just slightly.
The Dew had awakened something in him.
Something more than just magic.
Something closer to hope.
Alistair glanced at his belt. Two more vials still dangled from the straps he’d rigged back at the loot cache.
He eyed the one filled with silver swirling liquid.
The invisibility potion.
Rare. Expensive. Probably game-changing.
But it was also in a damn vial he needed.
He unhooked it, held it up to the light.
[Item – Minor Potion of Invisibility]
Effect: Invisibility (45s)
Movement reduces effect
One-time use
Cannot be stored once uncorked
He sighed.
“I hate being practical.”
Then popped the cork and downed it in one go.
The taste was like cold iron and mint.
It settled oddly in his gut, spreading outward, and the world shimmered for a breath before his body vanished from sight.
[Status Applied – Invisibility]
Duration: 45s
Movement penalty: High
Stealth bonus: +60%
He froze in place.
A few leaves stirred near his foot, but otherwise, the effect held.
He was just drinking invisibility alone in the woods for the sake of recycling glassware.
He almost laughed.
Instead, he shook his head, carefully pulled out the emptied vial, and rinsed it with a splash of fountain water.
[Condensed Dew of Possibilities] Acquired (Trace)
Bonus Duration: +1 day
Total Bonus: 2 / 3 days
The vial pulsed faintly and joined the first on his belt.
He crouched low, double-checked the cord holding his two glowing vials, and tapped his belt once, more out of habit than need.
Then he stood.
And everything exploded.
It happened in an instant.
A sudden, high-pitched whine in the air. A flicker of magic. A ripple of raw heat and light slamming into him before he could even swear.
[Damage Taken – 39]
Source: Force Detonation
[Status Applied]
Blinded (4s)
Deafened (6s)
[HP: 36 / 130]
Alistair flew.
Literally.
One moment he was standing.
The next, he was tumbling through the air, smashing into a tree with bone-rattling force, and crashing down into a pit of damp leaves and tangled roots.
The world spun.
His ears rang.
His cloak smoldered.
Everything hurt.
He tried to sit up.
His body protested with fire.
His muscles locked.
Not just from pain but from lack.
He was empty.
A deep, gnawing cold pulsed through his gut. His limbs trembled. His breath hitched as something sharp bloomed in his chest, deep behind his ribs.
His body wasn’t just damaged.
It was starving.
[Status Effect: Critical Blood Deficiency]
HP regeneration disabled
Physical recovery rate reduced by 70%
Movement penalties applied
Warning: Blood Frenzy approaching crisis threshold
Of course.
He’d taken a hit from a high-impact spell and his health had plummeted. The [Dew of Possibilities] might have unlocked his skills, but it hadn’t refilled his tank.
He needed blood.
Warm. Living. Pulled from a throat or torn from a vein.
And there was nothing.
The thought made him sick.
He clenched his jaw. Every part of him screamed to hunt, to feed, to grab the nearest body and tear it open.
But he couldn’t even stand.
He could barely breathe.
“Hold it together,” he rasped to no one. “Don’t lose it now.”
The ache deepened, spreading through his bones like cold rot.
Then... Light.
His vision returned in patches, shadows over white. Shapes moving somewhere in the distance.
Voices.
Close.
He lay still.
Invisible.
Breathing shallow and slow. He knew the potion was still active, barely.
But not for long.
[Status Effect – Invisibility]
Time Remaining: 00:31
Panic curled in his chest. That timer was a death sentence.
He had to move. Had to hide. Now.
Shapes flickered in his vision. A stocky figure, bouncing slightly as he walked. Dwarf. The other, taller, sleek, dark-skinned with white hair.
Dark elf.
A pair. Working together.
Alistair didn’t move.
The dwarf stomped near the fountain, muttering curses under his breath. His braid swayed behind him like a tail.
"Where is he?" he barked.
The dark elf said nothing at first. His gaze swept the trees.
The dwarf kicked at the dirt. “That vampire crap about turning into mist? It's just a story. A headshot works just as well on them as on a dwarf.”
He paused.
Then, quieter: “Whatever. Let’s find him.”
They started circling the area.
Alistair’s health bar flickered.
[HP: 36 / 130]
[Status Effects]:
Concussed – Disoriented vision, slowed reaction time
[Invisibility] – 00:23
“Not enough time. Not enough time.”
Another icon pulsed faintly in his vision: a translucent silhouette with a countdown under it. His invisibility timer. Below that, a cracked skull, he ignored it.
Focus.
His vision flicked left.
There, past the mossy outcropping. A cluster of stones, slanted into the earth like broken teeth. Between them: shadow. A gap. A crevasse.
Shelter.
Hope.
He clenched his jaw and started moving.
Every step was agony.
His leg buckled. His vision swam.
But he crawled. One hand after the other. Slow. Controlled. His body screamed at him to stop, to rest, to collapse.
But the timer kept ticking.
00:12
00:11
00:10…
His fingers slipped. He bit his lip so hard he tasted blood. Crawl, damn you. Crawl.
A sudden voice cut the air.
“What?” the dark elf said, sharp.
The dwarf spun around. “What is it?”
“I thought I heard something,” the elf murmured.
Alistair froze.
The dark elf stepped closer.
A pause.
Then... “Damn dark elves,” the dwarf muttered.
The elf gave the trees one last look, eyes narrow.
Then turned away.
Alistair didn’t wait.
He shoved his battered body forward.
Half-walking, half-dragging himself, he slipped into the shadowed gap between the stones.
00:04
00:03
00:02…
He hit the ground hard. Rolled.
The world narrowed.
00:01
00:00
[Invisibility] – Expired
Gone.
He lay still, body pressed against cold stone, every muscle locked.
Nothing happened.
No footsteps. No curses. No spell.
Just silence.
He didn’t sigh; he collapsed. The kind of breath you take when you’re too exhausted to curse fate.
He had seven days of power. And he’d just lost the first one hiding in a hole.
Perfect.
And the worst part? He didn’t even feel powerful. Just broken. Just breathing. And somehow, that had to be enough.
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