Chapter 35: The Primordial Bloodline

I didn’t move an inch. The thing in front of me looked like an illusion, something that shouldn’t exist.

A massive white serpent, coiled around an ancient stone pillar. Her head hovered above an ancient temple built right into the cave’s stone walls.

That creature was... mythical. The moment we got close, it opened its eyes and stared straight into my soul.

I couldn’t move. Like the energy coming off that serpent was freezing my whole body in place. No matter what I tried, nothing responded.

The serpent turned its gaze to Bob, who was jumping excitedly in front of it, like he’d just found an old friend. What the fuck was going on?

Then something even more insane happened. Bob, who’d never said a single word to me before, talked. My pet slime talked.

The language was completely unknown to me, but just from the sound of it, I could tell it was ancient.

And it wasn’t just Bob talking. He and the serpent were exchanging words that rumbled like thunder.

"Khor-Vael’thun, zhar’asum neth..."

Bob sounded like he was casting a spell or something. The hell? When the serpent opened its mouth to speak, the wind picked up, whipping my hair and clothes around. I even stumbled back a few steps, raising my one remaining arm to shield my face.

"Zhar... Vael’khor."

They exchanged a few more phrases I couldn’t understand at all. Then, slowly, the serpent shifted her gaze away from Bob and onto me. Staring right at me again.

"Hello, human."

The serpent knew English. How convenient. But how had it learned? I mean, the serpent seemed to be trapped, living inside an Unstable Rift no hunter ever visited.

Had someone found this serpent before? Or did it have other ways of picking things up?

"H-Hello, oh great serpent... lord," I said, trying to sound polite, coming off a little awkward, honestly.

The serpent looked pleased anyway, and that was what mattered.

"Do you know what your slime friend is?"

Slime friend? Sure, Bob counted as my friend, but he was also my pet slime. I was the one who’d hatched him into this world in the first place.

"I know he’s weird. No slime can eat things and multiply them," I said.

"Correct. That’s his Primordial ability. Your friend is one of the 8 primordial beasts. I’m one of them too."

Eight primordial beasts? Bob? Things were escalating way too fast. I wasn’t sure what to make of any of this. Should I trust this serpent? It definitely looked ancient and primordial, that much I was sure of.

"I can give you something, if you promise to give me something in return. What do you say, human?"

An offer that sounded suspiciously like a deal with the devil.

"What do you have in mind? I’m not selling my soul."

"Haha. Your soul is too valuable for me to bother taking, human. I can give you strength, my bloodline, enough to grow your arm back. In return, you’ll find a way to free me from this place."

"Free you? How would I even do that?"

"In the future, once you’re strong enough, we’ll talk again. I’ll always be here, anyway. So, what do you say?"

Honestly, I was already sold. Growing my arm back? That was exactly what I wanted. There was no becoming a powerful hunter without an arm, and being basically a nobody, no one would be healing it back for me.

"But once I leave this place, I have no idea how to find you again," I said. "The rift I used to get here, I don’t even know if I can enter it a second time."

The Unstable Rift was under the academy’s control. Once I got back, they probably wouldn’t let me back in for a while. Actually, getting back at all was going to be a whole mess.

"Unstable Rift? Is that what you call it?" the serpent said. "All Unstable Rifts lead to the same world. This one. All you have to do is enter through any Unstable Rift, and you’ll find your way to me. Though entering through one that leads closer to here would obviously help."

I was floored by that piece of information. Everyone sort of assumed the spaces inside rifts worked like small worlds, similar to my pocket dimension, each one different from the next.

Nobody knew how they were created, or why some rifts were bigger than others. But one so massive that every single Unstable Rift led back to the same place? That was on a whole other level.

"Why can’t humans from my world come here?"

"I don’t know. They used to, but not anymore," the serpent said. "This world’s unstable now, which might make the portals unpredictable. I’m just as clueless as you on that front."

"So, what do you say? Yes or no?"

Getting a benefit now and only paying it back later? Sounded good to me. I looked down at the hole where my right arm used to be. I really wanted it back.

"I accept."

The serpent then did something else unexpected. Her body shifted, shrinking down from that massive serpent form into... a gorgeous woman with long white hair and yellow eyes.

Not wearing any clothes, either. Though her intimate parts were covered by scales.

"I can only give you a few drops of my blood. On anyone else, this bloodline would be quite powerful, but still limited."

"With your Primordial Slime, though, we can do something else. I can create a bloodline crystal and give it to your slime, so he can multiply it."

"Your bloodline will end up plenty powerful, and given time to mature, you’ll reap incredible benefits from it. I’m sure it’ll serve you well on your journey."

Once again, Bob was pulling through for me. He really was the best.

"What should I call you? What’s your name?"

"Kaelis," she said. "And you’re Vincent, right?"

"Wait, how do you know that?"

"Your slime friend told me. He can’t speak with you yet, but the two of you can sense each other, right? He knows your name."

That was news to me.

"Does he know the name I gave him?"

"Yes. Bob, was it? I thought he was joking. You actually named a Primordial Beast Bob?"

Put that way, it did sound like I’d done something wrong. But Bob’s a good name. He’s got a Bob face, alright? No need for her to judge the name I picked.

"Once your new bloodline matures more, you’ll probably start understanding our language too, so you’ll be able to talk to Bob."

"Oh, nice," I said. "Speaking of which, what about those humans I saw not far from here? They’re pretty huge."

Kaelis used her nail to slice open her arm. The blood didn’t drip to the ground, it floated instead, condensing into a crystal. She kept answering my questions while she worked.

"There are humans in this world. Not just the giants you’re talking about, ordinary humans too."

"What? Really? Do they have abilities as well?"

"Yes. And that unknown energy trying to kill you, I don’t think it goes after them. Something’s blocking off only people from your planet specifically."

My whole understanding of things just expanded, a lot.

"But you shouldn’t come here often, Vince." Kaelis’s tone turned a lot more serious. "Whatever’s blocking your race from coming here could find you. I think you should take this bloodline and leave before it’s too late."

I didn’t like the sound of that.

Once she finished forming the bloodline crystal, Kaelis handed it to Bob. He ate it, same as every other crystal before.

But this time, I’d be getting something incredible back in return.

A fucking primordial bloodline.