The trial spirit’s glow flickered sharply, ’Does this ignorant boy have any idea how difficult it is to find pure bloodline essence of this quality?’

The restriction was a lie.

There was no rule preventing Elion from selecting several primordial bloodlines. He had earned the right to choose any ten rewards he wanted.

Unfortunately, the spirit and its master both had never expected anyone to gain access to this chamber in the first place.

A few of the other participants had performed well enough to qualify for one or two exceptionally rare bloodlines of their own, and another group of Aspirants would soon arrive from a different world to undergo the same trials.

The spirit was not going to restock the chamber personally. Finding pure bloodline essence of this quality could take millennia.

Surely, one primordial bloodline was more than enough for the boy, and forcefully integrating with too many would usually do more harm than good. It would be a shame if the boy ended up lost in his very own sea of talents.

Focusing on one was enough already, and considering the fact that the spirit could already sense another foreign bloodline in the boy’s body, it was doing him a favour.

Elion remained unaware of the spirit’s inner turmoil as he studied his options carefully. The Progenitor Vampire bloodline was tempting.

Very tempting.

If he chose it, he would share a deeper connection with Celeste. It might also make it easier for him to integrate into the vampire clans if that ever became necessary when he returned, since he didn’t really have a place to call home anymore.

Perhaps it would be a simple matter for him to return as a vampire and join the vampire clan as Celeste’s official husband.

He still did not know what his life would look like once he returned from the trials, especially since he could no longer be considered a student of Grimholt’s Flying Academy, so that option was certainly sensible.

Then there were the Beastkin bloodlines.

Any one of the greater variants would provide an enormous improvement to his physical abilities. Strength, speed, agility, senses, recovery, all of them would rise dramatically. Still, in Elion’s mind, there were only three truly worthwhile choices.

The first was the Progenitor Elven bloodline.

Elves possessed an extraordinary affinity for mana and spellcasting. Isolde was already a clear example of that. Elion’s swordsmanship had become frighteningly powerful, but his magic had not kept pace with it.

If the Elven bloodline elevated his spellcasting ability to the same level as his swordsmanship, his destructive power would increase explosively.

The second choice was the Progenitor Vampire bloodline. That option still called out to him because of Celeste.

But then there was still the third.

The Peak Primordial Dragon bloodline. Elion’s eyes glimmered as he looked at that particular pedestal. Dragons were legendary for their physical strength. Even the weakest among them possessed bodies far beyond the limits of ordinary races.

But their power did not end there.

According to common knowledge, Dragons stood upon the same lofty pedestal as Elves when it came to magic. Some stories even claimed that Dragons did not need to study spells in the same way other races did. Magic came to them as naturally as breathing.

Elion did not know how much truth there was to those claims. But he had to admit that the idea was deeply tempting.

There was another matter to consider. He already possessed two bloodlines. His natural human bloodline and the Incubus bloodline he had received from the Goddess of Lust.

What would happen if he added a third?

A Peak Primordial bloodline, no less. Elion rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He certainly did not want to explode or anything like that, if there was such a thing. Then again, the system would probably warn him if integrating the bloodline posed a serious danger.

Probably.

His Incubus bloodline had already begun affecting his disposition little by little. He could feel that much. He wondered what kind of changes a different bloodline might bring.

Would a Beastkin bloodline make him more aggressive?

Would a Vampire bloodline make him crave blood?

Would a Dragon bloodline fill him with some unbearable arrogance?

Perhaps it was merely a matter of learning restraint.

After all, despite being part Incubus, he certainly did not go around lusting after every beautiful woman he encountered. Right?

He nodded firmly.

’Definitely.’

After several more minutes of deliberation, Elion finally reached a decision. He stretched his hand toward the pedestal containing the Peak Primordial Dragon bloodline.

His breathing quickened slightly.

The moment his fingers touched the barrier surrounding the reward, the pedestal erupted with brilliant light.

A dense blob of crimson blood slowly rose into the air.

It was only a single drop, yet the pressure radiating from it made the surrounding space tremble faintly. Golden sparks flickered beneath its surface, and for the briefest moment, Elion thought he heard the distant roar of some ancient creature echoing across the reward chamber.

The blood stopped directly in front of him as a system notification appeared in his vision.

[Peak Primordial Dragon Bloodline Detected.]

[Purity: 100%]

[Would You Like to Integrate the Peak Primordial Dragon Bloodline Immediately?]

Elion stared at the notification as his heart thundered inside his chest, but a wide grin spread across his face.

Without the slightest hesitation, Elion accepted, and the crimson droplet floated toward him and sank directly into his chest.

It was a rather strange sight. The blood had looked completely physical, dense enough that he had expected to feel it splash against his clothes. Yet it passed through his body as though it were incorporeal, disappearing without leaving so much as a stain behind.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Elion looked down at his chest.

He did not feel any different. There was no overwhelming surge of strength and no sudden transformation. Nothing of note at all.

But he did not allow himself to relax.

This was a one-hundred-percent pure Peak Primordial Dragon bloodline. There was no chance integrating something so powerful would be painless.

He braced himself.

Badum!

His heart thundered violently inside his chest.

Elion’s eyes widened.

The force of that single beat reverberated throughout his entire body. Thick veins bulged beneath his skin, spreading across his arms, neck, and forehead as an unbearable heat began building inside him.

It did not surround him, rather it came from within. From his blood, his bones. From every part of his body at once.

Badum!

His heart pounded again, and the heat intensified. Elion clenched his fists and grit his teeth, preparing himself for the pain he knew was coming.

But no amount of preparation could have readied him for what followed. His entire body erupted in agony.

There was no single source or any specific wound he could focus on. It felt as though every inch of his flesh was being torn apart, peeled away, and burned alive at the same time.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

Elion fell to his knees.

His scream echoed across the seemingly endless reward chamber as his fingers clawed against his face. His body trembled violently, every muscle seizing beneath the unbearable pain while the ancient bloodline forced its way into the deepest foundations of his existence.

A notification appeared before his blurred vision, but he didn’t even notice.

[Peak Primordial Dragon Bloodline Integration in Progress.]

[Integration Progress: 2%]

This was only the beginning.