I Awakened The Ancient Vampire System

The Southwestern region of Nigeria.

Lucian stood before a crumbling, weather-stained building in the heart of a sprawling slum. He knocked on the wooden door. Knock, knock, knock.

He looked around. Nigeria was one of the countries that had survived the Cataclysm. Lagos had become a massive fortified coastal stronghold — the seat of the West African Hunter Guild and a major World Government regional hub. Wealthy. Heavily defended. Elite academies nearby. Nigeria had also become the political capital of the West African Allied States — a bureaucratic and military center. But of course, even with all that power, Lagos was always under the threat of sea beasts from the coastlines. And where there was immense wealth, there was also crushing poverty.

Creak. The door cracked open. A dark-skinned young woman peeked out, her eyes wary. "Who are you?"

Lucian smiled gently, his crimson eyes softening. "I’m a friend of Mickey. Tell him it’s Lucian Grimaud."

The woman blinked, then nodded slowly. "Okay. Give me a minute." She shut the door. Click.

Lucian waited. A few minutes later, the door swung open again.

Mickey stood there, leaning heavily on a wooden walking stick. His left leg was gone below the knee, the trousers neatly pinned where the limb used to be. His face was tired, but a wide, surprised grin split his features. "Hey, Lucian. What the hell are you doing all the way in Nigeria?"

"May I come in?" Lucian asked.

Mickey stepped aside, gesturing with his stick. "Well of course. Come in, come in."

Lucian stepped into the small, cramped house. The floor was cracked concrete, and the furniture was sparse — a worn sofa, a low table, a small TV flickering in the corner. He looked around, noting the leaky roof patched with plastic, the empty cupboards. He sat down on the sofa, which groaned under his weight. Creak. Mickey settled into a chair across from him.

A silence stretched between them.

"Mickey," Lucian began, his voice soft. "Your financial issues. And your leg."

Mickey’s smile faded. He looked down at his missing leg, his jaw tightening. "It’s hard to find a person who can heal limbs. Grand Core healers are rare, and the ones who can regenerate missing body parts are even rarer. Even if I find one, paying for it is impossible. And copying their ability will be difficult since I need physical contact, and they guard themselves heavily."

Lucian leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "What if I told you I have a way to solve both your financial issue and a way to heal your leg?"

Mickey chuckled, a dry, humorless sound. He looked at Lucian with eyes that had seen too much of the world’s cruelty. "From what I’ve learned from being raised in the slums, there’s nothing that comes for free."

Lucian smiled. "You’re right. Nothing is free. But I’m not asking for your money, Mickey. I’m asking for your loyalty. You come with me, you won’t have to worry about your family anymore. You won’t have to worry about money. And of course, I will offer you a way to grow even stronger."

Mickey’s eyes narrowed. "Loyalty to what? To whom?"

"To me," Lucian said plainly. "The world is about to burn, Mickey. I’m assembling a team. People I can trust. People who are strong. And you — you have one of the most broken abilities I’ve ever seen. You just need the right resources, the right opportunities."

Mickey was silent for a long time. His eyes scanned Lucian’s face, searching for deception. But Lucian’s expression was a mask of sincerity — a carefully crafted mask, but Mickey couldn’t see through it. All Mickey saw was a friend, offering him a lifeline out of the gutter.

A few minutes passsed as Mickey was stuck in thought.

"I’m in," Mickey finally said, his voice heavy with resolve.

Lucian clapped his hands together. Clap. "Good. We will have to go now."

Mickey blinked. "What about my family? I can’t just leave them like this."

Lucian reached into his shadow storage and pulled out a thick stack of credit chips. He dropped them on the table. Clink, clink, clink. The chips glowed with a soft blue light — high-denomination World Government credits. Over 600,000 credits sat on the cracked wood.

"This should do for now," Lucian said casually.

Mickey’s eyes went wide. His jaw dropped. He stared at the credits, then at Lucian. "Where the hell did you get this kind of money?"

Lucian had accumulated quite a lot of credits. From the New Geneva expedition rewards, Allistar’s allowance, the Knights of the Horizon, and selling dungeon materials. He still had over 1.5 million credits remaining in his shadow storage.

"Does it matter?" Lucian asked, standing up. "Take care of your family, Mickey. Then meet me at the Lagos airport in two hours. I’ll send the coordinates."

Mickey grabbed the credits, his hands trembling slightly. He looked up at Lucian, tears glistening in his eyes. "Thank you, Lucian."

Lucian patted his shoulder. "Don’t thank me yet. Thank me when you can walk on two legs again."

A day went by.

The Western Desert of Egypt.

The sun blazed overhead, turning the endless dunes into a sea of blinding gold. Lucian and Mickey stood before a modest, single-story house made of sandstone, rented for the occasion. Lucian pushed open the heavy wooden door. Creak. They entered, the cool interior a sharp contrast to the searing heat outside.

Mickey dropped his bag on the floor and looked around.

Mickey turned to Lucian, his arms crossed. "Alright, Lucian. What are you actually planning?"

Lucian smirked, his crimson eyes glinting with mischief. "I’m going to destroy the world."

Mickey stared at him for a moment, then chuckled. "Funny."

Lucian’s expression turned serious. "You’re already at the Peak Core realm. With my bloodline’s help, you can easily reach the Grand Core realm. After all, it helped Louisa reach the Astral realm."

Mickey frowned, his brow furrowing. "Who is Louisa?"

Lucian waved his hand dismissively. "Just another target on my hit list. And one of the people who destroyed the academy and caused you the pain of losing your leg."

Mickey’s eyes widened slightly. "You seem to know a lot about what happened at the academy."

Lucian nodded slowly. "Yeah, but I wish I knew more." He paused, his gaze sharpening. "Alright, let’s get ready cus this might be painful as hell."

Mickey took a deep breath. He set his walking stick aside and sat cross-legged on the stone floor. "Pain is temporary. Power is permanent. Let’s do this, Lucian."

Lucian walked around Mickey, his crimson eyes glowing with an eerie light. He stopped behind him and raised his hands. Clap.

He pressed his palms together, and a dark crimson light erupted from his skin. A blood formation spread outward from Lucian’s feet, crawling across the stone floor in intricate geometric patterns. The air grew thick with mana and blood energy.

The formation reached Mickey and wrapped around him in a cage of glowing crimson runes. Fwoosh. The mana surged into Mickey’s body, and his veins bulged, darkening to a deep crimson.