The Anomaly Beyond The System

Seraphina’s results had surpassed their expectations, and after seeing everything displayed by the various artifacts, both Cedric and Leonardo were sure that, if nurtured properly, she could become a future High Ranker in the coming years.

Her current rank might’ve been nothing impressive, but her talent, bloodline, and affinity had already made her stand out above the average Awakened.

And now...

It was Lucian’s turn.

To be honest...

Cedric didn’t know how the lad was going to perform, since he couldn’t really judge him by his aura alone.

Of course, he wasn’t saying Lucian might have low talent.

In fact, judging by the confidence in his behaviour and the way he carried himself, Cedric was certain that the young man was special in some way.

As for Leonardo...

The assistant had a hunch that the man was dangerous.

Perhaps it was because of how easily Lucian had found out about his identity...

Or perhaps it was simply his instincts.

Regardless of the reason, both of them watched Lucian with anticipation, their gazes fixed upon the young man who seemed slightly annoyed for some reason.

"Is there some problem, Lucian Foster?" Cedric asked.

Lucian finally shifted his gaze toward him, and after another second, he shook his head.

"Nothing, just nervous," he answered instead, since he couldn’t exactly tell him that he was having a mental jab with his system.

"Haha... you aren’t the only one. I was nervous as well when I first got my Status."

Lucian looked at the Director for a while before a small smile appeared on his lips.

"You mean when you were in the military...?

Or after that...?"

Silence.

Cedric suddenly stilled, his expression shifting into faint confusion.

"How did yo—"

"I know many things," Lucian interrupted before he could finish.

"Anyways, let’s finish this first."

With that, he turned away and walked toward the mana meter before him.

The Director’s brows slowly furrowed. His gaze briefly shifted toward Leonardo.

The younger man was clearly shocked as well, but unlike Cedric, his expression had already become more solemn.

’He knows something... or rather, too much about us.’

Leonardo thought.

Both of them were heavily unsettled, and after staring at each other—

Tap. Tap.

"Should we start? Or are you both going to stand there all day?"

Lucian’s voice suddenly broke them out of their thoughts.

Cedric turned toward Lucian, who was standing before the mana meter, casually tapping his fingers against the crystal repeatedly, as if testing its durability.

"Hey, lad!" Cedric’s voice suddenly rose as his eyes widened in horror.

"That’s worth a million dollars! I’m going to take the money from you if you break it!" he shouted, his expression turning unusually serious.

The instant Lucian heard the amount—

His hand immediately flinched back, and his head snapped toward the Director.

"M-Million...?"

Cedric didn’t answer.

Instead, he immediately stepped forward to inspect the artifact.

Thankfully... there was no visible damage, not even a tiny crack.

Cedric let out a quiet sigh of relief, and after making sure everything was fine, he looked back at Lucian, who sighed as well.

There was no way he had that much money. And even if he did... why the fuck would he give it to them?!

A million dollars...!

Just thinking about that amount made Lucian feel a slight pain in his heart.

"Don’t do that again..." Cedric warned, straightening himself.

"Unless you can pay me more than its original amount."

Lucian nodded warily, his arrogance briefly disappearing for a few seconds.

Seraphina, who had been silently watching the exchange, couldn’t help but inwardly chuckle at her son’s antics.

For some reason, Lucian really overreacted whenever it came to money, especially ever since the moment he saw his house destroyed before his eyes.

She didn’t even know whether she should feel sympathy for him because of it.

Though, at the same time, it amused her every time she saw his face droop whenever he realised just how expensive something was.

There was something childish about it...

And she found it cute.

Lucian, completely unaware of her thoughts, turned his attention back toward the artifact.

"So, shall we start?" he asked, his voice already regaining its confidence, though there was a slight tremble at its edges as he warily looked at the crystal before him.

Cedric tried to ignore that look on his face and simply nodded, immediately stepping beside the artifact to check its readings.

[Mana Gauge Crystal]

Rank: B Rank

Rarity: Uncommon

Description:

A mana measuring crystal created by renowned scientists devoted to the study of mana. It is designed to absorb the mana naturally exuded by an awakened, which then accurately measures their current mana capacity and displays the result through numerical readings.

Although it does not directly determine a person’s rank, its measurements are commonly used to estimate an awakened’s mana rank.

[Note: The displayed readings can be intentionally altered or suppressed by individuals with exceptional mana control, making the artifact unreliable against experienced awakened.]

— — —

"Place your hand on the crystal... gently."

Hearing the emphasis Cedric had placed on the last word, Lucian’s eye twitched faintly.

"Tsk, just how weak is it?"

For a moment, he almost felt like slamming his hand onto the crystal just to irk the Director, but then, remembering the ridiculous price...

He clicked his tongue before finally placing his hand on the basketball-sized crystal... gently.

The instant his palm came into contact with its smooth surface, he felt something strange—something subtle and almost unnoticeable.

The mana inside his fingertips was immediately being sucked into the crystal, with the artifact attempting to analyse what it had absorbed.

At the same time, the blue circuits engraved across the metallic pedestal suddenly flared to life, illuminating the entire pedestal.

Then the crystal itself began to shine... brightly—too brightly!

’Nope, too much.’

The mana entering the crystal instantly lessened as Lucian began absorbing some of it back into his body.

He watched the readings carefully while controlling the mana entering the artifact, gently guiding the amount flowing into it.

It almost felt as though he was the one controlling the artifact rather than the artifact measuring his mana.

And no...

He wasn’t using the newly obtained unique skill.

There was no need for it.

Lucian was simply controlling his mana with sheer precision.

His control over mana had become tremendous after training with Valentina—the woman who used mana the most in her fights, and someone who had mastered mana control to ridiculous levels.

And as her favourite disciple, he had learned from the best~

Even if the training itself had been anything but pleasant~

After a few seconds, the circuits dimmed slightly, and Cedric watched the reading with slightly narrowed eyes.

"500 MU."

He muttered the number while looking at the display, then looked back at the man.

The number... it was a bit too perfect.

Almost as if...

Shaking those thoughts away, Cedric remained silent for a brief moment before smiling.

"Mid E-rank mana, lad... a bit less compared to your original rank."

"Hm..."

Lucian simply hummed casually, not really reacting to his words.

"It’s still good, I guess."

Cedric smiled upon seeing the lad not getting discouraged.

At least he wasn’t someone who would immediately lose confidence simply because of a few numbers, or become jealous of his partner.

With that, they moved on.

Next was the Bloodline Compass.

The circular silver artifact sat quietly upon the table, its crimson gemstone fixed in the centre while the thin needle remained suspended above it.

For the moment, it was completely still.

"Drop your blood on it." The Director pointed toward the crimson gemstone fixed in the centre of the compass.

Lucian looked at it for a long moment.

He hesitated for a brief instant, since something inside him felt reluctant to give his blood away.

Cedric and Leonardo waited, both men seemingly assuming that perhaps Lucian was hesitating because of the pain.

But before they could say anything—

Lucian took a deep breath.

Then, without warning, he raised his hand.

"Take thi—"

Cedric was about to give him a clean antiseptic needle, but before he could finish—

Lucian had already bitten down on his finger, slightly tearing the skin before immediately placing the bleeding finger above the gemstone.

A single drop of blood slid from his fingertip.

The moment it appeared—

The atmosphere around them instantly tensed, as if the air itself had become slightly heavier.

None of them were able to process the change...

Except for Kanna.

Despite being hidden inside his shadow, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the crimson blood.

Rather than waiting for the blood to slide down, Lucian instantly placed his bleeding finger directly against the gemstone.

And in the exact instant the blood made contact, he immediately pulled his hand away, slipping it into his pocket at the same time.

His finger had already healed completely, and even the blood remaining within the wound had been absorbed.

If he had waited even a second longer, there was a chance that both men might have noticed his regeneration.

Cedric raised a brow, slightly surprised by Lucian’s rushed actions.

People rarely tore their fingers so rashly and violently, without even letting out a sound or much of a reaction.

But before he could think much about it—

Whirr...

His attention was instantly grabbed by the sound of the needle spinning.

Faster, and faster... until it was moving wildly around the circular disk.

’Hm... what rarity will it show?’

Lucian thought curiously, since he himself had no idea about the actual rarity of his bloodlines.

But then another thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

’Wait, but I have three bloodlines. Which one will it show then?’

His curiosity grew as he stared at the needle rotating nonstop.

He wasn’t sure which bloodline the compass was going to detect.

His Devourer’s Bloodline?

Or his Sanguis Noctus Bloodline?

There was also the Scarlett Bloodline.

Though, to be honest, he wasn’t really that interested in knowing its rarity, since as far as Lucian was concerned...

It wasn’t something really unique.

If someone within the vampire world had known his thoughts, they might’ve done their best to tear him apart and hunt him down.

The Scarlett Bloodline was the only bloodline capable of resisting—no, completely nullifying the effect of sunlight on vampires.

Something that was considered almost abnormal among vampires, and something that could completely change the balance of power for any vampire who possessed it.

Of course...

What they wouldn’t know was that Lucian already had two more alluring bloodlines within him.

One of them was something that any vampire revered... and feared.

"Is it supposed to take such a long time?" Seraphina finally asked in a quiet voice, watching the two men staring at the compass with furrowed brows.

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