CHAPTER 154: BLOODLINE ABILITY

Lucius crashed into the void of flesh and darkness, the sound of his descent muffled by wet walls that were around him, it felt like he was descending a living cave...

It was weird.

"Is this what it’s like to be eaten by a monster?" he muttered, his voice echoing through the hollow throat of the monster.

He couldn’t see... not with his blindfolded eyes but through the fine lattice of his spatial awareness, he traced every ripple, every curve of the creature’s throat.

Rows of fleshy teeth lined the tunnel, grinding softly as if preparing to crush him.

Below, his senses caught a pool of sizzling acid, glowing with mana. Since he had Infinity activated, it wouldn’t kill him but he still didn’t want to even feel it... He had a feeling that this was the monster’s stomach acid.

’How deep did I fall?’

Lucius stopped mid-fall, halting himself in midair with a gentle twist of space.

"It doesn’t feel nice," he said under his breath.

The stench rose immediately to meet him... It was thick and acidic enough to burn his nose. "What kind of monster am I in?"

He expanded his perception outward. The interior stretched far beyond what a normal body could hold... it wasn’t simply big; it was warped.

The creature’s spatial anatomy was distorted.

A beast like this didn’t live by natural rules.

’So it’s a B-rank... no wonder it’s built like a damn fortress,’ Lucius thought. It would be nearly impossible to destroy it from the outside with his current power... That was how tough the bone platings it had was. ’These truly are freaks of abomination.’

He could now understand why it took several B-ranks to bring down a B-rank monster... how in the hell was one supposed to punch through all that?

Destroying it from within was possible but the effort it would take to tear through that hide, then climb back to the surface, would drain what little mana he had left.

He floated there in the dim void, with cold sweat clinging to his skin. All he wanted to do was to sleep... but for the first time in his new life, he ignored the laziness in his bones.

"Let me try to sense this new space," he muttered, closing his eyes though they were useless anyway.

Minutes, or maybe hours, passed. Inside himself, he found it... the foreign energy coiled through his veins, it was as vast as he expected.

It wasn’t just inside him; it was overflowing, pressing at the edges of his being like a storm trying to escape its cage.

His mana was burning constantly just to hold his body together, without it, he could have blown up by now.

’So that’s why my eyes keep bursting apart,’ he realized grimly. As the System said, he was overflowing with so much energy... but it was mainly focused in his eyes for some reason.

A wry smile formed on his lips despite the blood on them. "Then I guess it’s time to rank up."

He sat cross-legged in the air, pressing his palms together as mana began to whirl inside him.

His mana heart started to beat faster, vibrating like a drum.

Every pulse sent pain shooting through his veins, but he didn’t stop. He guided the wild spatial current, forcing it into the core of his being.

The throbbing accelerated until it felt like thunder in his chest.

"Let’s... go..." he gritted out, blood seeping from his nose and ears.

The strain was unbearable... and each second felt like it stretched forever but Lucius pushed harder.

The monster around him trembled as spatial pressure leaked outward, splitting the walls slightly.

’Come on, you bastard... beat stronger.’

His mana heart absorbed more of the energy, and the raging current inside him began to stabilize.

Slowly, the pain dulled, replaced by an expanding clarity.

Then...

BOOM.

The pulse exploded outward. His entire body glowed blue-white, like a star forming in the darkness.

Lucius gasped as his heart slowed back to normal. The thick pressure in his chest faded, replaced by a sense of calmness.

He opened his mouth, letting out a long exhale. "Finally..."

[Congratulations, Host has Ranked Up!]

[Stage-2 Mana Heart Achieved.]

[New Bloodline Ability Unlocked: Eyes of Space]

Lucius blinked, or tried to.

’Bloodline ability?’ he thought, brows furrowing.

Abilities linked to one’s bloodline were rare... unique to one’s essence, not something you could learn or copy.

’Raven and Elliot were supposed to get theirs much later... It seems Lucius had one too.’

The blue screen shimmered again.

[Bloodline Ability: Eyes of Space]

[Description: The Eyes of Space are the evolved form of your spatial perception. Rather than simply controlling or sensing it, you now decode it. Every point, distance, and layer becomes knowledge... a map if you will. The laws of space are laid bare before you. While active, spatial manipulation operates at 200% efficiency.]

Lucius stared at the floating text, completely speechless.

"Complete understanding of space?" he whispered. "Does that mean... no more blindness? No more guesswork?"

Excitement built in his chest as he tore off the blood-stained blindfold.

His vision flooded with light or rather, with lines.

He no longer saw objects; he saw coordinates. He could see how space curved, how energy flowed. Even the monster’s enormous heart moved like a rhythm of equations.

’This is... wild,’ he thought. ’I can even see how the air bends... But how do I understand these equations?’

Did that make him a Luna?

But then... his field of view warped.

Red bled into the edges of his sight.

"Wait... what’s this?"

He lifted a trembling hand to his eyes. Warmth dripped through his fingers.

Blood.

"Why am I bleeding?" he hissed, wiping it away... but it only worsened. His pupils burned, the glowing lines in his vision turning jagged and erratic.

The new power inside him screamed to be released.

Then came the pain.

It started as a pressure, then became a spear through his skull.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

His scream echoed inside the monster’s stomach, shaking loose bits of flesh from the walls.

His mind was filled with static, a thousand spaces opening and collapsing at once.

Lucius felt like he was dying...