I Became the Progenitor Vampire - Chapter 352

Chapter 352: Chapter 354: Level 19, A Step Away from Transcendent (Part 1) (5600 words) Chapter 352: Chapter 354: Level 19, A Step Away from Transcendent (Part 1) (5600 words) “Good morning, Your Highness.”

The headmaster of Dawn Academy, Horn, immediately greeted Lide Kachar with great respect upon seeing him. This elder of the Risier family had now completely integrated the former elites of Risier City into Dawn City.

Moreover, this great polymath was now a loyal believer of the Dawn Sect, and could be considered one of Lide’s staunchest supporters.

Although these former Risier City elites didn’t lead lives as domineering as before in Dawn City, in this hopeful metropolis they still managed to live quite well by their own abilities.

On hearing the greeting, Lide nodded slightly, his gaze drawn to the Mage’s robe in Horn’s hands.

“Horn, is what you’re holding the Divine Gifted Holy Armor??”

Horn became instantly excited, far from the embarrassment he had felt when bringing Lide a half-finished product to check.

What he held was a genuine finished product… albeit a bit expensive.

“Yes, Your Highness, it’s the Divine Gifted Holy Armor! It’s a fully developed Divine Gifted Holy Armor!”

The challenge that had plagued the Bloodline for countless years had been solved in their hands, almost overwhelming them with a sense of achievement.

Stepping forward, Horn respectfully presented the robe to Lide with both hands.

The robe still emitted a strong Magic Fluctuation, and anyone looking at it could feel its value.

Lide reached out to take it, feeling a coolness like silk’s smooth touch.

The robe was a bit heavy, its pure black surface embroidered with fine silver lines in an ancient and majestic pattern, a stark contrast of black and white.

Slightly unfurled, one could tell at a glance it was the work of a master tailor, the luxury and elegance immediately striking.

“Your Highness, this is a robe personally tailored for you by the highest-level tailor of Dawn City. Not only has it been made from the sacred root of the thorn vine of the Dawn Sect’s Holy Object–the Thorns Heart–but it has also been interwoven with mithril melted into thread. Furthermore, it incorporates more than twenty types of Magic Materials…

It is the most perfect piece of Divine Gifted Holy Armor.”

Hearing Horn’s description, Lide showed a hint of curiosity and opened the Equipment’s attribute panel.

Weaving Method Robe
Quality: Extraordinary
Inherent Skills: Noble Grace (Wearer’s temperament increased by 20 points, charisma increased by 30 points, attraction to the opposite sex increased by 40%)
Holy Light Baptism (Can release a pure Holy Light, removing negative states within a 50-blade radius and providing a certain healing effect, cooldown time: 1 Sunshine Hour.)
Immune to Detection (Protected by Holy Light Power, immune to Legendary Level detection)
Magic Affinity (Increases magic recovery speed by 30 points, increases magic affinity by 30%)
Special Skills: Holy Light Blessing (When worn by the Bloodline, immunity to additional damage from sunlight and Holy Power is granted, note: this effect is limited to the Kachar clan only)
Explanation: A robe specially made and blessed with Divine Power during its creation, allowing the wearer to be immune to the erosion of Holy Power, but due to the special nature of Divine Power, only the Kachar clan can harness its power.

After reading, Lide couldn’t help but nod his head.

The attributes of this piece of Equipment were not complicated and could even be described as simple among Extraordinary Equipment; however, the included skills greatly pleased Lide.

The only disagreeable aspect was–Noble Grace, the passive skill.

An increase in the wearer’s temperament by 20 points, charisma by 30 points, and attraction to the opposite sex by 40%–was this some sort of flirting artifact? Those attributes were just incredible.

But what was this about??

Did he, already at the peak of attractiveness, really need such a thing?

How ridiculous.

Then Lide headed to the storage room next to the office and quickly changed into the robe…

After emerging in the new robe, everyone who saw Lide instinctively widened their eyes.

It was just too perfect.

Lide’s features, already so finely chiseled that not a single flaw existed, supported by the elegant robe embroidered with austere patterns, amplified his air to not just full but overflowing, every movement speaking of a noble royal heritage of thousands of years.

Noble Grace, this phrase was the best description of Lide at the moment.

The robe was so handsome that Lide couldn’t help but take a few extra looks at himself.

After briefly adjusting in front of the mirror, he then turned his attention to the other attributes.

The primary attribute of the Weaving Method Robe was–Holy Light Blessing, the skill of immunity to sunshine and properties attached with Holy Power, signifying that the fear that plagued the Bloodline for millions of years had been finally lifted.

Lide seemed to already foresee a near future where the Bloodline, under the shocked and horrified gaze of their enemies, would ride Magic Language Bats and dive-bomb their foes under the midday sun.

A magnificent spectacle to imagine.

The explanation that the robe’s effects are exclusive to the Kachar clan also gave Lide food for thought.

Creating Divine Gifted Holy Armor required infusing a certain amount of Power of Faith for success, and moreover, the Sect’s Holy Object, the Thorns Heart–continually bathed in the believers’ Power of Faith–had its sap and vines as essential ingredients for the Divine Gifted Holy Armor.

In other words, the creation of Divine Gifted Holy Armor wasn’t just a testament to the impressive research prowess of Dawn City; it was also due to him, the extraordinary God of Dawn.

Since the dawn of the Bloodline, they had been purely Dark Creatures, never meant to give birth to a Divine being with Light Attribute powers.

Yet Lide was an anomaly, forcibly owning the power of the Light Attribute through his Bloodline body, supplemented by the system.

It was this key point that enabled Dawn City to develop the Divine Gifted Holy Armor.

It can be said that Lide is the source of everything. If his Divine Power still belonged to the Dark Type, no matter how hard he tried, it would have been impossible to develop equipment immune to Light Attribute damage. That’s the reason for everything.

After some contemplation, Lide also understood the general principle behind the Divine Gifted Holy Armor.

He quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

“It’s also a good thing I didn’t take the usual path. If I really had become a deity of the Dark Camp, the Bloodline’s weakness would probably never have been remedied.”

Now that nagging worry was finally resolved.

Lide’s face broke into a joyous expression, but almost immediately, his face fell.

The item was good, but wasn’t it too expensive???

5,000 Gold Pucks each, and if he was producing just one piece it would be fine, but he needed to equip all of the Bloodline…

The number of the Bloodline had already surpassed 1,400, and he only had 870,000 Gold Pucks in his savings.

In other words, he couldn’t afford so many, even if he went bankrupt…

And now there was another time constraint–the Dawn Festival was fast approaching, and the Bloodline would soon be able to hold their first embrace, meaning their numbers would double.

I….

At this moment, Lide deeply felt what it was like to be truly poor.

“I really fucked up… It’s like a naked beauty slips into my bed and then tells me I can look but can’t touch…”

Watching Lide’s complexion change again and again, Horn, who had been full of confidence previously, also began to feel a bit nervous.

“Your Excellency… Are you okay? Is there anything about the equipment that needs further improvement?”

It was only after hearing Horn’s shout that Lide came back to his senses.

He clenched his teeth.

“The equipment is good, and its attributes satisfy me. The only problem is–the cost of production is too high. It has reached a level that is very difficult for us to afford.”

“Your Excellency, what you have is a special tailor-made piece, the ordinary Divine Gifted Holy Armor isn’t that expensive…”

Fearing Lide might misunderstand, Horn quickly spoke up.

“The ordinary ones only require 5,000 Gold Pucks…”

Lide’s mouth twitched, don’t I know that’s the price for the ordinary ones? And what do you mean by ‘only’ 5,000 Gold Pucks… You don’t know that the Wang family used to live next door until you’re in charge of the house.

He waved his hand to signal the two Bloodline behind Horn to bring over the ordinary versions of the Divine Gifted Holy Armor they were holding.

The attributes of the ordinary version naturally could not match the one he was wearing and were a bit simpler.

Secret Technique Robe
Quality: Perfect
Incorporated Skills: Holy Light Baptism, Immune to Detection
Special Skill: Holy Light Blessing
Explanation: …

Aside from the chick magnet–Noble Grace and Magic Affinity, it had all the necessary functions.

The real issue wasn’t these; it was that the production costs were so high that they were beyond what Dawn City could afford.

“Horn, 5,000 is not a small number, and our current wealth reserves can only manufacture a little over a hundred pieces.”

“Your Excellency, this…”

When it came to this matter, Horn felt awkward–he knew the flaw of the Divine Gifted Holy Armor was the cost.

If they could lower the cost, this piece of equipment could indeed be called perfect, especially for the Holy Light Bloodline.

But lowering the cost was extremely difficult; this kind of equipment required the best of everything. Unless certain attributes were sacrificed, it would be very hard to lower the price.

Lide shook his head.

“For now, let’s just produce a hundred pieces. Send twenty to Stanley in Green City, one for each second-generation Bloodline, and distribute the rest as needed.”

A hundred pieces, that’s 500,000 Gold Pucks, and Lide felt like he was bleeding money.

Maintaining an army costs a damn fortune, and it’s not something ordinary people can afford to do.

He now understood why some European countries on Earth seemed strong but had shoddy militaries.

“Yes, Your Excellency,” Horn’s voice was noticeably lower. He, too, found it hard to proceed when the lord had no surplus grain.

“Keep researching. With the current cost of the Divine Gifted Holy Armor, we can’t generalize its use. It’d be best to find an alternative raw material, or else this thing will end up being as useful as tits on a bull.”

Lide shrugged helplessly.

“Your Excellency… there actually is a way to reduce the cost of the Divine Gifted Holy Armor, it’s just…”

Horn looked at Lide hesitantly.

“You might not agree to it.”

“Let’s hear it,” Lide wanted to see what crazy idea this guy could come up with.

5,000 Gold Pucks each, and his liver hurt.

“Power of Dawn!”

“Your Majesty, the Divine Gifted Holy Armors we are currently manufacturing are all cultivated using Your Majesty’s power. If you infuse enough Power of Dawn into the Divine Gifted Holy Armors, it could significantly reduce the manufacturing costs.”

Lide heard these words and subconsciously opened his attribute panel. Looking at the slightly over ten thousand Power of Faith, he couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.

When did I start hovering on the verge of bankruptcy??

“Assign someone to liaise with Nicole on this matter, and it would be best to first test and produce some detailed data.”

With a gesture of helplessness, Lide’s mood wasn’t great.

“You may leave now.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Once Horn had left, Lide looked down at his robe, and his expression improved slightly– although the thing was expensive, it was stylish.

Stylish settles everything, no need to bother about anything else.

…Chick magnet…

A moment later, Lide regained his composure and turned his gaze to Harrison, who had been silent beside him.

“Harrison, where have the first batch of One-eyed Giants and Double-headed Ogres brought back been placed?”

When he left the Mud Swamp, he had only taken a thousand giants with him to Black Iron City, and the rest were brought back to Dawn City.

His expedition to the Underworld was actually for the One-eyed Giants; all the other incidents were purely accidental.

In his plans, the Double-headed Ogres and One-eyed Giants would become the core workforce of Dawn City for a long time to come.

Construction projects like building bridges and roads would progress rapidly with the help of these “flesh and blood excavators.”

The arrival of these giants in Dawn City was like gaining a workforce equivalent to a hundred thousand humans; they would undoubtedly enter a developmental phase much faster than ever before.

Lide believed that the greatest bounty from his Underworld journey was not anything else but these two thousand giants.

“Your Majesty, I have set aside a residential district for them near the weapon factory area. Currently, we are training these giants, and we expect them to be ready for official work within a week.”

“Training?” The word was rather novel to Lide. What kind of training was needed for a bunch of big guys?

“Yes, Your Majesty. The Double-headed Ogres and One-eyed Giants all speak the giant language. We need to instill Second Circle Magic language knowledge in them, as well as educate them with certain knowledge and the rules of Dawn City.

Only after they pass the training will we assign them to construction sites and other workplaces where they are needed.”

Hearing this, Lide felt an inexplicable sense of relief. Dawn City’s affairs have reached such a detailed degree; that was quite impressive.

“Was this your idea?”

“No,” Harrison shook his head, “it was Miss Nicole’s idea. She took a particular interest in these giants and specially arranged for the Dawn Priests to develop training courses tailored for them.”

This little girl Nicole?

Lide laughed heartily; this was indeed in line with the girl’s style.

“Alright, since you already have a detailed plan, carry it out diligently.

But I must remind you, the giants are now our strongest production force. If Dawn City is to transform more rapidly, these ‘production tools’ must be effectively utilized.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty.”

After giving a brief instruction, Lide realized there wasn’t much else to remind them of.

The City Hall now had a very comprehensive system in place.

No matter what happened, even in case of foreign invasion, there were effective countermeasures available.

Of course, this was not only due to the efforts of Lide and Harrison but also the emergence of a fully-fledged department–the Think Tank.

Initially established by Lide’s order, the City Hall’s Think Tank was now mature and provided a wealth of advice every day to policymakers like Harrison.

It was the existence of the Think Tank that allowed the City Hall to operate so consistently.

The number of members in the Think Tank had expanded to fifty, rightfully called the brain of the City Hall, with their ideas potent enough to alter Dawn City’s future.

Coupled with intelligence from the Command Center, Dawn City could timely adjust to any policy issues that arose.

“Harrison, you go down first and assign the heating system and greenhouse vegetables to the Magic Industry Research Institute. I need to see results as soon as possible.

For a city to grow, mere military power is insufficient; civil livelihood must also keep pace.”

“I understand, Your Majesty.”

Harrison bowed deeply and then left with a touch of excitement.

While the heating system might compete with Legendary Alchemy’s running water, what truly excited Harrison was the prospect of greenhouse vegetables, which were out of season or even breaching divine domains; he almost couldn’t wait to start production.

Once everyone had left, Lide exhaled slowly.

No matter how perfect Dawn City’s system was, he, as the one at the helm, must ensure this colossal ship wasn’t straying off course and correct any mistakes in a timely manner.

Fortunately, everything in Dawn City appeared to be progressing as anticipated; the future looked promising.

After pondering for a while, Lide seemed to remember something and looked at his attribute panel again.

Lide Kachar
Level: 18 (574638/500,000)
…

His experience had already maxed out during the subjugation of the two Giant Tribes in the Underworld, ready for leveling up at any moment.

Level 19… a level that made him itch with anticipation.

Reaching level 19 meant that he was on the brink of touching another plane of existence in this world–Transcendent.

Thinking of this word filled Lide’s heart with complexity.

Once he reached Transcendent status, many things that Dawn City previously couldn’t do would become feasible.

The main reason Dawn City had always maintained an extremely low profile was the absence of Transcendent-level power.

If he became Transcendent, then everything in Dawn City would change.

Both externally and internally.

“Transcendent, truly a pulse-quickening title,” Lide’s eyes shone with a sharp light.

“Someone come in!”

Creak, the door opened, and one of the guarding Bloodline bowed in salute.

“Notify everyone that I will be in seclusion for a while; nobody is to enter the office. If there’s any issue, let Harrison deal with it.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After quickly giving instructions and making arrangements, Lide returned to his seat and took a deep breath.

He had felt that this upgrade might not come so quickly while in the Underworld, so he had been holding back, but now, there clearly wasn’t a need to wait any longer.

He submerged his thoughts into the system panel, choosing to upgrade.

Level: 18 (574638/500,000)
The moment he confirmed the upgrade, 500,000 points of experience disappeared. Lide hadn’t even caught his breath when, in the next second, he suddenly felt an indescribable powerful force surge within his body.

The force seemed to have been lurking within him all along, filled with breathtaking ferocity.

Boom, boom, boom–
The force was not kindly, but wildly turbulent within his body. His veins seemed to burst with magma, his insides tearing like volcanoes.

The intense energy fluctuation brought indescribable, terrifying pain, as if every muscle in his body was being forcefully torn apart.

Lide’s consciousness remained clear for less than ten seconds before blurring into darkness as he passed out.

The intensity of the pain had surpassed his utmost limits.

While Lide was unconscious, a rich Power of Crimson began to emanate from his body and slowly enveloped him.

In a moment’s time, the Power of Crimson became like a black hole, its exaggerated swallowing force causing a Magic Tide to sweep through the room.

With the amplification of magic, the Power of Crimson around him grew denser and, within a couple of meters, engulfed everything, hiding his form from outsiders.

After the Power of Crimson condensed to an extreme, the outermost region began to solidify.

This served as a signal, and in a short span of time, the Power of Crimson that wrapped around Lide had completely solidified.

Once the Magic Tide in the air slightly calmed, the spot where Lide sat was covered by a huge, blood-colored cocoon.

From the outside, one could only sense an indescribable and terrifying presence seeping from the inside out.

It was hair-raising.

The cocoon, as if harboring some deeply evil Abyssal Giant Beast, seemed like a giant dragon about to break free from its shell.

Lide’s aura, now out of his control, began to spread unrestrained.

The oppressive force passed through the office, enveloping the entire City Hall.

Dozens of residents, queuing up below to handle their affairs, instantly felt a chill run down their spines while sweat poured down their foreheads.

They felt as though they were being held at the forehead by a sharp longsword, poised to be devoured soul and all by that fatal presence.

Too terrifying.

Harrison also sensed that aura and hurriedly approached Lide’s office, staring at two sweating yet steadfastly guarding Bloodline, somewhat astonished.

After understanding the situation, he immediately dispatched the military to seal off the area.

City Hall began to close urgently.

Naturally, Lide, who had sunk into a deep sleep, had no idea that this upgrade would cause such a commotion.

In a daze, he merely felt as if his body was being torn and crushed, then stitched back together.

Even asleep, he could vaguely feel the tormenting pain of being ripped apart.

With time passing, the blood-colored cocoon’s color deepened, and its shell hardened until it turned almost black and reached a solidity that ordinary swords and blades became utterly ineffective.

The transformation, the metamorphosis, lasted a full week.