SSS 2: A New War (Patreon)

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“When we first came to Kaltheris, we were full of zeal. When we experienced magic for the first time, we were full of elation. We quickly fell in love with our new home, and swore passionately that we would defend it from any and all threats.”

Sanassa felt an almost indescribable emotion wash over her. It was a mix of overwhelming anger and begrudging respect. She hated that man for what he’d done, but she couldn’t deny a flicker of admiration at his grand achievement. He’d imposed his will on the world, bringing it to heel, and now, a thousand years later, Sanassa was forced to accept that monstrous fact.

She’d lost.

Her knees gave way and she collapsed onto the stone floor. Warm tears flowed from her eyes as she clenched her teeth and squeezed her fists. There, on the floor of her burial chamber, she mourned the sacrifices of everyone she’d ever known and everyone she’d ever led into battle.

I’m sorry I couldn’t deliver my promise, she thought, weeping silently. Sanassa stayed like that for a long time, letting her emotions pour out from her. She stayed there until she felt like she had no more emotion to give, and then, when she became empty of sadness and anger, a new feeling began to build within her.

She’d lost?

No.

That wasn’t right.

A thousand years had passed, and the structure of the world was unknown to her. No doubt, she’d lost all her allies and retainers. No doubt, she had not a single soul to command. No doubt, she was weaker than she’d ever been. No doubt, she’d lost the War of the System.

She’d lost that war.

But there could always be a new war.

That new feeling—of unstoppable and relentless determination—bubbled up inside her. Her negative emotions flowed away, making way for the grand goal forming at the forefront of her mind. It didn’t matter that she’d lost the War of the System. It didn’t matter that the system was here, imposing its titanic power on her and controlling the world.

What mattered was that the system was manmade. It was a magical structure. Sure, it was a powerful one, rivalling even the power of the Ancestors—but it was still only a magical structure.

And all structures could be destroyed.

She just needed to become so powerful that the system’s defenders couldn’t stop her.

Feeling a surge of energy, Sanassa stood up. She took the bottle of goldblood and bit off the wax cork. Not hesitating one moment, she poured it into her mouth, greedily swallowing. The blood had been preserved with magic, but it had aged into something unpleasant, and the taste left plenty to be desired.

She wiped her mouth and turned her attention to the system window.

After all, to destroy the system, she had to understand it.

She examined the first panel, the one that was displayed underneath her name.

The bottom bar—which had been empty—had slightly filled with a flowing gold fluid. The contents of the bar weren’t stationary; it ebbed and flowed, never quite settling in one place. Without a doubt, this bar measured the amount of goldlight Sanassa had within her blood. As a goldblood vampire, goldlight was her main source of power, enabling her to use her bloodline abilities.

But she’d drunk so little, and the bar had filled up so much! Was that bar really the extent of how much goldlight her body could hold right now? Was that really how weak she’d become? They used to call her the Second Sun on the battlefield!

Something I have to improve, she swore to herself.

She didn't have to think long to identify the bar above. This was her constitution—her general health. Looking at the bar, it was around two-fifths full, and if Sanassa was honest with herself, she felt about two-fifths alive right now.

It didn’t take much imagination to know what state she would be in if that bar ever emptied.

She watched the system panel for a few minutes, captivated by the fluid that flowed within it. As time passed, she noticed the red bar—her health bar—increment ever so slowly. As it expanded, so did her feeling of general well-being. 

Satisfied with her understanding so far, Sanassa turned her attention to the items on the right. There, she saw a symbol of a man with a question mark, and a symbol of a demon with the letter A next to it. She had no idea what this was supposed to represent, but as soon as that thought formed, it was followed by a small tug at her instincts.

It was the system magic poking her, telling her to focus on what she wanted to examine closely. Sanassa obliged, focusing on the symbol of a man. A moment later, another panel manifested into existence.

“...Relative combat power evaluation,” Sanassa muttered out loud, reading the system window. With growing suspicion, she examined the other icon, manifesting a similar window that provided her with a little more information.

Well, if anything, it was nice to know she wasn’t completely alone.

But… this wasn’t quite the system that that man had described. What was this… relative evaluation? And the use of letters? Didn’t he once talk about describing a user's abilities with detailed statistics, represented by numerical values?

Sanassa took a breath, pushing away the headache that was building. She tried to encourage the system to display her stats, to give her a numerical representation of her strength, only to find it failed to do so. No detailed panel came forth.

With growing excitement, she formed a theory.

If Sanassa understood correctly, the system couldn’t apply absolute values to her strength, agility, or any other distinct characteristic. The system seemed to only be able to make relative comparisons between her combat power and whatever monsters were prowling around nearby, presumably outside her burial chamber.

It explained why the figure of a man had a question mark; the system couldn’t provide her a letter because there was no one nearby to make a comparison with.

It also explained why her health and goldlight bar ebbed and flowed, never quite settling in one place. The system was, at best, guessing.

Sanassa felt a smile form on her face.

It looked like the system that had been implemented was not quite as detailed as the one that man had desired.

It was imperfect.

And imperfections meant vulnerabilities.

Feeling her hope build, she turned her attention to the next panel, the one with the titles Ancestor, Vampire, and Returned. Next to each one was a letter, or, in the case of Ancestor, two letters. She focused on that one first, bringing up a panel with further information.

She didn’t like the sound of a ‘Growth Inhibition Module’, but she did like the fact that it appeared to be less effective. Was it because she was originally born before the system came into existence that its grip on her was lessened? Did even the great system struggle to inhibit her royal bloodline?

Sanassa especially disliked seeing that she had to increase the title’s level to unlock her abilities. What had the system locked away from her? Who did it think it was, to deny her from her birthright!

She raised a hand, lightly igniting the little goldblood she had as a test. It wasn’t much, just a small light spell to illuminate the room. She felt the magic activate and had to close her eyes for a moment at the sudden brightness. The room, formerly grey and fuzzy in her Vampire vision, was now colourful and warm. The vibrantly coloured urns proudly displayed their painted patterns, and the sandstone walls provided an orange warmth that was almost homely.

Although it made her headache worse, it felt good to cast magic after a thousand years of nothingness.

Sanassa glanced at her system window, her eyes widening with shock as she saw that her goldlight bar had lost almost a quarter of what little goldlight it had. She quickly cut the magic off, throwing the burial chamber back into a fuzzy grey.

She was… so weak!

When she was last alive, she could have kept such a simple light-producing spell running for as long as she needed. Days, even weeks, would have posed no problem. She wouldn’t have even felt it tax her at all! Now, she could feel the unfamiliar sensation of being drained, of becoming void of goldlight—becoming lightless.

I have to be careful, Sanassa thought. Until I regain more of my old strength.

She didn’t need to try and ignite her blood to know that many of her bloodline's abilities were beyond her in this state.

Armour of Salvation.

Spear of Illuminessence.

Shield of Providence.

Powers she’d used frequently on the battlefield were now long-term goals. But… Sanassa wasn’t discouraged. She’d been fighting for most of her life, and she’d keep fighting now. Who knows, perhaps by abusing that man’s system, she could push herself even further and gain access to the powers that had eluded even her at her strongest.

Like the mythical powers of the True Bloodline.

With her headache now too painful to ignore, Sanassa willed the system windows away. She couldn’t handle looking at more right now. That could come later.

She forced herself to eat some of the hard biscuits. They were awfully dry and lacked any semblance of flavour, especially as her taste buds had just gorged on Sakurian honey. Still, she ate one, two, and then, feeling a sudden surge of hunger, ate another three. She uncorked the glass bottle and drank its contents. The water tasted only a little stale.

Unwrapping the bundle of clothes, Sanassa dressed herself and put on the boots. Then, feeling exhaustion approach, Sanassa lay down and slept.

She would sleep until her health recovered.

Then, when she was ready, she would leave.

To see what a world controlled by the system for a thousand years looked like.

A world in which she would rise to the very top.

And win the new war.

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