Alpha1.0 Test Version Officially Launched!

Chapter 33: 33. Alpha1.0 Test Version is Officially Live!

It was already too late by the time Murphy tasted the other flavors within Madam Adele's blood. Once the First Embrace Ritual began, it couldn't be stopped midway.

This was because, in essence, it wasn't a simple exchange of fresh blood.

It involved the unique reproductive cycle of a Vampire Bloodline, and as everyone knows, any act related to reproduction is extremely difficult to halt mid-process.

Murphy suppressed the doubts in his heart. After drinking three large gulps of Virgin's Blood as a "gift" from progeny to progenitor, he stood up, raised his left hand, and touched the bite mark on Madam Adele's neck with his index finger. Relying on a Vampire's control over blood, he began to draw out the Madam's blood from her body ceaselessly.

His finger, enveloped in Dark Psionics, prevented the scalding blood from falling. Instead, it swirled in Murphy's palm, changing its form like a Non-Newtonian Fluid.

This looked cool, but it required 100% obedience from the one being Embraced. If she had resisted even slightly, the blood-drawing process wouldn't have been so smooth.

The unconscious Madam Adele couldn't resist at all. She could only become weaker and infinitely closer to death as her blood continuously drained away.

Her originally full and fair skin became withered and dull. Even the astonishing size of her chest rapidly shrank. Under Mirian's horrified gaze, as she covered her mouth, the previously cold yet tall Madam quickly transformed into a state resembling a "dehydrated mummy."

The poison and plague that the Wolfsbane Clan had infused into her blood also rapidly dissipated as the blood left her body.

Murphy held the "blood orb," which had become pure under the night sky, before him. At Miss Femis's signal, he bit his right index finger, letting his own Vampire blood drip out.

His blood was noticeably thicker and more scarlet than a normal person's. The two fused like "dyeing."

When the ratio was precisely controlled at 1:3, Madam Adele's blood was completely dyed the same color as Murphy's.

"That's enough! Inject it back."

Miss Femis prompted him.

Murphy brought the blood orb to his lips and, as if devouring a feast, absorbed all the blood into himself. He then repeated the first step, biting Madam Adele's desiccated neck and using his fangs to inject the revitalized blood back into her.

At this moment, a special prompt suddenly appeared before Murphy:

[Please select an inheritance template for your progeny 'Bella Bernice Adele'.

Currently available character templates: Normal / Rare.

Character template inheritance rules are as follows:

1. When selecting the Normal template inheritance, the progeny will possess complete Vampire characteristics and normal racial initial stats. This option has no additional cost.

2. When selecting the Rare template inheritance, the progeny will possess complete Vampire characteristics and 150% racial initial stats, and will randomly inherit one talent or special skill from your existing ones.

This option will incur an additional cost of 30% of your blood and will deepen the bloodline connection between you and your progeny.

Warning!

A deep bloodline connection is not always a good thing for Vampires! Please consider carefully.]

"Character templates have this kind of hidden use?"

Murphy blinked his eyes. Without much hesitation, he chose the second option.

He didn't plan on developing too many progeny, so quality was important. Moreover, since he was already doing a favor for Miss Femis, he might as well go all the way!

He figured that after all his efforts, even Miss Femis wouldn't feel comfortable digging too deep into some of the "accidents" that had happened before, right?

[Rare template inheritance selected!

Additional cost activated!

Extracting progeny inheritance ability... Inherited ability: Summoning Arts: Astral Wolf. This progeny does not have a summoning specialty, so the ability has been downgraded to: Summoning Arts: Astral Wolf.]

"Ouch!"

Murphy cried out in pain, causing Miss Femis, who was presiding over the ritual, to freeze in place.

From Murphy's pained expression, she could tell that this fringe member of the family was also giving a portion of his own blood essence to Adele.

For a Vampire, this was an act of supreme generosity. Not only would it grant the progeny greater power, but it could even help them bypass the long "adaptation period" after becoming a Vampire.

This action indeed caused a subtle shift in Miss Femis's perception of Murphy at that moment.

Murphy is someone you can count on!

When there's trouble, he really steps up!

He's a bit weak, sure, but he's generous, willing to go the distance, has brains, decisiveness, and execution. He's definitely worth befriending and nurturing.

For instance, without him this time, intercepting the transport team would have certainly failed.

So... Favorability increased!

The other two onlookers were unaware of what had happened in those few seconds. They could only see Madam Adele's shriveled body rapidly regain its plump, alluring, and aloof form, as if she were a balloon being reinflated. However, the influence of the blood had already begun to change Madam Adele's life form.

Her skin became even fairer, while her pupils began to emit a scarlet glow. Her heart started beating again, but its speed had decreased to a tenth of its original rate, or even slower.

However, more profound changes would still take time to complete.

Generally, it takes at least five to seven days after the First Embrace for them to awaken. Of course, this isn't absolute.

If the progenitor particularly favors a Blood Servant and is willing to give more power, they will use their own power during the First Embrace to simultaneously transform the Blood Servant's blood and body.

Like Murphy was doing now.

In such cases, it's "surgery today, back to work today."

However, the vast majority of Vampires are selfish bastards. They wouldn't waste even a sliver of their power on their Blood Servants, not an iota more.

"Mission accomplished."

Murphy took a step back.

He swayed unsteadily from weakness, then was supported by Maxim. He nodded to the young lady, whose expression was complicated, and then turned to leave.

The glaring [Anemic Weakness] status on his character card was set to last for 48 hours. Losing a third of his blood meant Murphy couldn't engage in strenuous activity for the next three days, and it would likely take even longer to fully recover.

But he wasn't really at a loss.

Besides owing a favor to the young lady and gaining a rare template progeny at the Black Iron Rank, he had other gains:

[Bloodline Shaping Complete, you have your first progeny!

Bella Bernice Adele Lesombra has established a deep and mysterious connection based on blood with you.

Vampire race exclusive system - Bloodline Contract unlocked!

Your current power rank is: Professional, you can establish [1/1] Bloodline Contracts.

The specific terms of the Bloodline Contract are as follows:

I. Symbiotic Contract:

For each additional progeny owned, the Progenitor's HP cap will increase by 10%/15%, with the specific increase depending on the depth of the bloodline connection between the Progenitor and progeny. This bonus is not calculated in character attributes.

For each additional progeny owned, the Progenitor's self-healing, stamina recovery, and psionic recovery speed will increase by 10%/15%.

When other progeny fight together, their HP cap, psionic pool cap, and combat resource recovery speed will increase by 5%/10%.

II. Command Contract:

The Progenitor has the right to issue any command to the Bloodline, except for 'suicide' and 'harming oneself'.

The Progenitor has the right to suppress the progeny's blood essence at any time, causing them to enter a 'Weakened' or 'Bloodthirsty' state.

The longer the connection time between the Progenitor and the Bloodline, the weaker the Bloodline's resistance to the Progenitor's will becomes, until they ultimately wholeheartedly support the Progenitor's majesty from the bottom of their hearts. This effect's activation time depends on the intensity of the progeny's resistance, but ultimately the progeny will regard the Progenitor as their sole master.

III. Death Contract:

When the Progenitor dies, the progeny will immediately suffer 90% of their HP cap as damage and permanently lose 30% of their vitality, being granted the [Soul Weakness] status. All attributes will be reduced by 50%, and this weakened state cannot be removed until a new Progenitor is acquired.

When the progeny dies, the Progenitor will immediately suffer 20% of their HP cap as damage and permanently lose 10% of their vitality.

Notice!

When the bloodline connection between the Progenitor and progeny is "Deep," if the Progenitor dies, the progeny will immediately die.

Notice!

When the bloodline connection between the Progenitor and progeny is "Deep," if the progeny dies, the Progenitor will immediately suffer 70% of their HP cap as damage and permanently lose 30% of their vitality.

Notice!

The above damage takes effect immediately and is not subject to any restrictions or exemptions.

Notice!

After consuming the Family Source Blood, the Bloodline Contract can be dissolved. Besides this, there are currently no other clear methods to dissolve the contract.]

"These are truly despair-inducing, one-sided terms. Fortunately, my Progenitor is that friendly and gentle guy Triss, otherwise I would truly feel like dying. This is worse than a slave contract!

It's practically cannibalistic.

Speaking of which, this abnormal attachment I feel towards Triss now... is it also because of this?"

Murphy looked at the unlocked Bloodline Contract slot before him. Behind every word, he saw the Progenitor's control and manipulation over the Bloodline.

Under such an unequal contract, the Bloodline had no way to resist the Progenitor's will.

Yet, the Bloodline would develop new Bloodlines, causing this unequal contract to extend endlessly, eventually weaving a vast net that encompassed the entire vampire civilization.

However, upon closer inspection, the contract also revealed that the symbiosis wasn't just a relationship of oppression and being oppressed; there were other forms of expression. For instance, under the explanation for unlocking this "special gameplay" of the vampire race, he saw another notice:

[First Embrace Complete!

Bella Bernice Adele Lesombra has fed back a portion of her power to you during this process, manifested as:

Dexterity +1, Thought +1, Perception +1

New Skill - Shadow Elf Secret Technique: Mejewa Family Swordsmanship acquired. You can now learn this advanced swordsmanship from the Shadow Realm.

New Talent - Marksmanship Mastery acquired, significantly increasing your hit rate when performing ranged physical attacks.

New Talent - Shadow Affinity acquired, merging with the existing talent Dark Psionic Manipulation to become the new talent Shadow Mastery. This slightly enhances your Dark Psionic perception and makes Shadow Walking faster, quicker, and silent.]

See, the First Embrace process isn't just beneficial to the Blood Servant!

Through the fusion of blood connections, the Progenitor also receives a portion of "power feedback" from the Blood Servant, like some sort of damned "handling fee."

According to vampire family traditions, the proportion for this "First Embrace Tax" is typically between one-quarter and one-third.

But some black-hearted vampires would even take half of the Blood Servant's power, directly causing the newly born progeny to have neither strength nor potential, becoming mere outsiders in the family, bearing the name of a vampire without the corresponding abilities.

Uh, why does this situation sound so "familiar"?

"If I didn't know that Triss is genuinely a weakling, I would even suspect she's a black-hearted vampire."

Murphy grumbled inwardly, then, supported by Maxim, returned to the campfire, wiping the bloodstains from his mouth with a handkerchief.

He felt he needed to rest now. He might as well take this time to browse the forums and bring some small welfare benefits to the little players.

The moment he closed his eyes to rest, his previous complaints about Triss turned into a barely audible longing.

He had been away from home for six days.

The longer he was away, the more he missed the fallen yet stable life in that dilapidated manor. Perhaps it was the Bloodline Contract between him and Triss taking effect, making his impression of that useless king better and better.

But in reality, Triss was indeed the most generous.

She didn't even charge any "handling fees" from her Blood Servants. Perhaps it was because the Blood Servants she chose had no power to speak of?

As for that kind of attachment called "longing"...

Emmm, it shouldn't just be because of the Bloodline Contract, right?

It should be.

On the forums, a game chat group that was casually chatting suddenly exploded due to a message.

Alpha: [@[All Members], I am excited to share some good news with everyone! After several days of diligent debugging by the production team, a better and improved new test server has been successfully set up! Therefore, the Alpha1.0 test version of "True Otherworld" will officially launch in 16 hours!

Please refer to the official post on the forum for specific details!

The production team has invited an old Taoist priest to bless our new server. I have to rush over to watch the excitement and ask for a talisman, and then offer some incense to pray that it doesn't suddenly have problems.]

Meow King: [Damn! Why is it another surprise attack! Is there any law and order in this company's operations!]

A Chaan: [Stop complaining, Brother Meow, quickly look at the post! There's a lot of explosive news! Everything is there, it's like Chinese New Year!]

Brother Meow, not believing it, exited and refreshed the homepage. There was indeed a latest official post with the ID "Alpha," the title was very concise, but the content was not simple:

[ "True Otherworld" Alpha1.0 Closed Beta Version Update Announcement:

After mobilizing the test team employees to collectively sleep in the development team's office for five days, our first official test version has finally been successfully launched before the Deadline trigger, and several issues that the current test personnel have consistently reported have been resolved.

Specific information is as follows:

1. With the help of the development team, the main NPC Ravenor Murphy Lasombra, this handsome guy, has finally gathered all the materials to improve the Otherworld Summoning Arts.

Player-initiated login function will be available after the update is complete!

Considering the server load and the progress of the ongoing testing and BUG fixing work, the current open time is 6 hours/day. Please arrange your playtime reasonably.

The game is good, but don't indulge too much.

2. Under pressure from repeated feedback from test personnel, our development members had to urgently contact the gnome mechanists on the Italian Peninsula and successfully obtained the most advanced crystallization product of steam engineering through a series of back-door deals.

The player interface system will be available after the update is complete!

To pursue a realistic and hardcore gaming experience, the development team has specially written a reasonable origin and explanation for the player interface function. Specific details await test personnel to experience personally and submit valuable review reports.

3. Although the development progress is very tight, we still managed to take time out to conduct a comprehensive review of the current game helmets to guide new test personnel in their early stages. This review post has been pinned on the forum. Special thanks to the test personnel "Meow King" for his enthusiastic help.

The development team has also prepared a special gift for him. Please go to the main NPC after logging in to claim it.

4. New map "Cadman City" and new faction "Blood Vulture Clan" are online. Related quests await test personnel to explore.

5. Closed beta player rewards have been implemented. Please claim them from the NPC after completing the Cadman City exclusive questline.

6. Optimized a more realistic physics engine and added more interactive intelligent role-playing NPCs and random events.

7. Fixed a small number of BUGs.]

The content of the post was straightforward, but the focus of the little players leaving comments below was on another matter.

Leading Big Pigeon: [@[Meow King], does your butt hurt?]

A Chaan: [@[Meow King], do you need lubricant? I'll order it online now, will ten bottles be enough?]

Mud Truck Iaido: [@[Meow King], Old Yang, you've worked hard. Please keep up the good work and maintain a good relationship with the development team. Everyone's gaming experience depends on you. Wink.jpg]

Kuo Nuo Meow Meow Shark Da: [@[Meow King], electronic fairy Brother Meow!]

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Cheche: [Damn it! Why does Brother Meow always find back-door ways? Cheche can also do back-door deals, Cheche also wants special rewards!]

Meow King: [Puts head in hands. You guys are enough! There is no such thing as private back-door deals. I just casually accepted a quest from the administrator. Damn it! Stop private messaging me, I already said there are no secret ways! No photos! And I don't like men!

You've had enough!

If you keep this up, I'll screw you all over!]