While Max was busy speaking with his newly acquired system, two people stood talking not far from his hut. One was the middle-aged man who had brought Max here. The other was Rosalia.
"So what do you think? Can he be trusted?" The deep voice seemed to make the air ripple. It was Henry, the chief of the village. He carried himself like a man carved from strength, his muscles like iron forged in a volcano.
"I'm not sure..." she sighed. "There are too many secrets surrounding his origin... And I can't get into his head at all." Rosalia spoke in a cold tone, her gray eyes fixed on her father's face.
"Not only does he refuse to explain where he came from, only claiming to be from the west, but he also says he has no magic."
"No magic..." Henry scratched his chin in thought. "What do you think we should do with him then? As the future leader of the clan, I will let you make that decision." His large hand rested on her small shoulder.
"I will observe him a little longer. Despite being mysterious and suspicious, he doesn't appear to be a bad person, but we can never judge a book by its cover..." She bit her finger.
"If he shows no hostility toward us and proves himself useful, we might be able to find him a place to stay. He's all alone and lost. If he goes back out there, not only might our location be leaked, but he might also die to monsters or bandits. It's already a miracle he made it all the way here without being killed." She let out a faint laugh, but her eyes stayed serious.
"That is exactly why we cannot trust him too easily, but I believe you will make the right decision." Henry smiled at his daughter. In some ways, she reminded him of his wife. To him, the two of them shared the same softness of heart. Their kindness was both their weakness and their strength.
"Yes, Father." Rosalia finally smiled gently.
"But what if he does not meet your expectations?" Henry's prideful eyes searched his daughter's face, trusting in her judgment.
"Then I will have no choice but to kill him to protect the people of our clan. No matter what, Father, I will always stand with our people before all others," she said firmly, drawing a nod from Henry.
-----
Max sat on the hard bed, looking at the system screen and studying it carefully.
"So if I click here, it shows my statistics? It's like a game, but in real life. Fascinating." Despite still feeling weak from barely escaping death, he surprisingly had a lot of energy for things that sparked his interest.
His finger tapped the dark surface of the screen. The air rippled in response with a gentle wave, expanding the darkness and forming a list of bluish words.
[System Interface:]
[Supreme Bloodline Evolution System — Active]
[User: Max Hollow]
[Age: 18]
[Bloodline: Human (Simple)]
[Magic Soul: {In Development — 167 hours 43 minutes remaining}]
[Magic Affinity: None Present]
[Mana Container: {In Development — 167 hours 43 minutes remaining}]
[System Skills:]
[Bloodline Absorption — Absorb and evolve bloodlines through compatible mates.]
[Bloodline Search — Scan the area for potential rare and ancient bloodlines.]
[Magic Skills:]
[None]
Max's eyes gleamed as he read the skills, his heart pounding like thunder in his chest.
"I wonder if there's more information about Bloodline Absorption..." He held his chin in thought. His finger trembled with excitement and anticipation as he tapped on the [Bloodline Absorption] skill. As if responding to his command, the screen expanded, filling with a larger block of text and a detailed explanation that left him speechless.
[By mating with the opposite sex, the user is able to absorb part of their bloodline, turning it into their own and greatly enhancing it. In the case of a successful heir produced with the same partner, both the user and the partner will upgrade their bloodline to an ancestral bloodline, while the clan gains the bloodline at its highest purity...]
[...The user has no limit to the number of potential bloodlines and partners. All bloodlines can coexist with one another.]
His finger traced each line carefully, not daring to miss even a single detail. The thought of having children at his age scared him a little. He was not ready for such a burden yet, not before planting his feet firmly on the ground and becoming someone who could actually carry that weight.
"First, I need to awaken my magic. Only then can I think about bloodline evolution. Even so, I don't even have a partner..." His face flushed for a second as Rosalia's face rose in his mind. But he quickly shook it off. "No, no... we barely just met... and—"
Still, he couldn't deny that Rosalia was the most beautiful woman he had ever met. His heart wanted her, but he also understood that every relationship had to be cultivated with time. And for anything to happen, she would need to like him too.
"Would it be possible for us...?" he muttered under his breath.
A creak of the door almost made him jump. It happened so suddenly that he had completely forgotten someone was supposed to bring him food. Thinking he was about to be exposed, Max desperately tried to get rid of the screen, waving his hands in the air, but no matter what he did, the black panel refused to move.
A frail boy stepped inside, carefully eyeing Max as he flailed his hands in the air like a complete idiot.
"H-hello, I-I came to give you this... Miss Rosalia asked me to..." The boy didn't look older than fifteen. His clothes were shabby, barely worthy of being called clothes at all. His cheekbones were hollow, and there was barely any flesh on his body. He looked like a walking skeleton, holding a piece of bread in one hand and a mug of water in the other.
His confidence wavered the moment he saw the rumored stranger. Now more than ever, Max looked like a madman.
Max's heart nearly leapt out of his chest, thinking he had been caught. But when he noticed that the boy hadn't even glanced at the screen once, he let out a heavy sigh of relief. Luckily for him, he was the only one who could see it.
"Oh, yeah... thank you." He held out his hands, receiving a whole piece of stale bread that felt almost like stone to the touch and a cup of water. Max lowered his gaze to the meal in his hands, then looked up at the boy, who swallowed nervously while staring at him, only to quickly turn away the moment their eyes met.
"I should leave—" he blurted out in panic, realizing he had stayed too long.
"Wait," Max called after him.