Primordial Villain With A Slave Harem

"You mean information about a blood storage artifact you can use to store a thousand liters of blood?"

Miri asked, and after receiving my nod, Lumi continued. "Such artifacts are the tools of vampires. I highly doubt human or dwarf artificers know how to make one such item, especially on the Iskaris continent, where they've been sealed in, robbed away from opportunities to interact with the broad world of Thalorind. As far as we know, vampires don't exist on the Iskaris continent, making the job of finding such an artifact almost impossible."

Miri followed up the grave news by giving me a bit of vampire lore. "On the Iskaris continent, beastkin, humans, dwarves, and elves are continuously vying for dominance, and they've been doing so ever since we, the primordials, were exiled. A long time ago, more races lived there, but they were either driven to extinction or forced to leave the continent.

Vampires, on the other hand, have long since finished pruning their continent of other inhabitants, save for the ones they keep as cattle for sustenance. Their continent used to be called Velmora, but once they eliminated all competition, the vampires renamed it to Noctara, the land where the sun never shines."

"You're telling me the vampires were given a continent without sunshine?! How's that fair?"

Lumi giggled, "Quinnie, life is never fair. But you're right in that they weren't born there. The vampire primordials birthed an army of mighty children and traveled the world of Thalorind in search of the most hospitable land for their unique needs. Velmora suited their requirements perfectly, so they invaded the continent, slaughtered or enslaved all of its inhabitants, and declared it their exclusive dominion."

Damn, I wanted to see how a vampire looks so badly… I almost asked my mothers to introduce me to these vampire primordials but stopped myself at the last second. Most of the primordials were in deep slumber right now, and I didn't want to wake a mighty vampire lord or lady from their casket only to mutter like a dumb kid, "Hey, uh, nice to meet you..."

To that end, I asked something else. "What about the primordials of the slain people? What happened to them?"

It was Miri's turn to reply. "Some died while others escaped. As long as a single male or female primordial exists alongside a mortal of the same race with the opposite gender, the race can make a comeback. However, their descendants will never be as strong as if both female and male primordials existed."

"What do you mean?"

Lumi quickly interjected, "Do you remember what we said about Malakar being wild in his youth? He killed the first male elf who badmouthed him. The first male elf was the father of my children. As a result…"

A sudden jolt of memory entered my mind. It was about what Seraphiel and Sylvaris told me about male elves. "Due to his death, his male descendants were nerfed to the ground!"

The first female elf giggled, not caring one bit about her designated partner's demise. "Hehe! So you're already aware. Listen, Quinnie. Us primordials are the progenitors of our races. The connection between us and our descendants transcends mere blood relations. As a result of Malakar's actions, the male elves have been robbed of their connection to the progenitor, ruining their potential as combatants. They struggle to reach level 2, let alone a respectable level, which also results in their early deaths.

However, due to my being alive, they'd not lost their connection to their progenitors entirely. If it was me who died and not the male elf, it would've been the female elves who got ruined. But if I also fell alongside the male progenitor, both genders would be significantly weakened, so much so that, let alone leveling, even breathing would be difficult for our descendants. The vampire progenitors used this interaction between primordials and their descendants to ensure some races would be ruined to that degree, turning them into perfect cattle for their children to siphon blood out from."

Damn… That's just brutal. The vampires certainly don't mess around. Experience new tales on My Virtual Library Empire

Another question came to mind. "What about my children? Would they have the same dependent relationship with me?" I didn't like the sound of that.

"Your case is a bit different," Miri replied. "Well, you're sort of an enigma, Quinnie, so we can't say for certain, but logic dictates that your genes will overwrite Malakar's, making you your children's male progenitor. As for the female progenitor, that'll either be me or Thyra, the first female primordial human. She was created alongside Malakar, and due to that, most humans trace their family tree to her, not to me. Ayame, on the other hand, traces her lineage to the third primordial human woman, Hanae."

Thyra, huh? I remembered that name. Instead of staying with Malakar on Iskaris, she decided to leave for the fjords with Dragnar. On the other hand, the name Hanae was news to me, but I knew there was an eastern land from where the Fujimori clan migrated, she must be their ancestor.

Hearing the name, I now had a strong inkling why, as Ayame said, 'Hana' was the most common female name in her clan. They must've been paying respects to their progenitor with that naming tradition.

"I see. I've learned a great deal from you, mothers. Thank you."

They were visibly overjoyed at their ability to be of use to me, letting me know how truly deeply troubled they were by their inability to donate their blood to me.

It seems Blood Mage would have to wait a bit, as even if I could drink their blood, I would not be able to complete the second requirement.

I didn't know it at the time, but my assumption would be incorrect; I would unlock the class much sooner than expected.

Moving on, I mentioned the reason why I rushed to begin the Primordial Rank-Up Mission in the first place.

"Mothers, there's one more thing that requires your guidance. I stumbled upon four strange elixirs; they each seem to resemble the four basic elements in their purest form, or so Aurora and I believe. I drank the fire elixir, and it's been sitting in my stomach for all this while, constantly looking for opportunities to rebel and escape. I'm forced to conduct a permanent internal war with it to keep it contained."

The pair of mothers gasped in sync with each other, "That sounds way too serious, Quinnie, why didn't you start with that?! We have to ask Thindlebrim's opinion; he's the greatest alchemist in our midst. He's a gnome primordial who spent millions of years researching the laws of alchemy."

I nodded, finding their reasoning more than logical. If there was such a person present, I would love to hear their opinion. However, as we stood to dry our wet bodies, a truly unexpected, outright anomalous event occurred.

A new message popped up in front of all three of us at the same time. For the first time in Thalorind's history, the Soul Records addressed us directly.

[The Soul Records has issued a recommendation. Primordial Entity Quinlan Noir is advised to begin his Primordial Rank-Up Mission immediately.]