Draco took off the Virtua Helmet slowly.
Had anyone been around when he woke up, their hearts would palpitate with fear and worry. Normally, when Draco came out of Boundless, he looked unconcerned and slightly rushed.
He would take a shower, eat, do some exercises and drink some NuSmoothie before sleeping. Over the past week, this allowed him to build some flesh over his scrawny form.
Now though, when his eyes opened, there was a heaviness in them. His upper body rose slowly into a sitting position and he cricked his neck. He climbed from the bed and went into the shower, allowing the cold water to run through his hair and down his body.
For that matter, Draco's diligent efforts at exercising and taking the NuSmoothies had seen him fill out nicely. Of course, he wasn't in top form, but his body was less malnourished and more well-developed.
Since he wore only underwear, one could see the contours of his body and all the developing muscles. His arms had the outline of tight biceps and his stomach had the barest shadow of an eight pack. His thighs were taut and his hamstring was developed.
All-in-all, Draco wasn't a buff fellow, but he wasn't thin. He was just that perfect ratio of well-built and compact.
Draco washed his hair carefully and moved to the sink when he had showered properly. He brushed up and washed his face one last time before looking at himself in the mirror.
There he saw one of the most devilishly handsome faces a man could have, a mixture of angelic beauty and demonic charm. His face was angular and sharp, tapering to a point. His skin was an extremely light tan and his hair was a messy black mass that formed bangs on his forehead.
His eyes were a bright and vibrant green color, unlike the crimson pulsating eyes he had within Boundless.
His lips were thin and his nose was extremely median, neither long nor short, wide nor thin, pointy nor blunt. It fit his face perfectly.
The key aspect of Draco's handsomeness was that his features were symmetrical and perfect, everything looking as if it was sculpted by the finest female hands to represent the visage they all wanted deep down.
After bathing, Draco wore only a tight black T-shirt that displayed his nice upper body as well as tight fitting burberry shorts that were red in color. On his feet were long white socks that reached the mid-point of his calf and black slides.
(Author's note: The shorts look like this i.imgur.com/1OTEJqD.jpg and the slippers look like this i.imgur.com/XL47Yuh.jpg)
Draco packed everything up in his apartment, looking around with an inscrutable expression. One would expect him to be feeling melancholy, but…no!
He only felt a bit of ruefulness. This place simultaneously represented where he stayed for majority of his youth, as well as the worst period of his life. He had gone through intense bullying, mistreatment and ostracization.
Honestly, he didn't even understand why. Sure, he was struggling financially, but his brain and his face were pretty good. If it weren't for his malnourished look, he'd be the enemy of married women, nuns and heavenly angels everywhere!
Just like now.
It was as if the very sight of him enraged certain people around him, provoking them into pressuring him in different ways.
Draco only had a bag with some minor belongings strapped to his back. Anything that wasn't in there was either useless or meaningless. He walked down his 100-room apartment block to the bottom floor.
Instead of leaving the compound, he turned and went behind it. There was a small cottage house that looked like it was from a medieval fantasy movie, sitting right there. Beside it was a clothesline and a well.
It was surrounded by a well-kept lawn and a patch of flowers.
It was pretty great to look at.
But when contrasted with the ramshackle and lackl.u.s.ter apartment block in front of it, something seemed wrong. From where Draco was walking, he could hear various noises from the apartment block.
He had enough strength to maintain a passive Control activation in an area of 30 meters around him. This was only 10% of his normal 300 meter range, but it was better than only being able to use the active Control for less than 10 seconds like before.
He could use Control actively for a maximum of 3 hours before being burnt out, so he had nothing to fear anymore. It was why he decided that it was time to move out and get certain things done.
With his Control, he could hear the mixture of radio and television sets that were active, the amount of men beating their wives, the amount of women beating their children and some of each gender doing both.
This apartment block was certainly not a healthy place to live. There were some ugly cougars who were raping young boys and ugly fat old men raping young girls in there too.
It sounded a bit far fetched, but one who had lived in a safe area in a city would never understand what it was like to live in the poor and unsafe district. There was a reason one's parents always stressed to stay out of certain areas.
The authorities also largely stayed out of these areas because it was the home of dangerous individuals and groups. It was an unspoken agreement between them, the dangerous groups would handle the poor and useless while the authorities would take care of the middle class and above, preventing them from being soiled by the former category.
(Author's Note: Think of Gotham City, but worse. Way worse.)
Draco reached the cottage and kicked the door down, entering with his bag slung on his back. His steps were heavy and profound, making one feel that this fellow was not simple at all.
Inside the cottage was a middle aged woman who looked gentle. Her hair was tied into a white bun and she had earring hoops that were silver in color. Her eyes were a light gray and her skin was only lightly wrinkled.
She wasn't a beauty by any means, but she wasn't ugly. She was average looking, but her huge but slightly sagging chest showed that she must've once been a powerful lure to most men.
She wore light blue dress and drank green tea slowly, while smiling wistfully.
Even when Draco kicked down her door, she only looked at him with surprise and a bit of gentle reprimand.
"Ah, It's you. Gentle and kind Draco. How is everything? Did someone bully you again?"
The way she spoke, one would think that she was Draco's own mother who was silently sighing about her son's temper tantrum after going through something rough.
Any onlooker would look at Draco with dissatisfaction. This fellow better apologize to this kind lady or else…
Draco ignored her and walked up to the Old Lady. Without any warning, he suddenly kicked out at her! He directly used his Body of Godliness' optimal force distribution to attack as well, meaning that this blow could kill her!
However, his legs passed through the body of the Old Woman, which faded away like a thin mist that was disturbed. With his legs still outstretched, Draco sent it curving in an arc that would normally have a person scream in agony as their h.i.p.s dislocated.
But he was a Control master! Simple muscle adjustments were far too easy for him!
His kick was once again met with air. Whatever he was attacking was clearly moving so fat that it left afterimages in its wake.
Draco stopped here and lowered his leg, folding his arms across his chest with a frown.
"Hmph, Old Thing. Come out and face your death!"
His words were met with a burst of silence before the Old Lady's gentle voice sounded out. "Young Hero seems to be a Control master, and such a young one! Good! Good!"
Draco ignored her excited response and seated himself in one of the seats opposite to where she formerly sat, taking some of the green tea into a cup and sipping it slowly.
"Old Thing, who sent you? Why is an undead like you watching over me? Are you part of the lineages?" Draco asked blandly.
The Old Lady emerged from the shadows and this time, her face was completely different. Her expression was ruddy with excitement and glee. She also resembled Draco's by about 30%, which startled him.
This naturally meant she was much more attractive than before, enough to be described as beautiful but not a heaven and earth shaking beauty.
"Tee hee, this Old Lady is breaking no rules since Nephew Draco is already aware!"
Her aura shifted from incomparable gentleness to a naughty and devilish demeanor, similar to a troublesome young mistress who loved to play with others till they cried in frustration. She was just like Sublime Notion in this regard.
She stared at Draco with a 'hehe' expression, as if she wanted to drag the fellow into diabolical matters while making a gallant escape afterward.
Draco began to sweat when he saw this. Eva had mentioned in passing that Lucifer Lineage members were absolute devils who loved to cause chaos and wreak havoc wherever they went.
A Lucifer Lineage member feared only one thing: A peaceful world!
They did not know the meaning of 'lying low'.
They did not know the meaning of 'modesty'.
They did not know the meaning of 'order'.
They took what they wanted, did what they wanted and said what they wanted. If you didn't like it, then that made them even more excited!
The only people exempt from this behavior were other members of the Lucifer Lineage as well as those from the Amaterasu Lineage.
Looking into the eyes of one who should be his direct relative, Draco finally understood what Eva meant. Draco was suitably devilish if one though about it, but not that much.
If one took his natural personality into account, which was his shameless self, then he did seem a little like a Lucifer Lineage member. But his bloodline was bound, so those effects on his personality were muted, which was why he ended up cowardly instead of playful and vindictive.
"Nephew Draco, won't you greet your Aunty? After all I've done for you…" The Old Lady began to tear up and her sad expression made one's heart break.
Draco felt the onset of a headache. He wasn't too attached to his family that abandoned him, but he was still a member of the lineage. Eva had tried to explain that something came up and there were deeper reasons for his abandoment, but he didn't want to hear it from a third party.
He wanted to hear it from the mouth of his own parents, who chose to cripple their baby son and throw him out into the world to suffer. His life in the previous timeline before he entered Boundless had been hell, and that… he pinned on his parents directly.
This Aunt though, had been watching over him for a long time. In his previous life, he naturally had no idea and felt a strong connection to this old woman because she always took care of him.
She had suddenly disappeared a few days before the event, and Draco was sure she had been either killed or kidnapped by Local Lord's men in order to use him to coerce Eva.
He had never seen her again after that as her little cottage had been smashed and burnt down. Of course, the then hate-filled Draco couldn't spare time to think of anything other than punishing Eva.
However, after Eva revealed the lineages and all those secrets, Draco realized he was a frog in the well. By virtue of his birth, he should've been the protagonist of the world, stomping on everything and becoming the Heavenly Emperor with Eva at his side.
This was what the Pangu Lineage feared so much they paid a hefty price to push the Lucifer and Amaterasu Lineages to the decision of crippling him, according to Eva.
But since he reincarnated with all his memories, how could he miss the obvious events that went on around him while he lived in a bubble of obliviousness?
He personally believed the Old Woman to be someone from the Pangu Lineage or some lower-tier Lineage, hence his rough entry. He never expected her to be from his own lineage and a direct blood relative at that.
It made all his plans fall into mud and his built up momentum crashed into the steel wall that was his troublesome Aunt.
"Draco greets Aunty. Why are you here?" Draco asked with a defeated expression.
"Teehee, This Aunty is warm inside to be recognized by her handsome nephew! Ah, Draco how you've grown so well! I remember when you were just a snot nosed boy…" The Old Lady went on a rant that made Draco want to bang his head on a wall.
Right now, he wished she were from another lineage so he could be harsh on her. After all, anyone outside the Amaterasu Lineage and Lucifer Lineage were his enemies.
But these two lineages were his origins and to be hard on his Aunt was difficult, since she had been so good to him. Knowing that he actually had family watching over him all this while made him even more benevolent towards her inside.
As such, the fellow could only go through the harrowing experience of having an older woman in his family fuss over him.
Chin up, Draco! We all go through this at some point, yours just came very late!
Eventually, the Old Lady wound down when she noticed Draco was suffering too much and she giggled sweetly. She didn't act like an Old Woman at all, but more like a young miss.
"Nephew Draco, This Aunt's Name is Fyre. This form you see is just what I wear when I have yet to molt, so don't judge my physical appearance too harshly!"
Draco was startled as he sat up. "Molt?"
Fyre smiled and sat opposite her nephew, pouring herself a cup of green tea as well.
"How much does Nephew Draco know about the Lineages?"
Draco went silent as he gathered his thoughts. He then shared his accrued knowledge with Fyre, to which she marveled at.
"Nephew Draco certainly is well informed. How did you find out such top tier information? Only a Holy Son or Daughter of a Lineage could know this much, aside from older members of the main family.
"Well, it was the Holy Daughter of the Amaterasu Lineage." Draco stated casually.
"Ahaha, of course it's the Holy Daughter of the Amaterasu Lineage… The Holy Daughter… The…"
"…"
"PPFFFBBTTT!!"
Fyre had been in the middle of sipping a large gulp of tea before spitting it out with a shocked countenance. Draco dodged the spat tea with an expression of amus.e.m.e.nt.
"N-Nephew Draco…What did you just say…?" Fyre asked with a shaky tone.
"It was Eva who told me. We are currently in a relationship and discovered my origins by a stroke of luck." Draco answered with a smile.
He decided this was the best way to explain his getting with Eva in this timeline without adding the reincarnation bit which was a bit far-fetched.
Fyre's complexion alternated between green and white, fear and worry evident on her expression.
"H-Has Nephew Draco perchance…?" Her voice was trembling as she asked this, like she would rather not know the answer.
"We haven't copulated, if that is what Aunt Fyre is worried about. We are aware of the dangers that would come with such a thing." Draco assured her with a pat on the shoulder.
The Old Lady breathed an audible sigh of relief and gave Draco a look of chagrin. If was as if she was resentful that he played with her like that.
When she saw Draco's grin though, her irritation faded away and was replaced by laughter.
"Good! Good! This is how a descendant of my Lucifer Lineage should be!"
Truly, Lucifer Lineage members were as bizarre as their progenitor…
"You were saying something about molting?" Draco revived the old topic while pouring his Aunt a new cup of tea.
She took the tea and drank it with a gentle and pleased smile at Draco. "En. As you know, our progenitor had many powers, but we of the Lucifer Lineage only inherit one of three of them at most."
"There's the Dark Angel type, the Horned Demon type and the Serpent God type."
She paused here and waved her sleeve. A small snake flew out and landed on the table. It was dark blue in color and had glittering scales. Its eyes were slitted and it had two sharp fangs attached to its jaws.
When it looked at Draco, it performed an almost human action of tilting its head with confusion. It felt that there was something strange about him…
"This is my pet snake, which is of the optimal breed that allows me to exercise my Bloodline abilities best. As you can imagine, I only inherited the Serpent God Bloodline, otherwise This Aunt wouldn't be so wrinkly even though I can molt."
Fyre spoke with extreme dissatisfaction at that. "It was also why my big sister could steal your father's heart from me, since she inherited a potent level of the Dark Angel Bloodline."
Draco was quietly listening to Fyre's explanation, a boiling curiosity burning in him. Fyre might not be aware, but his Bloodline would be freed soon. What he wanted to know the most right now was how to utilize his bloodline like Eva did.
Fyre smiled at Draco, that loving expression popping up on her face again. "Haha, but that bimbo sister of mine really did well to give birth to such a boy like you! You Little Monster, how can this Aunt stomp on the world when you exist?!"
"You are the only Lucifer Lineage descendant with 95% Bloodline purity and access to all three types of Bloodline forms!"