[Note that this will serve as a prologue. There might be a few spoilers in it but it's generally to get you accustomed to our world. Easy to read and understand]
°° The Night Everything Changed
Three hundred years ago, something broke.
Nobody calls it by fancy names or wraps it in mystical bullshit. It was just the night when things went wrong and never got fixed. People woke up to screaming. By morning, half the city was dead or missing, and the other half had bite marks on their necks.
The survivors called them bloodsuckers. Because that's what they were.
Not romantic, tortured souls with centuries of wisdom. Just parasites wearing human faces, spreading like a plague through every major city on the continent. They were stronger, faster, and hungrier than anything had a right to be. And they were smart enough to hide.
°° How the World Works Now
°° The Bloodsuckers
They're not all the same. The first ones that showed up during the Break were monsters - nearly impossible to kill, could tear through steel doors, and commanded the lesser ones like generals commanding soldiers. We call those Originals.
Each generation gets weaker. The Originals make Seconds. Seconds make Thirds. By the time you get to Sevenths or Eighths, they're barely stronger than a regular person with anger issues.
But here's the thing - even the weak ones are still bloodsuckers. And they're everywhere.
°° The Hunters
When the government realized bullets didn't work, they started throwing money at the problem. That's how the Shadowguard was born - elite teams equipped with weapons that could actually hurt these things.
We use gear powered by magic crystals. Bullets that explode with sunlight. Blades that cut through whatever supernatural crap keeps them moving. Goggles that let you see what they really are under the human mask.
Most hunters don't last five years. I lasted twelve before I got sloppy.
°° What Happened to Me
My name is Kaine Cross. Was a Shadowguard operative until my team decided I knew too much about the wrong people. They fed me to a nest of bloodsuckers during what was supposed to be a routine cleansing.
I managed to escape of course but she didn't.
However, a year later, I wounded up dead this time. Similar situation, just less pretty.
Then I woke up.
Not as one of them. As something else. Something that should probably scare me more than it does.
°° The System
When I came back, there was this... presence in my head. Not voices or whispers. Just knowledge. Like someone had downloaded an instruction manual directly into my brain.
It told me I was connected to something called Mortal Essence - ME for short. Every living thing has it. When something dies, that essence gets released. Most of the time it just dissipates into nothing.
But I can catch it. Absorb it. Use it.
And with enough ME, I can do things that would make the bloodsuckers shit themselves if they still had working digestive systems.
°° What ME Does
- **Powers my abilities:** Everything supernatural I can do costs ME
- **Makes me stronger:** More essence absorbed means more raw power
- **Lets me raise the dead:** Turn corpses into loyal servants
- **Keeps me going:** I don't need food or sleep like I used to, just more essence
°° How Much Things Are Worth
A regular person dying releases a certain amount of ME. Depends on how much fight they had in them.
A trained soldier or hunter? Releases even more ME.
A bloodsucker? Releases even more ME than a hunter or soldier, depending on how old and powerful they are.
The stronger the soul, the more essence I get when it leaves the body.
°° My New Employees
When I kill something, I can bring it back. Not as the same person - that's gone. But as something that follows orders without question.
The strength of what I can raise depends on how much ME I'm willing to spend, how strong they were before I killed them and what condition the body is in.
# The Classifications
**FLESH EATERS**
*Driven by an insatiable hunger for living tissue*
# Ghouls (Basic)
- **Intelligence**: Animalistic instincts only
- **Capabilities**: Shambling movement, basic hunting pack behavior
- **Danger Level**: Low - Predictable but relentless
- **Control**: Minimal - More like herding than commanding
# Flesh Wraiths (Advanced)
- **Intelligence**: Cunning predators with problem-solving ability
- **Capabilities**: Tool use, ambush tactics, can consume memories with flesh
- **Danger Level**: High - Unpredictable hunting patterns
- **Control**: Unstable - May turn on creator if starved
---
**BLOOD DRINKERS**
*Sustained by the life essence in blood*
# Thralls (Basic)
- **Intelligence**: Loyal servant mentality, follows orders precisely
- **Capabilities**: Retains muscle memory, basic combat skills
- **Danger Level**: Moderate - Effective but controllable
- **Control**: Strong - Blood bond creates dependency
# Revenants (Advanced)
- **Intelligence**: Near-human reasoning, tactical thinking
- **Capabilities**: Enhanced physical abilities, limited spell retention
- **Danger Level**: Very High - Can plan and deceive
- **Control**: Tenuous - May develop independent goals
# Blood Lords (Elite)
- **Intelligence**: Fully retained personality plus enhanced cunning
- **Capabilities**: All previous abilities, can create lesser undead
- **Danger Level**: Extreme - Potential rival to creator
- **Control**: None - Equals rather than servants
---
**THE ABOMINATION RISK**
*The process isn't perfect. Sometimes the ritual goes wrong - the body's in a really, really bad shape, corrupted soul or pure bad luck. The result is something that defies classification.*
**Abominations** retain no loyalty, recognize no master, and possess an alien intelligence that makes them utterly unpredictable. They must be destroyed immediately, though that's easier said than done when facing something that shouldn't exist.
*I've learned to prepare the killing tools before I begin any major working. Some mistakes can't be allowed to walk away.*
°° The Rules
Every undead I create is bound to me. They can't disobey, can't betray me, and can't exist without my will keeping them moving.
They don't feel pain, don't get tired, and don't question orders. They're the perfect soldiers for a war nobody wants to fight.
And they grow along with me. The stronger I get, the stronger they get.
°° Why This Matters
The bloodsuckers have been winning for three centuries. They control businesses, governments, and entire cities. The hunters are outnumbered, outgunned, and losing ground every year.
But they've never faced anything like me before.
I'm not trying to save humanity or restore the old world. I'm not a hero, and I'm sure as hell not a saint. I'm just a dead man with a grudge and the ability to build an army from my enemies' corpses.
The bloodsuckers made one mistake when they killed me.
They should have made sure I stayed dead.
°° What You Need to Know
This is the story of how a vampire hunter became something worse than the monsters he used to kill. How the dead learned to fight back. And how sometimes, fighting fire with fire just burns everything down.
Welcome to the new world order.
The dead are rising, and I'm the one giving the orders.
[If you've read so far please consider adding to your library and supporting me! Thanks!!!]