Arin stared at the system screen, still trying to process what he just saw.
'We..... Weakness?!' he thought as his eyes darted toward Liora, who was still gripping her head. 'And Three Supreme Races?'
He knew about the Vampires and the Phoenixes, and he also knew that Dragons were Beasts that were rarely seen, but he didn't know that they were referred to as the Three Supreme Races.
Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by the system.
[The Dragons you have heard of are Beasts, but there are also Dragons that have evolved and gained incredible intelligence. There is more to the Dragons than you think.]
'Evolved, huh?' Arin thought as he furrowed his brows.
"Ugh...." Liora groaned again as she managed to raise her head, staring at Arin.
[Do you want to remove the Effect from the Progenitor?]
Arin stared at the system screen for a few seconds, still lost in thought.
"Lord Chaos," Seraphine said, her voice low. "It seems like you are the cause of whatever is happening to her right now, and you can stop it, right?"
"Hmm, yes," Arin replied.
"Ahh, I think I know why you haven't stopped it yet," Seraphine said.
Arin squinted his eyes before asking curiously, "Huh? Why?"
"Because..." Seraphine said, "she stole your first kiss."
Arin's eyebrows twitched as he tried to contain his anger.
"If you don't have anything helpful to say, just shut up....."
"Understood, Lord Chaos!" Seraphine exclaimed in his head.
'Ugh, how did she even know that it was my first kiss?' Arin thought.
That aside, he diverted his attention back to Liora before speaking.
"If you want me to get rid of that pain, you'll have to free me first."
Liora groaned again before she stretched out her right hand. Instantly, the chain that was around Arin disappeared, making it possible for him to move again.
'Almost..... Almost... Almost.....' Liora kept saying in her head as her eyes fixated on Arin.
Arin was now finally free, but before he could even say anything or take a single step...
A wave of Blood Energy suddenly erupted from Liora's body, making Arin's hair flutter wildly as he stepped backward.
Immediately after that, the system screen appeared in front of him.
[The Progenitor has successfully nullified the Effect.]
Arin's eyes widened slightly. 'What? She nullified the Effect?'
Arin didn't know about the Weakness Effect before or how it worked, but he certainly knew that he would have to find out more about it.
Liora was now standing upright as she stared at Arin. Meanwhile, Arin was also staring at her as he took a defensive stance—after all, there was a probability that she would attack him.
Though, instead of an attack, something else happened.
Liora suddenly lowered her head before speaking. "I'm sorry, Progenitor."
Arin just stared at her as she continued speaking.
"I acted in an unreasonable manner. Please forgive me."
Liora still kept her head lowered even after she had finished talking.
"If I remember correctly," Seraphine began, "there's a certain kind of respect Progenitors give each other. I think that's why she's apologizing."
Arin squinted his eyes with a thoughtful expression on his face. "I see..."
'To be honest, I'm still sort of confused and lost here,' Arin thought. 'But if it's really like Seraphine said, then I can use it to my advantage.'
"Raise your head," Arin said.
Immediately, Liora raised her head before speaking again. "Please, let us introduce ourselves formally."
'What's wrong with me?' Liora thought. 'I acted stupidly and tried to know his Special Ability forcefully... That's unlike me.'
"You first," Arin said, his eyes fixated on Liora.
She stretched out her hand while speaking. "My name is Liora Stormveil, one of the fiv..... six Progenitors, and the leader of the Stormveil Family."
Arin glanced at her outstretched hand for a second before he also stretched out his hand and shook hers. "My name is Arin."
He said just his name without even adding his surname, but Liora didn't say anything about it.
They let go of each other's hands before Liora took a few steps backward.
"I'm also sorry for bringing you here forcefully without any proper explanation," she said. "But everything will be explained here."
Her red eyes were calm as she stared at Arin, as if she were waiting for him to say something.
'Now that I think about it...' Arin thought. 'What even is my Special Ability?'
'I can't say it's the Chaos Element, because I got the Chaos Element even before becoming a Vampire. It just happened to fuse with my Blood Energy after becoming a Vampire.'
"There's only one plausible explanation for this," Seraphine said.
'And that is?' Arin asked telepathically.
"You haven't awakened your Special Ability as a Progenitor yet....." Seraphine said.
'Hmmm..... That's very much possible.'
"Moreover," Seraphine continued, "my father once told me that it took a while for the last two Progenitors to awaken their Special Ability. Though, I don't know who the last two Progenitors are among the four Progenitors."
'I'm pretty sure I heard her say there are six Progenitors,' Arin said.
"If she's adding you, that's five.... So who's the sixth one....?" Seraphine asked, her voice low.
"Maybe after I left the Kingdom, another Progenitor was added....." Seraphine said.
Arin was silent for a few seconds before he finally decided to say something to Liora.
"Will you be the one to explain everything to me?" he asked.
"No," Liora replied. "We'll meet with the other Progenitors, and we'll all discuss.... Especially about the current threat that is getting out of hand."
Arin noticed that when Liora spoke about the threat, her eyebrows furrowed, suggesting that it was a serious issue.
'Threat?' Arin thought as a smirk formed on his lips. 'I think I know what's going on here....'
'What's with that smirk?' Liora thought, but she decided to ignore it for now.
"Progenitors respect each other," Liora said, "so you don't have to worry. You will be given the respect you deserve."
"Hmm, I see....." Arin muttered.
"But before that," Liora said as she unsheathed the two swords from her back. She walked closer to Arin before stretching one of the swords toward him with her head lowered. "I request a duel."
"Master," Arin heard Seraphine's worried voice. "Are you going to accept it...?"