I Awakened The Ancient Vampire System

Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Sands and Shadows

Lucian had one more question.

His eyes flickered gold as Eyes of the Eternals activated.

Pain.

Lucian gasped and cut the ability instantly, blinking rapidly as his eyes watered. The pain faded after two seconds, leaving a dull throb behind his eyeballs.

He’d tried to scan the woman. His Eyes of the Eternals had tried to comply. And something inside her had pushed back hard enough to hurt him.

Grand Core Realm. At least.

And that aging ability — de-aging him to ten years old with a touch, then reverting it an hour later — wasn’t some trick. It was a genuine manipulation of biological time. The kind of ability that only existed at the highest ranks.

She was dangerous.

"What type of abilities do you have?" she asked, reclining on the couch.

"Light," Lucian said. "Blood. Great vision. Great physique."

The woman raised an eyebrow. A small smile tugged at her lips. "Great physique? Are you flirting with me right now?"

Lucian frowned. "I’m being honest. My physical stats are above standard for my realm."

The smile faded into a flat look. She clearly didn’t believe him.

"Whatever. Go through registration. Third floor, end of the hall. Tell them I sent you."

A middle-aged woman in a black uniform sat behind a desk with a tablet.

"Physical assessment first," she said, gesturing to a testing platform in the corner. "Step on."

Lucian stepped onto the platform. Runes along the edges glowed as they scanned his body.

The woman looked at her tablet. Then looked again. Then looked at Lucian.

"Your strength reading is 350. Agility 200. Durability 320." She stared at him over her glasses. "You’re Early Core Realm?"

"Yes."

She frowned but didn’t argue. "Ability assessment next. Place your hand on the awakening stone."

A black crystal sphere sat on a pedestal beside the platform. Lucian pressed his palm against it.

The stone hummed. Colors swirled inside — crimson and white, fighting for dominance. The crimson won. The stone blazed red, then shifted to white, then back to red.

The woman read the output. Her eyebrows climbed steadily upward.

"S-Rank Blood Manipulation. A-Rank Light Control." She looked at Lucian. "Dual awakener with an S-Rank primary. That’s... extremely rare."

She typed something into her tablet. Printed a small card and handed it to him.

"Registration complete. Knight designation: Recruit. You’ll be assigned missions based on your rank. Performance reviews occur monthly. Room 214, second floor east wing."

The room was larger than his Havenford bedroom.

Lucian took a long shower.

Twenty minutes later, a knock on the door.

"Mission briefing in ten minutes. Main hall."

The main hall was a long room with a circular table at its center and a large screen on the far wall. Three people were already seated when Lucian walked in.

The pink-haired woman sat at the head of the table. To her left was a young man with red hair pulled into a messy bun. To her right was a dark-skinned girl with braided hair that fell past her shoulders, chewing gum with the lazy confidence.

Lucian took the empty seat.

"Your mission," the woman began, tapping the screen. A map of North Africa appeared. "Egypt. A rogue awakener named Hasaan El-Masri is leading a rebellion against the Egyptian government. His rhetoric is about freeing the people from clan control and government corruption. In practice, he’s killed over three hundred civilians and military personnel in the last six months."

The screen shifted to photos. A man with a scarred face and wild eyes. Desert camps. Destroyed buildings.

"His group numbers in the hundreds. Most are Neophyte realm — recruited from disillusioned citizens and minor awakeners. But expect a few Core Realm cultivators among his leadership."

She paused.

"Three days ago, his group raided a government compound in Cairo and kidnapped seven children of high-ranking officials. The government wants them back alive. That’s where you come in."

She pointed at the braided-haired girl. "Amira Osei. She knows Egypt well — geography, politics, local power structures. She’ll navigate."

Amira blew a bubble and popped it. "Got it."

The woman pointed at the red-haired man. "Declan Rhodes. Combat specialist. You’ll handle the heavy fighting alongside Lucian."

Declan nodded, still grinning.

"Your objectives in order of priority," the woman continued. "One — rescue the children. Two — neutralize Hasaan El-Masri. Three — minimize collateral damage. The Egyptian government is paying for this operation, so try not to level their cities."

She stood. "You leave in two hours. Transportation is waiting."

The flight took them to the edge of Egyptian airspace. The pilot — a Knight operative — refused to go deeper.

"No joke," he said over the comms. "Certain regions are surrounded by beast territories. Land beasts in the western desert. Flying beasts in the eastern corridors. I get paid to fly, not to die."

They landed at a military airfield near the coast. From there, a ground vehicle took them south toward Cairo. Two hours and fifteen minutes of desert highway.

Lucian watched through the window. The landscape was stark — endless sand, scattered ruins, and the occasional fortified settlement. Military checkpoints appeared every thirty kilometers.

"Beast density increases past this point," Amira said from the front seat. She’d been quiet since the briefing, but her eyes never stopped scanning the horizon. "The rebellion set up in a region the government abandoned because the beast population made it unsustainable. Hasaan turned that into an advantage — nobody wants to go in there, so he’s basically untouchable."

"How do we find them?" Declan asked. He was leaning back with his arms behind his head, looking completely relaxed.

"We know one of their bases is in this city." Amira tapped her own tablet, bringing up a map of a medium-sized desert settlement. "El-Wahat. About forty kilometers northeast of Cairo. It’s half-ruined — the beast attacks drove most people out years ago. The rebellion moved into the remains."

"How many in that base?" Lucian asked.

"Estimates put it at two hundred. Mostly Neophyte. Maybe three to five Core Realm fighters."

"And the kids?"

"Likely held in the central compound. It’s the most defensible structure in the settlement." Amira looked at Lucian. "We go in quiet, grab the kids, get out. If we can take Hasaan at the same time, great. If not, we retreat and plan a second strike."

Declan stretched. "Sounds simple enough."

"Nothing about Egypt is simple," Amira said flatly. She turned back to the window.