The Vaise family.
It was a duchy of Chronos kingdom that made people feel awe and fear simultaneously.
They were the strongest and most dangerous force in the kingdom, and the only reason for their loyalty to the kingdom was an ancient oath that ensured peaceful nights for the royals even now.
Without the oath, the Vaise family had the strength to overturn the kingdom.
The source of their strength? A legendary physique inherited by every Vaise at birth: the Draconic Ascendance Physique.
This physique, a gift from the dragons, granted unparalleled strength, resilience, and mana affinity.
But even with such power, they had limits as they were only humans. Unlike dragons, who can have their physique grow stronger as they grow, the Vaise have their body maximum growth limit defined moments after their birth.
When they are born, their body sucks in mana to empower itself, but the air lacks the mana they need, leading them not to have strong bodies, if not for the mana bath prepared for them.
The problem is that the bath is very painful as the dense mana is pushed into the newborns.
From then on, it was all about endurance as the moment the child falls unconscious is when their body stops developing.
The record set by the strongest ancestor of the Vaise family had been a dream that everyone hoped their child would achieve.
That was until today.
A child, who, although unaware, had lost his mother at birth had broken that record today.
That child was Raven.
The same child, unaware of the storm he had caused, lay in a cradle, surrounded by other newborns of the Vaise family, staring blankly at the system screen hovering in front of him.
His tiny chest rose and fell as he took in shallow breaths, still recovering from what could only be described as the worst experience of both his lives.
It was almost night and he finally found some peace as he had seen nobles, elders, and high-ranking members of the Vaise family walk in and out of the room, the whole day.
Some wore expressions of shock, others admiration, and a few... displeasure?
They had scowls and furrowed brows, making it clear that he could tell not everyone was happy about his existence.
But honestly? He couldn't care less. He couldn't even understand anything they said anyway. Their words sounded like foreign gibberish to him, bouncing off of him.
And right now, when there was no one to disturb him, he finally focused on something far more important.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations! You have set a new record in the Vaise family's Mana Baptism!]
[Previous Record: 8 Minutes] [Your Time: 10 Minutes] [Reward: 5 Plot Points]
'Five.'
Raven blinked.
'FIVE?!'
He had endured ten minutes of absolute hell, felt his soul nearly tear apart, and nearly exploded into baby giblets—
For FIVE plot points?!
'WHAT KIND OF HIGHWAY ROBBERY IS THIS?!'
He could barely suppress his rage.
He had assumed that since this was an incredibly crucial event—one that literally shaped the strength of the Vaise family—it would be worth at least a hundred points! Hell, even fifty would have been acceptable!
But no. Five.
He furiously stared at his plot armor ability, the only ability of the system he could use right now.
[Plot Armor (First Use) – 2000 Plot Points]
'Fucking two thousand?!'
Yes, just one use of the ability which he thought would be his cheat power required two thousand points!
What the hell would five points even do?!
His already tiny baby fist clenched even tighter, as much as his underdeveloped muscles would allow.
Raven took deep breaths. 'Okay, okay, let's not panic. Let's check if the store's unlocked or not.'
With a single thought, the store symbol appeared in front of him, but just then...
[Ding!]
The moment he heard the ding, his expression turned teary, and when the next message finally appeared...
[Store Locked.]
[Do you wish to use 10 Plot Points to unlock the store?]
"WAHHHHHHHHHH!!"
He cried out loud, unable to stop his undeveloped body from taking on so much frustration without breaking into tears.
'Fuck! This is embarrassing! I'm fucking crying!'
He roared inwardly, but on the outside, his tears just intensified.
What could he do? Controlling the functions of this small and undeveloped body was hard.
However, when his eyes landed on the notification again, his frustration bubbled up.
'FUCK!!!!'
He didn't care anymore. He cried out loud. He was just a child anyway. What was so embarrassing about crying? It was just how the body functioned.
The situation was just that absurd.
He had literally risked death and achieved something no one else in the entire history of the Vaise family had done, and the system was acting like it had just given him a participation trophy.
This was some next-level robbery.
'I almost DIED! I was ready to EXPLODE! And for WHAT?! Five measly points?!'
His tiny body twitched with irritation, as the cushion below him got drenched with his tears. He felt utterly cheated.
For a while, he kept crying, not realizing that it was already midnight and the nannies taking care of the children were long gone.
The only noise that could be heard in the room now was Raven's wailing, which had now turned into sobs.
He did change a major part of the plot by increasing his growth limit, but it seemed that it wasn't enough of a change.
'Hah... I should've just given up in five minutes...' He sighed inwardly, still sobbing on the outside.
After letting out his frustration, he realized it as well. In the original plot, when Raven's friends and lovers were dying, he still hadn't reached his power limit.
At that time, he was still growing, which meant that increasing his growth limit wouldn't make the plot better; only increasing his powers would.
But the real problem he was facing right now was that he needed two thousand points tonight.
Raven had to get those points, and he had to use the plot armor or he would—
"Is the baby crying because he realized something?"
It was then that a voice was heard, breaking him out of his musing.
"They say that children have sharp senses, so he probably did," another voice replied to the former, and two people came into view.
'The fuck are they talking about?' Raven, however, understood batshit from their talk.
"Gibberish, gibberish, blah blah, baby, gibberish," was all he could hear.
And yet... the moment his little black eyes landed on the cylindrical container in their hands, every alarm in his head went off like a nuclear meltdown.
'Oh, fuck me.'
That container. That's the exact same one.
He knew this scene. He knew it too well.
This was the second major event in the plot.
It was a plot related to his Half-Mothers.
In the Vaise family, where power decides the position one holds, his half-mothers saw him as a potential throne in their children's path.
Someone who could break the record set by their ancestors was destined to climb high by stepping on the people who came in his path, and in this case, those stepping stones would be their children.
They didn't want that, so they wanted to eliminate him before he could grow.
It was something that the original Raven, who had survived only five minutes, had to face as well, so there was no way that he, who had survived double, could avoid this event.
Raven knew this was bound to happen. But now that it was happening, he felt horrified.
His already weak baby body began to shake as he watched them approach his cradle. One of them had a conflicted look, but the other? No hesitation; just cold resolve.
'Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!!'
He wanted to get up and run away but his muscles were as loose as noodles because of the strain his body had gone through before.
His heart pounded, his breath came in short, panicked gasps, and his fists clenched tightly.
But mentally? He was throwing hands.
'This is it! This is where they put that snake in my crib! The fucking soul snake! The thing that could turn the next sixteen years of my life into hell!'
His frantic gaze snapped to the system screen hovering in front of him.
[Plot Armor (First Use) – 2000 Plot Points.]
He gulped.
'Two thousand points. I don't HAVE two thousand points. I HAVE FIVE. That's not even enough for a shitty store unlock, let alone a goddamn cheat code!'
But just as his frustration peaked, another option appeared beneath it.
[Ding!]
[Would you like to take a loan of 2000 Plot Points?]
[WARNING: The interest will be applied from the moment the loan is taken. It is advised that the host pays the loan back within a year.]
Raven froze.
Pay the loan back in a year?
How the fuck would he do that?! He didn't even know if he could earn 2000 plot points in a year, let alone the amount it would be with the interest included!
'For fuck's sake, how am I supposed to pay it back?!'
But then—
Clink.
The container was placed into his cradle and the lid was opened.
'Shit!' His pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks as he saw two slitted blue eyes staring at him from the inside.
A moment later, the sleek, shadowy form of a snake slowly emerged, its forked tongue flicking the air, sensing his presence.
The two people—probably servants—standing over him spoke again, their voices hushed and regretful.
"Blame yourself for standing out, kid."
"This was bound to happen, child. Try not to stand out too much in the next life."
Raven couldn't understand anything they said, but their expressions were clear to him.
They seemed sorry.
'Oh, fuck you both. If you're sorry, then fucking save me!'
But he didn't have time to curse them out.
The snake had locked onto him, and he felt a chill running down his spine.
'FUCK IT. LOAN. LOANLOANLOANLOANLOAN—' He roared in his head, not caring about the consequences.
Avoiding this crisis was more important.
[Ding!] [Loan Accepted.] [2000 Plot Points have been credited to your account.]
He didn't hesitate.
'PLOT ARMOR, ACTIVATE!'
A sudden, overwhelming warmth flooded his tiny body. It was unlike anything he had ever felt.
It wasn't mana. It wasn't some life-saving elixir. It was as if something in his body had been freed. He felt rejuvenated.
But the snake?
It didn't care.
Oblivious to the changes happening within Raven, the cursed creature lunged at him—a being it saw as its prey—with its jaw wide open, revealing inked fangs.
Without hesitation, it sank its fangs deep into his tiny, frail arm.
Pain exploded through him, white-hot and unbearable.
"Gahhhh!" A cry tore from his lips, raw and filled with the purest form of helpless agony.
The servants, however, just closed their eyes, and gritting their teeth, they turned around, leaving the baby to die.
Their job was to wait and confirm the bite. With that done, they didn't wait for a second.
They weren't fond of watching a child die after all.
[Ding!]
Raven, on the other hand, saw a new message appearing in front of his tear-filled eyes.
[Plot Armor (First use): Soul Dragon Bloodline Unlocked.]
[Plot Armor (Second use): Requires 3000 Plot Points.]