In the heart of Manila, under the shadow of a
crumbling ancestral house, Eliza dela Cruz—a
rich heir and top student at Ateneo—receives a
letter from the university council. She is
accused of plagiarism in her thesis on
precolonial Filipino epics. The accusation comes
from her fiercest rival, Mateo Salazar, whose
own research into the same topic had
mysteriously vanished weeks before.
Eliza’s family, known for their wealth and
political ties, demands she fight back. But when
she discovers that her late grandfather was part
of a secret society guarding ancient knowledge,
she realizes her academic work had unknowingly
tapped into forbidden lore. That same night, the
library where she studied is set ablaze, and
Mateo is seen fleeing with a leatherbound tome
in hand.
The world is not what it seems. In this era, the
old gods still whisper through the roots of
balete trees, and those who awaken their power
are marked by blood. Eliza’s lineage is tied to
an aswang bloodline, one that grants strength
but demands sacrifice. When Mateo reveals he too
carries the mark, the academic rivalry turns
into a battle for survival.
Rules bite hard: no outsider may wield the
ancient texts without a blood offering, and any
who do risk becoming cursed. Eliza must choose—
expose her heritage and face public humiliation,
or keep it secret and lose the only person who
might understand her.
During a stormy exam day, Eliza stands before
the faculty, her hands trembling. She does not
speak. Instead, she pulls a blade from beneath
her sleeve, slashing her palm and letting her
blood drip onto the parchment of her thesis. The
room falls silent. The text begins to glow,
revealing truths long buried.
Mateo, watching from the shadows, lowers his
head. The rivalry ends not with a grade, but
with a pact: they will uncover the truth
together, or die trying. The world mechanism
shifts—knowledge is no longer just written, but
lived, and only those with blood to offer can
shape its future.
