Chapter 23: Warlock Pathway

"Yes. We took out its magic stone but found something unique about it." As Athena spoke, she took out a thumb-sized pale green crystal and showed it to him.

"Instead of the usual orange color magic stone, it looks completely different. Moreover, its size only looks as the size of an Intermediate Rank Magic Stone."

"It's nothing unusual, sister. Usually, a normal Magic Stone has condensed mana stored in it. The higher the Rank, the purer the mana will be. But when a monster evolves and becomes a Magical Beast, it will turn into an elemental stone based on its understanding of an element. And the thing in your hand is neither a Magic Stone nor an elemental stone." He paused for a moment and then added calmly.

"Alchemists call these stones as 'Hybrid Mana Stones.' Although they aren't as valuable as true elemental stones, their worth should be no less than 500 gold coins by the market rate." Of course, that was just his assumption based on the books he read in the past two years.

"500 Gold coins?" Athena drew a deep breath and calmed down her heart.

At that moment, Shirley also returned and quietly walked towards them.

"You look healthier than before." She said as she arrived before him and gave more than ten crystal glasses in her hand to Athena.

"What are these for, Aunt?" Athena asked in puzzlement.

"I bought it from the black alley shop. They say that it helps the materials to be preserved for more than a week."

Saying so, Shirley bent her waist and picked Raven up.

"So, what happened?"

Raven could only smile forcefully and spoke as Zera told him to.

"It's more like a Magic Spell of my Teacher, Aunt. A while ago, he helped me extract a part of Orc's life essence and strengthened my soul. Thanks to that, my life span also increased up to 12 years."

"What?! Your Teacher was there? Why couldn't we see him?" Athena asked in a startled tone and soon widened her eyes as she recalled his last few words.

"Your lifespan increased by consuming the Orc's blood? Does that mean he has a way to heal your injured soul?" She asked in a suppressed voice and turned her gaze towards Shirley.

"Athena, don't ask too many questions about his Teacher from now on. He might be way more powerful than the normal Wizard and not want to attract anyone's attention. And the good thing is we have found some hope to save this child. That's all matters." Shirley said in a solemn tone and looked at Raven before patting his head.

"Now, Raven, can you tell us which of this Orc's parts are valuable for selling?"

Raven nodded his head and answered.

"After the Magic Stone, the most important thing is its 'Blood.' Unfortunately, I took away all of it when extracting its blood essence. So, the second important thing you guys should take out is its eyeballs. No, within those eyeballs, you will find a hexagonal crystal called 'Feral Eye Crystal.' They will be used to create a potion called 'Night Walking Vial,' which helps one to permanently achieve night vision and increased perception."

"Night vision? Does that mean we can move in the dark like we are moving in the day?" Athena asked.

"Yes. But the potion won't be as effective as normal Low-Rank potions and only help one's vision to increase to some extent. Still, it's still an extremely valuable skill potion for any mortal Knight." Raven said calmly and then continued to explain.

"The next valuable item should be its Trollsbane Glands. Two sac-like glands will be found near its throat region and can be used to create a unique potion called 'Nullify Regeneration' with a few other ingredients. It is mostly used in the battle against highly regenerative lizard-type creatures or used permanently on weapons to make unique low-rank artifacts."

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"And finally the last valuable thing in this Orc Commander's body should be its bones. Especially, Magical essence imbued Orc Commander's Thigh Bones are one of the strongest materials used to create swords for Knights and could be used to create a Low-Rank Artifact Sword by any Beginner Rune Mage."

"Interesting. You seem to have learned a lot about alchemy from your Teacher. So, what should we do with the spoils? Do you want to keep them for yourself and make potions with your knowledge? Or sell them?" Shirley asked.

'Zera, what should we do?' Raven asked.

[Although you can make a Night Walking potion and use it for yourself, the other items are troublesome to deal with. You can create unique low-rank artifacts using the Orc Commander's materials, but they emit the aura of an Orc and might attract the attention of other Orcs. If there is an Orc Nation hidden deep within this Mirage Forest, there is a high possibility of this town being invaded again. At that time, the Orcs will first come after the ones who holding the weapons made of Orc bones. I'm also concerned about the Rank-0 Orc Warrior. Tell your Aunt to dismantle the materials first. We'll think about it later.]

'Okay.'

"I'll tell you how to extract the materials, Aunt. As long as you follow my instructions, you will have an easier time extracting the valuable materials."

As Raven spoke, Shirley and Athena nodded their head and started doing the dismantling process. With his guidance, they first extracted the Orc's eyes, then the Trollsbane Glands, and finally, they extracted its Thigh Bones and stored them separately.

Once everything was done, Raven looked at the dismembered corpse and spoke.

"The remaining items aren't worth much, Aunt. But the Teacher said that you must burn the Orc Commander's corpse when disposing of it, not burying it. Also, this Orc Commander isn't a normal monster but has some connection with an even high-ranked one. Before that high-ranked monster notices the Orc Commander's death and finds a way to track it down, we must erase any trace."

"Oh? There is such a thing?" Shirley's eyes widened.

Raven nodded and added.

"As for these extracted materials, we should sell them off separately. You can sell the Orc Thigh bones and Trollsbane Glands at the Royal Auction house secretly first. Although both are valuable materials for mortals, they aren't much worth to any wizards and won't attract much attention from the local wizards or the Royal Family."

"What about that unique Magic Stone and the two Feral eye crystals?"

"Unlike the other two materials, these two won't give off any aura of the dead orc commander and can be stored safely. Also, both of these items will attract many Wizards, so we should sell them a few years later or make potions for ourselves."

"Then, I will do as you say." After that, Shirley went out again and brought some workers from the Administrative department, along with two carts. Following that, they did their best to move the Orc Commander's corpse out of the town and burnt it near the Mirage Woodland.

With the Orc Commander's corpse disposed of and the valuable materials safely stored in the house's store room, Raven returned to his bedroom and lay on the bed.

"Now that I got extra years, I don't need to worry about dying soon, right? So, what should I do next?" He asked Zera as he looked at the ceiling.

[Hmm, before that, I want to tell you about a few things, Raven. The first thing is about the 'Class.' For a mortal, selecting one's class is as important as selecting one's future itself.]

'You mean Acolyte Warlock? Didn't I get a powerful regeneration ability due to that? Isn't that job as good as Wizards?'

[It is indeed good as Wizards, Raven. But Wizards usually comprehend the Nature of laws through their elemental affinity and improve their strength by constructing spell models, retaining their original appearance. The Wizards mostly seclude themselves from the outside world and focus on getting more knowledge and attaining higher enlightenment. But walking on the path of Warlocks is a path of plundering one's blood essence and making it your own. Wizards have magic-type spells, which involve the soul, while Warlock has Bloodline spells, which involve the physical body. And more importantly, the more you plunder another species' bloodline and rank up, the more you will turn into a real monster. But if you want to become stronger, you must kill the strong and steal their blood essence.]

Zera's words made his face stiff.

"I have to kill to get stronger? Is there no other way?"

[Even if you choose to walk on the path of Knights or Wizards, you must become resolve enough to kill others. Otherwise, you might get killed by a stranger. Now, let's come to the main topic. Although I don't know how the Bloodline Devouring System works, I can vaguely tell that you can absorb different bloodlines and fuse them on yourself to become a unique entity. As long as you utilize this ability, you will become a most powerful person one day. Now, the next topic I'm going to explain is actually about bloodlines or how the Warlock class works. In this vast universe, there are countless races with unique blood running through their bodies. Humans, Goblins, Kobolds, Elves, Dragons, Phoenixes, and even the powerful Seraph race have some unique bloodline abilities. For example, ancient humans have Prediction-type eyes, tricking hands, and shape-shifting abilities, while the Elves have Dream manipulation, Nature, and other abilities. The same goes for Magical Beasts you've heard from your Aunt. As long as you use your ability on any of those powerful monsters' corpses or the corpses of other powerful races, you will at least get some amazing ability.]