Chapter 24: Choice

'But if humans also have powerful bloodline abilities, why are we using Knight Technique to even fight against goblins?'

[That's because the purity in a normal human's blood is very minute. The same goes for all other races like Goblins, Orcs, kobolds, etc. Only the Elves, Dragons, and a few powerful races with less reproductive traits have retained the high purity of their bloodline. That's why humans decide to rely more on Wizard Pathway. But even that needs an elemental affinity.]

"But I don't even have any affinities for elements, though. And I don't even know when I will be able to use the Devouring ability on another Magical Beasts' corpse and obtain its ability too." Raven furrowed.

[It is indeed true that one's affinity is important for any human mortal or even Warlock. But thanks to the power of the Bloodline Devouring System and Memory Library, you can gain multiple abilities of different beings and even work hard to concoct affinity potions slowly. The alchemy pathway can help you make different potions and even increase your physical strength and spirit power, too. Thanks to the Memory Library, you have a big advantage of monopolizing numerous potion recipes.]

"How many abilities can I get?"

[I'm not sure. Usually, an average Bloodline Warlock has a total of 6 abilities. Some even have more than six, too. But your existence is somewhat unique. Due to certain incidents, your soul was damaged severely during the reincarnation process and was born in this new world. When the system awakened, I separated the 'Harmful thing' in your soul with the System Core and also made a little change to your shattering soul to extend your lifespan. Due to this, your body, soul, and consciousness have already been fused.]

"I don't understand what you are saying." Raven frowned.

[Well, I will tell you something else first. A long time ago, because of a certain 'Taboo Existence,' a completely brand new pathway was created all over the universe. It's called the' Class Gem' Pathway. Using this pathway, one can be both a 'Wizard' and a 'Warlock' or 'Knight.' We call them 'Dual Class Mystic.' Only then did we learn that a Human Soul can be capable of holding more than 14 Abilities, six or seven from the body and six or seven from the soul. Some beings could even learn unique skills, but it will only slow down their progression. Thanks to your Soul, Consciousness, and Body being a fused entity, you can absorb more than 10 Warlock Bloodline Essences without any restraint. But even so, you should choose the better and more powerful bloodline spells.] Zera's words only made him more confused.

But he finally understood that he had to kill people and monsters in the future to get stronger.

While thinking deeply, he closed his eyes and soon entered the 'Memory Library.'

[Now that you've finally increased your lifespan, I give you two options now. First, learn the second skill through the skill book and get advantages in many things. Or, continue reading the theoretical alchemic knowledge of Adept Rank and further improve your alchemy skills. Once you start it, I won't allow you to go back in midway. So, choose wisely.]

Her sudden proposal startled him.

'Alchemy or one of the other two skills...' A frown appeared on his forehead.

'I don't think learning about the past can help me in any situation. Although 'Wonder Sense' looks great, it won't help me in the current situation. After joining the elementary school, all I did was go to school in the morning and return home during the evening. My sister won't even allow me to walk away from the home alone. In school, there are always two official-rank Knights standing at the gate to guard the kids. And I'm 100% sure that I'll be in the same situation until I turn 15 and graduate from the Knight Training School.' As he analyzed his situation, he instantly spoke.

'I've decided to learn more about Adept level Alchemy from now on.'

[Good. Although theoretical knowledge of Adept Level Alchemy won't be of much help, its effect will be shown as soon as you are promoted to an Adept Alchemist. In six months, you might even outshine a genius Adept Rank Alchemist.] Zera answered.

Raven nodded his head and hurriedly moved to the nearby shelf book.

[The Adept Level Alchemy books start from the second to the twelfth shelf, each containing around 500 books. So, you better start reading now.]

'I need to read around 5,500 books?!' He couldn't help but get startled. But as soon as he took the first book and started reading, he noticed a small difference.

"Wait... My reading ability increased twofold?"

[That's the benefit of having one's spirit power about 2.0 points. It's equal to a 1st Circle Acolyte Wizard's spirit power. The higher your spirit power, the stronger and faster your mind will be. The reason a Wizard can see through any trick is due to his extraordinary analysis skill.]

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

'Oh! Can I learn at least the Spirit Technique to increase my spirit?' He asked.

[You can't learn that technique now. You should learn them after entering the Wizard Academy. That way, you won't gain anyone's attention.] Zera paused for a moment and asked.

[Now that I think about it, what is your aim, Raven? Do you have anything you want to achieve in your life? After all, I can't decide what path you should walk on.]

Her question made him ponder deeply.

After a short time, he recalled the smiling faces of Athena and Shirley and spoke with a grin.

'I want my sister and aunt to be happy all the time. But they seem to be worrying too much about something.' He went silent for a second and soon added.

'If I'm not wrong, this must have something to do with the title of mine. But why did the Zenith Emperor discard his children? Was it because of me?' Raven asked. In truth, he had long felt envious of Robert and his other school friends.

Although Athena and Shirley were there for him all the time, he was very curious about how his mother and father looked. But whenever he asked his sister or aunt, both always avoided that topic. His sister once told him about how beautiful and caring her mother was and cried a lot while hugging him when he was a child.

If not for her crying for the first time, Raven wouldn't have even remembered such an incident.

Noticing Zera's silence, Raven could only sigh and speak.

'If my parents are the problem, I won't even hesitate to oppose them.'

[Your father is not some random drunkard, lad. He is the Emperor of this whole Empire. If he wants to kill you or even take your sister back, he can do it with an order.] Zera's words caused Raven's eyes to widen.

'Is he a bad man?' Raven asked.

[I don't know. But from the looks of it, he is a bad father for sure.] Zera answered.

'Even so, I'll stop him and protect my sister from anyone.'

[Hmm, I expected much. But protecting the ones you cherish most is the most difficult thing, lad. Unless you become an Emperor himself, it won't be an easy thing. For now, focus more on Alchemy.] Zera said.

With an understanding nod, Raven didn't waste a single moment and started reading the books.

The next day, he asked his sister to get two new notebooks and copied two new Knight Techniques.

Unlike the previous ones, these two books contained information about the Class Gem pathway of Rank-2 [Holy Knight]!

No, it was a unique pathway created by combining Class Gem Pathway's Knight Class and Faith Plane's Knight Pathway.

Shirley's knight technique was called the 'Inferno Vanguard Technique,' which mostly involved fierce combat skills.

On the other hand, Athena's Knight Technique was called 'Nether Stride,' which greatly involved movement-related combat skills.

Both instantly immersed themselves in the new knowledge and started improving their strength.

Unlike Athena, Shirley had lots of battle experiences and had already reached the pinnacle of Elite Knight.

Although this technique didn't let her break through the realm of Radiant Knight, aka Holy Knight, it allowed her to enhance her strength twofold.

But even before she could comprehend the new Knight technique, an escort mission for the Baron's third son to the Royal Capital came up.

This time, Baron's son was traveling to attend the entrance exam of the Zenith Empire's Crows' Misery Academy. Unlike the elementary school and Knight Training School, which one would find even in rural towns, the Crows' Misery Academy was the only Academy for Wizards in the whole Empire!

Whenever a child graduated from the Knight Training School, their affinities were recorded and sent to the Crows' Misery Academy. After two months, a selection letter would be sent to all students with a 'High-Rank' affinity or above.

Alas, this was only the start.

To enter the Academy, one must pass the physical fitness test, the written test, the 'Will' test, the 'Spirit' test, and finally, the 'Practical Test.'

Among thousands of people, only a few dozen would pass these tests and enter the Academy every year.

Every year, more than 10,000 students from different parts of the territory come to the Royal Capital to enroll in the Academy and go through all tests.

Then, the only selected seeds would be picked up and were taught to take the first step in the path of wizardry.

Meanwhile, the rest of the candidates would end up getting picked by the Empire's noble households or other organizations.

So, it was indeed a miraculous opportunity for everyone to become a mysterious wizard.

Baron also didn't want to lose such a precious opportunity and decided to send his third son to participate in the entrance exam.

During this trip, Shirley took the materials with her and secretly sold the Orc Thigh bones and Trollsbane Glands at the Royal Auction house, fetching around 250 gold coins. The unique nature of these materials made them valuable to certain buyers, especially those interested in creating specialized weapons.

Of course, their mission didn't go as planned due to Baron's son was eliminated in the fourth round of the selection test, causing the child to get depressed.

Due to that, they decided to stay in the capital for a few more weeks and let him calm down.

Using this opportunity, Shirley went shopping and brought many alchemic utensils like 3 Mystic Alembic, 25 luminescent Vials, 4 Crucible bowls, Starlight Mortar and Pestle, Ethereal Stirring Rod, Arcane Siphon Syringe, Volumetric Measuring Beaker, Filtration funnel, Incense Burner, Burner Stand, Infusion Funnel, Smoke Distiller Cone, etc., using 50 Gold coins in the black market.

Thanks to those materials, Raven managed to turn the store room into a completely new alchemy room.

However, due to the lack of potion materials in the local market, he only managed to create a few mortal potions with the probability of a 20% success rate. Even though it was only a 20% success rate, it was more than enough to buy ten sets of materials.

[Even if you increase your success rate of the mortal potions to 100%, you can barely able to create a Low-Rank potion with a succession rate of 5%. But an average beginner Alchemist will be able to concoct a Low-Rank potion with a succession rate of 10%. You still have a long way to go.] Zera's words were like sharp knives as he was overjoyed by successfully creating his first potion.

But he didn't get discouraged and used the mortal potion recipes to train his alchemy skills.