Chapter 40: Night Vision

A few minutes later, Raven spotted three more goblins in the distance. But unlike before, he noticed that they seemed to be in the middle of battling a wild wolf.

Before they could notice his presence, he hid behind a tree trunk and slowly waited for the right opportunity.

Each Goblin held a knife of sharp bone in their hand and encircled the wolf from three directions.

‘Unlike the Goblin looter, these three appear less experienced.’

Raven observed the goblins attacking the wolf with crude, bone-made knives. The wild wolf, however, fought fiercely, using its sharp fangs and claws to fend off the goblin assailants. It was a chaotic skirmish, and Raven saw an opportunity to intervene.

Gripping the spear, Raven decided to take advantage of the distracted goblins. He moved swiftly, his steps masked by the sounds of the ongoing struggle. He focused on the Goblin closest to him as he approached, preparing to strike.

In a swift motion, he thrust his spear, aiming for the Goblin's neck. But as the spear was about to stab the neck region, the Goblin moved lightly and avoided a fatal blow. The spear edge cut through the air with a whistle and only managed to give the Goblin a shallow wound.

As the Goblin stumbled by the sudden attack, the wolf took the opportunity and pounded onto the injured Goblin before ripping its neck with its sharp jaws.

Along with a loud cry, the Goblin collapsed with a thud. The other goblins, engrossed in their battle with the wolf, noticed the newcomer and became stunned to move.

Seizing the opportunity, Raven continued his assault. Although he had made a mistake earlier, he kept calm and acted swiftly.

He moved like a shadow, arrived before the nearby Goblin, and dispatched the second Goblin. As the third one turned to face him, it met the same fate.

The wild wolf, now free from its goblin adversaries, eyed Raven cautiously before eventually retreating into the depths of the woods.

With the immediate threat neutralized, Raven examined the fallen goblins. He retrieved their left ears and extracted their bloodline essences.

…

[Bloodline Devourer System activated!]

[Goblin Warrior's Bloodline Essence has been found!]

[Analyzing the purity of the Bloodline Essence....]

[Calculating....]

[The corpse has 0.1% purity of a Rank-1 Goblin Warrior's Bloodline Essence.]

[It is possible to absorb a part of the Goblin's Bloodline Essence and its abilities.]

[Would you like to use 'Bloodline Devourer Ability'? Yes/No.]

...

Raven clicked 'Yes,' like before.

...

['Bloodline Devourer' ability is on commences!]

[Due to a lower purity percentage, 'Bloodline Ability Extraction' has failed!]

[Proceeding to absorb the Blood Essence!]

[Host managed to absorb a part of the Goblin's blood Essence!]

[Host's spirit has been increased by 0.08]

[Host's vitality has been increased by 0.03]

[Host's strength has been increased by 0.02]

[Host's agility has been increased by 0.02]

[Host's body is undergoing a mutation process!]

...

"So, I can't extract abilities from the goblins with less purity of bloodline essences, huh?" Raven nodded in understanding and moved towards the next corpse.

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Although he only slightly increased his attribute stats, he didn't get discouraged and decided to continue the hunt.

As Raven moved deeper, he encountered more goblins, kobolds, and wolves.

Although the first few battles caused him to make mistakes and almost injured him, he started learning from his mistakes and became more skilled at battle.

After a few killings, his movement became refined and calm.

Of course, he didn't forget to extract bloodline essences and steadily increased his strength.

Time passed swiftly, and the sun began its descent towards the horizon. Now covered in dirt and sweat, Raven had accumulated around twenty Goblin's left ears, twelve Kobolds' left ears, and three wolves' left years, earning him 53 points in the exam.

Although he used two strength and one agility potion when battling the three wolves, he was very satisfied with the results.

He put the monsters' ears in a separate leather bag and attached it to his waist.

After that, he checked his status and was stunned by the improvement.

…

[Name: Raven Sillalus Jorvot,

Age: 15

Nationality: Zenith Empire

Title: 66th Prince of Zenith Empire

Level: 1

Class: Acolyte Warlock (0th Circle)

Soul Rank: Mortal (Soul damaged 84%)

Life Pathway: Beginner Alchemist

Health: Fatigued

Attributes:

Strength: 1.5

Agility: 1.67

Vitality: 1.56

Luck: 1.5

Spirit: 8.6

Bloodline Spells:

Regeneration (Incomplete), Fortuitous Finder (Completed).

Additional Skills: Past Finder, Instant Memorize.

Affinities:

Life: Low.]

…

'Wow! My body has long surpassed the mortal stage. No wonder I felt my movement became refined and composed.'

Then, he looked at the leather bag and nodded in satisfaction.

'It is more than enough to pass the graduation exam.'

However, he knew that surviving until morning was crucial for the overall success of the test.

"I should find a safe place to sleep." He muttered inwardly as he searched the surroundings and soon stumbled upon a beautiful place.

In the heart of the Mirror Woodlands, a magnificent Eldertwine tree stood as tall as 200 meters. Its colossal branches sprawled in all directions, creating a vast and intricate canopy that seemed to embrace the forest's very essence.

The Eldertwine's bark was a rich, deep brown, along with luminescent mushrooms that pulse with ethereal energy.

"Luminescent Mooncaps!" He instantly moved closer to the tree and started looking at the hundreds of unique mushrooms growing on the bark of the Eldertwine Tree.

"If I'm not wrong, there should be one or two mushrooms with rainbow color buds on the top." Although this unique mushroom was not precious, it was still the main ingredient in creating the 'Dawn' Spirit Potion.

"And there is one more advantage. As long as I stay close to this tree, wolves, goblins, and kobolds won't come closer and attack me due to the unique smell spreading around." He first searched all over the trunk and soon found a single rainbow-colored mushroom on the other side of the trunk.

At the same time, he also found a small cave-like structure beneath the gigantic trunk and decided to make it a base.

He soon cleared the dry leaves, stones, and woods in that small root cavern and made it look like a hideout.

After that, he covered the cavern entrance using tree branches and concealed the whole root cave.

At that moment, the darkness had completely shrouded the forest, making the atmosphere more eerie. Howls of wolves and screeches of strange animals continued to resound from all directions.

After looking outside through the small gap for a while, Raven slowly lit a candle using the matchstick.

Thanks to the yellowish light, he saw the interior of the natural root cavern more clearly. Like slithering snakes, all those roots tangled and formed a dome-shaped structure above his head.

He also saw strange spiders, insects, and ants crawling here and there and felt an odd sense of anxiety.

"Can I sleep here safely?" He couldn't help but ask himself.

Shaking his head, he took a glass vial with black liquid stored inside and opened the lid.

Then, he took a deep breath and drank it in one go.

A second later, a strange itching sensation came from both his eyes, causing his hands to move to rub the eyes subconsciously.

[Don't try to rub your eyes. Just keep your eyes closed and let the Mutation take place.] Zera's words made him halt his hands.

As minutes passed, he felt a strange sense of dizziness.

Without knowing, Raven slowly closed his eyes and fell into deep sleep.

...

Sometimes later, a sudden pain came from his left hand, causing him to wake up abruptly.

"Argh!" He hurriedly scratched his left hand and noticed it was a red ant. With a swift hand movement, he slapped the ant and killed it.

"Damn it, I ended up sleeping without even knowing." Only then did he notice that the candlelight was extinguished in the cavern. But to his astonishment, he saw even in the dark. However, he saw the surroundings in a greenish light instead of a bright light.

"Is this the effect of the ‘Night Vision’ skill?" He furrowed his brows and soon saw a bunch of notifications before his eyes.

...

['Dawn Night Vision' potion has been consumed!]

[Spirit power has been raised to 0.5 points!]

[Due to the presence of the essence of Feral Eye Crystal, the Host's eyes have been undergoing a mutation!]

[Mutation completed!]

[Host has obtained 'Night Vision' skill]

[Due to the Host's high spirit status, the Host has met the requirement to unlock 'Spiritual Scan.']

[Current Range: 0.5 meter!]

...

"Spiritual Scan?" Raven muttered subconsciously and soon noticed the strangeness in the surroundings.

At that moment, he accurately perceived the movements of the ants, worms, and spiders in the roots and was stunned.

'Is this the spiritual scan? I even sense the small rat hiding under the soil.' He slowly lowered his gaze to the ground and perceived a strange vibration.

Although very minute, he sensed a strange vibration coming from the ground.

Without delay, he moved his ears closer to the ground and analyzed the vibration more clearly.

'Aunt mentioned that the vibration on the ground usually means a large monster's approach.' He recalled Shirley’s teaching about the Mirage woods.

[Usually, Wizards and Walkers unlock their spiritual scan ability when they reach Rank-2. But you unlocked the' Spiritual Scan' ability due to the sudden increase in your spirit power and the ‘Night Vision' skill. It also enchanted all your senses, allowing you to perceive the minute vibration in the ground.] Zera explained.

At the same time, the golden hexagonal structure in Raven's mind suddenly released a strange energy and started to shine.