It was noon when William arrived at the Academy. He gave a good yawn after handing his Ruby Horse to the stableman. Being on a horse for so long made him tired. He felt that even his bones were intertwined. He saw that the academy was completely empty. He could only see occasional students in the main buildings. As a result of the war, many of the students wanted to return and control the family business for a while, which was understandable. William thought it would be about a week. After that, the students would have to return to the academy. Otherwise, it would be against the new rules of the Academy.

William had a few things to do first. Although he was tired, he had to visit him, so he decided to go to Baldur first. He wondered about his friend, whom he had not seen for a long time. He wanted to know if he was successful in his advancement.

When he arrived at Baldur's villa, he knocked on the door and waited patiently. Soon he heard footsteps from inside. Even before he saw Baldur, William thought he was getting heavy from the footsteps. He couldn't help but be surprised when the door opposite him opened. Earlier, when the door had opened, not only had Baldur's head been visible, but now even his chest was barely visible! William was almost level with Baldur's ass.

"Damn it! What happened to you?" William asked in all sincerity.

Baldur did not answer. He turned and invited him inside. "Come, let's have a drink." He said.

William followed in silence, but Baldur's every step distracted him. With each step, it was as if an elephant weighing a ton was walking on this wooden floor.

When the two finally entered and Baldur sat in his usual single seat, William could see his features and face more clearly. His eyes were sunken, even more so, and his nose was flattened. His bald head had also taken on a flattened appearance. He looked more and more like the worms he had encountered in the caves. His hands and feet were no longer the size of a normal large man. They were now the limbs of a giant!

William couldn't get over his surprise. He didn't even take a glass of beer from the usual keg. He asked again. "What happened to you?"

Baldur sighed helplessly. But then he smiled. He answered calmly. "I became a second-level mage and a bronze-level warrior."

"I can understand that!" William knew immediately from his aura. Baldur had made a successful breakthrough. "I'm asking about your body!" he said.

Baldur was surprised as if he didn't know that something was wrong with his body, but then he shook his head helplessly. "I don't know either. In theory, my body should accept this power and be able to generate this bloodline within me. But all I can feel is that this bloodline power is trying to change my body, but if I don't get stronger and stay at this level, I won't be affected anymore." He said. Then he stood up and poured himself and William a beer. Then he slowly walked back to the chair and sat down.

"Already... I have already run out of talent. It will be very difficult for me to move on from here. But it doesn't matter, I feel like my life is getting longer. Now I can easily live for three hundred years. That time is enough for my research." After taking a sip of his beer, he spoke. He didn't look sad, but hopeful.

William didn't know what to feel for him. Baldur was happy with himself. But William loved him, and just like the soldiers of his family he had trained with, he felt he could trust him with his life. It made him feel helpless to see someone so kind and good-hearted turn into a monster right before his eyes.

In the end, he couldn't bear it. More precisely, his conscience would not allow it. Frowning, he looked at the beer in his hand. He had made his decision. He drank the beer in one go and spoke after putting the glass down on the table.

"Do you have a spell to restrict us from the outside world?" Baldur thought that William was going to say something important shortly after the solemn expression on his face.

He raised two fingers and made a gesture in the air. A spell formed, enveloping the two of them and the entire room.

"Beautiful." He said. Later, William began to undress.

Baldur immediately misunderstood and spoke up. "Hey, what are you doing?"

William spoke with his head still inside the shirt. "How can I show it without taking it off?"

Baldur tilted his head back. "Well then," he said. Later he saw that William had just taken off his shirt. This was a misunderstanding. A big misunderstanding! William turned his shoulder to him and showed him a tattoo. It was the tattoo of a perfect wolf.

"It's beautiful, but what's so secret about it?" Baldur was confused.

"Just watch," William said. Then he activated his bloodline power. The tattoo glowed with a green light. Baldur felt a natural pressure coming from the depths of his body, though he was stronger than William. As this pressure emerged, every cell in his body became anxious.

He couldn't stand it anymore and asked in a trembling voice. "This... what is this?"

William spoke with a smile. "The power of the bloodline. What you've been researching for years!" he said.

Baldur stood up immediately. He walked over to William and examined the tattoo carefully. At that moment, a whole new door had opened in front of him.

"Did it happen spontaneously?" he asked.

"Yes. Totally spontaneous."

"Unbelievable! Just unbelievable!" His eyes were bright with excitement. He was not angry that what he had been trying to research for years had been discovered by William before him. He was simply amazed at the way tattoos and bloodline power worked.

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"So what are the effects?" He couldn't stand it and asked.

"The effects... I haven't discovered all of them yet, but there are many. For example, my senses have improved, the most developed being my sense of smell. But it can be annoying at times. Another effect is that I am stronger and several times faster than before," he said. He didn't talk about the Wind Blade. Even he had not figured out how to use it yet. Then he seemed to remember something. "And I didn't have any wind affinity before, now I have a little bit of it." He said.

Baldur had listened to him with a gleam in his eye. At that moment, William's bloodline had opened a new door for him.

"And what is the name of this bloodline power?" Baldur asked.

William frowned. "The Moon Swallowing Wolf."

Baldur was surprised by his words. As someone who had researched everything related to the Bloodline Power before, he had no memory of such a creature and therefore no memory of the Bloodline Power.

William took pity on his confusion and pulled the book with the tale of the moon-swallowing wolf from his dimensional bag. It was Levenoth's book. "I found this while exploring a ruin. At the end of the book, there is information about the Moon-Swallowing Wolf. Even if it's in the form of a story." He said.

Baldur picked up the book and quickly opened the last pages to find the Moon Swallowing Wolf that William had mentioned. He frowned even more as he read. Then he closed the book and put it on the table. He didn't want to return it. He would read it first. William didn't care, he had already read it. It was now nothing more than a lost mage's tower, a dead mage's book.

Baldur brought his hand to his chin and asked with a frown. "Well... are there any side effects? Like me?"

William frowned at the question. It was his turn to sigh. "Yes, unfortunately. Anger, sometimes such anger arises in me that I become insensible to everything and everyone around me. The only thing I think about is killing." He said. He then sat down in the chair beside him. "I attribute this to the hatred of the moon-swallowing wolf, just as the book says." He said.

"This is a very troubling situation. Isn't there a way to fix it?" Baldur asked. He also seemed to be worried about William.

"I do not know. After all, we are discovering something like this for the first time. There is still a lot to study." He said. William was really helpless. For the sake of further empowerment, he had acquired the bloodline power without much thought. But now he had to face the consequences.

Baldur's annoyance was evident in his behavior. He paced left and right with his large body inside the small, soundproof spell. "Why did you tell me that?" After thinking for a while, he spoke.

William had buried his head in the back of the chair. He looked up at his question and spoke after a while. "Because I consider you my friend and it hurts my heart to tell you the truth." He said. Later he thought he might be misunderstood and added. "Don't misunderstand me, I don't feel sorry for you. I just don't want to see my friend like this." He said.

Baldur nodded. "William, I am older than your grandfather. But thank you for having me as a friend. Maybe you are the person I can call my only friend on this big island. My teacher, my family, and all my apprentice friends so far have fallen to time. I truly regret having dedicated myself to this research, but now I am happy to see that you have succeeded." Then he walked over to William and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Thank you." He said.

William looked at Baldur's hand on his shoulder. 'This is a bit... different than I thought.' He thought. But he was touched, as was Baldur.

Baldur then wiped his watery eye and stood upright. With a serious expression on his face, he asked, "So how did you do that?

William had a serious face as well. He didn't know how to say it. He was afraid to ruin the emotionally charged conversation that had just happened. "I... Baldur, some things are hard to say sometimes." He said, but before he could continue, Baldur cut him off.

"Alright." Baldur then took a scroll out of his dimensional bag and handed it to William.

William took it in surprise and looked at it. There were some words written on it in wizard language, the meaning of which even he did not know. "What is this?" he asked.

"Oath scroll." The expression on Baldur's face was extremely serious. "I too have not lived in vain for many years. I found this in a ruin. It is the strongest contract known. It works like a contract. If I break my oath, I will die immediately." He said. He didn't speak anymore. He waited for William to decide.

William could feel the terrifying nature of this contract in his hand. He had never seen anything like it before. The most binding contract on the island was the slave contract he had seen in the palace. After a moment, he frowned and made his decision. He stood up.

He sent his qi into the contract. Soon the contract began to glow with a golden light. He immediately understood how to use it. A spiritual line appeared between him and Baldur, and the two were connected in the middle. Then William began to speak. "With this bond between us, do you swear that you will not share what I'm about to tell you with any living being other than me?" After William spoke, an imaginary golden collar appeared from the parchment. It was invisible to all but William and Baldur.

Later, Baldur solemnly swore. "I am Baldur Farmer, I swear it with all my heart, even if it means my death." He said. Then the imaginary golden collar clung to Baldur's neck. Baldur immediately felt that the collar was attached to his soul, not his neck. If he broke his oath, this collar would not cut his neck, but his soul. It was the first time he used this contract after all the years he had obtained it. He did it out of curiosity. He wanted to delve deeper into the power of the bloodline. Although he felt like he had sold his soul to the devil, he considered William as a friend. Therefore, the oath was no problem for him.

William felt the same way. The contract did not require any effort. If Baldur even entertained the thought of telling someone else, the oath would act immediately and cut off his spirit.

William was relieved now. Now he thought about how to explain it. It should be as simple and clear as possible. He certainly wouldn't talk about the system. As he thought, time seemed to stand still. His mind ran as fast as a quantum computer, William had thought of thousands of ideas before he spoke.

"So... can you explain?" Baldur asked.

"Eh?" William was taken aback for a moment. He didn't know what to say. He gave the most logical answer he could think of. "In a ruin where I bought this book, I found a technique for warriors. This technique is for purification. But there was a soul protecting this technique. It told me that if I shared this technique with anyone, I would die. So I can only tell you how it works. He said. He opened both hands.

Baldur's deep hidden eyes widened. "The purification technique? It sounds like the perfect thing. Does it only work on blood?" he asked.

William shook his head. "Yes, only in blood. Besides... it also has a side effect. It consumes a lot of qi." He said.

"Normal, completely normal. I would be surprised if such a miraculous technique had no disadvantages." He then said with an excited expression, "Well... um... well... can you purify some of these worms' blood for me?" he asked.

William smiled at his timidity. "Of course. That was my goal from the beginning."

"I - I don't know what to say. Thank you very much." Baldur's eyes watered again. It was unbelievable that such a big and tough man could have feelings like a child.

"Ok. Is there still blood?" William asked with a smile.

"No, I used it all." Baldur regretted using it earlier.

William nodded. "Okay then." Then he put on his clothes and went to the door. "Prepare well, I have some work to do. Then we will go worm hunting together," he said. Then he left without looking back.

Baldur felt that he would never forget his friendly face. For the first time in years, he had someone he could call a friend. Then he calmed down and sat down in his usual place. He would spend the few days waiting for William in meditation.