Thorin tapped his foot as he stared at the sky, his thoughts wandering aimlessly, much of the information he got today only made him even more confused.

-" Oppius is basically fine, but, his knee injury will take at least two weeks to heal completely." Dillia's voice startled him out of his daze.

-" One week, huh?" Thorin answered without much interest as his focus was on completely different things.

Dillia sighed, Thorin looked so lost that she found it hard to talk with him, but, she couldn't blame him as she herself was somewhat unsure of what to make of the information.

-" Do you believe that the Emperor is truly a divine being?" The idea of his blood granting Sun Blessed power to normal people was something that Dillia couldn't take out of her head.

-" Who Knows?" Thorin shook his head as he tried to clear his thoughts. " Maybe he is just a very strong Sun Blessed." Thorin thought back to the Sun Baptism he had received after becoming an Arch Inquisitor.

The Sun Baptism was a ceremony that occurred inside the Illuminated Halls, the chosen person would receive the holy that emanated from the Illuminated Hall for a few hours while cultivating a secret technique granted by the church.

The Sun Baptism was a ceremony that took place in the Illuminated Halls; the selected person would soak up the holy energy from the hall for a few hours while honing a special skill that the church had given them.

Thorin gazed at Vysard with a curious face, he wondered if the blood of Sun Blessed had an effect on normal people like the Emperor's blood, and after a bit of hesitation, he decided to test his hypothesis.

-" Dillia, Vysard... Give me some of your blood." Thorin was anxious about the results of the experiment.

-" Some of my blood?" Vysard eyes widened as he quickly realized what Thorin wanted to do. " Will you drink it?"

Thorin shook his head as he looked towards Baltsar. " I'm not a good subject for this experiment." Thorin didn't know how their blood would interact with the blessing from the Sun Baptism, so he wanted to use a completely normal person to test it. " Baltsar will be the one to drink it,"

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-" Me???" Baltsar was surprised, he never thought that he would be the one chosen." Is that okay? What will happen to me if this works?"

-" You will get stronger, I suppose?" Thorin smiled at Baltsar, trying his best the soothe him.

Baltsar gulped in anxiety, he was happy that he was chosen at first, but, the more he thought about it, the tenser he got, after all, the captive himself had said that most of the people who drank the emperor's blood died,

-" Hesitating? This an opportunity for you to grow stronger." Thorin smiled weaselly as he kept pressuring Baltsar. " Even if Daalmak is gone, the north will still need a strong man to lead them against the rest of the Phurad Legion."

Baltsar knew how pathetically weak he was and he always desired power, yet, he was too much of a coward to risk his life for it.

-" I-I-I-I can't..." Baltsar face dropped as he mustered enough courage to finally reject the offer.

-" Are you serious?" Vysard was surprised by Baltsar's rejection, the two of them had grown quite close during the travel, and Vysard knew how much Baltsar wanted to be powerful and rich.

-" It's too dangerous..." Baltsar tried his best to explain himself. " Only five people survived this method, and I bet they were all stronger than me."

-" You need to consider that they drank the Emperor's blood." Thorin didn't want to lose his guinea pig, so he tried convincing the man. " You will be drinking Dillia's blood, her strength is likely nothing compared to the Emperor's."

Baltsar bit his lips, the more they kept talking about the experiment, the harder it was for him to keep rejecting them. -" I'm sorry, I can't." Baltsar sighed as he threw his hands up and rejected the offer once again. yet, deep down he felt like he was wasting a chance to change his life.

-" Well... If you don't want to, I guess I will be the one testing it." THorin scratched his head as he accepted the man's decision. " Let's try Dillia's blood first."

Baltsar had a mixture of relief and regret, he didn't expect Thorin to just accept his decision. " You won't force me?" He initially only saw this as a way for THorin and his group to do research, but, never considered how rare this opportunity was;

-" Why I would do that?" Thorin grabbed a small cup and passed it to Dillia.

-" Don't you need someone to experiment?" Regret took over Baltsar's emotions as he finally realized that he had lost a chance of a lifetime, " You know what? You guys are helping us so much, why don't I help you this time."

-" Don't feel forced to do this, we can always experiment more after we return to the Sun Lands." Thorin wanted to laugh as the man finally caved in, but, he decided to keep acting as if he had no interest in Baltsar participation in the experiment

-" Don't worry... This is just a small favor for you guys." Baltsar snatched the cup from Dillia's hands and drank it without hesitation.

Dillia, Vysard, and Thorin all watched Baltsar with excitement in their eyes as they waited for a response.

The metallic taste wasn't that pleasing, but, Baltsar still forced the whole cup of blood down his throat. He closed his eyes as he felt the viscous liquid reaching his stomach and tried his best to feel any changes to his body, however, the only thing he felt was a stomach ache.

-" I don't think this is working." Baltsar groaned as he felt his stomach churn thanks to the strange liquid. " Is this really supposed to make me stronger?"

-" Maybe the concentration of Aether in Dillia's blood is too low." thorin grabbed another cup and passed it to Vysard, he had great expectations of Vysard's blood, after all, Vysard himself was special even compared to the others Sun Blessed. " Ready for the second round?"