Before he could check the proving grounds' rewards, another message popped up in front of him.

[You have given a name to your summon!]

[Congratulations! You have discovered a hidden ability of the Balaur summoner]

[With each new rank of your summon, you can discover another hidden skill]

[Current highest rank of the summon: 2]

[Skills unlocked: 2/2]

[Congratulations! You have discovered the skill: Izena]

Zyrus read the message with wide eyes. Today was full of unexpected yet pleasant surprises.

‘Now I just need some quiet time to read the Oroszlan’s journal,’

There was the manual he found on the source of origin as well. But unlike Oroszlan’s journal which he could read anywhere he wanted, the manual could only be read on the source of origin.

Zyrus sat down due to exhaustion and took out his rations. While eating a sandwich on a collapsing island wasn’t his favorite activity, he didn’t have many options.

Ideally, the array was supposed to teleport him back.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have gone all out,’ Zyrus thought as he clicked on the new skill.

[Izena: Your true name defines your existence. Names have the power to awaken sentience in everything in existence, and to name something you need to understand their nature.]

[You have the authority to name your summons and give them new seed of existence]

[The name given by you will define their future potential and growth direction]

[Note: You can only name one summon per rank]

[Note: Based on the summoned being’s role, their name will affect others of the same rank or beyond]

[Current ranks of the summon: 1,2]

Rank 1: Elsid

*Crackle*

Just when Zyrus was about to click on Elcid’s profile, a spatial crack appeared in the blackened sky.

“Do you have any idea just how much damage you’ve caused?”

“Tch.. can’t you just reverse the time or something?”

“You’re too naïve,” Anansi scoffed and waved his hand. Although it was troublesome to remove the abyssal mana, it only applied to those on the same level.

‘This bastard has more mana than several lv 300s combined,’

Zyrus sighed at Anansi’s wasteful display of power. It was like someone had poured an ocean’s worth of water to purge a contaminated river.

It didn’t make any sense, but the way Anansi used his mana was just as inefficient. He didn’t envy the administrator’s power. Even with less mana he was strong enough to stand above everyone in the sanctuary, and that included the administrators.

“What’s with that face?”

“If I had that much mana, I would have conquered sanctuary ten times over,”

“As I said before, you’re too naïve,” Anansi shook his head at Zyrus and continued,

“I’m not here to bicker with you. I’m here to inform you that you don’t have to go for bloodline evolution.”

“Why?” Zyrus asked with a disbelieving face. Were they so petty about an array that they denied his entry?

“Where do you think your talent comes from?” Anansi asked another question instead of answering his.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“From the blood of Nidraxis,”

It was a no-brainer since the talent showed 1/7 in the second special ability. Unlike the first ability which allowed him to get a new trait every 20 levels, the latter didn’t have such a limit.

However, mythical beings weren’t like pigs who could be killed anytime. It was no easy feat to obtain their blood essence.

“Exactly. It didn’t give you any power, but the talent to devour bloodline itself stems from Nidraxis power.”

“You mean…” Zyrus exclaimed and nearly dropped the half-eaten sandwich.

“Smart as always. The Rakt gorge was created on the site of Nidraxis' battle,”

Zyrus was speechless at the reply. He knew that the dragon was strong, but he didn’t think that he was beyond the limits of the sanctuary.

What was his role? Who did he fight against? Who in the sanctuary was strong enough to make him bleed rivers of blood?

Zyrus knew that there was no one in the sanctuary who could do that. Thus, there was only one option left.

“Don’t think too much about it. Just remember that this place is called ‘Sanctuary’ for a reason. Also, you’re not going to lose your reward.”

“What do you mean?”

As always, the word ‘reward’ was enough to catch his attention.

“The blood in the Rakt gorge is too diluted compared to the essence you’ve absorbed. But improving bloodline isn’t the only thing you can get from there.”

“Are you going to give me materials?”

“Not give, you have to take it.”

“Fine by me. How d-”

…

“Motherfucker! He got me,” Zyrus cursed and dusted off his armor. He could guess why Shi Kun hated teleportation.

‘I was too caught up in conversation to notice the change of mana,’

Though he hated to admit it, he learned a valuable lesson this time. He would’ve been in deep trouble if it was an enemy instead of Anansi.

*KRUUU*

Zyrus’s thoughts were interrupted by a mighty roar. He didn’t know where he was teleported by Anansi.

As he searched for the source of the roar, His legs left inch-deep imprints on the reddish-brown soil. This was an underground cavern with a 100 feet high ceiling.

‘I must be near the middle levels,’ Zyrus frowned in realization. Lv 100 was the minimum requirement to enter this place.

*KUOOOO*

After taking a dozen more turns under the stalactite’s glow, he could feel tremors on the soft soil. His yellow eyes darted around the wide cavern to find his target.

Unless Anansi wanted him to die, he wouldn’t really send him near the middle level. There had to be a reason behind this arrangement.

*KRUUU*

‘I see, this’ll be troublesome,’

It took him no more than five minutes to reach the destination. A ten-meter-long drake was wailing before his sight.

Or rather, it was something that failed to evolve into a blood drake. The native creatures born here didn’t have the system’s assistance to improve their bloodline.

Evolving into a new lifeform had many risks involved. And more often than not, cases like these are what remained after the evolution.

“Well, no hard feelings,” Zyrus walked over while channeling his mana. He didn’t plan to use the abyss attribute or his summons to fight.

“Surge,”

Pure, light-blue mana turned into a vortex in front of Zyrus. It was an external manifestation of his mana circulation method.

*KRUUU*

The blood drake growled at the intruder as it sensed the surge of mana. But alas, it could do nothing besides waiting for its death.

With a failed evolution it was at most a lv 40 creature. Even if it had 100% of its strength, it was certain to die under Zyrus’s hands.

“Form”

Zyrus channeled his will into the vortex of mana. As it was mentioned in the Izena’s description, words have power. By understanding their meaning one can control that power by using mana.

As an arcanist Zyrus knew much more than just spell models and incantations. He had a grand plan to merge his past talents with the powers of origin. The 13 curses of void were the perfect tool needed for that.

‘However, I need to regain my powers before that,’

He had lost all his achievements and skills after regression. Now that he had become a bit stronger, he could attempt to recreate some of them.

Cyan droplets of water formed at the core of the vortex. This was another branch of magic used by the conjurer class.

“Expand”

*Swiiish*

10 feet long and 5 feet wide vortex surged towards the fallen drake. It was like a miniature version of the vortex in the middle of an ocean. However, after being fueled by the power of mana, the cyan vortex faced no resistance against the crimson-brown scales of the drake.

Zyrus had studied a lot about vortex and its behavior after being infused with different elemental powers. While he didn’t have an affinity with the water attribute, the conjurer magic made up for that.

‘Though it costs more MP,’

Just this small whirlpool siphoned off 50 MP. But considering his future plans on the second ring and the earth, he had no choice but to create water-based spells.

Zyrus used 100 more MP and created two more cyan vortexes. This was the easiest trial he had faced on the Befehl mountain. The drake was unable to even stand on its four limbs.

*KRUUU*

“Haa... I wanted to practice more, but whatever,” Zyrus clapped his hands and five vortexes converged into one.

Though he liked to fight, he didn’t enjoy beating an incapitated foe. This so-called reward left nothing but a sore taste in his mouth.

‘I guess he did that because I destroyed the array,’

[Congratulations! You have slain a Blood drake!]

[The blood drake was weakened before the fight; the rewards will be reduced]

[You have obtained Drake’s bones x 10]

[You have obtained Drakes’s tendons x 10]

[You have obtained Drake’s mutated heart x 1]

“At least the rewards aren’t bad,” Zyrus stuffed the loot in the inventory and took out another sandwich.

Though he wanted to explore around the cavern, he knew that their time was almost up. Time was slowed in the proving grounds’ array, and new players wouldn’t last more than an hour on Rakt gorge.

Thus, it was time to continue their journey after this brief respite.

[Attention Players! The gateway to the second ring will appear soon]

[Player could only enter the portal after their crown holders have selected a territory]

[May the light of order guide your way!]