Chapter 48: C-Rank and a Heart Attack Shopping List!
Darius looked up as the evaluation rooms door opened.
"You again." He said looking up from the arena before them, where a snake looking demon battled with a Minotaur.
"Didn’t expect me so soon, did you?" Licien asked with a smug smile.
"No."
Lucien grinned as he handed him the file, Darius scanned his file, eyebrow lifting slightly.
"You passed Peak D-Rank days ago. Now you want C-Rank already?"
"That’s the idea."
"I don’t need to explain the rules again, do I?" Darius asked.
"No need, still remember it like it was yesterday." Lucien reminisced.
"Because it was, now move to the C Rank testing Arena." Darius told him.
Darius studied him a long moment as he stepped in the arena.
"Don’t disappoint me, show me something good like last time."
"By the way, do you guys lend weapons?" Lucien asked.
"Check the weapon rack in the back, all normal weapons nothing spectacular Soni recommended using you own one if you have it." Darius informed him.
"I’ll take one then, forgot to bring my weapon." He said making a few adventurers and Darius looks at him weirdly.
’Who forgets to bring a weapon when they come for a combat test?’ One of the demons thought.
---
The first opponent, a C-Rank Ironhide Boar, charged the moment the gate opened.
Lucien’s scythe felt unfamiliar in his hands mid-fight different weight, different reach than the sword he’d gotten used with or the scythe he practiced with, but he adjusted, sidestepping the charge and catching the boar’s flank with the curved blade.
It went down fast, footwork carrying him through cleanly.
’One down, weapon’s still a work in progress, but atleast it’s functional.’
---
The Thunderclaw Ape came next, considerably faster, forcing him to actually think.
He drew a thin blood thread mid-dodge, looping it around the ape’s ankle to break its rhythm, and finished with a clean scythe strike the moment it stumbled.
’Better, combining the weapon with abilities instead of relying on either alone. Looks like blood threads are also becoming one of my main attacks, wonder how else I can use them, got to test this out later on.’
---
The Abyssal Viper proved more dangerous, it was fast for something over 7 meters long, poison dripping from curved fangs.
It clipped him on the forearm when he was distracted before he finished it off, venom already burning through his bloodstream.
He drew on Sanguine Rebirth immediately and some blood he had stored, the refined blood purging the toxin from his system though her took a minute, need some better blood.
’Also I can’t just muscle through everything,’ he thought, watching the wound close. ’Good lesson.’
---
The final opponent, a Crimson Ironfang, moved with genuine speed and technical precision.
Lucien fought properly this time, Blood Pulse Sense tracking its heartbeat, Scarlet Perception mapping muscle tension before each strike, thin blood threads disrupting its footing at critical moments.
He allowed himself only the barest flicker of Crucible Overdrive, just enough to close a gap, careful not to reveal more than necessary to those watching.
It took real effort, real focus, before his scythe finally found the opening and ended it.
"What is up with all the wolves lately." He joked.
---
"Peak C-Rank," Darius said, unreadable as ever.
"Straight to the top of your bracket again. Impressive, Luc."
"That’s it, no shock?"
"That’s the minimum requirement."
"...Oh."
"Your actual performance was considerably better than last time," Darius added. "Weapon training, I take it."
"Every day with a good teacher."
Darius handed over the updated card.
[Rank: Peak C-Rank — Approved]
"Don’t let a new rank convince you you’re invincible," Darius warned, already turning away.
"C-Rank isn’t much, out there."
"Got it, still a newbie."
---
Lucien walked back into the main lobby to find Aurelia standing directly in front of Seraphina and Evelisse, arms crossed, radiating quiet menace at two grinning adventurers.
"So your clan owns three mines?" Evelisse was saying, tone dripping with false admiration.
"That’s right," one man said proudly.
"Impressive."
"Finally, someone who appreciates it."
"No," Evelisse said sweetly. "I was just wondering how they produced someone this stupid."
The surrounding crowd burst into laughter. The man’s face went red.
"You little—"
"Leave," Aurelia said, voice flat.
They didn’t.
One reached toward Evelisse’s arm.
Aurelia redirected his wrist mid-motion.
Bloodlust rolled off her in a sudden wave, thick enough that several nearby adventurers’ hands flew instinctively to their weapons, spines going rigid like something predatory had just walked into the room.
The man froze completely, face draining of color.
The second man moved instead, fist swinging toward Aurelia’s back.
Lucien caught it before it landed.
THUD.
The man crumpled.
His friend lunged. Lucien redirected the momentum with a shove that sent him sprawling across a table.
THUD.
Silence, followed by scattered applause from several nearby onlookers.
Guild staff rushed over, took one look at the scene, and sighed heavily.
"...Seriously again, what is up these two?" one of them muttered, already dragging the unconscious men toward the infirmary, his head hitting the floor with each step.
---
Aurelia turned to Lucien once the chaos settled. "You didn’t need to interfere, I could have dealt with them"
"I know you could."
"Then why did you?"
He shrugged. "You’re my wife, and I am here, what other reason do I need?"
Evelisse cooed loudly. "Awww, husband is so manly."
Seraphina laughed behind her hand. Aurelia shot Evelisse a look that did absolutely nothing to stop her grinning.
---
While the girls settled, Lucien pulled up the guild’s dungeon board on his phone, scanning thenew listings.
One entry stopped him cold.
[Bloodmoon Ruins]
Rank: A
Recommended Adventurer Rank: C Rank part and upward
Type: Multi-floor descent, each floor its own ecosystem, difficulty increasing with depth
Known Monsters: Blood Bats, Crimson Wolves, Blood Golems, Bloodfang Hounds, Crimson Revenants, and other unconfirmed blood-type beasts
Special Resource: Blood Mana Crystals, Blood type resources, etc
Lucien’s eyes lit up.
’A blood-based dungeon.’
’For everyone else, that’s a death trap. For me? That’s basically a walking buffet of permanent traits.’
His mind raced through possibilities, different bloodlines, different species, level after level of Blood Trait fuel just waiting underground for him to feats on.
’But I need to prepare first, can’t underestumate a dungeon.’ he reminded himself, forcing the excitement down.
’Weapon technique, maybe a few defensive items for the wife and for the estate. Proper gear too can’t just going naked, looks like this isn’t happening today or tomorrow.’
He saved the dungeon away for later, already planning.
---
They left the guild and headed toward Moonfire Emporium, a well-known and highly rated chain rumored to be owned by a being above SSS-Rank he found when searching his phone for shops nearby.
"Looks like this shop is good, what do you say?" Lucien asked Seraphina.
"Moonfire Emporium, yes, it’s good they also have fair prices for the stuff they sell."
"And they sell everything you could’ve think of from weapons to weapon manuals, ingredients for cooking, alchemy and other professions, etc." She continued.
They talked as they walked passing various shops and soon approached an elegant three-story shop with a blue moon and fire symbol at its entrance.
Seraphina transformed the moment she stepped through the doors.
She moved through the alchemy section with terrifying precision, inspecting furnace quality, testing purification arrays, checking herb freshness with a critical eye that made the shopkeeper visibly nervous.
’She’s terrifying when she switches,’ Lucien thought, watching her negotiate a purification crystal’s price down with ruthless efficiency when he would have paid without questioning it.
She gathered most of her list, reagents, herbs, containers, potion bottles, before pausing in front of a Rare-grade furnace gleaming gold with blue outlines, various designs of fire and ice carved into it, making it look grand.
Price: 10,000 Gold.
She looked at it a long moment, then quietly moved on.
Lucien said nothing.
’Can’t afford this for today but it’s definitely a future target if it’s still here next time.’
---
While she worked on other stuff, Lucien browsed the shop’s blood collection preserved vials lined neatly by rarity.
Ironhide Viper Blood (Common)
Thunder Ape Blood (Uncommon)
Crimson Horned Hare Blood (Common)
Shadow Wolf Blood (Rare)
Flamewing Bird Blood (Common)
He deliberately skipped past the goblin section entirely and some of the uglier monster ones too.
’Absolutely not, not waking up green, short, and ug for a trait, even if it’s some overpowered one, which these won’t have.’
He bought small quantities of a few options instead, testing the waters.
’Don’t know if preserved blood outside my own storage even works the same way. Small batch first.’
---
An idea struck him mid-browse.
He waved Seraphina over since she was near him checking bloods to use, and pressed a thousand gold coins into her hands.
She froze. "Lucien..."
"Buy what you need."
"This is too much."
"Then don’t spend all of it."
"...Are you sure?"
"You’re my wife," he said. "If something helps you get where you’re trying to go, why wouldn’t I?"
Her eyes went suspiciously bright.
The chime rang the instant her fingers closed around the coins.
[Ding!]
[Investment Detected: 1,000 Gold Coins → Seraphina Lilith]
[Multiplier: ×31]
[Reward: 31,000 Gold Coins]
Lucien stared at the number.
’Oh, seems like it worked, what was I expecting?’
’Still that’s incredibly useful.’
’I’ve been thinking too narrowly this whole time. Small, repeated investments of anything that could help them like the meals could be just as powerful as the big flashy ones if stacked over time.’
He filed that revelation away carefully, already recalculating his entire approach to spending money.
---
He browsed the manual section next, finding a solid option.
"They actually have Scythe techniques here?" He said I surprise considering he didn’t find one even after looking through so many shops before as Scythe wielders weren’t common.
[Uncommon — Reaper’s Crescent]
A foundational scythe technique, nothing flashy, but genuinely compatible with his weapon.
He picked it, then found a proper War Scythe to fit as he only has the training scythe, it was well-balanced, nothing magical, as he couldn’t afford those kinds of ones, but it was solidly made.
[Iron Sickle - Uncommon]
Price - 2500 gold.
’Not perfect but its workable fpr the time being, until I can afford this baby.’ He thought looking at the sick looking black Scythe stored before him.
It’s blade shimmered as if telling him to buy it, but it’s price tag hurting him.
[ Bone Cleaver - Epic ]
Price - 99,999 gold.
---
By the time they finished, the shopping haul had grown considerably.
Seraphina had various alchemy reagents, rare herbs, purification crystals, potion bottles, mana-infused water, several manuals, basic equipment and, thanks to the sudden windfall, the Rare-grade furnace after all.
Aurelia picked a few mana recovery items, healing resources, weapon maintenance supplies, training equipment.
And Evelisse as expected had an alarming quantity of snacks, desserts, and cultivation supplies, though she wasn’t her, likely looking at some other deserts somewhere.
’That’s new, didn’t expect her to think about anything other than snacks.’
Lucien himself had the War Scythe, Reaper’s Crescent manual, several vials of monster blood, household supplies and some cooking ingredients.
The shopkeeper tallied everything and announced the total.
"29,120 gold, but I’ll round for this beautiful miss here." He said looking slightly terrified of Seraphina.
"So 29,000 gold only."
Lucien’s soul briefly left his body. "Are you sure you didn’t add an extra zero?"
The girls laughed a little with Seraphina asking if they should leave some stuff qhich he refused.
He paid anyway, the earlier system windfall softening the blow considerably, but leaving his pockets almost empty.
’Looks like that saying was right, money flows like water.’
---
Everything vanished neatly into his storage ring, and they headed out toward the street.
Evelisse eyed him suspiciously. "You bought Seraphina a mountain of stuff."
"Yes."
"You bought Aurelia a bunch of things."
"Yes."
"And you bought yourself weapons."
"Yes."
Her eyes narrowed. "What did you buy me?"
Lucien silently produced a bag.
She peered inside. Dessert ingredients, carefully selected, clearly chosen with her specific tastes in mind.
Her eyes sparkled instantly. "...I forgive you."
Lucien laughed, and they headed home.
---
Far across the continent, Dravik moved through his private training chamber, blade flashing against an S-Rank beast captured specifically for his morning spar.
The beast lunged. He sidestepped, blade opening a clean line across its shoulder without breaking stride.
A servant entered cautiously, waiting for a pause in the fight.
"My Lord."
Vaelric didn’t stop moving. "Speak."
"Lucien Aethernis has advanced."
That got his attention. He deflected the beast’s follow-up strike almost lazily. "How far?"
"Beginner C-Rank, confirmed during today’s Guild evaluation."
Dravik’s blade paused mid-motion, and the beast’s claws raked harmlessly across empty air where he’d been standing a moment earlier.
"...How."
"Unknown, my Lord. But there’s more." The servant hesitated.
"Lady Aurelia has also left the estate today. And her condition appears to be improving, she’s even using mana again."
Vaelric finished the beast with a single, distracted strike, and turned fully toward his servant for the first time.
’This doesn’t make sense,’ he thought slowly.
’None of it adds up.’
"Have you found out where his resources are coming from?" Vaelric said finally, voice cold.
The servant bowed. "No, young master we couldn’t find anything besides him having them."
"Enough of this then, bring him to me."
"And if he resists cooperation?"
Vaelric considered this, wiping blood from his blade with slow, deliberate motions.
"Send Malrith, tell him to stop waiting and forget the previous plan."
The servant’s head lifted slightly in surprise.
"Also tell him to bring Lucien to me alive," Vaelric continued. "I want to know exactly what he is hiding."
His eyes narrowed, something cold and calculating settling behind them. "And if his secret proves useful to me..."
A thin smile crossed his face.
"...then I’ll simply take it, what could he do to even stop me?"