Chapter 8: Observing From Afar
An hour had passed since Ethan recovered his body. To get familiar with his new surroundings, he had been mapping the edges of the ravine.
Buried beneath the thick sea of blood and rotting remains of creatures for years, the earth had undergone drastic changes.
Small, blood-red crystals had formed near the edges of the ravine, spreading in all directions. Nearing the center, their sizes shrunk to that of a thumb, while the ones around the corners were still as big as an adult’s hand.
Out of curiosity, Ethan stretched out his right hand and gently touched its smooth surface.
Almost immediately, a system window appeared before his eyes.
*Ding!*
---
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[#/System Notification/#] ———————————————————
[Unknown material detected.]
[Conditions fulfilled.]
[...]
[New System Feature Unlocked.]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Information]
The Overlord System will now automatically identify and record information regarding unknown objects, materials, creatures, and phenomena encountered by the designated user.
Information accuracy will increase alongside the growth of the Overlord System.
---
The screen stretched below, and new information was displayed.
---
———————————————————
[#/Information/#]
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[Target Identified.]
■ Blood Stone
[Classification:]
└ Natural Evolution Material
[Rank] - F
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[Description:]
A naturally condensed crystal formed after an enormous quantity of blood remains stagnant for many years while absorbing ambient mana.
Blood Stones contain highly concentrated biological essence and blood energy.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Common Uses:]
└ ■ Strengthening blood-related skills.
└ ■ Forging blood-attributed weapons.
└ ■ Enhancing blood-attributed armor and equipment.
└ ■ Highly cherished cultivation resource for blood-type monsters.
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[Evaluation:]
└ ■ Compatible with the user’s class.
└ ■ May be directly assimilated through flesh assimilation.
└ ■ Successful assimilation will provide biological energy and slightly increase evolution progress.
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[Rarity:]
└ ■ Rare within ordinary environments.
└ ■ Frequently found inside battlefields, mass graves, blood lakes, and territories occupied by blood-attributed monsters.
---
Ethan patiently read through every detail and slightly nodded.
The material was rare, indeed. But even more so, it was compatible with his physique.
"Then doesn’t that mean..." Thinking about it, his lips curled.
It. Is. A. Jackpot!
*Slap!*
A loud noise rang through the vicinity. Ethan’s hands tightly pressed against his cheeks. A line of thick, green blood slowly trickled down his jade-like skin.
From the impact of his slap, his five orifices had begun to bleed heavily. Clearly, Ethan hadn’t gotten used to his increased strength.
[Damage to the user’s body has been detected.]
[Racial Trait Activated.]
└ ■ Regeneration (C)
[Initiating tissue regeneration...]
[Estimated time until full recovery:]
└ Negligible
Ethan completely ignored these messages. Instead, he was focused on his own thoughts.
’Jackpot? I barely even dodged death, and now I’m getting greedy about some uncommon F-rank material?’ Sighing, Ethan’s gaze softened. He disappointedly stared at his own hands.
’Wake up, Ethan Graves... This is not the time to be greedy... Every step I take leads me to a greater danger. I need to stay on my toes and expect even the unexpected. Only then would I have a chance at survival.’
Reminding himself of his sole goal, Ethan slowly retracted his hand.
"Blood stones are highly cherished materials for blood-type monsters, right? Then this place will be filled by monsters in no time." His gaze swept through the surroundings. Not only was the soil filled with the murky stench of blood, but hundreds of blood stones protruded from the ground.
In this situation, Ethan chose to go with the most practical choice. With a few leaps, he reached the closest wall. Launching himself towards it with a jump, he firmly held onto the rocks and pulled his body upwards.
"For now, I’ll leave the ravine and observe from afar; if it seems safe, I’ll come back and retrieve these stones."
***
"George," a young woman called out softly.
"Hmm?" In front of her, a middle-aged man was sneaking through a relatively sparse forest.
Both of them were dressed in complete dark robes — only letting their faces peek through.
"Do you really think this plan will work?" Elsa chimed in, clinging closer to his side.
George didn’t refuse her comfort; instead, he smiled.
"Of course it will work... Madam herself bestowed us with a task. Everything is a part of her plan. If we successfully do this task, we can even call ourselves heroes!" He enthusiastically exclaimed.
Elsa hugged him tighter, her bosom pressing against his hand. In terms of looks, she was a beautiful woman. Her raven hair and dark brown eyes contrasted greatly against her pale skin.
Her curved body only contributed more to her allure.
George, on the other hand, was a robust man with a small beard on his face. His body looked trained and experienced in combat, someone worth relying on.
"Shhh." Realizing that they were close to their target, George quickly commanded Elsa. Although they completely believed in the judgment of their leader, they couldn’t help but be careful near this location.
Right now, they were approaching the territory of a monster — one that couldn’t be killed for a whole decade!
Looking at Elsa with a stern expression, George signed, "Be as quiet as possible and follow closely behind."
Understanding his instructions, Elsa quickly nodded.
...
Moments later, the two reached a ridge. In front of them was a half-broken bridge over a giant ravine.
Slowly and carefully, George and Elsa treaded towards the edge of the ravine. On his way, George pulled a small vial out of his pocket. This vial was transparent and held a dark crimson liquid.
It was naturally a poison meant to intoxicate the entire blood lake and hopefully stop the territory lord’s evolution.
But as soon as they reached the cliff, their eyes widened in utter shock!
The entire ravine was empty. Blood, corpses — none of it could be seen!
A sudden feeling of fear clenched at Elsa’s heart as she covered her mouth and stammered weakly. "Th-This... A-Are we late?"
George gritted his teeth but still made sure not to break the vial in his hands.
Just when he was wondering what had happened to the ravine, his eyes landed on a small glass-like object.
’What’s that... wait... that’s—!’ In his vision, hundreds of deep crimson crystals could be seen.
"Blood stones!"