Frost Ember Territory, Dragon Prison Castle.
This castle was named after a giant dragon once imprisoned there, and now it is the residence of the Lord's family.
In the brightly lit main hall, Gustavo Alvarez sat on the Lord's throne, his elbow resting on the armrest, his face in his fist.
His sharp gaze fixed on the half-kneeling guard, he asked:
“Have you still not found Julia?”
“My deepest apologies, my Lord, but we have indeed found no trace of Miss Julia; we have searched all around Frost Ember Territory.”
The guard answered in a low voice, his head bowed.
Taking a deep breath, Gustavo waved his hand, dismissing the guard.
Regret, worry, and anger lingered in his heart, refusing to dissipate.
He regretted spoiling his youngest daughter too much, which led her to be arrogant and overbearing, doing whatever she pleased.
He was equally worried about Julia's safety, furious at her willfulness, and at the knight named Gane for misleading her.
When Gane approached his daughter, he saw that this person harbored ill intentions, but because of Julia's obstruction, he did not have Gane killed.
“Gane, if anything happens to Julia, I will never let you off…”
Just as he was thinking this, his court mage suddenly ran in panicked, and his first words made Gustavo stand up straight:
“My Lord, the Vengeance Mark on Miss Julia has been triggered!”
Although not a mage, Gustavo still understood what this meant, and immediately his eyes were bloodshot, his beard and hair bristling, like an enraged lion.
“Julia…! Who is it, where does the Vengeance Mark point?!”
“It points… no, the Vengeance Mark has disappeared, the killer is dead?” The court mage's mouth hung open, and it took him a few seconds to react:
“The killer knew about the Vengeance Mark, so they didn't act personally, but had someone kill Miss and then immediately eliminated the person who did it.”
“Damn it!” Gustavo slammed his fist on the armrest, anger driving his brain to work rapidly.
Most areas near Frost Ember Territory were undeveloped, with many wild beasts, ghouls, and other evil creatures.
Trying to find out who killed Julia here was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
“My Lord, I know someone who might be able to help find the killer of Miss.”
The court mage suddenly spoke, then uttered a name that could stop children in Frost Ember Territory from crying at night: “Devian Greta.”
Gustavo's expression changed slightly; he naturally knew who this person was, or rather, this woman had been a headache for him for a long time.
Devian, a Transcendent of the Blood Mage profession, was known as the Scarlet Witch in the North.
Across the entire Eternity continent, the number of Transcendent was relatively small compared to ordinary people, scattered across the whole continent, but each one was a powerful individual capable of influencing a region's situation.
Even a Lord like him found it difficult to do anything about them.
This was a situation that had formed since the War of Sunset, which marked the end of the Second Era and the beginning of the Third Era.
In the nearly one thousand years of the Third Era, the gods were silent, the Immortals and Eternal were nowhere to be found, and an etheric low tide covered the entire continent.
In this environment, even a mere Transcendent could carve out a territory and become a major headache for kings and Lords.
“Are you sure that Scarlet Witch has this ability?” Gustavo questioned.
“Yes, she is very skilled in Blood Magic and can track traces using blood.” The court mage nodded, “I once discussed magic with her; as long as the price is right, she should provide assistance.”
Gustavo hesitated for a moment, but ultimately, the pain of losing his daughter overwhelmed his reason.
“Then I'll leave this matter to you…”
“My Lord!” A soldier rushed into Dragon Prison Castle, interrupting the Lord's words: “A dragon, there's a dragon!”
Gustavo was startled, his gaze shifted to the soldier, recognizing him as one responsible for guarding the villages on the edge of the territory.
“Why are you so flustered? Speak clearly.”
The soldier gasped for breath and recounted his observations: “I, and others, saw the legendary dragon in White River Town. It flew over the town and disappeared into the mountains.”
After hearing the soldier's description, the Lord and his court mage exchanged glances, their eyes involuntarily showing surprise… Mo Di had always been an egalitarian, someone who could charm both men and women.
Although this young girl named Julia had a special identity and her looks were only slightly inferior to Devian, he still ordered the ghouls to rip out her heart and lungs.
Afterward, he swiftly dealt with the ghouls that had acted, leaving no trace of the crime.
“Tsk, I guess I helped her get revenge; there aren't many warm-hearted people like me left.”
The moment the girl died, he immediately went all out to avenge her; there was no one in the world as kind as he was.
The bloodstained book appeared at the opportune moment, providing Julia's death certificate.
【Noble - Julia Alvarez】
“Can this noble lady drop anything good?” Mo Di curiously looked at the page, and his face instantly darkened.
Noble etiquette, Alvarez Basic Meditation Method, bedroom techniques… “She looked so pure, but I didn't expect her to have tried all sorts of things… while I've been single for two lifetimes and never tried anything.”
However, some of the knowledge was still useful; of course, bedroom techniques were not among them.
Such things were better left for him to comprehend later, otherwise, it would ruin the first experience… moreover, the genders of the two did not even match.
He specifically selected the useful knowledge and disregarded the rest.
After another round of knowledge bombardment, Mo Di felt profoundly wise now.
“Alvarez Basic Meditation Method, and also social skills, and harsh words. Did that noble lady put all her energy into socializing?”
Having extracted all the useful knowledge from the Page of Julia, he immediately turned ruthless and merged this page into the Page of Devian.
He intended to cultivate the Page of Devian into his second main combat page to compensate for his deficiencies in the Blood Mage artillery build.
“Next, there's this pile of magic items I confiscated.”
Three scrolls, some strange magic trinkets—this was all the equipment Julia dropped.
“Two are Apprentice-level 【Healing Spells】, one is Transcendent-level 【Fireball】, and these trinkets… are they all for increasing charm?”
Playing with the ring and necklace in his hand, Mo Di thought for a moment, intending to destroy them after analysis to avoid being detected by others.
Finally, he turned his gaze to his biggest gain from this trip—a Wendigo corpse.
The skull, blood vessels, fur, and the knowledge in its brain—these were all resources he could utilize.
Most importantly, it still contained an unformed Transcendent Seed within its body.
A Transcendent Seed is the proof of a Transcendent, and the seeds of different Transcendent possess different powers.
Devian's Transcendent Seed was in her heart, providing her with powerful spellcasting and regeneration abilities.
When Mo Di chopped off her head, he also had to crush her heart, fearing that she would revive with the Transcendent Seed.
But the Wendigo was different; its Transcendent Seed was located somewhere in its skull, possessing a mental interference ability.
“No wonder I always felt uneasy during the battle; so it was your doing.”
Mo Di shook the Transcendent Seed, which looked like an eyeball, floating in a glass bottle, and a smile appeared on his face.
This little thing was quite sinister; when he first dug it out, it even tried to control his consciousness.
He had initially wanted to keep it, but he didn't expect it to possess some intelligence, so he couldn't keep it now.
He could only dissect it.
After about an hour of work, Mo Di, with the help of a spell 【Eye of Analysis】 and his steady skillful hands, finally analyzed enough information.
“To condense a Transcendent Seed, ether and magic are indispensable, and it must also be combined with one's own nature…”
He had learned about this aspect of nature when playing the game.
All living beings on the Eternity continent have a nature.
For example, Devian's nature is 【Blood】, while the Wendigo's nature might be 【Frost】 and 【Nightmare】.
Even if different people have the same nature, they will have different emphases, specifically manifested in the abilities of their Transcendent Seed.
Due to the influence of the Blood Mage profession, Mo Di estimated that his nature would also be 【Blood】.
But if Ancient Blood was taken into account, his nature might also be affected and changed.
What it specifically would be, he would only know after he condensed his Transcendent Seed.
“Becoming a Transcendent cannot be rushed, lest I condense a substandard one. Let's first look at the Wendigo's other parts.”
Hurrying to the Wendigo's corpse, Mo Di pondered for a while, then began to operate.
First, the Wendigo's fur, which provided good bonuses when casting necromancy and ice spells—skinned it.
Next, its claws, which also served as a spellcasting material—pulled them out.
And… just like that, a perfectly good headless Wendigo corpse was torn apart by him, almost everything of value was taken.
Mo Di looked at the scattered Wendigo remains in front of him, his expression a little awkward, and thought: 'Only three-fifths are left; the bloodstained book wouldn't refuse it, would it?'
'Forget it, Menger's old ritual for Spirit Fusion must have a catch anyway; at worst, I'll just give up.'
Still, he summoned the bloodstained book, and as the thought arose, he felt a hint of disdain from the bloodstained book, which was connected to his mind.
'Ahem, in the startup phase, one always has to be a bit frugal. Besides, even a mosquito is meat, and didn't I still leave three-fifths?'
The bloodstained book finally moved, creating a new page.
【Transcendent in Formation - Wendigo - Gane Robert】
This page only recorded less than three-fifths of the Wendigo's power, and the knowledge on it was not complete.
Mo Di was already very satisfied with this; from it, he found the 【Mengel Spirit Fusion Ritual】 that the Wendigo had mentioned, as well as Gane's 【Frostwolf Knight Body Tempering Art】.
After a rough look at the 【Mengel Spirit Fusion Ritual】, he indeed found many pitfalls in it, and couldn't help but curse under his breath:
'That old Menger really has ill intentions; it's better to put this ritual aside for now.'
Looking back at the 【Frostwolf Knight Body Tempering Art】, he stroked his chin.
“Frostwolf Knight? I remember that's a unique troop type of Frost Ember Territory, right?”
He began to ponder whether his ghouls were qualified to become Frostwolf Knights.
“Ghouls are too fragile; it probably won't work. It might be possible with wights.”
His gaze shifted to the bottles of Wendigo blood neatly arranged, and an idea gradually formed in Mo Di's mind.