Although Hamilton knew that the Black Flame Monk must have been slain by Rein, he couldn’t help but ask, “Rein… did you kill this?”
When Rein turned his head to look, he was startled by Hamilton’s appearance at that moment.
At the same time, the surprise in the other’s eyes also caught Rein’s attention instantly.
Rein didn’t know what to say, but he heard him say, “Sir, since you had already severely injured the opponent before, by the time he faced us, he hardly had any fighting strength left.”
“And the Night Watchman colleagues’ barrages of arrows also prevented the opponent’s strange Black Flame from being released in time. So, he was fortuitously slain by me.”
As soon as these flattering words were spoken, Hamilton’s stern face softened considerably, and he looked at Rein with increased admiration.
Although several Night Watchmen had become deaf, many who were slightly far from Rein only felt a piercing pain in their eardrums, and hearing Rein’s words, they felt a sense of relief.
Who says we’re useless? Look, our arrow barrage also played a big role! many thought.
“Eh! Rein, this Dual-Handed Greatsword…” It was then that Hamilton noticed that the greatsword Rein was holding seemed to be the one he had given him before, but on closer inspection, it seemed a bit different.
Hamilton took a closer look and saw that under the glow of the evening sun, the surface of the Dual-Handed Greatsword in Rein’s hand was emitting a faint white light.
“This is… a Glowstone weapon!” Hamilton’s eyebrows raised in surprise.
“Rein, did you merge a Glowstone into that Fine Steel Greatsword??” Hamilton finally thought of something and couldn’t help blurting out.
Upon seeing this, Rein knew he couldn’t hide it from Hamilton anymore, so he smiled, nodded, and told Hamilton about how he was lucky to have stumbled upon a small piece of Glowstone while exterminating fish-men.
Additionally, he recounted how the captain, Weilun, and he decided to keep the Glowstone, without knowing its value, leading to the agreement that Rein would get the stone, but he had to treat his squad members to tequila.
Hamilton couldn’t help but laugh at this, “Rein, it seems that Lady Luck is indeed on your side, to encounter such good fortune.”
As for his subordinates privately allocating spoils of war, as long as it didn’t cause any conflicts, being the superior, he generally wouldn’t intervene—Hamilton was no exception.
If this had been a month ago, Rein might have still hidden the fact, but now there was no need to do so.
Hamilton then turned serious and glanced at the corpse of the Black Flame Monk on the ground before narrating to Rein,
“This guy here is an adherent of the covert sect, the Black Flame Church, and we commonly refer to them as Black Flame Monks. You see that burning black flame emblem on his collar and cuffs? That’s a very clear sign.”
As Hamilton narrated, Rein focused his gaze on the monk’s cuffs and collar, and indeed as Hamilton had described, there was a vivid flame pattern woven from some kind of shiny black metal wire.
Although the opponent was also dressed in a black robe, the two blacks were not the same; the flame pattern’s color was brighter, while the robe was more of a matte black. If you didn’t look closely, it was indeed difficult to distinguish.
“I had once briefly encountered a Black Flame Monk in County Town, where his Black Flame caught me off guard,”
“Afterward, after consulting many people, I learned that they seemed to belong to a secretive church worshipping some Evil God—Black Flame Church. For all minions of Evil Gods, Glowstone weapons tend to be particularly lethal.”
“That’s why I spent a good amount of money to have someone purchase a Longsword infused with Glowstone. I hadn’t expected you…” Hamilton looked enviously at Rein’s greatsword.
At that moment, Rein suddenly understood.
He glanced at the Longsword in Hamilton’s hand and then at the wound on the abdomen of the black-robed corpse.
No wonder, although the opponent had been hit by just one sword strike from Hamilton, his combat strength had dropped so much, allowing Rein himself to take quite the advantage.
It seemed that his ability to slay the Black Flame Monk also reflected a bit of serendipity involving time, location, and people.
For instance, the opponent had already been severely wounded by Hamilton.
For another, he happened to have the Glowstone weapon—’Glimmering Greatsword,’ crafted by Lagaray, which played an unexpected role when facing the Black Flame Monk.
Moreover, his own strength that continued to increase day by day, as Rein thought to himself.
However, having faced a Black Flame Monk once, Rein felt an even more pressing desire for the mysterious side of energy particles than before.
Seeing the injuries on Hamilton’s body was enough to know the mighty power of the Black Flame.
Was this some kind of Divine Arts? Or perhaps witchcraft?
However, he was about to complete the last requirement for the transition to Transcendent Knight—”3, any riding skill lv3 or above, shield defense lv3 or above, any archery skill lv3 or above, any melee combat skill lv4 or above.”
Rein planned to learn shield techniques and increase them to lv3, fulfilling all requirements for the transition to a Transcendent Knight, then he would begin seeking ways to control those mysterious energies.
“By the way, Rein, aren’t you going to look for the spoils of war that belong to you?” Hamilton reminded with a smile.
With this reminder from Hamilton, Rein then remembered that he had forgotten to collect the spoils from the Black Flame Monk.
Such a powerful enemy surely carried quite a few valuable items.
At this thought, Rein’s heart stirred slightly.
“Haha, as you command, my lord!”
Rein stepped forward and began searching through the headless corpse of the Black Flame Monk, first pulling out a leather coin pouch, heavy enough to indicate a substantial amount of coins.
But no matter how many coins there were, they were just ordinary loot and failed to catch Rein’s attention.
Next, Rein pulled out a soft, lambskin-wrapped, elongated object from the monk’s waist pouch, which immediately caught Hamilton’s attention.
Upon unwrapping it, they saw a blood-red potion, resembling a vial from a former life, thick like amber, instantly drawing Rein’s interest.
“Divine Blood?” Hamilton exclaimed, losing his composure.
Divine Blood?
Rein was taken aback. Had he really obtained the blood of a god just by killing a Black Flame Monk?
Also, Rein felt somewhat relieved that he hadn’t split his opponent in two; otherwise, this bottle of ‘Divine Blood’ might have been destroyed by his own hands.
Seeing the puzzled look on Rein’s face, Hamilton coughed and said, “This is a potion secretly circulating among the nobles and wealthy merchants of Meister County.”
“It’s said to delay aging for the elderly and significantly boost those practitioners of the Knight Breathing Method who have not yet reached the Transcendent level. Most importantly, this ‘Divine Blood’ doesn’t have any side effects. The only drawback is its rarity.”
Delay aging?
Enhance the breathing technique?
Rein’s eyes lit up.
There was such a wonderful thing?
Nobles really knew how to enjoy life. While he worked hard practicing the breathing technique, others could rocket their progress just by drinking this, Rein thought.
“However… according to reliable information, the origin of this ‘Divine Blood’ is closely related to the Black Flame Cult I just mentioned, so I’ve always felt there’s more to this ‘Divine Blood’ than meets the eye,” Hamilton continued.
“This so-called lack of side effects, I suspect, might be due to the insufficient strength of those who have tested it, which could lead to an inability to detect any issues,” Hamilton speculated after some thought.
This made Rein shiver inside.
He felt Hamilton’s concern was not unfounded but very likely.
Moreover, with his professional panel in hand, consuming something potentially problematic was naturally not an option.
“So, Rein, what do you think… Could I perhaps purchase that bottle of Divine Blood from you? I would entrust someone to deliver it to the Imperial City’s Royal Alchemist Association, where perhaps the master pharmacists there might discover something,” Hamilton asked.
Hamilton seemed to feel his request was a bit much, so he hesitated for a moment before telling Rein outright why he desired the ‘Divine Blood.’
After all, a normal person who obtained ‘Divine Blood,’ hearing it had no side effects and could enhance the practice of the Knight Breathing Method, would undoubtedly be overjoyed and certainly choose to consume it themselves rather than selling it to someone else.
“Of course, my lord,” Rein agreed without hesitation.
First of all, he had no interest in potentially problematic enhancement potions and didn’t want to take any risks. Secondly, he was able to kill the Black Flame Monk; Hamilton’s contribution in causing damage to the monk during their first battle was indisputable.
If Hamilton, his superior, decided to forcefully take half of the loot, Rein would have no objections, considering this was a legitimate Night Watchman mission, unlike the previous situation.
Upon hearing Rein’s prompt agreement, Hamilton was momentarily stunned, then looked at Rein in surprise and said, “Rein, you should think this over carefully. This is ‘Divine Blood.’ Are you sure you won’t regret giving it to me?”
“It will be difficult to obtain another bottle if you regret it later.”
“My lord, do you think I need to use ‘Divine Blood’ with my talent?” Rein smiled and handed the bottle of ‘Divine Blood’ to Hamilton.
Upon hearing this, Hamilton couldn’t help but chuckle, he patted Rein on the shoulder, took the Divine Blood, and said, “Good lad! You have ambition!”
Afterward, Rein went back to the corpse of the Black Flame Monk and continued his search.
After a meticulous search, he found a rolled-up strip of paper the width of a little finger on the robed corpse, resembling the pigeon message strips from Rein’s former life. The written content was incomplete, seemingly unfinished.
But the content that was there made Rein frown.
“My lord, perhaps you should take a look at this.”
“Hmm?” Hamilton was quite curious; even when Rein had discovered the Divine Blood, he hadn’t been this solemn.
He took the strip of paper and, upon reading it, furrowed his brows deeply.