Bloodline Enhancement

The night passed without incident.

The next day, Wednesday.

The streak of sunny days abruptly ended, and the weather turned somewhat gloomy. The air was thick with humidity. Distant thunder rumbled, and lightning, like dragons, flashed intermittently.

A black umbrella had appeared in Colin's black backpack. He put on his leather shoes and stepped out the door, hearing Linda's voice from behind.

"Good luck, Colin."

"Got it, sis," Colin tightened the straps of his backpack and strode towards Will Knight Academy.

As usual, the closer he got to the academy, the more students he saw wearing the same uniform. Colin was as unremarkable as a drop of water merging into a river.

Soon, Colin arrived at the classroom for Class 5. Many classmates were already there, either sitting quietly at their desks or chatting in small groups.

As Colin entered, the classroom fell silent for a moment. Most students looked up at him, their gazes slightly odd.

Brian looked up at Colin, a dismissive smile evident on his face. As Colin passed by him, Brian let out a snort from his nose. "Hmph."

Colin ignored him but found the atmosphere in the classroom a bit strange. He went to his desk, put his backpack inside, and then took a delicate small gift box from his pocket, handing it to Bill next to him.

"Bill, a gift I brought back from Kent City," Colin said with a smile. Inside was a finely crafted bronze ring, not something valuable, just a token of his affection.

"Thank you, Colin," Bill managed a strained look of surprise, taking the gift box and tucking it into his pocket without opening it immediately. He then quietly said to Colin, "Colin, you took leave for a few days to go to Kent City, and Brian has been spreading rumors that you're a coward who fled in disgrace after failing your bloodline enhancement."

"Let him say what he wants," Colin shrugged slightly. He was in a good mood, and such trivial matters didn't affect him at all.

Bill had felt sorry for Colin, but seeing his open-mindedness, he felt much better. He asked Colin in a low voice, "You seem to be in a good mood. Did something wonderful happen in Kent City?"

"Nothing specific, but I saw many magicians, those strange people who hide themselves in robes. It felt like I broadened my horizons," Colin said with a chuckle.

Bill was taken aback. Was he happy just because of that? However, he believed Colin and smiled, "That's true. Magicians are rarely seen in Will City."

School life continued as usual, but Bill and Colin, already marginalized figures in the class, became even more so.

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened that day, other than a few sarcastic remarks from Brian and Chal.

After class, Colin and Bill said their goodbyes, and Colin headed home with his backpack. Linda greeted him as always, giving him a kiss and a hug.

A short while later, Smith also returned from work. During dinner, Smith and Linda exchanged stories about their day, with Colin rarely interjecting.

After dinner, Colin and Smith, as usual, left the kitchen chores to Linda and left. After washing up, Colin went to his bedroom and lay down. When the night was quiet, Colin secretly took out his Magic Pharmaceutical Apparatus and materials to begin refining the Basic Strength Potion.

This time, he succeeded and gained 1 Energy Point. He immediately converted the Energy Point into Skill Points and invested them in Basic Strength Potion Crafting.

As a result, his skill level in this area became (Proficient).

With the desired outcome achieved, Colin fell asleep in a happy mood.

Thursday and Friday were typical school days, with no special events. He was still subjected to Brian and Chal's sarcastic remarks.

He failed at potion-making on Thursday. On Friday night, Colin refined another Basic Strength Potion and collected energy, raising the level of Basic Strength Potion Crafting to (Perfect).

Nothing special happened on Saturday, except that Linda had the day off and pestered Colin into going shopping, returning with many bags of daily necessities.

Colin offered no opinion throughout the outing, acting solely as a porter, carrying the heavy bags.

With his Basic Strength Potion Crafting elevated to Perfect, Colin's success rate in potion-making reached 100%. On Saturday night, he refined another Basic Strength Potion.

The same happened on Sunday night.

Late at night, the sky was pitch black and it was raining. The rain was light, as fine as silk threads, falling incessantly and annoyingly.

Colin pulled open the blue curtains, opened the window, and let the medicinal smell in the room drift out. He then picked up the refined Basic Strength Potion.

The Basic Strength Potion in the glass container glowed a seductive blood-red. Colin smiled slightly as he looked at it, then had the System absorb the energy.

The potion in the glass container vanished into thin air, leaving only the container itself. Colin set the glass container down, took off his slippers, sat on the old floor, and opened the System interface.

The System energy bar now showed 2.

Without hesitation, Colin converted the 2 Energy Points into 1 Bloodline Point.

Then, he used the 1 Bloodline Point to enhance his bloodline.

According to the note he had received:

"After consumption, there is a 90% chance of bloodline enhancement."

"The taste is very bitter; be sure to drink it all in one gulp."

"After consumption, severe pain and spasms will occur. Intense pain may lead to unconsciousness. Maintaining consciousness increases the chance of success. Unconsciousness makes failure more likely."

However, after Colin's System point allocation, he encountered no problems whatsoever. After the process was complete, Colin was sticky all over. Looking down, he saw disgusting black matter oozing from his body, emitting a foul odor, much like what is described in martial arts novels.

It was akin to taking a miraculous medicine for "cleansing the marrow and strengthening the bones."

Regardless of whether it was the same, Colin opened the System interface.

Colin.Russell

Class: Novice Knight.

Vitality: 2 (+1)

Intelligence: 5

Strength: 3 (+2)

Agility: 3

Bloodline: Black Bear Bloodline (Common) [Note: Enhancement requires 1 Bloodline Point]

Bloodline Influence: Strength +2, Vitality +1

Skills: Roer Military Swordsmanship (Rusty) [Note: Enhancement requires 1 Skill Point], Riding (Proficient) [Enhancement requires 1 Skill Point.], Basic Alchemy, Basic Strength Potion Crafting (Perfect) [Note: Enhancement requires 1 Skill Point].

Unassigned Attribute Points: 0 [Note: 1 Energy can be converted into 1 Attribute Point.]

Unassigned Skill Points: 0 [Note: 1 Energy can be converted into 1 Skill Point] [Note: Skill Points can also be used to learn skills]

Unassigned Bloodline Points: 0 [Note: 2 Energy can be converted into 1 Bloodline Point]

Energy: 0 [Note: Energy can be converted into Attribute Points, Skill Points, and Bloodline Points. Unused Attribute Points, Skill Points, and Bloodline Points can also be converted into Energy.]

[Note: All items possessing magic power can be used to collect Energy.]

Status: Healthy.

Colin looked up at the Bloodline section, Black Bear Bloodline (Common), Bloodline Influence: Strength +2, Vitality +1, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"Who said my bloodline enhancement failed?"