Huo Ge: Is my son a dragon blood warrior? (Seeking follow-up reads)

"My son is also a mage."

As Hogg said this, he couldn't help but puff out his chest.

Although, in Hogg's estimation, Linley had at most just learned magic and was merely a low-level first-rank mage.

But that did not hinder Hogg's pride.

This was not Fenlai City, the capital of the Fenlai Kingdom.

This was just the countryside.

Both Hogg and Locke were merely minor rural nobles.

To the common folk, they were high and mighty, but mages were not a common sight in the countryside.

Even if it was just a first-rank mage.

After all, throughout the entire Yulan Continent, with the exception of the O'Brien Empire, mages held a higher status than crude warriors.

Sure enough, upon hearing Hogg's words, the expression on Locke's face shifted slightly.

"Your son is a mage?" Locke looked toward Linley. "I must congratulate you, Hogg, for having a mage as an heir."

A trace of jealousy flashed across Locke's face.

If he remembered correctly, Hogg's eldest son was not even ten years old yet?

To be a first-rank mage before the age of ten.

In the future, he might even become a sixth-rank or perhaps even a seventh-rank mage.

Damn it.

Why?

The Baruch Clan had already fallen to such a state, so why was their luck turning around now?

"Father, Viscount Locke." Linley nodded slightly toward Locke. "This is the Magic Core of a Bloodthirsty Wild Boar; my teacher gave it to me."

As Linley spoke, he took out a fire-red, thumb-sized crystal core from his person and handed it to Hogg.

"A Magic Core from a Bloodthirsty Wild Boar?" Hogg was stunned for a moment before taking the crystal from Linley's hand. "A Magic Core from a sixth-rank Magic Beast? It's worth at least a thousand gold coins. This... Linley, your teacher just gave this to you?"

"This one should be worth around twelve hundred gold coins or so." Linley's expression remained calm. "A sixth-rank Magic Beast core is nothing to my teacher; he didn't give it a second thought."

"Gulp."

Linley's nonchalant demeanor caused Viscount Locke, standing to the side, to swallow hard.

A Magic Beast core worth over a thousand gold coins, given away just like that.

This teacher of Linley's had to be at least an eighth-rank mage.

After all, even a seventh-rank mage could not kill a sixth-rank Magic Beast so easily.

"Hogg, my dear brother." Locke composed himself and spoke with a chuckle. "I'll take this core. I'll give you fifteen hundred gold coins for it, and for these three music scores, I'll offer two hundred gold coins each. That's twenty-one hundred gold coins in total. How about it?"

Locke looked at Hogg with a face full of smiles, but deep within that smile, he hid a trace of anxiety.

The disciple of an eighth-rank mage would surely have a bright future.

Providing help in a time of need was out of the question.

But adding flowers to a brocade was better than offending the other party.

The true value of the music scores was only about one hundred and twenty or thirty gold coins.

Combined with the price of the Magic Core, he would be losing a few hundred gold coins at most, but being able to build a good relationship made it worth it.

However, to Linley's surprise, Hogg did not agree immediately this time. Instead, he looked at Linley. "Linley, what do you think? You brought this back, so it should be your decision."

"I listen to Father in everything." Linley shook his head. "If Father feels the price is unsatisfactory, we don't have to sell."

Linley's words caused Viscount Locke's cheeks to twitch.

Still not satisfied?

I'm already losing several hundred gold coins here.

Don't tell me he wants me to add more?

"Brother Hogg, if—"

"Viscount Locke, it's settled." Hogg didn't wait for Viscount Locke to finish, speaking first. "Twenty-one hundred gold coins in total. The core and the music scores are yours. Also, consider the fangs and the boar hide a gift from me."

Hogg wore a smile, but upon closer inspection, it seemed somewhat distant.

The smile on Locke's face also stiffened.

The fangs and hide of a Bloodthirsty Wild Boar were likely worth several hundred gold coins themselves.

In other words, the favor he had offered was being returned by Hogg in kind.

However, Locke didn't get too angry.

Although he hadn't managed to build a closer relationship, at least he hadn't made an enemy, right?

"Two thousand-plus gold coins... I need a little time. I will come to deliver the gold at this time tomorrow, and I'll take the items back then."

Locke spoke, then rose to take his leave.

Hogg offered a few words of persuasion, but Locke insisted on departing.

After seeing Locke off, Hogg returned to the reception hall.

"Father." Linley stood up and looked at Hogg as he entered. "From now on, don't sell any more of the family's belongings. With me here, there won't be any problems."

Linley's words left Hogg momentarily dazed.

Although Linley was one meter seventy, which wasn't exactly short, he was only eight years old, wait?

Hogg discovered something amiss.

Since when had Linley grown so tall?

"Linley, your height?" Hogg walked a few steps closer, reached out to squeeze Linley's shoulder, and looked surprised. "And your warrior strength, how could it be?"

Hogg looked at Linley with a face full of confusion.

Apprenticing under a mage and successfully learning magic was rare, but Hogg could still understand it.

However, Linley's physical strength was now likely at least that of a third-rank warrior.

How was this possible?

If a Dragonblood Warrior's bloodline did not meet the standard, they could never cultivate the Dragonblood Secret Manual and could only rely on simple physical conditioning.

But physical conditioning was a slow, grinding process.

Many ninth-rank warriors did not necessarily possess the physical strength of a sixth-rank.

Yet, how could a child like Linley have reached the physical strength of a third-rank?

"Father, don't be surprised by what I'm about to tell you." Linley spoke, stepping forward to close the doors of the reception hall.

Hogg felt his hands trembling slightly.

Although he didn't yet know what Linley was going to say, Hogg knew that this would absolutely change the entire landscape of the Baruch Clan.

The next moment, Linley turned around, but he didn't speak, merely fixing his gaze on Hogg.

"Chi chi~"

Just as Hogg could no longer wait to ask, a low, rumbling sound emanated from Linley's body.

Immediately, to Hogg's horrified eyes, Linley's entire body was covered in scales.

Five dragon horns atop his head resembled a crown, and the dragon tail behind him swept out, carving deep gashes into the stone floor.

The wings on his back unfurled, blocking all the light from the window.

At this moment, Linley had transformed into a dragon-man nearly two meters tall with a ferocious appearance.

"Father!" Linley's voice was low and hoarse after the transformation. "This is the secret I wanted to tell you: the Dragonblood Warrior transformation."

Linley casually tore off the remnants of his clothes, which had been reduced to rags.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible." There was no joy on Hogg's face; instead, it was as if his faith had been shattered. "If the bloodline concentration doesn't meet the standard, it is absolutely impossible to transform into a Dragonblood Warrior. It's impossible, absolutely impossible."

Hogg looked completely dejected.

When he was a child, Hogg had gone through the same bloodline testing as Linley.

Likewise, Hogg's bloodline had not met the standard.

But Hogg had not given up; he had been ambitious and wanted to change the family's situation.

Yet, now in middle age, Hogg realized that his so-called ambition was nothing but a void.

But then, what was this transformation of Linley's?

Furthermore, it was completely different from the green dragon scales of a Dragonblood Warrior transformation as recorded in the family archives.

However, Hogg quickly came to his senses.

"My son is a Dragonblood Warrior?"

An expression of excitement gradually appeared on Hogg's face.

As the current patriarch of the Baruch Clan, Hogg naturally understood what a Dragonblood Warrior represented.

As long as he didn't die, he would definitely become a Saint-level in the future!