Bloodline Nourishment

"Replenish mana?"

At the words "replenish mana," Jeanne's little face suddenly turned bright red, like a ripe forbidden fruit.

"Is that not allowed?"

His voice was still weak, as if he could run out of mana and die of exhaustion at any moment.

"It... It's not that it isn't allowed, it's just..." Jeanne stammered, her expression full of conflict. She had never heard of anyone dying from depleted mana, but seeing Aurelian in this state, she was afraid he might stop breathing at any moment and never wake up again.

Aurelian secretly opened his eyes and studied Jeanne's expression, inwardly delighted.

This little girl was just too adorable.

Forget it. He shouldn't tease her any longer, or she was going to cry from worry.

"Ha ha ha ha!" Aurelian burst out laughing.

"You! You're awful!"

Hearing Aurelian suddenly laugh, Jeanne immediately understood what was going on. Her flushed face was like a kettle coming to a boil, steaming away.

Seeing Jeanne's changing expressions, Aurelian hurriedly apologized. "I'm sorry, my adorable little maid. I really was wrong."

"You!"

Jeanne was about to cry from embarrassment. A pure girl like her couldn't withstand Aurelian talking to her like that.

"Promise me that next time something like that happens, you won't push me aside and put yourself in harm's way." Aurelian suddenly spoke in earnest.

He couldn't accept a woman dying for him. If he couldn't even protect the woman by his side, what kind of man was he? What kind of reincarnated transmigrator?

Jeanne raised her head and met Aurelian's gaze. She fell silent, and no one knew what she was thinking.

But in her beautiful blue eyes, Aurelian saw determination. If the same thing happened again, she would still rush to his aid.

"Why?" he asked. He didn't understand why a girl he had known for only a few months would go so far for him.

Was it because of Otto's orders, or for some other reason?

Jeanne remained silent and didn't answer Aurelian's question.

"All right. I won't let something like that happen again."

Aurelian stood up and spoke with resolve.

Turning his gaze toward it, he could finally take a close look at the transparent Ice Sculpture Tree.

"What should we do? Is that egg hanging up there the Child of Frost?"

"It's a creature born from magical elements. But from the looks of it, we arrived a little too early. It hasn't hatched yet. I think that Lower Rank Overlord was guarding this place because it sensed the egg's presence. Its existence can greatly help magical beasts evolve."

"Then what do we do? Are we supposed to wait here? The magic circle outside was set up hundreds of years ago, and they haven't gotten so much as a hair out of it."

Aurelian furrowed his brow. He couldn't be blamed for being impatient. The Child of Frost might be his hope for developing his territory, and Master was still fighting outside.

But the Overlord-class magical beast had already fallen. The wolves and other monsters outside should have scattered, so they were probably safe. Still, the core problem remained unresolved.

"If we can't wait for it to grow naturally, then we can force it to mature. There are pros and cons. It might be born deformed, or it might not. Either way, it won't be good for the elemental creature inside."

Jeanne shook her head, but still explained how. From her expression, she clearly didn't want to do it.

"Jeanne, tell me how. We can't wait any longer. Winter will come in a few months, and without food, even more people will die."

Aurelian wasn't a soft-hearted man. When the time came, he had to be decisive. Hesitating wouldn't solve anything.

"Use your blood to make it mature. Legendary Bloodline is a vast source of mana, so as long as the elemental creature inside can adapt to your mana's properties, it can grow faster. But if..."

Jeanne trailed off and simply looked at Aurelian.

Aurelian answered for her. "If it can't adapt, at best, its mana will become chaotic and it'll be deformed. At worst, it'll die outright."

"That's right. The choice is yours."

"If I had another choice, I wouldn't do this. I'm sorry, Jeanne, but I can't afford to wait. I have to take a chance."

Aurelian walked up to the Ice Sculpture Tree and gazed at the egg, concealed by icy magical elements and swaying quietly.

He held Innocent Starlight in his left hand and cut a gash in his right. Blood flowed out, dripping into the dense roots beneath his feet.

The roots seemed to come alive. They began to writhe and creep toward Aurelian.

Jeanne turned away. She didn't want to witness this scene: a creature that had struggled for hundreds of years to hatch, now doomed before it could be born.

The tangled roots frantically absorbed the new nourishment flowing toward them—Aurelian's blood.

Then the trunk carried it up to the elemental egg in the crown.

The crystalline egg began to rock violently. The creature waiting to be born inside had apparently been startled. It was resisting, then trying to adapt. The process of adaptation was often arduous, because it fundamentally changed the creature.

It was like feeding a newborn baby a meal instead of milk.

"Hang in there."

Aurelian called up to it from below. He felt awful too. What he was doing was undoubtedly snuffing out a new life. It was practically a crime!

On the outskirts of Spruce Forest, Master chopped off the head of a Dark Moon Wolf that lunged at him, then looked toward the knights around him.

They were all in a sorry state, covered in bite wounds from the wolves, blood still dripping from them.

But these knights truly lived up to their reputation as elite soldiers. They were all tough, enduring the excruciating pain as they fought to the end.

At last, a mournful howl rang out. The Dark Moon Wolves that had surrounded them began to scatter, vanishing into the shadows and leaving corpses behind.

"Is it over? It looks like the lord and Miss Jeanne succeeded in killing the Overlord-class magical beast."

Master lowered Moonlight, the long sword covered in blood. He closed his eyes, exhaled, and calmed his mind.

He began to recall the battle, thinking about where he had fallen short.

Ever since Jeanne had defeated him with a single blow, he had suddenly come to a realization. Many things besides mana could also make him stronger.

Through battle after battle, he could gain insight and eliminate unnecessary movements, bringing the art of killing to its utmost perfection.

That was what Master had come to understand: find the enemy's weakness, then strike a fatal blow!

Scenes of his past battles with enemies kept appearing in his mind. Unlike before, when they had flashed by in an instant, this time they unfolded slowly, as if time had slowed down countless times. Suddenly, his old way of seeing things changed. He gained a new understanding.

His consciousness sank into a strange space, as if a door had opened before him. He felt that if he walked through it, he would discover a new world.

In the real world, Master stood frozen with his eyes closed, like a living statue.

While he remained motionless, his deputy Darwin and the other knights put down their weapons and began tending to their wounds.

Spruce Forest fell quiet again, without a sound.

But suddenly, a whistle came from somewhere. A badly wounded knight collapsed to the ground, a black arrow embedded in his chest!

The well-trained knights immediately reacted. They had been ambushed, and enemies were still hiding nearby!

"Pick up your weapons! There are still enemies!"