"Time for what?" Illyan frowned.

Seeing her act all smug at this moment made him feel that she was truly two-faced.

Where was her cold expression?

But Aurelia paid no heed to Illyan's thoughts as she started talking.

"It is time to make a second step in learning magic, of course!" she snorted, as if this was an obvious answer.

"You learned [Blood Ignition] quite well. However, that is because this spell is so simplified that it can barely count as a spell that relies on Blood Energy to function," Aurelia said as her previous expression turned serious.

"Sorcerers depend on Blood Energy to perform magic that is deeply connected with the body. Namely, bloodlines, special physiques, and gifts similar to ours are their main power. However, it also works on normal body parts, like blood. Thanks to that, it is quite easy to perform this kind of magic with Blood Energy."

Illyan had already stopped thinking about useless things as he leaned forward and listened to her words. Whenever she talked about magic was when he learned something mind-blowing.

And this time was no exception.

Seeing his surprised expression, Aurelia continued.

"However, Blood Energy is quite limited if one doesn't have corresponding innate abilities. Your gift is related to the body and life force regeneration, which will make it easier for you to learn some healing spells, for example, but you will not succeed in making even the most basic fire magic unless you are extremely talented."

She looked at Illyan with a look that he knew what it meant.

'You are definitely not the talented type.'

That hit Illyan right in the heart.

Talent was always the thing he lacked.

Fortunately, since Aurelia talked about it, then there was some solution.

"However, mana is different."

'Here it is,' Illyan thought as he listened closely.

"Mana is the energy permeating the world and acts as its foundation and that of reality itself. It's a logical, truth-bound force that governs the natural order and thus also follows very consistent laws of reality."

"That makes it much harder to control than Blood Energy that follows the body and mind. But that is what makes it so sought after. Once you realize the logic hidden underneath, only the truth remains. The truth chosen by you."

Aurelia's eyes shone with desire when she said this.

However, Illyan also wasn't without excitement as he felt his blood boil at the thought.

"Since I found out about this, I simply found a way with the help of my gift to combine the Blood Energy with Mana," Aurelia said as she circulated the mana at the tip of her finger to form a small orb.

The orb was formed out of the crimson swirling energy as it slowly rotated on her finger.

It looked ethereal to Illyan's eyes but at the same time felt like it had mass, as the energy seemed to be made out of blood.

Soon, Aurelia stopped releasing her mana as she absorbed it back through the finger.

"Wait, so I will too have to—"

"No."

When Aurelia's words made him think she wanted him to replicate it and he was surprised, Aurelia interrupted him immediately with a shake of her head.

"You can't replicate it. And even if you could, I still wouldn't recommend it," she said calmly.

"Why not?" Hearing this, Illyan felt a pang of disappointment as he calmed down his excited heart.

"Firstly, combining these two energies took me years. And that is considering that I used my Perfection to not make any mistakes. Unfortunately, you can't replicate this path in this way, and I can't help you with it either."

Illyan clicked his tongue after hearing this, while Aurelia chuckled at him since he looked like a child that was denied a sugar candy.

"The second reason is simply because of my upbringing. While it may not look like it, since my clan is quite weak in the bigger scope of things, it managed to survive for several thousands of years."

"What?" Illyan listened to her words but then opened his eyes wide at her words.

"Doesn't that mean that your clan is much older than Vanaras Kingdom?" Illyan asked astoundedly.

"That's right." Aurelia nodded at his words, and her eyes turned blank as she started reminiscing about her clan's history.

"As you are aware, our organization is the Heart Bearer Gang, with the clan being at its core. The gang itself has existed for a few centuries, but the family clan has been there since the fall of the Eternal Gondoris itself. I, myself personally, don't know the reason or what connection we have with the fallen empire. I don't even know if my father, who is the patriarch, is aware of that."

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When she revealed such huge news, Illyan felt surprised, but he didn't react as much as before.

He had been surprised too many times during this short conversation to feel even more surprised.

'But this is certainly a big hint. Since their family has been here since the fall of the empire, then why didn't they get the inheritance? Did they not know about it until recently, or did they actually hunt for it for thousands of years? So many new questions, yet no answers.'

Illyan hadn't thought about it that much before, since he was violently thrown amidst the chaos of this battle for inheritance, but when he thought about it, it seemed suspicious.

The Gondoris' last Emperor lived over ten thousand years ago, and yet his inheritance wasn't claimed yet.

That meant that either it wasn't discovered for a long time or it had very difficult conditions to fulfill to claim it.

'It probably involves the Emperor's grudge against the fallen gods… But why would he hate them so much?'

While he thought about this, he unconsciously touched his belly, where the chest he stole from the citadel stayed.

'I will need to discuss this with her finally.'

Illyan decided that he would talk about it with her after their current conversation.

In fact, he was quite surprised that she didn't even ask about the key so far.

It had already been over half a year since he got it, but she never spoke of it as if she hadn't risked her life to gain the opportunity to steal it.

But as he thought about it, Aurelia continued talking about her clan.

"However, over the generations, our connection with blood was getting deeper. It could be said to be even innate talent, as everyone bearing our bloodline has a certain affinity with blood. That is also the reason why so many of our family members can use magic, albeit limited one."

Illyan gasped as if he realized something.

"Ah…! And that made the combining of two energies easier since Blood Energy's origin is normal blood."

"Exactly." Aurelia smiled in satisfaction at his quick realization.

"For me to succeed in this, there were many conditions. There are probably few in the world who achieved the same."

"I see… So what is your point in telling me what I can't do?" Illyan felt gloomy hearing her words since he hoped to achieve something similar.

Unfortunately, the reality wasn't so bright, as he was aware that he would need to stay with the basics.

Seeing his disappointed expression, Aurelia thought for a moment.

"The reason I told you this is that each person should find their own path and that you should not follow another person's path without treading your own."

Aurelia said slowly as she finished her tea and stood up.

"While it may seem counterproductive, I believe that you should pursue both Mana and Blood Energy separately. The best would be to give up on one or the other, but that isn't something you want to do, right?" Aurelia asked.

"No. In the first place, the Blood Energy is easily accumulated inside of my body, so I can focus on the mana more."

"Great. Since Blood Energy is good for Sorcery and Body Refining, I will try to find some technique in my clan that can utilize your own gift to its fullest potential. Thanks to that, we will be able to focus on your mana gathering. And we will be able to do that… with the help of these rods you have. So bring them now so that I can turn them into something useful."

Hearing that, Illyan sighed as he went down to the basement and retrieved over half of these rods.

'Since she plans to give me the technique for my gift, it is only appropriate to give her more than planned. The deal itself could be said to be void already.'

Illyan had already stopped thinking about superficial greediness, as he decided that giving her more would be more beneficial for both of them.

As he grabbed the bag where he stored these dark crystal rods, he immediately returned.

'I don't sense her gaze. I guess she is honest.' Illyan sighed as he came out of the basement, which he closed immediately.

He used several methods to perceive any foul play on her part but didn't sense anything. It made him feel he was either too paranoid or that Aurelia was just that good at hiding what she was doing.

However, he didn't brood over this for long as he came out of the laboratory back to the ground floor.

He tried to be as discreet as possible since he didn't plan to reveal the basement to Aurelia if possible, but he didn't bother hiding it too hard either.

"Here you go." Once Illyan left the laboratory, he threw the bag towards Aurelia, who was waiting for him.

"Thanks… Hmm?" Just as she took it with a nod, she weighed the bag in her arms.

"This isn't what we agreed on, right?" She frowned as she realized the difference in weight.

It wasn't that he gave too little but the actual opposite.

"Take it. That deal we had between ourselves doesn't matter now, does it? Since you have a way to make it useful, then I will trust the process." Illyan shrugged nonchalantly.

The investment was bound to be paid off rather quickly anyway, so he didn't need to bother with it.

"Hmm… I see. From reluctant to eager. How amusing." Aurelia grinned as she opened the bag.

Dark light fell upon her pale countenance as she took out one of the rods.

"This…"

As she weighed the rod while examining it closely, she revealed a surprised expression.

"I knew that Ezekiel managed to smuggle some of the dark crystal from that place, but this is beyond just good. No wonder he ran all the way here to hide." She shook her head in amazement.

Illyan looked at her playing with the rod as he asked, "So I guess that quality is pretty good?"

"Not just good but excellent. This is actually a 2nd grade crystal of Grand Quality." Aurelia said as she checked whether others were of the same quality.

"Others are the same. This is quite a harvest. With it, I can do quite a lot of things." Aurelia grinned in excitement.

Everything in the world could be graded by the Primordial Beast System's thirteen stages, which evaluated someone's or something's true power or total energy. However, each grade could then be divided even further since each grade was a gigantic leap in quality and quantity of basically everything.

As she explained to him once, there were five basic qualities of items, techniques, and ingredients.

The Standard, Remarkable, Excellent, Grand, and Supreme.

So far, Illyan didn't have much use for such information since there was nothing of interest in this barren land, but now he renewed his knowledge.

'Second tier should be the Apprentice Stage. It is a shame that it is not of Magister level, but I guess I would not have been able to defeat Ezekiel back then if he actually had something so strong.'

Illyan shook off his disappointment as he saw that Aurelia was thrilled. That meant that it was still a very good harvest.

"What will you make out of this?" Illyan asked in curiosity.

"Probably some Mana Elixirs and Dark Affinity Boosters. Maybe some items too if there is enough. I will explain how later on. However, most of that will be used as an energy source for the next inheritance hunting. The same way we activated the nodes, there will definitely be the same mechanisms in the main area."

Aurelia said calmly.

'Elixirs and boosters?' Illyan opened his eyes wide as he heard this for the first time.

But he could already guess their effects, so he was excited.

However, before he could ask any more questions, Aurelia was already standing by the window.

"Time is up. I will need to return before I am discovered. Time is not ripe yet. Be prepared to be called by Korin. They will probably want to strike some deal with you, so prepare some measurements. Also…"

Aurelia spoke in quick succession before she slowly took out a book from her robe.

"Take this and help me finish it. It will be beneficial for both of us."

She threw him the book, which he promptly caught.

"Well then, let's see each other again soon." She smiled as she opened the windows and hid in the shadows.

"Farewell." Illyan saw that she was really hurrying back and knew that it was definitely for a reason, so he didn't stop her despite the questions he had for her.

"Anyway… What is this?"

Illyan looked at the binding of the book and found no name on it, so he opened it and looked inside.

"This…!"

However, the moment he did so, he was shocked.

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