Chương 571: Chapter 539: Armor of the Blooded Templar

Thalion kept to himself as he worked tirelessly on the crystals. The one intended for his chest piece was finished within mere hours, but the crystal for the helmet proved far more difficult. He needed to split it into five pieces that would later be inserted into the upper front section of the helmet, resembling a set of horns. Just looking at the helmet and imagining how everything would fit together made him want to pat himself on the back. Fighting in this armor would be glorious.

"You can't be serious. Do I look like a smithing tool to you?" Saranya complained loudly as Thalion used her blade to cut through the crystal. The sword was simply the best tool available when it came to shaping such ridiculously durable materials. Thalion ignored her complaints and focused entirely on his work. In fact, he was a little annoyed at himself for not using this method from the start. With Saranya's help, it only took an hour before all the crystal pieces were ready.

He immediately inserted them into the armor. First, he removed every piece from the blood pond and fitted them together by activating several runes that had been engraved specifically for that purpose. Now came the dangerous part. Inserting the crystals would almost certainly create a shockwave, and Thalion had no intention of standing next to the armor when that happened. As a precaution, he walked up the stairs and onto the street outside.

The chest crystal and the five smaller helmet crystals floated a meter above the ground, coated in a few liters of blood he had specifically prepared for this process. Thanks to his blood vision, he could see every single piece perfectly through the soil. With a single command, the crystals shot into their designated sockets. Only a moment later, the entire mansion shook violently. The people on the street had already been giving him strange looks.

The fact that half of the mansion was now collapsing into the ground certainly wasn't helping. A crowd quickly gathered to see what had happened. Several guards even approached Thalion to ask whether he needed assistance. He didn't pay them the slightest attention. A rather impressive description had just appeared on his status screen. Armor of the Blooded Templar The Blooded Templar Armor was forged from crystals, primordial blood, and countless hours of tempering.

Most of its surface was a polished black that reflected almost no light, while crimson lines spread across the armor like living arteries. The shoulders were broad and intimidating without becoming bulky, allowing unrestricted movement in battle. A crown-like helmet framed the head with several backward-sweeping spikes, giving its wearer the appearance of a dark king rather than a knight. Every plate had been infused with blood essence, causing the entire suit to slowly pulse with the heartbeat of its creator.

This armor possesses extraordinary resistance against all forms of damage and offers unparalleled protection to its wearer. Any damage sustained can be rapidly repaired through the use of blood. There was no rarity listed, but Thalion didn't minded. This was already excellent. More importantly, it definitely wasn't the finished product. Good thing he had left the armor in a separate room. Even though the ground above had collapsed, the blood pond itself should still be intact.

Now he simply needed to retrieve his armor. Vines erupted from his body and burrowed into the rubble, heading directly toward the buried armor below.

"I suppose I'll send for someone to repair the damage." An elf standing nearby muttered while looking at Thalion expectantly. Sadly, he received no response. Thalion's entire focus was on his masterpiece. The tons of stone that had collapsed onto the armor hadn't even left a scratch. Now that the crystals were finally integrated, he liked the armor even more. Especially the helmet.

"Oh, good job, Thalion." He complimented himself. The elf who had still been waiting for an answer looked completely bewildered at this point. A few moments later, he quietly walked away. For Thalion, the damage to the mansion didn't matter in the slightest. The blood pond was still intact, mostly to it being on the other side of the cellar. The communication circle was still functioning. That was good enough.

Now that the armor was finally finished and only required further tempering, it was time to inspect the new forms that would be sent through the portal. Oh, was he looking forward to that.

"Rest well, my perfect armor." Thalion carefully placed the armor back into the blood pond. Only then did he leave the mansion. The first thing he noticed was the crowd gathered around the partially collapsed building. People were still staring at the destruction. Yeah, whatever. Let them stare. Activating Scarlet Maelstrom, Thalion shot into the air and headed toward the portal. His greed immediately spiked the moment he saw the first body parts being carried through.

He didn't even notice that the streets had become significantly more crowded due to the recent arrivals. Instead, he immediately placed a hand on the first piece of flesh. The beast turned out to be a Tempestwing Manta. A creature known for its exceptionally powerful skills and terrifying domains. The problem with most forms Thalion acquired was that many of their passive abilities were already replicated—and usually surpassed—by the divine-rarity skills he already possessed.

If two passive skills performed exactly the same function, only the stronger one remained active, while the weaker one became completely useless. Honestly, that was a bit disappointing. After the manta came three elementals. Then another wyvern. Moving body parts from that wyvern onto his own would be counterproductive. He had already invested a great deal of body tempering into his wyvern form, and replacing scales would mean losing a significant portion of that progress. No.

What Thalion was truly looking for were skills that complemented his existing abilities. There was also no reason to discard the forms. He still had plenty of free slots available, and future evolutions might unlock entirely new abilities. The manta itself didn't offer much of value, but the elementals were a different story. From the first elemental, he transferred a skill called Veil of the Stormlord. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

The skill made its user significantly harder to detect while flying through storms. Considering his wyvern already specialized in storm-based combat and possessed a domain focused around weather manipulation, it was an excellent addition. The next skill transferred to the wyvern was Supercharged Domain. A passive ability that enhanced domains in every conceivable aspect. It increased power, effectiveness and the influence. The effects became even stronger when fighting inside one's own domain.

That alone made it an exceptional skill. Beyond that, however, useful upgrades became increasingly difficult to find. Most aspects of the wyvern were already approaching their limits. One final skill did catch his attention. A passive ability that allowed the user to manipulate their own weight which the Eclipsari had used, but with its new condition the skill was completly useless. At first, Thalion had considered giving it to his human form. In the end, however, the wyvern seemed like the better choice.

Reducing its weight would allow it to climb into the skies with greater ease. Increasing its weight could be devastating during aerial combat or when crashing into enemies. Overall, Thalion was quite pleased with the results. The forms had provided several worthwhile upgrades. Even better, the worst rarity among them had been Legendary. That was already an excellent haul. More importantly, this wouldn't be the last batch. For now, however, there was something else he had wanted to do for quite some time.

It was finally time to properly practice with the Eclipsari. Specifically, he wanted to learn how to empower himself using souls. <-- Wang couldn't believe his eyes as he walked through the camp. Originally, he had only been sent to spy for Ethan, but he quickly realized that the best way to gather information was to infiltrate the settlement itself. To his surprise, doing so turned out to be incredibly easy.

The weak humans who were about to join the faction were so welcoming that slipping in among them required almost no effort at all. Listening to the group's leaders argue about what would happen if they weren't accepted nearly made him facepalm. Just how stupid were these people? Who would ever reject free labor? If Ethan were in charge, the process would have been simple.

The newcomers would be assigned to a section of the city reserved for weaklings, receive a neck collar so they couldn't run away, and then spend every day gathering resources for the faction. In return they would receive enough food to survive. At least that was how Ethan—and most of the other human Chosen—handled things. The fact that even the vampires were simply accepting the humans' decision was the next thing that completely baffled him. Was everyone here this naive?

No human faction would ever willingly accept vampires into their ranks. Wang had briefly considered killing a few of them himself, but after observing them more closely, he quickly abandoned the idea. The vampires were powerful. Very powerful. And that wasn't even taking into account the enormous amounts of blood they consumed every day. Watching them feed was disgusting. Unfortunately, Ethan would want as much information as possible, so Wang forced himself to continue observing.

The whole thing almost looked as if the vampires had favorite humans. Some were finished within minutes. Others spent entire evenings in the company of a single vampire. A few even shared tents. Disgusting. There couldn't possibly be friendship between humans and vampires. To vampires, humans were livestock. Nothing more. The moment those humans stopped being useful, they would be slaughtered. At this point Wang had thought nothing could surprise him anymore.

Then he nearly choked when he saw Thalion jump over the wall to personally speak with the vampires and their flock of humans. He actually pinched himself several times before finally realizing whose settlement they had stumbled across. Poor humans. He had heard plenty of stories about Thalion. Now he expected the refugees to be enslaved and worked to death. One-tenth would probably disappear every week and Thalion likely wouldn't care in the slightest. With such numbers, even more would die gathering resources.

Wang activated one of his scouting skills to listen to the conversation. What he heard only confused him further. Just what is happening? Thalion wasn't killing the vampires. He wasn't threatening them. He was actually giving them a chance. The entire thing made absolutely no sense. How manipulative was this human? Wang quickly reached his own conclusion. Thalion probably wanted to use the vampires as soldiers in the coming war. Even then, they wouldn't matter much.

No matter how powerful they were, Wang himself was still considered one of the weaker members of Ethan's army. His attention shifted toward the elves standing on the walls. They all looked competent but not exceptional. The uniforms and disciplined mannerisms immediately caught his eye. He had seen enough elves trained in divine domains to recognize them. Which meant one of two things. Either Thalion had become a Chosen. Or a Chosen was currently living inside the settlement.

Most likely, Thalion had simply abandoned humanity and joined the elves. That would certainly explain why he had tried to "defend" Eric's base that night. Only a few hours later, the newcomers were marked with identification tattoos and allowed into the city. From there, Wang quietly separated from the group and began exploring. To his surprise, movement inside the settlement was remarkably unrestricted. Most areas were freely accessible.

Only the districts containing craftsmen and important workshops were off-limits. That observation alone revealed another valuable piece of information. There was definitely an elven Chosen living here. The teleportation network in the center of the city proved something else as well. This wasn't their only base. Ethan would be very pleased once he received this report. The only problem was that Wang actually had to work while waiting for the army to arrive.

First they would bring craftsmen capable of constructing a teleportation circle nearby. Once completed, Ethan's forces could instantly move through the network and appear right outside Thalion's settlement. Wang smiled to himself. For the first time since entering the camp, he felt as if things were finally making sense.

"Hey, Wang, what are you doing over here? We need to get moving and show the elves that we really want to be part of this faction." Nina grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him along. Nina was the most useless wind mage Wang had ever encountered. She talked nonstop about how amazing her evolution to E grade had been. The fact that she was considered one of the stronger members of the human group at only level one hundred and forty said everything.

If Wang had been that pathetically weak, he would have thrown himself off a cliff long ago. After two days inside the faction, it was finally time for them to start working. Wang only hoped he wouldn't be forced to reveal his true strength. He doubted wherever they were going would be particularly safe, and it was crucial that his cover remained intact until he could report back to Ethan. To his surprise, it was one of the vampires who guided them through the forest.

Eventually, they arrived in an area where long vines wrapped themselves around gigantic trees. Countless glowing flowers had blossomed along the vines, illuminating the undergrowth with a soft light. Their job was simple. Pick flowers. For hours. Endless hours. While they harvested flower after flower, the vampiress simply sat on a branch and watched. The others quickly became exhausted andWang pretended to share their misery to blend in.

What bothered him more was that the vampiress seemed to be paying a little too much attention to him. If she decided to drink his blood, his cover would be blown instantly. Not that he feared her. Even if she was stronger than him—which she very well might be—Wang was confident he could kill her if necessary. Every now and then she released a bit of her aura, scaring away E-grade beasts that wandered too close. After an entire day of harvesting flowers, the workers were completely exhausted.

Wang eagerly joined the complaining about how hot it was and the work in general.

"Yeah, I totally agree. If he wants these flowers so badly, he should pick them himself. Who does he think he is?" The conversation instantly died. Everyone looked at him strangely. It took Wang a moment to realize his mistake. The others had been complaining about the heat. Or the boring work. Or their sore backs. Wang, meanwhile, had directly insulted the man who had allowed them into the settlement. A rather different level of complaint. The vampiress finally spoke.

She was now standing on a branch only a few meters above him.

"Wang, you have remarkably strong blood. Why haven't I noticed you before?" Wang really didn't like the way she was looking at him. Nor the way she slowly inhaled through her nose.

"Hmm. No wonder there are so many of us." The vampiress tilted her head.

"We were very careful. Your blood is like a beacon among all the others." Her crimson eyes narrowed.

"I've been observing you." That wasn't a sentence Wang wanted to hear.

"And unlike everyone else here, today's work hasn't exhausted you in the slightest." Things were heading in a very bad direction. Wang needed to calm her down before she decided to take matters into her own hands.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm working just like everyone else." He forced an annoyed expression onto his face.

"Honestly, I would've preferred doing something else, but fine. At least we have a safe place to stay." It was exactly the kind of nonsense all the other humans constantly repeated. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to have the desired effect.

"Interesting." The vampiress smiled.

"Then why has your heart been beating so fast ever since I started talking to you?" Wang froze.

"Your body is acting as if you're preparing for a fight."

"Because you're a vampire." Wang immediately fired back.

"Do you have any idea what I went through during the tutorial? Vampires killed most of the people in my area." In his opinion, it was a very convincing lie.

"What are you talking about, Wang?" Nina suddenly stepped into the conversation.

"The vampires have saved us more times than I can count." She crossed her arms and looked genuinely offended.

"That's incredibly disrespectful." Not for the first time this day, Wang wished she would stop talking.

"Nina, when did you first meet Wang?" The vampiress asked the question without taking her eyes off him for even a second.

"I don't know. Probably shortly before we entered the base?" Nina answered casually. That was enough. Wang immediately understood that there was no talking his way out of this. He would have to take his chances. Kill the vampiress. Then kill the humans. No witnesses. Two blades appeared in his hands as he shot upward using his movement skill. Mana wrapped around the weapons while he swung directly for the vampiress's neck. Unfortunately, she was incredibly fast. Far faster than he had expected.

It was almost as if she had anticipated the attack from the very beginning. She casually dashed to the side while her entire body exploded with power. Surprised screams erupted from the humans below. Wang ignored them. Right now, he had only one problem. The vampire. Thankfully she fought with claws instead of a weapon. That reduced the gap in strength considerably. With superior technique, he should still be able to win without taking a hit. Sadly, the vampiress was even more skilled than he was.

With a blur of movement she rotated around the tree branch. Wang barely managed to follow her. Then her foot slammed into his leg. His balance disappeared instantly. The next thing he knew, his right arm was twisted violently behind his back. Something snapped inside his shoulder. A wave of burning pain shot through his body. Wang reacted immediately. Using his remaining arm, he stabbed toward her chest. The vampiress must have anticipated that as well.

She spun around his attack, grabbed him by the throat with one hand, and seized his remaining wrist with the other. Wang tried to force the blade into her side. Nothing happened. She was simply too strong. His arm didn't move an inch. Then she squeezed. Her claws dug through his hand. With a pained yelp, Wang dropped the weapon. His last hope was to somehow break free. Unfortunately, the vampiress seemed frighteningly experienced in exactly this type of situation.

Before he could react, she violently jerked his head upward. Their eyes met. So far Wang had carefully avoided direct eye contact. Now there was nothing he could do. The moment their gazes locked, his entire body turned numb. A crushing presence buried itself deep inside him.

"I really hate that this is going to feel absolutely amazing for you." The vampiress hissed. Then she bit into his neck. Wang felt his strength draining away. Every second made him weaker. Every second made resistance more impossible. At the same time, a sensation unlike anything he had ever experienced rushed through his body. Pleasure, warmth and comfort rushed through his veins. His instincts screamed at him to fight. His body refused to listen.

Even if he had been at full strength, he suddenly realized, he wouldn't have stopped her. And that realization terrified him far more than the bite itself.