...
Cough!
Right after Dracula compressed the powerful explosion caused by the colliding powers of Duke Bellion and Vladimir, the vampire duke finally lost strength in his legs and fell to his knees.
He supported his weight by stabbing his broadsword on the broken floor of the battle arena and holding into it.
He vomited some black blood as his undead-like body finally failed to withstand the sacred powers that he originally sealed within his body. He broke that seal earlier so that he could use his Sword Qi in the battle after knowing that his Blood Elemental Mana would not have any effects against his opponent.
The damage that his body had received was a grievous one. It was lethal enough for him to lose his life. After all, he forcefully wielded a sacred power while carrying a cursed vessel. These two conflicting powers did not only greatly damage his body, but also thoroughly broke his core.
This might be the end of his light, but he didn't regret it even for a bit. It would be an honor for him to die battling one of the famous princes of the Ataraxia Empire.
But before he could even have delusions about his final moments and dramatic death, a gentle power suddenly dropped on his body, healing his wounds and reconstructing his broken vessel.
Dracula had healed him and fixed his dying body.
It was not Duke Bellion was not expecting it to have, he just felt tired at that moment – so tired that he wanted to rest.
Everything that he did during his time serving Dracula when they were still Draconian fighting against their fate, during the time when they became a vampire trying to achieve revenge, and during the time they were forced to stay in this place without dying – all of it flashed through his eyes, making him feel all of the accumulated fatigued within his body.
Alongside his healing body, his courage, his will, and his loyalty to his king simultaneously returned, regaining his previous composure.
After that, he stood up and looked at Vladimir, who seemed to be completely fine despite overexerting himself during their final exchange.
Duke Bellion might be able to see it, but as someone who already overcame that particular stage, he could feel that Vladimir was able to summon the chains of restrictions when executing that Ultimate Skill.
He then stood up straight, held his broadsword, and placed it in front of his chest, before giving Vladimir a knight's bow unique to the Draconians.
In this battle, he was not the Vampire Duke Bellion, but the 'Duke Bellion' who was the sword of the Draconian Kingdom.
This battle clearly won by Vladimir, so he deserved to get the highest honor of a knight.
Seeing what Duke Bellion was doing, the vampires who finally freed themselves from the influence of Vladimir's suppression aura, started standing up and did the same bow as the duke. They were honoring Vladimir's victory and acknowledging him as a real knight.
Vladimir, who loved to flaunt how awesome and amazing he was, only swept his gaze at them before turning his attention to Dracula sitting on the throne.
If possible, he wanted to fight this particular vampire too. But unfortunately, he knew that it was impossible with his current strength and abilities, so he gave up the idea and went back to Shin's side.
While he turned himself into a speck of light that was heading over to Shin, a gentle power silently moved toward him and wrapped around his body.
Vladimir suddenly went cautious when he felt that foreign power trying to wrap around his body. But after noticing that it didn't have any ill intention, he quickly let his guard down and disregarded any form of resistance.
No one managed to see what happened due to how quick and short it was.
On the other hand, Shin, who was supposedly paying attention, was currently attracted to the series of notifications that the system had sent him.
*Ding!*
System: Congratulations on clearing the quest 'Bloody Ghost'!
System: Due to you scoring a perfect score, you will receive a bountiful reward!
System: Your Crimson Reaper, Vladimir will now be undergoing drastic growth and entering a slumbering phase.
He will be absorbing all of the blood-related abilities and techniques of all of the vampire opponents that fought during the quest.
Slumbering Time: 30 Days (In-game Time)
*Ding!*
System: Due to the related quests that are linked to your Elemental Spirit Quest, the additional reward will be added at the end of the ongoing main quest. Your rewards will either increase or decrease depending on the result of the main quest.
*Ding!*
System: Congratulations on winning the contest between retainers! As promised, Dracula, the Vampire Primogenitor, will grant you a bountiful reward!
*Ding!*
System: Your Main Quest has been triggered! Your quest score will drastically increase!
…
As Shin read through the string of notifications from the system, Dracula, for the first time Shin arrived in the Frozen Castle, finally stood up, causing a series of reactions to all of the vampires.
Right after Dracula stood from the throne, all of the vampires present in the Throne Hall quickly knelt down and lowered their heads.
The sound of the vampires simultaneously kneeling finally snapped Shin out of his thoughts and raised his head. He was about to kneel too when a gentle power suddenly prevented him from doing it and raising him up.
It was at that moment when he heard Dracula say. "There is no need for it. You are not one of my subjects nor a believer of our church, after all."
After that, Dracula crossed his hands behind him before saying. "Since your retainers won, I will give you the rewards that I promised."
"But since we are not from the same race or church, I can't give you the best rewards. But you can tell me what you want and I will look into it if I have it."
Pausing for a moment, he suddenly continued. "You can ask me anything – a skill, a special technique, a secret method, or a martial manual. There are also all kinds of special and rare materials, or even magical items, artifacts, weapons, or anything else – we have everything in our treasury."
Shin raised his eyebrows when he heard the things that Dracula had listed. And when he thought a little deeper into it, there were two things that piqued his interest – rare materials and martial manuals.
There was a rare material that Shin really wanted to get his hands on, meteorites. It was a special ore that he needed to upgrade his [Yamato] into Obsidian Rank, in accordance with the special quest that he received ages ago. And it was the only material he lacked to complete everything that was needed for that quest.
But since Arthur said before they start this Empire Quest that he knew a place where to find meteorites, so Shin was not in a rush to ask for them.
What really caught his attention were the martial manuals that Dracula was talking about. It was not because he wanted to ask for them and learn whatever they contained, but he was more interested in what they signified.
Due to them discovering the existence of the Reality Manifestation, Shin knew that the value of the skills would drop drastically. It was not because they were going to be significant, it was due to them not going to lose in priority.
With the Martial Art Skills and Mentalism Techniques that the players could summon during their respective Reality Manifestation, they could use the skills that they had from their arsenal as a base to re-create their skills within the game.
In this case, the combat and movement techniques that the players learned inside the game would be more significant. Not only they would be used based on their fighting style, but they would also serve as an additional set of techniques during battle.
Based on this, the rarity of the skills would lose most of their purpose, but not entirely. After all, there were some high-ranking skills that were still difficult to execute. Those skills could sever as the foundation of the more complex skills and techniques that the players could not execute in the real world.
At the same time, Shin was thinking that the skills would be more beneficial to the players who could not use the Reality Manifestation, though he was suspecting that they would be the minority within the game since most of the players were either Martial Artists or Mentalists in the real world.
Thinking about that, Shin couldn't help but recall his encounter and battle with Diablo. He first felt that the guy was using something similar to Reality Manifestation, but the more he thought about it, the more he became sure that it was not the case.
He felt that Diablo was relying more on the in-game mechanics instead of his martial prowess from the real world. It was somewhat different from what he was doing, which was the complete opposite.
Shin decided to ask Diablo about that special state when he got the chance.
The skill books might be more beneficial to the players like Diablo in the future. Shin still didn't know.
As for the martial manuals that Dracula had mentioned, Shin couldn't help but relate them to the 'martial manuals' that he knew from the real world. And if that was really the case, then the attention that the game would get from the real world would increase drastically.
Martial Manuals, as its name suggested, were manuals containing a set of Martial Arts and Martial Disciplines.
The Ancient Sects, the newly established schools, the military forces, the Martial Arts and Mentalism Families, and other organizations in the real had their own set of martial manuals that could only be taught to their members.
It became the symbol of that particular organization as well as its pride and secrets.
If the martial manuals that Dracula was talking about were really similar to what Shin knew, then the secret of this 'world' within the game was much deeper than anyone could think.
After recalling the set of sword techniques that Duke Bellion had showcased during the previous battle, Shin became more convinced that it was more likely the case.
Shin frowned his brow more deeply while muttering to himself. "Just what is the history of this game? Why is it created? And are the events and the people here really artificially created?"
A series of questions suddenly flashed through Shin's head as he became more and more intrigued about the game. And due to that, he was tempted to ask for a martial manual to be his reward.
But after contemplating it for a few moments, Shin shook his head and said to himself. "That's not it. I will get more clues about it if I just continue playing the game. Sooner or later, I will uncover the truth hidden behind this game."
After calming his mind and collecting his thoughts, Shin raised his head and finally responded to Dracula. "I know that this may sound rude, your majesty. But can I exchange that reward with a favor instead?"
He might want to confirm his suspicions right now, but he currently had his main priority inside the game. And that was what he was currently choosing right now.
...…
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶