[Island of Bones, Dwarven Mountains Underground Level 5]
*PLASH*
The strength of a blood wolf's jaw was not to be underestimated, especially when it was summoned by a peak beginner rank acolyte like Lewis. Its stats depending solely on the caster's spirit attribute value, its strength far surpassed the realm of regular magical creatures that could be encountered in the dwarven mountains.
After spending months in the underground, Vanessa thought that the blood wolf summon's strength would only be somehow similar to a silver-fur wolf, slightly stronger based on what she knew from the spell. Its strongest perk being its tracking spell [Blood Smell], it was not a summon meant for defeating strong opponents, but more of a utility summon.
Or at least, this is how it was recorded in the last racial war with vampires.
However, the spell had been matered by Lewis, and thus the strength of the magical creature he summoned had grown tremendously. After all, Lewis was not your average acolyte. Over decades, he researched the possibility of strengthening the summon, and he realized that the quality of the summoned blood also mattered. Using fresh blood could increase the strength of such a summon by leaps and bounds, though it only happened after he slightly changed the magical hex used to cast the spell. Just like the [Blood Arrow] spell he modified to add a rotation vector, duplicating its piercing power, the [Blood Wolf Summon] was the fruit of decades of intense studying.
He had not reached the title of [Blood Elder] in the past for no reason. There was no one more knowledgeable than him in blood magic in the whole Magical Court in his previous life, the result of years of accumulation as the leader of the Crimson Clan.
[Name - Blood Wolf Summon | Beginner Rank Magical Creature
Attributes:
Strength - 7.1 | Agility - 3.5 | Vitality - 3.5 | Spirit - 7.1
Spells: [Blood Smell], [Blood Claws]]
Vanessa, however, quickly regained her spirit after her arm was bitten. Seeing the beast unwilling the let go of her arm, she plunged her dagger in its eyeball. The intense pain would have been enough to release the tension of its jaw, but it was a summoned beast, devoid of pain sensors, a creature made of arcane and blood.
*RIP*
"ARGH", Vanessa shouted as the beast shredded her arm further. The flesh was ripped, and her forearm detached.
Shaken by the pain, she desperately cast a shadow spear, which hit the blood wolf in the head, barely destroying the summon, that turned into a pool of blood.
Losing an arm in the intense battle, she immediately applied a hemostasis potion onto her wounds to stabilize her condition. As she stood up, she realized that her head was dizzy. She ignored her body's pain sensors that screamed in agony, and continued to walk, eventually reaching the third floor of the dwarven underground mountains.
However, as if to crush her hopes, a young boy was standing in her way.
"Wait, I can offer you-"
*SPLASH*
Using his knowledge of the underground and the information he got from Blood tracking, it was easy for Lewis to know the path that Vanessa would take, if she survived the blood wolf summon attacks. Then, it was just as simple as to wait for her to come accross him, as he took a shortcut, knowing exactly where she would go.
Not even bothering to cast a spell, Lewis unsheathed his sword and beheaded the woman.
[Blood Harvest]
As he muttered a couple of arcane words, blood condensed into a couple of drops of pure blood essence, his affinity with the spell rising quite fast in the past few months in the underground. Though compared to magical creatures, acolytes provided much less blood essence in terms of quantity, the purity was much higher. Either way, the stomach of a bloodline type acolyte like Orianna would devour it regardless of purity, resulting in growth, especially from such a strong acolyte like Vanessa Ryneflower, a key acolyte that should have become a cornerstone of the Shadow Guild, yet died in a nameless skirmish in the underground of the dwarven mountain.
Looting the body, Lewis smiled.
Elite beginner rank acolytes were indeed rich.
Noticing that her eyes possessed a strange magical power even after dying, Lewis plucked them without hesitation and put them in a vial filled with green liquid, a preservation regent that he had purchased for a couple of magic crystals in the market. If she had taken the care to transplant them into her eyeballs, then without a doubt, they were valuable in some ways.
[Ryneflower Eyeballs] [x2]
[Magic Crystals] [x24]
[Porfeld Dagger - Magical Artefact (low-grade)
Crafted by a skilled blacksmith hundreds of years ago and passed down from generation to generation, the Porfield dagger is a powerful artefact that can absorb regular rank 0 spells that have not been modified. Once absorbed, the spell can be cast again at a heavy mana cost
Current spell stored - Shadow Spear (rank 0 spell)]
[Hemostasis potion] [x2]
[Strength Elixir] [x1]
[Moonshadow Plant] [x2]
[Harflen Ore] [x1]
[...]
Her bag was filled with valuables, from rare ore she had mined in the underground, to valuable plants that only grew in such a magically filled environment. Besides that, she possessed a couple of potions, including two hemostasis potions and an elixir that could raise strength. However, she also happened to have 24 magic crystals on her, which was not a small fortune, considering that she had been confined to the underground for quite some time.
However, the most valuable item on her was the Porfield Dagger, a magical artefacts.
Magical artefacts were items that could make the difference between a regular acolyte and an elite acolyte. For instance, Jorg did not know two spells yet was acknowledged as an elite beginner rank acolyte thanks to his enchanted ice shield, which barely qualified as a semi-low grade magical artefact as its strength came from a strong elemental enchantment.
Magical artefacts like the Porfield Dagger or his Wolf Circlet Ring were beyond rare and difficult to craft, requiring a vast stove of knowledge that only magus families or centuries-old factions like the Arcane Faction possessed. They could last through time, and more importantly, possessed abilities that could raise an acolyte's strength by leaps and bounds.
Because of this very reason, magical artefacts were only seldomly sold in auctions, and even then, they would only be sold for at least 50 magic crystals for the semi-low-grade magical artefacts like enchanted swords, up to thousands of magic crystals for the most elaborated magical artefacts. In his previous life, Lewis had given up on a resource site and thouands of magic crytals, for the prized [Vampire Staff], which could raise his blood elemental affinity and stimulated his vampire blood essence, essential to his growth.
Of course, the Porfield Dagger was only a low-grade magical artefact, but Lewis immediately thought that it could greatly solve Orianna's lack of long-range spells. The downside of the heavy mana consumption truly was a shame, but Lewis still estimated it to be worth around 150 magic crystals.