Chapter 67: Five Years
Raven's days bled into a rhythm sharpened by discipline.
Before dawn touched the horizon, he was already in the courtyard. Cold morning air clung to his skin as his spear carved arcs through the dimness. Each movement whispered through the silence—precise, controlled, unwavering. By the time the sky brightened, sweat already soaked his shirt, and his arms trembled faintly from strain.
Alchemy consumed the next hours.
Vials clinked. Steam curled. Bitter, metallic scents lingered in the air as he carefully measured powders and stirred cauldrons. Only after the concoction settled into the right color did he allow himself a quiet exhale and step out for breakfast.
Then came the hours he anticipated most—runes.
The study room was still, lit only by a sliver of sunlight through the curtains. Raven sat before a table stacked with scrolls, ink bottles, and aged tomes. Closing his eyes, he sifted through the information lingering in his mind.
"Magic Array Circle Creation—Bloodstone Ink is favored for its mana conductivity. Chalk works for temporary inscriptions…"
The memories continued.
"When inscribing arrays on scrolls, Wizards draw rune letters and circles using quills—precision determines stability…"
His eyes narrowed.
What exactly is a Magic Array Circle?
The answer surfaced immediately.
"It acts as a conduit—translating spell models into executable spells."
Similar to the Mind Space… but external?
More information flooded in.
"Array circles can be created on scrolls, tower walls, rings, amulets, weapons. With rune words engraved alongside, the array becomes a Magic Rune Circle…"
"The only limit is material. Even a floor can be the base if materials are present."
Raven rubbed his chin.
Simple enough in theory… but mana consumption is the real enemy. If mana runs dry, both the array and the spell model collapse.
Elemental Crystals solved that—stable, powerful, and replaceable before depletion. Magic Stones, though inferior, were cheap and common enough for practice.
He pulled an empty scroll toward him.
"Let's try this."
He set the wooden sheet, arranged the quill and ink, and placed several low-tier magic stones beside him. Mana steadied inside him as he began tracing the Primary Creation Array Circle. His quill moved intentionally, forming arcs, loops, and sharp runic turns.
When the outline was done, he set a magic stone at the center and drew a small binding array around it. Golden light flickered as the mana from the stone seeped into the formation.
He continued for thirty minutes—
A single misplaced rune.
A faint spark.
Then—
FWOOM!
Fire burst across the parchment.
Raven reacted without a blink, hurling the scroll and wooden sheet away. Flames devoured everything in seconds, leaving only black soot behind.
He stared at the ashes.
Even a tiny error… rude reminder.
He tried again.
Failed.
Again.
Failed.
Seven attempts ended in either partial success or violent collapse. Ink stains gathered on his fingertips; the room smelled of smoke.
Still, he didn't stop.
Runeth needed six months for his first scroll… I can't complain.
He unrolled another scroll and began anew. This time he wove Mana Control Runes into the structure, followed by Mana Manipulation Runes. He added a stabilization circuit linking the array to the magic stone.
A warm yellow shimmer spread across the parchment.
His lips twitched upward—
Then the light began to stutter. The mana flow trembled. Elemental fluctuations rippled across the scroll.
If he continued, it would explode.
A sharp warning pulsed in his mind—Runeth's memory echoing.
This room doesn't have a regulated mana field like a Magic Tower. Stabilize it now or lose everything.
Raven added two more runes, regulating temperature and smoothing fluctuations. The trembling stopped.
The glow steadied.
Finally—
A complete foundation.
But the true challenge waited.
"I need to construct the spell model…" he whispered, dipping the quill again.
Spell models were art. No—delicate engineering woven from pure mana logic. Unlike the circle's broad strokes, these lines required absolute perfection.
He chose Rank-1 Aqua Shield.
Six core runes formed a hexagon—the Hexagonal Frame. Then came the elemental lines. Each one needed to match the imaginary flow of water: smooth curves, subtle crossings, gentle gradients.
One wrong angle
One crooked line
One heavy stroke—
And everything would fall apart.
Minutes blurred.
Then an hour.
Sweat gathered under his chin and fell onto the wooden table.
At last, he reached the final step—Activation Rune Words. They were compact, dense, and dangerous. He added each stroke with the precision of threading a needle in a storm.
The final rune pulsed.
A deep blue glow spilled across the scroll. The magic stone resonated, mana weaving like liquid through the pathways.
Raven let out a long breath.
I made a functional spell scroll.
One-time use—but still a spell scroll.
His fingers trembled with excitement.
Should I try engraving an array onto a weapon next? Maybe even create an artifact… something that can hide my power.
"Zera, any concealment spells for that?"
[Concealment works by hiding spirit power. If you want adjustment, there are options: Soul Mirage, Specter's Clock, Silent Embers, Veil of the Ordinary. I recommend Silent Embers. Rank-2. Even Expert Wizards can appear mortal with it.]
"A Rank-2 spell…" He sighed. "Far away for now. I'll start with a Rank-1 artifact."
He reached for a silver dagger—
A knock interrupted him.
He frowned. "Who is it?"
"It's Selene, My Lord."
"Enter."
The wooden door creaked open, revealing Selene with a thick book in hand. But it wasn't the book that caught his attention—it was the faint dreamlike aura shimmering around her, almost ethereal.
"You ranked up?" Raven asked, genuinely surprised.
He had expected her to take another year.
Selene nodded. "Yes, My Lord. When the Team Leader and I entered the dream world, I encountered an opportunity… something related to dreams. It greatly boosted my comprehension."
Raven's brows lifted.
A fortuitous encounter. Not bad.
"I planned to give you these before secluding myself."
He withdrew several books from his inventory and handed them over.
"Dream Rewrite, Dream Portal, Dream Vault, Specter Body…"
Selene bowed. "Thank you, My Lord."
"Take your team into the dream world again. And if you find goblins like the one we hunted—bring them to me."
"Yes, My Lord."
She turned, then paused.
"One more thing… Lady Stephanie arranged dance and music tutors for you. Emanuel apparently told her how the noble youths treated you during the last banquet."
Raven's expression soured instantly.
"Right… those idiots bragging about flutes and lyres like they were divine artifacts."
He let out a tired breath. "Fine. Tell her I'll give one hour a day to those classes."
Selene nodded and left.
Silence returned.
Raven stared at the glowing scroll on his table, then at the dagger beside it.
'What should I do next?'
[Focus on improving your spirit power. Now that you've given one hour to dance and music classes, I'll reduce your sleeping hours to three.]
Raven froze. His eyelid twitched.
[Don't make that face. If you follow my instructions, you can reach 199 spirit power in less than five years.]
Raven forced a smile that looked more like pain than confidence. 'I hope so…'
He reached for a blank sheet of paper, dipped the quill, and wrote down something quickly. When he finished, he activated Memory Lock, sealing away the thought.
A dazed, hollow confusion filled his mind.
'I… don't remember anything about the Holmes Family. What is this?'
His eyes fell on the sheet he had written on. He picked it up and read aloud,
"We are going to reclaim the ruined Azmar Town tomorrow. Use Solis's foresight to look into the future."
His brows rose.
'Oh?'
He touched the amulet around his neck.
"Activate Foresight."
A tug—the world twisted—and Raven found himself elsewhere.
A stone wall towered three meters above him. Screams tore through the air. Dozens of bandits stormed toward a cluster of young knights, overwhelming their defenses. Even the Sepoy Mercenaries struggled against Radiant Walkers leading the bandits, forming a desperate shield around Raven's future self.
A shadow dropped from the top of the wall.
A cloaked figure landed twenty meters ahead, face hidden. He lifted a hand. His finger pointed straight at Raven.
A spike of agony stabbed Raven's skull.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Raven jerked back into his body with a strangled gasp.
"Ugh—!" His hand gripped his forehead. "W–What the hell? I couldn't even see that guy move!"
He immediately released the memory lock. He inhaled deeply, steadying himself.
"I need to change the plan… and we need more time."
Without hesitation, he slipped into the astral realm and poured his will into increasing his spirit power.
Time blurred.
Days turned into months.
Months into years.
Five years passed.
The Empire shifted during those years—new laws, new discoveries, new turmoil.
The Poor Law Amendment Act created harsh workhouses, pushing the poor to work instead of depending on welfare.
Public Health reforms targeted sanitation in crowded cities, forcing cleaner streets, drainage systems, and water pumps.
The Factory Acts limited child labor, shortened working hours, and demanded safer conditions.
Science shook the Empire next.
The Germ Theory publication—claiming disease came from tiny organisms and not curses—was mocked by alchemists and nobles. But when the Warfield Family tested the methods in one of their towns, infections dropped so dramatically the entire continent was forced to acknowledge the truth.
Phenol was introduced for disinfecting surgical wounds.
Morse's Aether Telegraph and the first Transatlantic Cable allowed instant communication across the continent.
Vaccines for the Pus Plague, Soul Rot, Crimson Fever, and Flesh Decay stopped deadly outbreaks that once ravaged northern regions.
Judith's Elemental Table made affinity testing accessible even to commoners.
Ead Bridge's motion studies produced the first moving pictures, captivating nobles and wizards alike.
August 19th, Year 1428, Rune Era.
Raven stood before the mirror. The young boy he once was had vanished. A mature face stared back—sharper jawline, faint mustache, calm eyes reflecting years of restraint and growth.
"Time flies faster in this mansion…" he muttered.
Aside from the yearly Spade Council meeting and rare noble banquets, he had spent nearly all five years inside the Holmes Mansion, training relentlessly.
His spirit power told the story best—
199 points.
Exactly as Zera promised.
Meditation with the Rare Rank spirit technique had pushed his mind to its peak.
Alchemy followed the same path—
Beginner potions: 100% success.
Adept potions: 15% success.
He had mastered all intermediate-rank potions. Even his affinities and physical attributes increased from constant potion consumption.
'Strength 28, agility 29, vitality 30… luck still zero.'
Physically, he already stood equal to an intermediate Radiant Walker.
With Limit Break, he could fight a Peak Rank Radiant Walker head-on.
What he lacked was spearmanship progress—he had hit a bottleneck.
But even then, the constant repetition had solidified his fundamentals to an incredible level.
Etiquette had shifted too.
After nobles mocked his poor manners at a banquet, Raven forced himself to learn piano and dance.
Now he excelled in mazurka, gavotte, minuet, schottische, and the popular two-step.
He could glide across a ballroom as smoothly as a knight heir.
Runes were his greatest leap.
Runeth's 300 years of memories carved his mind into a forge. His practical skill equaled an Adept Rune Wizard, while his theory rivaled even experts.
He crafted more than a dozen Uncommon Artifacts during those years—
Among them, three rings engraved with Silent Embers, handed to Jacob, Marcellus, and Selene.
Now, finally—
'It's time to use the Bloodline Devouring System.'
He could've used it long ago, but Zera had stopped him every time.
[Only after you reach 199 spirit power. Any earlier, and your foundation would've fractured.]
Raven exhaled.
'Worth waiting.'
He dismissed his status screen, bathed, and dressed in a sharp black suit. A monocle sat over his left eye, and a bowler hat rested neatly atop his head.
He stepped out of his room, descended the grand staircase, and entered the main hall.
Emanuel waited with a polite bow.
"Good morning, My Lord. Breakfast is ready."
"No." Raven adjusted his monocle. "I'll be in the warehouse for a few weeks. Closed-door training. No one approaches—not knights, not mercenaries."
"What about food?"
"I have dry bread and water in my spatial ring. Don't worry."
He strode through the left corridor and exited to the mansion's backyard. Knights practiced in the training hall, swords clashing, boots scraping, but Raven walked past them without a glance.
He reached the large warehouse—built at his request three years ago—slipped inside, and locked the tall metal door behind him.
He touched the silver bracelet on his wrist.
"Night Goblin corpse from Selene, Poison Serpent from the auction… with the others, seven Rank-2 corpses."
He first drew out the War Troll, its four-meter-tall body still encased in ice. He shattered the ice with a punch and placed his hand over the troll's chest.
"Zera, activate."
A mysterious force surged from his palm. Blood essence oozed from the corpse—thick, glowing droplets that floated into his hand before sinking into his body.
Raven's eyes unfocused. His consciousness sank into his mind space.
Something vast appeared above him.
A wave of foreign life energy entered the Arcanum Circlets of Destiny, forming a massive hexagonal structure in the dark sky of his mind.
Raven stood beneath it, stunned.
The Rank-2 spell model forming overhead dwarfed every Rank-1 model—ten times larger, ten times denser.
As more knowledge poured into him, notifications began appearing one after another.
…
[Bloodline Devourer System is activated!]
[Rank-2 War Troll's Bloodline has been found!]
[Analyzing purity…]
[Calculating…]
[100% purity detected!]
[Absorption possible.]
[Use Bloodline Devouring Ability? Yes/No]
"Yes."
[Commencing absorption.]
[Host already possesses Orc Warrior's 'Iron Resilience'.]
[Extracting corresponding Bloodline Spell…]
[War Troll's 'Rapid Regeneration' selected.]
…
[Blood Essence absorbed.]
[Spirit +0.9]
[Vitality +5.0]
[Strength +4.0]
[Agility +4.0]
[Body mutation initiated. Duration: 1 day, 2 hours, 50 minutes.]
Pain speared through Raven's nerves before he could even gasp. His legs buckled. He hit the ground hard, breath hitching in his throat. His muscles contorted under his skin, bulging, tightening, shifting like heated metal hammered on an unseen forge.
Minutes dragged.
Hours crawled.
He gritted his teeth and forced himself upright, sitting cross-legged while the agony churned inside him. Layers of dead skin peeled from his arms and torso. His vision blurred as a wave of itching struck him, crawling under his skin like thousands of needles.
Time became meaningless.
When it finally ended, he sucked in a cold breath and glanced down at his arms. His skin was thicker—denser, almost glossy under the light. A strange vitality pulsed through him with every heartbeat.
"My skin… it feels tougher. And my stamina—"
He opened the interface.
…
[Mutation Completed.]
[Bloodline Spell Obtained: Rapid Regeneration.]
[Body status updated.]
…
Rapid Regeneration's description surfaced in his mind.
'Heals major injuries instantly, nearly equal to legendary-grade healing potions. Cooldown: two hours.'
It was powerful—too powerful.
And this was only Rank-2.
But the mutation… that part hurts like hell.
He stored the War Troll corpse back into the bracelet, unrolled a thick quilt from his inventory, and collapsed onto it. Sleep claimed him almost instantly.
Twelve hours later, he rose, washed his face with chilled water from a barrel, and pulled out the next corpse.
A Three-Eyed Giant, frozen in a coffin of ice.
He shattered the ice, pressed his hand to the giant's chest, and activated the ability.
…
[Bloodline Devourer System is activated!]
[Rank-2 Three-Eyed Giant's Bloodline detected.]
[Analyzing…]
[100% purity detected.]
[Absorption possible. Proceed with Devouring Ability? Yes/No.]
"Yes."
[Commencing absorption.]
[Host possesses Rank-1 Cyclop's 'Eye of Destruction'.]
[Extracting upgraded corresponding spell…]
['Eye of Annihilation' selected.]
…
[Vitality +7.0]
[Strength +6.0]
[Agility +5.0]
[Body mutation initiated. Duration: 1 day, 12 hours, 10 minutes.]
The pain returned, sharper than before, like white-hot nails driven through his bones. Raven curled over, exhaling raggedly as the transformation twisted through him. Inside the mind space, the three-eyed spell model began forming—massive, complex, bristling with destructive energy.
His head throbbed violently.
His skin burned.
His third eyelid twitched uncontrollably.
Lightning flickered across his forehead.
"Ugh… m-my head is going to explode…"
His eye slowly opened—a slit of blinding power. It connected instantly with the new spell model, feeding information directly into his consciousness.
His vision dimmed.
But he endured.
He endured the full thirty-six hours.
At last—
…
[Mutation Completed.]
[Bloodline Spell Obtained: Eye of Annihilation.]
[Body status updated.]
…
Raven wiped the sweat from his brow as the spell details surfaced.
'An upgraded Eye of Destruction. A lightning ray capable of cracking Rank-3 defensive spells. Cooldown: one day.'
A day.
That alone told him how devastating it was.
A true trump card.
But the stench of impurities forced him to pinch his nose.
"Yeah… I can't continue like this."
He changed back to Thomas's face, slipped out of the warehouse, returned to the mansion, and showered until the water ran clear. After resting a full day, he returned to the warehouse again.
This time, he drew out a Rank-2 Snow Wyvern.
He laid it on the ground, broke the ice, and activated the system.
…
[Bloodline Devourer System activated.]
[Rank-2 Snow Wyvern's Bloodline detected.]
[Analyzing…]
[91% purity detected.]
[Absorption possible. Proceed? Yes/No.]
"Yes."
[Commencing absorption.]
[Host possesses Snow Wyrm's 'Cold Breath'.]
[Extracting upgraded corresponding spell…]
['Ice Breath' selected.]
…
[Vitality +6.0]
[Strength +5.0]
[Agility +4.0]
[Body mutation initiated. Duration: 1 day, 50 minutes.]
The cold from the Snow Wyvern seeped straight into his body, turning the pain sharp, biting, freezing. As the power fused into his bones, a crystalline chill wrapped around his mind.
…
[Mutation Completed.]
[Bloodline Spell Obtained: Ice Breath.]
[Body status updated.]
…
Information rushed in like a winter storm.
'A stream of frost and icy mist. Freezes everything within ten meters. Contains thousands of razor-sharp ice shards. Mortals die instantly. Rank-1 Walkers suffer severe injuries. Rank-2 Walkers can be frozen solid for moments. Even Expert Walkers are slowed for twelve seconds.'
A small, satisfied breath escaped him.
"That's… quite the improvement."
His limbs felt heavier, stronger, colder.
He lowered himself to the floor and closed his eyes.
A short rest—just enough to prepare for the next corpse.