"Hah..."
Ian exhaled heavily as the process of transmitting the information into his mind was finally completed.
'This is a tailor-made skill for Ignysyl. But will it really work, though?'
After digesting the information, Ian immediately understood how it worked and felt that this reward was clearly intentional.
He already knew that the System's rewards were always based on the Quest's situation and his immediate needs.
So his first thought when he saw the bloodline skill, Primal Bond, was of the little dragon, Ignysyl.
'However, whether or not it works on him, I will still learn about my bloodline strength,' Ian thought.
One of the major mysteries he had was that the name of his bloodline appeared as question marks on his status panel.
And from the way he had encountered the Monarch-level figure just by accidentally calling their name, he already understood that the System must be protecting him from alerting someone or some entity.
However, he could still gauge its rank as long as he formed a bond with Ignysyl.
After all, he was a dragon—a monarch-level one, although he seemed to have fallen from that status.
'I can ask him to form a bond when he asks me to take him out of this place.'
Ian smirked as he could easily guess what that guy was thinking.
Being trapped in this so-called Glowy Spire of his and unable to even talk to someone must have made him miserable.
Now that he saw hope in Ian, how could he not seize it?
Otherwise, he didn't know how long he would have to stay in this tower with no hope in sight.
"If it works, I'll have a dragon as a mount."
Ian couldn't help but mumble as he felt quite excited at the thought.
Although he didn't know if he could actually allow Ignysyl to leave with him, a man could hope, couldn't he?
"Uh-hum..."
Feeling that his ideas were becoming too impetuous, Ian coughed to rein in his excitement. Fortunately, he was alone inside the room, so no one saw his gaffe.
'Let's take a look at what that guy Dornar hid in his treasury.'
Once the System rewards were finished, it was time to inspect the harvest.
Ian thought and took out the dark ring that had been thrown to him by Ignysyl in a hurry before sending him out.
'Quite a unique mana ring, eh.'
The moment Ian took out the ring, he noticed its uniqueness in its appearance.
The dark mana ring in his hands was completely different from a normal one, which would typically be engraved with complex runes and have a pleasant aesthetic.
Instead, this ring was black throughout, its surface covered with images of skulls surrounded by dark, unknown energies.
Ian could even feel repulsion emanating from it when his mental power tried to make contact.
Overall, it was eerie, clearly indicating it had something to do with a Dark Wizard.
'Must be related to the necromancer.'
Ian guessed and then felt conflicted about whether to open the ring or not.
'What if there's a trap?'
Although it seemed like the ring was a space artifact with no obvious external dangers, it was associated with darkness—or possibly a necromancer.
He didn't want to make the mistake of opening it recklessly.
After all, dark Wizards were ruthless beings who would do anything for their gain, although he guessed that Dornar might have already opened it.
If that was the case, he might be overthinking, but a little caution wouldn't hurt.
'Hm... there's no point in backing out now. I could ask Ignysyl for help, but he seems tired.'
In fact, one of the reasons for his hesitation was the possibility that Dornar might have done something to the ring.
After all, he was about to hand it over to Ian after the oath, so there must be countermeasures in place.
'Let's use the Ethereal form in full force and then open it. I don't believe it can harm me like this.'
Ian finally decided.
So, he took out a mana potion from his ring and drank it in one big gulp. Recovering to full strength was a must before taking any risks.
Since the mana-gathering array was continuously operating inside the room, it didn't take long for Ian to recover all his mana.
This time, he didn't hesitate and directly activated his Ethereal form, opting to stay in the blue-eyes state since he didn't want to deal with the translucent form just yet.
Honestly, he really needed to come up with names for all his forms.
"Swish!"
The moment Ian activated the Ethereal form, his figure disappeared from the room as two bloodline spells—Veil and Shroud—worked to make his existence incorporeal and immune to harm.
The Life Seed in his dantian shot straight into his mind, just as before, pumping energy continuously toward where the Cocoon was supposed to be.
'I still can't separate the bloodline and meditation.'
Ian thought bitterly. Compared to others in this world, his situation was truly strange.
His Life Seed was clearly a product of the Knight Breathing method, while the Cocoon was an anchor he had gained through meditation.
Now, the state he was in was the result of the amalgamation of both the Knight and Wizard methods.
So, what was he?
'Forget it... Let's open the ring now.'
Since he couldn't be harmed in this form, Ian relaxed his nerves and shot a stream of mental power at the dark mana ring in his hand, surrounded by black energy.
He was as cautious as he could be.
"Swoosh!"
However, the moment Ian's mental power attempted to open the ring, he suddenly felt a streak of thin dark-red beam shoot out of it, directly piercing his mental power.
"Click!"
"Fuck!"
The dark crimson beam was silent and instantaneous, yet as violent as it could be, instantly destroying his mental power with just a touch and causing Ian's head to ache intensely.
He didn't even have time to react before everything had already happened.
"Ugh... damn!"