Old Lady Kallen didn’t clearly see what the demon looked like, she only knew it was a living creature.
After this incident, the group became even more cautious, and the atmosphere grew tenser.
The couple who were originally talking and laughing, now realized they were in the Death Swamp Ruins and must be careful with everything.
Herag and the others continued forward, and after a while, there was a rustling in the forest ahead, making the group stop once more.
A bipedal monkey jumped down from a tree in front of them, staring at Herag and the others.
Old Lady Kallen immediately covered her face with a towel and said, "It’s a Human-faced Monkey! Cover your faces."
The others were a bit puzzled as to why they needed to cover their faces, bewildered at heart, but they dutifully took out various items to cover their faces.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
The Human-faced Monkey was about two meters tall, not robust at all, as thin as a stick.
Its face was no different from an ordinary monkey’s, but its features started to change.
In no time, the Human-faced Monkey’s face became a human face.
The group felt that this human face seemed familiar.
Herag looked closely and realized it was his own face, exactly the same.
Old Lady Kallen shrieked, "It’s over! Herag! Catch it! Don’t let it escape!"
Blake’s expression also turned serious, explaining to the still clueless Herag and others: "The Human-faced Monkey is a rare demon found only in the Death Swamp Ruins. They replicate the faces of good-looking humans, and then, any damage the Human-faced Monkey sustains will be mirrored on the person whose face was copied."
"It copied Herag’s face, meaning if someone cuts off the Human-faced Monkey’s head, Herag will die too."
Herag’s heart turned cold upon hearing this; such a thing was utterly unforeseeable and indefensible.
He was only a bit slow and got his face copied by the Human-faced Monkey.
Coincidentally, Herag was the most handsome in the group, making him the Human-faced Monkey’s target.
"How can this be undone?" Herag asked.
He felt a bit troubled; the Human-faced Monkey’s trait meant it couldn’t be harmed, otherwise attacking it would be like attacking himself.
In other words, they had to capture the Human-faced Monkey without harming it, and then find a way to undo the face replication.
Old Lady Kallen said, "To undo the Human-faced Monkey’s face, you need to find someone prettier than you, and then the Human-faced Monkey will shift its target. Or, the replication target dies."
Herag immediately felt overwhelmed.
Find someone better-looking than himself?
That’s too difficult.
Moreover, in the middle of the Death Swamp Ruins, where could he find such a handsome person?
"It’s running away! You must catch it!" Old Lady Kallen reminded.
Herag looked up and saw the Human-faced Monkey shrieking before leaping onto a tree and fleeing.
Herag knew he couldn’t let it get away.
Even if he didn’t yet know how to solve the problem, he had to capture and control the Human-faced Monkey first, then slowly think of a solution.
If he let the Human-faced Monkey escape, the massive area of the Death Swamp Ruins, with many unknown regions, would mean Herag would have nowhere to search.
If this problem wasn’t solved, he might unknowingly receive injuries or even die suddenly in the future.
Herag quickly moved to follow it.
Blake called from behind, "Don’t chase too far, we’ll wait here for you."
"Half an hour, we’ll wait," Old Lady Kallen added.
They wouldn’t follow the chase; this was the Death Swamp Ruins, and running around recklessly was dangerous.
Even though he was a Crystalization Wizard, he was still fragile here. They wouldn’t risk their lives for Herag.
The problem with the Human-faced Monkey had to be solved by Herag himself.
They would only wait here for half an hour, and if the time passed, they would leave.
Old Lady Kallen made a decisive decision because she had to consider the safety of the whole team.
After following behind, Herag kept trailing the Human-faced Monkey.
The Human-faced Monkey was fast, making it hard for Herag to close the gap.
Seeing he was far from Blake and the others, Herag activated the Thunder God Ancestor Bloodline Mark with a thought.
The Bloodline Mark quickly activated, greatly enhancing Herag’s strength and speed.
Meanwhile, the Bloodline Power continued to unleash.
With the Bloodline Mark at the center of his chest, black began to spread across his body.
The last time Herag unleashed such power, it was suppressed by the World Will of the Wizard Plane.
But now, the black spread was only slowed, not entirely suppressed.
A few minutes later, Herag’s entire body was covered with a metallic luster.
"Shenlan, assess the enhancements brought by the Bloodline Mark," Herag commanded.
He felt a comprehensive and significant enhancement in his physical condition, completely different from before.
"The current enhancement data from the Bloodline Mark are as follows:"
"Strength +25.3, Agility +25.7, Constitution +25.5."
It was truly like upgrading from a flintlock to a cannon; all his physical stats increased by over twenty points.
And this wasn’t the full power of the Bloodline Mark; Herag could sense that there was still hidden power that was not fully activated.
This was still not the true Abyss Plane, and the Bloodline Mark faced many limitations here.
Herag’s current state was only the initial form of the Bloodline Mark, not its true complete form.
"Marco, you’d better pray you don’t run into me."
Herag was now bursting with confidence, feeling like he could crush a Crystalization Wizard with a single punch.
"Shenlan, calculate to what extent my stats can reach with all beneficial effects activated, and label this state as Stage One." ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅✦𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾✦𝗇𝖾𝗍
Herag had only activated the Bloodline Mark’s power and had many beneficial spells yet to be used.
If he added all the beneficial spells, his physical stats would definitely reach an astonishing level.
"After calculations, Stage One data are as follows:"
"Stage One: Strength 62.5, Agility 58.6, Constitution 63.3, Spirit 52.6."
Upon seeing this data, Herag was convinced that in the Stage One state, he could easily handle a Crystalization Wizard.
But this power, though strong, had too many restrictions.
If not for being in the Death Swamp Ruins, Herag wouldn’t be able to reach Stage One.
Most importantly, no other wizard must find out that he could reach such a state.
Because Herag now carried a strong aura of the Abyss Plane, that aura was basically the signature of an Abyssal Demon.
If other wizards, especially those from the Land of Dawn, learned of it, he’d be executed as an Abyssal Demon hiding amongst the wizards.