Chapter 126: Gradual Change

Avia used magic to conjure some hot water for Wang Yu to wash up. By the time he cleaned himself and his thoroughly messy alchemy room, the dinner she had prepared was ready.

The fire in the stove cast a warm glow, and the dishes on the table were steaming. The two of them sat at the dining table, eating and chatting.

"That potion you were hoping to make—you succeeded? It's called Recaptured Glory, right?" Avia asked with a hint of surprise.

"Yeah, it worked. Herbalism and alchemy really are two different paths. As long as you follow the recipe, it's easy to replicate your creations." Wang Yu held up a small vial of golden liquid, an extract refined from an entire jar of dragon blood.

He had consumed a great deal of precious dragon blood to create this vial of golden elixir, but it was worth it.

The potion of Recaptured Glory was inspired by the skill of a modded character in a turn-based game Wang Yu used to play back on Earth, and could temporarily reapply the user's stats from the past few turns on the user as a buff. It was an immensely powerful enhancement.

It could be considered a form of ridiculously potent adrenaline. The blood of powerful magical beasts contained a rare component that, when faced with a desperate situation, granted their bodies a burst of strength. Herbalism records explicitly documented this substance, and its effects were astonishing.

Because most magical beasts had only minuscule amounts of this substance in their blood, there had never been a potion on the market that utilized it. Some unscrupulous potioneers would simply prepare syringes filled with the blood of strong magical beasts and pass them off as "berserk potions."

Wang Yu had long speculated that if this substance could be extracted, it might be possible to create a different kind of potion from berserk potions—something even more unique.

While studying dragon blood, he was both surprised and unsurprised to find that dragons, as apex creatures, also had this component in their blood. In fact, it was even more remarkable.

This component in dragon blood seemed to activate when dragons suffered severe injuries, drawing out the latent potential of their cells and reactivating all their power for a miraculous resurgence.

Cells stimulated by this substance exhibited a "transcendent" nature. They could utilize energy beyond their normal capacity.

Fighting spirit, magic power, even void energy—these seemingly incompatible sources of energy could all be absorbed by the stimulated cells, causing an extreme but temporary enhancement. In some cases, they might even manifest special abilities.

Wang Yu suspected that this incredible ability was one of the reasons that dragons possessed limitless potential, as none other than the Lady of the Night herself had attested.

After several experiments, Wang Yu had successfully extracted this substance from dragon blood, resulting in this small vial of golden liquid.

When he injected a small amount into his own body, he immediately felt his entire body awaken, accompanied by an unusual hunger. This confirmed his success.

"If I'm not mistaken, isn't it supposed to be extremely difficult to extract this component from the blood of magical beasts? I saw a few mentions of it in research papers from my professor's library. A natural enhancement potion like this would be far superior to the current 'berserk potions' on the market," Avia remarked.

"It was a bit of luck, really. The concentration of this component in dragon blood is much higher than in ordinary powerful beasts. Plus, the special activity of dragon blood allowed me to stimulate it repeatedly, making the component accumulate naturally.

"Also, Sieg's unique condition—his inherent flaw—prevents these blood samples from absorbing magic from the surroundings, so they aren't consumed in the process. That allowed me to repeatedly stimulate and extract the substance."

Wang Yu looked at the vial in his hand with confidence. Once used, it would grant him unprecedented strength. Of course, the side effects were bound to be severe—but if it ever came to that point, the consequences wouldn't matter.

"By the way, Mr. Sieg can't use magic because of a congenital defect in his magical circuits, right?" Avia had been nodding along while Wang Yu explained the potion, her eyes gleaming with excitement. However, a hint of concern flickered in her gaze. She knew just what circumstances would prompt Wang Yu to use this potion, and she hoped he would never have to.

When Wang Yu mentioned Sieg's flaw, something suddenly clicked in Avia's mind.

"I'm not entirely sure, but that's what the Professor himself said. Why do you ask?" Wang Yu looked at her with curiosity.

"I was just thinking... isn't it possible to reconstruct Mr. Sieg's magic circuit externally? Dragon scales can regenerate and naturally integrate the innate magical circuits that dragonkind possess. If we use them to fill in the gaps in his system, perhaps we could make him whole again."

Wang Yu gaped. His immediate instinct, based on what he knew, was that this should be impossible. A dragon's massive body would require an immense magical circuit—let alone the precision needed to carve these circuits onto each scale.

But this was Avia speaking. Avia, the most talented magician and alchemist Wang Yu had ever known. Was it really impossible? Voidsong, the Firmament of Eternal Night, and the Spellweaver's Tome all seemed impossible, too. If Avia were involved, nothing seemed quite so far-fetched.

Wang Yu had never considered himself especially gifted. His rapid progress stemmed largely from his unique circumstances. Even with this potion of Recaptured Glory, he knew that a master herbalist could surely have made something even better.

That was why he never let himself become arrogant—he knew his own limits. He couldn't afford to stop striving, or one day, he really would end up falling behind.

"It's worth a try. If we can really help Sieg become whole again, that would be an incredible achievement."

"Yeah! This is an area I've never experimented with before—constructing magic circuits directly onto a living body, I mean. We should contact Mr. Sieg soon," Avia said, her excitement evident. When it came to alchemy, she was always full of passion.

Winter was a brief season of peace. The capital was rife with hidden currents of turmoil, but they had little to do with Wang Yu, who was essentially on a season-long vacation.

Time passed quickly. The temperature hadn't warmed much, but changes in the forests outside the city signaled that spring wasn't far off.

Every year, as winter faded and spring approached, the magical beasts that had gone into hibernation would reappear en masse. If handled poorly, their resurgence could lead to significant losses; on the other hand, this was an excellent opportunity to harvest valuable magical ingredients.

A transmission from Captain Hugin interrupted Wang Yu's training. After setting his training equipment aside in the courtyard, he retrieved a metal cylinder containing a parchment from the mechanical bird-shaped automaton and watched as it departed.

"My physique has reached the standards of a full-fledged knight, but my fighting spirit still hasn't shown any substantial progress. As expected, there's no sign of my potential awakening either..." Instead of immediately reading the message from his captain, Wang Yu took a moment to summarize the results of his training.

His strength seemed to have plateaued. While his physique was still improving, his progress had slowed significantly.

His fighting spirit had only improved in terms of control, not quantity. As for his inner potential, the hallmark of a full-fledged knight, Wang Yu showed no signs of developing one at all.

"It's just like when I first started training in fighting spirit. My body lacks something in the bloodlines that people in this world possess. Without a method to generate fighting spirit, I naturally have no way of knowing how to awaken my latent potential, either...

"But how exactly does one learn these things? I've already encountered latent potential before—Oka's 'Lethal Tempo,' the blazing flames of that guard, Daniel—but I still haven't grasped it for myself..."

Wang Yu frowned. He was well aware that his uniqueness was a double-edged sword. He just hadn't expected to run into quite so many obstacles so quickly, leaving him with a bit of a headache.

Still, Wang Yu was Wang Yu. He'd work hard on solving these problems, rather than dwell on them needlessly.

Setting the issue aside for now, he unrolled the parchment. After reading its contents, his eyebrows rose. He tidied up his things and stepped out of the courtyard.

The moment he stepped outside, Wang Yu sensed something unusual. With his enhanced physique, his once-dull sixth sense had become far sharper.

This seemingly mystical perception was, in reality, a result of his body unconsciously processing peripheral vision, faint sounds, and other subtle stimuli that were difficult to consciously register, then transmitting the information to his brain. The sudden sensation of being watched and abrupt foreboding of danger stemmed from this process.

Now that his physical abilities had reached another threshold, his so-called sixth sense had evolved as well. The instant he stepped out, Wang Yu became acutely aware that someone was watching him. The observer quickly turned away and went into hiding upon noticing his movement, but Wang Yu was certain he hadn't imagined it.

As he walked toward Hugin's location, the sensation that he was being watched grew stronger. Hidden observers among the crowd, bystanders seemingly chatting but subtly focusing on him with their peripheral vision—Wang Yu didn't even need to use his ripples to scan the area; he could already perceive every pair of eyes on him.

There was no hostility among them, just idle curiosity and passive obesrvation. Wang Yu knew exactly who these people were: informants from various factions and noble families stationed near him.

It made sense. On the surface, Wang Yu might seem like an outsider, uninvolved in the undercurrents of the capital. As a non-Aleisterran, he had every reason to keep his distance.

But after being publicly commended by the king for his role in the demon invasion, after being part of an elite team with a Grand Duke's son, after befriending the heir to House Ryder—and as a member of the Nightblades' special ops team, how could he truly remain uninvolved? A man with no background and no origins, yet holding such impressive connections—other noble families were bound to take notice.

He was no longer the nameless nobody who first arrived in the capital. The moment he stepped onto the stage and became acknowledged by others, the idea of staying out of it all became an impossibility.

Wang Yu scratched his head. He had anticipated such an outcome but hadn't expect things to develop so quickly. He had no desire to get entangled in the capital's political mess.

With the Nightblades as his information network, even if he stayed home, he would still know which noble houses were clashing in the shadows, where private armies were skirmishing, and even which individuals the king had punished or promoted. But none of it interested him.

Political games had never held any appeal for Wang Yu. However, change was coming whether he liked it or not. The informants keeping an eye on him were likely just the beginning. Now that he was appearing on more people's radars, even with Sieg's support, he would have to deal with his fair share of trouble.

He clenched his fist slightly and let out a sigh. He really did hate dealing with this kind of nonsense. The annoyance had already begun to creep in without his realizing it.

Just as Wang Yu was considering how to handle the inevitable probing from the noble families, a suspicious-looking man calling out to him on the street caught his attention.

"Hey there, brother! Interested in worshipping our deity, the Lady of the Night? Many members of the Ranger's Guild have already converted. And let me tell you, if you believe in Her, you'll quickly gain divine abilities related to the night!"

The scrawny, shifty-eyed man who had jumped out from an alley—likely a member of the Thieves' Guild rather than the Rangers'—held up a piece of paper depicting the Lady of the Night and enthusiastically promoted Her faith.

Interrupted from his thoughts, Wang Yu glanced at the image on the paper. It was indeed one of the depictions of the Lady of the Night created by non-human members of the Church of Nightfall. She was mysterious, dignified, and exuded an aura of serenity that one could feel just by looking at it.

"Don't you believe me? Remember how the sky suddenly turned black during the demon invasion? That was the Lady of the Night protecting us! A deity capable of performing miracles—there's no doubt about Her power!"

When Wang Yu showed a hint of interest, the man grew more excited and even brought up the Firmament of Eternal Night that Avia had created. In a way, he wasn't wrong—the Lady of the Night had indeed protected the capital, though his reasoning was completely off the mark.

"Do you know who I am?" Wang Yu pointed to himself.

"Uh? You're... Oh, my apologies, sir! You're a Nightblade! I won't bother you any further—sorry for taking up your time!"

After a brief moment of confusion, the man's eyes darted around before spotting the Nightblades' insignia on Wang Yu's clothing. Instantly, he panicked and scurried back into the alley.

Wang Yu chuckled as he watched him leave. It seemed the members of the Church of Nightfall had indeed kept their word and refrained from revealing the identity of their archbishop. He had expected the Lady of the Night's faith to spread quickly among rangers and thieves, but he hadn't thought it would reach beyond the capital's shadow so quickly.

It made sense, he supposed. That was one of the reasons Hugin had contacted him—changes were underway. But that wasn't his concern. His priority remained the same: to keep growing stronger. As long as he could stand firm no matter the situation, that would be enough.