Black Hearted Mage

Caesars walked slowly into the magic tower, a familiar atmosphere hitting him. He walked up the spiral staircase and finally arrived at the small reception room.

Walking into the small reception room, Caesars saw three old elves sitting around an exquisite little tea table, leisurely tasting the rare black tea from the endless forest and enjoying the elven-flavored honey cake.

The tea trees of the Endless Forest are extremely rare and precious. They grow deep in the forest and take a long time to produce high-quality tea. The honey in the forest is even rarer and its quality is amazing.

These tea trees are actually a type of demonic plant, originating from the demonic realm. They differ greatly from ordinary tea trees and possess the power to strengthen the soul. Tiger-spotted demonic bees have a special liking for the nectar of these tea flowers, often circling around them, guarding this precious resource.

However, the tiger-striped devil bees are not to be trifled with. They are extremely aggressive and can attack anyone who approaches a tea plant or collects tea leaves. Similarly, obtaining honey from the forest is no easy task, as the tiger-striped devil bees will fiercely defend their hives.

Caesars tiptoed to the small tea table and poured himself a cup of fragrant tea. However, when he saw the honey cake on the table, he couldn't help but feel disappointed - obviously, these delicacies were not for him.

At this moment, High Priest Destro suddenly spoke up, "Kaisas, when you're promoted to Mage, you'll have to go take a good look around the Endless Forest. Your fat dog ate over twenty golden ginseng plants and some other rare herbs! You're responsible for this!"

As he spoke, Destro pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and gently placed it in front of Caesar. Caesar took a closer look and saw that the paper was densely covered with the names and quantities of various herbs. It was obviously a detailed bill.

In this crater, Destro is undoubtedly the most powerful alchemist, even Orcus is his student.

"This damn dog actually only eats rare herbs. High Priest, I will go to the Endless Forest to look for herbs!"

Caesars reluctantly agreed and put the paper away. The puppy's sense of smell was very keen, so finding rare herbs shouldn't be difficult.

The high priest in spider silk robes nodded slightly. He took out two bottles of potions and said, "Potential potion, bloodline activation potion, the ingredients used are very precious. Drink it when you go to the magic pool, it will further activate your bloodline and produce unexpected results!"

"Awakening potion, I can't let you fall unconscious this time. You have to experience the process of becoming a mage!"

The great elder Crassus slowly took out more than a dozen bottles of potion from an exquisite wooden box. The liquid in the bottles was a turbid dark green color, which looked very strange.

The moment Caesars saw these potions, his scalp tingled. He was all too familiar with these sobering potions; their bitter taste and unpleasant smell were simply unbearable. Just thinking about them made him feel nauseous.

Moreover, the effect of this sobering potion didn't last long; one bottle could only last a few hours at most. So, when he saw that the Great Elder only had a dozen or so bottles of sobering potion, his heart tightened and he quickly asked, "Great Elder, are these just a dozen or so bottles of sobering potion really enough?"

Crassus seemed to have anticipated Caesar's question. He smiled and explained, "Don't worry, these potions are enough. The reason why the awakening potion tastes and smells so bad is because it uses so many complicated ingredients. But in a state of extreme hunger, this potion can not only refresh the mind, but also maintain physical strength for five days!"

Hearing this, Caesars felt a sense of relief and nodded. He could roughly guess how long it would take to become a mage. At the shortest, it would probably only take a few days; at the longest, it shouldn't take more than a month.

The next morning, Caesars returned to the arcane energy pool beneath the magic tower. Beside it, a small pile of arcane crystals had already formed. These crystals were incredibly beautiful, like the purest amethyst, emitting a faint magical glow from within.

At the edge of the huge underground magic pool, only old Ethan was alone at the moment, and the other two old elves did not come over.

Old Ethan's face was as gloomy as water, his deep eyes staring at the pool of arcane energy, as if he was thinking about something.

At Old Ethan's signal, Caesars quickly stepped forward and picked up the hundreds of arcane crystals scattered around the pool, placing them into his space ring. These arcane crystals emitted a faint glow, as if they contained endless magical power.

As the arcane crystals were put away, Caesars was surprised to find that the level of the arcane energy pool had dropped significantly compared to its initial level. The originally full pool now looked about half a foot thinner. He also forgot to ask Old Ethan how long he had been here.

Caesars walked to the cold obsidian floor of the abyss and slowly sat down. He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and then took out three bottles of potion from his pocket.

The three bottles of potion were transparent, gleaming with a faint light. Caesars opened them all without hesitation and drank them all in one gulp.

Instantly, a strong bitter taste erupted in his mouth, sweeping over his taste buds like a torrent. The taste was so intense that it seemed to penetrate his teeth and seep into his tongue, filling his entire mouth with the bitterness.

Caesars gritted his teeth, trying to hold back the unbearable smell and not let himself spit it out. However, as he breathed, the strange smell flowed down his throat and into his nasal cavity, almost suffocating him.

"If you want to get something, you must first pay!" Caesars repeated this sentence in his heart to motivate himself to persevere.

Finally, he endured the discomfort brought by the potion and slowly lay down, lying flat on his back in the center of the arcane infusion circle. After adjusting his posture, he nodded to Old Ethan not far away, indicating that he was ready.

Seeing this, Old Ethan immediately activated the Arcane Infusion Circle. As he moved, the runes on the circle began to shine brightly, and a powerful arcane energy swept over like a surging wave, tightly enveloping Kaisas.

After completing all this, Old Ethan turned and left, leaving Caesars alone in this underground world filled with arcane energy.

As arcane energy slowly poured into the demonic sea, a slight pain began to set in. As time went on, the excruciating pain that tore through his body returned. This time, Caesars had taken a sobering potion, so he could only grit his teeth and endure it silently. He felt the demonic sea stretching again, reaching the point of being torn apart, but at that moment, the arcane infusion array stopped again.

Kaisas knew full well that the infusion array had only temporarily stopped, waiting for him to adapt to the tearing sensation and for the demonic sea to repair itself amidst the excruciating pain. Only when he was in extreme pain would the potential potion and bloodline stimulating potion have their greatest effect, potentially activating his bloodline power.

More than ten minutes passed, and the tearing pain finally eased slightly. But before Caesars could breathe a sigh of relief, even more intense pain surged like a tide. His body felt like it was being pierced by countless fine needles at once, and every nerve was suffering unbearable torture.

Even amidst this excruciating pain, arcane energy continued to pour into his body, threatening to burst it apart. Caesars' forehead, neck, back, and even his fingertips were drenched in sweat, his body trembling in agony.

"I... I can't hold on any longer..." Caesar's consciousness was already beginning to blur. He felt as if he would pass out at any moment. Even the waking potion was no longer effective. However, just as he was about to collapse, a strange power suddenly emerged from deep within his body.

This power was like a spring breeze, gentle and warm. It quickly traveled through Caesar's body, and wherever it passed, the suffocating pain gradually dissipated. At the same time, a layer of golden lines began to appear on Caesar's skin. These lines were extremely dense, as if someone had carefully woven them into his body with golden silk threads.

As the golden lines gradually took shape, except for the head, from the neck down, Caesar's body was unexpectedly covered with a layer of golden scales. These scales fit together tightly, like an indestructible armor.

Even more surprising was the faint glow of light on these golden scales. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be some mysterious magic patterns glowing faintly. These magic patterns were like ancient spells, containing endless mysteries.

At this moment, the arcane energy that had been flowing continuously was suddenly cut off by a powerful force, and the arcane infusion array was forcibly disconnected.

The three old elves in the reception room were staring intently at the projection screen in front of them, with expressions of disbelief on their faces.

"How did these scales appear?" Crassus widened his eyes and stared at the image on the light screen, trying to see clearly the mysterious magic patterns that were faintly visible in the scales.

"These golden scales appeared when Caesars was last injured. I suspect they are most likely the scales of some kind of snake. Furthermore, the magic patterns on these scales are quite complex, likely belonging to advanced levels. With our current abilities, it's probably difficult to delve into them. Even stranger, after the scales fell off, I couldn't find any trace of them at all. This leads me to believe that these advanced magic patterns might not simply exist within the scales, but rather be hidden deep within his bloodline!"

As Old Ethan spoke, he carefully took out a gray-white scale from his arms. The surface of this scale was extremely rough, as if it had experienced years of wind and rain, and there were several obvious cracks.

"Old Ethan, is this the scale that fell off Caesar's body? Why does it feel like it has been exposed to wind and sun for hundreds or thousands of years?" Crassus looked at the scale with suspicion, and couldn't help but reach out to take it, wanting to take a closer look.

However, just as his fingers touched the scales, something unexpected happened - a few tiny cracks suddenly appeared on the gray-white scales, and these cracks were expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Crassus stared at the scale in his hand in astonishment, watching it gradually crumble before his eyes. Originally slightly larger than a walnut, the scale now resembled fragile porcelain. In less than two minutes, it completely shattered into countless tiny fragments, scattering from his hand.

"After the scales fell off Caesars, it was as if the vitality was sucked out of them. They quickly lost their original luster and became dull and gray. Not only that, these scales seemed to be weathered, and dense and tiny cracks appeared on the surface. After only two minutes, these scales disappeared completely as if they had never existed, without even a trace left!" Old Ethan looked at the two old elves with a smile and explained the phenomenon in detail.

High Priest Destro frowned slightly and suggested, "This situation is a bit strange. I think it would be best if we go to the energy pool and check it out. Maybe we can find some clues and figure out what happened."

However, Old Ethan waved his hand and said decisively, "No need to go. Those magic patterns have powerful isolation capabilities. No form of detection can penetrate them. Moreover, based on my understanding of Caesars, his bloodline should have been activated. At this time, it is best for us not to disturb him and let him complete the awakening process of his bloodline in peace."

Old Ethan's tone was resolute, clearly confident in his judgment. He went on to explain, "Higher-level magic patterns often possess immense power. If they possess the ability to attack, it's likely to be indiscriminate. If we rush in, we might not only be unable to help, but also put ourselves in danger."

At this moment, Caesars was lying quietly on the cold obsidian, his body unwilling to move due to the pain. He could clearly feel a warm current flowing from all parts of his body, making him feel warm and comfortable.

Caesars concentrated his mind and began to examine his sea of ​​magic. He was surprised to find that the sea of ​​magic was stretched to the point of bursting, and the arcane energy inside was rolling like surging waves, and its amount actually exceeded the dark magic!

A mysterious and powerful energy, like a trickle of water, continuously poured into his Demon Sea, as if it had life, gently caressing the once thin Demon Sea. Nourished by this energy, the Demon Sea gradually thickened, and its once fragile surface became tough, as if it were covered in a layer of solid armor.

Filled with joy, Caesars reached out and gently touched the silky-smooth scales covering his body. These scales were tightly packed, seamlessly spaced, like carefully polished gemstones, emitting a faint golden luster. Even more astonishingly, the surface of the scales was incredibly smooth, as if coated with a layer of transparent grease, delicate and moist to the touch.

Each scale was like a tiny energy absorber, greedily devouring the surrounding arcane energy. These energies from the void were like stars in the universe, flickering with faint light. They passed through Kaesus' body, flowed along the veins of the magic veins, and finally gathered in the magic sea.