Owen had his eyes set on many things, yet he currently had only 1,900 fate points.
The Order of Thunder usage skill required 2,000 fate points, so he couldn't buy it just yet. While he could afford the Order of Fire, without the corresponding usage skill, it wouldn't significantly enhance his current strength.
After some contemplation, Owen quickly made his decision. He clicked on the Basic Healing Skill.
**Basic Healing Skill** (50 fate points, rapidly restores stamina and mind power by consuming 10 drops of HP)
**[Do you confirm the purchase?]**
Owen chose to confirm. For a truly powerful mage, a strong recovery ability was equally important!
He already possessed the powerful forbidden physical technique, Obsidify, and the cultivation talent, Order of Merlin. The only thing he lacked was a recovery skill. Although this recovery skill required him to deduct his own HP, that small price was something he could easily bear.
Soon after Owen confirmed the purchase, the method to activate the Basic Healing Skill appeared in his mind. He opened his attribute panel to check his stats.
Name: Owen
Level: Silver-tier Lv7
Talents: Order of Merlin, Starlit Lv2
Exp: 100/100000
Skills: Mana Void, Supreme Sword, Obsidify Lv2, Judgment Light Sword
Weapon: Godslayer Staff (1/7)
Luck: 90 (Max 100)
Fate Points: 1,850 (obtained by seizing the protagonist's opportunities; 1,000 points can unlock rewards in the Fate Store)
After reviewing the panel, Owen felt satisfied.
It hadn't been long since he advanced from Bronze-tier Lv9 to his current Silver-tier Lv7. He had risen a whole tier and seven levels — an extraordinary achievement!
This level of advancement would normally take an average mage years of arduous cultivation to accomplish. If others knew about his upgrade speed, they would likely find it unbelievable. Such an unprecedented breakthrough speed had never been seen before!
Owen glanced at the now-empty space, his mind stirred, and the Order of Thunder surrounding him shot out. The void in front of him trembled, then split left and right, creating a passage extending forward. With a flash, Owen stepped into it and left the area.
When Owen reappeared on the first floor of Pharaoh's Tower, he sensed that Benedict and the others, who were healing on the second floor, had mostly recovered.
He looked at the sky outside the Pharaoh's Tower. Absorbing and mastering the Order of Thunder had taken him about half a day, and the sky was now gradually darkening.
He quickly walked up to the second floor, planning to return to the capital with Benedict and the others as soon as possible. With his strength now at Silver-tier Lv7 and the Order of Thunder enhancing him, it was time to see his fiancée, the future Queen of Hell, Leslie.
"Master Owen!"
Seeing Owen step onto the second floor, Benedict and the others respectfully greeted him, their expressions growing increasingly serious.
Although Owen had restrained his aura, making it difficult to sense his level, just standing there instilled a deep, bone-chilling fear in them. It was as if they were facing an untouchable being! Looking directly at him made their eyes tingle and ache.
In just a few hours, it seemed Master Owen had undergone another transformation! No wonder he was ranked first on Academy City's genius list!
Owen ignored the changing expressions of Benedict and the others. Seeing that their injuries had mostly healed, he led them out. When the group exited Pharaoh's Tower, it was already dusk. The orange light bathed the desert, and the breeze stirred the sand, adding a touch of desolation to the landscape.
...
Meanwhile, at the edge of the desert, a red-eyed girl was fleeing in terror. She moved quickly, kicking up dust behind her, but her swollen belly resembled a round ball, forcing her to stop and catch her breath every so often.
However, as she alternated between fleeing and resting, the yellow sand behind her drew closer and closer.
A group of dozens of burly men in iron armor, riding black-maned horses, was chasing her with ferocity. They had been pursuing her for three days, and the red-eyed girl had been running for the same length of time. Now, as her speed slowed, she was finally reaching the point of exhaustion.
"Demoness, where do you think you're running to?" one of the men shouted.
"Overthrowing the Kyrik Kingdom? What a fool's dream!" another laughed.
"Kill her! Slice her to pieces, skin her alive! I want to see what it feels like to destroy this witch who dared to overthrow Kyrik!"
The group of iron-armored men laughed heartily as they were finally about to catch the fleeing red-eyed girl. The leader, dressed in white battle armor, smiled coldly as he picked up his bow and arrow, drew the bowstring, and nocked the arrow.
An abundance of golden elements gathered, making the already sharp arrow even more indestructible.
Whoosh!
The long arrow flew through the air.
Hearing the sound, the red-eyed girl's pale, sweat-drenched face showed even more fear.
She tried to dodge, but it was too late.
Her body was suddenly pierced, blood and flesh splattering.
The arrow's fierce force even sent her flying, finally pinning her to the yellow sand.
The red-eyed girl, enduring the pain of being pierced, looked at the pursuing knights behind her.
Her pale fingers clenched tightly, even digging into her flesh, as she questioned
"Why? We never harbored any ill intentions towards Kyrik. Why did you exterminate my snakefolk? Why must you drive us to extinction?!"
She was a member of the snakefolk from the forests on the outskirts of Kyrik, named Lyra, originally living peacefully with her people in the forest.
However, a month ago, the High Priest of Kyrik ordered the entire nation to annihilate the snakefolk.
The reason? The High Priest prophesied that the snakefolk would overthrow Kyrik!
Yet, the snakefolk had lived in the forest for generations, isolated from the world, rarely interacting with other tribes.
And because of this unfounded accusation, were all ten thousand snakefolk to be exterminated?!
If it weren't for her pregnancy, resting at the hatchery site outside the forest, she would have perished in that massacre as well!
"Why? You snakefolk are deeply sinful. If we say you are guilty, then you are guilty!"
The leader, Bada, dismounted coldly, gripping his spear tightly. He shook his head slightly, finding the red-eyed girl's words annoying.
"Killing this red-eyed girl will complete my achievement of slaying a hundred snakefolk!"
"It looks like she's pregnant, which will be excellent alchemical material!"
The knight behind him stared intently at her belly, licking his lips.
"No! Don't hurt my child!"
Hearing that they were targeting her child, Lyra raised her hand in terror, protecting her belly.
Seeing this, Bada's face twisted into an even more cruel smile. "So you love your child that much? Let's cut it open and take a look!"
As soon as he spoke, his spear shot out like a snake, viciously aiming at her abdomen.
"No!"
The spear whipped up a cold wind, and Lyra's pupils shrank suddenly.
Although she was the leader of the snakefolk and had reached gold-tier level 9, her strength had greatly diminished due to her impending childbirth.
Now, her strength was less than even silver-tier level 1.
However, a mother's determination can be fierce.
She frantically gathered mana into her hands, gripping the spear tightly as it pierced toward her.
The spearhead was sharp, and her magical defense was as fragile as paper.
It penetrated her palm in an instant, tearing through flesh and bones, causing her bloodied
hand to convulse uncontrollably.
The pain, which felt as if her fingers were connected to her heart, made sweat pour from her forehead, her whole body trembling, almost causing her to faint from the agony.
But thinking of the child in her belly, she gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on the spear. Even as the force of the spear twisted her hands nearly into a pretzel.
"Tsk tsk, even now you resist. Truly stubborn. No wonder the prophecy declared your race evil!"
Bada's face showed no mercy. Instead, the scent of blood from Lyra's hands made him even more excited. With a twist of his spear, he severed her hands completely.
Bright red blood gushed from her severed wrists, staining the desert!
With her hands cut off, excruciating pain surged through Lyra, her forehead veins bulging, on the verge of madness.
But thinking of her unborn child, she bit down hard, almost breaking her teeth, her voice hoarse as she begged:
"Spare my child, spare my child, I'll do anything..."
The other knights looked at the pleading Lyra, eyes filled with lustful intent.
"She is quite beautiful for a snakefolk leader. Why don't we have some fun with her before she dies?"