Elton immediately lowered his head. A thin layer of sweat had already formed on his forehead. He trembled as he said, "The followers below are getting upset. I didn't mean to offend the Priest."
"Fine," the red-robed man thought for a second. Elton was still useful, so he didn't make a big deal out of it. "Go get some scrolls from the storage and hand them out. That'll calm the people down."
Elton felt like he had been given a gift. He said, "Thank you, Priest." Then he left the tent.
As he came out of the tent, a group of white-robed men surrounded him. One asked, "Elton, what did the Priest say?"
"What else could he say?" Elton's face was pale. He whispered, "He just gave us the same old junk from the storage again."
"Fuck!" One white-robed man clenched his fist and hit the air. "He always does this. We're his dogs, and he never gives us anything good."
Another white-robed man complained, "You want milk, you have to feed the cow first. He doesn't even treat us like people."
Elton's face darkened. He said coldly, "Felix only wants us to work. He never thought about making us stronger. Even if this Potion Recipe is real, he won't give us anything. So we'll have to do it ourselves."
Felix was the name of the red-robed Priest.
"What are you going to do?" One of the white-robed men asked.
Elton's face turned fierce. He said, "He's not kind. Don't blame us for being unfair."
...
...
"Life: 2 days."
Kael slowly woke up. The first thing he saw was the red eyes of the red-robed man.
Kael's body shook in fear.
Felix laughed, "What, am I that scary?"
It was morning now, and Felix's face was just in the shadows. Only part of his face was visible, and he wasn't as scary as he was last night.
"What do you think?" Kael Silverlight rolled his eyes.
Felix felt something in Kael. He had shown off a lot last night, but Kael was still calm. That kind of mindset made Felix think Kael Silverlight was no ordinary guy.
"Your name? How did you learn the old language?" Felix asked.
Kael Silverlight acted confused. "What old language?"
He didn't know what Felix could do, so he didn't want to give away his real identity.
Felix sneered, "You can't fake that you read the Potion Recipe."
Kael Silverlight slowly stood up and stretched. He said lazily, "My name is Kael Silverlight. As for the old language, I went to the Lower Arcane Academy. I know a little."
The Lower Arcane Academy?
Was Rien Dall Kingdom's basic education so advanced that even students from the backwoods knew the old language?
Felix was lost in deep thought.
"How did you complete the Potion Recipe?" After a long silence, Felix asked again.
He had gone through two sacrifices before, and each time the Potion Recipe he received was only half-written. Together, they still didn't make a full recipe. But Kael had only seen a quarter of it, and he still managed to figure out the whole thing. That was almost as shocking as a high school student solving the Riemann Hypothesis.
Kael Silverlight rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful. After a while, he said, "To be honest, I don't really understand the Potion Recipe. But when I got the bone, something just clicked in my head, and I suddenly understood it."
"Oh, that's weird?" Felix was a bit surprised.
Kael thought for a moment. He wanted to dig for more information, so he made a guess. "I think it might have something to do with the Sky-Blessed."
"The Sky-Blessed?" Felix's red eyes flickered. "Keep going."
Kael Silverlight said softly, "I ended up here because of the Sky-Blessed. A dream led me here."
"What did the dream say?" Felix asked.
Kael said, "It started with a vast sky full of stars. There was a sand clock made of stars, like the whisper of a god saying, 'The supreme god who controls time, the fisherman of past and future, has found his most faithful watcher. Follow His guidance...'"
"Where?" Felix looked even more excited than Kael, because what Kael said sounded too real to be made up.
Kael was telling the truth. He kept thinking and said, "He didn't say. The dream changed. The view pulled back. Planets, continents, the Kingdom of Rien Dall, Slagtown, Scalesplice Alley."
That was when the trouble started.
Kael sighed. "I just ended up in Scalesplice Alley without knowing why, and when I woke up, I was here."
He looked around. The blood from last night had dried up, sticking to the ground like a scar. The piles of bones were gone.
Kael realized this place might be a slaughterhouse. There were tables in the distance, with iron hooks hanging on them.
Felix was completely taken in.
It was said that in ancient times, those who received divine favor would have some kind of sign. Like the first great mage of humans, who was born under the stars, and at the moment of his birth, the stars shone for him. Or like the first half-god, who was given fire and courage by the sun, and cold wisdom by the blood moon...
There were countless stories like that. Anyone who made a name for themselves always had some kind of special sign at birth.
Felix looked Kael up and down, thinking to himself: "Could this kid be one of them?"
Kael Silverlight thought for a moment, then asked, "Priest, can you explain what this dream means?"
"Uh..." Felix was caught off guard. He studied blood magic and gods, not dream interpreters.
"Cough, cough," Felix cleared his throat. "It's probably a good sign."
Kael asked again, "What's good about it?"
Felix sneered, "You don't seem to know your place. You're just a test subject to me."
He waved his hand and walked toward his tent.
Kael stuck his tongue out at his back and muttered, "If you don't know, don't try to use your rank to scare me."
Once Felix's footsteps disappeared, Kael's face grew serious. The trouble wasn't over. Felix had brought up something even bigger.
The Sky-Blessed wasn't something Felix made up. It was real. Who had led him to Scalesplice Alley and pulled him into this mess?
A little while later, the men Elton sent out came back. They brought him supplies and news. He handed the news over to Felix right away.
Felix frowned deeply and said in surprise, "That guy wasn't lying?"
Elton asked, "What did he say?"
Felix waved his hand and didn't answer.
Elton showed a little anger on his face. This guy was willing to chat with that unknown kid, but not even explain to them, his brothers who had fought and bled with him.
It was really annoying!
Felix was stuck in his own thoughts.
What Kael Silverlight said matched the news Elton brought back. That meant Kael was telling the truth. And that made sense. Kael Silverlight was from the House of Silverlight. He lived a comfortable life. Why would he suddenly go to a place like Scalesplice Alley?
Only the guidance of the Sky-Blessed would make him take such a risk.
"Hiss..." Felix took a deep breath. Did he just find a treasure?
In a flash, he got really excited. That meant Kael Silverlight had a much higher chance of surviving the Potion.
If Kael Silverlight knew what Felix was thinking, he would probably hit himself twice. He shouldn't have opened his mouth.
He had tried to raise his value in Felix's eyes, to make him not dare to use him as a test subject. But he ended up making things worse. Now Felix, that madman, was even more convinced of his idea.
Felix asked excitedly, "Have all the materials for the Potion Recipe been gathered?"
Elton said coldly, "I made ten sets. That's enough."
Felix laughed loudly, "Good. Get the equipment ready. We'll wait for the night of the new moon."
Time passed slowly. The sky grew darker. It went from clear blue to orange-red, and finally into a strange purple.
When the last bit of sunlight disappeared, a very thin curve appeared on the eastern sky.
It wasn't the usual silver white of a new moon. Nor was it a golden yellow. It was a dark red, like old rust on a metal tool, or like dried blood scabs.
It hung there, quiet and strange.
Felix stood in the center of the square. The white-robed men surrounded the alchemy equipment, waiting.
The red-robed man looked completely excited. He shouted loudly, "Start the potion."