Chapter 628: Bone Demon’s Thorn (2)

Third Person’s POV

Fortunately, Ethan had stopped him before matters reached such a point.

Standing quietly behind Ethan, Elis also relaxed slightly as she arrived at the same conclusion.

The two women silently exchanged a glance before looking back towards Master Drogo.

However, Aria remained thoroughly confused, as she couldn’t understand Ethan’s actions at all.

Meanwhile, Erius’ complexion gradually darkened.

Only moments ago, he had convinced himself that Ethan was nothing more than an arrogant fool whose pride had completely clouded his judgment.

Yet now, that conclusion suddenly seemed far less convincing.

For the first time since meeting Ethan, uncertainty appeared within his heart.

"W-What... what is this?"

Meanwhile, Master Drogo’s aged hands trembled violently.

For an instant, he nearly threw the grey thorn away in panic.

The sinister aura radiating from it was unlike anything he had ever touched before.

Cold, corrosive, and saturated with an overwhelming stench of death.

Simply holding it in his palm caused tiny strands of grey mana to creep across his fingers before quickly fading away.

A chill travelled through his entire body.

Throughout his long life, Master Drogo had spent almost all of his years within the Northern Glacial Region.

Even the furthest place he had ever travelled was the prosperous Central Divine Region, a land famous for its holy elemental energy and flourishing magical civilization.

He had spent his entire life forging weapons imbued with pure elemental mana, which included the element of pure darkness, not its corrupted form.

Objects that radiated such evil and deathly energy were something he had only read about in ancient records.

Holding such an object in his own hands for the first time caused even his experienced heart to shudder instinctively.

"Heh."

Ethan finally spoke after quietly observing the old man’s reaction.

He lazily rested both hands behind his head before continuing with an amused smile.

"If you’re planning to throw it away, then it will only be your loss, old man."

Those casual words immediately caused Master Drogo’s movements to stop, and his widened eyes to slowly narrow.

The fear within them gradually gave way to the curiosity and excitement unique to every artifact refiner.

Although the thorn’s sinister aura disgusted him, decades of experience allowed him to sense something even more important.

He could feel its density, its extraordinary hardness, and the terrifying concentration of deathly mana sealed within it.

All of it told him one thing, that this was no ordinary material.

In fact, it was something considerably rarer than most magical metals.

His breathing unconsciously became heavier.

"What exactly... is this?"

This time, his voice carried far less anger than before.

Instead, it contained the curiosity of a craftsman standing before an unknown masterpiece.

Ethan looked at the bone thorn before answering calmly,

"It is one of the body thorns belonging to a powerful Rank Four Bone Demon from the Blood Veil Continent."

Surprisingly, Ethan didn’t lie or try to hide anything, causing complete silence to descend upon the study.

Shixea’s pupils visibly contracted, and even Elis couldn’t conceal the astonishment flashing across her face.

Aria and Erius instinctively looked from Ethan towards the grey bone thorn once again, as though they had suddenly begun seeing it in an entirely different light.

The sinister aura it radiated no longer appeared merely unsettling.

Instead, it now felt incomparably dangerous.

The deathly energy surrounding it seemed capable of corroding even the surrounding mana itself.

Several people subconsciously took half a step backward.

Ethan, however, remained completely indifferent, as he continued in the same calm tone.

"And by powerful...I mean a Bone Demon whose strength was at least comparable to a mid-stage Sky Realm mage, i.e an expert at the Realm of World Opening."

Those final words struck everyone’s hearts like a bolt of lightning.

Master Drogo nearly dropped the thorn once again, and even Shixea’s composed expression became noticeably solemn, as every person present understood exactly what those words represented.

Becoming a Sky Realm expert was already considered the dream of countless generations of mages.

Entire noble families would celebrate for months if even a single member successfully stepped into that realm, yet advancing beyond the first stage...

That was an entirely different matter.

Throughout the Northern Glacial Region, it was commonly believed that perhaps only one out of every twenty early-stage Sky Realm experts ever managed to reach the Realm of World Opening.

The vast majority remained trapped at the first stage until the end of their lives.

That single sentence instantly elevated the value of the bone thorn by several levels.

Unlike humans, whose Mana Crystals collapsed after death and whose Magic Dimensions and their mana gradually dissolved back into the world in the form of elemental energy, magical creatures followed entirely different laws.

Whether they were dragons, wyverns, gryphons, powerful demon beasts, or rare demons like the Bone Demon, their bodies themselves became priceless treasures after death.

Their bones possessed extraordinary hardness.

Their blood contained concentrated magical essence.

Their muscles, tendons, teeth, claws, scales, horns, organs, and even marrow were coveted by countless artifact refiners and potion masters across the continent.

Many of the world’s most powerful weapons and auxiliary magical artifacts simply couldn’t be forged without such living materials.

Likewise, countless high-grade potions demanded the blood, flesh, or internal organs of powerful magical creatures as their primary ingredients.

The famous Rank Four Dragon Blood Ignition Potion was one such example.

After drinking it, an expert could temporarily unleash strength exceeding their own realm by an entire sub-realm.

The price, however, was equally horrifying.

Depending upon the degree to which they overdrew that borrowed power, the potion consumed years, decades, or even centuries of the user’s lifespan.

Even then, the minimum ingredient required to brew that legendary potion wasn’t the blood of a true dragon.

It merely required the blood of a Rank Four Wyvern, an inferior descendant of the dragon race.

That alone demonstrated just how incomparably precious the remains of powerful magical creatures truly were.

And now, Master Drogo was holding a genuine body thorn taken from a mid-stage Sky Realm Bone Demon.

None of them had ever even seen such a creature before.