Ch.75Chapter 75: Evolution.

After concluding their private meeting with Quan, Bladir’s party, including the King himself, prepares to leave Geruntia to head toward Majes Canyon.

“Elder Elbek, I hope we meet again.”

“Brother Elbek!! I’ll work hard on the training methods you taught me!”

Victor and Robin had learned physical training techniques from Elbek, who had been Balt’s escort, while Lisa, Arias, and Lati had become friends with Liris, discussing magic power manipulation and spells.

Under Quan’s orders, the Geruntu had drawn their blood and given it to King Bladir, amounting to hundreds of liters.

Lamrpo also provided some items that vampires could use.

Though everything was done on credit, all of this was possible because they trusted Balt.

Supplies and some Geruntu blood were transported through Franz’s mirror to feed the vampire people, and now all that remained was to establish a place where vampires could live.

***

“Woooow… This is incredible!”

A massive canyon stretching to the horizon.

The terrain was similar to the Grand Canyon on Earth, but somewhat different.

Still, there was no denying it was a magnificent sight.

King Bladir instructed Ishuran to begin bringing the citizens out from the mirror.

Since the area was so vast, there was no problem with ten thousand vampires emerging.

After removing all the supplies and vampires, Franz’s mirror was finally empty.

The mirror’s surface turned black.

According to Lati, it could be reactivated by infusing it with magic power again.

The vampires emerged with worried expressions, having already heard the news, but they didn’t look desperate.

Rather, their faces seemed somewhat excited?

It seemed that drinking small amounts of Geruntu blood had made a big difference.

King Bladir began his address to the gathered citizens.

His voice was majestic, filled with magic power.

Yet his tone was utterly calm.

[Vampires who serve the great Strigoi, hear me.]

Though neither forceful nor intimidating, his voice carried a gentle charisma that captivated the audience.

The vampires looked around curiously while listening attentively to King Bladir.

[We have suffered a terrible tragedy. We lost comrades and family. But when all hope seemed lost, we received help from these people here and gained hope to rise again.]

All eyes turned to Balt’s party, and some of them shyly turned their heads away.

[Though it is regrettable to leave behind our homeland of thousands of years, we have discovered new hope. From now on, this place will be our home.]

King Bladir’s solemn words sank into every vampire present.

[We will establish a nation and step into the light! We will be recognized as a proud race! We will show the world that we are not monsters. Vampires! Will you join me in this cause?]

What vampires hated most was being treated as monsters.

In response to King Bladir’s speech, someone shouted loudly.

Since all vampires possessed magic power, the voice resonated quite loudly.

“Yes! We are not monsters!”

“That’s right! We are the nobility of the night!”

One by one, the voices grew louder, and soon they began to chant a single word.

“Vampire!”

“Vampire!”

In that moment of pride in their own race, the vampires began to cheer.

“Woooooaaah!!”

It was a moment of unity as the vampires moved to their new territory.

***

King Bladir divided the vampires into groups of five, creating 2,000 groups to explore the terrain.

The search capabilities of vampires, who could transform into bats and fly, were unmatched.

The 2,000 groups discovered caves and terrain suitable for habitation, and this information was quickly shared through the vampires’ unique blood magic communication.

‘Hmm… Perhaps this is the true ability of vampires?’

Rapid mobility and faster information exchange than anyone else.

Balt thought that these abilities, rather than raw power, gave vampires tremendous strategic value.

The vampires took the lead in gathering information and sharing it with the Geruntu.

Even in Earth’s modern society, information is considered crucial in warfare.

The importance of information in medieval combat was equally self-evident.

Where are the troops? What is the enemy’s scale? Are there ambushes? What is the enemy’s true target?

In fact, this was a major reason why the Geruntu couldn’t defeat the Central Continent.

They might not lose in battle, but they couldn’t win the war.

The Central Continent people communicated and shared information through magic.

The Geruntu, who couldn’t use magic and had to run around physically, were at an incomparable disadvantage in conducting warfare.

But at this moment.

Balt was convinced that this disadvantage had disappeared for the Geruntu.

***

While the vampires were finding places to live, Balt and his companions carried out the mission they had received from Lester Castle.

They were hunting monsters in Majes Canyon.

Kwang!

A rock worm made of stone was shattered by Balt’s physical magic.

Being in a place full of earth energy, Balt felt his own power growing stronger.

It seemed that the elemental Gnome had become stronger.

In the southern region, where the influence of Geruntus, god of earth and battle, was strong, Balt could feel Gnome’s power amplifying.

After collecting monsters for quite some time.

Gnome, who had been silently helping Balt, unusually started to speak.

[Balt… Good… smell… Earth energy… Over there…]

[Hmm? Earth energy?]

[Let’s… go…]

Since Gnome had never done this before, Balt asked his friends for understanding and moved in the direction Gnome indicated.

“How far are we going? Isn’t it dangerous to go further?”

The monsters here varied widely in rank, from Rank 2 to Rank 5 rock worms like the one they just defeated.

The diverse distribution of monsters made this a good place for the party to build their skills.

However, Balt was now heading deep into the canyon, to a place where light barely reached.

Walking calmly along the canyon, Balt began to understand what Gnome was talking about.

‘Is this…?’

When he synchronized with Gnome and concentrated his senses, he could feel a place with enormous energy.

Just in case, Balt took out his blood gauntlets to prepare for battle.

Balt’s gauntlets had also been upgraded, becoming stronger with the addition of blood.

Then they discovered a cave.

As a 2nd Circle mage, Balt could now cast simple spells.

“Light.”

His control of the Light spell had become quite skillful.

The cave wasn’t particularly deep. There was only something glowing with a golden light at the end of the cave.

A soft, gentle light, neither bright nor dark, enveloped the cave, and Balt approached it as if entranced.

The rest of the party followed behind Balt, and Arias, who also noticed the golden light, rushed forward with surprised eyes.

“B-Balt! This is!”

A round-shaped jewel. But it contained tremendous energy.

And its attribute was clear. This was earth energy.

Balt asked the surprised Arias:

“Do you know what this is, Arias?”

“O-Of course! How is this here! This is the Essence of Earth!”

Balt shrugged at Arias’s words.

“Essence of Earth?”

Arias was still staring at the essence as if entranced.

“Y-Yes… Simply put, it’s earth energy that has taken physical form.”

According to Arias, Majes Canyon was already overflowing with earth energy, and there were places where this energy naturally gathered.

This cave appeared to be one such place.

An essence that had accumulated power in nature for a long time was similar in nature to the natural element itself.

“So?”

“Yes! This is for Balt’s elemental, Gnome!”

Balt’s lips curled up at this unexpected stroke of luck.

“I see…”

Balt picked up the Earth Essence and asked Gnome, who was floating in the air:

[Gnome, do you need this?]

[If you give it… to me… good…]

Smiling slightly, Balt placed the Earth Essence on top of Gnome’s cute head.

At that moment.

Paaat-

The Earth Essence seeped into Gnome without resistance, and Gnome’s form began to change.

Only Balt, Arias, Lati, and Liris could see this spectacle.

Dudududuk-

“Oh… Is this evolution?”

Arias nodded excitedly at Balt’s words.

“Yes! At this rate…! It might even advance from lower to middle rank!”

Paaat!

As the golden light that had seeped into Gnome faded, a larger Gnome appeared.

Seeing its appearance, Balt couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

“Haha?”

Gnome’s appearance, perhaps influenced by Balt, was very similar to when Balt wore his magic gauntlets.

The remarkable thing was that Gnome’s surface was smooth like metal.

“Metal?”

Arias, also excited, answered Balt’s surprised reaction:

“Of course, Balt! Gnome is an earth elemental! Earth naturally contains various metals!”

That was true. Gnome wasn’t just a spirit of soil and stone, but an elemental of the earth itself.

The earth doesn’t just contain soil and stones. Deep within the earth, there are metals even harder than stone.

“Oh… Then…”

Balt concentrated and spoke to Gnome.

[Gnome, would something like this be possible?]

[Balt, call me ‘Noise’ from now on.]

[Understood, Noise.]

The deep voice still resonated in his mind. And Noise granted Balt’s request.

Paaaat-

A metal spear materialized near Balt’s chest.

Seeing this, Arias was astonished.

“At least middle rank! Amazing!”

Though the consumption of magic and elemental power was greater than expected, this iron spear was worth it.

It was obvious that metal was stronger than stone.

Balt’s combat power had increased yet again.