BXBX NOVEL Chapter 263 - Greed
In all honesty, Tristan knew that the best way to get more Blood Essence was still through battle. Not only was this exploit faster, it would also yield him much more Blood Essence than absorbing from these creatures.
This attempt of his trying to get rare creatures\' blood was only thought to be an extra Blood Essence \'revenue\' on the sideline. After all, with more Blood Essence he gained, he could quickly get more upgrades to further ensure his survival.
[Upgrade Blood Synthesis to stage 4 requires 50,000 Blood Essence]
[Upgrade Blood Seal to stage 4 requires 50,000 Blood Essence]
[Upgrade Blood Monarch Body to stage 6 requires 100,000 Blood Essence]
These three upgrades which each had its own outrageous cost would still go a long way into making him the strongest person on this planet. Therefore, it was only natural that for Tristan, Blood Essence was the highest and most prioritized commodity.
At this moment, Tristan seriously thought that the most efficient way to deal with this Faunt was to just [Blood Seal] the man and be done with it. This way, he could make the latter give up all of his worth with essentially no cost other than the Blood Essence consumed to cast the ability.
However, Tristan thought this solution didn\'t seem too great for him after he already gave the goat hybrid a check for the cost.
[Blood Seal]
[1,000 Blood Essence required]
[68% chance]
Putting the guy under his [Blood Seal] seemed to be a waste of Blood Essence upon deeper consideration. Although he still had 31,250 Blood Essence on him, the worst thing about this blood seal was the waste of his blood seal pool [6,950/10,000]. He would rather augment more orcs than waste the pool on this goat hybrid.
On the other hand, he really needed more Blood Essence and he hoped these trappers could be the solution. It was a moment of greed like this, Tristan\'s brain seemed to work even better than usual. Apparently, greed was the best ingredient to fuel creativity.
Tristan stood up from his seat and walked toward the balcony while saying, "Mister Faunt, I actually have a good collection as well. In fact, I\'m sure you\'ll like this one."
Faunt and his two escorts were silent as they found the situation to be a bit strange. Their confusion didn\'t last long as it was quickly answered by an unbelievable sight unfolding before them.
A flying creature was seen rapidly coming down from the sky before it arrived at the balcony of the town hall.. It was Tristan\'s familiar Narra, the Bloodgem Dragon.
Looking at the striking red dragon, the confusion on Faunt\'s face was instantly replaced with shock and a hint of admiration.
"A-A.. living dragon?! Especially the kind that I\'ve never seen before! This.. this is unbelievable.."
Tristan could clearly see that Faunt had lost all the composure he had shown earlier when he looked at Narra who was currently flying around him. "Lord.. Esteemed Lord Mayor.. If I may ask, what kind of dragon is this?"
Tristan smirked inwardly while maintaining his composure outwardly, acting as if Narra\'s existence was so-so in his eyes. "This is a Bloodgem Dragon. Have you heard of it before?"
"Bloodgem Dragon?!" exclaimed Faunt, his face showed a look of shock.
Tristan was intrigued when he saw his surprised face. "Oh? Have you really heard of them?"
"Hah? I mean, yes, Lord Mayor. I seemed to have read about them from a book." said Faunt as he went into deep thought. "Red scale with silver-colored streak on its back… this is truly unbelievable. That is such a beauty, Lord Mayor. I wonder how much you would be willing to part with it?"
Again, Tristan was annoyed hearing it. He walked to his seat and Narra the red dragon crawled to his shoulder and talked to his mind.
"What\'s the matter, Master? Do you need me for something?"
Hearing Narra\'s voice in his mind, Tristan replied. "Actually, yes, Narra. You have been asking about food, haven\'t you? I wonder if you like this one in front of you."
As Tristan conversed with Narra in his mind, the only thing Faunt and his escorts could hear and see was the cry of the Bloodgem Dragon which was then followed by it approaching them.
Faunt discovered the dragon was looking into his eyes with such animosity that it brought chills running down his spine. His body involuntarily tensed up while his mind told him to get out of there. As someone who led a group that hunted creatures for living, he knew what the dragon was trying to do.
Turning his eyes to Tristan, Faunt quickly said, "L-Lord Mayor! What\'s the meaning of this?!"
"Ah?! What\'s going on? I have no idea! You\'re the expert, aren\'t you?" said Tristan, who was acting surprised.
"Lord Mayor, my two bodyguards here are the strongest gold adventurers out there. Don\'t tell me I didn\'t warn you if your dragon was injured!"
The two hybrids standing next to Faunt quickly brandished their weapon, their gait told Tristan they were ready to fight. On the other hand, Herrera, Seth, Serene, and Uriel were all flustered by this unanticipated development.
Seeing that Tristan showed practically no reaction to his warning, Faunt became flustered too.
"Aren\'t you worried about it? Even though it\'s a dragon, it\'s just a baby!"
The lizard hybrid struck first by thrusting his spear at great speed. However, Narra unexpectedly shot upward and flew past the spear tip, dodging the stab. In reaction, the lizard hybrid smashed her using the shield on his hand.
BAM!
A loud booming sound echoed through the air as Narra\'s body hit the shield. Surprisingly, it was the hybrid lizard that bounced off in this confrontation. His body flew through the air before violently landing a few meters from where he had been standing before.
The others could only watch as Narra rushed at the lying lizard hybrid, and the poor guy screamed his lungs out because the former attacked him ruthlessly. Before they knew it, the man was already screaming no more.
The tiger hybrid who was just a step away from helping his colleague suddenly became a step too close to his doom for the exact same reason. Narra turned to him and revealed her wide open jaw as she shot [Fire Breath] on him.
Seeing the incoming flames that could definitely injure him, the tiger hybrid quickly used the powerful battle art [Whirlwind] using his two sabers. A strong spherical wall of gusts materialized as his body spun rapidly, obstructing the [Fire Breath] from reaching its target.
After that, the tiger hybrid immediately took a few steps back, only to find his high-grade sabers had melted away, turning into useless lumps of steel. A look of horror appeared on his face as he realized how miserable he would have been if the [Fire Breath] hit him directly.
Even though the fight had only just begun, Faunt knew he f\'cked up. Thus, he quickly turned to Tristan and shouted, "Lord Mayor! That!.. That is a Mythical dragon! Please stop this madness!!"
"I\'m really sorry, Mister Faunt. I really don\'t know why she was so \'lively\' when she saw you. Could it be because you have hunted one of her family before?" said Tristan with a pondering tone. "Ah! That\'s right! The claw on your necklace; that must be it!"
"No! Lord Mayor, please. This is not a dragon claw! I lied! It\'s just the claw of a large eagle, not a dragon. Please tell her to stop!!!"
Unfortunately, before Faunt could finish his words, Narra already shot towards the tiger hybrid and utilized her wings to cut the latter\'s head apart from his body.
"Narra, stop!" said Tristan, and the rampaging Bloodgem Dragon immediately stopped her actions. She casted a glance at Faunt with blood still dripping from her jaw, scaring him so much that his face completely lost it\'s color.
Tristan casually walked and approached Faunt who had unknowingly fallen to his knee, his expression was in disbelief. It was at this moment that he realized what kind of person the man standing in front of him was.
As he got closer, Tristan used [Blood Extraction] and obtained 2800 Blood Essence from the two dead hybrids - a number that was a little bit more than what he had extracted from the human golden adventurer. It wasn\'t much, but still better than humans.
When he finished the extraction, Narra took the bodies away with her and everyone knew what she wanted to do with it. The realization that Narra would be having a feast was something that quickly stiffened everyone in the room, especially Faunt.
Now that he knew what a hybrid\'s actual worth when extracted, Tristan made up his mind. He quickly cast [Blood Seal] on Faunt to glean all information out of him. Unexpectedly, the man had hundreds of hybrids stationed in his base, guarding the dozen or so legendary creatures that were kept there.
After he collected everything valuable from Faunt, Tristan immediately set him free because he didn\'t want to fill up his nearly occupied [Blood Seal] list. He then threw him a bag filled with 1,000 gold coins and told him to bring all the creatures next month at the latest.
Tristan told Faunt that if he came back as requested, he would give him another 1,000 coins. But if he didn\'t come, then Tristan would have more Blood Essence to collect from the hundred hybrids in his base.
As for the issue of 2,000 gold coins for a dozen legendary creatures, knowing that they also could be said to be captured against their will, the coins would be a fair amount to pay for all the hard work spent on capturing them.
"I really hope you will return with my request fulfilled, Faunt. After all, I really think I will have more of your services in the future." Tristan said with a smile.
As the meeting ended, Tristan was seen making his way back to his room. At this time, Herrera once again came and approached him.
However, before she could say or do anything, Serene had grabbed Tristan\'s arm and pulled him inside the room before slamming the door in front of the purple-haired magician\'s face.
Realizing what she had done, Serene slowly turned around to look at Tristan. Her face was slightly red, half-embarrassed, she said "I... I want you to...."