The Gem Dragon was an extremely special and rare dragon-type monster.
Its power wasn’t particularly formidable, but its numbers were quite scarce. The inverse scale on its body was even rarer.
For Arlette, this was undoubtedly an unexpected and magnificent gift.
“Then I’ll accept it. Thank you, elder.”
Arlette wasn’t modest at all, accepting the wooden box from the Owl Elder’s hands right then and there.
“There’s nothing to thank me for. This is what you deserve, hoot.”
“I didn’t expect to see such a powerful rookie Heavy Knight in this era. Truly remarkable, hoot!”
“If you face any difficulties in the future, you’re welcome to visit the Adventurer’s Guild. We have many high-difficulty commissions piled up here, and we’re just lacking a strong adventurer like you to help out, hoot.”
While the two were chatting, many adventurers among the surrounding crowd were drawn by the iridescent light just emitted by the Gem Dragon’s inverse scale and turned their gazes over.
“My god, what is that thing?”
“It looks like some kind of gemstone or mineral?”
“That looks like a very high-grade material!”
“Isn’t that the branch president of the guild here? Who is that knight, for the president to personally come over and give him a gift?”
These casual conversations from the people around naturally fell into Arlette’s ears.
“The guild branch president…”
Arlette took a mental note of this information.
After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, Arlette bid farewell to the elderly owl before him and returned to the inn with the materials he had just purchased.
Upon entering a private space, he immediately held that rare scale in his hand and examined it closely.
“That’s right, it’s real.”
Arlette’s advantage of having thoroughly read the monster encyclopedia came into play once again.
After judging its luster, shape, and even hardness, he was certain that this was indeed the inverse scale of a Gem Dragon.
“Such a precious material… If it could be used in a ritual…”
This was the first time Arlette had obtained a material of such rarity.
Previously in the dungeon, although he had killed relatively powerful monsters, the precious materials were basically all handed over to Lady Mello.
At that time, Arlette wasn’t in such dire need of becoming stronger, so he had no demand for high-grade materials.
But now, things were different.
“If I can use this inverse scale as the core to perform a strengthening ritual…”
“It could definitely give my current strength a qualitative leap!”
“Perfect, I’ll try to use this ritual today to see if I can strengthen myself with this inverse scale.”
“In that case, the amount of materials used for the ritual needs to be controlled a bit…”
Thinking this, Arlette gently removed the armor from his arm, took out paper and a pen in the room, and began to calculate the amount of materials to be used for this ritual.
“If I replace one of the Lava Slug cores with the Gem Dragon’s inverse scale…”
“Then the remaining ingredients will need to be changed like this…”
“Mhm, then the recipe should be adjusted this way.”
Arlette didn’t have any reference materials for this strengthening ritual.
His method of adjusting the recipe came entirely from his own previous successful experiences.
Thus, he didn’t have much confidence in whether this ritual would succeed or not.
“But even if it’s uncertain, I have to try.”
At this very moment, the possibility of “becoming stronger” was only a thin line away from Arlette.
It was so close that it seemed he could reach out and touch it.
“If I can obtain power even greater than what I have now, perhaps I can turn My Lady back to how she used to be.”
“Well then, let the ritual begin.”
Earlier at the market, Arlette had already finished purchasing all the necessary materials.
The ritual’s requirements for the venue weren’t particularly high. Just a bit of open space was enough.
Arlette first used bone meal to draw a circular magic array on the floor, then placed the various materials within it.
Finally, he lit a candle, tilted the flame at the tip onto the bone meal that formed the magic array, and simultaneously chanted an incantation.
As the obscure and difficult-to-understand incantations poured out bit by bit from Arlette’s mouth, a strange phenomenon occurred.
The bone meal, which should have been non-combustible, was actually ignited instantly by the candle’s flame.
Raging flames surged and flowed over it.
When all the materials were touched by that strange fire, they one after another turned into balls of light of different colors and flew up.
Among them, the colors of the secondary ingredients were the dimmest. The colors were also very light.
The shells and cores of the Lava Slugs displayed a deep dark red, with a brightness higher than that of the secondary ingredients.
And the most dazzling was that inverse scale of the Gem Dragon.
The moment the magic array was triggered, that inverse scale emitted an iridescent light as dazzling as neon. In an instant, it illuminated the entire room.
“The level of this thing is even higher than I thought.”
“Forget it, I’ll just proceed with the absorption according to the process.”
Thinking this, Arlette began to manipulate the mana within his body, concentrating it in his chest.
Half a second later, a surging blood-colored vortex gradually manifested in front of his chest.
This was naturally part of the Vampire Secret Arts. It was something Mello had taught him back then so that his strength could grow rapidly.
Arlette’s talent was quite astonishing; the first time he used this ritual, it earned high praise from Mello.
“Wonderful! As a human, to have such an absorption rate the first time you use the strengthening ritual.”
“Many Vampires might not even have such talent. You little fellow are truly surprising.”
Those were Mello’s original words back then.
In an instant, the days of spending time with Mello once again surfaced in Arlette’s mind.
The desire in his heart to become stronger began to burn incredibly intensely at this moment.
“Lady…”
“As long as I can succeed…”
Emotions began to rise from within Arlette’s body.
The look in his eyes as he gazed at that iridescent ball of light was unconsciously tinged with a layer of fanaticism.
As the ritual gradually progressed, those floating balls of light began to pour into Arlette’s body.
First were the secondary ingredients.
These dim balls of light laid down a gentle foundation within Arlette’s body, ready to receive the next parts at any time.
Next were the “deep red” balls of light formed from the Lava Slug materials.
When they rushed into Arlette’s body, a scalding burning sensation instantly filled his entire physique.
It was simply as if his internal organs were being incinerated by fire.
Even as time passed, the burning sensation gradually evolved into a distended pain, as if it were about to blow Arlette’s body apart on the spot.
Fortunately, however, the previous foundation took effect and fused with it, allowing Arlette to recover.
At this moment, although Arlette was covered in sweat and had fallen into a state of weakness, the ritual thus far could be called quite smooth.
And next was the final highlight.
That iridescent ball of light.