Lian stood in front of the massive crossroads of the ruin, Kain’s blood trail had ended right in front of him.
There was no body, no sign of a battle, and not even a trace of a continued path, as if someone had suddenly vanished from the ground.
He examined all four corridors for a few moments.
The book of treasure was still pointing toward one of the right corridors, but there was no way to be sure of Kain’s exact location.
If he continued like this, he might have to search the entire ruin for hours or even days.
Time that Kain no longer had, Lian calmly opened his skill panel and fixed his gaze on the name of one skill.
Bloodhunt.
He took a deep breath.
"If there is ever a time to upgrade it... it is now." Without the slightest hesitation, he spent the necessary fragments.
Suddenly, mana began to flow intensely within his body.
Red veins passed under his skin, and for a moment his entire body was immersed in a blood-colored light, and a heavy pressure passed through his being.
A few seconds later, the system screen appeared before his eyes.
[ 15 fragments used ]
[ Bloodhunt Successfully Evolved ]
[ New Skill Acquired ]
[ Predator’s Instincts ]
[ Rank: Great ]
[ Description: Detects every living being possessing blood within a 10km radius. Precisely determines direction, distance, and physical condition. Tracks blood trails even after all visible traces disappear. Distinguishes different bloodlines. Mana consumption varies according to detection range. ]
A very faint smile settled on Lian’s lips, as he had expected, the potential of this skill was ultimately Great, but the upgrade was very good.
Its capabilities had improved far more than what he had expected.
"Just what I needed." He immediately activated the skill.
At that same moment... the entire world changed, the walls disappeared, the stones faded, the corridors no longer existed.
All he could see... were countless veins of blood.
Dried blood on the ground, remains of blood from thousands of years ago, blood of beasts that once lived in this ruin.
Everything appeared like red threads before his eyes, but suddenly... one of those threads caught his attention.
Thin, weak, irregular, and more importantly... fading.
"Kain..." Lian’s heart beat faster, it was not hard to guess that this blood thread most likely belonged to his friend.
The blood thread went directly toward the wall in front.
Not beside it, but... inside it.
He stepped forward a few steps, placed his hand on the wall, there was no seam.
No door, no mechanism, but his skill was not wrong, Kain was right behind this wall.
"There must be a hidden room."
Lian stepped back a few steps, mana quickly gathered inside his right fist, blue lightning twisted around his arm.
[ Thunder Calamity ]
The sound of thunder exploded through the entire corridor, his fist struck the wall with all his power.
BOOOOM!
The entire stone wall exploded from the middle, massive pieces of stone scattered in the air, and dust covered the entire room.
A few seconds later... when the dust slowly cleared... Lian’s eyes fixed on the small room.
Kain was sitting there, his back leaning against the wall, his entire clothes covered in blood.
Several deep wounds could be seen on his body, his face had almost turned white.
But when his gaze fell on Lian... he just stared for a few moments.
Then... he smiled, a tired but real smile.
"I thought..." His voice was barely audible.
"My time was up..." A few moments later, he gave a weak laugh.
"I knew... if anyone could find me... it would be you..."
Lian did not say anything, he just quietly moved forward, sat down next to him, took out a few healing potion bottles from his storage space.
He poured them into his wounds, then took out a clean cloth and wiped away the dried blood.
"It is over now, I am here now." He finally said quietly.
The anxiety faded from Kain’s face, he finally felt truly saved, but the fear that had accompanied him all this time slowly disappeared, replaced by calm.
A few minutes passed, and his face color improved a little.
Lian finally broke the silence.
"Now tell me, what exactly were you doing here? What happened to you?"
Kain lowered his gaze, was silent for a few seconds, and then slowly began to explain.
About finding the signs of the ruin, about his decision to go forward, about the golden spring, about three days of unconsciousness, about the attack by two humans, about his escape, and about hiding in this secret room.
When he finished... Lian just sat still for a few moments and then let out a long sigh.
"You are crazy, really crazy, you were killing yourself, what if I had not found you? Were you going to die here?" He knew his friend might do crazy things.
But to this extent? To put himself in such great danger? His death was practically certain, if he had not shown up, he would definitely have died within a few hours.
"...I am sorry." Kain lowered his head.
Lian did not say anything for a few moments and then sighed again.
"I hope this is the last time I have to come after you because of your stupidity..."
Kain gave an embarrassed bitter smile, but he was sure that such a thing would not happen again... not after bathing in that golden water.
"Two humans..." Lian whispered under his breath.
At that same moment, Dreadmaw’s words came alive in his mind.
Seven regions, seven lands, the last realms where native humans of this world still lived.
Just from those words, it was clear that the number of native humans in this Ruined Realm was greater than in all the previous Ruined Realms.
He himself had seen a native human of this world before, but now... Kain had seen two of them.
"They might really be from those seven regions..." It could not be a definite guess, but the possibility was high.
A few moments later, he looked at Kain again.
"What was that spring? How did you absorb it?"
Kain shrugged.
"I don’t know myself, when I entered the water, I was unconscious for three full days, and when I woke up, no water remained."
"Was it worth almost losing your life?" Lian frowned.
Kain was silent, as if he was fighting with himself, should he say it? Or should he not say it? He trusted Lian, after all, he had just saved his life.
But what he had obtained was too big, bigger than anything ever heard of.
"Do you promise not to tell anyone?" He finally said quietly.
"You know me." Lian answered without pausing.
Kain gave a faint smile.
"That’s right..." He took a deep breath.
"After I woke up, my class was upgraded."
"What?" Lian frowned.
"It had upgraded from three stars to four stars."
Time stopped for a few seconds, Lian just stared at his friend.
Class upgrade... it was not impossible.
But in the entire two hundred and fifty years, less than five cases of it had been recorded, and those five cases were very special.
This event... was beyond rare.
But Kain was not finished yet.
"That is not all, all my stats had almost tripled."
Lian was still in shock when his friend continued.
"And I don’t think I am human anymore."
"What do you mean?" This time Lian was completely surprised.
"My race has changed, from Human to Descendant of Light."
He paused for a moment.
"And I also got a title, Born Of Light."
Lian was completely silent, a change in bloodline was not a strange thing, there were treasures that could do such a thing.
But... class upgrade, tripling all stats, race change, all of this... just because of one spring? What kind of spring could have such insane power?
A spring that could turn an average awakened one into a genius?
Although it was not as insane as his class and innate skills, the things Kain had obtained could still shock the world.
If this news got out... the entire world would go crazy looking for such a spring.
"So what was that spring really?" Lian asked quietly.
"I don’t know, I only know that when I entered it... everything changed." Kain shook his head.
But at that same moment... a cold, quiet, and hate-filled voice echoed from the depths of the dark corridor.
"That..."
Both turned around at the same time, quiet footsteps echoed on the ancient stones.
"The tears of the Divine of Light."
Two golden dots of light appeared in the darkness, slowly turning into two humans in white and gold armor, on the chest of both, a bright sun symbol was carved.
Their eyes were full of anger, and one of them raised his sword.
"And you impure heretics... destroyed it."
The other stepped forward.
"The sacred water we protected for thousands of years has been defiled by you." An aura of light flared around both of their bodies.
"So... the only remaining way... is your execution."