Chapter 73: On the Advancement of Bloodline Users
Dawn had barely broken.
When Ion got up, he saw that Roda was already awake.
The injuries he had sustained from arrows the previous day had significantly improved, and the wounds had already scabbed over. This made him marvel, “Iron Wolf” truly lived up to being a bloodline ability oriented towards defense. Its regenerative power was far superior to that of other Second-Tier bloodlines.
“Have you thought about which bloodline you want to advance to for the Third-Tier?” Ion greeted Roda before suddenly asking the question.
“No, I haven’t,” Roda replied with a sheepish grin. “I’m still only First-Tier. I can’t even say for sure if I’ll survive this war, so how could I think about something like Third-Tier advancement? That’s way too far off, Lord Ion.”
Ion let out a light sigh before speaking. “You can think about it. It’ll give you more drive and motivation, and also a stronger will to survive. That will help you live longer. At the very least, when you’re facing a desperate situation, you won’t so easily give up. Instead, you’ll try everything to find a way to live.”
Roda pondered for a good while before finally offering a helpless smile. “Even if you say that, Lord Ion… I really don’t know how I should advance. My sister didn’t leave me any knowledge. To be honest, I only learned to read in the past six months. Before that, I couldn’t even recognize all the characters, let alone spell them.”
Upon hearing Roda’s words, Ion fell silent for a moment.
He had learned to read while serving in the border army. Back then, he had accumulated some military merit through a few missions and earned a promotion to team leader, a barely officer-level rank. That required literacy, so he was assigned to a few training courses. Later, after retiring from the army, he continued to self-study. After marrying and having children, he also pushed his kids to start learning from a young age.
If not for those experiences, he might not have been able to read much himself.
However, when it came to offering advice on bloodline advancement, Ion truly couldn’t say much.
His understanding of bloodlines was actually inferior to that of his two sons.
“With ‘Iron Wolf,’ there are quite a few directions to advance,” said Baron Ster, who had awakened at some point and inserted himself into the conversation after hearing Ion and Roda talk.
“If you’re only considering defensive abilities, you could convert to bloodlines like ‘Armored Bear’ or ‘Ironhide Bull.’ If you want to also consider direct combat capabilities, there are more options, though they’re hard to summarize quickly. But if you want to stay on the wolf-type bloodline path, you could try advancing toward ‘Blood Wolf’ or ‘Frenzied Wolf.’”
Perhaps because he saw the confused looks on Ion and Roda’s faces, Baron Ster elaborated further: “A bloodline is essentially an optimized enhancement of your existing abilities. It may seem complicated, but there are patterns to follow.”
“The ‘Iron Wolf’ bloodline ability ‘Iron Bones’ strengthens the skeletal structure. ‘Armored Bear’ and ‘Ironhide Bull’ strengthen the outer layer of the body. Technically, ‘Armored Demon Rabbit’ is also an option, but its skin-hardening effect is inferior to the first two.”
“Someone in the Kasein Family once tried combining Third-Tier ‘Armored Bear’ and ‘Ironhide Bull’ with Second-Tier ‘Gray-Scaled Snake,’ but the result was not as effective as with ‘Armored Demon Rabbit.’ That’s why the idea was abandoned.”
“So bloodline advancement either follows compatibility in abilities or compatibility in species types?” Ion immediately caught the meaning in Baron Ster’s words and asked, “If you supplement for the shortcomings of a bloodline, would that ability become increasingly powerful?”
“That’s one way to put it,” Baron Ster nodded. “Take your son Akar, for example. He awakened the ‘Flame Sparrow’ bloodline and is more adept at using a bow and arrow to deal with enemies. If he ever has the chance to advance to Sixth-Tier and acquire a Bloodline Imprint, then his future children could start with a First-Tier magical beast bloodline like a raptor. Many such beast bloodlines can awaken abilities like ‘Eagle Eye.’”
“This ability isn’t particularly useful at First-Tier, but combined with a Second-Tier bloodline like ‘Flame Sparrow,’ which uses ranged attacks such as archery, it becomes extremely valuable.”
“For example, that female archer from yesterday, her First-Tier bloodline must have been ‘Eagle Eye’ or ‘Aim’ or something similar. That guy Howis is probably trying to cultivate her into a bloodline knight like a divine archer. I suspect she is the wife of either his eldest or second son,” Baron Ster said gravely.
“But if that’s the case, wouldn’t a Second-Tier bloodline not awaken a new ability?” Roda asked. “Isn’t it said that after the First-Tier ability awakens, the next one doesn’t come until Third-Tier?”
“That’s true, but the power contained in the bloodline can accumulate,” Baron Ster nodded.
“If the female archer activated the ‘Eagle Eye’ ability at First-Tier and her Second-Tier does not involve an ability mutation, then that power remains stored. Later, if her Third-Tier bloodline aligns with that accumulated power, it will activate alongside it, causing a mutation.”
“I suspect her First-Tier ability is ‘Trust Falcon’ and her Second-Tier ability is ‘Swallow.’ She’s following the bloodline route of a Storm Archer.”
“Is that advancement route very powerful?”
“If she reaches Fourth-Tier, extremely powerful,” Baron Ster said solemnly. “Count Shuvaric has such a divine archer under his command. When that person draws their bow, they can hit anything within five hundred paces and fire thirty arrows in a row.”
Roda might not fully grasp the terror such a feat represented, but Ion, who had experienced something similar yesterday, understood well.
The moment such a person drew their bow, the pressure was immense. Especially if they had a companion, their lethality would skyrocket.
“What about the other bloodline knight from yesterday?” Ion asked. “The one who could leap over thirteen meters in a single breath?”
“That was a Second-Tier bloodline, ‘Swift Wasp.’ The ability is ‘Rapid Dash,’” Baron Ster answered.
“The magical beasts in Red Eagle Territory are mostly fire-elemental, with a small number of ice and water types, and very few earth types. Those in Fertile Territory are mostly wind-elemental, with some earth and water types. So bloodline users from Red Eagle Territory tend to specialize in explosive power, while those from Fertile Territory are more known for their speed.”
"Of course, none of this is absolute. It’s just that most tend to lean in this direction."
"And wind-elemental bloodlines have a rather obvious trait, in lower tiers, they often lack lethality, so they can only win through surprise. For example, ‘Swift Wasp.’ Bloodline users like this can easily cross a distance of ten to fifteen meters in an instant. If you're even slightly careless or react too slowly, your throat will be slit."
Baron Ster made a throat-slitting gesture.
"But once you block their first surprise attack, they lose their edge. ...However, for bloodline users from Fertile Territory who are Third-Tier and above, you need to be careful. Most of them already possess two bloodline abilities with complementary traits, or they’ve significantly enhanced what was originally a weaker bloodline ability, thereby covering major weaknesses."
"Like the Baron of Eastern Mountain Territory?" Ion hadn’t forgotten that their mission today targeted that lord.
"Yes," Baron Ster nodded. "His eldest son is relatively easy to deal with, but the baron himself is not. His bloodline is Third-Tier ‘Wind-Chasing Hawk.’ I don’t know his Second-Tier bloodline, but I do know he has two bloodline abilities, ‘Wind Bomb’ and ‘Wind Slash.’ He combines both long-range and melee abilities, making him very difficult to handle. After you kill his son, join me as soon as possible so we can suppress him together."
According to Baron Ster’s description:
‘Wind Bomb’ is an ability that compresses air currents into a projectile-like blast. The explosive impact is powerful enough to tear an ordinary person apart, an even more terrifying ranged attack than ‘Wind Blade.’
The only drawback is its relatively short range and the time required to compress the strong wind current. The movement is quite noticeable, making it easier for bloodline users to dodge.
‘Wind Slash’ is a close-combat ability. It allows the user to imbue airflow generated through bloodline power into their weapon. When clashing with an opponent, the user can utilize this airflow for various attacks, either to increase the speed of their strikes or to suddenly release the airflow for an unexpected burst of lethality.
The downside is that maintaining the concentrated airflow continuously consumes the user’s mental stamina.
However, compared to the effectiveness and value of the ability, this consumption was not a significant issue.
Baron Ster’s bloodline was ‘Ice Ape,’ which also granted him two bloodline abilities:
‘Cold Frost Aura’ and ‘Ice Spike.’
The first caused an aura of extreme cold to constantly surround him, which effectively hindered high-speed attack methods from enemies. In theory, it could even freeze and solidify the blood of any opponent entering its range, though that would take a considerable amount of time.
And no sane person would willingly continue fighting in that cold aura once they realized something was wrong.
Therefore, for Baron Ster, this ability served mainly to accelerate the formation of his second ability, ‘Ice Spike,’ to the point that the spikes could coalesce midair without requiring his hands to shape them.
This combination of abilities was actually developed through generations of research by the Bole Family.
In other words, when Baron Ster fought the Baron of Eastern Mountain Territory, Baron Howis, he had enough strength to handle and even suppress the opponent in long-range combat.
But in close combat, he wasn’t confident enough, which was why he needed Ion to quickly kill Howis’s son and then assist in taking him down.
As for Roda—
His task was to lead the soldiers in killing all remaining troops of the Eastern Mountain Territory, then coordinate with Ion to kill Baron Howis’s son.
After that, he could just sit back and watch. After all, against a Third-Tier bloodline user, someone like Ion, who could match Third-Tier strength when going all-out, still had some use. A First-Tier bloodline user stepping in would be nothing but cannon fodder.