Blood Assimilation

At this time, as soon as Vairon spoke, Eliana, the magician, took out a bottle containing a glistening and shimmering fluid. The bottled fluid was red in color, and at this moment, it squirmed as if it was alive, seemingly trying to escape its captivity.

However, Eliana appeared to have placed sealing spells on the bottle to prevent the erratic fluid from breaking the bottle and escaping from it.

As a result of her previous experience with the red fluid breaking out of a few bottles it was stored in, she made sure to cast all her strongest sealing spells on the bottle before putting the red fluid in it.

After taking out the bottle, Eliana explained the origin of the red fluid in the bottle, shocking Vairon, who couldn't believe his ears.

"Are you telling me that this red fluid is Randy's blood…?"

Eliana nodded her tiny head gently in confirmation without saying anything.

Vairon frowned and was skeptical about her absurd claim and asked: "When did you guys get this blood sample? I don't recall him bleeding or getting hurt when we met him."

Tiana, the healer, interjected at this moment, and answered: "Do you remember when we investigated the battle site after the two demons were defeated? That was when we collected this blood sample, which was mixed with a black substance. After the black substance was separated, it turned into this fluid— blood."

"But what makes you think this is Randy's blood? It could belong to anyone. Perhaps it is the blood of one of the defeated demons? I find it unbelievable that it is human blood."

Vairon finally expressed his doubts as no human blood would squirm like what he was witnessing in front of him.

Eliana pondered for a moment and clarified: "At the time, we weren't sure it belonged to him. However, after hearing that he was truly the one who defeated the two demons, it became apparent that it belonged to him. A few days ago, I was curious and decided to examine the blood, but it resisted most of my spells."

She narrowed her eyes at the bottle on the table in front of her before saying: "Furthermore, moments ago, as soon as I sensed his presence in the Dance Hall, the blood in the bottle also began to squirm wildly in the bottle. As you can see, the direction it is squirming toward is downstairs. This is not a coincidental occurrence, in my opinion."

Vairon felt that it was still unbelievable, but he still doubtfully asked: "So, what are you trying to say? That Randy isn't human?"

"Perhaps."

Eliana, who rarely shows many expressions on her face, at this moment, displayed a confused expression before saying: "But I am not absolutely certain about it myself. I am only informing you all about it so that you could keep it in mind when you hang out with him in the future. He might potentially be dangerous, depending on his background or motives, even if he is not part of any of the other races. Also, there is something different about his current presence. Compared to the first time we met him, his presence now is somehow different."

"What do you mean by that? Are you saying he has grown stronger or something?"

Tiana's curiosity was piqued by the last two statements, which she thought sounded strange to her for some reason.

"Nothing like that. On the contrary, he seemed to have become weaker. Maybe I am over-analyzing things, but the current him had no fluctuation of mana or any form of energy."

"..."

Her strange statement left Vairon and Tiana even more puzzled and bewildered. The two of them became dead silent as they try to wrap their head around the implications of her words.

As they sat there pondering without saying anything, Eliana observed them for a brief moment. Then, she decided to put away the sealed blood in her storage bag. Earlier, she sensed movement inside her storage and took it out. Otherwise, nobody would have noticed anything.

After she put the sealed blood away, she said: "Anyway, that is all I have to say. However, I advise you all not to act strangely in front of him, lest he becomes alerted. If that were to happen, depending on his true identity, he might retaliate and we don't know what the consequences may be."

"..."

Vairon continued to remain silent for a brief moment as he carefully contemplated her words, especially after noticing the change in her expression as she spoke earlier.

A few moments later, he abruptly stood up from his seat and solemnly declared: "Alright. As we lack enough information to determine his true identity, I think keeping your words in mind for future encounters is logical. Eliana, I trust you, and I believe you wouldn't lie to us regarding something this sensitive."

Vairon turned to Tiana and said: "Tiana. When we head downstairs later, pulled Gutz to the side and discreetly inform him of our discoveries. Make sure no one overhears you. As for the Crown Prince, I'm still thinking about whether or not I should inform him about this issue. However, until we find out what is going on, I think we shouldn't spread this matter and escalate beyond the scope of what we could handle. In the meantime, we will have to find a way to assign someone to keep an eye on him."

Tiana, recognizing the gravity of the situation, solemnly replied: "Understood!"

…

A few moments ago.

The Royal Dance Hall.

Upon arriving at the Royal Dance Hall building, when Brawler Randy and Gutz entered the room, they immediately noticed the disapproving gazes of the soldiers in the room.

While Brawler Randy and Gutz looked around, they suddenly felt the cold glares of a group of soldiers led by two soldiers with dominating auras emanating from their bodies. It was as if they were fierce beasts.

The group of soldiers led by the two soldiers approached Brawler Randy and Gutz with displeased expressions.

"Look who decided to show up late! As a newbie invited by the Crown Prince, you think you're too good to show up on time, huh?"

One of the leading soldiers, who appeared to be a middle-aged, lanky man with war scars on his face ridiculed loudly, causing everyone in the Royal Dance Hall to look in his direction.

Brawler Randy noticed that the other party was looking at him as he spoke and doubtfully asked: "What's the problem? Why are you confronting us like this?"

"Hahaha!"

The lanky, middle-aged man laughed and said: "Look at him. He doesn't even seem apologetic for making us wait for him. What did I tell you guys? This newbie invited by the Crown Prince apparently thinks too highly of himself to apologize to us veterans. Do you think we should teach him a lesson to show him his place?"

The moment he spoke these goading statements, everyone in the Royal Dance Hall frowned in discontentment as they looked at Brawler Randy.

"Who does he think he is? As a newbie, even if he was personally invited by the Crown Prince, he should still arrive before anyone else in this room. Yet, he dared show up late with no remorse on his face whatsoever."

"This is what I've been saying. We, veterans, risk our lives every day to protect people like him while they act self-righteous and show us no respect when they meet us."

"I couldn't agree more. Just look at his indifferent look. He clearly has no respect for the Crown Prince's invitation or for us fellow soldiers."

…

Hearing the jeering of the crowd, Gutz, who knew that the soldiers in the room were merely expressing their frustrations as usual, turned to Brawler Randy to console him by saying: "Randy, don't let them get to you. They're not worth your time and energy. They are just—"

Gutz was about to say something else, but he was stopped by Brawler Randy, who realized the intention of the group of soldiers that approached them.

Brawler Randy took a deep breath to calm himself down.

Afterward, he faced the disapproving gazes of the soldiers before him, bowed, and spoke sincerely: " I apologize for being late. I had an unforeseen circumstance.

Then, he continued with a frown: "However that doesn't give you the right to arbitrarily judge me with false insinuations."

"Unforeseen circumstances?"

The lanky, middle-aged man spoke with derision: "Do you think that's a good enough excuse to keep us waiting? You may be invited by the Crown Prince, but that doesn't give you the right to keep us waiting. And what unforeseen circumstances were you talking about? Were you out all night having fun with some girls and then forgot the time to arrive at the ball or something?"

The moment the lanky middle-aged man finished speaking, the group of soldiers behind him immediately burst out into peals of mocking laughter. Even the other soldiers, who were not in their group, could barely suppress their laughter at his hilarious statement.

Afterward, the second leading soldier with a square face and huge body noticed the displeased expression of Brawler Randy and added: "You don't understand, kid. We are veterans, and you are just a newbie warrior introduced by the Crown Prince. We have fought for this nation long before you became a warrior. You need to show us some respect by showing up on time. Who cares about your unforeseen circumstances? You should have foreseen this outcome before doing anything reckless out there."

Brawler Randy could tell that they had somehow misunderstood his words and interpreted them however they wanted. Hence, he became a laughingstock in everyone in the Royal Dance Hall's eyes.

Despite knowing that, he still didn't care about their opinions. However, seeing how arrogant and condescending they were as they talked to him, he couldn't help but become incensed.