The Regressed Heir of Ravencrest

The Next Day

Luna, Teresa, and Sir Peter, along with his Knight Commanders, arrived at the training room.

After Luna’s pledge, Ethan—though visibly surprised, had quickly recovered his composure. Once the initial shock had passed, they exchanged the necessary formalities before turning their attention to the remaining matters. The rest of the meeting had been spent discussing the future of the trade and how its profits would be divided between House Bluemoon, House Ravencrest, and the Mercenary King’s Order. Although House Ravencrest had yet to formally present its alliance proposal, Luna had already made her intentions clear. Once the proposal arrived, she intended to accept it, having already pledged her loyalty to Ethan.

Ethan had made one thing equally clear: his involvement in both the war and the trade needed to remain discreet for the time being. None of them objected, even though the question of why clearly tempted several people in the room. They understood well enough that allowing Ethan’s name and his involvement to spread too quickly would bring him far greater problems than any of them could easily handle.

Ethan had also explained how the elixirs were made—how their potency and grade shifted depending on the monster cores used and the quality of the herbs paired with them. Everyone had been surprised to learn how little the process actually cost for Rare-grade elixirs, though Epic grade depended heavily on which variant herbs were required.

As for how House Bluemoon would actually manage the trade itself, Ethan left that entirely to Luna, he trusted the change he’d seen in her these past days enough to know she could command it. He instructed the Mercenary Order to follow her lead for now, establishing a guild under House Bluemoon to oversee the trade directly, with House Ravencrest’s backing to come later, once the alliance was formalized. Using House Ravencrest’s name in the Empire, after all, would give anyone who might think to interfere good reason to reconsider.

For now, Ethan had decided to personally teach both Peter and Luna how to refine the elixirs using beast cores, alongside Teresa and the two Knight Commanders, since refining these particular cores required strength at least at the Knight Commander realm.

"My Lord," Peter said, finding Ethan meditating quietly in the room after his morning routine.

Ethan opened his eyes. "It seems everyone’s here."

His gaze swept across the room before settling on Luna, a small smile forming at the corner of his lips as his thoughts drifted back to the conversation they had shared the previous night after everyone else had been dismissed, how they’d talked about her plans for the newly acquired territories, Ethan suggesting she combine the trade routes of the three adjacent territories with Bluewind serving as the central hub.

The conversation had drifted into smaller, more casual things after that, the two of them simply spending time together, until finally, she’d asked him something else entirely.

"My Lord... when you’re ready, tell me everything." She’d said it calmly, looking directly into his eyes.

He hadn’t known why she’d asked, or what exactly had been moving behind her expression in that moment. But he’d only smiled.

"One day, I will. For sure." Then, with a teasing edge creeping into his voice, "And don’t call me ’My Lord.’ Call me Ethan, like you did before. It’s strange hearing you so formal now."

Something easy and familiar had settled back between them as he said it, and she’d laughed—the first real laugh either of them had managed after a day so heavy with secrets and promises.

"It seems everyone’s here," Ethan said now, straightening. "Let’s get started."

Luna brought out the large quantity of monster cores she’d acquired from the Thorn Estate, while Ethan set down Frostfire Moss and Whisperthorn alongside herbs he’d gathered from a merchant back in Northwatch. A few of them looked doubtful when Ethan explained that the Whisperthorn and Frostfire Moss would act as catalysts, transforming the properties of the beast essence itself, so rather than simply explaining it further, he decided to demonstrate the process while teaching.

He started with Wild Beast cores. Even though they wouldn’t yield Rare or Epic grade elixirs, their outer shells were far softer than a Dire Beast’s, making them the easiest starting point for teaching the technique quickly.

Everyone watched closely.

Slowly, Ethan placed a handful of cores into the cauldron and began drilling into them with his aura, dissolving the outer shell layer by layer until he reached the softer inner core beneath. It liquefied into pure essence, and he added the herbs in careful proportion, transforming the liquid into an Uncommon-grade elixir sitting near the very top of its tier. The entire process took only a few minutes—his aura control, refined through long familiarity, made it look almost effortless. He explained each step clearly as he worked, making sure everyone could follow.

"That’s... it’s actually true," Teresa murmured under her breath as she stared at the finished elixir. "This is really working."

"Whoa!" Drake blurted, while beside him, even Corbin’s usually composed expression cracked slightly.

Only Luna and Peter had fully believed Ethan the day before. The others had sworn their loyalty regardless, but privately, more than a few had struggled to believe that the refinement process could truly be as simple as Ethan had claimed. Watching the process unfold in front of their eyes now, that doubt dissolved completely.

"Now," Ethan said, "you should try."

He gave each of them only a single core to start—their very first attempt.

Peter and Luna stepped forward first.

"Begin."

Both placed their cores into smaller refining vessels and began drilling with their own aura at the same time. The outer shells started to dissolve, until Luna’s control slipped just slightly, excess aura flooding in and damaging the core, while Peter, at nearly the same moment, misjudged the herb proportions entirely. The whole attempt took almost half an hour and ended in failure. Ethan had them try again; the second attempt produced the same result, their control noticeably improved but their patience giving out at the final, most delicate moment.

Both of them looked toward Ethan, clearly disappointed in themselves.

"Don’t be discouraged over this," Ethan said. "Take your time. Try again."

They started once more, the rest of the room watching intently, until finally both cores dissolved cleanly into liquid essence. Slowly, carefully, they reached for the herbs, adding them exactly as Ethan had instructed. The essence began to churn, absorbing the herbs, shifting, transforming—until at last, it became elixir. The whole process had taken nearly an hour of complete, unbroken focus.

"That’s it—we actually did it," Luna said, breaking into a bright smile, while beside her, the faintest smile touched the corner of Peter’s lips.

"You did well," Ethan said. "Now, repeat it." He turned to the others. "Your turn."

Teresa and the two mercenary commanders began their own attempts, the process stretching on for hours. Teresa and Corbin finally succeeded on their sixth try.

"Tch. There has to be something wrong with these cores," Drake muttered after another failure. "I’m doing exactly what they’re doing."

Ethan slowly turned his head and gave him a completely expressionless look.

"Hehe... perhaps the core isn’t the problem, Successor," Drake said, smiling sheepishly.

Ethan could only sigh. He understood people like Drake well enough, the type who thrived on raw strength and battlefield instinct, but struggled with the kind of fine control and precision this process demanded. Combined with Drake’s earnest, honest nature, Ethan found he couldn’t bring himself to actually scold him for it. People like Drake stayed optimistic even through repeated failure, which made him easier to teach, even if Ethan had to point out the same mistakes again and again.

"Here," Ethan said, handing him another core.

Drake swallowed hard, clearly sensing the edge of Ethan’s patience wearing thin. "Again," Ethan said simply.

Drake tried again, and again, Ethan pointing out each mistake as it happened, until finally, on his ninth attempt, he succeeded. Night had already fallen by the time he finished.

"I did it! I did it!" Drake’s voice rang through the chamber, as though he’d just won something far greater than a single elixir.

By then, Luna and Peter were able to refine several Wild Beast cores in sequence, while Teresa and Corbin could manage two or three at a time.

Over the following two days, Ethan gradually introduced them to Dire Beast cores. The refinement process was significantly more difficult, requiring greater aura control and patience, but the group had already learned the fundamentals.

As they became more familiar with the technique, Ethan began refining cores alongside them instead of merely supervising. The training room gradually transformed into something closer to a workshop, with cauldrons, refining vessels, herbs, and monster cores covering nearly every available surface.

With Ethan handling multiple refining vessels at once and the others working in shifts whenever their aura reserves allowed, the number of completed elixirs gradually began to rise at an astonishing pace.

By the end of the third day, they had produced roughly a thousand Uncommon-grade elixirs of varying quality, alongside five hundred Peak Rare-grade elixirs and two hundred Epic-grade elixirs.

———

Winterveil Mountain Range

High upon the jagged, snow-swept peaks of the inner Winterveil Mountains, a solitary figure stood overlooking the distant silhouette of Northwatch Fortress.

The black-robed man raised his hands to adjust his hood. Where his arms had once been severed in the Crimson Tower, two monstrous, pitch-black appendages now attached to his shoulders—elongated limbs ending in razor-sharp, obsidian talons. As he idly rested a hand against the trunk of an ancient pine, the tree instantly withered and turned to black ash.

"That power..." A voice emerged from the shadows behind him.

A four-eyed demon stepped forward from behind the snow-covered rocks, his gaze fixed on Riennal’s transformed arms. He was one of the Abyssal Pact’s covert agents who had helped Riennal infiltrate the North.

"Sir Riennal, it seems you have gained his approval. Though judging by your condition, the contract is not yet complete."

"I will gain it soon enough," Riennal replied, a crazed, bloodthirsty gleam illuminating his dark eyes.

The four-eyed demon’s expression darkened slightly. "I helped you infiltrate the North without the Vice-Leader’s knowledge," he said in a low voice. "If this fails, neither of us will have an easy time explaining ourselves. This has to succeed."

Reaching into his robes, Riennal drew out a crimson orb the size of his palm. The moment it was exposed to the freezing air, a sickly, unnatural energy slowly began to seep from its surface, dissolving into a dense, dark-purple mist.

The process was painfully slow. Even after several hours, only a tiny fraction of the orb had dissolved, allowing the purple mist to gradually spread through the mountain valleys below.

Riennal knew the corruption would not transform the creatures immediately. The weaker beasts might begin showing subtle signs after several days, but for the deeper corruption to fully take hold, it would require weeks.

Far below, however, the first traces of the mist had already begun to spread through the snow-covered wilderness, settling silently among the beasts and creatures that called the Winterveil Mountains Range their home.

Deep within the innermost, uncharted caverns of the Winterveil Mountains, an enormous creature lay sleeping beneath layers of ancient ice.

Snow-white scales covered its massive body, reflecting the pale frost surrounding it. Each slow breath caused freezing mist to spread across the cavern floor, and the sheer elemental cold radiating from its body had turned the entire chamber into a frozen wasteland where nothing else could survive.

Unaware of the danger approaching it, the creature continued to sleep.

Slowly, the dark purple mist carried by the wind slipped through the narrow cracks leading into the cavern. It drifted across the frozen floor before reaching the sleeping beast.

With every breath, the creature unknowingly drew more of the corrupted mist into its lungs.

Its massive chest slowly rose and fell.

And beneath its closed eyelids, something began to change.

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