The roar of the explosion echoed through the valley.
The smoke slowly dissipated.
Alan squinted his eyes.
The basilisk was a bloody mess, its scales mostly ripped off.
The wound to its abdomen was particularly severe, a two-foot-long gash.
Through the blood, the wriggling of its internal organs could be vaguely seen.
The sound of the explosion echoed over the valley.
Mr. Hunter was stunned for a moment, then suddenly came to his senses.
He grabbed his hunting bow and fired three arrows in a single breath!
As a novice sorcerer apprentice, he also had a hidden talent.
This "Gas Flowing Arrows" technique condensed a lifetime of practice!
Two of the three arrows hit the basilisk's body, which had lost its scales, piercing deep into its flesh.
The basilisk shook its head and tail in pain.
He struggled to turn around and try to escape.
A cruel smile curved the corners of Allen's lips.
At this moment, he seemed to have returned to a meditative world.
He transformed into a ferocious ogre chieftain.
His steps moved swiftly.
In a flash, he blocked the basilisk's retreat.
He drew eight points of magic power in one breath, using it to unleash his Bone-Piercing Power.
Trying to end the battle within a minute!
The basilisk, driven mad by pain, saw a young man standing in its way and unthinkingly spewed poison.
Taking advantage of the boy's vision being obscured by the poisonous black smoke, the basilisk twisted its body and pounced.
Its sharp fangs dripped venom.
The tried-and-true hunting routine failed this time.
The basilisk's venomous breath vanished.
Looking around in confusion, he was horrified to find that the young man opposite him had vanished.
"Idiot! What were you looking at?"
Alan sneered and appeared behind the basilisk, stepping on its tail and unleashing a ferocious punch.
Bang!
Just as the basilisk turned around, a fist as big as a casserole slammed into its face.
Blood splattered, and flesh shattered.
The fist, imbued with "bone-penetrating force," directly crushed the basilisk's facial bones.
The face caved in, looking both comical and terrifying.
However, the basilisk was remarkably strong, and despite such a severe injury, it survived.
It struggled to fight back.
Hound gait!
Alan's figure flashed and vanished.
Unless the Agility difference between the enemy and us is too great,
"Hound Stride" will always keep the opponent spinning.
After a perfect dodge, Alan struck out again!
Bang, bang, bang!
A series of dull, dense blows echoed through the valley.
The basilisk took several punches and finally gave out.
Alan delivered one last kick.
With a snap, he severed the monster's neck!
The bloody head tilted to one side.
The long, thick snake body twitched and twisted into a ball.
It soon stiffened.
Alan kicked it twice more.
Only after confirming the basilisk was dead did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Robin ran over, glanced at the basilisk's corpse, then turned to look at Alan, his eyes filled with shock and admiration.
"Alan... no, my dear brother! You're awesome!"
"From today on, you're my idol, Robin!"
Mr. Hunter approached, bow in hand, his face also filled with astonishment.
He'd heard from his son that Alan was Ms. Sora's student and also training with Instructor Carter.
However, he had never imagined this young man could be so formidable.
He had almost single-handedly killed the ferocious basilisk!
Alan wiped his sweat off his forehead and turned to Mr. Hunter.
"The basilisk's flesh must be extracted fresh for use in the medicine."
"I'll be busy for a while."
"I'll leave the security around here to you and Robin."
"You take care of yourselves. We, father and son, will handle the rest!"
Mr. Hunter unconsciously addressed Alan with honorifics.
After everything was settled, Alan drew his dagger and cut open the basilisk's belly.
Following the system's instructions, he removed the venom gland, heart, and gallbladder.
The venom gland is the organ that secretes the basilisk's toxins.
Alan can absorb Level 3 toxin from it to increase his poison resistance.
Level 3 toxin is indeed very potent.
Alan took just a sip.
The poison resistance bar increased significantly.
Just reached Level 3! There was another unexpected bonus.
‐‐ The purity of his "Venomous Bloodline" had increased to 2%.
‐‐ This was already considered a low-level qualification.
‐‐ In the future, he might awaken the "Venom Warlock" bloodline talent!
‐‐ As for the heart and snake gallbladder, they were the special ingredients he'd been longing for.
‐‐ The freshest ingredients required the simplest preparation.
‐‐ Alan stuffed the snake heart and gallbladder directly into his mouth, devouring them raw with their original flavor!
‐‐ As a warlock apprentice with awakened ogre blood, eating raw meat was normal.
‐‐ The snake heart had a crisp texture.
‐‐ The gallbladder was a little bitter.
‐‐ But the bitterness was flavorful and profound.
‐‐ Alan felt that it was just like his own gentlemanly demeanor.
‐‐ After licking the snake blood from his fingers, Alan felt unsatisfied.
But let's not rush into eating the snake meat just yet.
Open the system page.
The previously blank special ingredient guide now has two new icons, each with an accompanying annotation.
…
Basilisk Heart: After consumption, Constitution +1, Potential +1.
Basilisk Bile: After consumption, Agility +1, Potential +1.
…
Now, Alan's attributes become:
Constitution 17, Agility 16, Spirit 18.
And two more precious Potential points.
What exactly is Potential used for?
The moment has finally arrived to reveal the mystery.
Alan couldn't help but feel a little excited.
…
System prompt: Spending Potential points can promote the purification, fusion, and evolution of bloodlines or skills.
…
That's the only explanation.
Yet, it possesses a wealth of meaning.
Purification, Fusion, and Evolution.
Of these three options, the most impressive seems to be "Evolution."
Alan wanted to use his potential to evolve his bloodline.
However, the system's feedback poured cold water on him.
"The prerequisites for bloodline evolution are not currently met!"
A detailed explanation follows.
Alan's ogre bloodline has two main evolutionary paths.
Route A.
Evolve from a common ogre into a high-level ogre, also known as an "Ogre Wizard."
Ogre Wizards not only retain the ogre's robust physique, but also possess powerful mental strength and are skilled in spellcasting!
However, to take this evolutionary path, three conditions must be met:
First, a mental attribute ≥ 18.
Second, the purity of the bloodline of an ogre or its variants must be ≥7%.
‐‐Third, master at least one 2nd-level spell!
Alan was at a loss for words.
‐‐He only met the first condition right now.
‐‐As for the last two, they seemed unrealistic no matter how you looked at them.
‐‐The ogre wizard evolution path was out of the question for now.
‐‐There was another path, B, which allowed evolution into the hill giant bloodline.
‐‐Hill giants were a weaker subtype of the orthodox giant race.
‐‐Taller and stronger than ogres, they unfortunately lacked any spellcasting talent.
‐‐The advantage of taking this evolutionary path was that it expanded one's bloodline to include the orthodox giant race.
‐‐There was a chance to obtain higher-level giant bloodlines in the future.
‐‐For example, stone giants, frost giants, fire giants, cloud giants, storm giants...
‐‐This evolutionary path was very clear and offered greater long-term benefits.
However, the problem is that the evolutionary threshold for Route B is not low.