Ch. 37
The Loyal Blood Elf Descendant
"It's a bit inappropriate to talk here—let's return to where we were just now."
"Yes, my lady... but please wait for me a moment."
Serea nodded in agreement to Lola's request, then Lola walked in front of her fellow elves.
Looking at the unconscious Vina and several seriously injured elven warriors, Lola slowly raised her palm.
A gentle green light emanated as Lola manipulated the plants around her, channeling their life force into the fallen elves.
In just a few seconds, some of the lightly wounded elves had their injuries healed.
Seeing this, Serea once again marveled at the wonders of magic.
But when Lola walked over to Doruka, the elven guard who had shielded her from Dohr's attack earlier, Lola seemed unsteady.
Doruka's injuries were too grave—she had already lost too much blood and fallen into a coma, her life hanging by a thread.
Pure natural energy could only heal wounds; such severe injuries needed much stronger nature magic.
Seeing Lola's troubled expression, Serea looked at the girl named Doruka. At this point, Doruka was barely breathing, clearly on the verge of death.
Lola was about to expend a large amount of nature power to summon a Healing Rain, but before she could begin chanting, a small vial was tossed to her side.
Staring at the bottle of bright red potion, Lola didn't understand Serea's intent.
"That's a healing potion. I don't really know if it'll work, but you might as well try it."
As Serea said this, Lola, holding on to a hope, accepted the potion and carefully fed it to Doruka.
The potion worked almost instantly—within moments, Doruka regained consciousness. Seeing this, Serea marveled to herself:
"Damn! A tier-two potion is this effective?!"
This had been an item from her earlier ten consecutive draws. She'd assumed it was just some trash potion so she'd handed it to Lola casually.
System: A tier-two potion restores up to fifteen percent of recoverable bodily injuries. It is a product of bloodkin technology.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?! If I'd known, I wouldn't have given it away!"
Serea howled inwardly, but the system stayed silent.
Noticing the potion's dramatic effect, Lola hurriedly thanked Serea.
"Thank you for your help, my lady."
As she expressed her gratitude, Lola speculated on Serea's identity—someone able to casually offer a potion equivalent to a tier-two restoration spell could not be ordinary.
Because Serea had saved members of the elven tribe, the elves' gazes toward her became several shades less hostile.
"Ahem, that wasn't for free—don't forget our earlier arrangement."
"Of course. Please, my lady, follow me."
With that, Lola led Serea into the large wooden house.
"My Queen..."
"You all remain here. No resistance."
Lola's words silenced the elves, and to prevent any rebellion, Serea had a Skeleton Warrior stand guard around them.
This way, even if the elves regained their mobility, they would never be able to stir up trouble when facing the powerful Skeleton Warrior.
The scene shifted to inside the house, where only Lola, Serea, and Celia remained.
Only now, the positions had reversed entirely. Serea sat comfortably in a rattan chair, while Lola stood below.
"My lady, you may state your terms now."
Lola spoke with utmost respect. In response, Serea took out a blueprint and tossed it to Lola.
"Here, take a look for yourself."
Lola carefully studied the plans, and during this time Serea explained her intentions.
"You've seen my power for yourself. My purpose here is quite simple: as long as your elven tribe can build the structure on this blueprint for me, I don't mind living as a friendly neighbor with you."
Serea made it clear she intended to stay for a while. Compared to her own wooden hut, this place was more discreet and offered richer prey.
Lola, however, did not immediately respond. Her eyes were glued to the massive stone structure depicted on the blueprint.
As she examined it, her hands began to tremble. Her eyes filled with astonishment and excitement.
Seeing Lola's reaction, Serea was puzzled. Was Lola afraid she couldn't build it and worried about being punished?
But before Serea could keep guessing, Lola rolled up the blueprint and knelt on one knee before Serea.
In Serea's confused gaze, Lola spoke.
"Great sovereign of the bloodkin, your subject, Lola, welcomes your advent."
The words entered Serea's ears. She frowned slightly.
"You know I am bloodkin?"
"Yes, my lady. The power you previously used led me to suspect it. But your order to build a Blood Well confirmed your identity to me."
"..."
Serea was a bit stunned.
According to what the system had introduced before, blood elves were the retainers of the bloodkin, and only a powerful race among the upper echelons of blood elves could command them.
She'd thought the so-called 'bloodkin' had nothing to do with her, but now it seemed, in their eyes, she was precisely this 'bloodkin.'
"System, does the bloodkin truly exist as a race in this world?"
All along, Serea had thought her 'bloodkin' identity came from the system.
System: The bloodkin are an ancient and powerful race, a major faction of the blood aspect. Due to their extremely low numbers, they developed bloodkin technology centered on blood. The majority of the power of the Blood Altar was created by the bloodkin. The blood elves are products of bloodkin technology.
"Technology?"
System: 'Technology' here does not refer to the science and technology of your past life. Bloodkin technology utilizes magic and blood as energy, used to drive, enhance, or manufacture bloodkin derivative units. Blood slaves, blood elves, gargoyles, and blood demon war beasts are all classic examples of bloodkin creations.
"Understood."
With the system's explanation, Serea more or less understood—the so-called bloodkin truly existed, and as a bloodkin queen, she was now the strongest among them.
Bloodkin—a race that masters core 'technology' (magic)!
For some reason, Serea really wanted to spit out a snarky comment about this...
And Lola, as a scion of blood elf royalty, could recognize her; that made sense.
But from the reactions of the other elves, as jungle elves, it seemed they hadn't recognized her as bloodkin.
"Ahem, so you really figured it out, little blood elf."
Serea feigned a knowing air, sitting lazily in the rattan chair with her head propped up on one hand and her legs crossed—a convincing performance.
Indeed, Lola fell for the act. She stared at Serea in shock.
"My lady knows I am a blood elf! Of course—that makes sense. As a bloodkin, my lady can surely sense my presence."
Speaking, Lola lowered her head. When she raised it again, her eyes had turned dark gold, and her once green hair gradually shifted to silver.
Seeing Lola's transformation, Serea was a little taken aback. How could someone just... switch faces in an instant?
But even as surprised as she was, she couldn't let it show. She'd started this act and would see it through to the end.
(To be continued...)