The Moon Thief

Heinald began to spend most of his time brewing potions and helping Albin with his experiments in the following days. Mostly, he brewed the Phoenix Feather Potion, Shied of Fire Heart, and Distilled Thunder Essence potions because they were in his monopoly and were the most profitable potions of any potions he could brew. He and Albin encountered the same results in all of their experiments and failed to make any progress.

Of course, Albin hadn't accepted the apprentice just to have him participate in the experiments. After all, Albin, as a famous potions grandmaster, was brewing various potions to some large families and organizations and getting incredible resources in return. Knowing his apprentice's ability to wield the Spirit Flame, he commissioned him to destroy the toxicity in the ingredients needed to brew these potions.

Although he didn't show it, it shocked him every time that his apprentice was even more skilled at this than himself. As a potions grandmaster, after studying the same materials tens of thousands of times, he had gotten into the habit of using Spirit Flame to destroy the toxicity on those materials with very little margin of error. However, after only a dozen mistakes, his apprentice could clearly determine how much Spirit Flame to use.

A year passed quietly.

Heinald had brewed 160 Phoenix Feather Potion, Shied of Fire Heart, and Distilled Thunder Essence during this time. The amount of Arkana Stones he paid for the ingredients he bought to be able to brew these potions was approximately 600,000 Arkana Stones. The total Arkana Stones he earned by selling these potions was 3,520,000 Arkana Stones.

During the time that passed, Albin had given him approximately 1,000,000 Arcana Stones for his help to brewing potion. So he had almost 4,000,000 Arkana Stones total. It could be said that he was the wealthiest Level 1 Ainsar who did not have a strong family.

Of course, this was because he made almost no mistakes when brewing potions. His very low fail rate minimized the amount of Arkana Stones he spent on the ingredients he needed to brew the potion. Thus, when he sold the potions he brewed, his net profit was higher than other potions masters.

This was not Heinald's only pursuit in the course of time. He did research on Naksha Serpent and Odux Rhinoceros and learned where to find them.

The Naksha Serpent was known as a species that lived in huge forests. It was stated that even the adolescent form of this species had the might of a Level 2 Ainsar. It was clearly stated in the source he read that an adult Naksha Serpent could easily fight a Level 3 Ainsar.

Another Magical Beast he researched was Odux Rhinoceros. This Rhinoceros species had a very strong defense. A teenage Odux Rhinoceros could easily fight a Level 2 Ainsar. It was stated that even a Level 3 Ainsar could hardly damage an adult Odux Rhinoceros. This species was located on an island called Odux.

After hearing this information, Heinald thought that damn skeleton was asking for too much. There was no way he could fight these two monsters. However, this did not mean that he could not find the necessary materials. Lord Fredor was a director at a trade association. He could ask him for help about this. Moreover, he had enough Arkana Stone to buy High Rank spells from him.

After obtaining permission from his master, Heinald again traveled to the Shadowmirage Mountains region. While trying to reach Lord Fredor's castle, he encountered several Magical Beasts, but he did not see fit to fight them and fled from them. His spell called Whisper of the Wind really came in handy in such situations.

When Heinald arrived at the castle, he couldn't get in due to the barrier around the castle, as he had done last time, and he was granted entry by the arrival of that little golem.

When Heinald entered the castle, the bald servant he saw last time escorted him to Lord Fredor's room.

After Lord Fredor's permission, Heinald entered his room. When he saw his familiar figure, he immediately bowed and greeted him.

"Did my brother send you to bring me something again?" Lord Fredor asked when he saw Heinald entering.

"No, sir. I'm actually here to ask you an important question." Heinald shook his head.

"What question?"

"If I remember correctly, you were a director of a trade association, right?" Heinald asked.

"Yes! I'm an executive member of the Owlhond Merchant Guild." Lord Fredor nodded.

"Sir, there are some materials I need, can you help me find them?" Heinald immediately added, "I'll definitely pay the price."

"Just a small matter! Give me the names of the ingredients you need." Lord Fredor nodded slightly.

"I'm grateful, sir!" Heinald smiled faintly.

"I contacted Tisha. Despite the unfortunate events, you did your duty after all. I will help you." Lord Fredor waved his hand.

Heinald was entertained at Lord Fredor's castle for the next half month. During this time, he waited for any news about the materials he requested and paid 1,500,000 Arkana Crystals to purchase three copies of Lord Fredor's own High Rank Attack-type spells. These are: Indignation of Ice, Infernal Fireball and Whirling Air Wave.

Indignation of Ice: Towards a single target, a giant ice hand reaches up to 50 meters. If the target is caught by the ice hand, it will suffer an extremely strong freezing effect. It inflicts a severe ice burn on the hit target. To break this freezing effect, another spell must be used at the same level as the spell, weaker spells will have zero effect against the freezing effect.

Infernal Fireball: Its a very powerful single and multi-target spell. Composed of very strong fire, this spell, when it hits the target and explodes, emits a fire wave with a radius of 150 meters and a temperature of 1500 degrees. Where it explodes, it creates a lava pit with a radius of 30 meters and this lava. The pit stays active for 20 seconds.

Whirling Air Wave: Its a very strong wind type spell. When the formed windball is sent to a specific target, it activates at the desired time of the caster and pulls everything within 300 meters of its radius to the center point. During heavy pull, all targets inside the wind waves take physical damage due to excessive pressure.

Over time, Heinald has struggled to visualize the pattern of these High Rank spells. It was no problem for him to remember the exact pattern of this spell, but in mind, constructing the pattern of these spells consumed his willpower and mental stamina very quickly.

This result was quite natural because under normal circumstances, an ordinary Level 1 Ainsar would never be able to construct a High Rank magic pattern in his mind. A genius Level 1 Ainsar would very unlikely be able to construct a High Rank Magic pattern in his mind.

At the end of the 15-day period, the news Heinald had been waiting for reached him. The materials he wanted were found, but it would take a long time to reach him as he would come from other Ainsar kingdoms. Therefore, the materials would be delivered directly to the Redsand Mansion.

Two Naksha Serpent fang and 500g of Odux Rhinoceros blood had cost him 1,300,000 Arcana Stones. He wasn't sure how valuable a Malicious God's Torture Stone was, and he didn't want to ask around about it because he didn't want to be misunderstood.

Especially to people like his master Albin and Lord Fredor.

However, in the course of time, he had contacted that damned skeleton a few more times, confirming that he still badly needed these materials.

After Heinald settled his business with Lord Fredor, he returned to Saylam City. He was very close to attaining the Dark Energy and Dark Magic that had been in the back of his mind for a long time. If he could successfully apply the technique he obtained from the remants of the Melrungan Sect, he could gain the power of Dark Magic.

There was a small magic formation in the middle of Heinald's room. This formation was radiating yellow lights. This formation looked like a transparent cylinder. In the middle of it stood a green crystal fixedly. Anyone who looked very closely could see that this green crystal was throwing some kind of balls of light around it with certain frequencies.

Heinald, on the other hand, was sitting thoughtfully at his desk and observing the green crystal. The rhythmical tapping of his fingers on the table was the only sound that echoed in the room.

He suddenly grimaced and removed his gaze from the crystal and stared at the five blue plants on his desk.

For some time, he had been experimenting with five Silver Dragon Plants, day and night, which he obtained for 300,000 Arcana Stones. This plant was a very rare species among plants and contained Spiritual Energy.

Likewise, the green crystal that stood inside the formation in the middle of the room also contained spirit energy. This crystal was known as the Anxium Crystal and contained rich Spirit Particles.

He had now begun work on creating his own Spirit Potion formula. He had set the first step in this process as obtaining Soul Particles, but he had failed in his experiments.

When the ingredients in the Spirit Potion formula he obtained from the remnants were combined, the spirit particles would automatically begin to appear when the reaction started.

However, Heinald's skills in potions and herbalism were still insufficient to make such a potion. Therefore, he had to first obtain the Spirit Particles and then find materials that would harmonize and react with these particles.

The problem Heinald faced during his experiments was a kind of energy leak. When he wanted to obtain the Spirit particles, he realized that most of them were quickly destroyed.

According to Heinald's theory, this was due to time itself. The Anxium Crystal and the Spirit Particles he had managed to obtain from the Silver Dragon Plant were destroyed before he was able to store most of them.

The amount he managed to store was not enough for a Spirit Potion.

There had to be another way!

Heinald wanted to experiment with human spirits as well, but predicted the result would be the same. Even if he could get some Spirit Particles from the spirit, he would lose most of them.

"For now I have to pause the experiments and collect more data. This will increase my chances of finding a solution to this problem." Heinald sighed and made an assessment.

He tidied up everything in his room and destroyed the remains of the experiment.

He then went to his master Albin and helped him brew potions and asked a few questions about Spirit Potions. However, his master did not intend to give him important information for free.

He was already quite exhausted when he left Albin's side. He hadn't had a good night's sleep for a long time, and his experiments had exhausted him mentally.

"Sir! It's been reported that someone wants to talk to you." As Heinald was walking down one of the long corridors to his room, a servant came in front of him and bowed to him.

"Take me to him!" Heinald nodded.

The servant took him outside the mansion to the person who wanted to meet him.

Heinald was brought to a masked figure waiting in a room of the Ainia Temple. No energy was emanating from this figure.

"I have come to deliver your orders." The masked man gave a nod.

Heinald also gave a nod and smiled faintly.

***

Heinald now had the materials the skeleton had asked of him. So he immediately made a travel to the skeleton's house.

When he arrived in front of the old and dreary house, he ignored the uneasiness that appeared in him and knocked on the door.

When the door creaked wide open, he quickly stepped inside and walked to the end of the dusty corridor.

"I have the materials you requested." Heinald entered the room at the end of the hall and stood in front of the skeleton.

"What? Show!" The skeleton jumped up excitedly.

At Heinald's only thought, the ingredients popped out of his robes' dimensional pocket and appeared in his hand.

"H-how? You really got them!" The skeleton shrieked.

"I think we can make our trade now." Heinald smiled.

As he waved his skeletal hand, a black pyramid-shaped stone appeared in his hand.

The dark aura that radiated around this stone made him shudder.

After the exchange took place, Heinald quickly traveled to the plain outside the city and found a desolate cave there. He set up a security formation at the entrance of the cave and prepared to apply the technique called Heart Of The Darkness, which he got from the Melrungan Sect.

Heinald held the Eka Alugen in one hand and the Malicious God's Torture Stone in the other. He constructed some seals in his mind and fed them with his own Magical Energy. Several small Magic Pentagrams appeared on both of his hands.

These pentagrams soon turned into a black beam of light, which connected the Malicious God's Torture Stone and Eka Alugen.

Hours passed and Heinald let out a sigh of relief. Anyone who looked closely at him could tell he was sweating.

He had transferred exactly 1000 Ainsar souls from Eka Alugen to the Malicious God's Torture Stone.

"Easter Instar Arlm!" Heinald muttered a few words

He was following the directions in the technique called Heart Of The Darkness.

In a short time, Malicious God's Torture Stone began to emit a terrifying amount of Dark Energy. This amount was so large that Heinald began to hope with all his heart that no one would pass near the cave. If someone passed by, they would definitely notice these Dark Energy waves.

"I wonder if…" Heinald squinted at an idea. With one thought, he took out the mysterious egg from the dimensional pocket of his robe. He had noticed before that this egg had a tendency to exploit Dark Energy.

Heinald waited impatiently for hours.

Finally, when the energy that the Malicious God's Torture Stone was radiating stopped, the stone broke and a black bead emerged.

Malicious Spirit Essence was finally ready!

"Here we go!" Heinald took Embers out of the dimensional pocket of his robe and, after taking a deep breath, plunged it into his heart.

"Poak!" Heinald spat out a large amount of blood as he drew back his sword. However, he did not forget his purpose and quickly sent Malicious Spirit Essence into his pierced heart.

"Aggghhh!" Heinald felt a terrible pain in his heart.

Since his physical stamina had increased since becoming a Level 1 Ainsar, his natural resistance to pain had also increased. However, the pain he felt was more intense than he had felt in a long time.

Heinald's entire chest was covered with black veins. He could feel thousands of little black snakes seeping into the depths of his soul. The pain he felt was growing more and more.

"Aggghhh…" Heinald was starting to feel like he couldn't take the pain any longer. He felt himself losing consciousness. Soon, his vision began to darken and he passed out.

When Heinald regained consciousness, he noticed that the weight in his chest had been greatly reduced. He felt very different, as if he felt someone else's blood in his veins. But there was something bigger that took him by surprise.

"The Spirit Energy I have has increased!" Heinald concentrated on his spirit in shock.

He could guess that the reason was related to 1000 Ainsar spirit, but he did not know how. According to his estimation, he had already become a peak Level 1 Ainsar and had reached the required amount of Spirit Energy for the next level.

"All I have to do is find a way to strengthen my body even more!" Heinald muttered amusedly.

*Crack*

Heinald was startled by the sound he heard.

When he turned around, his eyes widened at the sight he saw.

Before he passed out, the egg he had took out of the dimensional pocket of his robe had been broken.

"This is…" Heinald nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw the two palm-sized black dragon cub next to the egg.

The baby dragon was looking at him with interest with his small green eyes.