Fair Trade, Bloodworm Extract

Abraham Setrakian.

Once a folklorist, then a Demon Hunter, now running a pawn shop for a living.

White hair covered his forehead, ears, and lower jaw. It seemed that the reappearance of vampires had left him with no time to even comb his hair.

Chen Gou, who was wearing a silver mask, sat behind the desk that belonged to the cardinal and said with a slight nod, "Mr. Abraham, please have a seat."

"Is Your Eminence now in charge of St. Benedict's Cathedral?"

Abraham glanced at Paul, who was standing with his hands at his sides. He looked old, and his chin, earlobes, and eyelids could not defy Earth's gravity.

His many wrinkles were also an excellent aid in concealing his emotions.

Paul snapped solemnly, "Don't be rude. Lord Holy Envoy…"

"Leave and close the door. I want to talk to Mr. Abraham alone."

Chen Gou waved his hand, signaling for Paul to take his leave.

Paul did as he was told, so the only ones left in the large study were the two people staring at each other across the desk.

Abraham said in a low, hoarse voice, "Your Excellency, since you can make the Cardinal listen to you, you must have a high position in the church, right?"

Chen Gou calmly answered, "You don't need to sound me out. Who I am is not important. What's important is that I have the Fallen Light that you want. You need to offer a price that will interest me."

"Are you referring to gold or US dollars?"

"Neither. I am only interested in two things. Sardu's Cane, which is in your hands… and the formula to extract bloodworm essence."

Sardu was a European lord from hundreds of years ago who had suffered from gigantism. He had been stronger than everyone else and taller than the roof of the farmhouse in his territory.

However, this had not been a gift from God, but a congenital disease.

His muscles had not been strong enough to support his long, heavy frame, and sometimes it had even hurt him to walk.

As a result, he'd had to resort to using a cane to get around.

He had used a silver walking stick with a serpentine handle and a wolf's head engraved at the top, which was the emblem of the Sardu Family.

In addition, the walking stick was actually a silver-plated steel longsword, but it was usually concealed by a round scabbard that looked like a walking stick on the outside.

Sardu's flaws and upbringing had made him humble and given him near-perfect noble traits.

He had loved nature, felt compassion for the weak, loved children, and been willing to give them sweets and small little things in exchange for their smile.

Unfortunately, he had happened to enter a cave one day and meet the Master there.

The ending of the story was obvious. He had been parasitized by the Master and become a new host body, which had caused him to lose himself.

However, his walking stick had been left behind. By passing through numerous hands, it had eventually landed in Abraham's hands, thus becoming his walking stick and weapon.

Chen Gou believed that this stick-sword was very likely a magical weapon!

Also, he reckoned that it had a high grade…

The formula for bloodworm essence extraction was a method of grinding bloodworms and extracting a certain kind of essence.

Abraham had obtained this formula from another Demon Hunter. When used, it could prolong one's lifespan and energize a person.

This formula played a crucial role in the fact that Abraham, who was 80 to 90 years old, had been able to live until now and maintain his great skills to fight against vampires.

Otherwise, he would have been unable to walk at this age.

Chen Gou wanted to sound out whether the essence extracted from this formula would help Awakeners in battle as well.

At the very least, it would be considered a good elixir in the Blue Wave World.

Its ability to prolong one's lifespan alone would be enough to make many people go after it.

"If I give you the walking stick and formula, you'll give me the Fallen Light, right?"

Abraham held Sardu's Cane in his right hand as he wore a pair of open-fingered woolen gloves to cover his hands, which had become ugly from an injury decades ago.

"No, I'm not giving it to you. I'm lending it to you so you can read it."

White light flashed under Chen Gou's palm before the Fallen Light suddenly appeared. "You can only read it in the church. You can't take it with you. What you can get from it will depend on you."

When he saw the light, Abraham widened his eyes and gasped, his face filled with disbelief.

The Master was very powerful, but he could understand why. It was this magical technique that made him feel incredibly surprised.

"This trade is unfair. If you're only lending it to me to read it, I can only give you the formula."

A full ten seconds passed as Abraham stared at the silver canonical text on the desk from a distance of three meters and spoke in a deep voice.

His gaze was firm and cold, and beneath his gradually-crumbling male appearance hid a passion and boldness that never faded!

Even though Chen Gou had just displayed an unimaginable ability in front of him, he couldn't change his mind.

"Then I can only lend it to you for five days, which is fair." Chen Gou spread out his hands with an unperturbed expression beneath his mask.

"It's a deal! Let's have a pleasant trade!"

Abraham walked over to the desk and extended one hand toward Chen Gou.

Chen Gou stretched out his hand to shake it and said with a smile, "We've only just started working with each other. I believe we will have many more trades in the future."

Exchanging the right to use the Fallen Light for five days for the formula was naturally very worth it to Chen Gou.

It only took a little more than a minute for Abraham to write out the formula with a pen and paper on the table. He then stayed in the study to read the silver canonical text that he had been yearning for.

Chen Gou, however, left briefly to catch a bloodworm in the basement and extract the essence according to the formula.

As for why there was a bloodworm in the basement, out of the people who had been bitten by the priest two days before, he had deliberately left an unburned one and imprisoned it in the basement.

The method of extracting the essence wasn't complicated; it was composed of the steps necessary to extract it and the several kinds of agents added.

Agents were very common, and Abraham had some spare ones, so it only took Chen Gou over ten hours to extract a dose of the essence.

Upon probing with the system, he was completely surprised by the attributes acquired.

[Bloodworm Essence Extract: Recovery Magical Potion]

[Origin: Abyssal World of The Strain]

[Grade: Silver]

[Attributes: 1. Increases lifespan by 1-10 years and varies from person to person. Effective only at first use.]

[Attributes: 2. Ordinary people will immediately recover their health, thus being allowed to restore their bodies to normal and be full of energy. Lasts one month.]

[Attributes: 3. Awakeners instantly recover 30% of their maximum HP and restore 5 HP/second and 5 MP/second. Lasts 24 hours. Cannot be stacked.]

[Usage Method: Drip into the eye or take orally.]

[Warning: This drug has extremely painful and stimulating side effects when used. Those with a weak will may lose self-control within seconds, so please be cautious when using it in battle.]

[Description: Derived from an ancient Demon Hunter's special recipe. Contains a mysterious power extracted from evil creatures.]

[Remark: Light also has to draw power from darkness!]

Prolonged lifespan and energy restoration had been included in the original story.

The real surprise was the third attribute, and the HP and MP restoration that would last 24 hours was not as important. Most importantly, there would be an instant recovery of 30% of maximum HP!

This could save him from death when his life was on the line.

Based on what Chen Gou knew, most of the recovery potions commonly used by Abyssal Knights were bronze-grade.

Among those that could provide instantaneous restoration, the best one was a small blood vial that could only provide a restoration of 300 HP.

It was incomparable to a restoration of 30% maximum HP.

Without the side effects of using it, Chen Gou believed that it could reach the gold grade.

After all, it could add 1-10 years of lifespan. Although one's lifespan could only be increased once, people who were in a high position and were about to die would be more than willing to pay a high price.

…

While Chen Gou was refining the essence, Abraham, who was an old Demon Hunter, was racking his brains to study the Fallen Light.

There were secrets that he could only discover on his own unless he waited for the facts to come to light.

Otherwise, he would find it hard to believe even if Chen Gou told him directly.

A few days later, on the sixth night after Chen Gou had descended into this world, Abraham was still studying the Fallen Light. His silver hair was a mess, and he had not gotten any sleep.

Chen Gou, on the other hand, was keeping him company, both to ensure that the Fallen Light would not be taken away and to wait for Quinlan's arrival.

It had been three days since Abraham had arrived, yet Quinlan hadn't made a single move.

This made Chen Gou slightly anxious. If his final plan was to come to fruition, he would have to make use of Quinlan's fighting skills.

After all, Abraham was already old, and his strength lay more in wisdom and experience, which wouldn't be very helpful in killing the Master.

Did Quinlan not pay much attention to the news about the Fallen Light?

In that case, I'm afraid I'll have to get his attention through some other way…

No plan in the world was absolutely perfect, and various changes would always happen, causing plans to go awry in the course of action.

However, plans could also be improvised.

Chen Gou pondered for a moment and decided to stop waiting passively and take the initiative. He was going to do something big to show Quinlan his strength and value.