Chapter 178 – Negotiation

After examining Golem Two’s injuries, Punk had to admit he had underestimated this seemingly harmless “big boy” before him. That “Blood Hand” technique appeared to be some kind of innate ability, with energy intensity even sufficient to shatter the “Steel Armor” he had summoned using “Mana Compression”.

From the information gathered so far, Bloodclaw hadn’t been lying – he truly was a sorcerer. Based on Punk’s analysis, he was most likely a sorcerer following the “Bloodline Enhancement” path.

The sorcerer profession itself was rather unique. Most practitioners neither cultivated mana nor trained in battle aura. Their path to advancement lay in excavating the power contained within their own bloodline and honing their innate abilities.

The sorcerer’s path could generally be divided into the “Bloodline Enhancement” route and the “Bloodline Awakening” route.

The latter typically appeared in sorcerers possessing bloodlines of powerful magical creatures. They were essentially “second-generation rich” who had inherited their ancestors’ wealth, except this vast fortune came with a password lock. They had to continuously decipher this password through “Bloodline Awakening” to access those sealed powers.

In contrast, sorcerers on the “Bloodline Enhancement” path lacked prestigious ancestors. However, they could still start from nothing through training their weak bloodlines to become “first-generation rich”. Some even focused on training the most fundamental “human bloodline” to forge a path of “physical sanctification” – these individuals were also known as ascetics!

From the previous attack, Punk could tell that Bloodclaw hadn’t used battle aura or mana. He had simply manipulated blood containing powerful life force and mystical energy to form “gloves”, which had shattered one of Golem Two’s hands.

Through this blood manipulation ability, Punk speculated that Bloodclaw might be a vampire sorcerer. However, his bloodline aura didn’t carry the pressure of any high-tier bloodline, suggesting his lineage likely originated from the lowest common vampires or even inferior blood thralls.

This weak bloodline had been painstakingly trained by Bloodclaw to reach its current Formal-Level standing, still possessing tremendous potential.

Punk also noticed that Bloodclaw’s control over his bloodline was remarkably precise. Not a single iota of power had been wasted in that previous strike – this being one of the advantages of “Bloodline Enhancement” sorcerers. They generally didn’t need to exhaustively “Cage Escape” like “Bloodline Awakening” sorcerers, and their repeatedly tempered abilities always remained exceptionally handy.

“If this guy goes all out on destruction and causes major commotion, I can’t stop him”!

Punk ultimately reached this frustrating conclusion.

Since a fight to the death would only allow that Formal-Level Sword Saint Victor to profit like a fisherman, the two had no choice but to sit down for patient negotiations.

Though the participants in this hastily arranged negotiation were two powerful Formal-Level experts, and the subject matter concerned the entire Slums and even Sunset City, the venue was remarkably casual – Punk simply summoned a set of stone tables and chairs in the Alley and called it done.This was an unavoidable situation. Neither party was willing to venture rashly into the other’s territory, so they had no choice but to negotiate on the spot.

“Let me say this first—there’s no way I’m leaving. Though I did arrive later, we’re both from the evil faction, so there’s no need to fuss over who came first, right?”

After a long silence, Bloodclaw put on an apologetic expression and spoke.

But Punk showed no emotional fluctuation. He merely stated calmly:

“I require reasonable compensation.”

Punk knew he couldn’t drive away this troublesome presence, but extorting some compensation was perfectly feasible. After all, he currently held the dominant position.

Hearing Punk’s blunt demand right from the start, Bloodclaw adopted an exasperated expression and began making excuses:

“Ah, we’re going to be neighbors from now on! Why bother with compensation when we’ll be seeing each other all the time? How vulgar. How about this—as a welcoming gift, I’ll give you this beautiful maid. She’s a cat girl I spent quite a sum to acquire. Look, aren’t these lovely ears simply adorable?”

As he spoke, Bloodclaw removed the Assassin Girl’s hat beside him. As her beautiful long hair cascaded down, a pair of slightly trembling black cat ears were revealed. Admittedly, if this were on Earth, those cat ears alone could captivate hordes of otaku.

But Punk remained completely unmoved. He merely repeated his previous words, syllable by syllable:

“I. Require. Reasonable. Compensation!”

Seeing Punk completely ignore the blushing cat girl beside him, Bloodclaw knew he couldn’t weasel his way out of this. He sighed softly, then pulled the cat girl into his embrace, stroking her ears as he said:

“Fine, fine. You mages are all such joyless fellows. How about this—I’ll give you a bottle of Apprentice-Level vampire “Embrace Blood.” As you can see, I’m just a poor warlock. You can’t bully me too much, right?”

Bloodclaw put on an expression of having suffered immense grievance, looking genuinely like someone who’d been robbed of their last copper coin.

But Punk didn’t even glance at this “drama king.” He carefully considered the value of the “Embrace Blood.”

This special blood served as a vampire’s “tool” for transforming others into vampires. Condensing one portion of Embrace Blood required a vampire to sacrifice one professional level. This blood could be used to create vampires, for research purposes, or as alchemical material.

Finally, Punk said quietly:

“Two bottles. And the concentration must exceed seventy percent.”

“Alright, alright, you’ve got me. Here, take them.”

With a pained expression, Bloodclaw tossed over two test tubes. The two bottles of “Embrace Blood” shimmering with sinister light were caught by the vigilant Golem Two standing nearby.

“Good. It appears you’ve wisely refrained from any tricks. We can proceed to the next important negotiation.”

After verifying that the two reagents were indeed normal “Embrace Blood,” Punk calmly stored them in his Storage Ring, making Bloodclaw’s eye twitch as he watched.

“Then let me ask first—what exactly is this ‘thing that cannot be easily moved’ of yours?””Hehe, my friend, this is an important secret. We could even ‘exchange notes’ about what positions I prefer with this little maid, but regarding ‘that item,’ I’m afraid I must decline to comment.”

“Decline to comment? Whatever, it doesn’t matter. I’ll find out sooner or later anyway.”

Punk expressed his unyielding attitude in a tone of feigned indifference.

Hearing Punk’s reply, Bloodclaw was so angry that his veins bulged. The force with which he stroked the cat-eared girl’s tail unconsciously intensified, but neither of the two present paid any attention to the pained cries of the Assassin Girl.

Bloodclaw glared with crimson pupils, locking eyes with Punk in a confrontational standoff for a long while. Ultimately, he had no choice but to relent with a sigh.

Bloodclaw knew that as a warlock specializing in close combat, it would be difficult to stop a mage determined to uncover secrets and skilled in Divination Spells. If they were to turn hostile, he’d likely lose the fight anyway. So he could only suppress his rage and heavily slump back into his seat.

“Fine, fine, you win again. I can tell you what it is, but you must return my two vials of Embrace Blood as compensation. Those are the last two bottles of Embrace Blood I have left. After all, I’m a warlock of some repute – I can’t afford to suffer too great a loss, right?”

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(End of Chapter)