Damon raised his brow. What she said made sense. The boost in attributes was still a good side effect he could gain, but he could gain that anyway, even with alternate methods. Maybe it was better that he gave it to someone else who might gain more from it.

Damon tossed it into his spatial ring and then took out the last item from the war chest loot.

Surprisingly, it was nothing flashy or spectacular. It was just a small piece of scrap metal that had an odd discoloration. [Inspect] also didn't work on it. Clearly, it was some sort of open quest.

Right now he already had a bunch of stuff on his plate which he needed to work on first so he could only come to this when time or chance permits. Damon shrugged and prepared to toss the scrap metal into his spatial storage when suddenly two ghosts shot out from within him with extreme urgency.

"No! Don't! Bind it first!"

Both Blood Reign and the old vampire from the blacksmith trial popped out of Damon and were now standing side by side in front of him looking at the piece of scrap metal with shock and horror.

Damon froze mid-motion, his hand still hovering over the unassuming shard of metal.

The frenzied look on the old vampire's face was clear and even Blood Reign in her semi-red spirit form definitely felt agitated. The sudden panic in their voices made his instincts flare. This was the first time he was getting this sort of reaction, not from one but two of his spirit friends.

His gaze flickered between the two spirits. "You're both acting weird. What is this thing?"

Before the two could answer, another voice chimed in. "How will a pig know a celestial artifact's value?" It was the snake woman and like always she was full of shit as she spoke with disdain. "But I must say your luck is quite good."

Damon's face twitched but before he could speak his mind, Blood Reign shot forward on his behalf. "Shut the fuck up, bitch! Who are you to talk to my King like this? Do you know just how much he had to fight and struggle in this battle? The system itself has recognized his efforts and given a reward accordingly! How dare you belittle his achievements!"

The snake spirit was not fazed. She once again responded with a scowl. "Puha! He struggled so much because he was weak! If it was my King, he would have dominated the whole thing from start to finish! My King is the undefeated Venom King. When he walked into a battleground, his enemies fell by masses! He was not weak like this blood sucker to rely on petty schemes and flimsy alliances. My King would never bow to another."

Blood Reign's crimson eyes flared like burning coals. "Then your so-called King must have died choking on his own poison," she snapped, voice laced with venom of her own. "Because I don't see him standing here now, do I?"

The serpent spirit hissed sharply. Her spectral form suddenly appeared out of nowhere and her entire silhouette was burning with some sort of emerald fire. "You dare? Watch your tongue, blood-wraith. If not for the soul seals, I'd-"

"-already be dead," Blood Reign finished with a smirk, arms crossed. "Now shut up and don't disturb us. No one invited you here anyways."

The air between them vibrated with killing intent, their clashing auras distorting the training chamber's temperature, one side boiling hot with crimson rage, the other icy with green venom. The other spirit, the old vampire, silently watched these two go at it as if he was enjoying a cat fight while munching on some popcorn.

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose. "Enough." His voice wasn't loud, but it caught the attention of the three spirits. "You two can piss on each other's graves later. Right now, I want to know what this scrap is."

The snake spirit scoffed but reined herself in. "That scrap," she spoke with hatred and bitterness. "Is a fragment broken and chipped away from something whole, something at least of mythical grade and potentially celestial grade."

Blood Reign quickly added. "My liege, quickly bind the fragment with a drop of your blood. Otherwise, the thing might just disappear right in front of you. I have heard void holes forming randomly around items like this, sucking in everything in sight including the mythical grade item. These items are too strong and fate defying. Its not easy to hold onto them. Now, my liege. Do it now!"

Damon did not hesitate. He immediately pricked his thumb and let a drop of blood fall onto the fragment.

The instant his blood touched the metal, a violent surge of power erupted, sending ripples of energy that cracked the stone floor beneath him. A blood-red pulse expanded outward, bending space itself, the air shimmered, distorted, as though reality had been struck by a hammer.

Damon's body stiffened. The blood drop sank into the fragment. Then came the sound, a deep, ancient clang. Everything shook for a moment. The entire world trembled making many powerful figures pause and stare into the distance. But it was only for a moment. When the powerful figures tried to sense the source of the disturbance, nothing could be found.

Meanwhile, runes began crawling silently across the fragment's surface, glowing in molten crimson and gold, forming a strange circular sigil.

Blood Reign gasped. "Well done, my liege. Congratulations! The fragment has recognized you!"

The snake spirit's mocking smirk faltered, her expression turning uneasy. "No… impossible. No mortal blood should be able to resonate with it that quickly."

Even the old vampire spirit's eyes widened but then he suddenly shouted. "It's not over yet. Brace yourself."

Suddenly, Damon's vision went white. An excruciating pain assaulted him as he felt himself pulled somewhere deep and dark, somewhere he did not belong. After a second, he found himself standing in the middle of nowhere, darkness all around him.

No, not all around.

There was something bright and fiery in front of him, hot enough to burn him entirely in the fraction of a second.

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