Deep inside the mine runs a narrow corridor hidden from the main tunnels.
The passage is not easy to reach.
From the outside tunnel, the stone wall rises several meters high. Anyone attempting to enter must first climb the rough rock face, finding small cracks and edges to pull themselves upward.
Near the top of the wall is a small opening.
Barely large enough for a person to squeeze through.
Beyond the hole lies a cramped tunnel.
The space is tight and suffocating.
Anyone passing through must crawl on their stomach across cold stone for several meters before the tunnel finally opens into a hidden corridor.
This corridor is carved into the rock high above the main mining passage.
It runs parallel to the lower tunnels like a secret observation path used long ago by miners.
Now it serves another purpose.
Cries and roars echo faintly through the stone from the deeper parts of the mine.
Some are the howls of the rabid creatures.
Others are the distant sounds of battle.
Yet inside the hidden corridor, two figures sit quietly.
Rosalyn and Elodie.
Both sit with their eyes closed.
Elodie sits behind Rosalyn with one hand pressed firmly against her back.
Energy flows steadily from Elodie's palm.
Elodie channels her fighting energy into Rosalyn's body.
Rosalyn burns with fever.
Her breathing is uneven.
The wounds across her body pulse with dark veins as the black energy inside them attempts to transform her flesh.
The corruption tries to change her body just like the other victims in the town.
But Rosalyn's own energy cannot resist it.
She cannot expel the black energy from her body.
For some reason, however, Elodie's energy interacts with it differently.
Elodie's fighting energy can erase the traces of black energy from her own body when it infects her.
But when transferred into Rosalyn, the effect weakens.
Instead of removing the corruption completely, it only blocks the black energy from spreading further.
The corruption remains trapped around the wounds.
Rosalyn groans softly.
She feels no improvement.
Slowly, she turns her head to look back at Elodie.
"Elodie… stop," she says weakly.
"You don't need to waste your energy on me."
Rosalyn understands her situation clearly.
The only reason she has not transformed into one of those corpse monsters is that Elodie keeps transferring energy into her body.
When Elodie's energy runs out, the corruption will spread.
Rosalyn will die.
And shortly after that, Elodie will die too.
Because the town's spiritual energy remains frozen.
No one can absorb energy from the environment to recover.
Elodie remains silent.
She continues channelling energy steadily into Rosalyn.
Rosalyn grits her teeth.
She shifts her body, trying to move away.
But Elodie grabs her shoulder and holds her in place.
Rosalyn shouts angrily.
"I'm going to die!"
Her eyes burn with desperate resolve.
"Why do you want to die with me?"
Elodie finally speaks.
Her voice is calm but firm.
"My fighting energy can erase the black energy from my own body."
She pauses.
"You are an alchemist."
"You should try to understand why… instead of giving up and waiting to die."
Rosalyn falls silent.
She has already tried.
She has spent hours analysing the interaction between the energies inside her body.
But she still cannot understand why Elodie's fighting energy loses its purifying effect once it enters her.
The mystery remains unsolved.
Eventually, Rosalyn sighs.
She understands something clearly now.
Elodie will not abandon her.
A faint warmth fills her heart.
She feels both happiness and sadness.
Happiness that she has a friend willing to stay beside her until death.
Sadness because that same friend may die with her.
Rosalyn slowly closes her eyes.
Her thoughts drift.
If her life is truly ending here, what should she have done differently?
Her mind drifts to one person.
Clive.
She groans softly and curses herself inside.
Why hadn't she acted on the attraction she felt toward him?
If she had…
Perhaps she would die now as a woman.
Not as a girl.
Outside the mine entrance, Clive continues his work.
One corpse after another falls into the energy refining array.
Each time the bodies touch the formation, the flesh disintegrates instantly.
Black energy separates from the corpses like smoke being pulled by invisible forces.
The energy streams toward the centre of the array.
Into the Bloodstone.
The crimson stone slowly darkens.
At first, it becomes deep red.
Then darker.
Gradually, the color shifts toward black.
The stone absorbs more and more of the corrupted energy.
Its surface begins to shine faintly.
Clive continues feeding the array with corpses.
Finally, the Bloodstone changes completely.
The crimson colour disappears.
The stone turns pure black.
A dark, glossy shine spreads across its surface.
Then suddenly,
The Bloodstone releases a pulse.
The energy wave spreads across the array.
The refining process stops.
The stone floats silently above the formation.
No more black energy enters it.
Clive extends his palm toward the floating stone.
The Bloodstone slowly drifts toward him, as if responding to his will. It settles into his hand with surprising weight.
The once crimson stone is now completely black.
Its surface shines faintly like polished obsidian, yet a dull pulse of energy occasionally travels through it.
Clive studies it carefully.
The stone feels warm.
Alive.
He nods quietly to himself.
"It worked."
He sits down on the ground and crosses his legs.
The corpses around the array have already turned into dust.
The air is silent again.
Clive places the Bloodstone in his palm and closes his eyes.
Without wasting any time, he begins refining it.
Blood Alchemy activates within his body.
His blood starts moving faster through his veins.
The energy sealed inside the Bloodstone responds immediately.
The stone dissolves slowly.
Dark liquid energy flows into Clive's palm and enters his body.
Once inside, the energy follows the pathways of his blood.
The Third Blood Refining Array begins forming inside his body.
Two arrays already exist.
The first holds the Spectacle Owl bloodline.
The second holds the Shadow Cat bloodline.
Both are arranged carefully within the spiritual channels surrounding his blood circulation.
Clive focuses his mind and guides the new energy carefully.
Foreign bloodlines cannot be directly merged with the body's blood.
Doing so would cause violent mutation.
The body would reject the foreign bloodline, often killing the host.
Instead, Blood Alchemy stores foreign bloodlines inside special arrays within the body.
These arrays stabilise the bloodline energy.
Only after reaching the Official Alchemist Stage can the bloodlines safely merge with the body itself.
The third array slowly takes shape.
Dark runic structures form inside Clive's bloodstream.
The refined energy from the Bloodstone fills the structure.
Gradually, the new bloodline stabilises.
Clive feels changes spreading through his body.
His senses sharpen slightly.
His muscles feel denser.
More controlled.
The dark energy that once threatened to corrupt him now becomes part of his strength.
After several minutes, the formation completes.
The Third Bloodline stabilises within the new array.
Clive exhales slowly.
Then he continues meditating.
He calms his blood and observes the subtle changes in his body.
His breathing becomes steady.
His mind is quiet.
He savours the sensation of increased strength.
Deep inside the mine, the situation grows worse.
Elodie's face pales.
Her fighting energy continues flowing into Rosalyn, but the energy within her body is nearly exhausted.
Rosalyn's condition has not improved.
The black energy remains trapped inside her wounds.
Elodie's thoughts begin wavering.
She knows she should stop.
Continuing this will only drain her completely.
Yet she cannot let go.
Rosalyn speaks weakly beside her.
"Elodie… let me go."
Her voice trembles with exhaustion.
"Save yourself."
Hearing those words, Elodie's resolve strengthens again.
But reality presses heavily on her mind.
If she continues like this, she will die beside Rosalyn.
And neither of them will survive.
Then,
Her ears catch a sound.
Fighting.
Elodie opens her eyes.
She stands quickly while supporting Rosalyn.
Holding Rosalyn carefully, she walks toward the opposite end of the hidden corridor.
At the end of the passage, the rock wall opens into a massive cavern below.
Elodie looks down.
The sight immediately catches her attention.
A group of seven people fights in the cavern.
Five warriors form a defensive circle.
Inside the circle stand two figures.
A man and a woman.
Both continuously cast healing spells onto the five defenders.
Whenever one of the fighters is wounded by the corpse monsters, black energy begins spreading through the wound.
But the spells from the two healers cause the dark energy to hiss and dissolve into mist.
The healers can remove the corruption.
Hope flashes in Elodie's eyes.
She lifts Rosalyn onto her back.
"Hold tight," she says quietly.
Then she draws her sword.
Without hesitation, Elodie leaps from the elevated corridor.
Her body drops into the cavern.
While descending, she swings her sword.
Ice sword energy shoots forward.
Several corpse monsters collapse instantly as the freezing blades cut through them.
She lands beside the team.
Without explanation, she lowers Rosalyn carefully near the two healers.
"Heal her," Elodie commands.
The woman healer nods immediately.
She places her hands on Rosalyn and begins casting a spell.
Elodie turns away at once.
She charges toward the remaining corpse monsters.
Her sword flashes repeatedly.
Ice energy bursts from her blade.
One by one, the monsters fall.
Within minutes, the cavern clears.
After the last corpse monster collapses, Elodie raises her hand.
An ice wall rises across the cavern entrance.
The barrier seals the tunnel.
Only then does she turn back toward the group.
The woman healer kneels beside Rosalyn with both hands placed on her chest.
Soft light flows from her palms as she purifies the corruption inside Rosalyn's body.
Elodie approaches slowly.
"I am Elodie," she says.
The man healer bows his head slightly.
"I am Abel," he replies.
"An official priest of the Lady of the Lake."
He gestures toward the woman beside Rosalyn.
"She is Elie."
Elie glances up briefly from her work and nods politely toward Elodie before returning her attention to Rosalyn.