Chapter 242 The Bottleneck.

Realizing the strange actions of his ring, Alvine raised his right hand and looked at the ring that was now like new, with a crystalline red color and two exquisite jewels above it.

Seeing this, Alvine did not stop sucking Linn's blood; he continued to feed himself until he restored the blood in his veins.

Thus, after an extra minute, he removed his fangs from Linn's flawless skin, then licked the trickle of blood dripping on her arm.

"Not even a thank you for saving your life?" She asked, watching her hand regenerate faster than Alvine's.

'Sigh, as I thought, she reminds me that I now owe her a debt; I did well to restore my vitality through her blood. Otherwise, I will regret it in the future.' He said to Himself, staring at her.

"Thank you, I guess?" Alvine replied while looking at the ring that had captives all his attention.

"Do you suppose? Sigh, give up. If not, What is this ring for now, and what is its rank?"

"I don't know. I think it still needs a little more time to regain consciousness. Everything I know, what I managed to establish a spiritual bond with it." Alvine answers once again like a robot. On the other hand, he could not know the grade of the ring since he could not yet communicate with it or use its powers.

"Oh, I see. Now you owe me an explanation. But first, can I kill this...thing?" She asked, pointing to Luna, who was standing calmly behind Alvine.

Alvine's gaze temporarily switched between Luna and Linn, then acted as if he had not heard Linn's question.

Then his gaze froze on the orb next to him. 'Sigh, to say that the ring did not leave even 1% energy inside the orb, how greedy this ring is? I hope its powers will be as incredible as its greed.' He continued in his thoughts.

"Here, try to restore your energy with these Odins stones." Linn suddenly gave him dozens of the Odins stones by noticing his irregular breathing.

She has not yet tried to question Alvine; she instinctively knew that the time was wrong for that.

As for Alvine, he looked at the dozens of divine spiritual stones while smiling ironically. "Can you lift your barrier once again?"

Linn raised her eyebrows slightly when she heard Alvine's request, but she did not ask for the cause. She snapped her fingers, breaking the spatial barrier.

At the same time, Alvine placed his palm on the table, and a hundred other golden stones appeared. *Luna and Greed, you both will return to the dimension; according to Greed's recent memories, you will be more helpful with Sabrina than by being with me. So stay in the dimension; maybe Darka will ask you to help assist my clone.* He ordered by telepathy.

Then he created another clone devoid of soul. "Bring this guy with you; he will serve as a receptacle for my soul clone during my absence." He said aloud, surprising Linn beyond expectations.

But just seeing her satisfying smile, anyone could guess she was not dissatisfied with Alvine's decision.

'Hmm... so, he's trying to pretend to stay with me to escape more easily after lower my guard? Or he intends to stay with me of his own free will? In short, time will tell us if it is the first or second option. In any case, I'd not lower my guard; he is unpredictable as his powers.' She made this brief analysis while deciding not to comment on Alvine's decision.

Luna and Greed nod together, following their master’s order. But before retiring, Luna looked one last time at Linnaella with hostile eyes as her lips moved stealthily without Alvine's knowledge.

[Try to do anything suspicious with my lord, and I will burn you to nothing with my master's Gehenna flames! Fucking inferior!]

Even if she had not pronounced this threat aloud or telepathically, Linn could read on her lips. She wanted to pretend not to have understood what Luna did but seeing her triumphant smile, a boiling anger emerged deep in her heart. But unfortunately for her, she could only swallow this anger since Luna instantly disappeared into the shadow of Alvine with Greed and the shadow clone of Alvine.

'Sigh, why does he have the same immortal soldiers as our former leader? Is he the reincarnation of Alvinos? No, Alvinos has never been so deceitful and talkative as this vicious guy. Sigh, I feel like I will go crazy by spending time with him. Now that I think about it, how can this girl speak? Although the immortal soldiers of Alvinos are powerful, they did not have such smart, were they?

But she did not have time to deepen her thoughts when Alvine's voice woke her up in her thoughts.

"It's still not enough," Alvine said, looking at the hundreds of divine stones scattered on the dark gold table.

"What is not enough?"? She asked.

"Sigh, The ring took at least forty million raw energy from me. But these stones are not even enough to help me collect 1% of my ancient energy. Sigh, I may have to contact Sabrina so that she can give me more divine stones. But it might be a little complicated, "He says thoughtfully while looking at Linn with a mischievous smile.

"...Tsk, very well I understood. How much do you need?" She retorted with a frustrated tone, guessing Alvine's hidden intentions.

Alvine did not change his expression despite Linn's frustration. Although this is the third time he has felt this feeling of helplessness, after having exhausted almost all of his mana, he still could not get used to the unpleasant feeling.

But strangely, the ring absorbed his raw energy without touching his shadow energy. As a result, even if he looked weak and out of breath, he was still as dangerous as a snake pretending to have no more venom in its canines!

"At least a hundred other divine stones. Chest the amount I need to restore my energy." He said, closing his eyes to meditate.

Linn, for her part, even if she found Alvine's words unrealistic, does not doubt her assertions. Usually, an Odin stone (divine) is more than enough to restore the mana of an emperor mage. So three hundred divine spiritual stones to regain his energy... even a low-ranking divine mage would not need such an amount of energy.

The time to blink an eye was enough for Linn to add a hundred other small golden stones to the pile of divine stones.

Alvine immediately closed his eyes after seeing the divine mana stones and began without further delay to restore his magical energy.

"Take your time; I'll be back in a moment," Linn spoke in a deep voice after realizing that Alvine might take considerable time to absorb all the divine energy of the divine spiritual stones around him.

But as soon as Alvine realized Linnaella was no longer with him, he sighed with relief. Following this, his eyes turned to dark blacks as the hundreds of stones floated towards him with great attractive force, instantly emptying them of their energies the second they touched his skin. He maintained this rhythm for up to thirty minutes, absorbing all the divine energy in the stones!

Following this, his eyes regained their golden colors as before. Then he looked at the clock hanging on the wall opposite. "Sigh, it took me longer than expected. In short, it is enough to allow me to activate my universal law on a large scale to collect more raw energy. I had overestimated my energy reserve by believing that it would be enough to help me reach the divine rank. But I wouldn't make this mistake anymore. I will see how much energy I can store in my body. To do this, I must push my body to its limits." He said, rising among the heaps of gray pebbles.

"Urgh! But before that, I guess I have to take a shower." This idea crossed his mind after noticing the stench that emanated from him.

He checked the other rooms with his perception and found the bathroom in less than five seconds. "Tsk, she's careful...heh? The spatial barrier is still in place." He said to himself, noticing that his conscience could not extend outside the mansion. But it didn't bother him.

"Before Luna and Greed left, I consulted the memories of Darka, who is with Sabrina. So I learned through Greed that Sabrina wants me to stay here for a while, at least, until the situation becomes less agitated. Even if it leaves me with a bitter taste, I have no choice but to keep a low profile for a long time; if only I were stronger, I would not need to hide here. Sigh, I have no other option than follow Sabrina’s plans, at least for now. Most importantly, I must break through into the divine rank as soon as possible to protect myself against high-level divine mages." He talked to himself while walking to the bathroom that was in the next room.

After exploring the mansion with his perception, he realized that the mansion was smaller than his forecasts. There were only two bedrooms with two indoor showers, a living room with a minibar, and a small kitchen. Arrived in the room, he took off his clothes and entered the bathroom that contained a small hot spa.

Meanwhile, Linn came back with some provisions and some daily necessities (for Alvine.). As a primordial being, she did not have needs like mortals.

But she immediately realized that Alvine had finished absorbing all the energy in the stones. "Sigh, I don't even know if I should be surprised. But where is he?" She wondered, checking the mansion with its primordial perception.

But her cheeks slightly blushed when she saw Alvine in the bathroom. Then she returned to the room where Alvine was in the shower in the bathroom. She placed the clothes she had just bought for Alvine and returned to the kitchen to 'cook.'

After a few more minutes, Alvine, who had just left the bathroom, saw the black jacket on the bed. "Hm? So that's why she left? These people are incomprehensible. But still, where did she get such clothes from? I feel like I see clothes I used to wear when I was at university (in my old life)." He instantly guessed that Linna was back by the simple fact of seeing this new set of clothes.

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He then wears the new clothes and goes out into the room. But instantly, a horrible smell invades his nostrils. "What are you doing?" He asked Linn with a bad one right now.

But the mystery did not stay in the shadows for long when he saw Linn go out with a bowl in the kitchen. "As a mortal, you need to eat so as not to die." She said, smiling at Alvine as she put down the 'food' she had just prepared on the dining table.

-!!

"Are you sure it's not to kill me instead? Ahem, I mean... I appreciate your efforts, but I'm not hungry." Alvine retreated as far as he could and went to the mini-bar, trying to forget what he had just seen on the table.

-Even if poisons are ineffective against me, I'm not sure I'll live after eating... this purple thing she calls food.- Alvine's thoughts.

"...If you say so. Anyway, now that you seem to be getting better, don't you think you owe me some explanations?" Of course, she understood why Alvine refused to eat the dish she had prepared with all her efforts.

But seeing the result, it was obvious to Alvine that primordial beings were not perfect existences. So seeing her ignore the subject, Alvine naturally did not miss this opportunity to ridicule her even more.

"Explanations? About what? The ring? De Luna and Greed? Or your inedible dish?" He asked with a mischievous smile.

"Forget this story. Unlike Sabrina and most of us, I didn't interact with mortals."

"A bogus excuse." Alvine slams her tongue by retorting these words.

"These are not excuses. Sigh, it doesn't matter. Are you the reincarnation of Alvinos?"

"No."

"Are you a fallen primordial then?"

"Nope."

"...Stop making fun of me! If you are neither one nor the other, what exactly are you? You can't be a mortal with so many irregularities." Hearing the ambiguous answers from Alvine, she became more and more frustrated as she talked to him.

"Sigh, since when have you been interested in my personal life? It was you who captured me and dragged me so far; it was you who triggered all these events by offering me a deal, and finally, it was also you who offered to help me bind myself to an artifact. Now tell me, what exactly do you accuse me of?" Alvine retorted when he saw that she was becoming more curious about him.

"I will be honest with you. With all the rumors circulating to my disadvantage, I decided to stay with you. Not because I enjoy spending time with you but it's out of necessity. And don't worry, I will pay this favor by trying to heal you, but it's only after reaching the intermediate divine rank... maybe high-level divine rank. I currently have no chance of healing you at my current level. But I'm not crazy enough to help potential enemies become stronger than my allies. That's why even if I knew a method to help you reach the intermediate primordial rank; I would never do it in these conditions!"