Nikolai wanted to enchant the potion before using it, but he decided otherwise. Unlike the case with Sergio, he didn’t know any enchanters that he could trust. Knowing that Madness had deep ties to the Enchanters Association deterred Nikolai from seeking them out.

[Event’s Probability: 30%.]

He was measuring the success of removing the curse and realized that it was shallow. Gritting his teeth, Nikolai spent two points for it to succeed. As soon as he did, the pain intensified.

“AGH!” Nikolai let out a groan for the first time, strong enough to startle Sergio, who was holding him down.

“Boss, are you alright?” Sergio asked, panicky. He didn’t want to deal with a dead body, not that anyone else did. Well, except for Madness.

Nikolai couldn’t answer even if he wanted to and just wished for the pain to stop. Even dying didn’t feel this bad. The potion was slowly eroding the curse. His head grew faint until he fainted, freed from the pain.

***

When he woke up, he found that it was early morning of the next day. The workshop was empty and but Sergio has cleaned it up while Nikolai was asleep.

He helped himself sit up as he examined the curse, but it was gone. With a sigh of relief, Nikolai slumped back into bed. The workshop’s door opened to reveal Sergio carrying a grocery bag.

“Bossman!” Sergio gave him a weird nickname as he rushed in, relieved at the sight of Nikolai’s wellbeing. Feeling warm inside, Nikolai sat up.

“That’s not even a word.” Nikolai smiled as he sniffed. “Sweet buns?”

“Yes!” Sergio took out the buns from the bag and handed one to Nikolai. His mouth watered as he smelled the sweet aroma of the bun.

“By the way, boss.” Sergio suddenly asked. “You should’ve told me that it was a blood curse. Luckily, it somehow worked.”

“What are you talking about it?” Nikolai frowned as he finished his bun. “It’s not a blood curse; the potion for those needs to be drunk, and they’re tough to eradicate.”

“I know!” Sergio hurried to explain as if he wanted to prove he wasn’t ignorant. “I thought it was a normal curse until black blood left your orifices.”

‘Black… blood?’ Nikolai frowned heavily. He wiped under his nose, and as Sergio said, there were traces of black blood. ‘Uh-oh, this isn’t supposed to happen…’

Jumping from the bed, Nikolai hurried to look in the mirror for any changes in his body. Other than the stains of blood on his face and shoulders, there was nothing abnormal. Nikolai’s body felt lighter than it was before.

‘Initiate.’ Nikolai knew that if something changed, the system would record it. As expected, he received notifications the moment he opened the system.

[The curse disappeared from your body!]

[The powerful reaction affects your blood, awakening the Energy dormant in it!]

[A powerful energy is eating away your blood essence!]

[The residue of the potion takes effect and restores the damage.]

[Energy stabilizes. Your body is expelling the foul blood.]

‘What the hell is going on here?’ Nikolai was taken aback. A battle has taken place in his body, and so many changes emerged while the pain knocked him up. Luckily, things worked out without any damage. He hurried to open his stats menu to see what was going on.

[Vitality: 18]

– [Blood Energy: 5.]

[Strength: 18]

[Agility: 14]

[Intelligence: 15]

[Mana: 6]

‘Is this… a sub-stat?’ Nikolai’s eyes widened in surprise. There was only one explanation for a stat to appear beneath another stat, which was a sub-stat.

The human body’s wonders were as infinite as the universe, and there was no equality among humans. The body sometimes evolves in a different way than expected and produces a unique trait for the owner. These were called sub-stat, and they were more valuable than stats but also more specific.

There were many sub-stats that he knew and a lot more that he did not. In either case, the undeniable truth is that he hit the jackpot with this Energy!

‘How do I use this?’ Nikolai tried focusing on his body because it had the answer to everything. If mana originated from his soul, then this Energy came from his blood. It was the Energy of the living.

Nikolai focused the Energy on his arm, and all of it gathered to form a fist. The Energy was violent and destructive, unlike the gentle and sharp nature of mana.

‘I would tear this place down if I used it.’ Nikolai thought to himself and allowed the Energy to return to its home. ‘However, it’s a sub-stat of vitality. That means its main function isn’t destruction, but regeneration.’

“Sergio, where is my dagger?” Nikolai asked, and the alchemist fetched his dagger for him. Grabbing it from his hand, Nikolai slashed his forearm.

“Ah! Bossman, what are you doing?!” Sergio screamed in horror as the blood fell on the ground.

“Don’t worry. It’s not deep.” Nikolai focused his Blood Energy on the wound. All of a sudden, it began to glow red as it healed rapidly. A grin broke on Nikolai’s face as only a fifth of his Energy healed the wound.

“It healed?” Sergio muttered in a daze. “How?” He looked at Nikolai as if he was an alien.

“My vitality is high.” Nikolai grabbed a cloth and cleaned the blood away. “You did well. Buy whatever materials you want.”

“Yas!” Sergio was thrilled. “Thank you, boss! I’ll make you prouder than my deadbeat father!”

“Uh, no need.” Nikolai frowned as he grabbed his clothes and started dressing. “I need to go. I’ll drop by again to give you the money for the materials.”

Nikolai left toward the academy after saying that. On the way, he looked through his bag and found the receipt with the number 1-70 on it. As he remembered it, the odds of him getting first place were 1:160.

The auction house calculated the odds using performance, ability, linage, estimated stats, and others to establish a close-to-reality estimate. Nikolai was in for a harvest since most people betted on the powerful ones getting the first rank.

‘1600 silvers, hehe.’ Nikolai grinned. ’16 Gold Coins just like that, easy.’ He walked back to the academy, lighter than ever and skipping steps with joy. ‘Oh, the students will hate me.’ He thought with a cheerful mindset.