I Died and Became a Noble's Heir

Chapter 451 451: Effects of Demon Blood

But they weren't dead. Their elite status meant they had greater durability and greater resistance to magical attacks.

The electrical assault had damaged them, disrupted their casting, but it hadn't been enough to destroy their cores.

Rhys pulled his daggers from the floor and activated Wind Step, launching himself toward the nearest demon before it could recover.

His enhanced agility carried him across the chamber in two seconds, and his daggers were already moving as he closed the distance.

The demon tried to defend itself, creating a partial ice shield, but Rhys had learned from the entry hall fight.

He didn't attack the shield directly. Instead, he threw one dagger past the demon's guard.

The blade began spinning through the air with perfect balance. Then used his wind magic to curve its trajectory mid-flight.

The dagger struck the demon from behind, punching through the back of its icy form where the core was typically located.

Lightning discharged on impact, and Rhys felt through Tempest's Edge's connection that the strike had damaged the core significantly.

Before the demon could react, Rhys recalled the thrown dagger with a burst of wind magic that pulled it back to his hand like it was attached to an invisible string.

Now armed with both daggers again, Rhys finished the wounded demon with a rapid series of strikes.

Three thrusts in the span of a single second, each one enhanced by lightning, targeting the weakened core.

The demon shattered into fragments on the third strike.

The other two demons had recovered from the electrical shock and were now coordinating their counterattack.

One created walls of ice that rose from the floor, while the other prepared what looked like a more powerful spell.

Rhys couldn't afford to let that spell complete.

He extended both hands forward, channeling his wind and water affinities simultaneously.

The technique was something he'd practiced with Pho dozens of times but never used in actual combat.

A fusion that created cutting force through the interaction of two elements.

"Torrent Blades!"

Wind magic wrapped around streams of water that Rhys pulled from the chamber floor, compressing them into razor-thin crescents that flew through the air with deadly speed.

Three blades from each hand struck the ice walls that the demon had created.

The water cut through the ice like it was paper, the wind providing the force and direction while the water provided the cutting edge.

The walls collapsed into fragments, and the cutting crescents continued toward the demon behind them.

The creature tried to dodge, but the Torrent Blades adjusted mid-flight, guided by Rhys's wind magic. Four of the six struck the demon across its torso and limbs, cutting deep into its icy form.

The demon staggered; its structure was compromised.

Rhys closed the distance with Wind Step, his daggers finishing what the Torrent Blades had started.

A rapid flurry of strikes shattered the demon's core.

That left one demon, and it had completed its spell.

A massive spike of ice, six feet long and thick as Rhys's torso, materialized in the air above the demon and launched toward Rhys with enough force to punch through stone.

Rhys didn't try to dodge. Instead, he created a sphere of wind around the demon's head.

The bubble formed in a fraction of a second, sealing completely around the demon's face.

Then Rhys reversed the wind flow, using his magic to pull the oxygen out of the bubble, creating a vacuum that the demon couldn't escape.

The demon clawed at the invisible barrier, its burning eyes widening in fear. Ice magic erupted from its hands, trying to freeze the wind bubble, but wind wasn't a solid substance that could be frozen.

It was air, constantly moving, responding to Rhys's will.

Rhys slid under the spike and let it crash behind him as he kept all his attention on the demon.

Fifteen seconds.

That was all it took.

The demon's movements slowed, its ice magic flickering as oxygen deprivation shut down its consciousness. The creature collapsed, and Rhys thrust both daggers into its back where the core was located.

Lightning discharged, and the demon shattered.

'That was brutal,' Slyph said, her voice carrying a mix of awe and discomfort. 'Suffocation by wind magic. I didn't think you'd actually use that technique.'

"Pho taught it to me," Rhys replied, breathing heavily from the exertion. "He said any advantage was worth using if it kept me alive."

'He's not wrong. Just... remind me never to make you angry.'

Rhys allowed himself a slight smile at that, then checked his internal state.

His stamina was holding at around thirty-five percent.

The fights were draining him, but not as quickly as the entry hall battle. His mana, however, was critically low.

Barely enough for a few more significant spells.

And somewhere ahead, the Ice Drake was waiting.

'Rhys,' Slyph said gently. 'You need to consider recovery options. You can't fight a Nightmare-rank entity with fifteen percent mana.'

She was right. Rhys knew she was right.

But stopping to meditate for mana recovery would take at least twenty minutes, and the longer he delayed, the greater the chance the Drake had to prepare for his arrival.

Then Rhys remembered something.

A detail right before his shopping trip with Pho that he'd almost forgotten in the chaos of training and combat.

His storage pouch.

Rhys reached into the enchanted bag at his waist, his fingers finding the familiar shape of a crystalline vial.

He pulled it out, examining the glowing blue liquid inside that seemed to pulse with magical energy.

A high-grade mana potion. One of the revolutionary formulas that Jack had developed. It restored one hundred percent of a mage's mana capacity in seconds rather than the ten percent that traditional potions provided.

Jack gave it to him before leaving him with Pho. However, he'd been hesitant to use them. When he asked Jack what was in the potion, he refused to provide that piece of information.

But this wasn't the time for conversation. This was the time for survival.

'Is that...' Slyph's voice carried excitement. 'Is that one of Jack's mana potions?'

"Yes," Rhys confirmed, uncorking the vial. "Let's see if they live up to the reputation."

He drank the potion in one smooth motion; the liquid was cool and almost electric on his tongue.

The sensation was almost overwhelming.

Mana flooded through his body like a dam breaking, rushing through his magical channels with such intensity that he gasped.

His reserves went from 15% to 100% in a matter of seconds.

Rhys's mana was at full capacity, his magical channels practically humming with power. Even the ambient glow of his Tempest Lord's Regalia seemed brighter, responding to the sudden influx of energy.

'By all the winds,' Slyph whispered, her voice carrying genuine amazement. 'That's... that's incredible. I can feel your mana reserves through our connection, and they're completely restored. No degradation.'

Jack's potions were miracles in their own right. They were easy to make and contained some ingredients best left untold, because they would be controversial if word ever got out.

Rhys flexed his hands, feeling the power flowing through him again.

His stamina was still depleted. The potion didn't help with physical exhaustion, but his magic was back to full strength.