Chapter 120 - Blood Test

"It is not what we want but what is required for you to enter the chamber in which we have stored the books." The man said.

"Oh well if it is a matter of an unmovable door, I can just destroy it." Zell replied. "It would be super easy, where is the door?"

"No!" The little man jumped out of his house. "You will not go around and destroy our property because you don't want to follow the client's orders! Have some respect for other peoples' things! We did this favor to you humans with the promise that you would respect us and treat us as you would an equal. Not act like some barbarian."

"Fine." Zell said with a sigh. "What was my grandfather's request? Do I have to go through some trial, and face some incredible beast? Or am I to just answer a riddle or save a kingdom?"

"What has happened to you?!" The little man replied. "You know what don't answer that, I don't really care. But no, you just need to be certified that you are the blood of the client. Just a little magical blood test and bam, we grant you access to the chamber."

"Sounds simple." Zell said. "Although, what happens if I fail this test? Hypothetically speaking, if I had gone through some magical ritual and altered on a genetic level and no longer bore any markers with my grandfather. Completely hypothetical of course."

The little man just looked at Zell and raised his eyebrow. "Then you would have to go through the trials and cause all of us, but mostly yourself a lot more work. Is that why you are a massive mountain of a man that shines with holy light and an aura that shakes the very foundation of this planet? Hypothetically of course."

"I really should learn how to hide my aura." Zell said. "I am not used to having one."

"Yes, you should." The little man said. "Walking around showing off your cosmic power, you are quite the shameless one."

"And yet you seem to have no fear of me." Zell said.

"That's because I don't give two shits from a rat's ass about any of that." The little man said. "If you wanted to kill me you would have, you obviously didn't so why the hell would I worry about it?"

"Makes sense." Zell said.

"Wait here." The little man said as he left Zell standing next to his house. He walked over to another building and returned a half of an hour later. "Sorry, that took so long, it was hard to find this." He showed Zell a stone tile. "Just drop some of that blood on here and if it turns blue you are good to go in and if it turns red, then we start the trials. Remove your armor and hold your finger out. I am just going to poke it with this knife, just a tiny drop of blood."

Zell had the scales retreat from his hand and showed his naked finger to the small nonhuman. The little man attempted to prick Zell's finger but as the knife hit his flesh the knife snapped, and Zell was left completely unharmed. "Sorry." Zell said. "I didn't mean to break your dagger."

"Should have guessed someone as powerful as you would have a challenging time giving a blood sample." He said. "Let me go get a better weapon." He left again for twenty minutes and returned wielding a dagger made of pure diamonds. "Hardest substance on this planet. This should do the trick." He thrusted the dagger onto Zell's index finger only to have it shatter to dust the moment it made contact with his skin. "Whelp, I am out of ideas. Also expect a bill for the property that you destroyed. I will have it sent to your kingdom."

"Here." Zell said as he took his finger from his other hand and made a small scratch on his exposed finger. A droplet of blood landed on the tile before Zell's wound healed instantly. The tile instantly changed red.

"Trials it is." The small man said with a sigh. "If you continue west from here you will find a mountain and on the side of that mountain you will find a tomb. It is the tomb of the former kings of Neuval, you must go there and collect the key from the tomb of the king who ordered us to copy the books."

"That's all I need to do?" Zell asked. "That is a breeze compared to all of the other trials I have faced so far."

"Alright then stop wasting my time and go get that key, if it is such an easy task." The man said.

"I will be back shortly." Zell said. "I will see you soon, um what's your name again? I don't think I caught it."

"That's because you never asked, and I never gave it." He replied. "The name is Jeff; don't forget it I shall not tell you a second time."

"Okay Jeff, I will see you soon." Zell said as he started to use his flight magic to lift himself up into the air. He flew high above the forest and then headed west towards the mountains. He followed along the road in hopes that the entrance of the tomb would be visible from it. As he got to the mountain range, he saw a small path diverge from the main road that led up the mountain. He followed it with his eyes and found an entrance with two stone doors with cravings of an ivy that was common in Neuval's architecture.

"That must be the place." Zell said as he flew down to the entrance. He reached out and opened the massive stone door, it made a horrible rumble as it moved along the ground and Zell was blasted with the cold stale air from inside the tomb.

As he took a step inside the door slammed itself behind him and the torches that lined the wall began to burn with a bright orange dancing flame that illuminated the darkness.