Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

To Hughes's surprise, the bartender was not a blood witch, but a biologically modified wizard.

His arms had disappeared, replaced by eight tentacles taken from a deep-sea octopus.

"Slap, slap slap—"

The blue-purple tentacles were covered with suckers, and their edges glowed with a faint blue light. Each contraction of their tentacles was accompanied by a sticky, watery sound, but they did not appear clumsy.

At this moment, two tentacles are precisely gripping the neck of the bottle, while suction cups rotate along the bottle wall, polishing the bottle to a shine.

At the same moment, three tentacles were rapidly manipulating wooden wine glasses, placing them one by one in front of the guests.

As for the remaining tentacles, they deftly organized the various spirits on the liquor rack, putting the tilted bottles back in their proper places.

"Clang!! Crash...Thump thump thump—"

The eight tentacles moved so fast they were just afterimages. The crisp collision sounds mingled with the gurgling of pouring wine, becoming the only sound in the tavern.

They each performed their respective duties, nimbly flitting between the wine rack behind the wizard and the bar in front, as if each possessed its own independent consciousness.

Hughes observed for a while, then walked over...

"Oh? Unfamiliar mental energy fluctuations, looks like a new face."

As a wizard wearing a bird-beak mask approached, the busy bartender with eight hands looked up and sized him up.

"What do you need? Here's the wine list, you can take a look."

As he spoke, he freed one of his tentacles and pushed over a yellowed parchment.

"Whoosh—"

Hughes glanced at it, then said in a deep voice:

"I'd like a cup of—Skull-crushing Blood Wine."

This is the tavern's code; ordering this drink means you're entering the tavern's secret trading point, the black market.

"Oh? Okay, please wait a moment."

Upon hearing this, the bartender remained expressionless and immediately began mixing drinks for Hughes.

The eight tentacles paused all at once, then immediately stopped what they were doing, as they were about to work together to mix this special drink.

The two thickest tentacles plunged straight into the deepest compartment, and then suddenly pulled out a dark red wine jar.

The jar is engraved with twisted patterns, and a strange, cold aura emanates from its surface.

Meanwhile, the remaining tentacles rummaged nimbly under the bar, some pulling out a blood-red ointment, others curling up a clump of grayish-white crumbs...

After all the ingredients were added to the cocktail glass, a tentacle took a wooden spoon, reached deep into the jar, and scooped out a full spoonful of thick blood plasma.

That's right, blood plasma.

What was sealed in that jar was actually blood plasma made up of the blood of many different races!

"Hehe... Don't be afraid, this has been specially processed with blood energy, so strictly speaking, it's no longer blood."

The bartender grinned sinisterly, then poured a full spoonful of blood plasma into the cocktail glass and mixed it with the other ingredients.

"Most importantly—it has no fishy smell."

With that, two tentacles wrapped around the cocktail glass...

"..."

After the mixture was prepared, a tentacle pulled out a silver goblet inlaid with bloodstone.

"Ton ton ton—"

Under the control of the tentacles, the cocktail glass is tilted slightly, and the rich, scarlet liquid inside is slowly poured into the glass.

"Crunch—"

Once the glass was full, the bartender pushed it toward Hughes.

"Please enjoy your meal. You will also need to pay one hundred magic stones."

After paying with the magic stone, Hughes looked down and saw that the wine in the glass was dark red, with a thin layer of blood mist floating on the surface.

At first glance, it looks like a glass of blood that has been sitting for a long time, with a unique aroma that is a mixture of bone fragrance and the mellow aroma of strong liquor.

"Oh, right."

The bartender added.

"This is also a contract. If you drink it, you can't reveal our existence to the Golden Ring. Don't worry, that's the only condition."

"Click—"

After examining the contract in the wine, Hughes pried open the bird's beak, revealing his own beak.

Immediately, he picked up the glass and gulped down all the wine inside.

"Gulp gulp... gulp"

As the bartender said, the liquor didn't have a fishy smell, but it also had an indescribable strange taste.

"Bang—"

After finishing his drink, Hughes slammed the glass down on the bar, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

He didn't feel guilty about it, after all, he had drunk Frost Dragon blood before, and even seemed to have swallowed some when he lost control due to the dragon's nature...

Besides, as long as the bartender doesn't say anything, he won't know which races' blood is mixed in the jar, so it won't cause him any psychological burden.

— Buzzing

A few seconds later, the scene before him was suddenly shrouded in a bloody haze, and in his vision, a conspicuous cloud of blood mist was slowly drifting in a certain direction.

Hughes realized that this was the guide leading him to the black market.

He then followed the cloud of blood mist to a corner of the tavern.

There was a downward ladder leading down to a dark maze filled with dark elements.

Guided by the blood mist, Hughes walked in the darkness for a long time.

Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared in his eyes, and a vast, empty space came into view.

Unlike the underground plaza of the Everfrost Spire Black Market, this place, though located below the tavern, is a market where you can see the sky, making it feel like you're outside.

But Hughes knew that he had been circling around in the tavern's basement the whole time.

But as a space wizard, he immediately discovered the mystery within.

"A miniature secret realm?"

Sensing the unique spatial structure here, Hughes muttered to himself.

"There's actually a secret realm hidden beneath this tavern?"

Having said that, he stepped into the market ahead.

At the same moment, the bloody haze in his vision quietly dissipated, and even the blood mist vanished without a trace.

"..."

Just like in the tavern, Hughes also sensed wisps of blood witch aura from many of the merchants and passersby who had concealed their faces.

Even among the shouts waving on the street, there are those selling knowledge about blood.

He glanced at it briefly and found that apart from some items and materials that were rare on the market or classified as prohibited,

The most common items sold here are various kinds of fresh blood and blood-making tools.

Unlike vampires, blood witches are not particularly fascinated by the blood of living beings, and some even find the act of drinking blood disgusting.

Therefore, most of this blood is only used to extract blood energy.

As for blood tools, they are witchcraft tools forged by the vampires themselves, and they are consumed and released using blood energy.

Hughes, of course, had no interest in these things and continued searching for traces of the slave traders.

Fortunately, the masks in this secret realm were not very large, and the slave traders' area was easy to identify; it was simply a place with open spaces where slaves could be displayed.

Therefore, Hughes found the slave traders without much effort.