Gruz had written 5 pages of notes for an augmentation-type soul technique called Az. It used soul essence to reinforce one's body in a similar way to ki.

There were 3 steps to Az, the first was to circulate the soul essence within my soul in a specific way and form 'soul veins', the next was to use those 'soul veins' to reinforce parts of your body. I came up with the name 'soul veins' myself because soul veins functioned similarly to regular veins, the only difference was that it transported soul essence. The last step was the strangest, it was to use another type of circulation to replenish soul essence.

However, the concept of equivalent exchange exists in this world, it was impossible to create soul essence without using something in exchange. The third step of Az converted blood into soul essence. A benefit of the third step is that it can be used without using Az. He wrote down that the amount of essence created through blood would increase as one became adept at the circulation.

The more I looked at it, the more it resembled how the heart works. The soul was the heart, it transported essence through 'soul veins' and the nutrients for the soul to produce essence was blood.

I was curious about who created Az, which madman thought to use blood as a supplement and how did they get it to work. As if he predicted what I would think, Gruz wrote that he did not know the creator.

Gruz had written more than I thought he would. Az was only about 2 of the 5 pages he wrote, the rest was his experiences with Az. I could feel his sincerity in our deal because he probably wrote everything he thought would be useful.

Gruz wrote that after a few years, he could get Az to strengthen the body to the level of a tier 5 martial artist. He also wrote that if you focused one's essence on one part of the body, it would resemble a tier 7 martial artist.

He said that for him, Az was useful in life or death scenarios where he ran out of mana. However, he also stated that he couldn't use Az at full force for more than a couple of hours without losing too much blood. However, he stated that he could use Az to the strength of a tier 2 martial artist for a few days without much loss of blood.

In addition, he about some problems with Az. The most interesting problem he wrote about was a sense of discomfort when he practiced and used the technique. I thought it was interesting because he used the technique for years but the sense of discomfort never left. There were some bigger problems, but they were farther along the road.

Despite its problems, Az was truly an incredible soul technique. To be able to exert the power of a tier 5 martial artist, even if only for a small amount of time, without any ki is incredible. Furthermore, Az augmented the body, so it could be used in attack or defense. I could probably travel by myself using Tracking and Az. Maybe I could even be an adventurer.

I put away those thoughts and started practicing Az. Almost an hour into my practice and I was confused by what Gruz meant when he wrote I would feel a sense of discomfort. He wrote that at the start of the first step I would feel an extreme sense of discomfort that would cause me to stop practicing. However, I felt no discomfort, I actually felt a pleasant sensation when I started the circulation, like when eating a good fruit.

I wondered if I was practicing wrong, but I didn't feel like anything was wrong. At the same time, I wondered if he lied to me, but there would be no point lying about something like this after writing 5 pages. I thought about visiting him again but I didn't want to owe him another favor, I would bury this locket and never see him again.

I eventually chalked it up to the differences between a human and an elf.

I didn't want to discard Gruz's notes just yet, so I hid them while I practiced. However, I didn't just practice, I also visited prisoners like before. I didn't want to draw suspicion to the meeting between Gruz and me.

After 3 days, someone from the Pendle Mansion came to pick me up. It was time to return to the mansion.

As I was leaving the prison, I could see the aftereffects of my actions. Some of the wardens were almost dancing in joy, others were looked at me with a look that screamed "Don't come here again". On the other hand, the prisoners were a little disappointed to see me go, they wouldn't get someone to visit them as I did.

I probably won't be visiting this prison again, Az was more than enough for my plans. I also didn't enjoy talking to these prisoners as much, unlike the prisoners in the other prison, these prisoners were genuine criminals, some were murderers, some scammed millions, and some were terrorists. Talking to most of them left me with a sense of uneasiness.

The person who took me back to the Duke's mansion was a butler I've seen a few times already, the one by the Duke's side. He took me back via carriage, and throughout the journey, we didn't speak. I spent my time staring out the window and wondering where I should bury Gruz's locket. He showed me sincerity in our deal so I needed to bury this in an area with beautiful scenery. I had a few places in mind, but it was hard to narrow it down to a specific location.

The time on the carriage wasn't enough to single out a specific location. I didn't have to bury the locket immediately so I decided to think about it later. For now, the butler was guiding me to the Duke's study.

I wasn't too worried about the meeting with Duke Pendle, I knew he wasn't going to harm me right now. Instead, I was wondering what reward I would get for living in the prison for a few days.