Jacob was astounded when he heard 'vampire' from Gracey's mouth. Although he was new to this world, even his old world had stories and legends about vampires. They were the most famous and recognized mystical beings related to blood, especially their legendary, indefinite lifespan, but he didn't know if it was the truth in this place.
However, he wasn't expecting them to be authentic and part of the middle galaxies of the Zodiac Plains, not to mention part of the Dark Beings' dead faction.
Furthermore, Gracey was the daughter of a Vampire Marquis, a legendary king-state dark being. Although he didn't know about the vampire hierarchy, he knew enough not to underestimate them.
Up until now, he had seen many races of Dark Beings, mostly skeletons, zombies, wraiths, wights, midgets, and undead, even ghosts, and knew about their evolution path, but Gracey was the first Vampire he had encountered.
However, in this brief encounter, he witnessed the Vampire race's abilities, and he knew there were more he didn't know yet. However, what interested him was Gracey's affinity with blood magic and her powerful blood vitality.
He was already planning on researching the life crystals and hoping to learn the ability of dark beings to absorb them. Now, after witnessing Gracey using blood magic, he knew she could be a great experiment subject!
However, that vampire won't agree to it willingly since, from her tone, he could tell she was arrogant yet cautious. The moment she realized that Jacob was stronger than her, or at least he went toe to toe against her, she instantly changed her tone and brought out her background to deter him.
Furthermore, with the legendary treasure on her body, he was sure that his hex would be missed, so he didn't bother to use it.
As Jacob was thinking and Gracey was waiting for Jacob's reply while thinking that she might be able to get what she wanted, the tower's voice rang again at this moment, "The Second Reward: Legendary King State Legacy or Legendary King State Treasure!"
Jacob instantly snapped out of his thoughts as he looked at Gracey, who was alarmed.
'How would the tower go with this reward since only one treasure or legacy can be given, and since she entered the trial, yet I was the one who cleared the final trial, will it judge both of us as winners? I don't think so…'
Just as Jacob thought, a display containing the claimable treasures and legacies appeared —only a single display, and it appeared right in front of… Jacob!
Gracey's expression fell even more when she saw this, and she finally understood that this person had somehow entered the trial and completed it before her. She even suspected he had used the Star Ocean Medallion, which no one cared about.
But what made her even more vexed was that her servants outside allowed Jacob to disrupt and enter the trial. Yet, this also made her fear him because she knew how powerful her servants were, and since he could overcome them and the tower trials despite her early entry, he was terrifyingly strong.
However, the thing was, she couldn't give up the vestige or the legendary treasure/legacy. She was willing to give them up because they were hers since she entered here first and worked to acquire the legendary key after paying a massive cost. Not to mention, it was always hers. Whoever snatched others' things, not the other way around! But she wasn't confident she could take down Jacob after their brief exchange. She knew that if she fought him, she would pay a high price, and her chances of victory were only fifty-fifty, especially now that her soul force was depleted."
'I'll deal with him once I get out of this place…' She thought with hidden killing intent.
"Sir! I'm willing to compromise the Legendary Vestige and Legendary Treasure/Legacy, but I must have the Ascension Permit!" She spoke in a somewhat stiff yet solemn tone, "That Ascension Permit is something my father needs, and if he knew that I failed, not only I will be harshly punished, but you'll also get implicated, and if you know what the Ascension Permit is, then I don't need to tell you what kind of length a Legendary King will go to acquire it even if he has to turn every stone in the middle galaxies! "So, I'm willing to surrender both of the treasures to you, but I must have the Ascension Permit. In return, you'll earn not only the goodwill of my clan and Vampire Marquis, but he'll even reward you once I tell him about your generosity!
"I can see that you are also part of the Dead Faction and belonged to the Skeleton Race, so you will also get a high position and your own territory. But if it really comes to it, and we fight, no one will benefit from it.
"What do you think?" She asked as she closely observed Jacob's hooded face. The only thing she could see was the bright, flaming golden eyes and shadow of Jacob's skeletal face.
Although her words were very reasonable, and she seemed very submissive, she was only compromising because she couldn't beat Jacob and was planning on tricking him into handing over the ascension permit. Once she was out of there and gave the ascension permit to her father, she would earn huge merits and her father's favor.
At that time, she could easily utilize vast resources under her clan to get back everything that Jacob acquired here. She knew her father would also agree to this once he knew Jacob had a legendary king state treasure or legacy from the Path of Legend in his possession.
At that time, even if Jacob had the entire skeleton race behind him, they would have to hand him over because the Vampire Race was far stronger and more terrifying than the skeleton race despite their low numbers because they didn't have a Legendary King amidst their ranks!
But she hadn't expected that Jacob had one of the three ancient optical abilities, the sources of all the optical abilities in the Zodiac Plains, the Eyes of Judge, and her lies were easily seen by Jacob! Furthermore, even if Jacob couldn't see through her lies, he wasn't going to believe her. He knew better than to believe anyone in this place, nor did he fear the Dead, Life, or Neutral Factions because once he got his hands on all the legendary vestiges, he was sure that he would become equal to a Legendary King if not stronger.
"Her Highness sure knows how to win someone over…" Jacob finally uttered impassively, "Alright, I don't want to make an enemy out of a Legendary King since I know my limit. But please forgive my bluntness; these two things are still insufficient in front of an Ascension Permit."
Gracey sighed in relief when she heard Jacob's early speech, but her expression darkened when she heard the latter part, 'Greedy bones, I'll make sure to torture you once I get my hand on you! You can only be arrogant in here. Once you leave, I'll let your entire race know why we Vampires are your master!'
Concealing her honest thoughts, she asked, "What else did you want, Sir? Anything is negotiable as long as I can have the Ascension Permit!" Jacob nodded, saying, "I don't dare ask for much from Her Highness. All I want is the legendary treasure you're carrying on her body! If you agree, we can sign any sort of contract to make sure no one will go against their words!"