Chapter 119: Finding The Exit Point Moon was already thinking the same thing. The blood was clearly valuable beyond measure. But there were complications. "Indeed. But we shouldn’t get too excited, the effect might be temporary, or it might have diminishing returns, the first exposure gives benefits, but subsequent exposure does nothing. We don’t know the mechanics yet." [+1 Strength] Another notification appeared, contradicting his caution about diminishing returns. "Never mind." "It’s still working," Selene observed. "We’re continuing to gain attributes the longer we’re exposed." Moon checked his current status mentally. Moon checked his current status mentally. His Strength had increased by two points, and so did his mana. Four total attribute points gained just from being covered in this creature’s blood and breathing the atmosphere in its heart chamber. That represented significant power growth, the equivalent of leveling up once, but without the experience grinding required. "We need to be smart about this," Moon said, forcing himself to think critically despite the intoxicating prospect of easy power gains. "If the blood continues providing benefits, we should maximize our exposure time while searching for an exit. But we also can’t stay here indefinitely, eventually this creature might do something that kills us, treasure blood or not." Selene nodded reluctantly. "Agreed. We harvest what benefits we can during our escape attempt, but survival takes priority over greed." She paused, then added with a grim smile, "Though I’m definitely filling my spatial storage with this blood before we leave. Even if it stops working for us personally, it could be sold for astronomical prices to other awakeners or exchanged for powerful items in the second sanctuary." Moon had the same thought. A single vial of this blood could probably fund an entire year of comfortable living for an average awakener. A barrel of it could buy high-grade equipment or rare skills. The amount of blood in this heart chamber alone represented wealth that was simply too great. "We fill the storage rings once we’ve confirmed a viable exit route," Moon decided. "Not before. I’m not risking death because of greed. The beast might be able to sense that its blood had thinned dramatically, and it could kill us." Selene nodded. "I agree," [+1 Mana] [+1 Constitution] More notifications appeared for both of them as the blood’s enhancement effect continued working. Moon couldn’t help but feel a strange mixture of emotions. Terror at being trapped inside a creature of incomprehensible size and power. Awe at discovering a natural treasure of this magnitude. And grim determination to survive long enough to benefit from this discovery. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢 "Five minutes rest," Moon repeated his earlier statement. "Then we move. Let Mirage recover while we continue gaining these attribute bonuses." The white horse was resting, his breathing steadier now after nearly drowning. What was surprising was the fact that Mirage seemed to be benefiting just like them, his body glowing softly. Moon floated in the blood beside Mirage, his mind already planning their next moves while his body absorbed the treasure surrounding them. They’d stumbled into something that could change their entire trajectory as awakeners...If they survived to take advantage of it. Moon, Mirage, and Selene spent the next hour resting in the heart chamber, their bodies submerged in or surrounded by the creature’s blood. During that time, their physical forms continued growing demonstrably stronger at regular intervals, approximately every ten minutes, new notifications appeared granting additional permanent attributes. By the end of the hour, each of them had gained another six attribute points beyond their initial increases. For Moon specifically, those six points distributed as: three to Constitution and three to Mana. His body was adapting to prioritize magical capacity and physical durability, perhaps responding to his own body’s preference. — [ Name: Moon ] [ Race: Human ] [ Class: Classless, Assassin] [ Level: 22 ][ 51% ] [ Lives: 4596 ] [ Strength: 35 ] [ Agility: 35 ] [ Constitution: 40 ] [ Mana: 55 ] (+5 to all stats) [ Attribute Points: 0 ] [ Skills: Elemental Attack, Five Element Affinity, Tenacity, Silver Skin, ignite, Dagger Art (Limited Time)] [ Talent: Grim Reaper ] [ Class Skill: Class Slot {1/1} ] — Although the attribute increases had stopped appearing for the past ten minutes, Moon and Selene decided to wait longer just to ensure their bodies had genuinely finished absorbing benefits from the blood rather than simply experiencing a temporary pause. Indeed, after waiting close to thirty additional minutes with no new notifications, they reluctantly accepted that their bodies were no longer improving. The enhancement effect had reached its natural limit, whether due to saturation, diminishing returns, or some other mechanism. This appeared to be the end of the benefits they could gain from direct exposure to this particular creature’s blood. However, during their extended rest period while monitoring for attribute gains, Moon and Selene hadn’t wasted time. They’d been carefully observing the chamber’s structure, studying the blood flow patterns through the four massive vessel openings, and attempting to understand the creature’s anatomy well enough to identify an escape route. "We’re inside some sort of massive aquatic creature. Based on the heart structure, I believe it’s similar to fish anatomy. The heart consists of only two chambers, a single atrium and a single ventricle. Rather than the four-chambered hearts that mammals, reptiles, birds and amphibians possess." Selene spoke with confidence. She pointed at the vessel openings, tracing the flow patterns. "Also, I’ve been watching carefully, and blood is only passing through the heart once per complete circuit. It doesn’t return to the heart for re-oxygenation like it does in more complex circulatory systems." Moon listened intently, his own forgotten biology education slowly returning to memory. "Secondly, and this is a very important clue," Selene continued, "the blood composition is consistent throughout. It’s all de-oxygenated blood, dark red, oxygen-depleted. Unlike humans and other reptiles, mammals, and amphibians which have separate oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood circuits, this creature operates with a simpler single-circuit system." Moon looked at her and nodded slowly. "I remember reading about this in high school biology. Fish circulatory systems. But I completely forgot the details, didn’t pay attention because I thought it was useless information that would never apply to real life." He couldn’t help but laugh grimly at the irony. "Turns out knowing fish anatomy is extremely helpful when you’re trapped inside a giant aquatic creature." Selene chuckled despite their dire circumstances. "Life has a way of making everything relevant eventually." She gestured toward one of the vessel openings where blood flowed outward from the ventricle with each powerful contraction. "In fish and other large aquatic beasts, the circulatory pattern is straightforward: blood flows from the heart directly to the gills for oxygenation. The gills are respiratory organs that interface directly with the external environment, water passes over them, gas exchange occurs, and the blood becomes oxygenated before continuing to the rest of the body." Moon’s eyes lit up with understanding. "So if we follow the blood flow from this ventricle, it should lead us to the gills. And the gills, by definition, must have some form of opening or membrane that connects to the outside water." "Exactly," Selene confirmed. "The gills are our exit point. They’re designed to allow water flow from the external environment, which means they represent a pathway out of this creature’s body." Moon studied the four vessel openings more carefully, trying to determine which one would lead toward respiratory organs rather than deeper into the creature’s internal systems.