The existence of Potion of Innocence was also one of the reasons Eren had dared to make a move on Sid. otherwise, he would have had to wait patiently for a few raids. By that time, Sid would have had made some more plans to hurt him physically and mentally.
Eren had more than enough potion on him to create crime scenes after crime scenes without leaving a trace. Plus, the potion was a tried and tested product. After all, this was how he had stayed undetected even after killing an entire army squad.
'That brat has done me a solid by creating such a potion. Even if she has her interests on the line, the fact that it has benefitted me hasn't changed. No matter what happens between us in the future, I should thank her for this.'
Eren thought to himself as he finished securing his crime scene. With this, he didn't have to worry about the army's investigation of its missing personnel.
"Yeah. You can come down now."
Eren said to seemingly nobody in particular. In a few moments, an epic tier mana beast with a lion's body and eagle's head landed in front of him. Argo greeted his master by rubbing his beak at his cheeks.
It then made a few guttural noises that only his master could understand.
"Hmm. If I hadn't planned on devouring the guy's elemental attainments, I would have let you eat it. Maybe next time, alright?"
Eren said and patted Argo's head. He jumped and climbed on his back before lying flat on his back, his right leg folded over his left. He tapped his demon beast with his hand– indicating for him to fly away.
Argo didn't make a sound. He left the crime scene as silently as he had entered it. Eren had entered the region using Argo too– giving him almost no scope to leave his traces behind.
Eren knew that Sid's disappearance wouldn't just be brushed away. Plus, his teammates would be questioned first before the on-field investigation starts. This was the reason Eren chose not to confront the berserker directly. He didn't fight with him at all, even though he could overwhelm him with all his advantages.
'I should have my alibi ready. And I know just the place. Hehe!'
Eren said to himself and chuckled before telling Argo to fly in a certain direction. Then he summoned his status screen again to observe new and old changes.
Eren had gotten his hands on a ranking technique for half-bloods. This was one of the rewards he had received in Purgatory. He had managed to successfully translate its contents using references from old archives he had access to from the army database.
Eliza's clan had come up with this ranking technique, meant to be used by half-blood rankers originating from their creation. The clan had never managed to successfully make a slime half-blood out of their creation– so the technique was still in its testing phase and wasn't optimized. It had halted the project later on before the half-blood clans were faced with calamity.
This unrecognized and unnamed ranking technique was not element-bound. It meant that it focused on letting its user harness non-elemental mana. Half-bloods had their ranking techniques after all. The fact that Eren could still use human ranking techniques despite being a slime half-blood was only due to the peculiarity of his half-blood powers.
'The fact that I can use and harness any element with no conflict should also mean I can use non-elemental mana as it had never been used by the rest of the rankers. I just didn't know the ranking technique I was given would focus on that aspect of my powers.'
Eren scratched his chin as he thought about his ranking technique. Since the technique wasn't optimized, he had always found it a bit difficult to practice. But since it didn't focus on converting the non-elemental mana into the elemental mana compatible with the user, it was a bit faster for him to complete the required mana cycles.
After some time, Eren got better at using his ranking technique. He could now practise it any time he wanted. His mana storage would be filled up faster because of the non-elemental nature of the technique whenever he did practise it.
The butcher thought a bit about it and decided to name the technique Rootless Technique, for obvious reasons. He wasn't sure if he could get his hands on the later variants of the technique. Yet he decided to practice it after thinking it over.
The advantage of half-blood techniques over those that were not was the fact that they were tailored to the respective half-blood rankers. It helped them hone their half-blood spells and abilities by strengthening the mutagen that was part of them.
Eren had learned from Edgar's journal that high-ranking half-blood techniques practised by high-ranking half-bloods would allow them to have atavism. This allowed even the later generations of half-blood clans who had diluted mutagen to keep their half-blood powers intact. The half-blood ranking techniques were what kept the half-blood clans thriving for as long as they did.
Eren's half-blood powers were unique. He was sure that even Reen didn't know what she was capable of. Meaning, that he had to discover his powers on his own. Therefore, the butcher decided to start early in his endeavour. As long as he harnessed his mutagen, he would discover the extent of benefits it could offer him.
Eren also concluded that Eliza must have given the technique to him since she wanted to see what it could do. After all, he was the sole ranker who could use it from its inception. She was keen to know what the extent of her clan's research had brought about in the world.
Eren knew that his ranking progression would slow down by a lot if he only focused on his half-blood ranking technique. But he had his abilities. The Domain of Wrath and Life Drain both allowed him to push forward in his ranks with greater speed and efficiency than any ranking technique could allow him to.
This was the reason he dared to practise the technique. He only intended to use it to better harness his half-blood powers. The ranking progression was going to rest on his abilities' shoulders.
