The next morning, a ray of golden sunlight streamed through the simply decorated window and fell upon Isaac's smiling face, making it appear exceptionally radiant.
He gazed at the Demonized Rat on the operating table. It was two sizes larger now, its bulging muscles and sharp claws proving it had been completely reborn.
This was the fruit of Isaac's all-night labor—a quad-core powered Demonized Rat!
Quad-core, meaning four hearts!
It sounded absurd, but after gaining an extremely detailed understanding of the Demonized Rat's anatomy through his Talent Witchcraft and supplementing it with miraculous Magic Spells, Isaac had finally managed to create it.
Four hearts, four times the Magic Power!
Of course, this also meant four times the blood supply…
Even with the enhancement of Magic Spells, the quad-core Demonized Rat could only be sustained for three hours at most. Its body would begin to break down after half an hour, its strength waning. After an hour, it would become completely immobile. Without the aid of Magic Spells, this timeframe would be even shorter!
Its peak combat effectiveness lasted for about twenty minutes.
For Isaac, however, this was enough. The Flesh Conversion only lasted an hour, and keeping the creature alive beyond that would require consuming even more Magic Power.
Ideally, it would be sustainable for a full hour, but with Isaac's current store of knowledge, this was the best he could manage.
Still, it was enough. In a real battle, a creature with the Demonized Rat's power would have a hard time surviving for more than five minutes, unless it was exceptionally lucky and avoided all harm.
"RRRIP—"
A hideous Demon Claw emerged from the nape of his neck, the back of its hand brushing against Isaac's cheek. Two sharp fingers delicately picked up the unconscious quad-core Heart-Swapping Rat, tossed it lightly into the air, and let it fall into the large, saw-toothed maw in the center of its palm!
"CRUNCH... CRUNCH..."
Listening to the Demon Claw's chewing, Isaac's face paled, but he then let out a long sigh of relief.
'Magic Pets, truly the greatest invention in the history of Wizards!'
Isaac wasn't affected for long, however. After all, the claw had already devoured plenty of creatures. His attention was quickly drawn to the stream of information flowing from the Demon Claw, which detailed the latest body structure of the quad-core Heart-Swapping Rat.
Isaac narrowed his eyes slightly. It was just as he had predicted. While there was still some room for development, the effects wouldn't be very significant. He needed to acquire more knowledge. For now…
'It's time to research the Blood Essence Potion.'
The Blood Essence Potion was a Magic Potion that strengthened one's bloodline. It was related to the Heart Transplantation Surgery and could be considered its superior substitute.
After all, the Heart Transplantation Surgery was originally created so that humans could wield the power of Demons. The proper application of this Witchcraft was on human subjects.
After transplanting a Tier One Demonized Heart into a normal human, their strength would be massively enhanced in a short period, quickly elevating them to the level of a Quasi-Knight!
A person could undergo a total of three heart replacements. If the Demonized Heart used for each surgery was a tier higher than the last, an ordinary person could eventually become a powerhouse on par with a Great Knight!
Anyone could do it, as long as the surgeries were successful!
Of course, that was assuming the surgeries were successful. And as for the success rate of Heart Transplantation Surgery…
Even Isaac, with his unique advantages, still faced the possibility of failure, which just went to show how difficult the procedure was.
The Blood Essence Potion had the same effect as the Heart Transplantation Surgery—granting humans the power of Demons. The difference was that the Blood Essence Potion bestowed a purer bloodline. While its effects weren't as immediate as a transplant, it had the advantage of being safe.
Furthermore, it didn't negatively affect one's potential; in fact, consuming enough of it could even increase it.
Through generations of research and development, the modern Blood Essence Potion could even affect the bloodlines of Demons, and many Wizards used it to cultivate their Magic Pets.
While most Wizards viewed their Magic Pet as merely a companion that made learning and casting Magic more convenient, making that pet stronger was, of course, an excellent bonus.
Because of this, however, the Blood Essence Potion wasn't particularly valuable…
'It doesn't matter. I'm not planning to make money off this anyway. As long as it works, that's what counts.'
He was starved for any and all Magic Knowledge!
"KNOCK KNOCK—"
"Young Master Isaac."
But just as Isaac was about to sit down and properly study the Magic Spells required for brewing the potion, Smith the butler knocked on the door, causing Isaac to frown slightly.
He had given instructions when he left for his meal earlier: do not disturb him unless it was for something important.
But…
Though he was called a Lord, he was really just the master of a manor. He had a few plots of farmland and managed a village of two or three hundred people. He couldn't even collect taxes—he was merely exempt from paying them himself. Most affairs were handled by Solomon's Domain.
"Come in."
"Young Master Isaac." Smith entered and bowed respectfully to Isaac. When his gaze caught the bloodstains on the operating table, his brow furrowed slightly, and he sighed to himself.
'It's still come to this…'
In truth, with the power of the Solomon Clan, obtaining a Wizard's legacy, while difficult, was not impossible. After all, they were the family of a Viscount and possessed a stable lineage of Arcanists.
The reason they hadn't sought one out for Isaac was the fear that he would stray onto a dark path. Legendary Mages, after all, had a terrible reputation, and much of Witchcraft was extremely primitive and evil. Delving into such things was dangerous.
But who could have predicted that, with just a few assorted documents, Young Master Isaac would actually become a Legendary Mage…
'Sigh…'
At this thought, Smith sighed heavily once more, but there was nothing to be done. He was, after all, just the butler.
"What is it?" Isaac asked coolly, gently tapping a scroll.
"Young Master Isaac, the guards discovered goblins outside the castle today," Smith said, rising to his feet with a frown.
Hearing this, Isaac frowned as well.
Goblins. A classic and troublesome type of Magical Creature. They had green skin, vicious faces, and stood about a meter tall. Despite being Magical Creatures, they were pathetically weak. An adult human, provided they could overcome their fear, could beat several to death with a simple wooden club.
So why were they considered so troublesome?
Because the goblins of this world were the product of a Legendary Mage. He had gifted them with a terrifying capacity for reproduction; a single pair of goblins could lay dozens of eggs!
Moreover, their growth cycle was incredibly short. It took only a few days for them to go from hatching to full maturity!
According to legend, that same Wizard had even embedded them into the World Law itself. No matter how thoroughly you culled them or how many precautions you took, goblins would inevitably emerge from the most inexplicable places every year during their reproduction season to burn, pillage, and commit every atrocity imaginable.
If not stopped in time, their population would explode!
Therefore, any place where traces of goblins were found had to be purged immediately.
"Has this been reported to the domain?"
"It has, but the guards alone may not be able to handle them. Should we hire a Goblin Slayer?"
"Hire one. Safety is more important." Isaac sighed. 'I wonder if I can get this expensed.'
The guards were little more than a militia. They were fine for keeping the peace, but they were of little use on a battlefield—even one against weak goblins. A Goblin Slayer, on the other hand, was a Transcendent granted special powers by a certain Legendary Mage. They specialized in fighting goblins and could even draw strength from killing them.
Many aspiring Knights without formal training relied on killing goblins to survive the difficult period before they acquired a Breathing Skill.
When Isaac had read about this, he suspected that the two Legendary Mages were one and the same!
'Moving things from his left hand to his right. A win-win for him!'