The synthetic beast core looked like an oversized neuron, with several thick blood vessels branching out from it. When the beast was alive, these vessels had pumped vast amounts of blood and energy to every corner of its body.
Even now, as the corpse rotted rapidly, the core still pulsed with life.
Edwyn held it carefully. The blood vessels had sealed themselves off, but a tiny, self-contained circulation had begun within the core.
It didn't feel like an organ. It felt more like a strange parasitic lifeform.
"No."
Edwyn made his decision.
After blacking out from refining last time, he'd sworn to only perform extractions in a safe environment from now on.
Besides, learning to craft synthetic beast cores had no immediate use, there was no harm in saving it for later.
Within minutes, the beast had rotted to bones. Edwyn rifled through the filth and found a staff wrapped in cloth.
"Looks like this is one of the Academy's prepared magical items."
The staff was about half a meter long, weighed about a pound, made of black wood, and topped with a crystal the size of a baby's fist. When Edwyn probed it with his spiritual sense, a message, clearly left by the creator, appeared in his mind:
[This staff is inscribed with Lesser Fireball. Recharge time: 3 minutes. No auto-recharge. Each use consumes one-third of a standard Mana Stone.]
Edwyn marveled. He'd never seen information transmitted this way, it felt strangely intuitive.
"Lesser Fireball… one-third of a Mana Stone per cast, plus recharge time," he said while testing a few swings with the staff. "In terms of cost-effectiveness, it's a bit worse than the Ice Spike Ring for this exam."
The fireball was likely stronger than an ice spike, but the enemies he faced, aside from Arcane Beasts, were mostly fragile, glass-cannon types. The Ice Spike spell, with its low cost and instant readiness, was far more practical.
Still, better to have it than not. You never knew when another Arcane Beast might show up.
Shaking his head at his own greed, Edwyn tucked the synthetic core away and recast Silence Field on himself. Though it was the middle of the night, the beast's rampage earlier had been loud. No doubt someone would come looking for leftovers.
It was better to be cautious.
Sure enough, not long after Edwyn left, a few scavenging apprentices arrived at the beast's remains.
"We're too late, someone beat us to it."
"So what now? Just walk away empty-handed?"
They exchanged glances and looked toward their bald leader.
As he deliberated, a tall figure leapt from the forest.
The man was nearly two meters tall, built like a tank, wearing chainmail, with seven or eight pouches strapped to his waist. One hand held a massive greatsword, the other gripped a barely breathing apprentice.
"You don't need to think about anything, because you're all going to die."
The next day, the sun rose as usual.
Edwyn emerged from a pile of dry leaves. Meditation had refreshed his mind as well as a full night's sleep, but not his body. After a day of travel and a night of danger, he ached all over.
But the road still needed walking.
Dragging his sore limbs, Edwyn set off again. The Arcane Beast's rampage hadn't been all bad, it had carved small paths into the forest, saving Edwyn considerable effort.
With Feather Foot active, Edwyn covered another half of the journey that day.
And the closer he got to the rendezvous point, the more apprentices he saw.
Most carried at least two or three pouches. When they crossed paths, aside from a few mentally unstable ones, the majority simply flashed their crystal balls and moved on.
Anyone who'd survived this far had blood on their hands. With the risk outweighing the reward, very few were willing to fight.
That night, Edwyn buried himself in leaves again to meditate.
Most others in this area had probably completed the test requirements, but there was always a chance, better safe than dead. He'd felt like someone was tailing him all day, and that feeling made it hard to focus even during meditation.
Unbeknownst to him, just a few dozen meters away, a tall figure crouched in a tree, eyes fixed on Edwyn's hiding spot. The man had more than ten pouches strapped to his waist.
"I've tailed this guy all day. All he does is walk. He avoids everyone he sees. How the hell did this coward kill an Arcane Beast?"
He had expected a capable opponent, maybe even a knight. But after watching Edwyn for hours, he found him no different from any other weakling.
Unless he's hiding something…
Suddenly, Edwyn's eyes snapped open. A sharp whistling sound made him instinctively roll aside.
Thunk!
A wooden spear as thick as an arm slammed into the ground next to him. It was over a meter long, one end sharpened to a deadly point, the shaft still quivering from impact.
Someone's attacking, and they're no amateur.
Edwyn's stomach dropped. He immediately grabbed the fireball staff he'd found the night before.
Whoever could throw something like that either had a powerful magical item, or was a knight.
Edwyn hoped for the former. The latter likely meant they had both.
"He dodged? Guess he's not completely useless."
A voice rang out from the woods. Edwyn turned to see a hulking red-haired man step into view, a greatsword in one hand, a dozen pouches hanging from his waist.
Ten pouches. Great, this one's a murder hobo.
Edwyn gripped his staff tighter. This lunatic had killed over ten other apprentices in a test where you only needed to kill one to pass, and wore their pouches like trophies.
Clearly, he was not just insane, he was dangerously strong.
"Allow me to introduce myself: Saban Chavez, of the Northern Empire," the large man boomed. "May I know your name?"
Moonlight filtered through the trees, letting Edwyn see him clearly, triangular eyes, high nose, a scar running from the bridge of his nose to both eye corners. His chainmail was battered, but his body showed no wounds.
A real threat. Probably a knight, Edwyn assessed.
"No name, huh?"
When Edwyn didn't respond, Saban shrugged.
"Guess I'll just kill you then."
He charged forward, greatsword raised.
Edwyn stared him down coldly. The tip of his staff glowed red.
"Eat my fireball, dumbass."