Goblin Lair!

Inside the goblin burrow, aside from the corpses strewn across the ground, the most eye-catching thing was a gigantic Green Heart covered in tumors!

The Green Heart stood four meters tall and three meters wide!

Around the Green Heart, vein-like green tissue spread outward in an erosive web. Fleshy sacs hung from the green carpet, and when Isaac moved closer for a look, he sharply sucked in a breath!

Inside those green fleshy sacs were curled-up goblins!

"Hiss!!!"

Isaac could not help taking two steps back as he stared in astonishment at the bizarre structure of flesh and blood. So this was how goblins were born? It could even draw Magic Power from the air... No...

After the initial shock faded, intense curiosity rose within him, and Isaac could not help moving closer to examine it at close range.

Through his observations, he discovered that this strange thing did not merely draw Magic Power from the air to Gestation goblins. The Magic Power in the air alone was not enough to Gestation so many goblins; this was not some high-magic region.

Isaac could vaguely sense a channel of Magic Power within the Green Heart. That was the true source of power for Gestation of the goblins.

"Interesting~" Isaac stroked his chin, deeply curious about the thing...

"Are there any other goblins nearby?" Isaac turned to look at the Goblin Slayer, who had followed him in, and asked curiously.

"Uh... there are quite a few." The Goblin Slayer avoided Isaac's gaze somewhat, speaking with a trace of fear. "During their breeding season, goblins usually establish multiple lairs in one area, reducing the chances of being discovered."

"Is that so?" Isaac rubbed his chin, then slowly nodded. "Alright, then that's settled. Smith, find some men to carry this thing back to the castle. Escort it yourself."

"Th-this..." Smith glanced at the creepy Green Heart, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. He wanted to refuse, but ultimately nodded. "Yes, Young Master..."

As he had said before, he had already mentally prepared himself for the Young Master's increasingly bizarre behavior...

"Mm, transport as many of these goblin corpses as possible back to the castle too. I have a use for them. That will be all for today. The hunt ends here; we'll continue tomorrow. What do you think?" Isaac looked at the Goblin Slayer.

It was already getting late, and they had roughly gauged the goblins' strength. Unless they encountered an especially tough nut to crack later, there would be no need to mobilize so many people.

Of course, the Goblin Slayer was the professional, so Isaac still needed to hear his opinion first.

Naturally, the Goblin Slayer had no objections. It would soon be dark, and fighting in the wilderness at night was extremely disadvantageous. The situation here had not become urgent enough to warrant that yet, so they could take it slowly.

Afterward, Isaac looked once more at the enormous Green Heart before turning and leaving with the Black Knight. Though he was very curious about the thing, he was not about to alter his study plans for it. Goblin Lairs were not exactly rare, so he could take his time. There was no rush.

After leaving the burrow, Isaac left the guards and the Goblin Slayer behind to clean up the battlefield. He returned to the castle ahead of them with Smith and the Black Knight. He still needed to hurry back and study Spells.

After his initial exposure to Spells, he found that they were much as he had previously guessed.

Above basic Spells, there was another higher-ranked category of Spells known as Advanced Magic Spells.

Advanced Magic Spells were more powerful than basic Spells. For instance, among Flame Spells, basic Spells could at most be used for heating or brewing potions. To use them in actual combat, they had to be paired with other Spells, and only through combination could they achieve decent results.

But Advanced Magic Spells were different. Advanced Magic Spells could unleash tremendous power without the aid of other Spells!

Burning the heavens and boiling the seas was nothing difficult!

The reason Advanced Magic Spells possessed such immense power was because of a principle abandoned by modern wizards—the Mystic Principle.

The Mystic Principle stated that the more mysterious the knowledge, the stronger its power, and vice versa.

According to records, when basic Spells were first discovered, their power was no less than that of Advanced Magic Spells. But as they spread more and more widely, the power of basic Spells steadily declined as well, until it could decline no further.

There had been many similar examples throughout the history of wizards. That was why the Mystic Principle had been abandoned: it seriously hindered the development of the wizard's path!

And Advanced Magic Spells were among the last remnants of the Mystic Principle's glory.

Advanced Magic Spells possessed tremendous power. Every Advanced Magic Spell was, at minimum, equivalent to a High Wizard's Talent Wizardry!

And that immense power came from unparalleled mystery—at any given time, each Advanced Magic Spell could only be possessed by one wizard!

Supreme mystery in exchange for supreme power. Fair enough.

However, Advanced Magic Spells were still far too distant for Isaac. He was currently studying basic Spells. Though basic Spells no longer possessed their ancient glory, they were still the cornerstone of traditional wizardry and extremely important to his future magical research.

Besides, his Golden Finger could break the Mystic Principle!

By repeatedly casting a Spell, he could increase its effectiveness!

Though it was useless in actual combat, it was immensely useful for research.

Over the following days, Isaac returned to a peaceful routine. Especially after Barton successfully advanced to become a knight, the castle grew even calmer. The goblin corpses and Goblin Lairs continuously transported back to the castle showed that the extermination mission was proceeding very smoothly.

The only regret was...

There was a problem selling the Blood Essence Potion...

The potion shop in Lake Town would no longer buy it!

Yes, they would not buy it anymore!

This was not in the least bit novel!

Though helpless, Isaac had no solution. The Blood Essence Potion had quite a few uses, but quite a few people could make it as well. It had never been a particularly popular potion. Its steep price of one hundred Gold Coins was entirely due to its high cost, and that was already the cost for an experienced hand.

After all, not everyone was like Isaac, capable of succeeding every single time.

As a result, of the potions made from the three batches of materials he had purchased, he still had one batch left unsold...

"Ah~"

In the warehouse, thinking of the potion's predicament, Isaac could not help sighing again. With a wave of his hand, the two knight attendants behind him immediately stepped forward to carry away the purified goblin flesh and replace it with fresh goblin corpses.

The Refinement Magic Spell was a basic Spell that could extract the essence from materials with relatively low Magic Power content. Many Arcanists also used this Spell to process large quantities of magical materials.

Moreover, refined goblin flesh not only contained more Magic Power, but also lasted longer. He would not have to worry about it spoiling, which was very important to him. After all, his Talent Wizardry required Demonic Flesh to be cast with lower consumption.

How to preserve flesh was very important to him.

Of course, how to carry it around was also important, but that was considerably more difficult. He was still studying it and had some ideas, but before that, he needed to complete something else...

Complete a ritual...