Reinforcements Arrive

After looking over the Wind Blade's stats, Isaac found that its overall damage was somewhat lower than Flame Arrow's, but its cutting power was stronger.

However, Wind Blade was Hamon's own wizardry and could only be cast by Hamon himself. Until Isaac learned the spell, he could not use it. Conversely, any spell Isaac learned could be cast by Hamon.

It was worth mentioning that both methods consumed Isaac's own magic power.

But that was the drawback of the magic pet school.

Magic pets were only regarded as wizards under certain circumstances; they were not truly wizards.

Still, this had little effect on combat power. A magic pet would not disobey its master's commands.

After briefly checking Wind Blade's stats, Isaac immediately began setting up the next ritual. The core material for Illusionary Mark was a pair of Bewitching Butterfly wings, the most expensive material from the creature. A single pair cost a full two hundred Gold Coins!

That was because Bewitching Butterflies had only this one usable material, and it could not be damaged at all, or it would become worthless.

Fortunately, Bewitching Butterflies were magical creatures that could be bred. Otherwise, their price would be even higher!

Compared to the core material, the filler for this ritual was far cheaper: pollen infused with magic power. Each gram increased the success rate by one percent, regardless of quality!

The lowest-quality Magic Pollen could be bought at one Gold Coin per kilogram!

When he saw that price, he suspected the stuff could be artificially manufactured, because it was the only powdered magical material sold by the kilogram!

Without hesitation, he bought half a kilogram and used some of it to push the success rate to two hundred percent.

Isaac was already quite familiar with these rituals. So long as they did not involve higher beings and were merely ordinary ritual magic, a two-hundred-percent success rate was more than enough.

Only when dealing with higher beings did he need to stack the success rate as high as possible. They would constantly lure you into making mistakes, continuously lowering your success rate until the ritual failed, after which they would take your soul or corrupt you into becoming their dog!

That was when he needed enough success rate to ensure a sufficient margin for error.

But there was no need for that with an ordinary ritual that enhanced magic effects.

In the end, Isaac succeeded without surprise. Strange, colorful patterns appeared on Hamon's arm. When Illusionary Mark activated, those colored stripes gathered in its palm and formed an eye-like pattern, unleashing powerful bewildering force.

After using Illusionary Mark to put a magic wolf to sleep and testing its capabilities, Isaac proceeded with the ritual for Hand of Demon God. It was likewise a great success. Hamon's mysterious attribute was enhanced to a certain degree, while the strength and power of its Demonic Claw improved significantly.

It could now lift two hundred kilograms!

Do not underestimate that amount of strength. It might seem far inferior to a knight's power, but Hamon could fly!

That two hundred kilograms of strength created far too many possibilities in actual combat!

For example, Isaac could now stand in Hamon's palm and have it carry him, effectively granting him the ability to fly!

And it was not slow, either!

Furthermore, the increase in mysteriousness seemed to have brought Hamon some miraculous changes, strengthening some of its original abilities. Unfortunately, after three rituals in a row, Hamon's mind was a little overloaded and needed time to recover.

So after barely accompanying Isaac in trying out a few tactical ideas—really, just flying around while standing on the Demonic Claw's palm—Hamon retreated into Isaac's body and fell asleep.

As Hamon slumbered, Isaac could sense that the gains from the three rituals had only just begun. Once Hamon woke up, its power would surely improve further!

But before that...

Isaac shook his head, returned to his desk, and began considering ways to optimize Talent Wizardry: Flesh Conversion.

On the third day of Hamon's slumber, Isaac was revising a new version of his spell optimization plan against the data on the panel when a glowing orb suddenly appeared before him. It flickered repeatedly, demanding attention.

Isaac raised a brow. This was one of the fortress's assembly signals. Had the Black Orcs attacked?

He grabbed the orb and dispersed it with a wave. Not daring to be careless, Isaac headed outside while taking off his White Coat. He changed into a Wizard Robe, put on a Wizard Hat, casually tossed out a pumpkin, and rode the Pumpkin Carriage toward the castle at the center of the fortress.

Before landing, Isaac looked out beyond the fortress and found no sign of a gathered Black Orc army. He could not help but sigh in relief.

He was still dissatisfied with the three great magical creatures and needed more time for them to grow.

But if the Black Orcs had not come, why had everyone been summoned?

As the Pumpkin Carriage flew above the castle, Isaac saw several carriages parked in front of it and gradually understood—the other lords had arrived.

As an old-established border viscount family, and one on the verge of being elevated in rank, the Solomon Family naturally had quite a few vassals. Some had branched off from the family in the past, while others had been granted titles for their achievements.

Most were knights, while only a small number were barons.

Strictly speaking, knights did not count as nobles. But considering social customs, they were still included among the nobility.

Of course, they differed greatly from nobles. First, they did not possess fiefs of their own. Although they would be assigned some land when granted their titles, they did not own that territory. They only held administrative rights and partial taxation rights.

Second, knights could not have armies of their own. Of course, by this day and age, the rule was not so strict. Many knights formed armies under the name of Guard Squads. So long as they did not go too far, no one usually cared.

Thus, strictly speaking, although Isaac bore the title of baron, his actual rights were only those of a knight. This was mainly due to the current circumstances of the territory. After all, if they truly granted him a barony, the territory's own elevation in rank would have to be postponed again.

Fortunately, Isaac did not care about that himself. Governing a territory was far too troublesome, and developing it required investing money. He did not even have enough money for his own experiments!

Excluding the knights, there were four landed barons under Solomon, and judging from the situation, all of them had come.

That was only natural. The Solomon Territory lay on the border. If the fortress fell, they would be the next ones to suffer!

And they would have it even worse!

Gaia was a High Knight. Even if the fortress fell, he could still protect the Solomon Family. Once the crisis passed, at worst they would be severely weakened, but they would still have a chance to start over.

But among the other four barons, the strongest was merely a Grand Knight, still far from becoming a High Knight. Once the Black Orc army arrived, they could only await death.

So even for their own sake, they had to come!

Not to mention that the Solomon Family had issued them an order!