Reinforcements Arrive

After looking over Wind Blade's data, Isaac saw that its overall damage was slightly 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. Before Isaac learned the spell, he could not use it. Conversely, any spell Isaac learned could be cast by Hamon.

It was worth noting that both methods used Isaac's own magic power.

But that was the drawback of the Magic Pet school.

A Magic Pet was only regarded as a wizard under certain circumstances; it was not truly a wizard.

Still, this had little impact on combat power. A Magic Pet would not disobey its master's commands.

After briefly checking Wind Blade's data, 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 on a Bewitching Butterfly. That pair alone cost two hundred Gold Coins!

That was because the Bewitching Butterfly had only that 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, they would have been even more expensive!

Compared with the core material, the ritual's filler was far cheaper: pollen containing 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 produced, because it was the only powdered magical material sold by the pound!

Without another word, he bought a pound and used part of it to push the success rate to two hundred percent.

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

Only when dealing with higher beings did one need to stack the success rate to its maximum, because they would constantly lure you into making mistakes and continually lower your success rate until your ritual failed. Then they would take your soul or corrupt you into becoming their dog!

That was when enough success rate was needed to ensure sufficient room for error.

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

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

After using Illusionary Mark to knock a Demonic Wolf unconscious and testing its capabilities, Isaac proceeded with the Hand of Demon God ritual. It was just as successful. Hamon's mysterious attribute received a certain boost, while the strength and power of his Demonic Claw improved considerably.

He could now lift two hundred kilograms!

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

Those two hundred kilograms introduced far too many possibilities in actual combat!

For example, Isaac could now stand on Hamon's palm and have him carry him, effectively allowing him to fly!

And he was not slow, either!

Beyond that, the increase in mystery seemed to have brought Hamon some remarkable changes, strengthening certain abilities he already possessed. Unfortunately, after three rituals in a row, Hamon's mind was somewhat overloaded and needed time to recover.

Thus, after reluctantly accompanying Isaac in testing a few tactical ideas—really just flying around while standing on the palm of the Demonic Claw—Hamon withdrew into Isaac's body and fell asleep.

As Hamon slept, Isaac could sense that the gains from those three rituals had only just begun. Once Hamon woke, his power would certainly rise 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 sleep, Isaac was comparing the panel's data as he revised a new version of his spell optimization plan when a ball of light suddenly appeared before him, flashing repeatedly to draw his attention.

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

He grabbed the ball of light and dispersed it with a wave. Not daring to be careless, Isaac walked 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 gathering Black Orc army, which made him sigh in relief.

He was still dissatisfied with the current three magical creatures and needed more time to develop them.

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 found his answer—the other lords had arrived.

As an old-established border viscount, and one soon to be promoted in rank, the Solomon Family naturally had many 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 given social custom, they were still included among the nobility.

Of course, there were still major differences between them and nobles. First, they had no fief of their own. Although they were allotted some land upon receiving their title, they did not own it; they only had administrative rights and partial taxation rights.

Second, knights could not possess their own armies. Of course, by this day and age, that rule was not so strictly enforced. Many knights formed armies under the name of Guard Squads. As long as they did not go too far, no one generally cared.

So, strictly speaking, although Isaac bore the title of baron, his actual authority was merely that of a knight. This was mainly due to the Solomon Territory's current situation. After all, if he were truly given a barony, the territory's elevation in rank would have to be delayed again.

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

Excluding the knights, Solomon had four barons with actual fiefs under him. Judging from the situation, all of them had arrived.

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

And they would suffer even worse!

Gaia was a High Knight. Even if the fortress fell, he could still protect the Solomon Family. Once the turmoil passed, even if they were severely weakened, they would have a chance to start over.

But among the other four barons, the strongest was only a Grand Knight, still a long way from becoming a High Knight. Once the Black Orc army arrived, they could only wait for death.

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

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