Magic Core Acquired, Falling into a Trap

Just like any noble's castle, Eagle Fortress naturally had its own dungeons. However, with the excellent public order in Eagle Town in recent years, they had been empty for a long time.

This place, therefore, became Raven's most ideal experimental site for the moment.

Volkov and Moxigan were already waiting. All the necessary items had been delivered. Upon seeing Raven arrive, they both bowed in greeting, "Lord Baron!"

"Mm, you've worked hard," Raven nodded and returned the bow. "You may both leave. Unless I give the order, no one is to enter, no matter the noise, and no one is to let anyone in."

"Yes, my lord!" The two exited, and the room quickly fell silent.

As a dungeon, the area was not small. It contained six independent, small prison cells, with straw covering the ground, each capable of holding four prisoners.

At the very back was a larger prison cell, enough to hold over a dozen people. If one really pushed it, dozens could fit. The only live pig was tied down by its limbs and thrown inside.

"Does this Moxigan think I'll be chasing live pigs?" Raven chuckled lightly, shaking his head, and shifted his gaze to the table where a black lacquered wooden box rested.

He opened the lid, revealing a Magic Core as crystal-clear as a gemstone, emitting multicolored light.

Raven activated his Eye of Truth, and the fundamental essence of the power contained within each Magic Core was revealed without question.

Dark red represented Blood Power, silver-white represented Steel Power, deep blue represented Ice Power, vibrant red represented Fire Power, sky blue represented Storm Power, dark yellow represented Earth Power, bright yellow represented Sand Power, and emerald green represented Nature Power.

There were two to three of each type.

What surprised Raven the most was the presence of a Magic Core with the Light Attribute—a rare attribute among magical beasts.

His finger traced the surface of the Magic Core, and through the Eye of Truth, he could clearly see the energy within, like a hungry fledgling bird, drawing close to his finger.

After a brief pause before the silver-white Magic Core representing Steel Power, Raven still clenched the dark red one representing Blood Power.

Today's main objective was, of course, to test the effects of the Magic Cores on living beings other than himself. But before that, Raven wanted to know if there was a limit to how much power he could absorb, and what that limit was.

A Blood Power Magic Core of the same essence was certainly safer.

"Hoo..." Taking a deep breath, Raven gripped the Magic Core and hurled it forcefully onto the ground.

Raven's physical strength, already enhanced by two Magic Cores, far surpassed that of ordinary people. The force of this throw was immense. The Magic Core shattered on the ground, exploding into a shower of fragments, with dark red energy swirling like smoke.

"Come!"

Using the power of his Eye of Truth, Raven tried to draw the energy towards him.

But unlike the previous two times, this time only about a third of the mist drifted to Raven's side and flowed into his forehead.

The sensations of pain, numbness, and itching returned. In that instant, Raven felt as if his entire body had swollen, his skin burning with an itchy pain. Raising his hand to examine it closely, he could even see the veins in his palm clearly.

In a daze, Raven saw something flash through his mind, but it had no distinct shape.

He stood frozen, afraid to move, until more than ten minutes passed. The crimson mist in the air dissipated, and the raised veins on Raven's body gradually faded, an extreme sense of fullness filling his entire being.

"Two first-tier Magic Cores are my current absorption limit?" Raven opened his palm and gently exerted force, clearly seeing the taut muscles on each finger. "Or is it limited to Magic Cores of Blood Power?"

His fingers danced over the Magic Crystals, and Raven selected a Magic Core containing Storm Power and smashed it on the ground.

A gust of wind inexplicably stirred within the sealed dungeon, and sky-blue mist spread out. However, no matter how Raven exerted the power of his Eye of Truth, he couldn't get it to enter his body. Even when the mist clung to his forehead, it still couldn't penetrate.

Raven wasn't discouraged. He successively smashed one Magic Core each of Fire, Earth, Ice, Steel, Sand, and Nature attributes, finally stopping at the Light Attribute Magic Core.

"It seems it has nothing to do with the Magic Core's attribute. Two first-tier Magic Cores are the current limit I can withstand," Raven mused, rubbing his chin. "Then what exactly is limiting me? Is it that first-tier Magic Cores can only do this much, or is it that I haven't become an extraordinary being yet, and thus cannot absorb more?"

Raven filed this question away in his mind. To verify it, he would have to wait until he became a mage or obtained a Magic Core of second-tier or higher.

"A mage..." Raven's eyes gleamed with anticipation. "I wonder if a potion can succeed..."

Let alone a second-tier God-Given Potion, even a third-tier one couldn't guarantee a successful awakening; it all depended on probability.

That was two thousand gold coins!

"Forget it, thinking too much is useless. If I have that much time, I might as well think about how to earn more money," Raven clenched his fist. "If one potion doesn't work, then I'll use money to smash my way into becoming a mage!"

"Oink—"

Perhaps because he spoke too loudly, the pig in the prison cell grunted and let out a cry.

Raven chuckled wryly. "Even if you're cheering me on, I can't let you off today."

With that, he took out another Blood Power Magic Core and walked to the entrance of the cage where the live chickens were "imprisoned."

Two chickens, a male and a female, were currently tied by their feet and thrown on the ground, their four eyes staring blankly.

"It is time for you to sacrifice yourselves for my grand undertaking."

With a bang, the Magic Core shattered on the ground, and crimson mist spread out. The two pairs of chickens began to squawk restlessly.

Raven pressed his hand to his forehead, feeling an invisible force leave his body and gather the mist. He directed these mists, channeling them little by little into the two fowls before him.

As the mist seeped into their bodies, the appearance of these two fowls changed at an alarming rate.

Their feathers grew thicker and longer, their colors gradually turning black. Their originally dark eyes were gradually filled with a bloody hue, even revealing a ferocious glint!

Suddenly, the rooster raised its head high and pecked fiercely at the hen beside it. Amidst the flying feathers, blood spurted out.

The fleshy comb on the hen's head, which had only been vaguely discernible before, suddenly filled with blood, becoming larger than a normal person's palm. It retaliated with a merciless peck!

And at this point, less than one-eighth of the total mist had been infused into them!

Raven withdrew the power of his Eye of Truth, intending to stop the infusion. However, the mist in the air seemed to have a life of its own, continuing to surge into the bodies of the two fowls.

At this moment, Raven could clearly see the rampant energy, as soon as it entered their bodies, begin to surge wildly, constantly integrating into their internal organs, muscles, and bones.

The rooster suddenly opened its mouth, and the beak, which should have been incredibly smooth, was somehow covered in fleshy buds resembling barbs. Just as it was about to attack the hen again, with a crack, a thick blood vessel burst through its bones and tore through its skin, expelling a throbbing heart.

A chicken's heart is usually only the size of a thumb, but this one had swollen to the size of a walnut. With another pop, it exploded, and all the blood in its body gushed out.

A dozen seconds later, the hen met the same fate.

Even more bizarrely, though they were dead, their bodies continued to grow under the erosion of the scarlet mist, quickly turning into two piles of shattered, rotten flesh.

"Well, now I don't need to chop the filling for dumplings," Raven chuckled self-deprecatingly, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. "Thank goodness I tested it on animals first. If I had tried this on a person directly, I'd probably be burned at the stake."

"Is it a problem with the Blood Power itself?" Raven's gaze shifted to the two rabbits tied together.

The little creatures seemed to sense their impending doom, desperately squirming and shrinking back into the corner of the wall. Unfortunately, one moved east and the other west, completely misdirecting their efforts.

Raven walked over to the chest and selected a Magic Core with a Nature Attribute, the least likely to go wrong, and approached the cage.

Shadows instantly enveloped the two helpless little rabbits.

More than ten minutes later, looking at the ground covered in shredded fur and flesh, Raven sighed helplessly, "Still not working."

This time, after guiding the energy, he tried to prevent the mist from continuing to pour in. But unfortunately, after only holding it back for a short while, he felt utterly exhausted.

"Perhaps this is what mages call 'mental power' consumption."

Then, what had happened to the two fowls repeated itself with the rabbits.

However, it wasn't a complete failure. At least he learned that the attribute of the Magic Core didn't affect its effectiveness when used on living beings, at least not on the surface.

"Then, finally... it's your turn!" Holding a Magic Core with a Storm Attribute, Raven approached the live pig.

This pig had been specifically selected by Moxigan. Although it couldn't compare to the beasts weighing hundreds of pounds, or even hundreds of kilograms, that he remembered from his past life, it was still well-fed and robust. Its pinkish-white skin was marked with patches of black and white.

A pig's physique was similar to a human's. If it could endure it, then ordinary soldiers could too!

Raven slammed the Magic Core onto the ground, shattering it, and guided the sky-blue energy into the "second brother."

Compared to the chickens and rabbits, which weighed at most a few pounds, this beast absorbed energy at an extremely rapid rate. In just over ten seconds, all the energy in the air was channeled into it.

If he hadn't seen the energy filling its body, Raven would have thought he was hallucinating.

A dozen seconds later, the energy within its body suddenly began to dissipate, and the spotted pig in front of him underwent an astonishing transformation!

Despite being a sow, four tusks protruded from its lips. Its black and white skin turned a terrifying grayish-blue, and its originally transparent bristles darkened and grew long, as if it had been clad in thick armor.

Its eyeballs were bloodshot, and a ferocious killing intent erupted. Its muscles and bones suddenly thickened, and the entire spotted pig instantly grew a full two sizes larger!

Crack—

The ropes that had bound its limbs snapped, and the beast flipped over, rising to its feet with a roar, "Ooooh—"

Raven had been prepared the moment the mutation began, retreating ten meters away. He immediately raised his Hand Crossbow and pulled the trigger, aiming for its eye socket.

The bowstring, mixed with Star Iron, tightened suddenly. The bolt, flashing with a faint green light, sliced through the air and pierced its wide-open right eye, embedding itself deeply.

This blow was enough to damage the brain, but it failed to stop the spotted pig. Instead, it further ignited its ferocity. It arched its back, broke open the pen door, and charged towards Raven.

Its four iron hooves pounded the ground, sending chips of stone flying from the hard granite floor!

Raven remained calm. He swiped at his belt, and a loaded Crossbow appeared in his hand.

He knelt, leveling the Crossbow with both hands, aiming at the forehead of the rampaging beast, and pulled the trigger!

Whoosh—

The Crossbow's power was far greater than the Hand Crossbow's. The slender Enchanted Crossbow Bolt, almost as soon as it left the track, lodged itself into the beast's forehead!

This fatal blow instantly destroyed its central nervous system. Its four limbs stiffened, and with a thump, it collapsed onto the ground, its body sliding further due to inertia.

Raven put away his Crossbow, sidestepped, and with a boom, the beast's corpse slammed into the wall before finally coming to a halt.

"Such great strength!" Raven looked at the broken ropes on the ground and then at the stout corpse, letting out a breath before giving a wry smile. "Is this considered a success, or a failure?"

He couldn't tell whether the energy from the Magic Core had driven the beast mad, or if it had actively wanted to break free from its restraints after gaining strength.

He needed to test it more.

Raven walked up to the spotted pig and tried to pull the bolt out by stepping on its shoulder, but it wouldn't budge.

"Huh?" Startled for a moment, Raven stopped forcing it. Instead, he flipped the pig over and brought a torch closer, a look of surprise gradually appearing in his eyes.

He placed the torch on the ground, took out his Enchanted Rapier, and cut a cross-shaped opening around the bolt, peeling back the pigskin. A smile curved his lips. "Just as I suspected!"

Under the torchlight, Raven could clearly see the tough, thick pigskin around the wound. It was nearly two centimeters thick and incredibly tough and dense, which was precisely what was holding the arrow shaft in place.

Furthermore, its bones were much thicker than those of an ordinary live pig.

For any other beast, this Enchanted Crossbow Bolt would have been enough to pierce its skull and brain. However, in this case, the bolt had only just managed to penetrate the skull, with less than an inch entering the brain, where it was firmly stuck.

And the Hand Crossbow bolt that had shot into its eye socket was lodged in the bones around its eye socket, failing to reach the brain at all.

"This is practically a complete Magic Beast," Raven pursed his lips, grabbed the corpse, and tossed it onto the table to begin dissection. As expected, he found no Magic Core.

"In other words, the power of the Magic Core was completely absorbed by this beast, granting it a physique no less than that of an ordinary Tier 1 Magic Beast. This might be called 'Half-Monster Transformation'."

His finger traced the skin of this half-transformed beast, and a smile appeared on Raven's lips. "Although I can't strengthen others with Magic Cores for now, this leather is excellent. I stumbled upon a good thing by accident."

Magic Beast leather is incredibly tough. Even the hide of a Tier 1 Magic Beast, after tanning, is an excellent material for armor. While it might not be as good as ordinary Chainmail, its advantage lies in its weight.

A full set of Chainmail weighs at least twenty kilograms, but a set of Magic Beast leather armor weighs only about five kilograms, yet offers two-thirds of the protection.

Even for Raven's personal soldiers, their physical condition was good enough for standing guard while wearing chainmail, but it was impractical for long marches. Most armored troops in this world had their armor transported by carriage and only donned it before combat to conserve the soldiers' stamina.

However, if they switched to monster hide armor, it would solve the problems of marching and combat, greatly increasing marching speed without a significant drop in combat effectiveness.

On the market, a set of first-tier monster hide armor cost about 22 to 30 gold coins, while chainmail ranged from 36 to 55 gold coins.

Yet, the average price of a first-tier magic crystal was less than 4 gold coins.

The hide of a half-monsterized pig was enough to make a set of monster hide armor. Moreover, pigskin was essentially kitchen scraps, and the remaining meat could still be eaten, making the cost negligible!

"This means... I can acquire monster hide armor at one-fifth, or even one-sixth of the market price, and still sell it for a profit!" Raven grinned excitedly. "Even at the lowest price, there's a fourfold profit margin."

Fourfold!

Leaning on the table, Raven quickly calmed down. "But suddenly importing a large quantity of magic cores... is that a bit..."

His gaze swept over the fat pig on the table, and Raven suddenly had an idea. "That's right, there's you too, my Uncle Donald!"

"Uncle was obsessed with 'magic' and lost his fortune. It shouldn't be surprising that I, his nephew, am doing the same, right?"

Raven smiled, his eyes landing on the box containing the magic cores. There were ten magic cores left.

"Get in here!"

Raven shouted, and a few seconds later, Volkov and Moxigan walked in.

Their gazes fell on the live pig on the table, their eyes filled with confusion—was this really the one they brought in?

Raven didn't intend to explain. "Carry this pig out, carefully preserve and process the hide, make sure it's stored properly, and then bring in five... no, ten live pigs!"

The two personal guards exchanged glances, bewildered. However, faced with the Baron's order, they could only obey. "Yes! My Lord!"

Raven left the dungeon and went to Old Gordon's room. Fili was surprisingly still there. Upon seeing Raven, he immediately stood up. "My Lord, are you satisfied with the magic cores?"

"Very good, you've put in effort." Raven patted his shoulder. "I have a new task for you."

A weight lifted from Fili's heart. He nodded vigorously. "My Lord, please tell me. As long as I can do it, I will definitely accomplish it!"

Raven said, "From now on, you are fully authorized to acquire first-tier magic cores for me without limit. As long as the premium doesn't exceed twenty percent, I'll buy as many as you can find!"

"Baron, are you sure about this?" Fili asked cautiously.

"Baron, absolutely not!" Old Gordon stood up and said hurriedly, "Baron Donald before you, it was precisely because he was obsessed with magic that he exhausted his family's fortune. Your actions are really..."

"No need to say more, my mind is made up!" Raven waved his hand, interrupting Old Gordon, and turned to Fili. "Also, I need five second-tier magic cores. They don't need to be too expensive, common attributes will do."

Stunned by Raven's words, even with normal transactions, he could make at least thirty silver coins profit per magic core. Buying without limit meant an endless stream of wealth!

"Didn't you hear me?" Raven's voice carried a hint of displeasure.

"I heard. I, I'll go do it now!" Fili bowed and then hurried away under Old Gordon's glares.

"Mr. Gordon, from now on, every time Fili brings magic cores, you will settle the payment with him. You can use the emergency funds." Raven said. "Once the payment for the second batch of Angel's Tears arrives, you can replenish it."

"Yes, Baron..." Old Gordon replied weakly, letting out a deep sigh from the bottom of his heart.

He had thought Baron Raven would be different from Baron Donald, but unexpectedly, after only three months, his true nature had emerged.

Not wanting to discourage Old Gordon too much, but unable to reveal the secret of the Eye of Truth, Raven could only comfort him by saying, "Don't worry, Mr. Gordon. I promise you'll see my results later."

"Yes..." Gordon's reply was still listless.

After all, Donald had said the same thing before.

As Old Gordon sighed day after day, time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, it was September 2nd, 1193, in the Era of Light. Forty-one days had passed since Raven returned to Eagle Town.

The construction of the Riverside Workshop was nearing its end, with most buildings only needing their roofs.

Raven's research on magic cores also progressed daily.

He discovered that if a first-tier magic core was used on two live pigs simultaneously, although they would still go berserk and their half-monsterization would be less severe, their combat power would be weaker, but it wouldn't affect the quality of their hides.

However, if more than three pigs were used, the hide quality would rapidly decline, making it not worth the effort.

If a magic crystal was used on five or more live pigs simultaneously, the enhancement level would be greatly reduced, and their berserk state would be significantly lowered, but their combativeness would still be much stronger than ordinary domestic pigs.

If the number was increased to eight, the enhancement level became negligible, only making them slightly stronger than their ordinary counterparts, but their aggression remained very high.

With even more pigs, the domestic pigs affected by the magic cores would all experience some degree of personality change, which made Raven hesitant to conduct similar experiments on his own people.

One morning, in the conference room, Old Gordon advised, "My Lord, shouldn't the magic core acquisition operation stop? Over the past month, we've already spent a total of 113.57 gold coins on magic cores."

"Hasn't the second payment for Angel's Tears arrived yet?" Raven asked.

Old Gordon began to complain, "But starting last month, we've had to repay a monthly loan of 179.6 gold coins. And this time, the payment for Angel's Tears is only 257.4 gold coins, plus you've ordered two more alchemical equipment..."

Eric, standing nearby, kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his mouth, not intending to get involved.

Raven hadn't neglected the army anyway; live pigs had been delivered to the barracks almost every day recently.

"Alright, stop complaining." Raven stood up and walked to the window. "Then let's wait for the next payment of Angel's Tears. Besides, Shining Gold Town's taxes are also due this year. We won't go bankrupt."

"That's true, but My Lord, as a Baron, you should at least..."

Old Gordon was still rambling, but Raven couldn't hear him anymore. Through the window, he saw a long line of carriages passing through Eagle Town towards Eagle Fortress.

And on those carriages, the coat of arms of the Griffith Family was painted.

Raven's heart stirred slightly, and a smile of pleasant surprise flickered across his lips.

The leading carriage stopped, and a dignified woman stepped out with the help of her maids.

Denise had returned.