Deity Refinement!

Deity Research Manual Chapter!

The few large words that met Isaac's eyes left him dazed. So overbearing? So high-end?

Was the Witch's curse really not supposed to make his luck worse?

Isaac stared at the Wizard Manuscript, unable to calm himself for a long while. Slowly, he raised his right hand and gave his face a gentle pinch...

"Hiss!!!"

The pain on his face and the shock in his heart made Isaac suck in a sharp breath. This thing was real?

Where had Eldest Brother gotten it from?

"Gulp~"

Swallowing, Isaac carefully turned the page. He was immensely curious about what it contained!

"Uh..." After seeing the contents of the Wizard Manuscript, Isaac blinked, somewhat dumbfounded. This thing... he seemed to be able to understand it?

Were deities really this low-tier?

With a trace of doubt and disappointment, Isaac continued reading...

A while later, he set down the Wizard Manuscript. His taut mind relaxed, but at the same time, a hint of disappointment arose in his heart...

Though the Wizard Manuscript had an exceptionally lofty-sounding name, it was actually just so-so. The knowledge it involved remained within the scope of a Formal Wizard, and the deities it described were not true gods.

More precisely, they should be called Divine Species.

The most rudimentary form of a deity.

Of course, they also had other, more conventional names, such as totems, spirits, spirits of something-or-other, and so on—beings that drew their power from the Power of Faith.

In terms of the essence of life, they were no different from deities.

But as everyone knew, discussing effects while ignoring dosage was pure hooliganism. Though Divine Species shared the same essence as gods, the gap in their power was that between fireflies and the bright moon.

The premise of this Wizard Manuscript was quite lofty, attempting to study deities through Divine Species. Its various dissection records were all of Divine Species, mainly involving three of them: a Black Snake Totem with a flesh-and-blood body, a Raging Bear Spirit consisting solely of a soul, and finally, a Spirit of the Wilderness born in the barbaric wilds.

As far as types went, it was fairly comprehensive.

Apart from the research materials, it also contained a wizard spell created from this knowledge—Deity Refinement!

Of course, after gaining a general understanding of the Wizard Manuscript, Isaac knew that this name was definitely exaggerated—and exaggerated to a considerable degree.

Strictly speaking, it should be called Totem Refinement.

Because let alone lofty deities, this wizard spell could not even create the other two spirits or the Spirit of the Wilderness. It was an unfinished product.

Of course, it was also possible that it had been perfected in the later portions of the Wizard Manuscript.

But at the very least, the copy in his hands was like this.

Even so, this manuscript was still immensely useful to him. After all, it was right in his professional wheelhouse; what he excelled at most now was Biological Modification.

Settling himself, Isaac once more focused his attention on the Wizard Manuscript and studied it diligently. From time to time, he also read the Spellbook Eldest Sister had given him. The more foundational theory he understood, the better.

And so, Isaac once again immersed himself in the ocean of wizardry. With the Golden Finger's meticulous guidance, like that of a peerless master, he absorbed all manner of knowledge at astonishing speed like a sponge!

As Isaac buried himself in study, time slipped quietly by. In the blink of an eye, three days had passed...

That morning, Isaac was not studying in the laboratory. Instead, he had come to the training ground for the first time in a long while, basking in the sun as he watched Barton pour out his sweat. After successfully advancing to knight with the help of the Bloodline Essence Potion, Barton's long-silent drive had become, like his body, brimming with boundless vitality!

Now, whenever he finished a patrol, Barton began training, not wasting even the slightest opportunity to improve.

And Isaac had not come to watch Barton train simply because he had nothing better to do. Today was the day the Dragon Lizards and Demon Rats were to be delivered. He had long since cleared out a warehouse behind the castle and converted it into a Beast Rearing Ground.

Now, he was merely waiting for the Dragon Lizards and Demon Rats to move in.

"Whew~"

Before long, a black speck slowly approached from the horizon. A minute or two later, it took the form of a Two-legged Wyvern and landed on the training ground, whipping up dust that filled the sky.

The guards who rushed over quickly surrounded Isaac, staring in shock at the Two-legged Wyvern not far away.

A Two-legged Wyvern was a relatively high-ranking Dragonkin. Whether in bloodline or appearance, it closely resembled a true dragon, and its strength was no trifling matter. Upon reaching adulthood, it normally possessed physical power comparable to that of a Great Knight!

And in actual combat, most Great Knights were no match for it, because it could fly!

Yet the Tower of Flesh used such a powerful Two-legged Wyvern merely to make deliveries...

Isaac shook his head slightly. His understanding of the Wizarding World had deepened a little more. It seemed that this world was still the domain of spellcasters.

He patted Barton on the shoulder, signaling him not to get worked up. Then Isaac walked around him and slowly approached the Two-legged Wyvern. At the same time, he took a Parchment bearing the contract from the inner pocket of his Wizard Robe, walked up to the wyvern, and handed it over.

"Hiss~~" The Two-legged Wyvern lowered itself slightly, its golden pupils fixed on the Parchment for a moment. Then, with a light flick of its wings, twelve cages—two large and ten small—appeared beneath its feet. Afterward, its long, slender tongue curled out and retrieved the receipt from Isaac's hand.

With that, the transaction was complete.

"Hiss~" The Two-legged Wyvern nodded, then spread its wings and flew back into the sky.

Isaac watched the Two-legged Wyvern's departing silhouette with envy and let out a faint sigh. Flight... dragons... spatial equipment...

Truly enviable...

Spatial equipment especially—it was one of a transmigrator's standard accessories.

Though he had a Dimension that could store things, frequently opening it was unsuitable for its growth. Using it too much might even cause the Dimension to collapse. For now, it could only serve as one of his trump cards, far less convenient than spatial equipment.

This was sold in Lakeside Town.

Unfortunately, it wasn't cheap.

A full five hundred Gold Coins!

And it wasn't even very spacious!

Rather than waste money like that, he might as well think of a way to make one himself!

Hm?

Isaac froze slightly. He seemed to understand why most wizards were so versatile...

Shaking his head and casting aside the jumble of thoughts in his mind, he walked over to the cages and carefully examined the Dragon Lizards and Demon Rats.

The Dragon Lizard was a little over half a meter long—not particularly large. Its scales looked fairly soft, and it did not seem very strong. However, its mana content was quite high, equal to a full five Goblins!

Covered in gray scales, it lay motionless in its cage, like a stone.

It was not dead, of course. It had merely been struck by a Sleeping Curse to facilitate transport.

The Demon Rat beside it was likewise sleeping deeply in its cage. Its savage claws and fangs, along with its dark skin, gave off an ominous feeling. A faint demonic aura coiled around it. It was roughly the size of a fist; although it possessed far more mana than a Demonic Rat, its combat strength was still quite ordinary.

It was only somewhat stronger than a Goblin.

Its main advantage was its speed.

That was normal enough. Though Demon Rat had the word "demon" in its name, it did not actually possess demon blood. Otherwise, it would never have been made available for novice breeding, because demons were Demonic Beasts with the fastest evolution speed and the greatest number of evolutionary paths!

Demons were unlike dragons. Even a faint trace of demon blood could awaken through any random slaughter, causing their power to surge dramatically!

The Demon Rat's name merely came from the faintly demonic aura it carried. In truth, it was nothing more than Flesh Wheat. Its teeth and claws were necessities for many rituals and were in great demand, while its flesh served as supplementary material for certain potions and could also be used in special rituals.

However, the Demon Rat's most valuable part was still its fur. It was a casting material for an entire series of witchcraft, and demand for it was even greater!

Thus, breeding Demon Rats was actually quite a promising business.

After checking them over, Isaac found no issues with either the Dragon Lizards or the Demon Rats. He immediately had the guards carry them into the warehouse behind the castle, while he first returned to the laboratory to fetch some materials before heading to the warehouse.

"Young Master Isaac."

"Lord Isaac."

Isaac merely nodded lightly at Smith and Barton's greetings, then went straight to the Dragon Lizard's cage. He placed a sheet of parchment written in blood before it and softly recited the spell given by the Tower of Flesh.

In an instant, as the mana within Isaac's body pulsed, the parchment in his hand transformed into streams of blood-colored light that entered the Dragon Lizard's body.

This was the Blood Contract Technique issued by the Tower of Flesh for controlling Demonic Beasts, a relatively basic witchcraft for doing so. After all, although these Dragon Lizards were domesticated, they were still Demonic Beasts. There was no telling when they might lose control.

It was best to put some compulsory measures in place.

Of course, there were no free lunches in this world. This Blood Contract Technique could only be used on bred Demonic Beasts. Once they entered combat, the already unstable connection would become even more fragile.

If he wanted to control higher-level Demonic Beasts and send them into battle, then sorry—he would need more advanced witchcraft.

But he had no such plans for now, so it did not matter. When the need arose, he could simply buy one.

Next, Isaac took out eleven more sheets of parchment and formed blood contracts with the remaining Dragon Lizards and Demon Rats.

Low-level blood contract witchcraft was not without its advantages. The number of contracts it could support was one of its few merits.

After all, breeding was never done one creature at a time, unlike Demonic Beasts used in battle or Magic Pets that assisted with casting.

Once the blood contracts were complete, he first put the Demon Rats into the pre-prepared Rat Pen and casually tossed in several chunks of raw meat. Then he turned to look at the two Dragon Lizards.

Under Smith and Barton's curious gazes, Isaac took a bottle of Bloodline Essence Potion from his robes and looked at one of the Dragon Lizards.

Immediately, data visible only to him appeared above the Dragon Lizard's head—

[Dragon Bloodline Awakening: 35%+]

Seeing those figures, the corners of Isaac's mouth rose slightly. As expected, it worked.

Suppressing his excitement, Isaac focused on the "+" after the percentage. A whole list of materials that could increase the success rate immediately appeared.

At the very top was Bloodline Essence Potion ×2. Three bottles of potion would directly awaken it.

But the cost would be far too high that way.

Fortunately, there were plenty of materials listed afterward. He could choose slowly; cost-effectiveness was important.

Unfortunately, he did not yet know what quite a few of those materials were.

But that was no problem. The materials provided by the Golden Finger were surely things he had seen before and roughly understood the properties of. He only needed to go back and consult some reference materials. It was not a major issue.

With a great weight lifted from his heart, Isaac wore a contented smile as he placed the Dragon Lizards into separate compartments and activated the Territory Magic · Beast Raising Ground!

Before Smith and Barton's astonished eyes, the radiance of mana spread across the warehouse walls. A special mana frequency rippled through the Rat Pen and Dragon Pen, silently accelerating the growth of the Demon Rats and Dragon Lizards.

"Bring food once a day from now on. Just throw raw meat in here. Use the meat here for the time being; once it runs out, I'll make arrangements," Isaac said pleasantly, clapping his hands.

"Yes, Young Master." Smith nodded slightly. Aside from the cost of feeding them, it was no difficult task.

But that was not much of a problem either. First, he believed in Isaac's abilities. Since Isaac wanted to raise them, he surely had it all figured out and could definitely afford it. Second...

Even if he truly could not afford it, Isaac had now become a wizard. He was no longer that frail, sickly boy. Though the division of the family had cost him part of his inheritance rights, he was still blood of House of Solomon. With his status as a wizard, entering the core ranks of the territory would not be difficult.

Not to mention twelve Demonic Beasts—even ten times that number could be supported by the territory!

The Solomons were among the strongest Viscounts, even comparable to some Counts!

After giving Smith his instructions, Isaac turned and left the warehouse. The Demonic Beasts had arrived; now it was time to study again.

As for the Dragon Lizard, there was no rush. For one, it was not yet time for its bloodline to awaken—it needed to grow a little more. For another...

He had no money.

He was currently penniless. Even if he found materials with high cost-effectiveness, he could not afford them.

Materials related to dragons were all absurdly overpriced. Even useless weeds growing beside a dragon's nest could fetch a higher price just by bearing that name. No matter how cost-effective they were, they were not something Isaac could consider right now.

He should continue his research first. They could talk once the first batch of Demon Rats had been sold.

Three days later, Isaac stood before the operating table in total concentration. Dressed in a white coat, he held a scalpel in each hand, while a savage demon claw danced behind his head, occasionally passing him the tools that needed replacing.

On the operating table lay a Demon Rat that had been cut open and nearly dismembered!

Normally, an incision that practically split apart the entire body would be certain death. Yet astonishingly, although half its head had already been cut open, the Demon Rat still clung to a faint spark of life!

It was as weak as a firefly's glow, but it was indeed still alive.

However, judging from Isaac's tightly furrowed brow, the operation did not seem to be going very smoothly...

A long while later, as the percentage in Isaac's eyes fell to zero, the Demon Rat's spark of life finally went out as well. In the end, it still fell upon the operating table, unable to become the god of Demon Rats...

"Ah... its life force still isn't strong enough..."

Isaac frowned deeply. He casually fed the Demon Rat's corpse to the demon claw, then removed his bloodstained gloves and returned to his desk to record the data from the operation.

What he had just performed was a Totem Refinement operation. He had created it by modifying the principles of Totem Refinement. Totem Refinement required one to first master basic Alchemy, which he did not currently know.

So he had thought of trying to reproduce it through surgery instead.

Unfortunately, he had already failed five times...

The first four attempts had used Demonic Rats. This time, he had switched to a Demon Rat with stronger vitality, yet he had still failed...

Perhaps the problem lay elsewhere...

Isaac frowned, opened the Wizard Manuscript again, and continued his research...