Seeking Investment

"What's the cost? What's the profit? Is it troublesome?" Caesar's eyes lit up as he fired off the questions.

"The cost... should be a little over a hundred Gold Coins. That includes the Bloodline Essence Potion, plus some strange things Third Brother probably developed himself. As for profit... the price will drop with large-scale shipments, but it should come to around thirty Gold Coins. If we can breed Dragon Lizard hatchlings ourselves, the cost can be lowered further. As for whether it's troublesome, you'll have to ask Third Brother."

Having said that, Cheryl turned to Isaac.

Isaac looked at his Eldest Sister with some feeling. As expected of someone on the verge of becoming a High Sorcerer—her eye was frighteningly sharp. She had taken one casual look and practically seen through everything.

"It's more or less as Eldest Sister said. It isn't troublesome; normal breeding will do," Isaac said with a shrug.

Awakening the dragon bloodline did require his Golden Finger, but he only needed to make a trip over during feeding. It would not take much effort.

Besides, once his skills improved further, he could completely fuse the process of awakening dragon blood into the potion. By then, a single bottle of potion would get the job done.

Caesar did some rough calculations, then nodded excitedly. "Good! Third Brother, go organize the information first and write down all the materials needed. The territory is investing in this project!"

Out of caution, Caesar did not immediately mention how the profits would be divided. At the end of the day, he was only the first heir, not the true Viscount Solomon. The exact amount still had to be decided by their father.

Still, they were family. Isaac would not be shortchanged.

Isaac understood that as well, so he did not press the matter. Instead, he lifted the black cloth from the second carriage, which mainly carried his various experimental subjects.

"Hm? Heart replacement, blood replacement... this arrangement of yours..." At first glance, Cheryl noticed the four Demonic Rats that looked somewhat listless, as well as the multiple surgical scars on their bodies. After pondering briefly, she looked at Isaac in surprise. "You're catalyzing demonic hearts and demonic blood?"

"Yes, just trying it out." Isaac nodded with a smile, much calmer about this matter.

Compared to the Dragon Lizards, experimenting with catalyzed demonic hearts and blood was child's play. This technique did not actually demand much technical skill; its primary difficulties lay in the underlying idea and its complexity.

Whether replacing a heart or replacing blood, surgery was required. The procedures were complicated and carried considerable risks.

At least, that was true for other Formal Wizards in this era. Limited conditions and immature surgical techniques posed the greatest dangers in surgery. While Magic Spells could be used to avoid those risks, that would make the operations even more complicated.

And in the end, all one obtained were some demonic hearts and demonic blood. Naturally, no wizard would do something so unprofitable.

But Isaac was different. He was poor!

So long as there was a way to make money, he was willing to dig into it!

Besides, it was only complicated for now. Once his level rose, he could absolutely try to optimize it into a wizardry or ritual, making it far more convenient.

This was not Isaac building castles in the air. In fact, this was how modern wizardry and arcana had come about: turning complexity into simplicity and increasing practical utility.

Take Arcane Missile, one of the Basic Three Arcana. In its earliest form, casting it required preparing an appropriate amount of arcane energy in advance, a Magic Spell to maintain the structure of that energy, another Magic Spell to lock onto the target, and other complex procedures. Though it was a combat spell, it could not be used in actual combat.

But now, Arcane Missile did not even require chanting a Magic Spell. One only had to use magic power and Mental Power to activate the spell model in one's mind, and it could be cast directly. It was convenient by more than several times over!

He firmly believed that one day, he too would simplify this technique!

The Demonic Rat test subjects did not hold Cheryl's attention for long. Their technical value and worth were both mediocre. The idea was somewhat interesting, but it was the sort of thing only paupers would tinker with; she had no interest in such small money.

Her gaze was quickly drawn to another Demon Rat sitting quietly in its cage. After lowering her head to examine it for a while, she said uncertainly, "Is this a Divine Species?"

"Yes. I learned it from the Wizard Manuscript Eldest Brother gave me."

Cheryl: "..."

After a moment of silence, Cheryl turned to Isaac and let out a heavy sigh. "Third Brother, it really is such a pity that you don't have arcane aptitude!"

She had read that Wizard Manuscript. Though she had not studied it seriously, she could still see how obscure its contents were. The Alchemy recorded within was even complex to the extreme—she herself might not necessarily be able to learn it.

Yet Isaac, who had only become a wizard not long ago, had actually mastered that Wizard Manuscript and transformed the Alchemy within into surgical modifications...

Isaac merely smiled and offered no response. Those were matters of the past.

"How much is it worth?" Caesar could not see the technical value within it. After being stirred up by the Dragon Lizards, all he wanted to know now was whether it could make money—and how much!

"From the perspective of magical knowledge alone, it's priceless. But economically speaking, it won't earn much. Even if you rolled it out on a large scale, it might not make as much as growing Silver Moon Grass." Cheryl shrugged, speaking casually.

"Doesn't it have some Divine Species or something? How can it be so low-class?" Remington asked in confusion. Dragonkind was worth so much; could Divine Species really be any worse?

"It's different. Dragons are treasures from head to toe. Divine Species, at most, are merely somewhat special Demonic Beasts. Their strength varies wildly, and they are extremely difficult to tame, so they aren't worth much. The value of a Divine Species lies in the knowledge it contains, but that can't be sold." As she spoke, Cheryl inspected the Divine Species—Demon Rat—once more.

"Third Brother, why did you think of transforming a Demon Rat into a Divine Species? It's so weak. That's a bit of a waste."

"..." Isaac was somewhat speechless. "I'm not as rich as you, Eldest Sister. What right do I have to be picky?"

"That makes sense." Cheryl thought it over and nodded in agreement.

She knew exactly how difficult life was for wild wizards.

"Alright, we've seen enough. Have them put this stuff away. Come on, let's eat first." Caesar clapped his hands.

The other three siblings nodded, handed the things here over to Smith, and followed Caesar toward the fortress dining hall.

"From now on, you can conduct your experiments here. Just throw any magical waste into the trash bin; the Tower Spirit will have Golems come clean it up."

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, and finished chatting about family matters, Cheryl led Isaac to her Mage Tower and temporarily gave him the unused third floor.

Looking at the considerably more spacious laboratory, Isaac nodded with emotion. He had traded a bird gun for a cannon now!

"Thank you, Eldest Sister."

"No need for that." Cheryl smiled and shook her head. Then she took a Spellbook from her sleeve and handed it to Isaac. "You've finished the Spellbook I gave you before, right? If so, you can try learning this."

"This is... Truth Wizard Combat Manual Volume 1? You can give this to me?" Isaac glanced at the title, then looked at Cheryl in surprise.