The True Divine Species!

"Ha ha! It worked!"

In the laboratory on the third floor of the wizard tower, Isaac stared excitedly at the Divine Species—Demon Rat—on the experiment table.

This experiment had not merely helped it condense a divine spell; it had also incorporated some of Isaac's conjectures regarding the Divinity Chapter.

It could not be helped. He wanted to take the ready-made path too, but as mentioned before, the original owner of this Wizard Manuscript had not been particularly skilled. Though it was called the Deity Research Manual, it was actually only a study of Divine Species.

Thus, compared to the Dissection Chapter, the Divinity Chapter was far less valuable. It was filled with conjecture, and there were not even any corresponding spells.

Judging from its contents, it had not been deleted by the witch. The reason was simple: although Divine Species were not gods, merely somewhat special Demonic Beasts, not all Divine Species were weak. Some were immensely powerful.

To gain a deeper understanding of the Divine Spark Network, dissecting weak Divine Species alone was not enough. And the credibility of theories lacking vast amounts of data was self-evident.

Still, it was not entirely without value. At the very least, Isaac had figured out the direction of his future efforts—Aspects!

The next stage of a Divine Species lay in Aspects, not divine spells.

Divine spells were merely derivatives of Aspects. The two were not on the same level at all.

And Aspects, in the wizard system, were something only High Sorcerers could wield!

That was what made Isaac so excited!

Thanks to the unique nature of Divine Species, he could catch a glimpse of the scenery of Aspects while still a Formal Wizard!

The current Divine Species—Demon Rat—possessed two abilities. One was the divine spell—Blessing. The other was—[Aspect Rat Swarm]!

Though it was only a very weak Aspect, its quality was there. No matter how weak it was, it was still an Aspect!

Judging from the name alone, [Command Rat Swarm] might seem similar to the divine spell Command Kin, but in practice, the difference was considerable.

As an Aspect, [Command Rat Swarm] possessed a higher priority than divine spells and wizard spells. Moreover, using an Aspect basically incurred no cost.

"Squeak, squeak~" The Demon Rat lying obediently in the center of the magic circle tilted its head at Isaac. It did not quite understand why its master was so happy, but since its master was happy, it was happy too.

The Demon Rat grinned, revealing a pair of clean white front teeth. A hint of amusement surfaced in its soybean-sized eyes.

And when Isaac saw this, he became even happier.

Ordinary Demon Rats did not possess such high intelligence. Forget Demon Rats—even Dragon Lizards, which were far stronger than them, found it difficult to possess such intelligence. This was limited by the very nature of Demonic Beasts.

This was also the fundamental difference between Divine Species and Demonic Beasts. Under the influence of the Divine Spark Network, their brains developed faster, and their learning ability was stronger.

After a while, Isaac slowly calmed down. As he studied the Demon Rat in the center of the magic circle, he stroked his chin.

He was considering the next Research Direction for [Deity Research]. This was currently the research project in his hands with the greatest potential.

Isaac had conducted other experiments as well, and they had basically all succeeded. But aside from Flesh Mimicry, the other research projects merely advanced their research progress normally and would not greatly improve his strength.

Of course, Deity Research had originally been the same.

However, in order to grant it an Aspect, Isaac had attempted to use the Golden Finger to make some minor improvements to the ritual during this experiment, gaining quite a bit in terms of rituals.

But it still had not greatly improved his strength.

So should the next stage of research focus on converting it into practical strength?

Isaac fell into deep thought.

Though the focus of a wizard's power lay in knowledge, it would not be ideal if knowledge could not be turned into strength. But that would be difficult, inevitably taking up considerable energy and slowing the pace of research.

How to weigh the tradeoff was an important matter.

Yet only moments later, Isaac made his decision. There was no rush to convert it. He would continue researching!

First, his current gains could not be transformed into any particularly formidable wizard spells anyway. Second, he was currently in the fortress, where his personal safety was assured. Unless he could advance to High Sorcerer in an extremely short time, if the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up. There was no need for him to worry.

Third, he could look for solutions in the Arcane arts when it came to strength. Learning was much easier than creating.

With that thought, Isaac smiled and scratched the Demon Rat beneath its chin, making it narrow its eyes in pleasure.

"Riiip!"

Demon Claw emerged from the back of Isaac's head and rubbed against his cheek in mild displeasure.

"Alright, alright, I'll pet you too~" Isaac helplessly reached out and patted the ferocious Demon Claw.

"Hiss-ha~" Having received Isaac's response, Demon Claw excitedly spread its five fingers and showed off to the Demon Rat.

Unfortunately, this was no different from making eyes at a blind man. Though the Demon Rat's intelligence had developed, its development was limited. It simply could not understand Demon Claw's actions, only tilting its head in bewilderment and staring unblinkingly at Demon Claw.

Demon Claw: ...

Receiving no feedback, Demon Claw immediately lost interest. It lowered its claws and slunk back into the nape of Isaac's neck.

Isaac shook his head helplessly. After copying the Divine Spark Network within the Demon Rat onto a Parchment Scroll, he had been about to return the Demon Rat to its cage when he suddenly noticed the liveliness in its eyes. After thinking it over, Isaac did not put it back in the cage. Instead, he placed it on his shoulder and gently scratched its nose.

"From now on, you'll live outside."

The Demon Rat cocked its head ninety degrees, looking at Isaac with innocent confusion. It did not quite understand what that meant, but it should be something good, right?

Thinking that, the Demon Rat grinned once more.

Isaac, however, did not look at the Demon Rat again. He walked to the desk, organized the copied Parchment, then took out the list he had requested from the Tower Spirit and began considering how to strengthen Demon Claw.

Magic Pets were also part of a wizard's strength. They could assist wizards in casting spells, or even cast in their place. Thus, in a sense, Magic Pets and wizards were one entity—a relationship that surpassed any contract!

Quite a few wizards would even specifically strengthen their Magic Pets, forging them into powerful combat forces.

And the Hand of God was an exceptionally powerful type even among combat Magic Pets.

It was just that every enhancement plan for the Hand of God burned through money, so he had only looked into it once before and never entertained the idea again.

But things were different now. Although the family had yet to officially approve the Dragon Lizard breeding project, Eldest Brother Caesar had already taken five thousand Gold Coin from his own private stash and given them to Isaac for spell research!

Once the breeding project was approved, another ten thousand Gold Coin would be allocated to him from the territory's accounts for experiments. And when the first batch of Dragon Lizard profits came in, it might even be possible to build him a Mage Tower!

So now, he had money!

More money than ever before!

He could never spend it all—there was simply no way he could spend it all!