Goblins and Goblin Killers

The next morning, a beam of golden sunlight passed through the window decorated with crude paper cuttings and fell upon Isaac's smiling face, making it look especially radiant.

Looking at the Demonized Rat on the Operating Table, now twice its original size, its bulging muscles and sharp claws and fangs proved that it had already undergone a complete transformation!

This was the result of Isaac pulling an all-nighter—his Quad-Core Demonized Rat!

Four cores, meaning four hearts!

It sounded absurd, but after using Innate Sorcery to gain an extremely detailed understanding of the Demonized Rat's body structure, then supplementing it with miraculous Magic Spells, Isaac had ultimately managed to cobble it together.

Four hearts, four times the magic power!

Of course, that also meant four times the blood supply...

Even with the support of Magic Spells, the quad-core Demonized Rat could only last for three hours at most. After half an hour, its body would begin to collapse and its strength would weaken. After an hour, it would become completely unable to move. Without the support of Magic Spells, that time would be even shorter!

Its peak combat capability lasted roughly twenty minutes.

But that was enough for Isaac, because Flesh Conversion only lasted an hour. To keep it alive afterward would require even more magic power.

The ideal state would naturally be to maintain it for an hour, but with Isaac's current store of knowledge, this was as far as he could go.

Still, it was enough. In a real battle, with a Demonized Rat's strength, it would be difficult for it to survive longer than five minutes unless it was extraordinarily lucky and avoided all harm.

Riiip~

A hideous Demon Claw emerged from the back of his neck. The back of its hand brushed against Isaac's cheek as two sharp fingers gently pinched up the unconscious Quad-Core Heart-Replacing Rat, tossed it lightly into the air, then caught it in the jagged maw in its palm!

Crunch~ Crunch~

Listening to the Demon Claw chew, Isaac's face went pale before he let out a long breath.

Magic Pets truly were the greatest invention in wizarding history!

But Isaac was not affected for long. After all, he had already swallowed quite a few. His attention was quickly drawn to the stream of information sent by the Demon Claw—this was the Quad-Core Heart-Replacing Rat's latest body structure.

Isaac narrowed his eyes slightly. Just as he had predicted, there was still some room for development, but the results would not be very significant. He needed to acquire more knowledge. For now...

It was time to study the Bloodline Essence Potion.

The Bloodline Essence Potion was a Potion that strengthened one's bloodline. It was also somewhat related to Heart Replacement Surgery and could be considered its superior replacement.

After all, Heart Replacement Surgery had originally been created to allow humans to possess the power of magical beasts. This sorcery was meant to be used on humans.

Once an ordinary human transplanted a first-tier Demonized Heart, their strength would be greatly enhanced in a short period, rapidly reaching the level of a Quasi-Knight!

Each person could replace their heart a total of three times. If the Demonized Heart used each time was one tier stronger than the last, then in the end, an ordinary person could become an expert comparable to a Great Knight!

As long as the surgery succeeded, anyone could do it!

Well, that was assuming the surgery succeeded. As for the success rate of Heart Replacement Surgery...

Even Isaac, with his cheat, still had a chance of failure. That alone showed how difficult the surgery was.

The Bloodline Essence Potion had the same effect as Heart Replacement Surgery: both granted humans the power of magical beasts. The difference was that the Bloodline Essence Potion granted purer bloodlines. Though it did not take effect as quickly as heart replacement, it was safer.

It also did not affect one's potential. In fact, drinking enough of it could even increase one's potential.

After generations of research, the modern Bloodline Essence Potion could even affect the bloodlines of magical beasts. Many wizards used it to raise Magic Pets.

For most wizards, Magic Pets were merely companions that made it more convenient to study and cast spells, but if they could make their Magic Pets stronger, that was naturally even better.

However, this also meant that the Bloodline Essence Potion was not particularly valuable...

It did not matter. He was not relying on it to make money anyway. As long as it worked, that was enough.

He was starving for all magical knowledge!

Knock, knock~

"Young Master Isaac."

Just as Isaac was about to sit down and properly study the Magic Spells needed to brew Potions, Butler Smith knocked on the door, making Isaac frown slightly.

Because when he had gone out to eat earlier, he had already instructed Smith not to disturb him unless it was something important.

But...

Though he was called a lord, he was really just a manor owner. He had only a few plots of farmland and managed a village of two or three hundred people. He could not even collect taxes; he simply did not need to pay them himself. Many matters were handled by Solomon Territory.

"Come in."

"Young Master Isaac." After entering, Smith respectfully bowed to Isaac. When his peripheral vision caught the bloodstains on the Operating Table, his brows could not help but furrow slightly, and he sighed inwardly.

It had still come to this...

In truth, with the Solomon Family's power, wizarding inheritances were difficult to obtain, but not impossible. After all, they were still a viscount's household and possessed a stable Arcanist inheritance.

The reason they had not found one for Isaac was because they feared he would go astray. Legendary Wizards had a terrible reputation, and much of their sorcery was extremely primitive and evil. Researching such things was dangerous.

But no one had expected that, with only a few messy and miscellaneous records, Young Master Isaac would actually become a Legendary Wizard...

Alas~

Thinking of this, Smith sighed heavily once more, but there was nothing he could do. After all, he was merely a butler.

"What happened?" Isaac asked blandly as he lightly tapped the scroll.

"Young Master Isaac, the guards discovered Goblins outside the castle today." Smith straightened up and said with a frown.

Isaac frowned as well.

Goblins were a classic and troublesome type of Magical Creature. They had green skin, vicious faces, and stood around a meter tall. Although they were Magical Creatures, they were extremely weak. So long as an adult overcame their fear, they could kill several with a wooden club.

But why were they considered troublesome?

Because the Goblins of this world were the creation of a Legendary Wizard. He had given them an incredibly terrifying reproductive ability—a pair of Goblins could lay dozens of Goblin eggs!

Their growth cycle was also exceptionally short. From hatching to full maturity took only a few days!

Furthermore, it was said that this thing had been implanted into the World Law by that wizard. No matter how thoroughly one exterminated or guarded against them, whenever Goblin breeding season arrived each year, Goblins would emerge from inexplicable places, burning, killing, looting, and committing every evil imaginable.

If they were not stopped in time, their numbers would explode in a short period!

Therefore, once traces of Goblins were discovered anywhere, they had to be cleared out immediately.

"Has it been reported to the territory?"

"It has, but the guards alone may not be able to deal with them. Should we hire a Goblin Killer?"

"Hire one. Safety is more important." Isaac sighed. He wondered whether this expense could be reimbursed.

Guards were also called militia. They were fairly good at maintaining public order in peacetime, but were not much use on the battlefield, even against weak Goblins. Goblin Killers, on the other hand, were extraordinary individuals granted special powers by a certain Legendary Wizard. They specialized in fighting Goblins and could gain power from killing them.

Before obtaining a Breathing Technique, many self-taught Knights relied on killing Goblins to get through their most difficult period.

When Isaac read this passage in the records, he suspected that these two Legendary Wizards might have been the same person!

Moving goods from the left hand to the right—everyone wins!