Spoils

And as an Elite-+ being, Xiluo had nothing to fear even when facing one level 5 and three level 4 Frost Giant Eagles at once. He had even held a commanding advantage!

Staring fixedly at the four Frost Giant Eagle corpses on the ground, Xiluo grew somewhat lost in thought.

"Hmph!"

Only a snort beside his ear snapped him out of it.

Xiluo turned to look.

He saw Gordon, the Red Dragon Whelp, looking thoroughly displeased, sparks and smoke streaming from both nostrils.

Seemingly noticing Xiluo looking at him,

the Red Dragon Whelp growled in displeasure:

"Xiluo! You bastard! Who asked you to interfere in my fight? That was completely unnecessary! I was clearly just about to finish off that inferior creature! You stole my prey!"

"Well, I'm terribly sorry about that."

Xiluo rolled his eyes, not wanting to converse any further with the arrogant, rude Red Dragon Whelp.

Instead, he used his sharp claws to slice open the chest and belly of a Frost Giant Eagle beside him.

Ice-blue blood gushed from the giant eagle's chest and belly.

Xiluo then tore the entire chest and belly open, reached toward its heart with his claws, and, after rummaging around a few times, extracted an ice-blue crystal roughly the size of a chicken egg.

The crystal was quite unusual. Ice-blue throughout and wreathed in cold mist, it had streaks of deep blue covering its surface like runes. As they flickered, they drew the surrounding ice elements into the crystal.

At the sight of this crystal,

the Red Dragon Whelp, who had still wanted to argue a little more, immediately shut his mouth and stared at it with burning eyes.

This was a monster's crystal, also called a Magic Crystal.

Generally, only magical beasts born with magic power and capable of casting spells possessed them.

They could be considered the monsters' second hearts.

They were a hard currency that held its value better than gold coins, and each one was worth a considerable sum.

The one in Xiluo's claws alone was worth at least one gold coin.

And one gold coin was by no means a small sum in this world.

From what Xiluo knew, ordinary commoners in this world enjoyed a fairly decent standard of living and could eat their fill three times a day.

Some even had money to spare for other forms of entertainment.

Commoners with this standard of living earned roughly a little over one gold coin a year.

In this world, one gold coin equaled a hundred silver coins, or ten thousand copper coins.

Normally, a loaf of black bread cost only one copper coin, but few commoners in this world ate such food. Most ate white bread instead, at three copper coins a loaf, and just two loaves in a meal could fill an adult's stomach.

A pound of pork, meanwhile, cost thirty copper coins.

From this, it was clear that a gold coin had considerable purchasing power and value.

To the Red Dragon Whelp, seeing a Magic Crystal was like seeing a gold coin, so naturally he itched to have it.

"Ahem... Xiluo, how do you think we should divide these spoils?"

His voice was somewhat low, and his tail began swishing uneasily.

The Red Dragon Whelp had fought a Frost Giant Eagle for ages without managing to kill it on his own even at the very end. It really made him feel rather embarrassed!

Strictly speaking, none of the spoils here belonged to him!

But he could not bear to give up a lovely Magic Crystal worth as much as a gold coin!

Seeing the Red Dragon Whelp like this, how could Xiluo not know what he was thinking? With a slight smile, he simply tossed over the Magic Crystal in his claws.

The Red Dragon Whelp's eyes and claws were quick. He caught the Magic Crystal and said delightedly:

"I knew you knew how things worked, Xiluo. Hehe... It's just a shame this isn't a Fire Attribute Magic Crystal."

Muttering, the Red Dragon Whelp swallowed the Magic Crystal, storing it in the second stomach dragons normally used for storage.

Xiluo heard his muttering but paid it no mind.

He went on to dissect the other three as well, then tossed two of the crystals to Allen, the little white dragon, under the Red Dragon Whelp's astonished gaze.

"Why are you giving him two? He didn't do anything!"

The Red Dragon Whelp questioned Xiluo, somewhat stunned and a little jealous.

Holding two crystal cores in one claw, the little white dragon said, flustered and nervous, "Xiluo, you don't have to give me any. Just keep them yourself... I didn't do anything. I don't deserve two at all."

"Keep them, Allen.

These Frost Magic Crystals will be more useful to you."

As Xiluo spoke, he swallowed the last one.

To Xiluo and Gordon, Frost Magic Crystals were simply gold coins.

But for creatures that shared their ice attribute and were skilled in ice spells, they were aids that could improve their combat strength!

Why were spellcasters powerful in this world?

First, naturally, because they could cast spells.

But the powerful items and equipment they possessed were another key reason!

Equipment and items were indispensable if spellcasters wanted to contend with this world's powerful creatures!

These items allowed them to cast spells faster and even increase their power. In the case of certain immensely powerful high-tier spells, even when the spellcasters themselves lacked the ability, they could use equipment and items to force the casting!

Although Frost Giant Eagle Magic Crystals were nothing high-grade, they could still increase the power of the little white dragon's ice spells somewhat.

If one was completely consumed in a single use,

it could even forcibly raise the power of a tier-one spell to that of a tier-two spell!

Or bring a tier-two spell extremely close to tier three!

Although it would still fall somewhat short of tier three,

that was enough.

After all, at present, even Xiluo's enhanced Breath Weapon was only as powerful as a Third-Tier Spell.

Of course, Xiluo considered his Breath Weapon to be among the more powerful Third-Tier Spells.

Apart from his Breath Weapon,

the only Third-Tier Spell Xiluo currently possessed was [Rock and Earth Armor], which he had learned from Barbara a long time ago. Since learning it, however, he had never really had a chance to use it.

As for Third-Tier Spells,

a human spellcaster had to be level 7 to cast them without the aid of items...

Gordon also understood the usefulness of matching-attribute Magic Crystals to spellcasters. Even after hearing Xiluo's words, he could not help frowning and saying reluctantly:

"Even so, is giving them to this useless fool any good? He's so weak..."

"Yes... I'm too weak. They'd just be wasted on me..." The little white dragon nodded in agreement beside them.

"Since you recognize your weakness, you should work even harder to become strong! Study and research spells more!

White dragons may be weak, but across the entire Astral Realm, there are still powerful individuals who have surpassed their own limits, defeated other mighty dragons, and made a name for themselves!

Allen! The reason I've always kept you by my side is that I believe you can become one of them too!"

As he spoke, Xiluo had already walked over to the little white dragon and patted his foreleg with a claw from above.

His manner was exactly that of a leader encouraging a subordinate.

(End of chapter)