Chapter 21 Part 3 of 6 (Patreon)

“Not the worst thing you’ve eaten, remember that Snake whiskey in Asia?”

Erik shuddered right to his spine and held out his hand.

“That was an affront to whiskey and snakes.” Erik took the monster core, inspecting it.

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Monster Core

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Do you wish to absorb this Lesser Mortal Grade monster core?

YES/NO

You will gain 5,000 EXP

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“Yes.”

The monster core melted, entering Erik’s hand. A thin sliver of experience entered his body but Erik was using his elemental vision to look at the changes within his body.

“Yeah, that doesn’t happen to normal people,” Rugrat said.

Erik ignored him.

Earth, fire and Metal elements were refined out of the absorbed monster core. It was barely a drop in the ocean compared to the elements that had filled his body before, but they were there.

He drew the energy into his monster core, increasing the density of the swirling clouds by a small amount.

“Okay that works, but I don’t see how this helps me unlock my bloodline?”

“When beasts get their monster core to the Greater Sky Grade then I think that’s when they develop human characteristcs. If you get to that stage, maybe something happens? Do you feel different?”

Erik stood up, shaking it out.

“I feel, deflated, but in a good way. It was like my body was under stress or tension all the time, but now its relaxed. Like I was squeezing every muscle in my body but they’ve unlocked.” He threw out a few punches. “No decrease in power, it seems to flow easier now. What the hell is with this quest, it is going to take me forever to increase my monster core to a high level and I’m guessing but won’t I need all of the damn elements to complete it?”

“I have no answers,” Rex shrugged. “This is all new to me.”

“Maybe it is like the mana gate quest? A lot of people have the quest and they never complete it because of how hard it is and they don’t have the right information. We did it and got a bonus. Sounds like something you can only complete it after you’ve tempered your body allthe way if you need all the elements right?” Rugrat said.

“While beasts get access to more of the human mana cultivation system as they increase their power, we get more access to the beast cultivation system?” Erik looked at Gilly and George who looked at one another and then back to Erik.

“Possible,” Rugrat shrugged.

“I just deal with beasts I’m not sure what’s right or wrong, but that is a hell of a thing if you can use not only the experience, but also the monster core. Have you absorbed a lesser mortal monster core before?”

“Nope.”

“Try and absorb another.” Rex held out another monster Lesser Mortal monster core the size of a twenty sided die. “If a human uses one then they usually get experience and that is it. If they use the same class of monster core later then they get a much smaller amount of experience so its considered a waste. Beasts are always consuming the flesh and body of their enemies because of the elements they contain.”

Erik once again chose to absorb the monster core, there  was no experience but the core melted in his hand instead of turning to dust and entered his body.

He drew it into his monster core once again.

“It works. Different break down of elements but still has power in it all the same. I wonder if I took tempering pills if I could directly absorb the elements within into my body.”

Rex eagerly pulled out an Earth tempering pill.

“It’s a little strong, I use them to train Gilly. Should work with your body tempering.”

“Good thing you work with animals, they’re more robust. You go around trying this out with people all the time and someone is going to say something,” Erik muttered but took the pill.

He smelled it, using reverse alchemist to understand the pill and ingredients.

“Should work.”

Erik took the pill and swallowed it, it started to fall apart before it hit his stomach. His own body was stripping out the earth element from the pill.

“They still taste like dirt.” He rubbed his tongue.

“Like you weren’t going around tasting all the ingredients in every market we could find when we got here,” Rugrat yawned and stretched.

“This is a ton of Earth element, they’ve upgraded the formula since I used them for my Earth tempering. It is smoother, though still it would be a lot for an untempered body to contain.” The Earth element was spreading through his body. Erik directed it through his veins. Like rivers toward the ocean the earth element flooded through his veins and into his monster core.

“Okay, more energy than the lesser mortal monster core, all Earth, this time not as much as what I dragged in from my body. You’re going to have to tell Melissa Bouchard about all of this,” Erik told Rex.

“Why?”

“Because she’ll have us in there for hours if I tell her and I want to go dungeon hunting. We got side tracked, how are Gilly and George doing?”

“I’ve said that they’ve been growing crazy fast. They train in the dungeons, eat tons of concoctions. Their bodies are hardier than humans so even the pills and concoctions that are too strong for humans, they can take them just fine. They spend a lot of their time on the floors associated with their element. They are both level Fifty Five. Seems they’re a little competitive. Gilly’s power increased faster, she has two elements and they were unbalanced, once they balanced out she’s been increasing steadily. They’re peak sixth realm beasts I would say.”

“So would they be able to come training with us?” Rugrat asked.

Rex looped his thumbs into his belt.

“Sure, exercise is the best and fighting brings about the fastest increases in power.”

Gilly and George clearly understood part of it as they perked up, bristling.

Erik looked from them to Rugat.

Just who wants to show off the gains we’ve made more? Erik coughed at the errant thought.

“Something wrong?” Rugrat asked.

“Nope, nothing just something caught in my throat.”

“Okay, well, see you later Rex, thanks for looking after these two.”

“No worries, it has opened up a whole new area of beast raising I’ve been talking to the other beast trainers. It will be much faster to raise beasts and make them stronger.”

Erik and Rugrat jumped onto Gilly and George’s backs.

“This is going to make protecting you a whole new challenge,” Storbon complained.

His mount complained in a low whine.

“And going to cost a lot.” He sighed.

“Training is the most valuable exercise a person can do,” Erik waved his finger, being ‘teacherly’.

Then everything became light as Gilly jumped, launching herself into the air. Erik clamped down with his legs and on his throat to stop the building scream.

Gilly snapped her wings and tail out, with a few powerful flaps she was just meters away from the ceiling, she banked, the wind glided over her and Erik.

A fiery comet appeared to their side, Rugrat had a massive smile on his face.

Erik laughed  “Woo hoo!”

“Yeee-hawww!” Rugrat yelled out as well. Gilly and George joined in with their roars.

They circled the floor. It was covered in orchards the produced food for the Alvans. Alchemy gardens dotted the area. The signs of Davin’s great fire were fading with time.

Erik nudged Gilly who flew towards the teleporation area within the village.

She batted her wings as she came in, coming to land lightly on her feet.

Storbon and his team were there waiting for them.

“Egbert!” Rugrat yelled.

“Jackass!”

Light enveloped them as they appeared in the Dungeon training area.

“He still pissed at you?” Erik asked as Gilly padded off of the teleportation area and toward’s the dungeon entrances.

“Yeah, guess that while he was asleep he was still recording everything.

“You dropped me in the bathwater! Twice!” Egbert’s disembodied voice rang out.

“Just won’t let it go for some reason.”

“You tried to drink beer out of my skull!”

“Petty of him,” Rugrat sighed.

People stared at them as they passed, some saluted others bowed.

Erik and Rugrat nodded and saluted back reaching the dungeon they’d requested.

“You sure that we can’t come with you,” Storbon asked.

“You’d steal all the damn experience,” Rugrat laughed as he dismounted and checked his gear.

Erik jumped his carrier moving around in the right ways opening and closing his gauntlets and moving his shoulders.

Rugrat took out his modified rail gun and adjusted the two point sling raising and lowering his rifle to make sure it wouldn’t catch on anything.

“Takes enough damn juice from this place that it’s the deepest dungeon we have to not alert anyone. It is a training area after all, you can’t watch over us all the time,” Erik checked his railgun, making sure that it was loaded and on safe before he slung it.

“So we’ve got different capture points inside the dungeon. We need to hold those for a certain period of time to control the area. As we advance and control more of the points, more creatures will come out and attack us.”

“Lovely dungeon,” Erik muttered.

“Dude, it’s a level sixty to level sixty five dungeon in the first realm. Shit, I talked to the formation masters that worked on it. Place is practically its own world. Also with it so deep, the Elements are concentrated as hell so you need to have body like iron to deal with it!” Rugrat smacked his chest.