Chapter 96: Still Can’t Eat It 2

“I’m going to roast it and eat it. I refuse to believe I can’t manage to eat this thing. Whatever’s left can serve as provisions for the Great Trial.”

Kent shot Darkya an irritated glare and answered loudly.

The people nearby all turned to stare at him in surprise. But once they noticed the enormous magical beast egg in his arms, amused smiles quickly appeared on their faces.

Then again, when they thought about it, it seemed perfectly reasonable.

Everyone had their shortcomings.

Kent might be a genius when it came to alchemy, but in other respects, he was probably no different from an ordinary person.

“Hahaha! Wait for me! I want some too!”

The moment Darkya realized that Kent really was heading out of the city, she hurried after him.

It was not that she was especially eager to taste a magical beast egg.

What she really wanted was to see exactly how Kent intended to roast something that enormous.

Kent’s face had already turned dark with frustration, while Darkya wore a delighted smile from beginning to end.

Neither of them said another word.

Before long, they arrived at the smithing workshops outside Muan City.

Only two guards remained at the entrance. Most of the dwarves had been sent into Muan City to help maintain order.

Both guards immediately recognized Kent and Darkya.

That was hardly surprising. There was practically no one in Muan City who did not know the pair by now.

The guards did not even bother asking what Kent intended to do inside the workshop. They simply stepped aside and let them through.

Once inside, Kent looked around.

Apart from various forging tools and equipment, the workshop was almost completely empty.

Kent did not care.

Still carrying the magical beast egg, he walked straight toward the area used for smelting refined iron.

A stream of magma had been diverted here directly from the volcano, forming a broad molten pool within the workshop. Excess magma flowed out through another channel on the far side, keeping the pool constantly supplied with fresh heat.

“Hmph!”

Still seething with irritation, Kent lowered the magical beast egg directly into the magma.

At this point, part of him genuinely hoped the thing would simply burn to ashes.

At least then Darkya would have nothing left to laugh at.

“Hey! Hey! You can’t just throw it straight in there!”

Darkya called out, deliberately provoking him.

“If you do that, it’ll be nothing but ashes!”

She spoke with a wide grin, clearly enjoying Kent’s misfortune.

Kent did not bother answering.

In truth, he was already frustrated enough to feel as though he might explode.

Still, the thought of finally getting to taste a magical beast egg did make him feel slightly better.

After all, no matter how ridiculous the whole situation had become, trying something so unusual might still be worthwhile.

With that thought, Kent’s mood gradually improved.

Then he looked down at the egg sitting in the magma.

A moment later, every trace of optimism disappeared.

As he stared at what was happening to the magical beast egg, only one thought remained in his mind.

“Looks like I’m not getting to eat it this time either.”

After all, the first time he had tried to eat one, Niuniu had hatched from it instead.

Kent had realized that the magical beast egg he had lowered into the magma was undergoing an astonishing transformation.

And the source of that change was the magma itself.

The molten rock in the workshop was constantly flowing and burned at an extremely high temperature. Under normal circumstances, it would not solidify within such a short period of time. If it did, the artificial channel that guided the magma through the workshop would quickly become blocked.

Yet after the magical beast egg was placed inside, the crimson magma flowing around it began to harden little by little.

There was only one explanation.

The egg was absorbing the fire-element magical energy contained within the magma.

The temperature of the molten rock was terrifyingly high, yet as time passed, more and more of the magma surrounding the egg cooled and solidified.

“This is bad. I need to move it somewhere else.”

Kent watched for a moment longer before finally realizing how serious the situation was.

“If this channel gets blocked, the magma could overflow and destroy the entire workshop.”

He hurried forward at once, intending to retrieve the magical beast egg.

Darkya had also been stunned by the bizarre sight before her.

Everyone knew just how hot magma was.

There were indeed magical beasts capable of living within molten rock, but those were usually powerful, high-ranking creatures of the fire element.

Darkya had never heard of a magical beast egg that could actually absorb fire-element magical energy directly from magma.

When Kent rushed toward the molten pool, she suddenly came back to her senses and called out,

“Be careful! It could burn your hands!”

Kent hesitated when he heard her warning.

Then, moving as quickly as possible, he reached out and briefly touched the surface of the egg.

To his surprise, there was no burning sensation at all.

Without wasting another second, Kent wrapped his arms around the magical beast egg, lifted it out of the magma, and hurried through the rear entrance of the workshop toward the volcano.

Darkya followed immediately without even stopping to think.

By now, Kent was so excited that all the frustration he had felt earlier had vanished completely.

A faint magical fluctuation was now coming from inside the egg.

It was weak, almost imperceptible—but unmistakably aligned with the fire element.

That was the important part.

When Kent had first bought the egg, there had not been the slightest trace of magical energy coming from it.

So what did that mean?

Kent’s thoughts raced.

There were records in ancient texts stating that the eggs of high-ranking magical beasts often required extremely demanding conditions before they could hatch.

If those conditions were not met within a certain period of time, some magical beast eggs would automatically enter a dormant state.

While dormant, they gave off no magical fluctuations whatsoever.

Only when the proper hatching conditions were finally fulfilled would the egg awaken from its long slumber.

And if that was true...

Then this egg might very well belong to a high-ranking magical beast.

The moment that possibility occurred to him, Kent could barely contain his delight.

The more he looked at the egg in his arms, the more pleasing it seemed.

Only a short while ago, he had been wondering how to cook the troublesome thing.

Now, he held it as though it were a priceless treasure.

More importantly, the egg had reacted the instant it was placed in magma.

That meant its hatching conditions almost certainly required an enormous concentration of fire-element magical energy.

And if that was truly the case, then Kent might have stumbled upon something far more valuable than he had ever expected.

Kent finally reached a vast stream of magma.

The molten river here flowed much more slowly than the channel inside the workshop, winding its way through the rocky terrain in broad, gentle curves. It was almost perfectly suited for incubating the magical beast egg.

Still, Kent had no idea what kind of creature lay inside.

For that reason, he had no intention of forming a magical contract with it—not yet.

After searching for a while, he found a particularly calm stretch of the magma flow. He crouched down and carefully lowered the egg into the molten rock.

The instant it touched the magma, Kent sensed something.

A faint ripple of spiritual energy.

It was so weak that an ordinary person would never have noticed it, yet Kent caught it clearly.

And within that tiny fluctuation was an unmistakable emotion.

Joy.

Kent was stunned.

The spiritual response was extremely faint, but there was no mistaking it. Something inside the egg was aware of its surroundings—and it was pleased.

Kent said nothing.

Instead, he cautiously extended a thread of his own spiritual power toward the life within the egg, gently brushing against it as though stroking a sleeping creature.

For that, he had the Mage Guild to thank.

Although Kent had only stayed at the Guild for a few days, he had purchased a considerable number of knowledge scrolls during that time.

Such scrolls were far different from ordinary written texts.

Large amounts of knowledge were sealed directly into them through spiritual power. Once a scroll was activated, the information contained within would be imprinted directly into the user’s mind.

It was an extraordinarily efficient way to learn.

Unfortunately, creating such a scroll placed a tremendous burden on the mage’s spiritual strength.

Because of that, very few mages were willing to make them voluntarily.

The Mage Guild had therefore established a rule: every mage of Level Six or above was required to produce at least one knowledge scroll each year.

The purpose was simple.

By leaving behind accumulated knowledge in this form, older generations of mages could save talented younger mages enormous amounts of time in their studies.

Those who were unable—or unwilling—to produce a scroll had to pay a certain amount of gold instead.

Naturally, this rule had eventually created an entire group of mages who specialized in making knowledge scrolls.

Most of them were mages who had little hope of advancing any further in rank.

Since their own path in magic had nearly reached its limit, they chose instead to devote their remaining energy to earning money, hoping to leave behind a respectable fortune for their descendants.

If one of their children or grandchildren happened to possess magical talent, that wealth could become enormously useful.

As for the contents of the knowledge scrolls themselves, they varied wildly.

Some contained practical magical techniques.

Others recorded obscure theories, ancient customs, forgotten rituals, or fragments of knowledge whose usefulness was difficult to judge.

And by sheer coincidence, Kent had once come across a particularly unusual piece of information on one such scroll.

According to that record, mages in ancient times did not always form formal magical contracts with their familiars.

Instead, while the magical beast was still inside its egg, the mage would repeatedly communicate with it through spiritual power.

By establishing a bond before the creature even hatched, the newborn familiar would supposedly regard that person much as it would its own parents.

Kent did not truly believe that the egg before him belonged to some ancient magical beast.

That possibility seemed far too unlikely.

But there was no harm in testing whether the method recorded on the scroll was actually true.

After all, even if it failed, he had nothing to lose.