Chapter 384: Offers
Chapter 384: Offers
Ting!
All of a sudden, everyone’s phone rang.
>Important alert.
>The storm has been ongoing for more than 12 hours, and it is expected to rain for another 4 to 5 hours in correspondence to your current position. After this heavy rain, some underground beasts—mainly worm variants and ant variants—surface due to water filling their burrows; it is advised to prepare accordingly.
They read the message and nodded. It was manageable.
Leo then tossed the royal bloodline Skyreaver’s core to Kaelion.
"I will only take this; give the rest to Lily," Kaelion said calmly after receiving it.
"Are you sure?" Leo asked.
"Yes. It was my decision to give a core to Miho, so things should be deducted from me accordingly. 3 noble and 1 super bloodline core—more than enough."
Leo nodded; it was a sensible thought.
But instead of handing the cores to Lily, he simply brushed his hand over them, then told her to summon Lunaria and feed her some high-ranked mana crystals.
Ding!
>Beast Cores are compatible to be used on Windbreath Hound [Lunaria] due to the same affinities.
Ding!
>Windbreath Hound [Lunaria] (Low 3-star)
>Noble bloodline: 64% → 65% → 66% → 66%
>Low 3-star → Mid 3-star → High 3-star
He used the remaining super bloodline cores to enhance Lily’s hound. Since all of them carried lightning and wind elements, they matched perfectly with Lunaria’s affinity. But since they weren’t the same sort of beast, the bloodline didn’t advance. Thankfully, only the Tital Skybreaker had water affinity, which had already been used in the core given to Miho. So Lunaria didn’t acquire any new elemental affinity.
Ding!
Stats Updated: Lily
Vitality: 216 [1916 → 2016]
Strength: 208 [1908 → 2008]
Agility: 205 [1955 → 2055]
Stamina: 209 [1959 → 2059]
Intelligence: 3620 -> 3820 [5320 → 5520 -> 5620]
Mana: 144,800 -> 152800 [212,800 → 220,800 -> 224,800]
Lily effectively ranked up to a mid-4-star being; her aura underwent a clear qualitative shift right in front of everyone, the air around her subtly tightening.
Watching this, Katherine sighed in exasperation.
"No wonder she was growing at such a terrifying rate. It was because of you!" she said, pointing at Leo as if accusing him.
She then looked at Kaelion, her expression turning almost pitiful.
"My dear, if you want to keep up with these monsters, you’ll need to claim the benefits that the family provides. It won’t work if you keep ignoring them like you have been doing till now. Don’t you see? They grow strong simply by breathing. I doubt even your eldest brother will be able to compete with them in the coming years."
But Kaelion wasn’t paying attention to Katherine’s words. His gaze was fixed on Leo.
This guy... if I manage to make myself completely trustworthy... will he help me as he does with Lily? he thought.
Contrary to Leo’s expectations, his display of power had a completely different effect on Katherine, Kaelion, and even Sylrael. People who could let others gain strength through their talents were extremely rare—and at Leo’s level, they were practically unheard of.
If what Katherine had said was true, Leo literally had the power to turn people’s lives upside down. Be they strong or weak, both were equally vulnerable before the future Leo, who had mastered his talent. And having the opportunity to build a connection with him early on was nothing short of a blessing for people like Kaelion, who hungered for power.
But there was the cost of loyalty. And Kaelion found no reason not to be loyal or trustworthy. Leo’s moral character was ideal—not too evil for indiscriminate slaughter, nor too good to act without gain. Generous to his people and ruthless to his enemies. There was no reason not to side with him.
Leo passed the noble bloodline High 4-star Thunderveil Skyreaver beast core to Lily.
"Lily, use this core to summon the spirit in case you need backup in any situation. And if it’s left unused, I’ll use it again to enhance Lunaria more."
Lily nodded and stored it in her spatial ring. Leo could have used it on Lunaria immediately to turn her royal bloodline, but the core was from a High 4-star beast, which would push Lunaria straight into a pseudo 4-star or even a low 4-star state. Such a sudden jump in strength wouldn’t be ideal, especially when just a week ago she had tamed Hydra.
But then Lily suggested something.
"Leo, since this beast’s spirit will be lower-ranked than mine, it’s guaranteed to follow my orders even without being tamed. Why don’t we use it to fly in the sky and scavenge more fallen avian beasts farther away? With my current mana reserves, I can maintain it for nearly half an hour."
And that’s exactly what they did.
Not only that, with only Leo and Lily on the flight, he held her snugly from behind as they soared through the rain-heavy skies, which allowed him to channel his mana into her. Combined with their boosted mana recovery traits and potions, they maintained the flight for the past 4 hours.
With the Skyreaver’s speed reaching nearly 6 to 9 Mach and Leo’s nearly unlimited storage within his spiritual space, they gathered more than 20 corpses within the 5-hour window that the storm lasted. Unfortunately, they didn’t find a single living beast that Kaelion could tame.
---
"Are you sure?" Leo asked.
"Yes, I can handle a bit more power surge within my body," Lily replied, her eyes burning with determination. After Katherine mentioned that they weren’t unkillable inside the academy, Lily couldn’t rest easy. So she urged Leo to push Lunaria a bit further.
But it wasn’t only Lunaria who grew stronger. Leo used all the cores, flesh, and mana crystals gathered during the trip to feed Shyra, Nyxa, Niri, and the treant.
Katherine and Brant could only sit and watch as new monsters were born right before their eyes. They had taken it upon themselves to protect these two golden birds of humanity while they were still weak.
"At this rate, it won’t be long before the world cores notice them and start reaching out... We need to inform them beforehand so they make the correct decision," Brant said.
"Yeah, they’re still kids; we can’t let them be swayed by those hollow offers that every prodigy receives," Katherine replied, but Brant chuckled softly at her words.
"As far as I know, this brat will have the world cores run for their mills. And in the end, he’ll be the only one to benefit from all of them without giving anything in return."
But their attention snapped toward the meditating pair when Leo suddenly brought out two vibrant flower petals that filled the surroundings with vitality just by their mere presence.