Chapter 75: Beast core
Downstairs in the inn’s small dining area, a loud argument was taking place.
"What do you mean, I have to pay?!" Zena yelled at the inn owner.
"Boy... keep your voice down. I have paying guests here who are spending good money to sleep peacefully," the old man with the eyepatch scolded, wiping down a wooden table with a rag.
"Bullshit! By ’guests’, do you mean those Thorne psycho cousins upstairs who are actively mooching off me?!" Zena retorted, slamming his hand on the table. "And why is the cost this high?! Your inn is not even that fancy, and you only serve cheap food!"
The old man’s eye visibly twitched when he heard the ’cheap’ remark.
"Here is the total bill. Just pay it before the end of the week," the old man grunted, totally ignoring Zena’s insults as he slid a piece of paper across the wood. "And please don’t let me start causing a commotion in our sweet little town for you being the Baron’s adopted son who refuses to pay his tab."
"Yeah, I think you should just pay this one, bro," Sarah chimed in. She was sitting comfortably at a nearby table, casually eating a bowl of stew. "There is already that weird rumor going around town about you. If another one starts, it would look really bad for both you and the Main House, making it even harder for you to ever marry a nice girl."
The exact moment Sarah said that, Zena’s face flushed bright red.
"You—shut up! What do you know?!" Zena stammered defensively. "And why are you even talking to me?! I’m still mad at you for not coming back!" Snatching the bill from the old man’s hand, Zena turned and angrily dashed out the front door of the inn.
"For a fully grown man, he sure does get embarrassed so easily," the old man chuckled, shaking his head as he looked at the doorway where Zena had just left. "But man, I still can’t believe he is twenty-nine years old with that kind of boyish body. Sometimes I honestly wonder if it is a curse or a blessing."
Creak... creak... Heavy footsteps could suddenly be heard coming slowly down the wooden stairs.
"Oh, look who it is," the old man smiled, looking up. "Was my bed so much to your liking, young master, that it made you never come out of your room for two whole days?"
"Two days, huh? I guess that perfectly explains why my head is hurting and my stomach is growling like crazy," Ian muttered. He walked over and took a seat at the table directly opposite Sarah.
"I guess that’s my cue. Wait for just a few minutes, I will go make you something hearty to eat," the old man offered cheerfully, hopping back into the kitchen.
Left alone at the table, Ian started aggressively scratching his neck, staring blankly at Sarah as she ate. He didn’t say a single word, making the atmosphere in the room incredibly tense and uncomfortable.
"What’s up with you?" Sarah finally asked, putting her spoon down.
"What do you mean?" Ian replied, his voice flat.
"I mean your eyes, they look dull. Did you even look in a mirror this morning?" Sarah asked, pointing a finger at his face. "You look exactly like Isaac now. The only difference is that you aren’t that smart and you don’t know shit."
’Oh, she must mean the mental side effects of dying too many times in the simulation. My eyes must look completely dead,’ Ian thought, slowly reaching up and touching his face. ’Is this how Isaac usually feels on the inside? Now I see why he is not afraid of dying that much. The System did say the effects are not permanent as long as I don’t use the training simulation for a while. And the other cure is staying with my loved ones can help recover faster. But now I’m curious what caused Isaac to be like that.’
"And there you go, totally ignoring me and staring into space, exactly like that creepy cousin of yours," Sarah sighed, startling Ian out of his deep thoughts.
"Oh, sorry about that. I was just thinking about something," Ian mumbled.
"At least you actually have some manners, unlike him," Sarah noted, picking her spoon back up. "Well... why aren’t you mad at me like my brother is?"
"Mad at you? For what?" Ian asked, genuinely confused.
"For not bringing any backup when I left early during your fight with the Red Orcs," she explained, looking slightly guilty.
"Oooh, you mean that. I was actually wondering where you went," Ian said. His voice was completely cold and apathetic as his fingers went right back to scratching the phantom soreness on his neck. "But honestly, I don’t really care why you were gone or why you didn’t come back."
"Oh." Sarah was taken aback by how detached and blunt he sounded. "Well, I am sorry anyway. It’s just... my brother told me that you had to sacrifice a rare beast core just to survive the horde. That is why he was so angry with me for leaving you guys behind," Sarah explained with an apologetic look.
"Can you tell me exactly what that beast core does that made your brother so incredibly angry?" Ian asked, his dull eyes locking onto hers.
Sarah started chuckling softly. "You know, Isaac asked me the exact same question yesterday, in the exact same cold tone you just did."
Ian just stared at her silently, waiting for the answer.
"You guys really are family, huh?" she muttered, shivering slightly at the eerie resemblance in their detached behavior.
"Just tell me about the beast core," Ian pressed.
"Well, there is not a massive amount to talk about because beast cores are extremely hard to come by. Even high-tier Mages who specialize in magical research don’t fully understand them yet," Sarah explained, leaning forward over the table. "But we do know one main thing. If processed correctly, a beast core can permanently increase the natural mana capacity of a Mage... and it can also help Aura users violently refine their bodies, drastically increasing their maximum capacity of Aura."