Lord of Rot

The hidden power within this batch of horses had been awakened, a result of their bloodline and environment.

’Could this method be used to stimulate ordinary people into becoming Transcendents?’

Leech watched Little Joel ride over, pondering the thought.

’And what about the animals in Porcupine Territory? If they were all stimulated, would they turn into magical beasts too?’

’Unlikely.’

A pig for slaughter is just a pig for slaughter. There would be no change even going back dozens or hundreds of generations. The only exception would be if some pig’s ancestor had an unexpected encounter with a particularly amorous Giant Dragon, or some other high-level Magical Creature without reproductive barriers, thus improving the bloodline.

But that raised another question. The intelligence and strength of such high-level creatures were far superior to humans; their descendants would no longer be considered pigs.

Would they really be willing to return to a pigpen?

It was hard to say if they would even recognize the pigs in the pen as their kin.

When Little Joel dismounted, Leech nodded at him. "Not bad. Keep training them this way."

"Yes!"

"Good. Go on, get back to training."

’Ordinary cavalry have suddenly become elite cavalry with all-terrain capabilities. This is a massive gain.’

’Once Rocket breeds, the offspring should all be Horse-headed Eagles. Logically, once they reach adulthood, even if they can’t match Rocket, they should still be Extraordinary!’ Leech thought, watching Rocket, who was supervising the training with a shake of its head. Sensing Leech’s gaze, it turned to look at him.

"COO COO."

Leech raised his hand and gently stroked Rocket’s head.

"Oh, Rocket, I’ve prepared a whole harem for you. I’ll make sure you live a full life! The expansion of the Horse-headed Eagle Clan is all on you! My Horse-headed Eagle Cavalry Team is counting on you too."

"COO COO." Rocket tilted its head.

...

The Magic Scroll project had come to a complete standstill. To be precise, there had been no progress since the very first step—which was simply the Taven Scholar Toma transcribing the pattern of the Magic Array onto a sheet of paper.

Leech didn’t want to see such a profoundly knowledgeable scholar wasting his time here.

’Look at Betty. She’s already started on iterative designs for the flintlocks. As another one of my specialists, doesn’t he feel any shame?’

’While there was currently no way to mass-produce Transcendents, magic was a different story.’

’I have high-level talent. With the right education, more talent can be cultivated.’

"Is there a way to measure the strength of one’s Spiritual Power?" Leech asked, confiscating the drawing of the Magic Array from the Taven Scholar Toma. He wanted to keep him from getting in too deep; Toma wasn’t particularly old, but the hair on his head was already visibly thinning.

Worried that his understanding of magic might differ from Toma’s, he added, "I mean, when scholars normally select apprentices, are there any hard requirements? Are any tools needed?"

The Taven Scholar Toma eyed the drawing of the Magic Array that Baron Leech had hidden behind his back. "There don’t seem to be any strict requirements," he said. "One doesn’t have to know the arcane to be a scholar. It’s just that some apprentices become curious and begin to study it. Some scholars I know don’t understand the arcane at all."

’He had a point.’

’The Taven Scholar in Iron Stone City didn’t seem too fond of Magic either.’

The Taven Scholar Toma said, "If my Lord wishes to test for Caster aptitude, I do have one method."

"What method is that?"

"As long as one’s Spiritual Power meets a certain standard, they are qualified to become a Caster. I happen to have made a little gadget for this," the Taven Scholar Toma said, turning to rummage through his chest of treasures.

Soon, Leech spotted some very familiar Magic Alchemy Items.

For example, the stone that could detect gravity.

Just when Leech was expecting him to pull out something boring, the Taven Scholar Toma approached with a blue, teardrop-shaped gemstone the size of a fingernail.

"My Lord, this is a very interesting object I developed. By infusing it with Spiritual Power, one can make the gemstone light up."

’The classic testing device from the stories,’ Leech thought in surprise. "So this stuff actually exists!"

’I wonder if it can measure elemental affinities, too.’

"It’s not exactly a testing instrument. To be precise, it’s more of a toy to pass the time," the Taven Scholar Toma said, infusing his Spiritual Power into the gemstone, which began to emit a faint glow.

He gestured for Leech to take a closer look at the gemstone and explained, "I made this by imitating the structural principles of the arcane. You can control the construction and assembly of things inside it. The stronger your Spiritual Power, the stronger your control and the intensity of the effect."

Three points of light appeared above the gemstone. Under the Taven Scholar Toma’s control, they moved slowly, staying within a certain range.

Leech was intrigued. "Let me try!"

The Taven Scholar Toma stopped infusing his Spiritual Power. The gemstone went dark, and the points of light gradually shrank and vanished.

Leech took the gemstone and infused his Spiritual Power into it.

One unit of Spiritual Power was injected.

One point of light appeared.

He tried withdrawing his Spiritual Power; the cost was negligible.

Then, he poured in twenty units all at once. The gemstone’s light seemed to jump a level in brightness.

Twenty points of light drifted out and, under Leech’s control, formed the shape of the Porcupine family Emblem.

’Magical modeling!’

He then made the points of light shift again, forming a comical smiley face in the air.

Truly a work of art.

The Taven Scholar Toma already knew his Lord had extremely high talent as a Caster, but he was still astounded to see him effortlessly channel such a terrifying amount of Spiritual Power without a change in his expression. He couldn’t help but exclaim, "My Lord, your Spiritual Power is already stronger than that of some scholars."

’He just couldn’t quite understand his Lord’s aesthetic sensibilities. Perhaps it was some kind of mysterious Rune?’

"Make the preparations. We’re going to start testing and selecting apprentices."

The Taven Scholar Toma said, "You want to train apprentices? But I can only teach two people at most."

"I don’t need scholar apprentices," Leech said, shaking his head gently. "Knowledge takes years to accumulate. What I need are Casters."

’How great would it be if I could train a group of apprentices who could use enchantment magic to buff the troops before battle.’

’Before a charge, all the cavalry could be given Stoneskin and Haste, their lances enchanted with frost.’

’One charge, and the enemy would be completely wiped out.’

Leech himself didn’t know many spells—only a dozen or so—but the Taven Scholar Toma knew quite a few. Even if most were just "parlor tricks," they were more than enough.

For example, there was a spell Leech had learned from the Taven Scholar Toma called Mind Hand, which was also known as Mage’s Hand or Arcane Hand.

It formed a hand of Spiritual Power capable of moving objects up to ten pounds within a ten-meter range.

This spell could drastically improve production in Porcupine Territory. It could handle extreme temperatures that were otherwise untouchable, making it a huge help in forging alone.

What Leech needed was a group of Magic Farmers, not unlike the regular farmers outside who only knew how to swing a hoe.

These people wouldn’t need to understand the principles of magic or explore its mysteries; just knowing how to use one or two spells would be enough.

As he left, he took the blue gemstone with him.

The moment he returned to the castle, Leech summoned Arkke and Pitz—the two most likely to possess Caster talent.

’One of the Insect Control Remnant People, a budget Kerrigan.’

’The other, a Beast Language user, though he could only negotiate with animals, not command them.’

After testing, Arkke was found to have 16 units of Spiritual Power, and Pitz had 9.

’Arkke is clearly a natural prodigy. She’s only thirteen now; by the time she’s twenty, her Spiritual Power will probably be on par with mine. And Pitz, who awakened naturally, isn’t bad either.’

’Both of them were purely control and support types, but they would be even more useful if they could learn some magic.’

The other young male and female servants in the castle were extremely curious and gathered around to try, but unfortunately, none of them had any talent.

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