Lord of Rot

A long table was set in the castle’s spacious courtyard.

A broom rested beside the table, and on top of it were several water cups, spoons, and a few chopsticks.

Qingtian the black cat was sprawled on the table.

It lazily swayed its tail, PURRRRING as it sunbathed, the picture of leisure.

Leech stood by the table, looking at the two youths before him.

When they turned to look at him with questioning gazes, Leech gave a slight nod, signaling for them to begin.

The black-haired youth went first, chanting a Spell.

One of the chopsticks on the table slowly rose, followed by a second. The pair circled around him.

After two rotations, the chopsticks fell limply to the ground.

This was Mage’s Hand, a minor trick with little practical use.

Still, successfully casting this Magic proved the youth could indeed be considered a Caster.

A useless Caster.

The other youth, the one with yellow hair, also began to chant a Spell.

His Spiritual Power was a bit stronger than the black-haired youth’s.

The cup on the table flew up in an instant.

His control, however, was far worse than the black-haired youth’s.

The cup didn’t so much fly as it did launch into the sky. It lost control at its apex, tracing a parabola before smashing squarely onto the yellow-haired youth’s own head.

”Ouch!” he cried, clutching his head as he squatted on the ground.

Leech’s eye twitched.

Today was the day to test the Magic Apprentices’ training progress.

Their performance was abysmal, to say the least, but Leech was actually quite pleased.

He raised his right hand and casually crooked his index finger. The two chopsticks and the cup on the ground slowly flew up, drifting back onto the table.

Qingtian the black cat, who had been dozing, shot up as the cup and chopsticks flew in front of its face. It craned its head forward curiously, seeming to wonder how these little objects could move on their own.

The two youths watched Leech with pure admiration.

The Lord had demonstrated exquisite skill. The gap between his abilities and their own was immense, and they wondered how long it would take to catch up to him.

”Go back and continue to train hard,” Leech encouraged the two youths. ”I look forward to the day you fully master Magic and become true Casters.”

”Yes, Lord!”

The two youths departed in high spirits, their bodies buzzing with motivation after receiving their Lord’s praise and acknowledgement.

Suddenly, Leech’s focus sharpened.

Corpse Ghost Guy—so grievously injured he could no longer reveal his true face to ordinary people—had just received an invitation from the Round Table Council.

Ah Yamei had received one as well.

Leech’s face broke into a smile. ’Finally, another meeting.’

...

”SQUEAL!”

Lacy held down a furiously kicking Porcupine with both hands.

This Porcupine was twice the size of an ordinary pig.

From behind, Chuina joined in, pinning down the Porcupine’s hindquarters.

It took two Transcendents just to barely restrain a single Porcupine with awakened magical beast blood, a testament to its incredible strength.

This was a non-lethal takedown, however. If they weren’t holding back, a dead Porcupine would be lying on the ground right now.

Leech glanced at Scholar Toma, who was preparing off to the side.

He had thought Scholar Toma’s research into Rune Magic would take a long time and, much like the Magic Scrolls, might ultimately be abandoned.

But unexpectedly, after just a day or two, Scholar Toma had sought him out and announced that he was ready to begin the Rune experiment.

Because of this, Leech had to postpone his immediate plans to travel to Iron Wall Castle.

Scholar Toma’s proposed research method was to experiment with Runes on a Porcupine that had been enhanced with bloodline herbs.

”Whew!”

Scholar Toma let out a long breath. He picked up a quill, gathered his prepared materials, and walked over to the Porcupine.

The first stroke was drawn.

The Porcupine didn’t react much.

Scholar Toma had practiced drawing the Rune countless times on paper. Once he began, his movements were fluid and unbroken.

A peculiar Magic Rune appeared on the Porcupine’s back.

Leech recognized the Rune. It represented ”strength.”

Scholar Toma placed one hand on the Rune on the Porcupine’s back and recited a Spell.

He was infusing it with Spiritual Power.

The two Transcendents holding the creature down suddenly felt the Porcupine’s struggles intensify dramatically.

The Porcupine’s head bucked violently. Lacy, who was holding it down, cried out in surprise as he was forced half a step back.

Luckily, he reacted quickly, digging his toes into the dirt and putting all his strength into his legs to halt his retreat.

He forced the Porcupine’s head back to the ground.

”Success?” Leech asked, pleasantly surprised.

But soon, the magical beast Porcupine began to foam at the mouth and emit incessant, agonized squeals.

Its struggles grew even more violent. The two Transcendents could now only barely contain it, and the pit its hooves were gouging in the earth deepened.

Finally, with a THUD, the Porcupine collapsed, motionless.

”Lord, this Porcupine is dead.”

Lacy, who was closest to the head, noticed the change and quickly turned to inform Leech.

The Rune had drained the creature’s strength and Life Force. In other words, Scholar Toma’s research had failed.

This result matched the records in the original rune scholar’s research notes, which had also failed to find a breakthrough.

Leech looked at Scholar Toma. A frenzied Porcupine that only lasted a few seconds was not what he needed.

But Scholar Toma shook his head. ”Lord, don’t be hasty.”

He produced a knife and plunged it into the Porcupine’s corpse.

This magical beast Porcupine, stronger than a normal adult of its kind, didn’t shed a single drop of blood when stabbed.

Gripping the knife, Scholar Toma quickly cut around the Rune, carving out a large slab of hide and the flesh attached to it.

The flesh beneath was dry and shriveled, like a mummy’s.

Scholar Toma held up the runed piece of flesh with one hand. Placing his other palm on it, he once again recited a Magic Spell.

The Rune began to glow again.

”Lord, this is the result I wished to show you.”

Leech’s eyes lit up slightly.

A successfully crafted Rune might drain life, but as long as it was carved out, it could still be used.

’In other words, it can be made into equipment for ordinary people to use!’

”And that’s not all.” Scholar Toma produced another object—a glass crystal.

The crystal seemed to contain a fluorescent energy, reminiscent of the light from a glow-gnat larva.

Scholar Toma placed the crystal on the Rune.

The Rune began to flash continuously. Even after Scholar Toma removed his hands from the hide, the Rune remained active.

”Energy storage!”

Leech was overjoyed. He hadn’t expected that after giving the energy-storing staff to Toma, the perpetually unreliable scholar would actually manage to create a Magic Battery.

’...Or an energy storage crystal.’

”How many units can it store?” Leech asked quickly.

Scholar Toma replied: ”Currently, it can only store 1 unit at most.”

”And the production cost?”

”50 Silver Moons.”

Leech gritted his teeth. ”I’ll increase your funding. You can also make free use of the magical beasts bred from the bloodline herbs. My requirements are simple: find a way to lower the cost and increase the storage capacity!”

”Yes, Lord!” Scholar Toma was overjoyed.

The reason he had demonstrated the energy storage crystal to the Lord today was precisely to secure more investment from Leech.

The entire domain was focused on development; the Lord would only invest more funds in projects that promised the greatest returns.

Everything was a matter of resource allocation.

For example, soap sales had plateaued and couldn’t compete with beer and Porcupine Wine, so funding for the soap factory had been partially cut. The money saved was naturally funneled into the brewery to expand its scale of production.

Just then, the energy storage crystal suddenly shattered with a POP.

Leech was stunned. ”It’s single-use?”

Scholar Toma nodded awkwardly. ”Yes, Lord.”

’If it were reusable, 50 Silver Moons for 1 unit of Spiritual Power would be acceptable.’

’But for a single-use item, the cost is a bit too high.’

In the end, however, Leech gritted his teeth. ”Fine. Continue the research!”