Chapter 88: Chapter 76: Unexpected Discovery

"Alright, don’t look at it like that. Shushu started from a low point, so getting this far is already quite impressive." Seeing Liu Li’s cold stare fixed on Shushu, Isaac thought she was looking down on its abilities. He hopped down from Harmon’s palm and couldn’t help but offer an explanation on its behalf.

"Gyehehe~"

Harmon let out a mocking laugh as it flew over, plucked Shushu up, and placed it on Isaac’s shoulder.

Liu Li said nothing, merely retracting her icy gaze and giving a quiet nod.

"Speaking of which, why did you suddenly get so angry just now?" Isaac asked curiously, stroking Shushu’s head while sizing up the mound of flesh on the ground, which had completely lost its human form and was now writhing ceaselessly.

"Squeak squeak!"

’I know! I know! An arrow just grazed Liu Li’s face, and then...’

Just as Shushu, eager to take credit, got halfway through its explanation, it felt a piercing stare. The gaze was so intense it made its fur stand on end!

"And then what happened?" Isaac first glanced at Liu Li’s calm face. Seeing no wound, he turned back to the rat on his shoulder and stroked it to soothe its panicked heart.

"Squeak..."

’And then... and then, the arrow was poisoned, and then I don’t know what happened.’

The moment it finished, Shushu could clearly feel the stare on it vanish, and it couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Floating in the air, the eye in Harmon’s palm darted from Shushu to Liu Li, a thoughtful look appearing in its scarlet depths.

’Based on what I know about Shushu, it was definitely coerced!’

Shushu didn’t have much of a brain; it usually just blurted out whatever it saw. Its brain was so small it was almost nonexistent, so it had no filter. As a result, it often said rather offensive things.

’So, Shushu must have seen some secret of Liu Li’s and was threatened by her. As for what that secret is...’

Harmon blinked its blood-red palm-eye, then tossed the thought aside. ’Whatever it is, it’s not important.’

Harmon’s claw tapped lightly on Shushu’s head. "Hiss~ You still have a ways to go~"

"Squeak~" Shushu lowered its head, dejected, and nodded.

Isaac paid no mind to the interaction between Harmon and Shushu. Instead, he moved closer to Liu Li, carefully inspecting her fair cheek with a slight frown. "The arrow was poisoned? Are you poisoned?"

Liu Li shook her head, her expression calm as she said, "It was, but it was just an ordinary poison, ineffective against me. I just got angry thinking that he dared to shoot such an arrow at you."

Shushu: "???"

’She just made that up on the spot? And said it so naturally?’

’Bad woman!’

’No, bad tumor!’

Seeing Liu Li lie so casually, Shushu’s simple and innocent little mind was dealt a considerable shock.

Isaac, however, didn’t notice any of this. He simply smiled, reached out to ruffle Liu Li’s hair, and said, "Thank you for your concern, but you should be more focused on your own safety. You’re the one on the front lines, after all."

"Mm," Liu Li nodded lightly, the corners of her mouth turning up by four pixels, her eyes narrowing by five. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

She was in a very good mood, though it was still impossible to tell.

Isaac looked at the mound of flesh on the ground and casually tossed a ball of Flame at it, setting it alight. The CRACKLING flames caused a multitude of tentacles to sprout from the mound, which writhed in what seemed to be extreme, silent agony.

However, that was all the Flame could do. Although the mound of flesh looked grotesque, it was still a Tier Two lifeform. The damage from the Flame Isaac had casually tossed was extremely limited.

So, after a moment’s thought, Isaac casually extinguished the Flame. Then, Harmon spread its five fingers and let out a demonic shriek, and an invisible wave of Magic Power spread out from Isaac.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK~~"

In an instant, Demonized Rats crawled out from everywhere and swarmed the corpses on the riverbank. They gnawed on the bodies voraciously until they had eaten their fill, then plunged directly into the river.

Isaac watched the Demonized Rats, who were expending tremendous effort just to tear off a tiny piece of flesh, and sighed helplessly. ’It’s a shame Warriors don’t have Magic Power in their bodies. Otherwise, this wouldn’t be so troublesome. I could have just used their corpses as casting components.’

’But it doesn’t matter. If they eat slowly, they’ll finish eventually.’

’The two Great Warrior corpses are the most troublesome. The Demonized Rats are too weak. Not only can they not chew through the flesh, they might even be killed by the Activated flesh...’

Hm?

Just as he was about to turn and leave, Isaac froze. A flash of insight struck him. He lowered his head and stared intently at the twisting mound of flesh on the ground, his brow slowly furrowing.

A moment later, he recalled that fleeting flash of insight!

He knew what was wrong!

’The Flesh Conversion Magic isn’t something that can use just any flesh as a component. It requires Demonized Flesh—that is, flesh that contains Magic Power. This was one of the reasons I never wanted to specialize in summoning minions; without my Infinite Magic Power, the method is just too expensive.’

’You’re not fighting a battle at that point, you’re just burning through Gold Coins!’

’And that’s where the problem lies. Flesh Mutation is an extension of Flesh Conversion, so just like its predecessor, it requires the target to have Magic Power within them. So, the question is...’

’Since Warriors don’t have Magic Power in their bodies, how could they have been affected?’

’Magic Power in this world isn’t like in the novels from my past life, where everyone has it, just in different amounts.’

’Magic Power is not an essential energy for the human body. On the contrary, if an ordinary person has no means to control it, they will gradually be transformed into a Demon, even with just a tiny amount of Magic Power!’

’Therefore, an ordinary person’s body actually rejects Magic Power. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have ended up on the path of a Legendary Mage. If my body had even a trace of Magic Power, I would have become an Arcanist long ago with the help of my Golden Finger.’

’So, do Warriors actually have Magic Power in their bodies?’

Isaac stared at the writhing corpse on the ground, his brow furrowed. ’If that’s the case, then things just got interesting. It would mean that the Warrior’s Path of the Extraordinary also has the potential for upward advancement!’

’In the future, we might even see the emergence of Advanced Warriors!’

Gazing at the writhing mound of flesh on the ground, Isaac sighed again. He gave Liu Li a wave and turned toward the carriage.

’What a pity. The timing is off. I don’t have anywhere to store these two specimens, otherwise I’d really like to study them properly.’

The Isaac of today was no longer the novice Wizard of six months ago who would feel pity for humanoid monsters. The current him was utterly emotionless!

"SQUELCH! SQUELCH!"

Behind him, having received Isaac’s command, Liu Li pulled a large blade from beneath her skirt. She casually executed the mounds of flesh on the ground, then merged the blade back into her body.

Then, Harmon also retracted into Isaac’s body. The two of them and the one rat boarded the carriage one after another. A glint of light flashed in the eyes of the two white horses pulling the pumpkin carriage as they began to move on their own, heading directly for the place where Liu Li had been created the day before.