Traces of Dragon Essence

My balance had swollen in a single leap. One extra zero, and the whole world felt different.

【Would that sum even compare, once you dispose of all the goods you've earned?】

"It isn't my money until I sell them."

C-rank magic stones had dipped a little in price, so I decided to sit on them for now. The friendship fees I'd collected from the Hwarang Guild rookies were starting to run thin as well. Thickness of wallet, thickness of peace of mind—whoever said that had it exactly right.

【You are bound for the forge today, are you not, Master?】

"That was the plan."

I was swinging a hammer under the one-sided favor of the finest blacksmith in the country. A same-day cancellation wasn't irritating so much as curious—what on earth had come up?

I could always ask later.

【Your schedule has cleared, then. Perhaps a little swordplay······.】

"I've got something to do."

【Hmmmm.】

【Iron-head. Are you defying Master?】

【Defiance? I seek only to fulfill ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my loyalty!】

【So what is on today's agenda?】

"Material shopping."

I hadn't set foot in a Hunter Market in ages.

【Could you not simply order whatever you require through that portable telephone of yours?】

"I need to see them in person."

The peculiar properties nested in monster byproducts—options only Spirit Eye could reveal—meant I had to do the shopping myself.

【And once the shopping is done, if a little time remains······.】

【Silence, mage! Where do such wicked thoughts arise!】

Too many things to learn. I half-wished I could split myself in two. No—say that out loud and Sir Isra would probably light up and offer to do the splitting herself.

"Wouldn't my skills jump if I used magic and swordsmanship together in real combat?"

【Absolutely not!】

【No!】

Tch. The one time the two of them agreed on anything.

The Hunter Market after a full week. Measured in days it wasn't much of a gap, but so much had happened lately that the place felt almost unfamiliar.

"The Guui-dong Necromancer?"

"I hear he signed with some brand-new agency."

"No guild backing, so he's here for gear, I guess."

"Hmph. Outstanding for a D-rank, sure—but that form won't hold forever."

Maybe it was the contract with Boss Baek. Or maybe it was just hunters being hunters. A thin edge of hostility rode under their eyes and voices. Was I picking that up thanks to Heavenly Martial Body as well?

【It is the way of the world that the gifted invite the envy of the mediocre.】

Well now. Me—lifelong E-rank, forever called the weakest weapon in the room—getting jealous looks. I was almost moved.

【Does it trouble you?】

"Please. Trouble's a strong word."

Pity, worry, doubtful stares—I'd take wary eyes over any of those, any day.

【Haha. I have endured my share of such glances. Set your mind at ease.】

Yes, yes. Of course you have.

【Hmph. Brilliant with a sword, and not a scrap of tact in that iron head of yours.】

【Come, then, mage!】

The two souls started growling at each other again. Though Sir Isra seemed to have missed one detail: Ingrid hadn't bothered to contest the claim about her swordsmanship. So even the strongest mage of the Coven would concede that much?

With their bickering as my background music, I reached the monster-byproduct section.

【Is there anything in particular you seek?】

"No. Just browsing today."

I strolled at an easy pace and swept the goods with Spirit Eye.

······

Plenty of usable material. The problem was the grades sitting far too high.

【Even if a byproduct's grade is high, crafting itself is still possible, is it not?】

"The spec drop is brutal."

I could handle byproducts up to C-rank without penalty. B-rank materials lost half their specs. Anything A-rank or above actively poisoned the undead's stats. Back when I still had more guts than sense, I'd sunk expensive stuff like ogre muscle into a build and watched the money vanish. The hollow feeling of two months' wages gone in a single craft—

Ugh. Still left a bad taste.

【So you'll only look at C-rank and below?】

"Not necessarily."

【Hah. Knightly doctrine warns against a heart that sways like a reed.】

"That's rich, coming from you, Sir Isra."

【W-when have I ever—!】

Put a hand on your conscience and think about it.

"This time I'm hunting materials that help with special abilities or remodeling."

The growth found inside the evolved Predator Ghoul—there might be other mutated organs that carried that same ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠"Predation" property.

【You may come up empty-handed.】

"I'm not expecting miracles."

I wasn't counting on finding a special organ. Even so, I might still turn up parts useful for undead remodeling—or a relatively intact magic-type monster corpse that could pad out our firepower.

【As expected of Master! I do so wish to fill out the mage corps and be of greater use to you.】

A soft excitement threaded through Ingrid's thoughts. With the knight order fully staffed, a quiet competitive streak had clearly taken hold. I was already pushing her magical research whenever I had a spare moment. Once I secured the numbers, I expected solid firepower even from the mages who weren't Ingrid herself.

I was scanning the vacuum-packed byproducts when—

"Huh?"

A strange description caught my eye.

Dragon race?

【I feel as though I have seen something like this before.】

"The Elecro Fighter."

【Ah! The beast you keep stored in your death-space.】

The boss monster I'd run into in a D-rank gate—a reptilian creature that looked like a crocodile. The Elecro Fighter's corpse had carried the exact same description. It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was big enough to serve as a base body for an Armed Zombie Warrior, so I'd left it sitting on the shelf after that first unfamiliar line of text.

【And what manner of creature is a Chrono Lizard?】

【A fire-breathing lizard. There were stories that its distant ancestors were dragons—looks like they were true.】

【I see. No such beast existed on our continent.】

Hmm. Right—the two of them had lived in different worlds before they died.

"Ingrid, did your world call them Chrono Dragons too?"

【Yes. Even the pronunciation is identical.】

Strange. Different worlds, same name. Even in our country, people in different regions sometimes called the same object by slightly different words.

【The structure of dimensions. I'd love to research it if I ever get the chance.】

That was a little deep for me. I'd leave the complicated talk to the professors of Rift Studies. For now, the question was what to do with a byproduct that held dragon essence.

"Boss—how much for those vocal cords?"

"Chrono Dragon? Ten million a piece."

"A bit steep."

"No haggling."

"I'm not asking for a discount. Just wondering why they're so expensive."

"They're used as catalysts to boost explosion magic, and in potion-making too, from what I hear."

【The applications match our world as well.】

Magic catalyst and potion ingredient. Fair enough for the price.

"I'll take all of them."

"Three pieces, so thirty million total."

Heh. Much appreciated, Boss Baek. With a billion won in fresh ammunition that morning, thirty million barely registered. Once I liquidated the C-rank magic stones, I was going to buy even more expensive monster byproducts.

Kehehehehe!

【There may yet be more byproducts that hold dragon essence.】

Oh. Good point, Sir Isra. Plenty of bullets left. Today I was going to comb every corner of the Hunter Market and strip it of anything worth taking.

One hour of shopping later, the thing getting thoroughly cleaned out was my bank account.

"Over three hundred million in a single hour."

A third of the contract deposit, gone. Selling the C-rank magic stones would more than recover it—but I still wondered if I'd spent it too easily.

The haul looked like this:

I hadn't bought them one at a time, either. I'd matched them into full sets of three.

【You seem to have gone rather far.】

【For magical research, that much is the bare minimum, iron-head.】

Whether it was "minimum" or not, there hadn't been any more byproducts carrying dragon essence. I'd just scraped together whatever I could find.

On top of that—

—I'd bought those as well.

Lucky, I supposed. None of them were in as good a condition as the one I'd hunted in the gate. Some were just torsos. Others had a single arm or leg barely still attached. Apparently they'd been put up for sale to tamer-type hunters. Adding the byproducts I needed for arms and legs on top of that had burned through a fair chunk of my balance.

"Tch."

I'd been thinking of buying Sir Isra and Ingrid something nice if the chance came up. With Boss Baek's contract money, I couldn't push any further.

I packed the purchased byproducts into the subspace carrier and headed back to the workshop.

"All right. Let's try this."

【What do you intend this time?】

"I'm going to link the dragon essences together and try to stimulate them."

Embed dragon-essence-bearing parts throughout the base corpse, then connect them with spirit circuits. Provoke a reaction, and something ought to awaken—one way or another.

And if it didn't?

"Then that's that."

Don't worry. Back in my E-rank days I'd come up empty more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠times than I could count. I made better money now, so cleaning up after a failure wouldn't take long.

【It does seem plausible.】

"Really?"

【Energies of a similar nature tend to respond to one another.】

When the Witch of Solar Eclipse herself said so, even confidence I didn't have started rising.

This time I used a ghoul as the base instead of a zombie warrior. I pulled out the most damaged Elecro Fighter corpse.

I seamlessly joined the reptilian monster's arms and legs, then—

—linked every dragon-essence site I'd embedded with circuits.

Whew. I'd learned the ghoul crafting method, but this was my first time actually setting one up. Keeping the dragon essence in mind on top of everything else, I worked straight through lunch without noticing.

【Have you completed every preparation?】

"Yeah."

【Call us out as well. We should be ready for the unexpected.】

Fair point. I summoned both thralls, then—

"Open your eyes."

I poured mana into the finished Elecro Fighter corpse.

Same messages I'd seen when I made the Armed Zombie Warrior. My heart hammered. What kind of result would come out of this?

The Elecro Fighter's corpse began to swell. And then—

BOOOOM!