Chapter 93

"What is this?"

Galden, who had grown a new neck, lunged at me.

While repelling him with my magic armor, I was perplexed.

The original neck of Galden was indeed lying on the ground, yet another neck had grown.

I didn't think Galden's head had much material, but if this could be applied to other creatures, wouldn't it be possible to cut off their heads, apply the medicine, and regenerate them repeatedly, thus allowing for infinite material recovery?

In Galden's case, the body is more valuable as material than the neck.

So, I tried applying the medicine to Galden's neck to see if the body could regenerate.

...But it didn't regenerate.

"Is it a freshness issue?"

Snap.

I cut off Galden's neck again and immediately applied the medicine.

However, it didn't regenerate. It didn't seem to be planarian-like regeneration.

If I were to think in human terms, the head would be the side that regenerates.

But what about monsters? If the brain isn't the key, what part of the body could be the core...?

Perhaps it's the heart or the magic stone.

I don't know where a monster's heart is, so I'll try with the magic stone for now.

Snap, snap. I cut Galden into three pieces, leaving the smallest part in the middle with the magic stone.

I intended to apply the medicine to both cut surfaces...

"Oops."

The healing power of this medicine exceeded my expectations.

Just applying it to one side caused almost Galden's entire body to regenerate.

It seems the magic stone is the basis for regeneration.

If I split the magic stone in half, would two Galdens be born?

Snap.

Poor Galden suffered a fatal wound for the fifth time today.

This time, I left half of the magic stone in each half.

Even with a magic sword, the magic stone wasn't easy to cut, and the cut surface was a bit rough... but it's fine.

I applied a little medicine to each half of the magic stone.

...And bodies grew.

"Great! Galden has multiplied!"

Galden had unexpectedly become planarian-like.

But upon closer inspection, this regeneration was a bit different.

The revived Galden was smaller.

When I cut one of them again, I found that the magic stone didn't regenerate, and the regenerated Galden had a half-sphere magic stone.

While checking the status, I further cut the magic stone to create a Galden with a quarter-sized magic stone.

This Galden was noticeably weaker.

It was stronger than a Green Wolf but much weaker than a Gargon.

Additionally, its name had changed from "Galden" to "Lesser Galden."

It seems that as the magic stone gets smaller, the name degrades as well.

But this degradation might be a chance.

The reason monsters in the monster realm can't be eaten directly is due to the excessive amount of magic essence.

However, I don't think these low-level monsters have that much magic essence.

If they can be eaten directly, this attribute-granting healing medicine could be used for mass food production.

If there were ethical or animal protection groups in this world, they might storm in angrily, but such things don't exist here.

If I create a device to cut off everything but the magic stone, apply a drop of the medicine, and then cut off everything but the magic stone again... it would be an automatic meat manufacturing machine.

For now, I'll think about the device when I return to the guild. For now, I'll continue the experiment.

If a monster with a magic stone can regenerate, can I create a monster from a magic stone in my item box?

Thinking this, I searched my item box.

The first thing I noticed was a dragon's magic stone.

"No way."

I might be able to easily defeat a smaller one, but if I fail, it would be a disaster.

Moreover, dragons have too much HP, and I might not have enough medicine.

For the same reason, sub-dragons are out of the question.

After some thought, I decided on the Metal Lizard.

It's rare to find a monster with such high material demand. Plus, it relies on its armor and has low HP, so a single drop of the medicine should suffice.

I applied the medicine to the magic stone with hope.

To prepare for the regeneration of a large body, I flew backward.

...But it didn't regenerate.

Perhaps monsters in the item box can't regenerate.

Feeling a bit disappointed, I took out a random, safe-looking magic stone and applied the medicine.

Some of them regenerated.

Two out of three Gargon magic stones and one out of two Green Wolf magic stones successfully regenerated.

Thinking about it, I usually extract magic stones normally, but I burned the Metal Lizard to extract the magic stone.

In games, there's often a time limit for resurrection.

The issue might be the time between the monster's death and when it's stored in the item box.

Testing this, it seemed my hypothesis was correct.

Monsters that had been dead for a long time couldn't regenerate.

The threshold was about two minutes.

...Well, I've probably tried everything I can safely do alone.

I defeated the regenerated monsters and stored them in the item box.

Besides dragons, sub-dragons, and Metal Lizards, there was an interesting magic stone.

A magic stone with attributes added by my magic.

I should test this.

However, all the magic stones I've created so far took a long time to make.

So I first flew up, regenerated a Green Wolf from the magic stone, and hit it with a compressed fire spell, burning it instantly.

I used a Green Wolf because it's relatively safe even if something goes wrong.

Even if it's strengthened, it's still just a Green Wolf. Nothing to fear.

Thinking this, I regenerated a monster from the magic stone and realized it was a mistake.

The regenerated monster wasn't a Green Wolf.

"...Fire Wolf?"

The monster that appeared wasn't a Green Wolf but a Fire Wolf, not a Red Wolf.

Its stats were closer to a Gargon than a Green Wolf. In a normal town, it would be a powerful monster.

Its fur was burning, but the Fire Wolf itself didn't seem to be damaged.

The Fire Wolf growled at me...

And fell, crashing into the ground.

Of course, it regenerated in the air above the monster realm.

The fallen Fire Wolf managed to survive with its enhanced stats but was barely breathing with broken legs.

I wanted to check the material, so I finished it off.

As the Fire Wolf died, the flames covering its body disappeared.

But the fur left behind was clearly of higher quality than a Green Wolf's.

If I took it to an armor shop, it might fetch a good price.

I've even created a powerful new species of monster.

If I do the same with a Metal Lizard, it would be even more interesting.

Sub-dragons and dragons... are out of the question.

However, both the magic stones and this healing medicine seem to be dangerous technologies involving magic attributes.

Should they be sealed away?

No, that's not the case.

The people of this world will likely need to fight dragons multiple times to maintain their civilization.

Even the ancient civilization, which developed many powerful artifacts, probably fell to dragons.

We should strive to enhance our combat strength using this technology.

Even if we can't handle a group of dragons, at least we should be able to defeat one.

With this technology, it's not impossible.

The development of "Magic Freeze" also requires attribute-infused magic stones.

In any case, let's focus on the immediate problem.

Testing the Fire Wolf's fur is good, but it's a bit underwhelming since it's originally a Green Wolf.

As armor, Green Wolf material is only suitable for beginners.

I'd like to experiment with something for intermediate users, like a Gargon.

Even if a Gargon is somewhat strengthened, it won't reach the level of a sub-dragon.

So, the method is the same as with the Green Wolf.

I flew up, burned the Gargon, and then applied the medicine to its magic stone to revive it.

As expected, a burning Gargon appeared.

Its name was "Flame Gargon," not "Fire."

The Flame Gargon, like the Fire Wolf, fell due to gravity and landed with a thud.

However, it didn't seem to be damaged.

Clearly, the material difference between a Green Wolf and a Gargon is significant.

I wanted to see the strength of the monster born from the attribute-infused magic stone, so I didn't kill it immediately and provoked it to attack.

Despite the name change, it's still a simple monster, and the Flame Gargon immediately charged at me.

"Come on!"

I didn't dodge but prepared to receive the attack.

Seeing this, the Flame Gargon...

"Roar!"

Let out a roar that didn't seem like a Gargon's, slowed down, and then...

Released a fire breath at me.

Hey, wasn't it supposed to charge?