Furthermore, only dungeon monsters above level 30 dropped them, and the drop rate for such cores was greater than 50%, considering his experiences with the two intelligent creatures he’d defeated, both of whom had dropped a Wisdom Core.
Without any hesitation, Val consumed the cores. As they descended down his throat, a wave of corruption surged from within them. Yet, it had no impact on Val, whose Unfeeling Trait made him immune to any fear that this corruptive force might typically instill to corrupt one’s mind, body, and soul, and transform them into a mindless killing machine.
[Constitution Strengthening Level 3 Core Consumed! Your HP has increased to 18 points!]
[Strength Enhancing Level 3 Core Consumed! Your Strength has increased to 33 points!]
[Level 3 Wisdom Core Consumed. Your Soul Power reserve has increased to 270 units! Your soul power production rate has increased to 70 units/hour]
“This feeling… I can never get enough of it!” Val relished in the feeling of growing stronger.
Val’s attention then shifted to the Evolution Material. It was the Royal Nectar – a rare and valuable substance for all people carrying the Whitemore Bloodline in their veins.
The Royal Nectar was a key ingredient in the Transcendent Serum, a potion potent enough to advance the Whitemore bloodline to the third level with a 100% success rate. The Royal Nectar was a key ingredient in the Bloodline Upgrading Potion, a potion potent enough to advance the Whitemore bloodline to the third level. Of course, surviving the potion’s force of corruption and the subsequent tribulation that would undoubtedly descend upon consumption were prerequisites. The potion required two other ingredients as well: the scales of a beast known as the Eldertail Snake, and the Spiritroot of the Verdant Giant, a rare plant.
“But I have no idea where they are,” Val muttered to himself, turning the Royal Nectar in his hands. “I can only hope to find them by venturing into the wild more often. Getting Eliana’s blessing might also help, but I will have to make her happy so she will sincerely pray for me.” A hint of worry tinged his voice as he stressed over the fact that if the prayers weren’t sincere enough, they wouldn’t take any effect.
Once he was done contemplating, Val commanded his undead minions to bring the bodies of all the Worker bees to him through the psychic link he shared with his undead minions. If this link didn’t exist, things would’ve been more troublesome.
The undead hoisted the bodies on their shoulder and began marching towards their creator. 𝚘𝓋𝔩xt.𝑐𝒐𝚖
Soon, a pile of bees’ carcasses lay before Val.
He wasted no time and activated his Blood Absorption Bloodline Skill, sucking the life force out of half of the worker bees.
[System Notification: Your Blood Bank has been replenished. Current units: 1800.]
Having satiated his need for blood, he offered the next three bees to the cursed sword, feeding its insatiable appetite. It reacted almost instantly, the rage meter hitting 100% and making the skill Crimson Slash available for use. He finally had this trump card ready at his fingertips!
“Dismember them, collect their cores, and give them to me.”
Then Val instructed them to disassemble the worker bees for their cores. The undead ripped into the bees, their claws skilfully gouging out cores from their flesh, and handed them to Val. These weren’t useful for him, but they would definitely attract interested buyers back in the Northern Frontier. There was no shortage of level 1 to 3 bloodline users there, after all.
Next, Val cast the Corpse Sacrifice Skill on the Queen Bee and all the worker bees. The shrine quickly devoured the offered meals, the largest it had ever received, and converted them into power to create undead, transferring it to the Devil God.
[System Notification: You have gained the power to create a few level 3 undead or more than a dozen level 2 undead.]
Choosing the latter option, Val watched as his undead army grew, its numbers increasing to a formidable 30, and all of them were the powerful level 2 undead!
‘Now all I need to do to test Gruul’s theory and complete the dungeon is locate the dungeon core.’
Usually, the strongest monster in a dungeon would have the dungeon core. Val had thoroughly searched the Queen’s body but was unable to find the dungeon core. He suspected it must be within their hive.
Val took to the sky with the help of his flying broom, gaining a superior view of the forest. Some moments later, he saw what he was looking for.
The bees’ hive was located in the depth of the forest. It was a massive structure, reminiscent of a giant honeycomb with numerous holes punctuating its exterior.
Without hesitation, Val flew into one of these holes.
He used wizardry to pump a few units of soul power out of his Arcane Heart, pouring them into his eyes. Immediately, the weakest form of his Heavenly Eye activated, and the world around him became semi-transparent.
This allowed him to see through the many walls of the hive.
Right in the center of the hive, he spotted the dungeon core.
He immediately rode the broom there.
The core was nestled amidst a pool of honey, which was shining enticingly, a refreshing and sweet scent wafting out of it. Casting Detect on it, a game-like screen popped up, full of information.
[System Notification: Dungeon Core – Edible.
Warning: Consumption induces hallucinations.
Value: Natural drug potential.]
Val contemplated the information. He had no personal use for the substance; he didn’t partake in drugs and wasn’t interested in starting. However, he knew that the Northerners might pay a considerable sum for it, given their tendency to seek relief from stress caused by living on the edge in such ways.
He had no container to hold the honey, but this was easily solved with the help of his cursed artifact, the Void Orb. At his command, the orb opened a black hole above the pool of honey. It released a powerful powerful suction force, drawing all the honey into its void, and then closed.
[System Notification: Honey Stored – 300 Liters.]
It was a huge amount of drugs. Val thought he might be able to make a few to several thousand contribution points by selling it, depending on how much a liter was worth on the market. Of course, this was just an estimate. ‘I would have to mingle with the northerners to know its true worth ‘
After that, Val turned his attention back to the dungeon core.
He picked it up carefully, placing it in his pocket dimension in order to test out Gruul’s theory.