Beast Core

The amount of exasperation Erick was feeling right now couldn't be quantified.

'Why?!' He exclaimed in frustration.

The system he had received after his transmigration was one of the biggest trump cards one could receive but at the same time it was something that often didn't act in a rational manner.

Based on the exp gains at higher levels, Erick had expected enough exp to catapult him into the ranks of grand knights.

Even beasts at level 29 had given better rewards. In this case he had involved a deity's power and yet he gained so little out of it.

"Ahm…Erick?...Erick…helloo?"

Erick woke up from his daze and looked irritated at the source of the voice.

"What?" He asked gruffly while looking at the embodiment of the goddess.

"Nothing, but why aren't you siphoning the power of the beast core while you can? You do know that as soon as a warbeast dies it's core starts to deteriorate, right?"

Hecate looked at Erick as if he was being really stupid, which was kind of true. Only, it was not by design. Erick seriously didn't know what the goddess was talking about.

"Huh?" Was all he could utter.

"Ahuh?" Even though Hecate was a goddess she was not omnipotent, especially since she was not her true self. So she replied with the best response she could come up with.

Erick's eyes widened as he felt the whole thing preposterous.

"Don't ahuh me…I am asking what you mean with beast core? Do you mean the mana core inside the beast? How will that help me?" Erick asked in one breath. Was there something he was missing?

"No, mana cores and beast cores are two different things. Mana cores are crystallization of mana inside a beast. It's just a random occurrence. The mana cores are of little use to people, except smiths who can embed such sores to weapons and magic staff."

Erick nodded while listening about mana cores. He had already discovered the random nature of the appearance of mana cores.

"Okay, makes sense but what are beast cores then?" He asked curiously.

"Beast cores are something only beasts from warbeast level and up have. It's the conscious gathering and condensation of mana in a beast."

"What's the difference?" Erick asked, annoyed. The two things sounded almost the same to him. He of course realized that there were some minute differences between the two descriptions but he failed to understand how one was more beneficial than the other.

"There is of course a difference. Mana cores are just random occurrences, which means the beast has no control over it. That means it is unfiltered and contaminated. Beast cores are created consciously. They are highly concentrated, almost pure mana, which you humans can absorb, if done correctly."

Stars could be seen in Erick's eyes as he finally understood how to get more from his kill. He long theorized that the exp he was gaining was nothing else than pure mana. The difference was just that others gained it through meditation and pills, while he received it through a system.

He didn't tarry and hurried to the beast. He wanted to retrieve the beast core as soon as he could. Didn't the goddess say it deteriorates with time? Now he felt pained thinking how much exp he was losing with each passing second.

As soon as Erick landed on the massive corpse he wanted to tear it apart. Only, where was the core supposed to be located?

Just as he was about to slash the beast apart, Hecate descended in front of him.

"The cores are located at different locations, but for toads and frogs I would start with just in front of their lungs. Open it through its throat." Hecate told Erick.

She didn't receive an answer but she saw Erick attack the location she had pointed towards. She smiled seeing the boy in front of her working with such fervor.

'That's why he is a perfect candidate for me. I hope he doesn't disappoint.'

The smile on her face remained gentle but her eyes, her eyes remained cold.

Erick continued to tear apart everything in his way till he saw something glistening between the fleshy parts. He could feel streams of mana dissipating.

'No, no…this is literally all my hard work going up in smoke!' Erick complained, but he didn't stop. He tore the stone-like core out of the flesh and held it in his hand.

[Beast core detected]

[Absorb core?]

{Y} / {N}

'Why ask, just start already,' Erick exclaimed in his mind as he swiped at {Y}.

[Exp +100]

[Exp +100]

[Exp +100]

…

Seeing the exp gain with each second, Erick couldn't help but smile. The core in his hand was as big as an adult fist and that too of a brawny adult. It took a few notifications before Erick noticed grain size reduction in the size.

'Based on the speed this will take quite some time. I better use this time to multitask.'

Erick just sat down on the corpse of the warbeast and looked at the goddess who was just floating around.

"Ahum!"

He cleared his throat to attract Hecate's attention. The goddess who was just thinking about some unknown things looked around before her gaze landed on Erick.

Seeing Erick smile at her, she was first confused but then her eyes widened. She seemed genuinely shocked.

"How...you…how?" While pointing at Erick she asked, but she was clearly too shocked to form a genuine sentence.

'Is there something wrong with me? Why is she acting like this?' Seeing her act like this gave Erick a tiny scare. Who could blame him? When a calm and collected goddess reacted shocked, anyone would feel panicked.

"What?!" Erick shouted.

"How can you talk AND absorb the core?" She shouted in disbelief.

'Ow, that! It seems that thanks to the system my absorption process is automated, freeing me up for other stuff. This is not normally the case with others who need to focus.' Erick understood her reaction, but he also immediately knew why it was such a shock.

"Because I am a genius," replied Erick calmly.

This answer flustered the goddess even more. Whatever she had expected, it was certainly not something like this. But soon she recovered and calmed down.

The boy in front of her was an otherworldly being. That much she knew. So it was most likely also why some rules were not applicable to him.

She was even more certain of her choice by now.

'He is perfect!'