Chapter 13: Experimentation

"Useless, useless, good, good…" In a dimly lit dungeon corridor, a young man found himself muttered, tossing a mishmash of items into the air.

His black hair clung to his forehead, damp with the sweat of dungeon labor, and his clothes looked like they had seen better days. It was a look that said, "I've been through some stuff, and it wasn't pleasant."

With the dismantling done, he swept his dampened black hair aside. Despite his dishevelled appearance, Vincent, the young man, couldn't suppress a smile as he began organizing his spoils.

"Alright, let's check what we got here," Vincent mumbled, his fingers dancing over the loot like a culinary maestro inspecting his ingredients.

Fortunately, his memory proved sharper when it came to determining which goods held the most value from these monsters.

After all, looks like there was no convenient interface that could assist him however long he waited.

'I really envied those protagonists in the novel. They just look at anything, and some helpful pop-ups appeared all the time,' he grumbled, pouting his lips.

With his utmost attention, Vincent ended up collecting quite a good amount of salvageable goods from the monsters. His eyes swept across all the things that piled up.

Weapons that might prove useful in the current situation, in addition to claws, teeth, bones, and hides from both goblins and Varyr.

'These items could also fetch quite a bit in the market but most importantly, '

"Meat! You're right, Egil! Meat is a must to survive. I'm sorry for saying you are just a meathead." Vincent exclaimed with excitement as he looked at the pile of meats he gather entirely from Vagyr's huge body.

Though they're not that strong of monster but its size was quite exceptional. Well, they said size was not everything.

Vincent also thought of using goblin meat too, but as expected, the idea of eating humanoid monster did not sit well for Vincent as former earthling.

'I don't know if even people from this world would eat something like that.'

And timely, Vincent's stomach growled its dissatisfaction. "Ugh, all this moving made me hungry as hell. Roasted Vagyr meat sure would do the trick, right? But can I really eat this?" 

He had experienced monster meat before, but that was dishes made by professional cook. Vincent, an earthling only ever experienced with normal cooking before and Vincent from this, has a null of memories about cooking.

He's sure as hell would have to gamble 50/50 to diarrhea or a full stomach after this.

"Ah shit! I completely forgot about that." The enthusiasm faded as quickly as it had come when reality struck—no fire to cook the meat.

Vincent scratched his head, contemplating his options. 'Can I try squeeze my arcane to at least cook one cut…no given the temperature that came out before, the least I need even for that was roughly several hours? I don't have that much amount time right now.'

"Sigh…do I need to make do with beef tartare style?"

'Then don't say 50/50, even god would strike diarrhea directly up my ass,' Vincent thought as he looked at the rock ceiling in despair, an idea struck.

 'Ah, I got those too.' He shifted his gaze from the pile of monster meat to the glowing spheres akin to marbles.

"Monster cores." The cores emitted a faint, otherworldly glow, making them an attention grabber inside this dim dungeon.

As Vincent picked one of the goblin cores, he could feel the arcane energy emanating from it, like a heartbeat resonating with the rhythm of the dungeon.

He carefully examined the core, marveling at the power contained within this small, gem-like object. Their details came to mind.

These objects were the very foundation for magic engineering in this world. Humans inherently couldn't use these cores directly, well, most humans, but that didn't prevent humanity from developing something or some ways to utilize them.

It was akin to how diamonds were originally just ridiculously hard rocks, but humans succeeded in finding a way to use them for many things.

The same was true here. Humans in this world might not be able to use them like those characters in Chinese cultivation novels who use similar things to enhance their own strength, 'Well, I do want my own bloodwing saint jiao-something inside myself if I can,' but monster cores were widely used in many magic inventions and also as a main power source nowadays.

'Old energy like gasoline or nuclear wouldn't contend with their efficiency, and since they came from monsters that were a threat to humanity, better than free energy, they're more like saved energy.'

"I thought of selling them together with other items before, but I might need to use them sooner," Vincent said, tucking away the salvaged items into his storage ring and focus on a pile of faint glowing orbs.

Amidst the loot sprawled on the dungeon floor, Vincent's eyes widened with realization. Nestled inconspicuously among the monster cores was a stone slightly different from other cores.

'Skill stone!?' Vincent's smile widened to a hidden gem he had almost overlooked. His heart skipped a beat as he clutched the skill stone like a rare artifact. Even his hunger was momentarily forgotten.

He could feel and see for himself the stone uneven surface with pattern drawn on its light gray color, which made it resembling monster cores in a dim environment as now.

 "Holy RNG gods! Are you messing with me or blessing me? A skill stone this easy!? Better yet, a stealth skill stone too," Vincent exclaimed, half in disbelief and half in fervent excitement.

Skill Stones were crystallized fragments imbued with residual arcane energy from the monsters they come from, the same as cores, but as its name implied, they were used to gaining skills.

Each Skill Stone contains the essence of a specific skill or ability possessed by the monster it came from. When absorbed, it imparts a portion of that skill, allowing the user to integrate it into their repertoire.

Skill Stones vary in rarity, with more powerful, unique, or complex skills associated with rarer stones. The gray color of this skill stone meant it was in the common category, but even with that said, since skill stone was a rarity itself, it could be said that Vincent's luck was truly outstanding.

He couldn't fathom the luck that led him to this stealthy jackpot since, from his knowledge, goblin did not have stealth skill, so it means this skill stone came from Vagyr, and he only kill one.

"Sometime, my luck, it almost terrifying…" He said, looking at the sky with open arms resembling messiah to a lost lamb.

It was as if the divine hands of the RNG deities themselves had guided him to this rare find.

Vincent held the skill stone aloft. "Praise be to the almighty Random Number Generators! Today, you have smiled upon this Vincent the Adventurer. Bless me!"

Unable to contain his anticipation, Vincent wasted no time. He decided to put the stealth skill stone to immediate use. With a thought, he channelled his arcane into the stone and activated it.

"Urg!" Almost instantly, information about stealth skills flooded his brain. Uncomfortable pain also came together, but as swiftly as it came, it also gone just as swiftly.

A grin played on Vincent's lips as he marveled at the newfound knowledge. He could practically feel the gears turning in his mind, understanding how to harness this stealth ability.

It was an active skill but the interesting part about skill is that they don't need incantation like magic spell.

Vincent took a moment to focus, channeling his arcane energy. In an almost instinctive manner, he triggered the stealth skill.

At first he didn't feel anything different, but when he focus his sense, he noticed the dungeon corridor seemed to shimmer around him, as if reality itself had taken a step back.

Vincent had become one with the shadows, blending seamlessly into the environment.

"Amazing!" he whispered to himself, relishing the newfound power.

With a stealthy stride, Vincent went and forth through the dungeon corridor, accustoming himself to this new sensation.

He contemplated the advantages it could offer in his dungeon exploration. The stealth skill opened up a myriad of possibilities for Vincent—ambushing monsters, avoiding traps, and slipping past dangers unnoticed.

But he also understood that the skill that just gained will not be as strong as what the monster used. "Rather than I gained their skill, it's more like I just unlocked the path for this skill. The efficiency and skill level were reset to its base but it also mean the skill can get stronger than before." Vincent mutter under his breath, trying to calm his excitement and cancelling his skill.

"Now, let's see if we can't cook up something with this," he mumbled, a smug smile playing on his lips as he took a goblin core from the pile, tossed and catch it into his hand again.

He focused his attention on a particular goblin core, his arcane-imbued fingertip tracing an intricate pattern on its surface.

'Let's make a runic portable stove, shall we?'

With each stroke, Vincent meticulously recreated the individual runes etched into his memory. The challenge lay in combining the various runes to achieve the desired effect, and Vincent spared no effort to ensure the accuracy of his makeshift design.

The dungeon corridor seemed to hold its breath as Vincent wove his index finger into a circle structure consist of three runes.

The central rune, representing the core functionality, was "Ignis," symbolizing fire. Vincent believed this would be essential for generating the heat needed to cook his dungeon-salvaged meats.

The complementary runes around the center were meant to regulate temperature and control the arcane flow.

Vincent chose "Aer," representing air, to ensure a steady supply of oxygen for combustion, and "Stabilitas," signifying stability, for a controlled and consistent flame.

His concentration was unwavering, beads of sweat forming a glistening trail down his face as he etched the final strokes.

"Done!"

Satisfied with his work, he held the modified core in his hand, ready to channel his arcane power into the creation.

However, unbeknownst to him, "Ignis," actually a more volatile variation of the fire rune, one that thrived on intensity and rapid combustion.

And unfortunately, the combination of these seemingly innocent runes resulted in an unintended synergy that heightened the explosive potential.

As Vincent began the arcane infusion, the goblin core started to shine with an ethereal glow. However, the intensity grew rapidly, surpassing his expectations. His eyes widen in shock.

The rune for stability, in conjunction with the volatile fire rune, created a highly pressurized arcane reaction that couldn't be contained inside a mere goblin core.

The air rune inadvertently intensified the combustion, making the situation worse.

"Oh, shit!"

Realizing the impending danger, panic flashed across Vincent's face. In a split second decision, he jumped backward and flung the core away from him just before it erupted into a blinding explosion.

Boom!!

"Urg!" he covered his eyes from the light but the force of the blast sent him tumbling backward, rolling along the floor before he was stopped by the impact from hitting dungeon wall.

As the echoes of the explosion reverberated through the corridor, Vincent lay there, dazed and disoriented.

"Well, that didn't quite go as planned," Vincent remarked, his voice slightly muffled by the aftermath of the explosion.

He dusted himself off, a trail of smoke rising from his singed clothes and hair.

The modified goblin core, intended to be a portable stove, had become an unintended explosive device. With a rueful smile, he chuckled to himself, "Kukuku, note to self: tinkering with monster cores or runes requires a bit more finesse."

Suddenly, a distant voice pierced through the echoes of the dungeon.

A girl's scream echoed, and despite the distance, Vincent's keen ears caught wind of the plea for help. The explosion seemed to have attracted attention, and someone was in need.