Roarrr!!
Loud roars filled the dungeon as ten Demonic Lions rushed toward Anvil.
Bang!
Undead [Elephanose] emerged from Anvil's shadow. One, two, ten, fifty…
The room was filled with the undead [Elephanose]. Their giant bodies blocked the Demonic Lions and struck them with their trunks.
The long trunks flailed around as they stood like a wall in front of Anvil, protecting him.
Roarrr!! Roar! Rooooaaarrrrr!
The Demonic Lions roared and leapt to incredible heights, aiming for the [Elephanose] necks.
Their sharp claws managed to make deep gashes, but the already-dead [Elephanose] didn't even flinch, as the claws hadn't reached their bones.
Shocked by this, the Demonic Lions were caught off guard. The trunks wrapped around their massive bodies, slammed them to the ground, and then giant, thick legs trampled them.
Crack! Crack!
The Demonic Lions were E-rank not because of their core strength or defense but because of their [Mana]. Confident in their power, they relied only on brute force.
Their arrogance cost them their lives.
Trampled by the massive [Elephanose], without Mana, their bones broke. They dropped dead.
But this became a problem.
"These are… unsummonable." Anvil sighed.
Without bones, summoning them was pointless. An undead required bones far more than flesh. Without bones, even if summoned, they couldn't move and would become a burden rather than a force.
But Anvil wasn't disappointed. He had wanted to experiment. Since Demonic Lions were considered some of the strongest E-rank monsters due to their [Mana], they must have [Mana Cores], and if lucky, a [Skill Core].
Anvil sliced open their chests. He looked at the large dark hearts and pulled them out.
At the bottom of one heart, Anvil saw a stone.
"Lucky me!" Anvil smiled as he found a [Core]. The stone-like object was very light, radiating a faint blue glow.
"I should put it… where exactly?" He thought of placing the [Core] in his shadow, but that could cause problems.
[Mana Core] was condensed [Mana]. Without a suitable container, its energy leaked every second. Once it all escaped, the [Core] would vanish.
So most [Awakened] bought special containers to prevent leakage. But as poor as Anvil was, he couldn't afford even a backpack, let alone a special container.
"Shall I just eat it?" He wanted [Mana], but casually eating a [Mana Core] might not be wise.
After contemplating for a bit, he closed his eyes and swallowed the [Core].
"Cough! Cough! Cough!" He choked; the [Core] was bigger than he expected.
He didn't know how people absorbed [Cores], so he simply did what seemed best.
It was difficult to swallow, but eventually, it slipped into his stomach.
"Phew… that was horrible." Anvil sat atop an [Elephanose]. Despite being dead, its fur was pleasant—thin because of thick skin, yet still soft and comfortable.
"Hnm, this isn't bad." Anvil had heard the first time eating a [Core] was a terrible experience. He had read about it in documents and heard stories from soldiers.
When one eats a [Core] for the first time, three things can happen:
First, since a [Core] is condensed [Mana], it cannot be broken down by stomach acid. The body treats it as a foreign object and tries to expel it. This causes the worst stomachache of one's life. When the [Mana] melts, it mixes with blood, entering the heart.
The [Mana] is then treated as a foreign invader, and blood cells are destroyed. When [Mana] enters the bloodstream, sharp pain seizes the heart. Finally, all the [Mana] gathers at the bottom of the heart and condenses again into a [Core].
This is extremely painful, causing weakness, nausea, or even heart failure. The pain varies, but if one cannot endure, they die.
Second, the body rejects it through diarrhea or stomach problems. The person expels the [Core] while in the toilet. While not fatal, this increases resistance to [Mana]—but they will never be able to absorb a [Mana Core] again.
The final scenario is extreme resistance. The body overreacts, triggering destructive mechanisms: cell collapse, unbearable pain, heart attack, seizures, and more. The person is fated to die.
But Anvil experienced none of these. He felt the [Mana Core] disintegrating and a warm current flowing through his body. His body accepted the [Mana] easily.
"Maybe it's because of this ring's effect." Anvil didn't think much more on it.
Within ten minutes, a [Core] had formed in his chest.
He could circulate [Mana] through his body at will, enhancing himself.
He tried it and found it surprisingly easy. However, the enhancement was weaker than the ring's effect.
"Maybe I need more [Mana]." The more [Mana] one had, the stronger they became.
Cores from higher-ranked monsters provided stronger, higher-quality [Mana].
Those with a [Mana Core] could also absorb [Mana] from the environment, but it was painfully slow. Recovery of previously stored [Mana] was quick, but expanding the [Mana Core] was sluggish.
The bigger the [Mana Core], the more [Mana] one possessed.
Anvil obtained 3 [Mana Cores] from 10 corpses. The drop rate was very low, but he was lucky. E-rank monsters had about a 1% drop rate.
That meant killing 100 E-rank monsters yielded about one [Core]. Their [Mana Cores] were unstable; most disintegrated into raw [Mana] at death. Only a rare few remained intact.
The main way [Awakened] earned money from dungeons was by selling corpses to the [Knight Association].
Many restaurants bought certain monster meat as delicacies, valued for their taste and positive effects on the body.
"Enough rest. I'll deal with these monsters myself." If he used [Elephanose] to kill them, he wouldn't have proper corpses to summon.
And once the Demonic Lions used their [Mana], the undead [Elephanose] wouldn't last long.
"Time for some exercise."
Clang! Ssssh!
Anvil moved at great speed. The Demonic Lions, arrogant, fought with raw strength.
But they soon realized his dagger was incredibly sharp. When claws clashed with the blade, their claws were cut cleanly without resistance.
In the next moment, the blade was at their necks. A single slice was enough to kill.
Anvil absorbed their life force and blood.
Undead required neither life force, blood, nor nutrients—only intact heads and bones.
As each Demonic Lion fell, it rose again as an undead. Their already dark skin turned darker, and all eight eyes became hollow, making them look terrifying.
Suddenly, the bodies of nine Demonic Lions glowed bright blue as they charged at supersonic speed.
Anvil's figure glowed too, the curse effect boosting him physically. He rotated the dagger and slipped sideways.
His reflexes were sharp, and he could see every move the Demonic Lions made.
He rushed into them, dodged their attacks swiftly, and slashed their bodies.
Sss! Slice! Ssssh!
Slashing sounds echoed. His body flickered. One Demonic Lion after another fell.
Suddenly, a Demonic Lion appeared too close. Anvil had no time to dodge.
But a giant snake slithered from his shadow, binding the Lion midair.
It happened in less than a second.
Anvil instantly cut the Lion's neck, killing it.
In a minute, all the Demonic Lions lay dead.
"Hah… hah…" Despite the curse effect strengthening him, he was exhausted.
He sat on the back of the [Chief Whimrat] for a minute, then absorbed the blood and life force of the slain Lions.
The Demonic Lions now looked malnourished, yet once summoned, they still moved at the same speed.
"Now it's time for experiment two." He wanted to see if the Demonic Lions could use [Mana].