Chapter 77 Good Job Guys

Ikaris stiffened at first, uncomfortable with Danchun being so close to him. Her chest regularly pressed against his back or arm as she corrected his posture and he found it hard to focus on anything else.

Her feminine scent was also a nuisance. His mutation into a Crawling-Thrall had caused his sense of smell to be much more sensitive than before and at this distance her fragrance intoxicated him, causing a physiological reaction in him that he could have done without.

When the breathing of the boy quickened, Danchun realized right off the bat how much she was affecting him and smartly adjusted her position, avoiding the slightest body contact beyond what was necessary. Because she thought she was dealing with a mere 14 or 15 year old, she chalked up his reaction to immaturity or inexperience. If she had known that her Lord was in fact an adult, her attitude would probably have been very different.

Still, with her guidance and posture corrections, Ikaris felt the difference right away. Before, he had been delivering most of the required strength with his arms alone, but after these adjustments he began to use every muscle in his body synergistically. With his intelligence, he quickly caught on and soon cutting that meat became much easier.

Danchun had, like any self-respecting Cultivator, hunted countless Demon Beasts and the advice she offered him was not just about his stance. If until now he had used his common sense to cut up this boar, with her instructions he stopped cutting blindly and became much more efficient.

A boar, even a giant one, would normally be cut up hanging upside down, with a container underneath to collect the blood and organs. The first cut was made from top to bottom, from the lower abdomen to the throat, then the skin was incised around the legs.

After that, the skinning was done in a few minutes maximum by slicing a few centimeters at a time while passing the blade of the knife under the skin. The skin was then peeled off as one would take off a coat. A fairly simple procedure.

Once the skin was removed, the flesh would be incised again in a shallow manner, looking for the insertion of the ribs, taking care not to pierce the digestive organs. To drain the animal of its blood, a deep cut in the throat usually did the trick.

Because of the boar's titanic size and weight, Ikaris obviously could not hang the creature, but Danchun's guidance still saved him a great deal of time. By telling him where he could cut deep and where he should be gentle, she removed the uncertainty factor and everything became much easier.

Ikaris continued to butcher and cut the meat with Danchun's assistance at his side and in the middle of the afternoon, when he was extracting the creature's huge heart he suddenly froze when he felt a solid structure in the said organ.

With his knife, he carefully detached this quail egg-sized structure and when he finally saw it in its entirety he was stunned,

"N-no way..."

'Looks like it's your lucky day. This Danchun has good instincts.' Magnus guffawed uproariously.

The crystalline blood egg in Ikaris' palm was a natural Bloodspark, the fabled Beast Core the young woman hoped to find while dissecting the monster. Contrary to what Danchun fantasized, this item did not have an easily absorbable energy, but one to several Secondary Sparks combined with some life force after the Life Spark dissolved after the creature died.

Basically, it was like having one or more extra spells at his disposal and considering the size of this Magical Beast, they shouldn't be too bad.

The teenager immediately tried to appraise the egg-shaped blood crystal with his magic, but as he anticipated, he failed again.

'We'll have to find a real Appraiser to assess this Bloodspark the next time we go to Tartarus Shade. Until we know what it is, avoid using it.' The Vampire warned him seriously.

The risk was substantial. If it was, for example, the same Frenzy skill as the mother boar he had defeated, then using it would cause him to lose his mind, in furious boar mode.

To assimilate it into his body to make it his own Secondary Spark was even more unwise. While it was possible, it was still a spell or spells created and devised by and for a boar.

According to Magnus, sometimes even remnants of Soul Spark could linger and committing this deed could irreversibly affect his personality. For this reason, only an ignorant or desperate person would be willing to take such a risk.

Danchun was neither envious nor jealous when she saw the Beast Core in the boy's hand. Before his explanations she would have definitely tried to snatch it from him, but now she knew that this thing was totally useless to her.

Happy with this unexpected booty, Ikaris went back to work and in the late afternoon he decided to stop there. The butchering wasn't over, but he had properly extracted, cut up, and packed nearly 800 kilos of meat.

His Enhanced Strength Spell had also progressed well. It was amazing how fast his progress was. In one short morning and afternoon he had reached a point where he could comfortably maintain a 15% increase in strength without burning out.

If it was just for a short time he could even reach 50%. Beyond that he risked damaging his tendons and muscles and that made him aware that this spell absolutely had to be combined with another Constitution-focused spell.

Dripping with sweat, but proud of his work, Ikaris put away his knife and Danchun handed him a towel to wipe himself with that she had found in one of the crates. While he was busy, Last Saint Village had undergone some changes.

First, the communal toilets had finished being dug up and a separate tent for each gender had been erected over each pit for more privacy. The toilet itself and the toilet seat were just a rough stack of wooden boards, but it was better than nothing.

By the smell, someone had already tried them... The day the smell became unbearable, the hole would be sealed and they would dig another one.

The second and by far the most glaring change was that a dozen tents had been set up. Ikaris had feared the worst after his forced stay in Karragin, but he had pleasantly underestimated Tartarus Shade and House Morgunis.

For one thing, these tents were easy to pitch. All it took was a couple of stakes and a ground anchor and it was pretty much done.

For another, they were quite spacious, reminiscent of the military pavilions used by officers rather than the dingy tents used by poor hikers. Even if they were still tents, living in them for a while was definitely feasible.

And third, these tents had already been modified for the needs of the Warring Lands. The runes he had carved the hard way last night were already painted on the canvas and skins used to make these tents.

"Good job guys." Ikaris congratulated them with a big smile as he walked up to the other villagers who had sat down in the grass to chat after finishing their respective tasks.

The only one absent who had chosen to isolate himself in a tent was Taguchi, but no one held it against him on his first day.

"Saalim and Vicente have done a wonderful job." Ellie promptly reported with a suspicious and slightly jealous look directed at Danchun, who stood impassively behind the boy.

What did this brunette have that she didn't for Ikaris to tolerate her presence the whole day?

"Great. What about the others?" The boy grinned mischievously as he caught her daydreaming.

"Nadeen set up most of the tents with Zedd." The blonde student then divulged to Ikaris. "She used to go camping and trekking a lot during her summer vacations and she quickly figured out how to set them up. Martha made us a stew for lunch and Ling has begun sewing their uniforms to fit. Had you noticed that all the sandals and tunics provided in those boxes are the same size?!"

The boy winced as he listened to her. Of course he had noticed, but what could he do about it? They were just penniless.

'That's not true.' Magnus cackled snidely in his head. 'Ten gold coins would be enough to properly clothe a hundred villagers. It's more a matter of priority."

'And dressing them up as princes and princesses is not my priority.' Ikaris replied telepathically with no change in expression. 'If I want to be able to evacuate everyone in case of an unforeseen disaster, I need to keep at least one gold coin per inhabitant under any circumstances. Right now, I'm more concerned with figuring out how I'm going to manage to keep that up as the village grows.

The Vampire paused for a moment.

'I didn't think you were that considerate.' He finally answered in a somewhat gentler voice.

'Now you know.'

Upon hearing Ellie faithfully report their contributions to Ikaris, those who hadn't done much began to get restless. What if their new Lord decided to punish them? Taguchi, who could hear everything from his tent, was not serene in the least. Neither was Juliette, the Swiss manager.

Especially when Ikaris suddenly snarled,

"The wooden fence has not been built... No, it has not even been started."

Zedd gave him an apologetic smile and explained,

"We wanted to get it started, but the wood in those crates wasn't nearly enough. We were hoping that Malia and the others who had left to lumber would return sooner."

At that moment, Ikaris processed the villager's words and as he saw the sun setting he began to have a bad feeling.

'Malia.'