Problem-Solving Expert A Sick

Morning frost hung heavy on the branches, and a thin layer of white mist shrouded Buena Village.

Lynch woke up early. As he pushed the door open, a gust of biting cold air rushed at his face.

He took a deep breath, feeling a refreshing coolness fill his lungs. The mana within his body flowed naturally with his breathing. The physical constitution of a Tier 2 powerhouse ensured that he felt no cold whatsoever, even while wearing only a thin shirt.

"This physique is truly different now."

Lynch stretched his limbs with satisfaction and habitually walked toward the courtyard gate to check on his new masterpiece—the scarecrow named "Abyssal Gazer."

Its tattered black robes swayed gently in the morning breeze, while the copper bell at its waist remained deathly silent.

And at the foot of the scarecrow, sure enough, there was a new "harvest."

It was a massive Iron-toothed Rat. Although this type of magical beast was only Tier 1, its sharp teeth could crunch through solid rock. Moreover, it was cunning by nature and usually incredibly difficult to catch.

At this moment, however, it lay on the ground with stiff limbs and bulging eyes, as if it had witnessed something utterly terrifying right before its death, literally frightened into brain death.

It went quite peacefully.

"Tsk tsk, how tragic."

Lynch shook his head, crouched down, and skillfully began to process the carcass. "Isn't the effect of this scarecrow a bit too good? I get to loot a corpse every morning when I wake up. It's making my front door look like a mass grave."

Despite his grumbling, his hands never stopped moving.

Skinning, deboning, carving the meat.

The pelt of this Iron-toothed Rat was a bit stiff, but it would make for some highly durable kneepads.

Just as Lynch sliced open its chest cavity, the tip of his knife suddenly struck a hard crystal.

Prying it out to take a look, he found a stone the size of a fingernail, emitting a faint, earthy-yellow glow.

"A magic core?"

Lynch's eyes lit up.

A magic core was the crystallization of mana within a magical beast's body, and the source of its power.

Usually, only ranked magical beasts had a chance of producing one.

This stuff was hard currency on the market. Whether it was alchemists conducting experiments or mages recharging their staffs, neither could do without it.

"This Tier 1 earth-attribute magic core should fetch at least two silver coins if I take it to town, right?"

Just as Lynch was weighing whether to sell it or keep it as an ingredient for future potion-making, the system, which had been quiet all morning, suddenly popped up a notification window in his mind.

Ding!

High-purity energy crystal detected!

Does the host choose to absorb the energy within this magic core?

Hint: As the leader of a villainous faction, devouring the magic cores of magical beasts to strengthen yourself is a fast track to power that perfectly befits your status.

How exactly does that befit me, I'd like to ask?

Lynch found it amusing. The system bro was being dramatic again.

"Absorb?"

He had only ever heard of mages restoring mana through meditation or using magic crystals to aid their cultivation. But directly "devouring" a magic core... wasn't that something magical beasts did when slaughtering each other? Could a human body withstand such violent energy?

"Since it's a system feature, it should be fine..."

Lynch hesitated for a moment, gripped the magic core, and silently muttered in his heart: "Absorb."

Buzz—

His palm grew slightly warm.

The earthy-yellow magic core visibly dimmed and crumbled, ultimately transforming into a wisp of pure, warm current that drilled into Lynch's body through his arm.

There was no pain or rampaging energy as he had imagined. Filtered by the system, this energy became incredibly docile, flowing directly into his sea of qi and becoming part of his own mana.

Lynch felt his maximum mana capacity jump up by a small margin. It wasn't much, but the immediate effect was undeniable.

Absorption complete!

Experience points slightly increased! Current progress to Tier 3: 1.2%

"Holy crap?"

Lynch was shocked. "I can do this?"

He originally thought his advancement solely relied on the weird quests issued by the system, like massaging his wife or teaching a beast-eared girl how to read...

Who would have thought there was such a straightforward, monster-grinding leveling method?

"In other words, as long as I kill enough magical beasts and gather enough magic cores, I can level up like a rocket?"

Lynch's gaze changed instantly.

If his previous attitude toward the beast horde had been about defense and self-preservation, his mindset had now undergone a complete 180-degree turn.

How was this a beast horde?

This was clearly wave after wave of EXP packs and loot delivered right to his doorstep!

"To get stronger, it seems I'll have to take the initiative and farm more magic cores from now on."

Lynch stood up and dusted off his hands.

It just so happened that the seasonings at home were running out, and he needed to deal with this fresh rat pelt and his previous catches anyway.

"I should make a trip to the tavern and ask around about where the magical beasts are clustering lately."

...

Buena Village, Adventurer's Tavern.

Even though it was early morning, the dual pressures of the cold snap and the beast horde meant there weren't many idle people in the tavern.

Sitting at a table in the corner was a young man who looked entirely out of place in his surroundings.

His name was Asik, the son of the village blacksmith.

However, he wasn't covered in muscles like his father; instead, he was rather scrawny.

Right now, he was wearing a washed-out robe with a monocle perched on the bridge of his nose. He held a thick copy of "Basic Magical Theory" in his hands, reading intently with a deep frown.

Asik was one of the few—and somewhat reliable—mages in the village.

Mages, being a profession with a high barrier to entry and profound academic requirements, were just like apothecaries: a rare and severely lacking occupation in the village.

Asik had a dream—he wanted to be admitted into the Royal Capital's Magic Academy.

To that end, he had been self-studying for a long time. Although his talent was mediocre and he had only barely touched the threshold of Tier 1, he considered himself an "intellectual" and usually looked down on those barbaric adventurers who only knew how to use brute force.

"Sigh... This analytical problem on mana circuits is too difficult..."

Asik pushed up his glasses and sighed. "In a backwater place like this, there isn't even anyone I can ask for guidance. These villagers only know how to farm; what do they know about the nobility of magic?"

Just as he was wallowing in self-pity, the tavern doors were pushed open.

A flurry of wind and snow swept in.

Lynch walked in, wrapped in a cloak, carrying a bag full of materials.

Asik subconsciously glanced up, then prepared to lower his head and resume reading. In his impression, Lynch was just a mild-mannered, good-natured apothecary. Although he had recently gained some minor fame for cultivating mutated herbs, he was definitely a layman when it came to magical expertise.

However.

In the exact moment Lynch walked past him.

Buzz!

As a "test-prep expert" who, despite his lackluster practical strength, possessed abundant theoretical knowledge, Asik's perception of mana fluctuations was exceptionally keen.

He suddenly felt a near-tangible pressure of mana radiating from the apothecary.

It felt like standing at the base of a dam of a freshly filled reservoir; although the water's surface was calm, the heavy, brimming sense of oppression made all the hairs on his body stand on end.

"This... This is..."

The book in Asik's hands almost fell to the floor.

He snapped his head around, staring fixedly at Lynch's back, his pupils violently constricting behind his monocle.

Mana liquefaction? Aura concealment?

The sheer density of this mana... it was definitely not something a Tier 1 Apprentice could possess!

Tier 2, this was absolutely the aura of a Tier 2 Elite powerhouse! Even among Tier 2s, it belonged to the category of those with exceptionally deep mana!

"How is this possible?"

Asik felt his entire worldview shatter.

Just a few days ago, when he ran into Lynch at the village entrance, the man was clearly still an ordinary person with mana so thin it was almost negligible.

Just how many days had it been?

"Mr. L-Lynch?"

Asik couldn't help but stand up, calling out with a slightly dry throat.

Lynch, who was currently at the bar negotiating the price of rat pelts with the owner, turned his head. Seeing that it was Asik, he flashed his signature amiable smile.

"Oh, it's Asik. Reading again?"

Looking at Lynch's unassuming and even somewhat goofy smile, Asik felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of awe.

"Y-your aura..." Asik stammered as he probed, "It seems... to have gotten much stronger?"

"Ah? Has it?"

Lynch rubbed his nose, thinking to himself that this guy was actually quite sharp.

Moreover, why had the way he addressed him changed? Asik used to be quite arrogant toward him.

Not wanting to draw too much attention to himself, he casually spouted some nonsense, "Maybe it's because I've been eating better lately. You know, my wife's health has been recovering recently, so I've been sharing a lot of her nourishing soups."