Upon arriving at this familiar feeding ground, the Glavenus immediately threw itself into the grand task of mining.
As a Brute Wyvern, there was no reason it wouldn't know how to dig. Although its physical structure seemed somewhat unsuited for it, Logan had seen this fellow in the game tunnel through the earth entirely; its speed was so great it could vanish without a trace in the blink of an eye.
The Glavenus swung its hardened tail, striking the rock wall like a chisel. Under the force of the massive impact, a large amount of rock instantly broke away. Before long, a hemispherical indentation formed in the wall, looking much like a vertical bowl.
Only after enough ore had been knocked loose did the Glavenus begin picking and choosing its meal from the ground. It swallowed high-purity ores whole, while those with too many impurities were tossed aside.
Once the Glavenus had eaten its fill and departed, Logan emerged from his hiding spot. He picked up a fist-sized fragment from the ground and examined it closely.
The composition of the ore was uneven. On the cross-section of this grayish-black rock, one could see scattered specks of silver-blue, like starlight peeking through a cloudy night sky—it possessed a unique beauty.
Due to different evolutionary paths, different creatures have varying needs for metals.
For an individual like Glavenus, which commands fire and raw brute force, what it requires are metals that maintain excellent performance under high temperatures, such as tungsten, titanium, or cobalt. The extremely high melting points of these metals allow its tail blade to maintain high hardness even when red-hot, allowing it to slash with abandon without fear of breaking or deforming.
Logan, however, was different. He had chosen electricity as his supernatural power, so his demand for metal leaned more toward conductivity and ductility. Therefore, this vein found by the Glavenus likely wouldn't fully satisfy his body's needs.
But that was a consideration for the future. For now, he would make use of what was available.
...
Logan began sorting through the ore scraps left by the Glavenus. He selected those with higher purity, crushed them into fragments with a stone, and swallowed them. This accelerated digestion and lightened the burden on his stomach.
As a massive amount of gastric juice enveloped the ore, electrical currents surged forth, performing high-temperature electrolysis. This process generated immense thermal energy, making Logan feel as if his stomach had turned into a high-heat furnace.
As his blood circulated, a rich network of capillaries conducted this heat, venting it through the scales on his body. This caused the air around Logan to distort slightly from the heat haze.
This was undoubtedly a great waste of energy, but fortunately, Logan had already devised a solution.
As the Evolution Points he had accumulated recently were exhausted, a familiar warm current emerged within his body, lingering around his numerous electrical organs.
The neurons in these already well-developed organs began to proliferate again, forming strangely shaped circuits. Under the influence of Bioenergy, the material itself began to change, and a miraculous thermoelectric conversion organ was born.
This organ could directly convert the heat within Logan's body into electricity, which was then fed back into the electrolysis process. This created a simple cycle, greatly increasing energy efficiency.
Not only that, but it also enhanced Logan's heat tolerance. Combined with the conductive membrane inside his body, he could directly convert excess heat into electricity and discharge it. This was particularly useful in regions shrouded in high temperatures, such as volcanic zones or seas of fire.
Before long, several hundred pounds of ore had been consumed and rapidly dissolved. After being absorbed by the intestinal cilia, the remainder turned into useless waste.
He suddenly felt a bout of discomfort in his stomach. Hurriedly leaving the cliffside, he ran to a large tree nearby, dug a pit with his claws, and lifted his tail. Following the contractions of his intestines, several oval-shaped objects dropped out.
These were the re-solidified ore residues. Because the previous dissolution had been thorough, their surfaces were quite smooth. Each was the size of a basketball, looking remarkably like eggs laid by some creature.
Looking at his own waste, Logan couldn't help but scratch his head. If hunters saw this, would they mistakenly think he was female? How would they record it? "A white monster gifted at laying eggs, but with an extremely low hatch rate?"
Forget it, whatever. It didn't matter to him anyway.
...
Despite consuming hundreds of pounds of ore, Logan didn't notice a significant change in his body. Likely, the metal content in the ore was too low; it seemed he would have to eat much more.
Time flew by, and half a month passed. During this period, Logan simply lived near the rock wall, spending 24 hours a day incessantly eating and digesting ore.
During this time, he managed to identify the type of ore. The main component was Machalite, and the silver specks were an unknown associated metal.
As a high-performance metal, Machalite is said to be twenty times stronger than iron and is widely used in large machinery as well as the forging of weapons and armor. Furthermore, its melting point is extremely high; even in environments exceeding a thousand degrees, its hardness does not decrease much, perfectly fitting the Glavenus's needs.
Consuming massive amounts of Machalite caused the surface of Logan's bones to take on a transparent blue tint. Though his scales remained white, a crystalline phantom-blue could be seen when sunlight reflected off them at certain angles.
The most significant changes occurred in his "weapons": his claws, tail blade, and arm blades. Since these parts needed to withstand intense impacts, their internal metal content was higher. The mixture of Machalite with enamel, calcium, and reinforcing silk proteins gave them the luster of blue jade.
Strictly speaking, what Logan had in his body wasn't ordinary Machalite.
By relying on strong acid and high-temperature electrolysis, he could extract metal from ore at a molecular level, reaching a purity near 100%. In the game, this high-purity Machalite had a specific name—Carbalite Ore, signifying a blue as transparent as the firmament.
And unlike the other parts of his body shifting toward blue, his pair of horns—already deep blue—instead took on a bright metallic sheen, appearing as a dazzling blue-gold. This was likely the effect of that associated mineral; after all, for these horns, the perception and conduction of electromagnetic fields were more important than mere hardness.
...
"My current look could probably be called 'Golden Horns, Ice Scales, and Jade Claws.' If I were accidentally caught by poachers, they'd probably pluck me clean to sell every bit for money."
Logan lowered his tail and looked back at a small metal sphere nestled among the many stone balls in the pit. It was slightly smaller than the rest, and he felt it was time to move on.
His body's demand for Machalite and the associated metal was completely satisfied. The excess had been purified and condensed into small beads, stored in the folds of his stomach as spare material.
The fact that he was now discharging them meant his body was fully stocked—it simply couldn't hold any more.
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