After finishing the story, Isaac placed the Magic Book back into the Demon Claw and dismissed it. He then took out a new rat, returned to the operating table, and prepared to continue his experiments.
Nurturing the fantasy Legend would take time. The other two methods of increasing Magic Power required corresponding Magic Ceremonies and weren't as simple. Therefore, what he could do for now was improve his Heart Transplantation Surgery and Flesh Conversion as quickly as possible to gain some combat strength.
'That way, I can go check out the Cabin in the Woods and see what's really going on there.'
Of course, now that the Divine Hand was fully developed, he could also start learning Arcane Arts. A Legendary Mage simply couldn't increase their Magic Power through studying or researching Arcane Arts, but they were still capable of casting them.
Nowadays, many Legendary Mages also studied Arcane Arts to diversify their combat abilities.
'But the most important thing is definitely the Heart Transplantation Surgery...'
「Sorozburg. Night.」
"*&…%…¥…&"
In the gloomy laboratory, Isaac stood dressed in a white lab coat and blood-stained rubber gloves. He muttered a tongue-twisting Magic Spell. Streams of Magic Power flowed from his body, merging into the rat on the operating table in a bizarre fashion and accelerating the fusion with its newly transplanted heart.
HISS... HISS...
In the laboratory, lit by blue candlelight, the faint sound of tearing flesh could be heard over Isaac's low-spoken Spell, coming from the rat on the operating table.
It was the sound of the rat's body being rapidly transformed by the Magic Power gushing from its heart.
Normally, the effects wouldn't be this fast. For one, the heart's fusion required time. For another, a Demonized Rat wasn't even considered a Demon Beast, and the Magic Power contained in its heart was very limited, so there wouldn't be any immediate, drastic effects.
However, under the influence of Isaac's Magic Spell, this process was accelerated.
Soon, Isaac stopped muttering the Magic Spell. He looked at the ferocious-looking Demonized Rat on the operating table and frowned slightly.
The surgery was a great success. Both the heart transplant and the Magic Power's modification of the flesh went very smoothly.
'But it's completely useless. The Demonized Rat is pathetically weak—so weak any adult could crush it with a single stomp, provided they had the guts...'
In terms of Life Force, a Demonized Rat was not much different from an Ordinary rat. Its combat power was slightly stronger because the influence of Magic Power made it more bloodthirsty and aggressive, but with such a weak foundation, the increase was limited.
Frowning in thought for a moment, Isaac locked up the Demonized Rat, sat back down at his desk, and began to look through the Magic Spells for the Heart Transplantation Surgery.
'My ability to infinitely stack the effects of Magic Spells is my advantage. I have to make good use of it. Maybe I can find some kind of enhancement...'
"Sigh."
After a long while, Isaac sighed and reluctantly set down the sheepskin scroll. 'They're all basic Magic Spells, mostly for healing. Not what I need at all...'
'This path is a dead end.'
'Then, what about a different kind of Demon?'
Isaac contemplated for a moment, then sighed. 'That won't work.'
Demon Hearts were considered relatively precious materials and were not easy to obtain.
At least, they weren't easy for him to obtain right now, because not all Demons even had organs like a heart...
'Hm? No, that's not right. I'm thinking about this the wrong way!' Suddenly, Isaac shook his head and stood up, walking toward the Demonized Rat. With a RIP from the back of his head, the ferocious Demon Claw emerged once again.
'I almost forgot. The Demonized Heart Transplant Surgery itself isn't important. What's important is combining it with my Talent Witchcraft, Flesh Conversion.'
'True, a powerful Demonized Heart could greatly enhance the strength of the modified body, but the Magic Power I'd consume casting my Talent Witchcraft would increase accordingly.'
'So from this perspective, maybe I don't need to focus so much on the strength of a single unit. A Demonized Rat might be weak, but that weakness has its advantages. At the very least, the cost of converting one won't be high. And while a single Demonized Rat is weak, if their numbers grow... their combined power would be nothing to scoff at!'
'Even a swarm of ants can kill an elephant!'
'If I can summon a Rat Tide, then it'll be hard to say who's really strong or weak. Forget Tier One Demons; few Tier Two Demons could ignore a Rat Tide.'
'It's worth a try!'
Of course, all of this was predicated on one thing—the cost of converting a Demonized Rat had to be very low.
He walked over to the cage in the corner. After a moment of observation, the Demon Claw's talons picked up a Demonized Rat and tossed it lightly into the air. Then, a mouth full of ferocious, jagged teeth appeared in the palm of the Demon Claw!
It swallowed the airborne Demonized Rat in one gulp!
In that instant, the physical structure of the Demonized Rat appeared clearly in Isaac's mind!
Isaac stroked his chin thoughtfully. 'This... I didn't expect this...'
Isaac narrowed his eyes as he perceived the Demonized Rat's physical structure in his mind. 'The potential of this Flesh Conversion Witchcraft is far more astonishing than I imagined. In just a moment, three different plans to optimize the Demonized Rat's body structure have already appeared in my mind!'
*Inhale... Exhale...*
Isaac took a deep breath to calm himself, then looked at the rat corpses in the corner. 'One step at a time. First, I'll test the conversion cost for a Demonized Rat. Then, I can slowly work on optimizing its modifications.'
The Flesh Conversion Witchcraft had two activation conditions. The first, devouring a biological sample, was a necessary requirement. However, a Magic Pet could do the devouring for Isaac. In fact, this was the original purpose for which Magic Pets were developed.
The Casting conditions for many Witchcrafts were disgusting. Forget eating live rats, some even required devouring rotting corpses!
Therefore, Magic Pets were extremely important.
And besides the necessary condition of devouring a biological sample, Flesh Conversion required one more thing—an equal amount of Demonized Flesh.
This Casting condition wasn't mandatory. Without Demonized Flesh, he could still create a Demonized Rat using Magic Power, but the drain on his Magic Power would be immense. It was best to have some Demonized Flesh on hand.
With a thought from Isaac, a bizarre, blood-red ray of light shot out from the Demon Claw's index finger, precisely hitting a rat corpse in the corner trash can.
Then, a miraculous scene unfolded. The rat corpse struck by the blood-red light twitched slightly, then came "back to life"!
'Hmm... that's it?' Feeling the Magic Power consumption, Isaac was pleasantly surprised. 'At this rate, I could cast this hundreds of times without stopping!'
'Of course, that's only if I have enough Demonized Flesh. If I had to create them purely from Magic Power, I'd run dry after a dozen or so Demonized Rats at most.'
'But that's not a problem. Demonized Flesh is much easier to get than Demonized Hearts, and it's cheaper, too!'
'The only question is, how long do the Demonized Rats created by Flesh Conversion last...'
'That's a pretty important detail. If they last indefinitely, that would be perfect. I could easily raise a massive Demon Legion. The upkeep would be higher, of course, since they'd need to eat.'
'But if they only last for a limited time, that's fine too. I wouldn't be able to mass an army, but I could make drastic modifications to the Demonized Rats. I could use every trick in the book to enhance their combat power without worrying about their lifespan, since they'd just die when the Witchcraft's timer ran out anyway.'
'In short, either way, the potential of this Witchcraft is immense!'