Tristan clenched the red core in his hand tightly.
[You have acquired 2 Red Fragments]
He felt as if the robotic voice in his mind was mocking his earlier expectations. Tristan turned his gaze to the centipede's corpse. Now that he was so close to it, he couldn't help but feel impressed by having taken down such a massive creature.
'How is this possible? How can something so big have such a weak core?'
He sighed.
'I thought today was my lucky day.'
Suddenly, the right corner of his lips curled upward slightly.
'Well, at least I got a red core practically for free.'
A core was still a core. Even a red one had value in his current situation, which lifted his spirits.
A pensive expression appeared on his face as his mind returned to the question of the creature's existence. As far as Tristan knew, something of that size could only exist if it had a core powerful enough to sustain a body that defied the laws of nature. Reflecting on this, he remembered another possibility.
'Could this thing be a descendant of a Titan?'
He shook his head shortly after the thought crossed his mind, dismissing it as ridiculous. After all, the chances of encountering a creature with the blood of those who reached the pinnacle of ascension in that place were astronomically low. Yet, he began to consider the possibility that it could be true.
If he had indeed killed such a creature at such a young age, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to compare the feat to the beginnings of many legends in this world.
'The first great achievement of Lotho, the Knight of Dawn, was slaying a Wyvern at just 14 years old. I can't recall anyone killing a creature with Titan blood at a younger age.'
For a moment, he wondered if he could someday become someone like Lotho, but he quickly dismissed those childish thoughts.
While Tristan was lost in these improbable musings, Zahira approached him.
"Is that dead? Did you really kill a Marked One?" she asked, her voice filled with disbelief.
"Yes," he confirmed.
"Since when can you kill creatures that strong?"
"Follow me. I'll show you something."
Tristan moved to the upper part of the corpse, picked up a stone, and threw it at a metallic cylinder, producing a ringing sound.
"I noticed this thing had some metal container inside its body. I got curious about what would happen if it were destroyed, and as you can see, the result was quite surprising."
"Seriously? That's all it took? You just had to hit that thing?"
When Tristan confirmed it, she exclaimed, "Damn, and I was scared of these guys."
Tristan wondered if all Marked Ones shared this trait.
He decided to examine the corpse further to see if he could find any answers. Just by observing, he noticed that the runes on the creature's body didn't seem to have been made with an ordinary blade.
'Or perhaps whoever carved them was extremely powerful.'
The engravings had few imperfections, and analyzing them, Tristan deduced they had been created in a single stroke.
'I wouldn't be able to carve into something this tough with my sword, even if it were much sharper. On the other hand, if I used Darkness magic, the runes would be perfect, unlike these.'
He formed a few hypotheses about the characteristics of whoever inscribed these symbols.
Though Tristan called them runes because of their resemblance to ones he knew, he couldn't confirm their true nature.
'I can't read these like the runes created by the Supremes. Perhaps they're like the magical arrays from my old home.'
Of course, he didn't dismiss the possibility of them being just a strange language.
He then turned his attention to the metal cylinder. Based on its simple design, Tristan assumed it was made using the world's standard archaic techniques.
He felt a bit apprehensive about tampering with it, but that didn't stop him. He used his Light magic on the cylinder, hoping it wasn't a cursed object.
The container's exterior was connected to the creature's various organs through tubes. The interior wasn't complex, divided into just three chambers. The top contained another set of runes, the middle held a viscous liquid, and the base featured a five-pointed metallic star.
Tristan found no physical mechanisms.
Most of the strange liquid had leaked out through the holes he had caused. Examining what remained, he discovered blood cells, muscle fibers, bone fragments, plant material, and powder from some minerals he couldn't identify.
All of this only made sense to him if it was part of a dynamic system. He hypothesized that the viscous liquid mixed with the creature's "blood" and circulated through its body, causing some unknown effect.
'If this is an artifact capable of animating something through magic, shouldn't it have a core to serve as an energy source?'
The more he investigated, the more anomalies he uncovered. Based on all the stories he had heard, cores were the ultimate energy source in that world. From artifacts and arrays to artificial races like the undead created by necromancers or golems crafted by mages, all required a core to function.
Concluding that he couldn't learn more from it, Tristan turned his gaze to the Fungelites. The guards had returned to the main nursery, some tearing pieces from the beast's corpse while others collected parts from their fallen comrades. All of it would become nutrients for their lands. The rest resumed their usual tasks as if everything had returned to normal.
Looking upward, Tristan saw the large hole at the top of the cavern. Judging by the faint light, he assumed it was late afternoon.
For a moment, he envied those beings' ability to forget everything that had happened and focus entirely on the present.
"I think our time here is over," he said to Zahira.
After preparing their belongings, Zahira guided him once more through the tunnels. With any luck, this time he would finally escape Kū Mù Lín.