"What in the seven hells is this thing?" Bran muttered as he stood before the giant corpse leaning against the opening of the sewer.
It was almost the size of an elephant, yet it possessed unmistakably humanoid arms and legs.
Its green face was pale and so was the rest of its body, possibly died long time ago.
Some sort of medication has been used on it to prevent maggots from eating its corpse, perhaps.
Its enormous, rounded abdomen had been split open, and from the gaping wound spilled what appeared to be thousands upon thousands of gold coins. Bran stared for a moment before narrowing his eyes.
No, they were not coins. Their shapes were different, almost primitive compared to actual currency, but there was no mistaking the material.
It was gold.
Bran found himself genuinely fascinated by the sheer absurdity of it. How could a goblin consume that much gold and remain alive? Then again, it had obviously swallowed more than just gold. Whatever it had consumed had been broken down inside its body, reduced to some strange, primal form of gold.
[Host, there are many mythical creatures in the world that survive on far stranger things. Consider gold the equivalent of electricity required to power a machine.]
Bran shrugged. "Well, I’m starting to get used to this."
He was in a fantasy world, after all. Apparently, the laws governing existence here had very little interest in making sense.
His gaze soon returned to the corpse, and his expression hardened.
There was, however, a far more immediate problem.
How was he supposed to carry all this gold without getting caught?
Bran had been careful to make sure no one followed him inside, but that would not last forever. Sooner or later, someone would enter this place. With this much gold inside the goblin’s corpse, there was no chance George would stay away from it for long.
He had to hurry.
Whatever he could carry, he needed to take now.
’I do have a sack, but this gold looks heavy.’
Bran bent down and lifted one of the golden plates. It weighed at least two kilograms. He was strong enough to carry perhaps a hundred of them at most, but even that amount would hardly make a dent in the governor’s wealth.
Rattle.
The moment he removed one of the plates, the rest of the heap shifted. Several more slid down the pile, colliding with one another and filling the tunnel with a sharp metallic rattle.
Bran instantly looked over his shoulder.
His heart tightened as he listened.
The tunnel was long and largely vacant, allowing the sound to travel far more easily than he would have liked. If someone had been paying attention, there was little chance they would have missed it.
Fortunately, neither of the awakened soldiers seemed to react. Perhaps they had not heard it, or perhaps they were simply too drowsy to care.
Either way, Bran let out a quiet breath of relief.
"Hmm?"
When he turned back toward the heap of gold, something caught his eye.
"What is this?"
Buried among the golden plates was a small stone that was unmistakably different from the rest. It possessed a deep reddish hue and was roughly the size of his palm. Bran picked it up and examined it curiously.
Then he noticed the scent.
It was surprisingly sweet.
[Host, that is a core gem! Every magical being eventually develops one. It serves as a storage space for excess Lumina reserves, while the imprints of their skills are also left within it. Consider it an additional storage drive.]
Bran’s eyes widened.
’That sounds interesting. Tell me, what can I do with this?’
[Swallow it.]
"..."
Bran went completely silent.
The System, apparently sensing his hesitation, quickly added,
[Trust the System, Host. You naturally possess the ability to assimilate the Lumina of other beings. That is precisely why your limiter was unable to contain your magic.]
For the first time, Bran found himself genuinely distrustful of the System.
Unfortunately, the fragrance emanating from the gem was becoming increasingly difficult to resist. It was almost intoxicating, its sweetness making his mouth water despite himself.
In the end, curiosity won.
Bran brought the gem to his mouth and took a bite.
Crunch.
It was hard, almost like a piece of candy, and surprisingly sweet.
Bran’s eyes immediately curved into crescents.
It tasted like a peculiar blend of cherry and vanilla, and the moment it touched his tongue, it seemed to melt away.
"Mmm."
A delighted moan escaped him before he took another bite, this time devouring nearly half the gem in one go.
Crunch.
He might not have been hungry this early in the morning, but apparently, the moment he tasted the gem, his appetite had awakened with a vengeance.
Only a few seconds later, Bran stood there empty-handed, staring at his palms as though he had somehow consumed the entire thing without even realizing it.
Then came the sensation.
"Ah... fuck. What is this feeling?"
A surge of energy suddenly coursed through his veins, leaving his entire body tingling. It felt almost intoxicating, as though he had taken some kind of drug. His breathing grew heavier, and for a moment, he struggled to understand what was happening to him.
And then he noticed another rather inconvenient development.
"Why am I getting hard all of a sudden?"
Bran stared down in disbelief before hurriedly pressing his little prince down, trying to conceal the rather embarrassing reaction.
[Ding! Congratulations.]
[You have absorbed a Third-tier Soul Core.]
[Due to the compatibility and stabilized condition of the core, assimilation is proceeding at a smoother pace.]
[Ding! Your Lumina has risen by a considerable margin.]
[Ding! You have obtained a skill!]
[Skill obtained: Golden Maw]
[Rank: D]
[Description: A skill that allows the Host to store an unlimited amount of gold within a dimensional pocket accessible only to the Host.]
[Note: This skill does not consume Lumina when storing gold.]
[Note: If in the future if the host obtain a job that is compatible with the skill, the host could unlock more feature of the skill.]
"..."
Bran stared at the notification for several seconds.
Then his gaze slowly drifted toward the mountain of gold surrounding him.
Ah.
Wasn’t this quite literally the perfect tool for the situation he was in right now?