The vampires still needed to lie low in the basement to avoid trouble.
And Li Xiuman had to consider the food and drink for these vampires.
They could suppress their urge to drink blood and go without it.
But in return, they had to sate their hunger with food.
Purchasing large quantities of food would definitely attract attention.
Thus, it was best to ask Tedela for help in finding other channels to buy food in bulk.
Besides, his preparations were nearly complete.
Once the vampires were settled, he would continue exploring the dungeon.
He went to find Tedela and discussed the matter of the food.
Afterward, he spent some time petting the cat-eared maid, Ramantiel.
It was a pity he was raising a nest of bats; if possible, he would have preferred a nest of cats.
Leaving the Reby Merchant Association, Li Xiuman walked toward the library.
The chatter of residents could be heard along the street.
They were all talking about a thief breaking into Viscount Fantes's mansion last night and a group of slaves escaping.
News certainly traveled fast.
“Clatter, clatter, clatter.”
The heavy rumbling of wheels echoed from behind.
Li Xiuman turned around to see a carriage hauling several iron cages rolling down the street.
Inside the cages were all kinds of monsters.
Li Xiuman habitually cast Appraisal on them. After all, there were some monsters he had never seen before, so he wanted to analyze and record their information.
However, after Appraising one of the monsters, his body couldn't help but shudder.
This monster possessed a skill called [Storage].
The owner of the skill was a grey, big-bellied monkey.
Information about this monkey immediately surfaced in Li Xiuman's mind.
The Deep-Bellied Monkey.
It was a low-tier monster that was exceptionally gluttonous.
It was said to be capable of eating three times its own body weight in a single sitting.
Theoretically, that amount of food should have far exceeded its stomach's capacity, yet the Deep-Bellied Monkey remained completely unaffected.
It was as if its stomach possessed a spatial storage ability.
There was no spatial storage magic in this world, but there was no absolute rule.
This kind of monkey possessed a skill called [Storage], which Li Xiuman was seeing for the very first time.
The limit for a low-tier monster like the Deep-Bellied Monkey was only level 10.
It would never be able to upgrade [Storage] to [Storage Lv.2] in its entire lifetime.
But if he could get his hands on its [Storage], would he be able to obtain spatial storage capabilities?
Li Xiuman rushed toward the caravan and blocked its path.
“You bastard, are you tired of living?! How dare you block my carriage! I'll—”
“—I'll immediately invite you to be my honored guest and give you the warmest welcome! To be stopped by you is the blessing of a lifetime!”
“Lord Skeleton, is there anything you need?”
The man jumping down from the carriage hadn't even finished his threat when his eyes widened, and he hurriedly did a complete about-face.
It seemed his fierce reputation had truly spread across White Bear City.
“I want that monkey. How much?”
Li Xiuman pointed at the Deep-Bellied Monkey locked in the cage.
“Oh, is that all?”
“If you like it, Lord Skeleton, please just take it!”
“I am a man of rules. How much?”
“Since you put it that way, Lord Skeleton...”
The man held up three fingers.
“Three silver coins.”
“Here.”
Li Xiuman paid the money, hoisted the cage with the monkey inside onto his shoulder, and walked off.
The caravan leader let out a sigh of relief, climbed back onto the carriage, and set off again.
But this time, they visibly slowed down, seemingly terrified of bumping into anyone else.
Carrying the monkey, Li Xiuman arrived at the library.
His head-turning rate on the streets was already high, but now it was practically a hundred percent.
He searched the library for books regarding Memory Crystals and Tier 6 Mage Mana Crystals.
He quickly found two.
One was titled 《What is a Memory Crystal?》, and the other was 《How Mage Crystals Are Formed》.
After checking them out, Li Xiuman brought the books back home.
He gave the monkey a quick, painless euthanasia.
Li Xiuman detached its left leg and dissolved the flesh.
Since this monkey only had the [Storage] skill, he didn't have to worry about getting the wrong one.
Next, he detached his own left leg bone and installed the Deep-Bellied Monkey's leg bone.
[Ding! Obtained skill: Storage Lv.1]
In an instant, Li Xiuman felt as though somewhere deep within his body had been forced open by a sudden surge of power.
Vaguely, he could feel an extra, empty space inside his rib cage.
He picked up a potato-sized rock, stuffed it into his chest, and activated Storage.
The rock vanished.
And his newly acquired spatial storage seemed to be... filled up by about one-tenth.
It really was a storage-type skill.
However, the storage space was extremely small.
Once Li Xiuman retrieved the rock, the space became completely empty once again.
It seemed his only hope was to level up this skill in the future and see if the capacity would expand.
Li Xiuman shook his stubby left leg.
The Deep-Bellied Monkey's leg bone was simply too weak, causing Li Xiuman a wave of discomfort.
Usually, he only grafted bones of better Quality than his own. This was his first time performing such a drastic downgrade.
By using Bone Manipulation to make the Deep-Bellied Monkey's leg bone grow and adapt to his normal leg's size and strength, Li Xiuman finally adapted.
He paid his respects to Master Deep-Bellied Monkey, who had sacrificed its life to teach him this skill.
Then, he cremated the monkey's remains and buried the ashes.
Returning to the basement, Li Xiuman opened the books on Memory Crystals and Mage Mana Crystals.
Memory Crystals were the physical embodiment of memories created through a special magic.
This was often a method used by high-tier mages on their deathbeds to pass down their magical insights and inheritance.
As for Mage Mana Crystals...
...they were "organs" used by mages of Tier 5 and above to hold their own massive mana.
Since mages had relatively frail Constitutions, their bodies often couldn't withstand such immense mana once they reached Tier 5.
Therefore, they would condense a crystal inside their bodies to house, store, and gather their mana.
It was the most important and precious object within a high-tier mage's body.
Its uses were extensive, including casting large-scale magic, crafting magical items, and helping high-tier mages break through their ranks.
With these two items combined...
...it amounted to the inheritance of a Tier 6 Mage, even if it was incomplete.
In the entirety of White Bear City, the highest-ranking Mage was only Tier 3, which was something Ilu had told him.
Though White Bear City wasn't exactly a major city to begin with.
“...I need to find a way to get someone to try to possess me.”
This harvest left Li Xiuman with such a thought in the depths of his mind.
Li Xiuman tried to activate the Memory Crystal according to the magic circles and ancient magical language recorded in the books.
Suddenly, a torrent of memories flooded into Li Xiuman's mind.
He felt like a mere bystander, watching someone else's life unfold.
However, this Memory Crystal had, after all, been extracted directly from the remnant soul by his status panel.
It was not a proper inheritance.
As a result, the memories inside were highly fragmented and utterly useless.
For example, they included instances like the Tier 6 Mage eating boogers as a child and being caught by his crush, or the sheer embarrassment of his first time failing to perform due to nervousness.
Though amusing, they were completely worthless.
The actual substance regarding magic was practically nonexistent.
Li Xiuman could only filter out and record the magic-related memories bit by bit, skimming past everything else.
Rate on N.U.
