The Dreamer's Fall

Chapter 42 - Leading by Example

After Arthur left the smithy, he entered the small side alleyway Thoran mentioned with Foster and Jeren. Unfortunately, the rain showed no signs of slowing down, and Arthur was nearly soaked through by the time he came upon the pile of bodies at the alley's end.

His targets had been added last, so naturally, they sat atop the pile. Without overthinking, he rushed to the fifth circle's corpse and swung down with the rusty hammer Thoran had given him. Yet, despite his hope that the clamorous rain would stifle the noises, it did nothing to drown out the gut-wrenching sounds that followed.

Regardless of the noise, once the mage's skull was opened, Arthur shot his hand inside and blindly grabbed for the mana core as if the mage's skull were a Halloween mystery box filled with warm jello. The moment he felt the crystal, he snatched it and withdrew his hand as quickly as possible before moving on to the next puppet.

Arthur discovered that the mana cores looked identical in shape and size despite the disparities in cultivation level their hosts had in life. This was unfortunate as it indicated that he'd have to be careful when storing them lest he not know which was which.

When he attempted to cultivate Bryan's core the other day, he couldn't see any rings surrounding it. So unless he already knew the owner's cultivation level, there was no way to differentiate the cores other than to cultivate with them and see if they were larger or smaller than his own.

The reason Arthur was handling the collection of the mana cores himself was twofold. Firstly, he had already decided that he should feel more comfortable around such things in the future, even if he found the process vile. And secondly, Arthur thought it would be a good idea to lead by example going forward. That way, Foster and Jeren wouldn't be able to complain if he asked them to do it in the future.

After collecting the cores, Arthur turned around and saw their expressions. Foster was facing away from him with his fingers in his ears, while Jeren had the same perplexed look he had earlier inside the smithy.

Arthur lightly kicked Foster's calf to get his attention as he walked by. "Let's get going. We've already been here too long."

"It's over?" Foster asked as he looked around the area like a prairie dog, carefully avoiding the pile of bodies with his eyes before running to catch up with Arthur and Jeren.

"It's over, ya big baby." Arthur glanced toward Jeren as they walked. "If I turn into a murderous maniac in the future, hold Foster accountable for it."

Jeren looked lost in his thoughts but nodded his head. "...As you say, lord."

"Young master, it's not my fault! I've always had a weak stomach ever since I was a boy. Besides, I thought you'd make Jeren do it! I would've gladly taken the task upon myself to save you from such a fate had I known!" Foster proudly declared.

Arthur rolled his eyes and chose not to respond to Foster's bluster. They soon entered the barren main avenue, but his carriage had moved from where it had dropped them off. Three buildings away, Arthur saw the carriage with the driver huddled beneath a nearby awning and walked to it.

Once in the carriage, Arthur rummaged through his pocket and tossed one of the third circle cores to Jeren. "Try and cultivate with that."

"Now?" Jeren asked.

Arthur nodded. "I only want to see if it's possible. So don't spend too much time on it."

Jeren closed his eyes briefly before reopening them and returning the core to Arthur. "It's strange... It appears no different from a mana beast's core, but I cannot draw mana from it."

"That's unfortunate..." Arthur clicked his tongue. "Anyway, you've seemed deep in thought for some time now. What do you want to know? If I can, I will answer your questions honestly."