Moon's heart began racing as he held the orb in his two hands. Inside the orb was swirling purple energy, radiating imnse power that Moon had never seen in a core before.
In his hands was the core of a Supre Creature.
A Supre Rank Core.
'Appraisal!' Moon activated his epic skill, curious to understand what he was holding.
[Three-Tailed Illusion Fox Core]
[Order: First]
[Rank: Supre]
[Details: The condensed essence of a Supre-rank creature, containing imnse power within. This core holds the pure, concentrated spirit of the Three-Tailed Illusion Fox. The item could be &$%* to &$%*]
Reading through the so-what redacted notification, Moon couldn't help but marvel at the orb in his hands. His eyes imdiately focused on the last portion of the text, where his Appraisal skill had apparently hit its limits—the information cutting off into incomprehensible symbols.
'Appraisal is too weak to fully analyze the hidden properties of this Supre Rank core. This isn't just another monster core—it's completely different, as expected.'
Curious to verify this theory, Moon retrieved another core from his storage for comparison.
[Three-Toed Sloth Core]
[Order: First]
[Rank: A]
[Details: The condensed essence of an A-rank creature containing a portion of its power within. The core could be refined to beco a weapon.]
Comparing the two descriptions, Moon noted several critical differences beyond the obvious power disparity.
The Supre-rank core ntioned containing the "pure, concentrated spirit" of the fox—words that didn't appear in the standard A-Rank core description. He wasn't entirely certain what that ant, but his intuition told him it was significant.
Additionally, the A-Rank core clearly stated its potential uses, following standard awakener knowledge about core refinent.
To ensure this wasn't an anomaly, Moon retrieved the S-rank Poison Toad core he'd acquired during the gate operation.
'Appraisal.'
Just as he'd predicted, the S-rank core followed the sa pattern as the A-rank core. It held no ntion of containing the creature's "spirit," but contained the core's use of becoming a weapon.
'This Supre core is operating on completely different principles than normal monster cores. I need to understand what benefits it provides, but clearly my current appraisal capabilities aren't sufficient.'
Moon carefully stored the precious Supre core in his storage ring, already planning research into its properties at so point in the future.
"Co on, Mirage, let's continue. We still hav—"
Moon's attention returned to where he'd left the fox's corpse, intending to store the valuable corpse before departing.
His eyes widened in shock, voice catching in his throat.
"Mirage! What are you doing!"
The white horse, who had apparently consud nearly half of the fox's internal organs while Moon was absorbed in examining cores, was still chewing on his bite. Upon hearing his na called with such alarm, Mirage realised that he had made a mistake. He slowly rose from the partially devoured carcass, his eyes glistening with guilt and pleading for forgiveness. Staring at his companion's obviously remorseful expression, Moon's mouth twitched with conflicted emotions.
'He ate the fox's insides while I was distracted by appraisal of the cores. I should have been paying attention, leaving such a corpse is akin to leaving sweets on the table to a hungry child.'
"Sigh... Although I was planning to eventually feed you portions of this body, you shouldn't have started eating without permission, I still had plans for that body."
Mirage lowered his head in deeper sha, clearly disappointed in his own lack of self-control. The body was simply too alluring, and he couldn't hold himself.
Seeing such remorse from his loyal companion, Moon felt his heart soften despite the frustration. The horse looked distressed by his perceived failure.
"Hey, it's alright," Moon said gently, moving closer to comfort the horse. "It's partially my fault for not explicitly telling you not to eat it. Besides, I'm sure a Supre creature's flesh appeared incredibly tempting to your senses. I can understand why you couldn't resist."
Mirage slowly raised his head, guilt still evident in his large eyes. Then he leaned closer, rubbing his neck against Moon in a gesture of apology and affection.
"It's okay. Actually, how about this—since you've already started, we might as well let you finish. This body is essentially a natural treasure. Consuming it will certainly give you loads of energy, enough to perhaps advance to the Second Sanctuary."
As Moon spoke those words, a sudden thought struck him.
He vividly rembered when Mirage had bathed in the Golden Fish's blood during their hidden realm adventure, and how that exposure had triggered remarkable evolutionary adaptations—including his fin-like tail and incredible strength gains.
'Consuming Supre creature flesh might provide Mirage with new adaptations! Maybe illusion-type abilities or stronger ntal resistance!'
The possibility was thrilling. If Mirage could gain illusion capabilities from consuming the fox, he would beco an incredibly versatile partner.
During the fight with the Three Tailed Fox, Moon was unable to summon Mirage to fight with him for the most part, afraid that he would die.
Mirage's mind was not weak, but it was certainly not a strong point. Facing creatures that attacked the mind was a weakness of his.
"Mirage, continue eating. Make sure you consu the heart as well—that's likely where the most concentrated essence resides."
Mirage's expression brightened considerably, relief and eagerness replacing his earlier guilt upon receiving permission to continue his feast.
Moon watched with fascination as his companion thodically devoured the Supre creature's internal remains, wondering what remarkable evolutionary changes this unprecedented al might trigger in the white horse's already impressive arsenal.
Once Mirage had finished consuming all the internal organs, Moon began carefully harvesting the remaining valuable materials from the corpse.
He extracted the most important components—the fox's luxurious white fur, its razor-sharp claws, the three distinctive tails, and other anatomical parts that were too tough or inappropriate for consumption but held potential value for crafting.
Moon had no thoughts of trading any parts of the Fox, at least not yet and certainly not to anyone he didn't have a good relationship with.
What remained was a large portion of edible at from the creature's corpse.
Unlike his earlier survival experiences, Moon had gained so decent cooking knowledge during his ti with Selene and Yara on Lunaris Island. He'd learned how Yara skillfully used various herbs and natural spices to create mouth-watering aromas and complex flavors that transford simple ingredients into rich als.
Moon stepped outside the cave briefly, using his wind elent to swiftly chop down a nearby tree and gather several large chunks of wood.
Crackle-Crackle!
He ignited a bonfire then positioned a tal cauldron he'd been carrying for such occasions directly over the flas.
Then, Moon began preparing the Supre creature's at using Yara's seasoning and cooking thod. The flesh was unlike anything he'd worked with before, and he had to continuously use his fire elent to ensure that it was cooked well.
After considerable ti spent tending the fire and adjusting the preparation, the incredible aroma of expertly cooked at and aromatic spices began wafting through the cave.
The scent was extraordinary, rich with flavors.
"It's ready," Moon announced with a satisfied grin, excited at the prospect of consuming Supre creature flesh. "Ti to see what kind of benefits this provides."
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