Chapter 490 – Improvement Spell Experiment (Four)

“The secretion of acid… This acid’s corrosive capability could even melt diamonds, but compared to Formal-Level spells, it’s still too low-level. While enhancing it wouldn’t be entirely useless, making it practical for Master-Level applications seems unrealistic.”

Casually tossing a small vial of acid extracted from the salivary glands of the Dire-Corpse Worm into the “Dissolution Pool,” Punk then picked up a large piece of muscle tissue from the Experiment Table.

“The muscular strength is quite exceptional—most Apprentice-Level warriors probably couldn’t match it. But when it comes to toughness…”

Gently slicing a small section of the Dire-Corpse Worm’s muscle fibers with a scalpel, Punk finally shook his head while observing the smooth fiber cross-section.

“The muscle is too fragile, offering no resistance even to molecular-level cutting. Although we could try adding a reinforcement structure during the spell model construction, that would increase the spell’s mana consumption. Overall, it still feels somewhat counterproductive!”

Following the small vial of acid, the dark green muscle tissue, now cut into, was also thrown into the “Dissolution Pool.”

Setting down the scalpel, Punk turned his attention to a small piece of pale purple colon tissue.

“The digestive capability and nutrient absorption are quite remarkable. The Dire-Corpse Worm can digest one-fifth of its body weight in food in just a few minutes. This might actually be worth considering…”

After three or four days of research, Punk had examined nearly every type of cell in the Dire-Corpse Worm. It had to be admitted that, as a magical creature that had survived since ancient times, the Dire-Corpse Worm was far from useless. Many of its abilities placed it among the top-tier magical creatures of its level, and in Punk’s vision, these abilities held some potential worth exploring.

However, the process of experimental research was inevitably lengthy. Although he had studied a jumble of tissues and organs, the first Dire-Corpse Worm on the Experiment Table had already been reduced to scattered pieces of meat and discarded into the “Dissolution Pool.” Yet, the sheer volume of information made it difficult for Punk to decide which direction to focus on.

It was at this moment that Punk understood why ancient mages always wanted to incorporate all of a magical creature’s abilities into a spell model… The truth was, these creatures’ evolutionary traits, honed over countless years, were all quite useful. Every unique adaptation seemed to hold potential, and discarding any one of them inevitably led to the nagging doubt: “What if I just discarded the most valuable ability?”

Nevertheless, the ability to make trade-offs was essential for any wise mage. What Punk needed wasn’t an entire, combat-ineffective Dire-Corpse Worm. He aimed to refine Master-Level spells inspired by this large insect. Abilities like acid secretion, for instance, were essentially useless.

The research progress over these three days hadn’t been smooth, but Punk felt no impatience. The often century-long, monotonous processes of mage research were an unavoidable experience for every spellcaster. Before starting his research, Punk had already prepared himself mentally for such challenges.Lost in thought, Punk was about to inject a nutrient potion when he decided not to waste any time during his research. His nutritional needs could be fully met by one dose per week.

Suddenly, the cry of the Magical Raven Vector interrupted Punk’s contemplation.

“Gah gah, Boss, come take a look at these flesh worms! What’s going on with them? Gah gah!”

Vector’s childish voice echoed through the small laboratory.

Putting down the concentrated nutrient syringe, Punk frowned and looked toward the cage in the corner.

Then, with the keen vision of a Master-Level expert, Punk immediately noticed that the cage of Flesh-Crawling Worms now contained a large group of… densely packed tiny worms?

“What is this? Are Flesh-Crawling Worms’ reproductive abilities this absurd? This number seems a bit too exaggerated!”

Striding over to the spell cage, Punk directly cast Mage Hand to pick up a small worm the size of a pinky finger. At the same time, the tiny worms that had been crawling around in the spell cage suddenly swarmed and burrowed into the carapace of one of the larger worms.

Ignoring the other small worms, Punk, intrigued by Vector’s discovery, began carefully observing the Flesh-Crawling Worm larva in his hand.

“Gah gah, Boss, this wasn’t my doing! These little worms just suddenly appeared in the cage, gah gah!”

Flying onto Punk’s shoulder, the Magical Raven Vector glared at the cage of Flesh-Crawling Worms with disgust, then immediately turned its gaze toward Punk with a placating tone.

Punk didn’t want to respond to Vector’s foolish question. These small worms were clearly the offspring of one of the Flesh-Crawling Worms. “Doing” this? How could a raven possibly be responsible for producing a bunch of worms?

Pushing the magic raven away from his ear to the center of his left shoulder, Punk put down the Flesh-Crawling Worm and approached the spell cage.

The Flesh-Crawling Worms in the cage still maintained their lazy “eat-sleep-repeat” demeanor. Even the one that had produced numerous small worms was no exception. After being startled, all the tiny worms had hidden in the crevices of the mother worm’s carapace, peeking out cautiously. This situation of being “covered” with tiny worm heads made the “mother” worm appear even more disgusting.

“Gah gah, how can these things reproduce so much? This… this is just too disgusting! Yaaah, my trypophobia is going to flare up! Gah gah gah!”

Following Punk and witnessing the squirming mass of worm heads, Vector’s feathers stood on end as it quickly closed its eyes to avoid looking. As an Alchemical Creation, Vector only resembled a raven in appearance – in reality, its most hated things were insects!

As for the repulsiveness of the Flesh-Crawling Worms, Punk didn’t share such excessive reactions. In fact, observing these small worms suddenly gave Punk a rather interesting inspiration.”The proliferation of these worms is not without reason. Their larvae are far too fragile, so they rely on sheer numbers to ensure the survival of their species. In this regard, they are remarkably successful—a single asexually reproducing organism capable of producing so many offspring at once is testament enough to the Tenebrous Worms’ resilience. Moreover, their powerful digestive systems allow the young worms to rapidly absorb nutrients and grow… If these two traits could be harnessed in spellcraft…”

Picking up a tiny worm and watching it wriggle between his fingers, Punk grew increasingly convinced his inspiration was viable.

Just imagine—if such formidable digestive capabilities and rapid asexual reproduction could coexist naturally in these tiny worms, then integrating them into a unified spell matrix should be entirely feasible!

This way, if he developed a spell that summoned worms capable of swiftly consuming surrounding matter and energy to nourish themselves, then rapidly replicating to spread like a virus, eventually causing “infected” enemies to rapidly “succumb”…

At this thought, a cold smile tugged at the corners of Punk’s lips—he had found a viable research direction!

(End of Chapter)