Unable to repay my student loans, I had no choice but to work part-time as a demon hunter.

Cash? Charlotte blinked.

This is really amazing. How much money does a noblewoman have? This is enough for the campus police to beat Gordon to a pulp.

"How much do you want?" She thought for a moment, then chose to comply.

"Twenty silver pounds"

"Buy what?" Charlotte wasn't sure what Gordon wanted to do.

"That spider."

Charlotte hadn't expected this answer.

The corpse of the Spider Demon!

She came up with two explanations.

First, he's almost gone mad.

Secondly, he has become a demon; he is now a demon man.

“I’m telling you,” Charlotte said, “no one in their right mind would buy that stuff.”

"Yeah yeah."

"Then why did you still buy it?" Charlotte chided. "I don't know what's wrong with you."

"I have a reason to buy it." Gordon nodded seriously.

"Gordon..." Charlotte was on the verge of tears. "Don't do this! Have you lost your mind? Or did you eat something bad? Oh, I just remembered I bought you a goose leg the day before yesterday, but then I realized it was a duck leg..."

  

Gordon is hard to explain.

Therefore, he could only give Charlotte a resolute look.

Charlotte sighed.

Well, if Gordon is under the influence, she can only continue to monitor his condition.

Twenty silver pounds was nothing to her, but it seemed to mean a lot to Gordon.

If Gao registers a favor for her, she won't lose out.

"If you hurt yourself again, remember to haggle with the school clinic..." Charlotte muttered, taking out her exquisite velvet purse.

"Thank you, boss."

Gordon walked confidently to the podium.

Peter was still busy.

"Gordon, let's go back and wash the cups."

"Wait, I want to buy it."

Peter glanced at Gordon as if he were looking at a white rat monster that had voluntarily been dissected.

"Really?"

"Ding Zhen."

Why buy it?

"I have an anatomy test tomorrow," Gordon said. "I need to find something that won't cry out in pain to practice on."

"No need to buy such a big one. I can sell you a white rat monster, sixty copper coins each, no one would feel bad cutting it into mincemeat. Buy three and I'll give you a corpse bag."

"This was done by Professor Winslow. I need to study how the authority made the incision."

Peter remained silent.

The professor's skills are superb. This kid is trying to learn too early.

"Alright." Peter frowned. "...Then twenty-five silver pounds it is. Consider it a donation to my junior."

"Wasn't it supposed to be at most twenty just now?"

"What we just did was take it to the old fish market as garbage; this is now an internal matter for the academy," Peter said righteously.

"Seventeen."

"impossible."

"If you don't sell it to me, you'll have to deal with it yourself, pushing your cart for half an hour to the old fish market, enduring the disdainful looks of the people on the street. And the vendors will first tell you it's not fresh, then tell you that spider demons aren't in demand lately," Gordon the Demon whispered.

Peter's lips twitched.

He glanced at the clock on the wall, then at the uncleaned equipment.

"Twenty," Peter said. "Not a penny less."

"Seventeen, I'll move it myself."

"Eighteen, that's my final bottom line."

"make a deal."

Gordon counted out eighteen silver pounds and handed them to Peter.

Peter accepted it, and his expression quickly relaxed.

He saved his energy, the waste had a home, and Gordon could pursue his empty academic dreams.

Everyone's won so much they're numb.

“You said you’d move it yourself,” Peter said. “If it comes alive in the middle of the night, it’s none of my business.”

"Don't worry," Gordon said. "When it really comes to that, I probably won't have time to complain."

Gordon returned the wallet to Charlotte.

"Eighteen silver pounds for eight legs," Charlotte said, weighing the now lighter purse in her hand.

"Eight legs are a good thing, have you ever had grilled octopus?"

"I need a reasonable explanation," Charlotte said angrily. "I'm afraid the next time I see you, you'll be in some coffin."

"Fun fact: I can't afford a coffin," Gordon said. "If I die, the school will probably use me as practice for the next batch of freshmen. Anyway, keep an eye on this money; I'll pay it back sooner or later, along with everything else."

Then, Gordon lifted the spider demon and carried it out. Each of its eight legs objected; one of them bumped into the doorframe, so he stepped back, changed direction twice, and finally carried it away.

Charlotte sighed as she watched.

A student loan of one hundred pounds.

The day when Gordon pays off his debts is probably still a long way off.

……

Late at night, in the biomedical building, in the anatomy lab.

Gordon finally dragged the spider demon onto the dissection table.

He leaned on the edge of the table, panting. His arm muscles ached, and his lower back was also in great pain.

Even during breaks, Gordon's mind is always active.

The tips were indeed very helpful.

Its previous best result was finding 3 bronze points.

Now it's incredible; it can actually locate the source material.

A coin can last for a few days at most, but a source of energy can change your life.

He moved the kerosene lamp over, and under its light, the silvery glow became even clearer.

【A shimmering miniature source material – "The Unbroken String"】

Come on. Whether it's true or false, you'll know at a glance.

Gordon put on his gloves and picked up the scalpel.

He reached deep into the spider demon and began to dissect it.

Separating the hardened muscle bundles, cutting open the translucent fascia... the dead heads in the jars silently observe this significant secondary dissection.

Gordon's fingers trembled, whether from nervousness and anxiety or from having only eaten half a slice of bread for dinner.

Finally, the tip of the knife touched something hard, and he concentrated intently, picking out a thin thread from it.

found it.

Gordon carefully picked it up and moved it into the prepared glass dish.

The surface was still stained with some brown grime, but it was clearly extraordinary, trembling even without wind.

The tweezers were gently brought close, and Gordon felt a slight vibration; it seemed this was not an illusion.

Very good.

Then, Gordon's smile gradually faded.

He can't exactly bring it to class.

Maybe it can be sold.

Small-sized source materials are worth between 50 and 200 gold pounds, depending on whether the appraiser is ethical.

Gordon hadn't figured out how to deal with those problems yet.

He could already hallucinate those critical faces.

who are you?

Where did you find it?

What else have you seen?

People in trading firms are often problematic and cunning.

The people at the old fish market will send someone to ambush him in the alley, to show him what true dominance looks like.

The people in the black market... will take advantage of him completely.

Gordon looked at the silver lines in the glass dish.

Besides selling it, there is another option.

Refine it! Transform it into a magical potion, making it your own power.

In other words, one becomes a Source Hunter, an ability user in this world.

Source Hunters will spend their entire lives pursuing Source, constantly transforming it into their special abilities. In the process, they will gain extraordinary strength, speed, and lifespan.

Gordon took a deep breath.

Indeed, selling it would only get you gold pounds, without any real change in value.

Refining it might just start a whole new life.

I even considered selling it just now; I'm as naive as a law-abiding citizen.

Nobody or someone famous?

Without delay, Gordon quickly prepared the materials needed to refine the Source Essence Potion.

Heart is worse than action.

He walked towards the storage room connected to the dissection room. It was filled with secondary consumables that Winslow had discarded over the years.

[A small alcohol lamp. The flame is not very stable.]

[An old glass graduated cylinder. The graduations are worn away.]

[Settling salt. Most of it has been used up; a small portion simply wants a peaceful life.]

Very good.

It's all garbage.

Even Peter rarely paid attention to this room, while Gordon often scavenged in it, so he could easily find something there.

With most of the materials gathered, Gordon pulled out his lecture notes.

"The method for extracting the source material... triple separation method..."

When Winslow recounted this, he said it wouldn't be on the exam, so everyone capped their pens. Gordon, however, continued writing diligently and remembered everything clearly.

Purify the solution by precipitating salts, filtering out impurities and inert substances, controlling the appropriate temperature, and selecting the correct solution.

The solution also has its own requirements: distilled water can be used as the source material for the "sparkling" phase, while strong liquor should be used as the source material for the "combustible" phase.

Gordon kept the information firmly in mind.

He also recalled Winslow saying that anyone can follow the steps, the problem lies in experience.

For a normal person, retaining 20% ​​of the active ingredients on their first attempt at alchemy is already considered good. Even experts from the Royal Alchemy Bureau cannot guarantee a perfect result on the first try.

Most people are unable to observe the state of the source material, and are unaware of which step led to the loss of source material activity.

Gordon is different. He can actually observe the state of the source matter with the naked eye.

So he officially started work.

He placed the silver thread in a beaker, sprinkled in settling salt and clean water, allowing the brownish flesh residue to fall off naturally. Once clean, he placed it in a crucible and lit an alcohol lamp. As the temperature gradually rose to the appropriate range, the silver thread slowly unfurled.

As the process progressed, the light became increasingly clear, like the morning star.

……

Two hours later, Gordon finally managed to grind about 10 milliliters of the Source Essence Potion.

The liquid was clear and transparent; it was the most beautiful and vibrant thing Gordon had ever seen.

It's incredible.

However, we still need to test it.

Gordon solemnly tested the solution with the test strip, as if verifying a problem that had already been solved.

The color changed from pale to shimmering silver, and finally to clear gold.

Gordon's heart skipped a beat.

Extremely high strength, fully active, with almost no waste.

[Primal Potion. Best served chilled.]

Gordon made up his mind, picked up the potion, and refined it in an instant.

When the liquid touched the back of his tongue, he felt as if he had swallowed a needle.

cold.

slim.

sharp!

He was still waiting for it to fall into his stomach, but unexpectedly it went against the current and headed straight for Gordon's brain.

Gordon quickly pressed his forehead.

He felt a sharp pain in his head.

The world before my eyes flickered wildly, twisting and rearranging itself!

Gordon staggered and grabbed the edge of the table, his heart pounding wildly.

He looked down at himself, the various changes tearing at his limbs and bones.

Immediately afterwards, a series of brand new prompts appeared before my eyes.

[In the process of fusion... Please do not commit suicide during this process.]

[Physical condition has slightly improved, allowing for moderate-intensity physical labor.]

[Drug tolerance has improved slightly; a larger cup can be used next time.]

[My proprioception has been moderately improved; I understand my body better than the school clinic does.]

The delay in exercise feedback has decreased slightly, indicating that the body is reducing internal friction.

[New ability to resonate: Synchronized transmission; you are no longer who you used to be.]