Beast Slayer Online: Initialization
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 186: The Dragonbone Proposal
Lannor lay sprawled across the bed, wearing the expression of a man whose plans had just collapsed in front of him.
Whenever events strayed too far beyond his expectations, that was usually the face he made.
The irritating part was that the problem existed because he had moved too quickly.
Originally, he had intended to build influence within the laboratory little by little, earning enough authority to steer Tissaia’s research toward his own ideas.
Then he experienced the memories of Abdle, the Emperor’s Children alchemist.
He had sat there for only a few minutes.
A few minutes.
Yet the immense ocean of gene-lore had already solved what amounted to a childish problem in comparison: stem-cell cultivation.
Having a technical pathway, however, was very different from reproducing it in a magical medieval world.
By Lannor’s estimation, he would need at least three successful rounds of repeated experimentation before he could establish a standardized procedure.
Only then could the technology truly be considered mature.
At heart, Lannor was still a man with a strong sense of looming danger.
The news that he would reenter a Conjunction of the Spheres rift in two months, combined with the knowledge he had just acquired, pushed him toward a single conclusion.
He wanted to complete the Secondary Heart.
Then undergo the enhancement procedure himself.
Improving himself was always the safest investment.
The problem was simple.
Experiments cost money.
If he followed Tissaia’s research plan step by step, success or failure alike would be charged to Aretuza’s accounts.
If his academic achievements eventually convinced Tissaia to alter the project’s direction, the Academy might still foot the bill.
But if he wanted to pursue his own path now?
Even with Margarita speaking on his behalf, Tissaia would never approve spending Academy funds on an unproven personal theory.
Which meant one thing.
Lannor would have to finance the experiments himself.
No matter how spectacular an individual’s windfall might be, it could not compare to the financial power of an organization that had dominated a technological field for generations.
From what he had learned of the Crystal Cultivation Project, each round of experimentation consumed a fresh batch of natural crystals the size of washbasins.
Then there were the disposable cashmere strips, altered through magic and embroidered with runes for conducting Chaos magic.
Those two expenses alone would cost more than three thousand orens.
Not long ago, Lannor had thought himself fairly wealthy.
Five thousand orens from Foltest.
Ten thousand gold coins brought back from another world.
By any ordinary standard, he possessed a respectable fortune.
Now that he actually needed money, he discovered how poor he truly was.
Margarita, by comparison, was rich beyond reason.
Or perhaps it was simply impossible for a highly skilled sorceress to be poor.
Lannor suspected his entire net worth would earn little more than an approving nod from her.
The woman enjoyed luxury with wholehearted enthusiasm. Her annual expenses on food and drink alone exceeded a thousand orens.
Extravagant hardly covered it.
True, Lannor often joked that living off a rich woman sounded wonderful.
Following Margarita to expensive meals was one thing.
Taking a substantial amount of her money to fund his own ambitions was something else entirely.
The values of his old world still clung stubbornly to him.
His pride would not stomach it.
“Right.”
Rubbing his chin, Lannor glanced toward Margarita at her dressing table.
“Does Aretuza make Spatial Expansion Pouches? Something like that handbag of yours that seems capable of holding half the continent?”
“A Magic Satchel?” Margarita asked, amusement flickering in the mirror’s reflection. “The Academy does produce them. Why, do you want one?”
The expression in her eyes immediately put Lannor on guard.
Still, he forced himself onward.