"She and the other Dragon Maids are suppressing the stronger monsters. Some of them proved much more difficult to contain than we expected," Celeste replied.
Isaac nodded before creating several clones. Without another word, the clones headed toward the stronger monsters to assist the Dragon Maids. Controlling multiple bodies simultaneously had become almost second nature to him, although he still knew Catherine could multitask more efficiently than he could.
"You can leave for now. I have something I need to test here," Isaac said to Celeste.
"Understood, Master," Celeste replied. She gave another respectful bow before quietly leaving the clearing.
Once he was alone, Isaac walked over to one of the cages and sat down nearby. Inside were a single male and female Bramble Hare, both still trying to claw their way out of the enclosure. He slowly activated the aphrodisiac scent produced by his Celestial Kitsune Bloodline while carefully limiting its range so it only affected that single cage.
This was still an experiment. There was no point influencing every pair at once before he understood exactly how effective the Seed Imprinting would be. Watching the invisible scent spread through the cage, Isaac couldn’t help feeling slightly conflicted.
For a brief moment, it felt strange to deliberately force the monsters to reproduce through external influence. The thought lingered only briefly before he reminded himself that these were System Monsters. They possessed no real intelligence beyond their instincts to kill, and reproduce.
The effect appeared almost immediately. The pair stopped attacking the cage before turning their attention toward each other. Within moments, instinct completely took over.
Isaac calmly observed the entire process without feeling embarrassed in the slightest. Instead, he found himself viewing it with detached curiosity, almost as though he were watching animals in a nature documentary.
That realization surprised him more than the monsters themselves.
He quickly understood where the change had come from. Ever since acquiring the Silver Dragon Bloodline, his instincts had shifted in subtle ways. ’Lower creatures’ simply didn’t evoke the same emotional response anymore.
If he had still possessed only the Celestial Kitsune Bloodline, things might have been different. The Kitsune race was infamous for its uninhibited desires. They would do anything and everything. His Solar Dragon Bloodline also made it easier for those instincts to surface.
However, after obtaining the Silver Dragon Bloodline as well, those impulses had become much easier to control. He was still affected by them, but they no longer dictated his thoughts. As a ’noble being’, his instincts now leaned more toward dignity than indulgence, and he found it difficult to tolerate himself acting disgracefully in front of others.
Isaac continued observing the pair of Bramble Hares without letting his attention wander.
Sovereign of Land remained active, allowing him to sense every fluctuation of mana within their bodies. At the same time, he focused his Life Element and all of his senses on the female hare.
The Bramble Hares clearly belonged to a species that reproduced quickly, given their huge numbers. It did not take long before the fertilized egg formed within the female’s body. Isaac waited another few moments to confirm the change before acting.
He gently put both monsters to sleep with one of Catherine’s skills. After making sure they would not wake up, he broke open the cage and carefully approached the female hare. Kneeling beside it, he placed one hand against its stomach.
Closing his eyes, Isaac concentrated entirely on his Life Element. The sensation was faint, almost impossible to notice, but he eventually felt a tiny spark of life beginning to develop. His current mastery over the Life Element was still low, forcing him to focus much harder than he would have liked.
A familiar notification appeared before him.
Life Element has leveled up. Level 3 → Level 4.
Isaac smiled slightly as the improvement settled in. The increase was small, but it sharpened his perception enough for him to observe the embryo much more clearly. The additional precision was exactly what he needed.
Once he confirmed that the fertilized egg was stable, Isaac activated Seed Imprinting.
To his surprise, the skill worked without any resistance. The embryo was apparently recognized as a valid target.
He immediately selected Rapid Development and Quality Improvement Gene. Since the embryo was still considered Tier 1, he could imprint two genes without exceeding its limit. Both modifications sank into the embryo without any visible rejection.
Isaac wasn’t particularly surprised by that result. He had already formed a theory regarding the System’s classification of living beings. In his opinion, Tier 1 for plants roughly corresponded to the range between Initiate and Champion for Players.
Tier 2, on the other hand, likely represented Overlords and the ranks beyond them. Although Bramble Hares possessed Champion-level strength that could even threaten weaker Overlords inside the Great Dungeon, their power came largely from the Dungeon’s buffs and their nature as monsters. From the System’s perspective, they were still Tier 1 organisms.
The two genes merged perfectly with the embryo. Through his Life Element, Isaac could already sense that its growth speed had increased dramatically.
At the current rate, the offspring would likely be born in only three days instead of following its normal development, which he suspected was around one week.
Isaac, however, wasn’t finished experimenting.
He activated Seed of Providence, a skill that normally worked only on plant seeds by instantly germinating them. There was no logical reason it should function on a monster embryo.
He used his evolved Aura.
Instead of simply strengthening the skill with Aura, Isaac tried something different.
He guided his evolved Aura around the skill like an invisible hand, attempting to gently grab the skill and put it on the target. The moment he tried so, he felt an immediate resistance from the skill itself.
It wasn’t a physical force or a voice inside his head. Rather, it was an instinctive feeling that the skill rejected what he was trying to do because it went against its intended purpose.
The sensation was vague, yet Isaac somehow understood what the skill was resisting.
It seemed to be saying this was not something it was made for.