Distribution (1)

Matthew stood quietly to the side, the low and restrained conversation between Sutton and Herbert echoing in his ears. The air was still thick with the dusty scent left behind by the collapsed earth golem. Fine stone chips littered the ground, and occasionally, a faint, lingering earthy-yellow energy glow seeped slowly from the cracked stone crevices, like the last remnants of the behemoth's unwillingness to yield.

As their conversation deepened, Matthew finally began to understand exactly what made this golem so valuable.

The most important piece was undoubtedly the energy core that still emitted a faint earthy-yellow glow.

It was nestled quietly in the center of the shattered chest cavity, its surface covered in patterns that looked naturally formed, while a heavy and profound power seemed to flow slowly within. Even from a distance, Matthew could feel the staggering fluctuations of mana emanating from it.

This was no ordinary energy crystal.

It was the true “heart” of an earth golem that had approached the Fourth-Grade level.

What it contained was extremely pure earth-attribute mana. That power was heavy, stable, and condensed, like layers of rock buried deep underground for hundreds of years, carrying a heart-palpitating pressure.

Aside from this core, the next most valuable things were the interlocking structures that connected the golem's limbs to its torso.

Matthew noticed that these parts were completely different from ordinary stone. Their surfaces were covered with fine, dark-yellow patterns, like traces left by runes after years of infusion. Even though the golem had collapsed, a weak mana fluctuation still lingered. Clearly, these were not ordinary, naturally formed materials, but reinforced structures that had undergone special enchanting.

The greatest value of this material lay in its ability to remain stable even under high-intensity mana circulation.

For alchemy, enchanting, and even certain demonized creature modification experiments, it was considered a rather rare material.

As for most of the remaining stone ruins, their value was actually not very high.

Those massive rocks looked hard and heavy, but they were actually just earth element clumps formed by long-term infusion of the core's energy. Once cut off from the core's continuous energy supply, their internal activity would rapidly drain, and they would eventually turn back into ordinary stone.

Not only were they difficult to preserve, but they were also extremely heavy to carry.

In other words, there weren't actually many things that were truly valuable.

Yet, each of them was precious enough.

...

The subsequent distribution process was even more straightforward than Matthew had imagined.

There was no arguing, nor any testing of waters.

Sutton merely glanced down at the ruins on the ground before speaking first.

His voice remained low and raspy, like rough sand scraping together, making it difficult to discern much emotion.

“Mr. Herbert. According to our prior agreement, you choose first.”

After his words fell, the surroundings fell silent for a moment.

Herbert did not answer immediately.

His grey-blue eyes drooped slightly, his gaze slowly falling upon the energy core in the center of the rubble.

In the next instant, he raised his hand, and an invisible wave of Spirit quietly spread out.

The core, half-buried in the rubble, trembled slightly before slowly floating upward. Fine stone chips constantly flaked off its surface, and the earthy-yellow light flowed gently in midair, like some ancient, sleeping lifeform.

Then, it landed steadily in Herbert's palm.

“Then I won't be polite,” Herbert's voice was as calm as ever. “I will take the core.”

However, at the very moment he grasped the core, a ripple of emotion that was hard to suppress finally appeared in his usually cold and restrained gaze.

The sensation of mana coming from his palm was far more staggering than he had anticipated.

Profound, pure, and stable.

That heavy, condensed earth-attribute mana surged back through his Spirit like a tide, causing his entire consciousness to vibrate slightly for a moment.

Herbert's breathing hitched imperceptibly for half a beat.

Immediately after, a near-uncontrollable wild joy suddenly erupted from the depths of his heart!

An earth-attribute core approaching the Fourth-Grade level!

This thought echoed in his mind like a clap of thunder.

For a moment, it was almost hard for him to believe.

In his original estimations, it would have been lucky enough just to get some harvest from this exploration. Perhaps some ancient materials, some incomplete knowledge records, or some enchanted components that could barely still be used.

But he had never imagined that he would actually obtain such a core here!

This had already far exceeded the category of a “decent harvest.”

It could even be called a true opportunity.

Herbert could clearly feel that the purity of the mana contained within this core had already far surpassed the level that an ordinary Third-Grade Apprentice could access.

That nearly complete and stable earth-attribute structure even carried a faint hint of the Fourth-Grade level.

And this also meant its value would be staggeringly high.

Herbert's fingers slowly tightened around the core.

For the first time, his heart truly lost its usual absolute tranquility.

“It's enough to pave the most crucial path for the potion to advance to a Fourth-Grade Apprentice.”

The moment this realization surfaced, even with Herbert's stoic personality, his heart couldn't help but thud heavily.

Over the years, he had paid far too much to advance to a Fourth-Grade Apprentice.

Resources, time, and danger...

Delving into ruins, fighting demonized creatures, and struggling on the brink of life and death time and again.

But even so, he was still one crucial step away from truly stepping into the Fourth-Grade level.

That threshold was like a chasm lying before countless apprentices.

Too many people spent their entire lives unable to cross it.

Because the resources required to advance to Fourth Grade were simply too massive.

Potions, materials, Spirit enhancement, elemental adaptation... every single one was enough to bankrupt an ordinary apprentice.

But now, the appearance of this core made the once out-of-reach future truly feel within grasp for the first time.

It could even completely alter his advancement plans.

The accumulation that would have originally taken several years might be drastically shortened because of this.

The success rate, which originally wasn't very high, would also be boosted.

At this thought, the long-suppressed heat in the depths of Herbert's eyes could finally no longer be completely concealed.

However, he quickly regained his composure.

He slowly exhaled, suppressing the turbulent emotions in his heart once more.

Then, his gaze swept over Sutton and Matthew.

His gaze paused slightly, especially when it landed on Matthew.

Although this young apprentice was the weakest, his performance during the previous battle was far calmer than he had expected.

Moreover... if Matthew hadn't stepped in to restrain the golem's movements in time at the end, they might not have ended the battle so smoothly.

After a moment of silence, Herbert suddenly raised his other hand.

In the next instant, a greyish-black cloth pouch appeared out of thin air in his palm.

The mouth of the pouch was not tied tightly, and faint ripples of pure mana fluctuations slowly leaked out from within.

It was, surprisingly, a bag of magic stones.

“But distributing it like this is not fair to you,” Herbert spoke slowly. His voice was still flat, but his tone carried a rare, almost rigid seriousness.

“After all, this energy core is of great value, and I cannot take such a huge advantage. However, I left in a hurry and do not have anything of equal value on me.”

As he spoke, he gently tossed the cloth pouch to Sutton.

“These magic stones can count as the share I'm making up. As for the remaining difference, I will make it up to you one by one later. What do you think?”

Sutton reflexively reached out to catch it.

The weight in his hand caused his single eye to visibly narrow.

He froze for a second, seemingly completely unexpected that Herbert would voluntarily yield some profits.

After all, with Herbert's proud and cold personality, the impression he left on most people in their small circle was that he only ever followed the contract itself and would never do anything extra.

Yet now, he had actually volunteered to offer compensation.

This was truly beyond his expectations.

Sutton looked down at the pouch in his hand, then looked up at Herbert, his gaze carrying a hint of complexity for the first time.

On the other side, the shock in Matthew's heart was even stronger than Sutton's.

For a moment, he couldn't even react.

Magic stones? There was a share for him too?

From beginning to end, he had been very clear about his own position.

In front of two Third-Grade Apprentices, he was merely a newly advanced apprentice with shallow strength.

Being able to participate in this exploration was mostly due to luck.

As for the battle, he had never felt that he was truly qualified to stand on equal footing with the two of them.

In his eyes, just being able to survive earlier was already a stroke of luck.

But now, Herbert was actually willing to voluntarily distribute extra magic stones to them.

At this moment, Matthew suddenly felt a warmth in his chest.

It was not because of the bag of magic stones itself, but rather because—this was recognition.

Recognition from a Third-Grade Apprentice.

It meant that in the life-and-death battle just now, he was not merely an insignificant bystander.

...

...