Chapter 430: Miho’s Contract And Farms

Miho had her eyes closed in deep focus, the pale, icy blue core held between her hands slowly dissipating into faint wisps.

Suddenly, the spectral projection behind her stomped its hoof in front of Miho, sending spider-web cracks racing through the ground with a sharp crack. Just beside her, Kaelion tensed, ready to strike the Bison at a moment’s notice if it so much as twitched toward her. Miho was clearly struggling to maintain control after the surge—veins bulged across her forehead, and her eyelids trembled under the strain of intense concentration.

RRRR—OOO—RRRR

The projection bellowed, its voice deep and resonant, instantly affecting the Bisons. They quieted at once, some even lowering their massive heads in submission.

It radiated the presence of a pseudo 3-star beast.

The projection, as if sensing its kin, glanced toward the herd before lowering its gaze to Miho beneath it.

At that moment, Leo noticed a strange insignia glowing above Miho’s right hand. She clutched her wrist as if in pain, her fingers tightening, as the insignia began engraving itself onto the dorsal side of her left hand. The process was so intense that faint icy fumes curled upward from her skin.

Then Leo and others noticed it, her presence was changing.

She was breaking through.

Her aura surged steadily, rising higher and higher until it reached the height of the Pseudo 3-star realm.

"Wait... what?" Leo muttered, his eyes narrowing.

This means Miho is capable of sharing the stats of the contracted beastcores...

But it wasn’t overwhelming—only 20%.

Which meant the contracted beast, as a Pseudo 3-star entity, was sharing 20 attributes across her constitution, significantly enhancing her overall strength.

Since Miho was technically considered a mage-class fighter previously, she had been focusing on agility and intelligence, even investing in strength due to her katana-based combat style. This left her stamina and vitality relatively lacking—but now, this new boost would balance things out. They would still be her weaker aspects, but no longer crippling weaknesses.

Soon after, the projection collapsed entirely into Miho, its form dissolving into light as it merged with her—signifying that the contract process was complete and successful.

Miho swayed on her feet, her balance giving way, and was about to fall but Kaelion, who had been watching closely, dashed forward and caught her just in time.

Carefully supporting her, he lowered her to the ground. Lily hurried over from the side.

Leo stepped forward for a brief inspection. Miho was stable—her breathing steady and she was conscious. There was no immediate danger.

The insignia on her hand now bore the rough outline of a wide-horned bison, its faint glow gradually settling into her skin.

"[Spirit Reinforcer], huh?" Leo muttered thoughtfully.

"Let’s see what this class is capable of."

At that moment, Leo noticed they were surrounded by the Bisons from all directions.

But not out of hostility.

They looked... curious. Some even seemed in awe of Miho’s presence. A few lowered their heads, inching closer as if to check on her condition.

Seeing that, Leo’s lips curled into a grin.

"Haha, looks like we didn’t need to go through the trouble of disciplining them so much after all. Miho has naturally become their leader after forming a contract with a Noble Frosthide Bison."

Kaelion and Lily nodded in agreement.

Still, the earlier effort hadn’t been meaningless—Leo had obtained numerous Frosthide Bison cores, which ultimately allowed the creation of the noble core.

"But I wonder how her contracted spirits will rank up. After seeing today’s phenomenon, I don’t think they can roam freely like mine. That Bison felt connected to her," Lily said, gently feeding Miho a blood-warm cherry.

Leo and Kaelion both nodded.

"Well, I guess we’ll find out in the coming days," Leo replied, before turning and walking toward the spatial mage, who had just finished his work. He didn’t want to disturb the moment between Miho and Kaelion. Even Lily had departed shortly.

"What are your plans for the mana generator and the modified mana crystals?" the man asked. "I can set everything up now if you arrange them. The cost will be covered within the 1 Million AC you’ve already paid."

He spoke with clear respect—after observing the territory, it was obvious Leo wasn’t someone to be taken lightly. Building something this advanced in such a short time was nothing short of miraculous, especially for a freshman. Even seniors would struggle to achieve this level of development so quickly if they formed a brand-new territory.

Leo nodded and contacted Brok to bring the required items from the Aurelius Hall.

Brok was visibly shocked upon hearing the request—mana generators and modified crystals were no small expense.

"1 Million for a Pseudo-Blue Tier mana generator? What the hell?" Leo muttered, staring at the cost list Brok had sent.

And that wasn’t all.

Each modified mana crystal was 10 times more expensive than a normal mana crystal of the same rank.

Which meant a Low 2-star Modified Mana Crystal would cost 10,000 AC—compared to just 1,000 AC for a standard one.

There were cheaper options, of course—a Low-Green tier generator for 200,000 AC, or even a basic white-quality one ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 AC depending on quality.

But Leo dismissed them.

They were too low quality for his use.

A generator could only efficiently refill mana crystals of its corresponding tier:

Generator Tier — Modified Mana Crystal (MMC) Refilling Capacity

White — 1-star MMC

(Low efficiency, speed of refill depends on quality)

Low-Green Tier — 10 Low 2-star MMC/day

Mid-Green Tier — 10 Mid 2-star MMC/day

(or 15 Low 2-star MMC/day)

High-Green Tier — 10 High 2-star MMC/day 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

(or 20 Low 2-star MMC/day)

Peak-Green Tier — 10 Peak 2-star MMC/day

(or 25 Low 2-star MMC/day)

Pseudo-Blue Tier — 10 Pseudo 3-star MMC/day

(or 50 Low 2-star MMC/day)

Low-Blue Tier — 10 Low 3-star MMC/day

(or 100 Low 2-star MMC/day)

And so on.

If a lower-tier generator was forced to refill a higher-tier MMC, the efficiency dropped drastically.

For example, a Low-Green tier generator attempting to refill a Peak 2-star MMC would take 2.5 times longer than a Peak-Green tier generator.

The gap only worsened across major realms.

A Low-Green generator would take 10 times longer to refill a Low 3-star MMC—and up to 25 times longer for a Peak 3-star MMC. Beyond that, it would fail entirely if the difference exceeded 2 major realms.

"Ahh..." Leo grimaced after seeing the numbers.

But he couldn’t afford to limit the territory’s members’ travels and defences just to save on initial costs. Not to mention, he could charge territory members—and even outsiders—a fee for each use. This wasn’t an expense, it was an investment.

He quickly typed out the message:

Leo: Buy the Peak-Blue Tier generator for 5 Million AC, and 10 Peak 3-star MMC for 4 Million.