My inventory is full of monster materials.

Brady has gone mad.

His red hair grew longer and more alluring under the nourishment of blood. When he laughed wildly, the crisscrossing scars on his body seemed to writhe and tremble with his laughter, exuding a wild madness.

"Hehehehehehe—!"

At one point, Brady's madness seemed to resonate with the howling beasts around him, creating a sense of shared origins.

The rest of the team were stunned.

Henry turned deathly pale and rushed forward, shouting.

"Brady, is that you? Wake up!"

The laughter abruptly stopped.

Brady lowered his head, his bloodshot pupils reflecting his own image—about to drown in a sea of ​​blood.

"I...I..."

His mouth opened and closed, then opened again; his hand holding the sword trembled violently, the sword itself trembled, his arm trembled, his whole body trembled.

Henry stopped in his tracks.

He suddenly realized that the sword might come crashing down on him in the next second.

Just then, Mark's voice came from behind, as if he were talking about something trivial.

"Brady, go, kill them all!"

Brady's eyes flashed with a blood-red light. He didn't struggle, hesitate, or even think.

He simply grinned, revealing a genuine and radiant smile from the bottom of his heart—at least that's how he perceived it.

"Roger that, boss! Yay!"

Brady let out a strange cry and leaped into the dense horde of beasts.

The longsword was drawn, the wind howled, and with each slash and hack, animal limbs and severed parts flew in all directions, creating an extremely gruesome scene.

Henry was so shocked by this series of changes that he was speechless, and for the first time, the thought of retiring arose in his mind.

"Mark, how about we call Brady back and retreat for now? This was just a test anyway."

"No!"

Mark's gaze was fixed on the wild figure in the center of the herd, his tone resolute.

"We must attack!"

"Attack?!" x4

Mark turned his head, his gaze sweeping over every face, his eyes revealing a resolute determination.

"Let's take advantage of Brady's impact and wipe out those beasts in one fell swoop."

Henry's expression showed some struggle.

"Isn't this too risky...?"

Mark, however, spoke up as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"What kind of adventurer doesn't take risks?!"

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Something deep within the team members was rekindled.

Henry gripped his shield tightly.

Clyde and Orion exchanged a glance, their eyes flashing.

Emily's face tightened as she nodded vigorously.

No one speaks.

But all five of them remained steadfast in their determination to move forward.

The battle has resumed.

This time, their formation has changed again.

Brady is both the tip of the knife and the bait.

Henry and Orion were positioned on the flanks to provide support.

Emily's holy light and Clyde's healing potion both hit Brady alone.

Mark's ice blades repeatedly exploded among the beasts, mercilessly reaping lives.

Suddenly a series of prompts flashed before his eyes.

["Spellcasting Basics" upgraded to Max, base attribute "Intelligence" +1.]

[Next stage - "Advanced Spellcasting Lv1 (Green)"]

[Check if you meet any one of the promotion criteria.]

【Condition 1: Basic attribute "Intelligence" ≥ 15 (√)】

【Condition 2: Possess a "Spell" related skill of green quality or higher (√)】

【Condition 3: Master the knowledge related to "Advanced Spellcasting" (x)】

[Having met the promotion requirements, you have gained the feat "Advanced Spellcasting Lv1 (Green)".]

"Spellcasting Advancement Lv1 (Green)": Spell proficiency gain +24%

When Mark finished reading the last word and looked up again...

The surroundings were deserted.

Brady stood alone in the middle of the pool of blood.

Dozens of corpses were piled up at his feet, forming a small mound of corpses, and he stood on the top of the mound, leaning on his sword, head down, his smile as content as a sleeping baby.

Mark's gaze swept across Brady's face and then settled on a chain of wolf teeth pendants resting on his chest.

The fangs, which were originally as smooth as snow, were now engraved with crooked, unknown blood patterns.

Mark instinctively stepped forward and touched it.

The fingertip just touched the tip of the tooth—

"roar--!!!"

A soul-shaking roar exploded in his mind.

[A "tyrannical" roar was detected. Do you accept it?]

Mark looked up as if sensing something.

Above the battlefield, some invisible force was hovering and descending, penetrating the wolf fang on Brady's chest.

This bloody battle seemed to have completed some kind of ritual.

And this wolf fang is transforming into... a job change badge?

"tyrannical"

What kind of approach is this? And is it good or bad?

he does not know.

But he knew that the reckoning was about to begin!

Mark lifted Brady up and passed him over to Henry, then to Clyde, Orion, and finally to Emily to take care of him.

Mark turned to look at the pool.

The brain core slime finally showed panic and hurriedly burrowed into the cave behind the waterfall.

"Where do you think you're going!"

Mark shouted, his hands forming a fist in front of his chest, and ice elemental energy rapidly gathered.

Even without the "Intelligence +3" equipment bonus, Intelligence has accumulated to 16 points, and the casting speed compression is only 6-7 seconds.

Mark then pushed forward forcefully.

The energy ball swept across the surface of the pool, leaving a frozen trail, and precisely hit the corner of the slime that the Slime King revealed as he turned around.

Click—!

The ice spread outwards from the point of impact, freezing the surrounding water and causing half of the Slime King's body to become stuck in the ice, unable to break free.

"Well done!"

Clyde couldn't help but shout it out.

Judging from this situation, just two more "Frozen Path" spells will completely freeze this Slime King.

Next, all they need to do is pry open the ice shell, extract the core, and the mission is complete.

With that in mind, Henry and Orion were already itching to get started.

Mark also took the lead, stepping onto the icy surface of the pool and gently embracing the ice element energy ball with both hands.

But at that moment, the brain core slime let out a silent shriek at Mark.

Immediately afterwards, a notification light appeared in front of me.

[A fluctuation of "bewitching/controlling magic" has been detected. Your "Perception" is being tested (criteria: Perception ≥ 13)]

[Judgment failed! Enemy's hint succeeded.]

In an instant, Mark heard a rustling sound.

At first, the sound was very soft, but as time went on, it gradually became clearer and then became easy to understand.

"⍜⍀⌇⏚⟒⏁⍙⍀⌇⏚⟒⏁⍙⋏☌⎍...We are brothers...We cannot hurt each other...We are brothers..."

Mark's eyes widened, and he suddenly realized what was happening. The energy ball he had just gathered in his hand instantly dissipated. Looking at the brain core slime trapped in the ice block, he felt a sharp pain in his heart.

Clyde sensed something was wrong and quickly called out.

"Mark, what are you doing? Use 'Frozen Path' now!"

But Mark shook his head resolutely and refused.

"It's my half-brother, I would never harm it!"

"???"

Henry, Clyde, and Orion all wore strange expressions at the same time.

But the next second, Henry's body suddenly trembled.

He lowered his head shyly, looking at his fidgety fingers, and then secretly glanced at the Slime King in his brain core.

Her face... gradually turned red.

"??"