Edric felt a wave of force rush past him, but his skill absorbed every bit of it.

“It’s working!” He grinned. The detection wave didn’t weaken in the slightest, yet no matter how strong it was, it simply vanished into nothingness upon reaching him.

The caravan continued forward, moving steadily under the cover of the night. Moments later, Edric stepped out of the detection formation’s range.

To maximize its power while minimizing energy consumption, the golden detection formation had a limited reach, covering only the immediate areas along the border.

“Fortunately, it worked,” Edric exhaled in relief.

After traveling a good distance beyond the border, he separated from the trade caravan, slipping into the darkness on his own. Now that he had successfully entered the Elowen Kingdom, he no longer needed to worry. Relations between Elowen and Bloodstone were far from friendly—there was no chance Bloodstone’s forces could chase him across the border.

"I have quite the haul from the Stonefists… time to see what I got."

He smirked, recalling the sheer wealth he had looted from Duke Stonefist, as well as the Darkwind and Windwalker families. Altogether, he had amassed around 2.5 billion silver coins, an amount that even he found staggering. He never expected their pockets to run so deep.

As expected, the wealthiest among them was, of course, the Stonefist family. Though Duke Oscar Stonefist had only recently advanced in rank, in that short time, he had amassed an incredible fortune through loans, gifts, and tributes. Their treasury alone held a staggering 1.8 billion silver coins.

At the time of the raid, Edric hadn’t had the luxury of searching the entire city thoroughly. If he had, he might have found even more. The Stonefist family had nearly emptied their reserves to finance Oscar Stonefist’s breakthrough to Golden Knight, but once he succeeded, powerful figures from all over the kingdom had sent gifts in recognition of his achievement—filling his vaults once more.

“Robbing people really is the fastest way to get rich,” Edric chuckled to himself. He made a mental note: once I reach Mythic rank, I’ll loot even bigger targets.

It wasn’t surprising that the Stonefist family had so much wealth. They were an ancient lineage with hundreds of years of history, untouched by major wars and renowned for their business acumen. Generations of careful trade and shrewd investments had built up their fortune—only for Edric to claim it all in a single night.

The Windwalker family had around 700 million silver, a testament to Marquis Alaric Windwalker’s deep pockets, even though he wasn’t a Golden Knight. The Windwalkers, too, were an ancient house, one that had steadily accumulated riches over the years.

The Darkwind family, on the other hand, had a meager 20 million silver left in their coffers. Presumably, Marquis Rhaegor and Kaelith had emptied their treasury before fleeing for their lives.

All the silver he had looted was in the form of Bloodstone Kingdom’s coins. Before he could spend any of it, the silver had to be melted down and recast into Elowen Kingdom’s currency. After all, if he suddenly flooded the market with Bloodstone coins, it would raise suspicion.

But it wasn’t the silver that excited him the most.

It was the books.

The Stonefist family had a staggering collection of magic books, far more than the Darkwind and Windwalker families combined. When Edric first saw them, he was completely taken aback.

“Do all noble families have mage ancestors?” He frowned in thought.

Or perhaps…

“Maybe they gift magic books as a reward when someone breaks through to Golden Knight?”

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It wasn’t uncommon for breakthroughs to be celebrated with lavish gifts. Not all of them were in the form of money or artifacts. Some families preferred to offer antique treasures, such as rare spellbooks.

While copying magic spellbooks was normally impossible, the Bloodstone Order definitely had the means to do it. It was entirely possible that some of these books were duplicated copies given as tribute.

In the end, Edric didn’t care where they came from.

What mattered was that they were now his.

...

He traveled along the roads, making his way to the nearest city. Using his identity card, he passed through the gates and secured a six-month residency in the Elowen Kingdom. Once inside, he wasted no time, rented a house and quickly shut himself in.

Taking out book after book, Edric grinned.

A pile had already formed in front of him—nearly a hundred magic spellbooks!

Most of them had come from the Stonefist family, with a handful from the Windwalkers and only one from Darkwind.

He casually grabbed a book from the top of the pile and flipped it open.

Its title: “Elements”.

It was a Great-level book, containing basic elemental spells—nothing but trivial magic for beginners.

Completely useless.

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it aside.

The second book was called “Fireball Spell: A Deep Explanation.”

Edric raised an eyebrow as he skimmed through the pages.

"A single Silver-level spell?" The entire book was dedicated to Fireball, with detailed explanations and an exhausting amount of unnecessary text.

"Trash." He tossed it onto the growing discard pile.

Then, he picked up the third book.

This one was a silver-level spellbook, but as he flipped through the pages, he quickly realized that it was helpful but not what he was looking for.

Its title: “Daily Necessities: Magic Edition.”

It contained twelve Silver-level spells, including:

* Clean Up

* Quenching Thirst

* Food Generation

* Emotional Manipulation

* House Generation

And more.

Edric blinked. What… is this?

While the spells in "Daily Necessities: Magic Edition" were practical, they had no combat applications—and were certainly not what Edric was looking for.

The fourth book? A mere Average-level spellbook, containing nothing but rudimentary magic.

The fifth? Completely useless—it wasn’t even a spellbook, just a general explanation of Silver-level beasts.

The sixth…

One after another, he read through every single book in his haul. In the end, out of nearly a hundred books, only three turned out to be truly valuable for his current situation.

The first was a Silver-level spellbook titled:

"Clones, Avatars, and Incarnations."

It contained fifteen spells, all of which were exceptionally useful to him. More importantly, the book didn’t just have spells; it also provided detailed information about the fundamental differences between Clones, Avatars, and Incarnations.

* Clones were flesh-and-blood entities with separate, semi-independent consciousness. Depending on the element and spell used to create them, they could even possess unique abilities. More interestingly, clones could leave behind descendants.

* Lower-level clone spells were temporary.

* Golden-level clone spells and above could be permanent, as long as the original body remained alive.

* Ultra-rank and higher clones could even survive after the main body perished.

* Avatars were projections, requiring immense amounts of energy. Unlike clones, they were not made of flesh and could not leave behind descendants. However, they carried the full consciousness and power of the caster, making them invaluable in certain situations.

* Incarnations involved transferring the caster’s consciousness into another body. Unlike clone spells, which created a new flesh-and-blood form, incarnations relied on an existing vessel.

* Some incarnations remained directly controlled by the caster, while others became fully independent.

* An incarnation could inhabit anything—even a mere stone—though doing so would obviously be pointless, as a stone couldn’t act.

The book contained five spells related to each category:

* Five Clone Spells

* Five Avatar Spells

* Five Incarnation Spells

The Avatar and Incarnation spells had their uses, but what truly excited Edric were the five Clone spells.

Clone Spells

The first one was called “Hundred Phantom Clones.”

* This spell created one hundred clones, each lasting for only one hour.

* Every clone had just 1% of the original’s magical and physical strength.

* Their consciousness was weak, capable only of simple tasks.

While it had potential uses, it wasn’t particularly useful for Edric’s purposes.

The second spell, however, was a different story.

It was called “Mass Replication.”

* It created a set number of clones with mortal-level physical strength—completely lacking mana or internal energy.

* The duration of each clone was on a sliding scale:

* One clone could last 999 days.

* 999 clones could last one day each.

* Or 500 Clones, each lasting 500 days; as long as the sun didn't exceed 1,000, it could be generated using this spell.

* These clones had simple, robotic consciousness—perfect for distractions or menial tasks.

Edric’s fingers tightened around the book as he grinned.

"Now this… this has potential."