In A Fantasy World I Can Absorbs Abilities

Tired from the effort, the newborn curled up in the cozy nest and closed its eyes.

Its parents spread their wings over it protectively, watching over their young with quiet pride.

Scenes like this played out all across the plateau.

"Oh! Twelve magical beasts have hatched already today?"

"Yes, my lord. All of them were conceived through Marcus's blood. Whether it's the dragon's essence or not, the incubation period has been drastically reduced, and the mothers have accepted their young with no resistance."

Magical beasts were rare for many reasons.

Foremost among them: it was exceedingly difficult to acquire a male and female pair.

In nature, magical beasts had very specific habitats, and their numbers were vanishingly small—especially among higher-ranked species.

Those that did survive usually ruled as apex predators, making it nearly impossible for humans to even approach them.

And taming a magical beast was nothing like hunting one.

Taming required enormous time, resources, and care. Often, the process would degrade the beast's value entirely.

Another reason was the extremely long gestation period.

Unlike normal animals—horses, predators, or livestock—magical beasts took years to reproduce.

A regular horse, for example, gave birth in about 11 months.

A magical beast could remain pregnant anywhere from three to five years, depending on the species.

What's more, they often produced only a single offspring per pregnancy, making it impossible to meet human demand.

Pregnant magical beasts were also extremely sensitive.

Even a slight issue in their environment could result in miscarriage.

Because of this, maintaining magical beasts for breeding was considered nearly impossible.

And then there was the cost of mating.

To allow two magical beasts to breed safely, carefully controlled conditions and highly skilled handlers were absolutely required.

Even when magical beasts were of the same rank, there was a high chance of hostility between them—so much so that successful mating occurred in less than half of all attempts.

In nature, only the strongest could reproduce.

But when humans interfered and forced breeding, success rates dropped even lower.

So much so that some considered capturing and taming wild magical beasts to be more efficient and cost-effective than attempting to breed them.

But the greatest obstacle in magical beast reproduction was this:

Once touched by humans, magical beasts experienced an extreme drop in reproductive viability.

Or more precisely—the offspring born were of significantly lower rank.

When magical beasts were born in the wild, they typically inherited the strength and rank of their parents.

But those bred under human control often suffered genetic regression.

Worse still, these offspring rarely received proper parental care.

Ordinary magical beasts instinctively followed beings stronger than themselves and expected their offspring to possess similar levels of strength and intelligence.

However, beasts bred in captivity were usually weaker than their parents, having lost the instinctual power their kind was known for.

It wasn't uncommon for parents to reject such offspring on instinct.

Even human intervention couldn't override these primal urges.

As a result, many such offspring died prematurely—neglected and abandoned.

Some beastmasters claimed they could raise these cubs without the help of parents.

But in reality, most such attempts ended in failure.

Without the guidance of a parent, the beasts lost their wild instincts and became overly obedient to humans.

But that also meant they were weaker—with little survival instinct.

Very few ever grew strong enough to be used in actual combat.

At most, beasts raised entirely by humans might become rank 7 magical beasts—at best.

Such creatures, born already domesticated, amounted to little more than expensive pets.

In this context, dragon's essence had become a breakthrough solution to the breeding dilemma.

Dragons were apex predators even among magical beasts, and their blood carried tremendous life force.

When beasts consumed dragon's essence during mating, their offspring were often superior to their parents—or at the very least, maintained one rank higher.

It was a factor of immense value.

With dragon's essence, one could consistently produce beasts one or two tiers stronger.

From the moment they were inside the egg, the offspring were influenced by the essence.

The dragon blood absorbed through the yolk made their bodies stronger and more resilient, and the effect continued even after birth.

Beasts born this way matured two to three times faster than usual.

For example, a typical griffon chick would take a year to learn full flight,

but one enhanced by dragon's essence could do so in just three months.

Multi-generational human experiments had shown that dragon's essence not only improved survival rates,

but strengthened entire bloodlines.

And the higher the beast's base rank, the more dramatic the results.

Of course, the problem was that obtaining dragon's essence was nearly impossible.

Dragons were incomparably powerful—far beyond other beasts.

Hunting one just to collect its blood was absurd.

Normal dragon blood could only be obtained in tiny amounts when the creature was wounded.

But essence—the concentrated life source periodically produced by a dragon—was even rarer.

Essence wasn't just blood—it was the core of a dragon's regenerative power, produced within and usually consumed by the dragon itself.

It was exceedingly rare for essence to be released externally.

And even though donating essence posed no threat to the dragon's life, their pride meant they refused to part with it under any circumstance.

And yet, Michael had offered Marcus's dragon essence as a reward.

There was a reason knights from far and wide had come flocking to House Crassus.

Dominic, overseeing the territory in Michael's absence, was thrilled.

"This is excellent news. Do you think the newborn beasts will be ready to fight in the war against the Radiant Kingdom?"

Arnaldo paused for a moment, then answered.

"Normally, magical beasts reach maturity after three years.

But those born with dragon essence mature about six times faster. So yes—they'll be ready."

"But… can a beast less than a year old really perform on the battlefield?"

"They may not be fully grown, but their aggression makes them more than useful in battle.

And if their offspring fight alongside us, the parents become even more invested in the conflict."