Chapter 148: Beast Taming Technique, Recognition

A technical job is certain, but that is not the most painful part! The most dangerous step is the taming process! Falcon's solemn tone immediately captured my entire attention...

Falcon was clearly very familiar with the mechanics of "Beast Taming," and continued:

"Even when fallen into a weakened state with their power reduced by 30%, the strength of a level 36 magical beast remains extremely dangerous! Yet at this moment, the player must mount their backs to use 'Beast Taming,' and no offensive actions can be used during the taming process... The moment you attack, failure is guaranteed!"

I nodded; that part didn't seem to pose a problem.

Naturally, when taming a mount, one must demonstrate goodwill. Once an attack is initiated, all previous painstaking efforts and hard work will vanish like water down the drain. Furthermore, having less than 21 HP meant I probably wouldn't survive a single blow anyway, but...

Climbing onto the back of a magical beast resembling a Dragon-Wolf to do the job...

Uh-uh!

I imagined what it would be like: mounting a large magical beast over a meter tall just like riding a horse. This—cough, cough!—seemed immensely difficult and deeply challenging... Now I finally understood why Falcon said I definitely wouldn't be able to pull it off.

Even a Dragon-Wolf magical beast with its strength weakened still posed a tremendous threat to the player attempting Beast Taming—a threat to life.

This kind of threat might still be manageable for Knight-class players, whose equipment defense is generally higher than that of Bow-Warriors, because they are heavy-combat types after all, and their gear specifically boosts stamina attributes... As long as the stamina is high enough, sustaining the process is not an issue.

The problem, however, is that...

A Bow-Warrior's stamina (HP) is definitely not as formidable as a Knight's!...

Especially when facing a level 36 magical beast where a life-threatening danger is constantly present, most players would generally choose to execute the taming quest upon reaching level 30...

Because at level 30, even if you die, the loss isn't too severe; if you're not level 30... dying carelessly is heartbreaking.

Under these circumstances, my situation was naturally far worse than those of the Knights.

However, that wasn't even all...

Falcon also mentioned that basic Beast Taming has only a one-in-a-thousand success rate; intermediate, one in five hundred; advanced, one percent; and even the top rank has only a five percent success rate.

It is extremely difficult for ordinary Knights to successfully tame a magical beast using Beast Taming below the advanced level; only by reaching the top rank can one quickly complete the taming plan.

Yet, every use of Beast Taming consumes 6 MP...

Some individuals, determined to become true Dragon-Wolf Knights and Blood-Lion Knights, sit day in and day out in the "Dragon-Wolf Plains" and the "Blood-Lion Ridge" to grind their Beast Taming proficiency!

At best, it takes a few minutes for a single taming attempt, raising proficiency by 1 point.

At this rate, reaching the advanced level would take ten days to half a month even if every fleeting second is seized... During this period, if one accidentally dies, the time wasted running back has to be factored in as well... dragging it out even longer!

Hearing all this from Falcon, my scalp instantly went numb: Ten days to half a month, are you kidding me...

Before ten days are even up, who knows how many new Tier 4 powerhouses will have emerged!

Forget it, I won't dwell on this for now. I'll decide what to do after learning the skill at the Knight Academy. As the saying goes—a surplus of skills never weighs you down.

Along the way, listening to Falcon recount tales of Beast Taming and creature subjugation, the two of us quickly arrived at the Knight Academy.

………

The Knight Academy was equivalent to a direct-jurisdiction institution of the Knight Empire, making it the most grandiose and majestic among the numerous academies, as well as the most popular institution within Profound Frost City!

Yet its internal structure was somewhat simple—merely a sweeping, unobstructed grand hall!

Dozens of Knights mounted atop various high-tier magical beasts stood quietly at their respective posts, answering the various questions posed by every player dressed as a Knight standing before them...

Because the NPCs were extremely serious and spoke concisely, the players' stays were never very long, and they departed swiftly upon obtaining the skills and answers they needed.

The scene was thoroughly harmonious...

However, this harmony became somewhat bizarre due to the intrusion of two Bow-Warriors—amidst the bustling crowd of Knights, the sudden appearance of two Bow-Warriors carrying bows and wearing swords immediately drew the intense gazes of many players.

Especially when a significant portion of them couldn't even discern the levels of these two, murmurs erupted one after another:

"This outfit... are they Bow-Warriors?"

"Yeah, looks like it..."

"Huh, I actually can't see through their levels... What are Tier 3 players doing running into the Knight Academy? Could they be looking to change classes?"

"Tier 3 Bow-Warriors? Didn't they say it's extremely difficult for Bow-Warriors to reach Tier 3..."

...

Listening to these ceaseless murmurs drifting into our ears, especially when Falcon and I heard someone speculating whether we had come here to change classes, we almost felt the urge to tumble headfirst to the ground.

(Class changing: players of any level can renounce their original class at the NPC of another profession and revert to civilian status, but doing so immediately drops their level to 10 and resets their attributes back to the state they were in at level 10.)

"What kind of international joke is this? Do we look like the kind of people who've lost their minds...? Well, at least your current outfit still looks a bit like it..."

When Falcon reached the end of his sentence, he abruptly shifted the target of his critique to me, who was equally innocent. I rolled my eyes internally, ignoring him as I stood amidst the bustling crowd, scanning the NPCs inside the hall.

Just at that moment, unnoticed by me amidst the crowd watching us, a player who had been standing next to the Blood-Lion Knight NPC suddenly wore an expression of astonishment toward our direction:

"Scavenging Kirin..."

Someone beside him uttered a soft "huh," followed his gaze to the two glaringly conspicuous Bow-Warriors in the crowd, and immediately furrowed their brow:

"It's him? What is this brat doing running over here?"

"Unclear... It looks like they're looking for someone... Huh? Carey? What are they doing going to the 'Beast-Taming Knight' at the Knight Academy?" While speaking, the two saw that Scavenging Kirin had already walked over toward the Beast-Taming Knight alongside his companion, and their curiosity was instantly piqued:

"Could it be that they triggered some hidden quest?"

"Quite possible! Let's go up and take a look!"

"Should we tell that punk War-Wolf?"

"No need... The boss said we shouldn't make a move against him until we've completely figured out his relationship with the Whispering Mercenary Group... Besides, he's Tier 3 now; with War-Wolf's strength, going looking for trouble might just result in him getting toyed with."

"True enough, this kid has been hallucinating from being tormented by Scavenging Kirin all this time. He shouts every time he sees the guy's level shooting up, and last time he even told me he heard someone calling Scavenging Kirin's name inside the city... We must never let him find out about this; if he asks us to help deal with Scavenging Kirin, we'll end up offending the wrong people..."

"Especially these past two days... Absolutely must not stir up trouble. Alright, it looks like they've started talking, let's listen in on what's actually going on..."

...

The Beast-Taming Knight, Carey!

Confirming his identity, I walked straight up to him and stated the purpose of my visit.

"Carey" was clearly not as warm as "Holtz." Whether it was because he had to impart his Knight skills to a non-Knight player, he cast a glance at me and said with a lukewarm attitude:

"It's been a long, long time since a talent like you has appeared among the Bow-Warriors. No wonder anyone who shows a bit of promise gets groomed immediately... This Holtz really knows how to find trouble for me."

Falcon, standing to the side, dropped his jaw, staring dumbfounded at the rather sarcastic Carey, scarcely believing these words came from an NPC.

"The people higher up specifically designated that I must impart Beast Taming to you, but unfortunately they didn't specify a concrete timeframe to me... What I mean to say is, if you want to learn my unique skill, you must first earn my approval. Do you understand?"

Carey's words made both Falcon and me tighten our chests internally. Falcon came close to directly raising his middle finger at him:

A skill that wastes so much time and life, yet he calls it a unique skill... Needs to earn his approval, damn it, acting as arrogant as a king, no idea what he's feeling so high and mighty about... He was this close to saying on the spot to Scavenging Kirin, "Let's not learn this, let's go!", and then giving this pompous NPC a good beatdown.

However, realizing this was an opportunity belonging to me, Falcon had to endure and hold it in. Then came the words...

"Alright, what do I need to do for you to pass the skill on to me?"

The moment I finished speaking, I suddenly noticed that the surroundings had fallen quiet. Turning my head, I saw dozens of Knights staring at me with slack-jawed astonishment, and an eerie silence rapidly spread across the entire hall.

――――

Friendly recommendation of a web game novel related to the Sunflower Manual and the Black Jade Interrupted-Continuum Ointment: Online Game: Dusty Jianghu.

Cough, cough, because I am rather sensitive to terms like "self-castration," I won't go into the details of the content. You'll understand once you read it; I hear it's quite wicked.