Rise of The Demon General-Chapter 348. Choosing a Spirit Beast to Tame
Chapter 348: Chapter 348. Choosing a Spirit Beast to Tame
Back in his residence, Amon threw the Marsh Howling Hound into his black space ring. Considering he had control of the hound, he could command him not to think about coming out.
Lin Li was happy she got a companion inside the space ring. She immediately treated the wound on the hound’s head. Amon was amused thinking about how the two were spirit beasts of the same grade, yet the hound appeared like a wild animal while Lin Li was almost no different than a human. This just showed how special of a spirit beast the multi-tailed fox was.
Thinking about that, Amon’s consciousness entered the black space ring and appeared beside Lin Li. He asked, "Li, are you interested in performing a mental link with me?"
Lin Li seemed surprised by the request. She was silent. She understood what Amon was asking. Amon didn’t block the window to the outside world when he underwent the beast-taming process. Lin Li watched the entire process and heard all the explanations.
"I will not take your free will from you," Amon said. "You heard it yourself. One with a conscious intelligence has the will to refuse my command."
"... but you can hurt me if I disobey," Lin Li said.
"I will not hurt you," Amon stated.
Lin Li was silent.
"I will not force you. You should have heard what that tutor said. I offer a mental link with you because my cultivation will be able to influence your growth. With my mental link and the Primordial Blue Lotus, you should have no problem evolving. Don’t you want to evolve to a higher form?"
Lin Li fidgeted. She would be lying if she said she didn’t want to. Every spirit beast wished to evolve, but only a few had such an ability. Even those with such an ability required fortune to do it. This fortune had come knocking on her door. How could she not be tempted?
But with the temptation also came the cost. Would she be willing to give her life to this man? She had a good feeling about him. He had also proven to be nothing but kind to her. Yet, she only knew him not that long ago. Not to mention, there were often times when the window to the outside world was blocked. This proved there were things he hid from her. Could she truly trust him?
Amon didn’t push her. He left her and returned to training his Flying Sword art.
In the next few days, Amon brought the Marsh Howling Hound and returned to the specialization building to learn more about beast taming. Ha Gild taught him more details about beast taming. The tutor explained that as his bond with his tamed beast increased, he should gain more abilities. One of which was the ability to share senses.
Amon remembered how his senses became one with the Marsh Howling Hound when he first established their mental link. He could not redo the same feat after that. Apparently, if their bond improved, he could actively connect with the Marsh Howling Hound’s senses again.
After a couple of weeks, Amon decided he had learned all the basics. He asked Ha Gild to show him the best spirit beasts available for exchanging using academic points.
"Best available...?" Ha Gild raised his eyebrows. "The best available will be spirit beasts of the higher superior grade. Only a beast tamer with the cultivation level of Peak Transformation Stage can usually tame these beasts."
"Usually? So, it is not impossible," Amon said.
"Well, I have heard accounts of this rare feat being pulled, but I’ve never seen one myself."
"If it is not impossible, I would like to give it a try," Amon said.
Ha Gild wanted to persuade Amon to wait a few more years. With his talent, he should be able to break through to the Peak Transformation Stage before he graduated from the senior class. But then he remembered the unheard-of record of how Amon tamed his first spirit beast. He thought maybe this was his chance to witness the rare feat he only heard of."
"If you truly insist, I need to warn you. The academic points you’ve exchanged will not be refunded if you fail the taming process," Ha Gild said.
"All right," Amon replied.
Ha Gild signaled his assistant. The assistant went and took a thick book. Ha Gild flipped the book to the backmost pages.
"Currently, the royal academy only has three higher superior spirit beasts available for taming," Ha Gild showed him the pages showing the spirit beasts he mentioned. The three spirit beasts shown in those pages were the Scar Wyrm, Thunder Roc, and Elephaunt.
Ha Gild resumed, "These beasts have been here for some while. Even for a student in the Peak Transformation Stage, it was still difficult to tame a higher superior beast. Not to mention, they were expensive."
’It was indeed expensive,’ Amon thought. All three spirit beasts cost above 100,000 academic points. The minimum required points for a student to graduate to the next class was 50,000 academic points. This meant the cost for one beast was equal to the graduation points from freshman to senior class. Additionally, the students had to save their academic points the entire time to have a chance of getting one of these spirit beasts.
Thankfully, Amon was the first rank when he graduated from the freshman class and second rank when he graduated from the junior class. He could be said to have the most academic points among other students. He also rarely spent his academic points, so he had many points in stock. Exchanging for one of these spirit beasts was not a problem.
"Do you have a suggestion?" Amon asked. Ha Gild was an expert on spirit beasts, so it was better to hear his thoughts.
"Well, I will describe them to you. You will have to decide which to choose by yourself," Ha Gild said. "If we are talking about pure strength, the Elephaunt takes the cake. It is a monstrous beast the size of a house. Its rampage can demolish any obstacle. Most weapons will fail to pierce its hide. You are unstoppable when you are charging with this beast. That said, you will have a problem bringing it everywhere."
Amon didn’t think that was a problem. He had the black space ring that could hide the beast.
Ha Gild continued, "The Thunder Roc is an excellent sky beast. It isn’t as great as the Great Eagle in terms of long-range flights. But for short-range maneuvers, nothing below the mythical beast beats the thunder roc. It can also conjure lightning strikes to assail its opponents.
"As for the Scar Wyrm, it is a very versatile beast. It can burrow into the ground. It can swim. It is an expert in ambushing enemies. Its bite possesses numbing poison. Those with lower cultivation can even be paralyzed by its bite."
Amon thought about his options after hearing the explanation. While he was thinking, he heard Lin Li’s voice, "Wait! I’m willing to form a mental link with you."
His consciousness went into his black space ring. He asked Lin Li, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I have thought and decided," Lin Li said. "So, there is no need for you to choose a spirit beast to tame."
"Don’t worry. I can still form a mental link with you even if I have a tamed beast," Amon said.
"But... Didn’t that tutor explain one can only form a mental link with one spirit beast?" Lin Li asked.
Amon smiled and said, "Trust me. You need not worry about it. I will form a mental link with you later."
He didn’t explain further. His consciousness returned outside. He told Ha Gild, "I will take the Thunder Roc."
The Elephaunt and Scar Wyrm might give him a better combat power. However, what he lacked most was an effective means of transportation. The Thunder Roc might not be as effective as the Great Eagle in that regard, but it was still a flyer. With a flying beast, he could travel anywhere without relying on the service of the Sky Stable. It would greatly boost his mobility.
Ha Gild nodded after hearing Amon’s words. He spoke to his assistant, who moved away in a hurry. He told Amon, "Before you proceed to tame the Thunder Roc, you need to sever your mental link with the Marsh Howling Hound first."
Amon turned to the hound sitting beside him. In these past weeks, Ha Gild also taught him the proper way to sever a mental link. This way, the hound didn’t receive severe backlash and thus, didn’t suffer the risk of dying. Amon didn’t care if this hound lived or died, but this hound was the academy’s property. Plus, Ha Gild’s opinion of him would diminish significantly if he severed the link recklessly and let the hound die, so he went with the proper process.
He placed his hand on the hound and closed his eyes. Inside the hound’s energy space, he reversed what he did when he formed the mental link. The threads gently removed themselves from the red energy core. His energy cord then slowly exited the hound’s energy space.
When it was done, the hound lay on the ground with a whimper. It wasn’t wounded, but it experienced severe emptiness that caused it to become depressed. Ha Gild pet the hound before taking it away.