Volume 5: Protracted War Chapter 25: The Incredible Dragon Knight
Of course, this is just my personal idea. I haven't discussed it with Afeng yet, and I don't plan to let him know before things are settled. It's not that I want to give him a surprise suddenly. On the one hand, it will take a lot of time to find a pet for him, which will definitely affect my own development. I may lose the first chance to advance to the seventh-level profession. In my opinion, it is worth making some sacrifices to help him defeat the playboy personally and realize his wish, but Afeng may not agree with me doing this. On the other hand, I am not sure in my heart, and there is no guarantee that I can get a pet that suits his taste like I did when I got the pet egg of the unicorn white rhino.
The sixth-level profession naturally corresponds to a sixth-level monster as a pet. This is different from the lower animals such as wild horses and rhinos that serve as mounts when you are at the third level. They all live in groups and are obvious targets. There are always a few pregnant and giving birth in a large group. As long as you have the means to track them, the possibility of success is very high. Middle and high-level monsters usually act alone, at most a small family gathers together. According to the rules of the game, if the monster couple does not die within a period of time, it is possible to lay eggs and give birth to a baby. In the vast world of "The World", it is not an easy task to find the pet eggs or cubs of middle and high-level monsters. In addition to strength, more patience and luck are required to gain something. As for selecting a target in advance and being able to encounter whatever you want, it is definitely an event with a very small probability of occurrence, which can be encountered but not sought.
Moreover, the pet market for level 6 professions in Tianxia has just been opened. Those who can advance relatively early are all expert players. They are generally cautiously watching and unwilling to make a move easily, leaving behind any regrets. Therefore, there are not many examples for reference. You should know that except for some players like Yue Linglong who took the risk of leapfrogging to capture level 4 or 5 monsters as pets, the pets chosen for level 3 professions are generally not very strong. As the personal strength of players increases, the enemies they face become stronger and stronger, and the help of pets in combat has become less and less. The knight's riding pet is still better, and it can barely be used as a means of transportation. Some skills cannot be performed without them. The pets of other professions have basically fallen to the point of being dispensable. Many times, they even disdain to summon them out, which to a certain extent restricts the development of players in the later stage. This is also the reason why Yue Linglong, Xue Wuxia and others fell behind a lot at the beginning, but gradually caught up when they reached level 5 professions, relying on the assistance of their higher-level pets, the white dragon horse and the golden thunder frog.
However, the experience of the third-level profession is naturally not applicable to the sixth-level profession. I have not considered letting Afeng also cross levels to tame pets. The risk is too high. The cost of failing to sign a "pet contract" is not something we can afford. According to a survey conducted by "Tian Media", the success rate of tame pets in the third-level profession is less than 30%. Those who dare to do so are generally experienced and confident master players. The reason why they are willing to bet is that in the low-level profession, the help of the third-level pet to the player is actually very limited. Even if there is no pet, it cannot enter the ranks of top masters, but it will not have a decisive impact on earning qualification points, and they will not fall too far behind and cannot catch up. They can afford the cost of failure. But the sixth-level profession is different. The powerful sixth-level monster is definitely a helper or opponent that no player can ignore. Except for those who have a set of top-grade equipment or even artifacts or "perverted" undead wizards like me, the strength of the sixth-level monster is far above that of most players. At this time, whether there is a pet or not has a decisive impact on the overall strength of the player, and it cannot help but be considered carefully.
In order to prevent players from taking risks under the influence of fluke mentality, so that the failure of signing contracts would delay future development, "Tianmei" specially issued an official announcement as early as the sixth-level profession appeared, clearly pointing out that except for very few species, the middle-level and high-level, that is, the sixth to seventh-level monsters, are a watershed, which is not only reflected in strength, but also in the "qualitative" change in mental will. The success rate of forcibly signing a "pet contract" by leaps and bounds is absolutely less than 1%. The extremely low success rate of leapfrogging and the serious consequences of failure have deterred players, for fear of playing with fire and getting burned. So far, no player has dared to take the risk and try.
As it concerns Afeng's future in the game and his unfulfilled wish, I naturally dare not take chances, and I choose the most reliable method. Fortunately, even for level 6 monsters, the strengths of different types vary greatly. For example, the bloodthirsty mad bear and the iron-feathered red eagle are all recognized as extremely powerful level 6 monsters, and are also excellent candidates for knights to ride on. If I can get one, it will surely satisfy Afeng. Of course, all this can only be done silently, and I have to plan and prepare secretly. I don't want to brag in advance, that's not my style.
I first entered the dark forest to investigate, mainly because I was thinking about the two bloodthirsty bears that had "joined forces" to kill me. One big and one small, they might be a family. I discovered it by accident, and outsiders might not know about it. I went to see if there was any chance. If the couple happened to be laying eggs or the baby bears had just hatched, then Afeng would be lucky.
It took me some time to finally follow the clues and track down a big bear that was out patrolling its territory. I finally found my target. It was such a pity that I arrived a little late. That baby bear, oh, it shouldn't be called a baby anymore - judging from its size, it was definitely not a one or two month old cub and had already lost its qualifications to be a pet.
As the level increases, most players at this stage are concentrated in the vast Ten Thousand Mountains, where mid- and high-level monsters are relatively dense and it is easier to obtain qualification points. The once bustling Dark Forest is no longer suitable for leveling because the mid- and high-level monsters worth killing are too scattered, and it has gradually become deserted. This has given the young couple a chance to develop, and even the baby has passed the "contract period", so my trip was in vain.
The opportunity is gone, but we can create it artificially. Although the bloodthirsty mad bear couple must strictly implement the "family planning" policy and can only have one child, they have not undergone "sterilization" surgery. If some accidents cause the child to cease to exist, they still have the right to have another child. If the opportunity is missed this time, we can wait for the next time. What I have to do is to make this little bear disappear and return to the mother's body to breed again - just the little bear. I don't want to deal with the mad bear couple at the same time. This is not easy to do, and it takes a process for them to be re-derived by the system from acquaintance to combination, which simply delays the time for laying pet eggs again.
I didn't summon the blood bat couple. I don't know what happened recently. They behaved a little strangely. They didn't want to be summoned. Even if they came out reluctantly, they were lazy and didn't work hard. They couldn't use more than 20% of their strength. Their strength was not as good as that of a dark knight. After checking, everything was normal. They didn't suffer any internal injuries. They were hesitant to explain. It might be that they were summoned too frequently in the past period of time. The repeated use of "blood evil" hurt the root of their bodies. It was difficult to recover completely for a while, so they were in a low state and fell into a weak period. Come to think of it, before I subdued them, which blood bat would use the "blood evil" that seriously hurt their vitality so frequently? Every time, they had to fall into a dormant state because of their hard work. The possibility of overwork and illness cannot be ruled out. In view of their past hard work and great contributions, I didn't bother them. I tried my best to let them move freely in the "dead spirit space" and recuperate with peace of mind. Generally, I didn't disturb them. Anyway, the goal this time is to kill the little bear, with Red Star as the main force, and the other undead are only responsible for harassing and restraining the two big bears.
First I summoned Red Star, then two Horror Giant Bear Knights and a Dark Knight. After a period of accumulating power, I seized the opportunity when a little bear and two big bears were a little far away, and the three Horror Knights performed "Flash Combo". The two Horror Giant Bear Knights took a slight step ahead and went straight to the two big bears to distract their attention. Red Star's target was naturally the little bear, and the Dark Knight was on standby as a reserve, and would be put into battle as needed. I myself was invisible and commanded, and I didn't intend to take action to participate in the battle, so as not to accidentally attract the attention of the two big bears, who would come to hunt me down after experiencing the pain of losing their son. Taotao was desperately absorbing and transforming the soul energy of other undead creatures in the "Dead Space" to enhance his own strength. I didn't want to disturb it, and without it, I didn't want to run a marathon with the bloodthirsty bear.
As the best of the sixth-level monsters, the bloodthirsty bear is indeed very powerful in its mature form, with better physical attack and defense capabilities, and a hot temper. It is the type that advocates offense. Even when it was suddenly attacked by the strongest skill of the terrifying giant bear knight, it refused to show weakness and roared and fought back, attacking and attacking, and was not at all inferior. However, the little bear, who has not yet fully grown up, is not so easy to deal with the more powerful Red Star. The order I issued was to fight quickly and decisively. The "flash combo" was combined with two "life-seeking flying spears". The little bear was caught off guard and suffered a great loss. He was seriously injured and could only defend himself, and had no power to fight back.
The two big bears realized that the situation was not good and tried their best to get closer to the little bear. However, under the efforts of the terrifying giant bear knights, although they did not suffer much damage, their movements were affected. At least before the effect of "flash combo" faded, they could not get close quickly. I released the dark knight at the right time to help Red Star deal with the little bear and kill it.
There was no suspense in this battle. The fighting power of the little bear was still not comparable to that of an adult bear. Red Star launched the strongest attack at the first move, severely injuring it. It could not hold on for too long. In addition, the participation of the Dark Knight further disrupted its actions. It was distracted and unable to resist. It soon died in the face of Red Star's overwhelming offensive. Of course, in order to cover Red Star's actions and withdraw from the battle, the two terrifying giant bear knights and the dark knight became the "punching bags" for the bloodthirsty bear couple to vent their anger. They were tortured and torn into pieces, which made me "appreciate" them even more. With such strength, they are qualified to become Afeng's mounts.
This time the operation failed, but I was prepared for it. It's not easy to find a good pet. If that were true, there would have been many level 6 pets in Tianxia. And it's not completely meaningless. At least it confirmed my previous guess. It's like sowing a seed, and there might be a harvest one day in the future.
It's really true that plans cannot keep up with changes. Before I could take action again, a piece of news published in "Tianmei" once again caused a sensation in "Tianxia". Its content was enough to attract the close attention of all players - the Dragon Knight. The first Dragon Knight appeared in "Tianxia".
It was incredible. This was my first reaction after I heard the news. The lowest level of a dragon was the seventh high level. Which player was so courageous that he dared to take the risk of signing a "pet contract" with a higher level? Wasn't he worried about failure? Someone who was promoted so early must be a master. Didn't he consider the consequences of failure? When I learned the name of the Dragon Knight, I couldn't believe it even more. It was the highest honor. I didn't doubt his strength. If we just look at his strength, he is undoubtedly one of the players who is most likely to sign a contract successfully with a higher level. But whether he dares to take such a risk depends more on a person's mentality.
As one of the top players in Tianxia, he could not afford the cost of failure more than other players. Once he failed, he would be useless. Even if he had the artifact "Holy Cross", he had no chance of winning against players with level 6 magic pets. At least I thought so. Finding a powerful level 6 magic beast like the Bloodthirsty Crazy Bear or the Iron Feathered Red Eagle as a pet was the best and most feasible way to ensure his strength. Why did he take such a risk? Was it to increase his bargaining chips to overwhelm Long Xing Tianxia and me? I don't understand. I really don't understand.
Although according to the report of Karenna, a reporter of "Sky Media" stationed in the Western Continent, the mount of Supreme Honor is only the weakest level 7 velociraptor among the war dragons, I have not forgotten that a velociraptor faced dozens of dark knights alone without fear, and could resist the siege of dozens of expert players, showing extremely strong strength. Of course, that is a mature individual in the wild. For a newly hatched young beast, its strength is not very strong, and it will take some time to slowly cultivate and grow, but its considerable development potential is unquestionable. Before being promoted to the ninth level profession, players who have a more powerful level 7 monster as a pet will definitely have a great advantage. For us who are in a hostile relationship with Supreme Honor, this is definitely not good news.
