Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Time flew by in the blink of an eye.

By the time the first snow of winter arrived, Archbishop Frank had already helped the Animal Pet Shop distribute all the stock from the Slime House.

The first snowfall was heavy, covering the entire ground with a layer of snow more than ten centimeters thick.

Lorant had prepared thick down comforters and pillows for winter early on.

The mattress was replaced with one made from a hard gel-like substance secreted by Level 5 plant beasts.

Lying on it automatically adjusted to provide comfort, comparable to those high-end mattresses worth hundreds of thousands from his previous life.

Lorant arranged the bedrooms of the family of three comfortably.

Even the curtains were changed to thick, light-blocking ones.

Combined with the temperature control system throughout the house, Lorant successfully achieved the dream of wearing short sleeves indoors while it snowed heavily outside.

The open terrace on the second floor was also closed off just before the snow fell.

The wooden lattice boards were placed tightly to block out the cold air.

This allowed the temperature control magic to work at its best.

The Lapis Ice Flame Dogs were now three months old, each growing to a height of two meters.

Just standing there, they exuded a sense of intimidation.

Soon, they would be sent to their respective owners.

Speaking of owners, three of the nine lucky individuals who initially secured the qualification later resold their spots.

During the recent open day, Lorant re-matched these three guests with three Lapis Ice Flame Dogs through a mutual selection process.

Fortunately, Lapis Ice Flame Dogs were not particularly picky pets.

In fact, they could be considered quite loving and friendly.

So, everyone ended up happy, without any tragic mismatches.

Fortunately, the three puppies hadn't formed deep bonds with their previous handlers and quickly accepted their new feeders.

What made Lorant's family happiest recently was that Silem finally felt ready to break through.

With daily uninterrupted guidance from Lancelot, a Level 7 knight, advancing to Level 1 knight wasn't a difficult task for any student of the Knights Academy.

Simon, who occasionally visited Silem, had felt the bottleneck a week earlier but still hadn't broken through.

According to Lancelot, although it was a Level 1 breakthrough, some catalyst was needed.

It could be external stimulation or a sudden insight on a lucky day leading to advancement.

Generally speaking, lower-level practitioners didn't need life-and-death experiences to advance, but some combat was necessary to trigger their instincts.

Moreover, the Black Forest in winter wasn't dangerous; it was even safer than in summer.

Cold affected not only humans but also beasts.

Sane beasts were reluctant to venture out in winter.

Thus, the two apprentice knights happily agreed to go on a training trip to the outskirts of the Black Forest in a few days.

More importantly, on the day the heavy snow fell, the "Giant Eye Butterfly Tail Fish," which had been pregnant for a long time, had a significantly swollen belly.

Lorant found a separate place for the three largest-bellied fish, the first batch to breed, and quietly squatted in the beast warehouse, waiting for the birth of the first "Windbreaker Horses."

Lorant's anticipation for the Windbreaker Horses was even higher than for the Lapis Ice Flame Dogs.

In a world without ordinary animals, many things hadn't developed well.

Most notably, transportation.

For a long time, apart from high-level practitioners like knights who could tame beasts as mounts, others could only rely on teleportation arrays for travel.

Even the most noble aristocrats had to walk on their own feet in filthy cities.

From this perspective, it was similar to the issue of winter fabrics.

This world wasn't lacking in thick winter fabrics or means of transportation.

But these weren't things that could be widely available.

Due to costs and other reasons, ordinary people lived in hardship.

This undoubtedly posed significant hidden dangers.

The world is like a pyramid. The height of the pyramid depends on how broad its base is.

Ordinary people form the base of the pyramid, providing the foundation for the development of practitioners.

Currently, about one in a hundred people has the potential to become a knight, and one in ten thousand can become a mage or a priest.

Therefore, if the number of ordinary people increases in a region, the number of practitioners will also increase proportionally.

As a young man proficient in dragon-slaying techniques, Lorant couldn't understand why the Imperial Diet hadn't introduced more policies for ordinary people over the years.

With the existence of Windbreaker Horses, Lorant believed that both knights and ordinary people's daily lives would undergo significant changes as the number of these pets increased.

Because the "Giant Eye Butterfly Tail Fish" is a secondary aquatic aberrant beast, Lorant specially crafted several five-by-five iron tanks for it.

Several Giant Eye Butterfly Tail Fish have already been placed in separate iron tanks.

Lorant asked Lancelot to move three large pools into a separate warehouse compartment and had set up a bed nearby to keep watch for two days.

Finally, after staying in the warehouse for two days, the three Giant Eye Butterfly Tail Fish began showing signs of activity.

First, the one with a red head and white tail finally floated to the surface, and translucent pet beast eggs slowly drifted down from its tail.

These translucent eggs were very light and formed a dense layer above the water's surface.

The female beast hadn't eaten since Lorant placed her alone in the pool.

Once she expelled all the eggs from her body,

the sizable Giant Eye Butterfly Tail Fish was completely exhausted and floated weakly on the surface.

Its tail drooped as it struggled, gasping for breath, looking pitiful and nearly lifeless.

Lorant thought for a long time and ultimately decided to call Lancelot in to help remove this slippery and heavy creature from the pool.

"Is this what you called the new pet beast?" Lancelot stood curiously beside the pool now filled with only a layer of fish eggs, looking at the entire surface covered with translucent fist-sized objects.

"That mount?" He poked the soft eggs doubtfully.

Lorant was busy filling an empty pool with water and adjusting the temperature to match that of the current pool to transfer some of the eggs.

The number of eggs laid by this Giant Eye Butterfly Tail Fish surprised him. The surface of the five-by-five pool was almost one-third covered with two layers of eggs.

If the eggs submerged under the water weren't promptly retrieved to float on the surface, they would soon suffocate and die due to lack of oxygen.

"Yes, it's exactly what I told you about before. Help me pour that bottle of green potion into the pool," Lorant responded to Lancelot without stopping his actions.

Lancelot quickly used his invisible "Mage Hand" to pour the potion into the pool.

"But aren't these too small?" Lancelot looked at the pool of soft eggs, somewhat puzzled.

When he first saw the Crystal Ice Flame Dogs, according to Lorant, those pups were only a week old but already resembled normal young aberrant beasts.

But these "pet beast eggs" seemed unlikely to hatch into something so big.

Could it be that this type of pet beast takes longer to grow?

Lorant finally finished setting up a new pool and gently transferred the floating eggs to it, while he added several bottles of differently colored potions to both pools.

"They look small now because these pet beast eggs haven't fully developed yet," Lorant said, carefully pouring various nutritional potions along the pool walls without looking up: "They are different from the Crystal Ice Flame Dogs, which develop to maturity inside the Claw Wolf."

"When born, they are already in the form of normal pet beast eggs that require simple incubation to complete development."

"That's because the Claw Wolf gives birth to its young in this way."

"But the Giant Eye Butterfly Tail Fish, being an aquatic aberrant beast, retains the characteristics of aquatic creatures during reproduction."

"That means they produce many eggs that need to undergo external incubation for a period."

"During this time, any significant changes in the external environment can lead to the death of these fragile eggs."

Lancelot nodded, seemingly understanding: "So, these eggs still need to be nurtured for a long time?"

Lorant shook his head: "Not really. I estimate it will take about one or two weeks for these eggs to fully develop and harden into pet beast eggs."

"Alright then, let's go back and rest. You've been watching over them for several days; you should get some rest," Lancelot said, noticing the dark circles under Lorant's eyes.

"It's fine. I'll hold on for one more day; the other two should finish laying their eggs by then." Lorant shook his head.

"This one isn't very smart; if I don't keep an eye on it, it might eat its own eggs."

Lancelot sighed helplessly, wanting to offer more encouragement but unsure how to proceed.

He wanted to say he could stay and help but felt he didn't have the right to make such an offer.

To avoid suspicion, he never entered this warehouse, fearing Lorant might think he was trying to pry into the secrets of pet beast breeding.

Breeding-related matters were always handled by Lorant alone.

But seeing Lorant's exhausted appearance, Lancelot felt a twinge of sympathy.