Chapter 148

Chapter 148

Lorant's life is now very regular.

Every day, he is woken up around nine by the sound of the horses returning. He then descends the stairs with high spirits to join Lancelot, who has just brought the horses back, for a loving breakfast prepared in advance by Martha and Ruth.

After breakfast, Lorant thoroughly inspects the exotic beast warehouse to check on the status of the pet eggs.

Then, after a satisfying lunch, he finds a cool spot to lie down and prepare for his daily simulation.

Currently, Lorant is working on a breeding line for the 'Lightwing Butterfly.' The breeding process for this pet is quite complex, and even with the support of the Beast Tower, which provides him with small-scale exotic beasts, there has been little progress.

The breeding process has now reached the stage where the first batch of exotic beasts is preparing to give birth to secondary exotic beasts. It is expected that it will take about two more weeks for a batch of secondary exotic beasts to be born.

Breeding exotic beasts is different from the online games he used to play; you can't just accelerate the process to breed secondary exotic beasts and then accelerate again to have them grow to breeding age.

To obtain the first batch of Lightwing Butterflies, Lorant estimates it will be at least until this autumn.

Moreover, one of the Level 7 exotic beasts is quite rare. Currently, Lorant is using the one stored in the Beast Tower, and there has been no news of any additional live specimens.

However, through his breeding simulations, Lorant has gradually gained some insights.

With enough routes, he has started to notice some subtle patterns.

It's not that he has discovered a definitive way to obtain pet breeding routes, but rather that after breeding a hundred times or so, he can vaguely sense whether his current direction is correct.

For example, during this period, he feels that he is steadily approaching some correct result.

The process of constant trial and error is still very relaxing and therapeutic for Lorant. The feeling of being able to clear his mind and only needing to do a little thinking is a great form of rest.

Even when he is half-asleep, his simulations are quite efficient.

*Ring!*

With a light chime, Lorant's eyes suddenly widened.

He didn't immediately look at his compendium but quickly grabbed a pen and paper and began sketching on the leaf in front of him.

The simulation based on his previous feelings actually yielded results!

After recording his small conjectures, Lorant finally had the time to see what kind of pet he had just bred.

Opening the compendium, he saw a B-grade pet, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

While the grade of a pet doesn't necessarily represent its value—take the Dream Weaver, for instance, whose uniqueness makes it difficult to define by simple levels—it is highly valuable to mages, far exceeding the value of ordinary B-grade pets.

However, in most cases, the grade still carries some weight.

"Raging Plush Bear" B.

Under the B-grade category, right next to the Lightwing Butterfly, appeared this entry.

This pet seems to be a similar type of offensive pet to the Crystal Ice Flame Hound.

Its breeding route is similar to that of the Crystal Ice Flame Hound, but the time required is much shorter, though at the cost of more complex breeding methods.

Additionally, the exotic beasts needed for this pet's breeding are of a higher level.

However, this is not a problem for Lorant at the moment.

He immediately went to the Beast Tower and brought out four live exotic beasts.

The four live exotic beasts were two Level 3, one Level 4, and one Level 5.

This once again demonstrated the superiority of the Crystal Ice Flame Hound.

Being able to breed such a powerful B-grade pet using low-level exotic beasts like Claw Wolves is a miracle in itself.

The people in the Beast Tower, as usual, had disappeared into their own laboratories, busy with their experiments.

Without calling them together, they are rarely seen.

Lorant was not bothered by this. He easily found his way to the exotic beast holding area, located the exotic beasts he needed, and with Baby's assistance, placed these pets in cages and brought them directly to his laboratory.

This was the first time Lorant was formally preparing to work in his own laboratory.

After joining the Beast Tower, Jacqueline had given up half of her laboratory floor to him.

Although Lorant had not used it for a long time, it had always been kept for him.

The Beast Tower is vast, and the area of a single building is much larger than the entire town Lorant bought.

Though it is only half a floor, it looks like a terrifying maze when filled with various instruments.

Without Baby, the Ghost Spider, Lorant might not dare to venture too far in such a place.

However, Baby is not particularly fond of the Beast Tower.

It has a strong territorial instinct.

In the Animal Pet Shop, the invisible web of the Ghost Spider has already spread everywhere under Lorant's guidance and tacit approval.

Baby enjoys this feeling, so every time it arrives at a new place, it instinctively spreads its web first to guard against any unforeseen dangers.

Baby has come to the Beast Tower many times, but each time it leaves, the web it had set up disappears entirely.

This made the little one quite unhappy.

Lorant had no good solution for this and could only try to coax the little one to repeatedly reweave its web without getting tired of it.

The web of the Ghost Spider truly existed in a state between physical and spectral form. In theory, to break such a web, one must use mental energy to wear it down bit by bit.

Not to mention how difficult it would be to discover such a hidden web, even using mental energy to wear it down would cause irreversible damage to one's own mental energy.

Even Jacqueline couldn't accomplish such a feat.

Mental energy, once depleted, cannot regenerate and must be slowly accumulated through meditation. For any mage, it is an extremely precious resource.

Each time, the effort required to clear a vast number of webs would soon lead to a significant drop in one's level.

However, at the Beast Tower, the Ghost Spider's web seemed to be restrained by something.

Lorant speculated that this was due to the protective spells within this ancient Mage Tower.

Although he didn't know what kind of ancient spell could produce such an effect, Lorant couldn't explain the phenomenon otherwise.

He couldn't just go up to Jacqueline and ask, "Why can you easily dismantle the hidden surveillance I set up in the Beast Tower?"

After all, Baby was still one of his most important trump cards.

Until he obtained a more powerful beast pet that could serve as his ace, Lorant wouldn't let anyone he hadn't completely trusted know about Baby's existence.

Moving the cage containing the beast pet to his laboratory, Lorant had the Ghost Spider set up its web around his lab.

The little one happily disappeared from Lorant's hand and quickly ran around the entire lab to complete its task.

It also checked on Jacqueline's current position; the great mage was naturally in her own lab.

She was still struggling with the Bamboo Lantern, hoping to study this beast pet thoroughly.

After confirming Jacqueline's location, Lorant began his work.

He had full access to everything in the Beast Tower, and the resources he could mobilize in this Mage Tower were beyond imagination.

Lorant brought in a large number of plant beasts, beast crystals, mineral beasts, and many rare and valuable materials.

Most of these materials were unrelated to what he was going to prepare today, but they were used to obscure the real formula and prevent it from being cracked too quickly.

Now, everyone who cared knew that the two main beast pets in the Animal Pet Shop required Claw Wolves and Wind Blade Foxes for breeding. After all, since the shop opened, it has never stopped acquiring live beasts from outside.

Lorant openly told everyone, yes, the Crystal Ice Flame Dog and the Windbreaker Horse were indeed bred from these two types of beasts.

What can you do about it?

Replicate it?

Those who wanted to replicate it could line up from the gates of Mauplan all the way to the gates of Holland!

Even the Beast Tower has been working hard to crack these breeding methods.

But so far, apart from reproducing a few nutrient solutions that Lorant had not kept secret in the early days, when all the materials were exposed, nothing else has been achieved.

Breeding beast pets is absolutely not as simple as knowing which live beasts are needed.

So Lorant felt very reassured about this.

However, even so, once he had the conditions, he consciously began to hide his exclusive formulas.

Whether in the Animal Pet Shop or elsewhere, with the spatial belt, Lorant could effectively blur others' vision.

Lorant first put some of the materials on the table into his spatial belt, then took out a few materials that were already inside, and only then did he begin his work.

The main reason for choosing the Beast Tower this time was that Lorant needed an instrument available only in the Beast Tower to assist him.

With Baby's help, he first processed all the materials at hand and threw them all into a large pot.

Then he set the temperature for the pot, which had a temperature control magic, and began to boil it.

Lorant had to thank the designers of these magical tools, as they designed something that even ordinary people could use.

Otherwise, if only mages could use these instruments, Lorant would have to find another way.

When the contents of the pot were boiled into a red, glowing substance that resembled magma with a metallic sheen on its surface, Lorant directed Baby to carry it all to a strange machine.

This machine had only a large base and four floating square boxes in the air.

The boiling crucible, bubbling and spitting, was placed right in the center of the base.

"That's right, Baby, use your spider silk for this, don't touch the edge of the pot, it will burn you," Lorant stopped the eager little one from trying to see how hot the pot was.

"This is over a thousand degrees of heat, your little paws will be cooked if you put them there!" Lorant warned Baby, "And tonight I'll start eating cooked paws!"

Baby, held in Lorant's hands, giggled.

'No, Baby! My paws are too small, not enough to eat!' the little one cooed.

'Let's go back and eat the Fire Pig's paws, okay? They're delicious!'

Baby mentioned a fifth-level beast, the Fire Pig, which burned with intense flames all over its body and had thick, tough skin and strong defensive capabilities.

However, its meat was delicious. After washing off the thick layer of mud and the hard shell burned by the flames, the inside was soft leather and tender pork.

After removing the thick layer of skin and fat, what remained was well-marbled, fresh, and tender meat.

Whenever Lorant made braised pork, he always chose this beast, as it was well-marbled and melted in the mouth, giving the sensation of eating a harmless little flame.

That unique flavor was quite addictive.

Lorant had specifically asked the craftsman in charge of dissecting to keep the four hooves of the Fire Pig they had processed earlier.

He spent three days making a large pot of braised pig hooves, with the skin and meat soft and tender, the tendons chewy, melting in the mouth while emitting a fragrant aroma.

For those three days, the entire animal pet shop was enveloped in this aroma, and all the creatures were driven wild with hunger.

The Specter Spider managed to get a few tastes and immediately fell in love with the flavor, always longing to have it again.

"Alright, I'll make another pot for everyone when I have some free time in a couple of days," Lorant said, patting the little creature's head helplessly.

"Just in time, we're planning to have our first Open Day next week. Indeed, we can prepare a large pot of braised meat to treat our guests," Lorant muttered to himself as he made a note.

Only after Baby used its silk to securely place the boiling magma in the center of the massive machine did Lorant come back to his senses and begin operating the device before him.

This machine was the main reason he chose to work here today.

It was a 'shaping' machine, primarily designed to mold objects into various shapes.

While it might not seem technologically advanced—anyone can shape a ball out of clay—keeping a water droplet in a specific shape requires powerful magic support.

Firstly, the energy consumption is significant; secondly, the magic array is complex and difficult to inscribe; and thirdly, its application range is limited. Therefore, the Congress of Magic probably has only a few such machines.

Lorant discovered this device while inspecting the assets of the Beast Tower. Initially, he just found it interesting, but now it turned out to be genuinely useful.

Using this machine, Lorant transformed the potion he had prepared into heart-shaped objects about the size of a fist.

These hearts had veins on the outside and visible left and right ventricles.

A total of seventy-three hearts were made from the large pot, and Lorant was quite satisfied with the result.

Baby tilted its body curiously, watching the floating, pulsating hearts: "Baby, can I touch one?"

Lorant was also curious: "Use your silk to bring one over, and we'll take a closer look."

As instructed, the Specter Spider gently pulled a floating heart over with its silk.

Due to the special nature of the potion, the object appeared to be pulsating, expanding and contracting in front of Lorant, looking quite strong.

"Is it hot, Baby?" Lorant asked, looking at the object curiously.

The Specter Spider waved its front claws: "Not hot at all, Baby. It's completely cool compared to that big pot."

Through its silk, the Specter Spider could sense many properties of objects, so it knew the temperature without touching them directly.

Lorant thought for a moment and picked up a dry twig from nearby, carefully touching it.

Contrary to expectations, the twig didn't melt from the heat; it seemed to have touched something soft like leather, with a slight bounce at the tip.

Seeing this, the Specter Spider extended its little feet and cautiously touched the heart.

The little creature touched it very gently and then happily said: "It's completely cool, Baby!"

Hearing this, Lorant felt relieved.

He reached out and touched the heart in front of him.

The sensation was like touching warm water through a plastic bag, but it was more viscous than water and pulsed on its own.

The feeling was quite unique.

Moreover, Lorant was certain that the sole function of the shaping machine was to transform the contents into a specific shape, not to lower the temperature or isolate heat.

So, this must be a unique property of the potion.

Although Lorant didn't understand why a concoction made from various plants and stones would become cool and start pulsating when shaped into a heart, it didn't stop him from continuing his work.

Lorant quickly had Baby wrap all the hearts in spider silk and hang them above his head, ready for use.

Next, he prepared a large pot of silicone-like viscous liquid.

When the milky white silicone liquid started to cool and solidify, Lorant quickly had Baby use its silk to tie the edge of a heart's vein and drop it into the liquid.

After ten seconds, the silk was slowly lifted, and the heart was surrounded by silicone, forming a milky white 'heart' in front of Lorant.

Frowning, Lorant looked at the perfectly shaped heart, and countless complaints rose to his throat.

Why wrap a realistic heart in a cartoon heart?

What kind of twisted taste is this?

Those large veins are still exposed! It looks really strange!

It's whimsical but also a bit unsettling!

Lorant smacked his lips, unsure what to say, and could only have Baby set the thing aside and repeat the process with the remaining seventy-two hearts.

By the time the pot of silicone was used up, Lorant had seventy-three peculiar, milky white hearts hanging before him.

Without looking closely at the hearts that seemed to be pulsating, Lorant packed them together.

He took out four white hearts and stuffed them into the mouths of four different beasts.

Baby used its silk to pry open the mouths of the four beasts, forcing them to swallow the 'hearts' without chewing.

The 'hearts' contained aphrodisiac components, and Lorant had already prepared breeding areas for them. He placed the cages of the two enchanted beasts at the entrance of the breeding room, opened the cages, and let them move freely.

The process in between was still familiar and eye-watering.

Lorant had already grown accustomed to such scenes and now even had the interest to study how these two first-time encountered exotic beasts mated.

For example, the Level 3 Earth Blaze Bear and the Level 5 Ghost Doll.

The Earth Blaze Bear's body resembled a small tank, standing about five meters tall, with armor formed from rocks and soil, making it incredibly robust.

In contrast, the Ghost Doll was a tiny wooden puppet, only as long as Lorant's arm.

Speaking of which, the 'toy-type' exotic beasts were the ones Lorant disliked the most. Their appearance always gave him an uncanny valley effect, causing discomfort.

Imagine a terrifying puppet grinning at you malevolently...

Lorant shook his head to dispel the image, turning to see the Ghost Doll floating in mid-air, firmly perched on the Earth Blaze Bear's head.

Then, it began to emit a thick black mist from its body, eventually engulfing the restless Earth Blaze Bear entirely.

Amidst the indistinct sounds within the black mist, the Ghost Doll's body convulsed, the thin tendons connecting its joints almost breaking from the shaking.

After the black mist dissipated, the Earth Blaze Bear lay on the ground, unconscious and occasionally twitching, tongue lolling out.

It was unclear what kind of treatment it had endured.

However, given that no adventurer who fell into the hands of the Ghost Doll had ever survived, Lorant didn't think its breeding method would be particularly gentle.

But that wasn't his concern.

He instructed the Specter Spider to separate the four newly bred pets and place them in cages, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

By the time he emerged from the teleportation array with the two securely tied cages, it was pitch dark outside.

The entire Animal Pet Shop had fallen into slumber.

Yawning, Lorant settled the Earth Blaze Bear and the Stretching Glow in the exotic beast warehouse and was surprised to find Lancelot in the hall.

"Lancelot?" Lorant tilted his head, curiously looking at the white-haired knight who was holding a book on the sofa: "You're not asleep yet?"