Chapter 247

Chapter 247

Nowadays, besides their daily shopping, Ruth and Martha have nothing else to do. This made the two women, who had worked hard their entire lives, feel a bit out of place. But they never complained, not wanting to burden their children.

Previously, they kept each other company, so they didn’t feel too bored.

But now that Martha is busy running the Blue Star Restaurant, she’s found an outlet for her energy and is quite happy. On the other hand, Ruth is left on her own.

While Ruth still gets invited to all sorts of noble banquets, the novelty has worn off, and she’s not really into them anymore.

Without her friend by her side, she started going out less often.

Though she doesn’t say it, Lorant can tell when his mother is feeling down.

It’s understandable. Even though Lorant encourages her to start a new relationship, Ruth doesn’t seem interested in that.

Among the nobility, divorce and remarriage are common, and the social climate is pretty relaxed. It’s not uncommon for powerful female counts to have young lovers in their castles.

In Ruth’s position, she’d probably face gossip if she lived in the slums, but with her current status, she has no shortage of suitors.

Lorant knows that two viscounts and a count have been courting Ruth for some time.

But Ruth hasn’t made her feelings clear.

This situation could easily lead to boredom. From this perspective, Lorant felt he should find something to keep his mother occupied, giving her a fulfilling life. These activities should ideally not be too tiring—something that could divert her attention, keep her busy, but not exhaust her.

This charitable foundation was undoubtedly the best choice.

Ruth, as Lorant expected, readily accepted his request after understanding the nature of the charitable foundation and began enthusiastically working on her own reform plan.

At first, Ruth was a bit hesitant when dealing with the somewhat unfamiliar tasks, but she quickly adapted to the pace and found her place.

Lorant could see that Ruth was quite satisfied with the work she was doing. These tasks gave her a sense of purpose in life, so she was in quite a good mood.

The first batch of funds raised after the establishment of the charity was astonishingly large, giving them ample resources to make a significant impact.

Moreover, Lorant had another plan. He intended to put the part of the charity foundation that belonged to the Animal Pet Shop entirely under Ruth’s responsibility. This way, her status would change again.

She would no longer just be Lorant’s mother but also an authority figure with power, which would help her more effectively in the bothersome social interactions.

After seeing the results of the auction, Jeremy was eager to start planning what items to purchase for distribution to the ordinary people. With such abundant funds, he could come up with many ideas.

In this auction, Lorant didn’t contribute many precious items. However, as the initiator, he provided five Glassy Ice Flame Dogs and ten Windbreaking Horse exchange coupons.

Besides the starting bid being half the usual price, these exchange coupons also came with a priority privilege. With them, one could join the latest batch of Beast Tamer teams by redeeming them at the Animal Pet Shop.

Therefore, these exchange coupons were quickly bid for and taken away.

Even now, the Animal Pet Shop is still severely short of pets, and the waiting time is getting longer.

After the auction, Jeremy’s free clinic continued, but Lorant hasn’t appeared much at the charity association’s distribution events.

For once, Jeremy acted sensibly and worriedly asked his assistant if Lorant was avoiding the events because of Valentine, which caused him some concern for a while.

But in fact, after the auction ended, Lorant had not paid any attention to that rude mage again, almost as if he had completely forgotten about him.

Because in his mind, a breeding method he had been working on for a while had finally produced results.

It was a beast pet collaboration with Jacqueline. After Jacqueline found the general path, she invited Lorant to refine it.

Now, the simulation of this path had finally yielded results.

Lorant eagerly opened the breeding chart in his mind.

Before breeding the beast pets, the chart only showed the most basic breeding methods and some very simple introductions of the beast pets.

In the C-grade beast pet section, there was an unlit entry.

"Wingless Flywheel": A spherical beast pet with a body shaped like a round ball, capable of low-altitude flight. It is small in size but has powerful attack strength, and its outer shell is made of a metal exoskeleton.

Lorant carefully reviewed the breeding process for the Wingless Flywheel.

As a C-grade beast pet, the breeding method for the Wingless Flywheel was not complicated. Jacqueline had already figured out about 80% of this breeding path.

The live specimens needed for the breeding were prepared in large quantities.

Since the beasts involved in the breeding were not particularly rare, capturing the live specimens was quite easy.

When Jacqueline realized this path might work, she had many live specimens captured, so now there were plenty of reserves in both the Beast Tower and the Beast Pet Shop.

After multiple experiments, Jacqueline confirmed that this combination was the correct breeding method, though some potions or additional techniques were needed to truly breed the beast pet.

However, Lorant had to admit that this was just Jacqueline's good luck, or perhaps his own.

According to Lorant's speculation, although Jacqueline's related breeding beasts were mostly problem-free, it was also possible that Jacqueline had mixed up the order of two beasts. Reversing the order might have yielded the same effect.

If that had been the case, the workload would have increased significantly.

Fortunately, that didn't happen, and Lorant was able to finalize the breeding path so quickly.

To make it more convenient for Lorant to refine this path, Jacqueline had already prepared all the necessary beasts and possible materials in the Beast Pet Shop for Lorant to use at any time.

With Jacqueline's involvement, as the current person in charge of the Beast Tower, her project meant that the Beast Tower would fully support it.

With such a massive entity backing him, Lorant could get any materials he needed.

Lorant even considered taking the opportunity to gather materials for the "Codex," but in the end, his conscience prevailed, and he decided that such deceptive behavior was wrong.

So, Lorant openly handed over a few Codex materials he hadn't found yet to Jacqueline, hoping she could help him see if there was a possibility of obtaining them.

After all, the network within the circle of legendary mages and their connections were entirely different from ordinary people. It was possible that those powerful individuals might have some rare items that weren't available on the market.

Lorant headed straight to the beast storage. As soon as he opened the door, a light-winged butterfly fluttered its large wings and flew towards him.

The little one flapped its huge wings, flew up to Lorant, and landed on his head.

The magnificent, radiant large wings hung down from behind Lorant's head, like a shimmering veil, creating a dazzling trail of light as he walked.

At first, Lorant had instructed these little ones not to land on people's heads, especially not on his head with their wings draped down!

But the more he told them not to, the more they secretly draped their wings like a veil when he wasn’t looking, and eventually, he gave up trying to educate them.

At least they hadn’t messed up during important tasks, right?

Like the Glassy Ice Flame Dog, these little ones are able to clearly distinguish what is important and what are things they can just casually fool around with.

Much like a nine or ten-year-old child, they are smart but a bit rebellious. However, they wouldn't directly confront others, nor would they do exactly what is forbidden just because it's prohibited. It's only some harmless pranks that make it hard for Lorant to even think about scolding them.

These mischievous little guys have also learned to act pitiful now. As soon as Lorant scolds them, these little ones immediately start rubbing their paws and lowering their heads, looking dejected.

But the moment they turn around, they become lively again and start fighting energetically.

After a long time, realizing that these little ones know their limits, Lorant rarely says anything to them anymore.

The ability of this little one with the gorgeous wings is to help people think more clearly, making their minds sharp and efficient in thought.

This ability makes it the favorite beast pet Lorant likes to bring along during his projects.

Oh, except for Baby.

But Baby's greatest advantage is that it doesn't get jealous easily. In Lorant's memory, aside from the time when he wanted to create another ghost spider and Baby threw a tantrum, it has always been very generous.

It is even willing to let go of its favorite little nest and share it with Little White.

Lorant figured this was probably because the ghost spider is a beast pet with a strong sense of territory.

As the saying goes, "One mountain cannot hold two tigers," which means that two dominant individuals can't coexist peacefully, explaining why Baby reacted so strongly at the time.

In any case, the Light-Winged Butterfly and Baby get along well. Lorant often sees the Light-Winged Butterfly tightly gripping something invisible in the air with its delicate claws, swinging back and forth as if on a swing.

Given the superior ability of the Light-Winged Butterfly, Lorant still chose to let it sit on his head as he entered the storage.

Although most of Lorant's projects weren't as complex as the mages imagined, requiring a lot of calculations and failures to complete, those processes had already occurred in his mind. By the time Lorant stood in his beast storage, it meant he could breed new beast pets with 100% success.

At first glance, it might seem like there's no stage for the Light-Winged Butterfly's ability to shine, but Lorant believed that being able to keep his mind clear and agile throughout the breeding process was indeed helpful.

At least, if there were any small issues like with the floating octopuses and Devouring Frogs during breeding, he would be able to react more promptly.

For people like Kimberly, the Light-Winged Butterfly's ability became particularly important.

In their experiments, having or not having the help of the Light-Winged Butterfly could sometimes mean the difference between success and failure. It could be said that with this little one's help, they could absolutely gain a significant advantage.

Apart from this little one on Lorant's head, there was another Light-Winged Butterfly with the same ability.

However, in terms of assisting with thought, this butterfly's effect seemed to be a bit stronger, probably due to the difference in the intensity of their abilities.

That Light-Winged Butterfly now stays in the mages' area all year round.

They even scheduled a rotation for the use of this Light-Winged Butterfly.

Every day, one mage would be lucky enough to have partial use of the Light-Winged Butterfly. If Lorant didn’t need the butterfly to assist with his experiments that day, they would quickly come and take it away.

The goal was to ensure that everyone could enjoy the butterfly's abilities during experiments as much as possible.

Lorant skillfully placed a small glass dish under one of the huge inverted glass bottles embedded in the warehouse wall, collecting a bottle cap's worth of liquid and setting it aside for the Light-Winged Butterfly to use when it got hungry.

These beautifully delicate, patterned, and seemingly impractical little dishes were, of course, the matching pet supplies Lorant prepared for the Light-Winged Butterfly.

Although any small dish would work just as well, or even a curved leaf, it wouldn’t allow him to cash in, right?

Monroe once curiously asked if these small vessels made the Light-Winged Butterflies happier.

Lorant just gave a sly smile and said nothing.

While the light-winged butterfly may not be any happier, the shop owner is sure to be delighted by the profits from this highly lucrative device.

After setting out food for the light-winged butterfly, Lorant called over a few floating octopuses and began a new round of beast breeding.

To speed up the breeding process, Lorant and Jacqueline had already made extensive preparations. These included setting up everything needed for each stage of breeding.

The various stages that the beasts might undergo during the three breeding sessions were already well-prepared in the beast storage. Lorant could directly select the beasts for each stage.

Some beasts had not yet been bred, while others had already completed the process.

Jacqueline had prepared extensively, even for scenarios that might never happen, just to give Lorant's experiment every possible advantage.

This method, regardless of cost, was the ideal setup any mage would dream of.

Thus, Lorant was now able to effortlessly grab two beasts from the final stage that had already undergone breeding.

One of the beasts was the 'Earth Ball Shield,' which gradually formed a spongy, ginger-yellow ball on its back.

This beast was small in size, only reaching Lorant's calf in height. At first glance, it resembled a large potato with two spindly legs.

Despite its unassuming appearance, this beast was a formidable Level 4 creature, and due to its small size and extremely strong defense, it was quite difficult to subdue, making it one of the least desirable beasts for a practitioner of the same level.

The other beast, in contrast, had a much more aggressive and less docile appearance. It was a flying secondary beast, a lesser breed with a wingspan exceeding a meter, though its body was no longer than Lorant's forearm.

Though small, it had a vicious and grotesque appearance.

The creature, which looked like a big rat, really wasn't something Lorant liked. Its disproportionately wide mouth, when opened, revealed a mouthful of teeth.

Its mouth was packed with teeth, from the lips all the way down to the throat.

If this thing bit you, your finger would probably end up as nothing but a mush of meat.

However, with the help of Little Qing and Little Black, these two types of beasts couldn't harm Lorant in the slightest.

Both Lorant and his companions were very confident about this.

These two beasts had already mated. A few days ago, they completed their first major life fusion. The potato-shaped beast now had a bunch of monster eggs inside its body.

Yes, monster eggs. Although this was the final step in the "Wingless Flywheel" breeding, what existed in the big potato's belly right now were still just monster eggs, not beast eggs.

Lorant had Little Qing and Little Black secure the big potato-like beast on the table, keeping its claws from scratching by pinning them to its sides.

Then he took a scraper and removed the thick defensive outer layer composed of earth-element magic on the potato's shell.

Although the potato beast's defense was quite strong, a knife treated with a special potion could easily scrape off the earthy layer.

Before long, the beast shed its armored exterior, revealing its true form.

Its dark red skin looked quite smooth and supple, a sharp contrast to its earlier armored appearance.

Lorant gave the little guy's swollen belly a pat, then quickly pulled his hand away as it roared and lunged to bite.

Of course, Lorant felt that even if he hadn't pulled his hand back, he wouldn't have been hurt.

On one hand, he trusted Little Qing and Little Black. On the other hand, Lorant doubted that the big potato could manage to lower its head, no matter how hard it tried.

After all, it doesn’t even have a neck, after all!

Once the big potato was thoroughly cleaned and transformed into a large, brownish-red plum.

Lorant pulled out a potion he had just whipped up on the side.

The ingredients required for brewing this potion weren’t complicated, just a few dozen, but the brewing technique demanded careful attention.

First, he had to mix the juices of eight plant beasts and the powders of two secondary beasts, then add nine different types of minerals to the paste-like potion. After heating it to a high temperature until everything melted into a liquid in the crucible, he would add the leaves of the eight plant beasts intact.

The trick was to control the heat so the leaves didn’t fully dissolve, leaving the potion thick and sticky—just right for success.

With the help of some convenient instruments, Lorant eventually obtained this marvelous potion.

He carefully dipped a different type of plant leaf into the bowl of thick, red potion.

Then, without his fingers touching the potion, he applied it bit by bit onto the skin of the immobilized plum-like creature.

It was a tricky job, especially since the creature’s skin was the same color as the potion. Lorant had to be extremely careful to ensure the potion was thoroughly applied.

Before long, an intense fragrance began to emanate from the creature.

It smelled like well-seasoned roast lamb chops.

Lorant felt his mouth watering and decided he’d definitely need some roast lamb after tonight’s work.

The plum-like beast, however, didn’t seem to show any discomfort. It still tried energetically to bite off his finger, full of vitality.

After applying the paste-like potion all over the big potato, Lorant finally stopped his work.

He admired the beast, now evenly coated with the potion, and felt satisfied with his work.

He had Baby carefully hang the creature using silk, suspending it in a partition nearby, leaving it hanging in the air until the layer of potion on its body dried completely before letting it roam freely.

Then Lorant turned his attention to the other secondary beast.

This secondary beast looked like a giant, bald rat with massive bat wings.

Its long tail trailed behind, and its huge wings were firmly secured by Baby’s silk, stretched straight and hung in the air, unable to move.

The entire body of this secondary beast, including its wings, was covered with very sparse hair.

Lorant generally liked furry animals, but that was when their fur was thick enough to cover their skin!

As for this beast with its sparse hair, resembling the hair on a bald man’s head, Lorant felt an innate disgust.

As an unapologetic aesthete, he really couldn’t bring himself to like these ugly creatures.

Watching the squealing, winged rat, Lorant couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose in disgust.