Chapter 253

Chapter 253

Watching those students whose eyes had gradually lost their light, Lorant subtly smiled.

He certainly looked to be in a good mood.

"This assignment is not only to help you better choose the Luminous Wing Butterflies that suit your abilities, but it's also an extra perk I'm offering you as your teacher," Lorant decided to motivate his already despairing students and opened his mouth to speak.

The students looked at each other, their eyes slightly regaining some light. Although they still didn't fully understand Lorant's intention, no one could resist such a privilege.

Memorizing nearly nine thousand pieces of information and recalling over ten thousand beast companions sounded like a massive headache even to think about.

But if these nine thousand pieces of information were something that only they had the qualification to obtain, then maybe putting in the effort to memorize them wouldn't be impossible.

The students felt a strange sense of advantage, as if they were getting something special.

"Only by memorizing all the abilities and appearances of the Luminous Wing Butterflies can you, when facing them, immediately understand the enhancements your opponent has gained," Lorant's tone carried a hint of temptation, like a demon enticing humans to make mistakes, "Just imagine, if you're in the arena, both having the assistance of Luminous Wing Butterflies, you know what ability the opponent's Luminous Wing Butterfly has, but the opponent doesn't know yours.

"You can imagine how much of an advantage that would give you, right?"

"Other than you best students, other practitioners wouldn't have such an opportunity, you know." With that final sentence, Lorant noticed the students' energy shift dramatically; one by one, they shook off their lethargy and became fully engaged.

Lorant nodded in satisfaction secretly.

That's the spirit! Students should always be eager to learn. Even if the process is relatively painful, it shouldn't affect their enthusiasm.

After helping the students accept the daunting assignment of memorizing a massive amount of theoretical knowledge, Lorant, wanting to keep their interest in beast companions alive amidst the ocean of complex theories, opened the glass door and called forth a few Luminous Wing Butterflies.

He is an excellent teacher, always showing ample concern for his students.

"Next, I will demonstrate the reason why you need to remember the abilities of these thousand Lightwing Butterflies." With a gentle wave of his hand, the Lightwing Butterflies landed on Gabriel in a well-ordered sequence.

They behaved as orderly as passengers boarding a bus, displaying a courteous demeanor.

Gabriel, serving as the 'vehicle,' looked delighted and somewhat silly as he watched the Lightwing Butterflies settle on his shoulders.

These few Lightwing Butterflies were naturally selected in advance by Lorant.

Their abilities included enhancing strength, increasing speed, improving visual capabilities, and enhancing a combat skill that a Third-Class Knight can master—Sword Aura Slash.

This combination, after thorough research, is the most suitable for a Third-Class Knight using Sword Aura Slash. With the enhancement from these Lightwing Butterflies, it is enough to match up against a Fifth-Class Knight.

At first glance, this two-class leap in combat ability seems unreasonable, but it is only possible with the combined enhancement of four Lightwing Butterflies!

To Lorant, this is already a very reasonable outcome.

The four Lightwing Butterflies landed on Gabriel's shoulders and head in a polite and orderly manner.

Due to their extremely light bodies, even though two of them perched on Gabriel's head like a pair of 'veils' on the rugged knight, they did not hinder his movements at all.

Lancelot, being more familiar with the abilities of knights compared to Lorant, took over Lorant's position and began directing Gabriel to use his Sword Aura Slash to feel the difference between now, under the enhancement of the Lightwing Butterflies, and his usual state.

Gabriel released a Sword Aura Slash towards the spot Lancelot had designated.

A combat skill he had mastered to perfection now erupted with a completely different and much greater power.

Amidst the stunned gazes of Gabriel and the other students.

A battle aura slash, initially only about one meter long, flew out of Gabriel's great sword at a width of five meters. The arc of light was more dazzling than usual, cutting through the sky with unstoppable force, and slammed heavily into a giant tree in the distance.

Gabriel: “!!”

Students: “!!”

Lorant: “!”

That was his tree! He had paid a fortune to bring this glowing banyan tree all the way from the Elf Forest.

Heartbroken, Lorant leaped onto his Windbreaking Horse and quickly rushed to the tree that had been affected by the aura slash to check the wounds on the unique elf plant.

Fortunately, Gabriel hadn’t aimed directly at the banyan tree. He had simply misjudged the range and distance of the aura slash, so the tree was only grazed at the very edge of the slash.

Thus, it wasn’t the main body of the glowing banyan that was injured, but only a thick aerial root that extended outwards.

Even so, Lorant was extremely distressed. At night, this glowing banyan tree would form exquisite fluorescent patterns on its trunk. Each aerial root, hanging down from the branches and connecting to the ground, had its own unique pattern.

Now that it had been severed, he had to figure out how to support the tree’s massive canopy and mourn the loss of the unique pattern he hadn’t even had time to fully appreciate.

Lorant touched the middle of the broken aerial root, where it had been severed in two, and turned his head to glare at the culprit behind him.

Feeling guilty, Gabriel averted his gaze, and Lancelot turned to scold him, “What happened? As a third-level knight, how can you miscontrol a blade aura slash so badly that it goes awry?”

Snapping out of his excitement, Gabriel realized that his powerful slash had accidentally damaged the nearby ornamental tree.

Seeing the store manager teacher in a bad mood next to the banyan tree, Gabriel quickly calmed down, hiding his joy while also feeling a slight tremble of fear in his heart.

Though Lorant usually wore a warm smile, the students were very keenly aware that he was not someone to be trifled with.

Compared to Lancelot, who was stricter with them on a daily basis, the students were even more unwilling to provoke Lorant.

As a result, whenever Lorant gave an order, the students would execute it with remarkable speed.

It seemed that some small animals' survival instincts were quite accurate at critical moments.

The little incident passed quickly, and all the students had a great time during this class.

Thanks to the astonishing number of Lightwing Butterflies, every student who attended the class had enough to make their own unique combinations.

They could constantly experiment by stacking the abilities of the Lightwing Butterflies on themselves, ultimately selecting a set of enhancements that suited them best.

The upper limit for stacking the abilities of these beast pets was five, allowing for a wide range of possible combinations.

Compared to Devouring Frogs, Lightwing Butterflies offered practitioners more personalized choices.

The students didn’t disappoint Lorant, quickly coming up with many interesting combinations based on their individual situations.

Some of these combinations focused on enhancing a particular skill to the extreme, while others took a more balanced approach, enhancing all of their abilities comprehensively.

Many unusual effects that the mages hadn’t yet mastered when working with knights’ abilities were now being demonstrated in various combinations.

During this process, Lorant observed that the Lightwing Butterflies that enhanced the basic attributes of practitioners were the most popular.

Many of the ability combinations required their abilities and were an essential part of those combinations.

On the other hand, the Lightwing Butterflies that boosted specific combat skills, while being the core of some combinations, were not irreplaceable.

A knight at Gabriel's level typically masters close to twenty combat skills, and many more that they had learned but weren’t yet proficient in.

Among these combat skills, each knight has their own focus. Typically, a third-level knight would focus on one or two skills that align with their strengths as their main training direction.

So, when customizing their Lightwing Butterfly combinations, they usually prioritize one or two key skills and choose butterflies that boost those abilities.

However, not everyone’s main combat skills are the same, nor do all Lightwing Butterflies enhance every ability.

Many combat skills don’t have corresponding Lightwing Butterflies.

Practitioners who rely on these skills have to make do by boosting their basic attributes to improve their overall strength.

Attribute boosts, however, are something every knight can use, which is why they’re the most popular.

As Lorant observed the students engrossed in the lesson, he began to form ideas about how to sell the Lightwing Butterflies.

Given the sheer number of Lightwing Butterflies, he couldn’t keep them all in the pet shop for short-term rentals like the Devouring Frogs and Sacred Peacocks.

Lorant would need to sell the majority of the Lightwing Butterflies.

Originally, he planned to keep some Lightwing Butterflies in the shop for rent and sell the rest.

He planned to open a Blue Star branch either at the Black Forest outpost or the Lopulo mountain pass.

In this branch, various beast pets available only for rent would be offered, allowing adventurers heading into the Black Forest or Lopulo to rent beast pets from the shop.

The idea crossed his mind briefly, but he quickly ruled it out.

Both Devouring Frogs and Sacred Peacocks work the same way; they don’t need the beast pets to follow the practitioners to project their abilities onto weapons or the practitioners themselves. However, Lightwing Butterflies are different.

These beast pets must be by the practitioner’s side to take effect.

Even if they don’t need to be right next to the practitioner, they can’t be too far away, or their abilities will become ineffective.

For the rental of Windbreaking Horses, Lorant could restrict them to a certain range. Injured horses that could no longer fight could be limited to city areas to ensure their safety.

But for Lightwing Butterflies, achieving this would be almost impossible.

Adventurers entering the Black Forest can’t even guarantee their own safety, so how could they protect the Lightwing Butterflies?

Moreover, in the unmonitored Black Forest, it would be nearly impossible to prevent someone with malicious intentions from staging a fake accident and secretly kidnapping the Lightwing Butterflies.

Lorant couldn’t require every practitioner renting Lightwing Butterflies to pay a deposit sufficient to buy them. Although he hadn’t decided on the price yet, it was clear these delicate creatures wouldn’t be affordable for just any adventurer.

However, this model wasn’t entirely without merit. In his own Blue Star territory in Kamuklorant, he could safely rent out Lightwing Butterflies.

That place could serve as an experience zone, allowing people interested in buying Lightwing Butterflies to try them out before deciding whether to spend a large sum on these auxiliary beast pets.

As for other places, this business currently didn’t seem feasible to start casually.

Lorant pulled his scattered thoughts back to the present and continued watching the students as they proceeded with the rest of the class.

The first lesson on Lightwing Butterflies lasted an entire day.

In the following days, students from other grades at the Knight Academy also completed their long-awaited beast pet lesson, with continuous improvements to the course content by Lorant, gaining countless surprises.

Regardless of their grade, all the students felt inspired by the Lightwing Butterflies.

These beast pets give their owners a sense of personal power, which is something practitioners find irresistible.

With these students acting as natural promoters, news of the pet shop’s development of a new beast pet spread quickly throughout Mauplan.

Paul, who hadn’t been seen at the pet shop for a long time, quickly chose a suitable day to bring gifts for Silem and Mo’er. He sat in the shop’s reception room, holding a teacup in his hands.

"Ahem," Paul looked much weaker than before, constantly coughing even while holding hot tea. The change in weather seemed to greatly affect this sickly knight.

On days when other practitioners hadn’t even started wearing extra layers, Paul was already wearing a thin down jacket.

"Good to see you again, Lorant," Paul said with a smile as he stood up upon seeing Lorant walk in.

This logistics officer of the Knight Corps had been quite friendly towards Lorant ever since the pet shop had just started.

In Lorant’s opinion, when it came to judging people in Mauplan, Paul could definitely rank in the top five.

He was very confident in his judgment and always knew how to face others with the most appropriate attitude, making people feel comfortable.

The numerous in-depth collaborations Lorant had with the Thorn Knight Corps were largely thanks to Paul.

"Long time no see, Paul. Have you been seeing the priests on schedule?" Lorant asked suspiciously, looking at Paul’s pale face.

Ever since this knight suffered a severe injury, he had been left with serious aftereffects, and his health had been poor ever since. He needed to see the priests regularly to maintain his normal activities.

But at that moment, Paul didn’t look like someone who had been seeing the priests regularly at all.

Instead, he looked like a skeleton on the verge of being buried.

Paul smiled and changed the subject, "Well, ahem, speaking of which, your cooperation with the Church has been expanding quite a bit lately."

"Frank’s been bragging non-stop lately. If it weren’t for his position, I bet he’d be at the Slime family place every day," Paul said, referring to the Slime family establishment that Lorant and the Mauplan Church had co-founded.

That place was considered half a Church asset. Besides its normal function of selling Slime family products, it offered additional discounts to followers of the Goddess of Light due to the Church’s shares, which attracted even more believers. The performance had been quite impressive.

"That guy is now one of the most hated bishops in the Church," Paul said, unable to help but laugh as he imagined Frank showing off at the Church’s banquet, though he soon choked on his coughing.

Lorant didn’t care much about this. He didn’t mind if Frank used his share of the profits to seek personal benefits and fame within the Church. To Lorant, all of that was just an added bonus to the Slime family’s business.

As long as the final prices at the Slime family didn’t deviate from his set standards, Lorant was completely indifferent.

At the same time, following the charity auction from the previous merchant guild event, the newly established charity organization had officially begun its work.

They started by purchasing a large amount of winter supplies at cost price from both the Slime family and the Cotton Tree family. After a very careful selection process, these supplies were distributed to those truly in need.

This part of the work was extremely tedious, especially the selection step, which was the most annoying. However, the world never lacked cheap labor.

Under Ruth’s close supervision, along with others, the entire process was completed quickly and without any issues.

Seeing the convenience of the charity organization, the Church also distributed the supplies for their followers through the charity organization under the Church’s name for that season.

"It’s alright, with winter approaching, I suppose Archbishop Frank wants to make some contributions to help those who might have a hard time getting through the winter," Lorant said with a compassionate expression. "The development of the Slime family has always been a concern for Archbishop Frank, and without their help, Cotton Tree wouldn’t have been able to develop so quickly. I understand Frank’s intentions well."

Paul knew that what he said was true. Although Frank loved to show off, everything he did came from a good heart, and many people benefited from it.

So the knight nodded and said no more.

"By the way, these are the gifts I prepared for the two little ones, Silem and Mo’er," Paul said, pointing behind him. His personal guard knight immediately stepped forward and placed the two large boxes he had been holding on the ground.

"Before, these two kids said they thought the armor set with the Thorn Knights' symbol looked nice, so I had two sets custom-made as gifts for them," Paul said with a smile.

He had been to the pet store many times, so he had a good relationship with everyone there.

Especially with young Silem, who, at Lorant's request, had been consulting with this knight who was once a formidable warrior.

Lorant glanced over and didn't refuse Paul's gesture. "Those two troublemakers are always troubling you, making you remember them even when you're so busy. They're getting more and more unruly."

"I'll deal with them when I get back."

At that moment, a youth at the knight academy and another in Pokara both sneezed simultaneously, feeling a chill run down their spines, as if something was amiss behind them.

Paul smiled but didn't say anything. Lorant always acted very maturely when it came to his two younger brothers, which he found quite amusing.

Sitting across from each other in the reception room's sofas, under the bright light, Lorant could see that this knight was indeed looking very weak.

"You definitely haven't been seeing the priests regularly," Lorant said with certainty after observing the weakened knight. "I’ll tell Captain Jane on you, and she’ll deal with you."

"Speaking of which, I've prepared a gift for you. I was planning to surprise you with it during the next festival, but now I think it might be better to give it to you earlier." Lorant said with a helpless sigh, looking at the knight who was awkwardly smiling.

"Before you wear yourself out before the next festival!" he added with a frown.

Paul wasn't offended and just smiled gently. He was genuinely touched by Lorant's concern, even if it was expressed in such a manner.

After spending so much time together, it was only natural to grow attached. Watching this young man, Paul couldn't guarantee that he could remain completely objective and rational as he had been at the beginning.

People can't help but be drawn to kindness.

And Lorant certainly had that kind of charm.