After thinking about his future, Shi Yu came back to reality. He had other tasks that kept him busy all morning.
He didn't rest until around noon, and thought about the busy afternoon.
After he finished lunch, Shi Yu had the same intern task as the other interns in his dormitory.
All of them have been doing this task for a while.
Written on their worksheet:
Observe and record the behavior and growth of the green cotton* worm.
[Boss: It switches between "cotton worm", "wool worm", and "silkworm (not the skill)" throughout the chapter...I will be keeping it as cotton worm when talking about the "beast"]
"..."
.Afternoon.
Shi Yu followed the large group to the forest of green cotton worms.
The forest has a luxuriant canopy of leaves that block the sunlight.
Scorpion are the majority here. For comparison there are around 50 snow wolves in Icefield City, but there are more than a thousand scorpions.
The best phrase to describe them: the number is bad.*
[Boss: ...I think the original sentence was lost in translation because the Mtl says "I can basically describe them in five words, the number is bad" ...I laughed while writing this...]
The cotton worm's strength is weak and pitiful. Compared to the snow wolf, which can steadily awaken four skills during their growth period, the cotton worm only has the ability of "Silkworm".
Moreover, Silkworm is close to perfection, and its strength can be compared to the non-flowing skills like "Steel Wire".
The beast tamers divide the abilities of creatures into different levels according to their power and effects. From worst to best we have: no-level, low-level, intermediate, high-level, and super skills.
Silkworm mastered by a green cotton worm is not even a low-level skill. The worst of the worst, it is a no-level skill.
Therefore, it is pitiful for cotton worm's to have their race/level being designated as low/extraordinary. After all, the cotton worm can't beat most ordinary animals, so it has room for growth.*
[Boss: Not exactly sure of the correlation here. No matter how I looked at it there was no other possible interpretation of this sentence...]
However, depending on the cultivation method, the Silkworm skill is used for many purposes.
Unfortunately, the pet animal breeding base does not raise the green cotton worm for the production of silk.
The reason why such a weak beast is raised is because the cotton worm is one of the few beast that can naturally evolve.
After they take i enough nutrients, they can evolve into wind crystal butterflies, and they have the chance of awakening a new race skill, "Wind Blade", thereby increasing their combat power.
Although, due to their lifespan, they are still classified as Low/Extraordinary, they are one of the easiest insect pets to raise. It is one of the best initial pets for ordinary beast tamers.
Shi Yu's job was to record and observe the growth status of the green cotton worms, and to judge when they would evolve.
Compared to the snow wolf, the worm is far safer. After all, it is only the size of a palm.
The green body, innocent eyes, and two yellow tentacles on its head, are very similar to the larvae of the Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly on Earth.
After personally being in contact with them, Shi Yu also understood why they were hailed as the five worst pets in the world...
Because the skill Silkworm used by this group of untrained worms snapped when he pulled on it lightly...
During the observation, Shi Yu ended up wrapped in silk.
Compared to the snow wolves, the worm is much less intelligent, and Shi Yu's telepathic talent is not very useful. The communication between both parties is not very good which caused his cotton worm, Spencer, to resist.
But this way of resisting...is too useless.
This is not what made him speechless, however.
What made him speechless was that the Skill Book in his mind lit up, meaning that he could teach the high-level deterrence skill to the cotton worms?
A cotton worm with a King's authority???
Are the so called standers so loose?
Shi Yu's eyes changed when he look at the cotton worm.
From this discovery, the Skill Book really is not simple. After all, the cotton worm is hailed as the lowest-level pet that can never learn any skills other then Silkworm before evolution...
Shi Yu sighed. The cotton worm slipped away from his hand, and the Skill Book changed once again.
At this moment, the Skill Book opened to the second page.
This time the image of a cotton worm showed up with a bunch of text.
[Skill] : Silkworm
[Skill Level] : None
[Introduction] : Insect-based skill, it will likely have little effect even when used to the extreme.
[Status] : No Target
(???)
What is with the introduction? How is it exactly as bad as I thought!?
Forget it...
Right now, the Skill Book successfully included the second skill, the useless Silkworm...Shi Yu was not happy, after all, the skill seemed really useless.
That's not right...such a weak skill would be a good test of physical exertion.
While the others continued their job, Shi Yu was focused on an extra task. He continued to the study the Skill Book illustrations in his mind.
The only valuable discovery is that, in addition to copying skills, he can also teach Silkworm to other cotton worms that already had it.
Even if they have mastered the skill, he can still teach it!
Shi Yu studied it and learned that repetitive teaching can increase the beasts proficiency of the skill.
Unfortunately, Shi Yu didn't dare to experiment too much here...
...
.Evening.
After dinner, Shi Yu went straight back to his dormitory.
When he got home he took a manual out.
The manual records the 51 beasts and their skills that are kept in the breeding base.
Obviously, Shi Yu is choosing targets to steal...learn skills from. He intends to see what skills are suitable for his own Iron-Eater to learn.
Skills can't show up out of thin air. He has to find a way to get the skills himself.
Bus as long as the rare skills are included, the Skill Book is invincible.
What beast tamer cultivated a worm with deterrent skills?
Shi Yu took the Skill Book as his second beast talent. With this talent his next goal is very clear.
Find a way to replicate the higher-level skills, and store them up to nurture his own pets after becoming a beast tamer...
It's just a pity that after reading on the beasts in the breeding base in the manual, Shi Yu did not find the Agility* skills he needed...
[Boss: Previously labeled as "Perception." Changed because the author meant movement skills, but perception is more about observation through the senses.]
The skills that the beast cubs may awaken here are more low-level skills, which are very common and not worth the effort.
Of course, the more skills the better.
However, after copying the Silkworm skill, Shi Yu suddenly thought of something. Is there an upper limit o the number of skills the Skill Book can hold?
Before figuring this question out, Shi Yu didn't dare to waste pages. The goal was to collect many medium and high-level skills first.
"It seems that I can only change targets."
Actually, the animal breeding base in Icefield city doesn't just have many beasts, but many beast taming masters...
The skills of their beasts can also be used for replication, just like the deterrence skill of the Snow Wolf King.
The chances of the pet mastering rare skills from the beast tamer is much higher then the cubs raised here.
Thinking like this, Shi Yu had a bold idea.