Just as Dustin planned, he started focusing on levelling up the three tamed beasts that could rank up.
"There's something I don't quite understand, though. System, why not just show me these guys levels, why rank?"
.. 'Since the power structure of the world operates in ranks, the strength of the beasts are naturally classified under said ranks.' The system responded with a cool voice, as always.
"What are the ranks in this world?"
The system responded with a voice, and simultaneously pulled up a system panel detailing what it was saying.
.. 'The ranks range from F to S, and each rank has...' The continued reading out what was before Dustin on the panel.
[F rank]
-Power level – 500
[E rank]
-Power level – 1,500
[D rank]
-Power level – 10,000
[C rank]
-Power level – 50,000
[B rank]
-Power level – 150,000
[A rank]
-Power level – 500,000
[S rank]
-Power level – 1,500,000
..
"Hmm, not bad. So what are power levels?" Dustin asked. Seeing such a thing as power level, he couldn't help but scream over 5000! In his mind. 'Ahh.. Good stuff. Maybe later I'll be able to transform too!' He thought, a bit excited.
.. 'Power level is the overall measure of the battle capability of a being. Although mostly affected by the amount of mana one has and how good their control and understanding over it is. All other stats also play an important role almost equally. One can say that mana capacity and control makes up about 70% of the evaluation, while the remaining percentage is occupied by the stats.'
"I see. So with the help of you, system, I'm able to cut corners and directly learn control over mana while increasing it, and also comprehend mana, right?" Dustin asked. He was not dumb, though sometimes he was, but when it was required, his brain was quite useful.
.. 'Yes, but...'
'Why's there a but? I hate buts.'
.. 'You yourself also play an important role on how much you can comprehend and control. The system will assist as much as possible when needed. Of course, this is after the system has already helped you understand and gain control to the required degree. If you wish to do more, the system can only assist.'
"I see. It's still the same old heaven helps those who help themselves. Not bad. At least the help is guaranteed." Dustin said while stroking his beardless chin, again.
'Doesn't this mean that any beast or monster under me that has been connected to the system through me will be able to enjoy this benefit?'
"I will be able to turn the trashiest of beasts into a divine creature. Hm Hm. Take a street dog and turn it into a hell hound. Take a starving fox and increase the number of it's tails... Take a monkey..." Dustin stopped in his tracks.
'Aye, spare this little one great Wu Kong, and impart your battle knowledge upon me!'
After understanding everything, another disturbing question popped into Dustin's mind. What rank was he? He knew his level, but what was his rank? He quickly checked with the system, and as usual, got a fitting answer.
.. 'As of now, you are around the strength of a mid level D rank. This is of course excluding your skills. To even out the playing field, skills are not part of the general rank evaluation of all creatures, but abilities are.'
"So that means, if my skills were to be added.."
.. 'Yes, you would be an A rank of the highest tier, with three A rank abilities.'
"Won't this create the thing known as 'Hidden dragons and Crouching tigers'? I've read too many Chinese novels to recognize this. In the end, I just have to be so overwhelmingly strong that no one can oppose me with even their best skill."
'Damn I sound like a tyrant.'
With this, it was clear the kind of life Dustin had set out for himself, to become an unfilial child of the universe and make the very gods commit suicide out of frustration.
"Yes. I can see it so clearly. This is my destiny." Once again, there was no one to laugh at his joke, just himself.
"..."
'Alas. I'm too strong. Being at the peak is so lonely. Am I really the strongest one?' A mocking smirk plastered his face as he said this in his mind.
Dustin had already wasted some time, so he began his levelling up ritual immediately without restraint, and summoned the three demonic priests that were to carry out the baptism of the system. All that was remaining were the ritual rites.
This was also no problem, for as the demonic priests had the system, they also had him, the catalyst. Using his skill Taming Master, he attracted all the beasts in a 3km radius towards their location. In a matter of 20 minutes, more than a thousand beasts had gathered.
The entire place was filled with mainly wolves, large monkeys which the system described to be a hybrid species of orangutan, some over grown squirrel looking creatures, and some foxes.
Just as Dustin sighted the foxes, the thought came to mind. 'Carry a normal and transform to a legendary heaven defying beast?' However, Dustin immediately cursed himself. This was not a Chinese novel where the impossible could happen, this was reality, so he cast the thought from his mind. Besides, if the system says it can't rank up, then it really can't rank up.
Dustin's plan this time was to take things a little bit slow and natural. Unlike himself that had cheated and killed thousands of defenceless goblins, he would allow these tamed animals fight it out themselves and gain battle experience. This was the best choice, he said.
He ordered the three priest(the two wolves and Horned Boar) to attack, and also ordered a portion of the creatures surrounding them to attack.
Dustin himself jumped unto a tree and watched the show from above, and seemed to be enjoying himself a tiny bit.
Wasn't this the second time he was being sadistic? Is this a coincidence?
Dustin immediately shook the thought from his mind. Seeing the priests tear down monster by monster by monster, Dustin couldn't help but wonder if the three of them would also get the Bloodlust skill. If they did, his hunting party would be too tyrannical, scaring away prey before they even got close, and still catching up to them and tearing the prey apart.
Dustin noticed that he got 1exp for every beast that was killed by the three tamed beasts. This meant each of these beasts gave 10exp. If he killed these weak beasts himself, he wouldn't get any exp, maybe only after killing more than 20 a measly amount of say 2exp would be gotten. If he was to let these guys do the work and he got 10 percent, which was 1exp, and 3exp for three...
'Loophole found. Loophole will be explored.' Dustin said in his mind while allowing a faint smile to escape his lips.
Wasn't this like buying an online game where everyone was struggling to level up, then you download a cheat engine and start gaining exp passively? This was the bomb, the ultimate mining strategy.
It wasn't like Dustin really needed to use this method. He could just use his usual shameless method, but this kind of carless opportunity was too sweet not to exploit.
"I was thinking of letting these guys rest after they got tired, but now. I'll just switch them. If there's one thing about this forest, it's that there is never an end to the monsters. There will be many more to come." Dustin said, as a tyrannical smile appeared on his face.
'Fuck. That smile just now...'