Although the children in the village didn't know much, they were very independent. More than twenty children worked together and divided the work. One group dug the foundation on the spot. Even if they were building a thatched house, they had to make a foundation. Otherwise, the thatched house wouldn't last more than a few days. A few girls went to pick up straw and dead branches. Another group of older, stronger children were going to carry tools to chop some larger solid wood back to make the framework of the thatched house.
Seeing the children busy themselves, Liang Lidong felt that there was nothing left for him to do here. He said to Kail, who was preparing to help, "Don't be in a hurry to go over. I have something I need your help with. You said yesterday that there are many ferocious beasts on the mountain north of the village. Can you take me there? I have something I want to do. "
Kail's face lit up. "Okay, no problem."
Young people were impulsive, and newborn calves were not afraid of tigers. If an adult heard Liang Lidong's request, they would probably think twice for their own safety. There were many ferocious beasts on the north mountain, but Kail wasn't afraid. He ran home to get his iron sword and then led Liang Lidong up the mountain north with an excited face. After walking past two mountains, there was a higher and larger mountain range in front of them. Several peaks stretched into the distance, and lush forests covered the entire mountain range. Because of the high terrain, they could see smoke and clouds lingering on the peaks.
"Ahead is the largest mountain range in the north. There are many ferocious beasts living in it. There are large snakes several meters long, big tigers, and forest wolves." Kail looked a little angry. "It's summer, and they have food in the woods, so they rarely come near our village. But if it's winter and the mountains are sealed by snow, ferocious beasts will rush into the village from time to time. It's not a big deal to take away cattle and sheep. Last year, the Nicholas family's youngest daughter was taken away by a tiger."
The roar of a ferocious beast came faintly from the mountain peak. Liang Lidong nodded to show that he knew. He had seen such things many times in the game and had personally participated in missions to kill the beasts near the village.
"Teacher, what are you planning to do here?" Kail asked curiously.
"I plan to contract a magic pet." It was not strange for a Spell Caster to have a magic pet, so there was no need to hide it. "I want to do a lot of things now. A magic pet is equivalent to a Spell Caster's assistant. With it, what I want to do will be much more convenient."
"Magic pet?" This was the first time Kail had heard of this term. He continued to ask curiously, "What does that mean?"
"It's using magic to embed a small part of your soul into the consciousness of a natural creature and fuse with it." Liang Lidong tried to explain to him in simple words, "Because of the soul pieces and knowledge of the spellcaster, the natural creatures will evolve into magic creatures and have special abilities. On the premise of retaining their own independent consciousness, they can communicate with the spellcaster. It can be said to be a special avatar of the Spell Caster, and it has the ability to learn. The knowledge it learns will be slowly fed back into the Spell Caster's soul. "
Kail was shocked. "So powerful? If he contracted eight or ten magic pets and let them read books, wouldn't he not have to study in the future? Moreover, a dozen against one, it's very advantageous. "
"It's not that simple!" Liang Lidong laughed. "A magic pet can only be contracted with one. There may be people who can contract more than two, but I've never heard of them. You say ten against one Spell Caster, that's the Summoner profession. Summoned creatures are different from magic pets. First of all, Summoned creatures are fantasy creatures, usually from Heaven or the Realm of Devils. Their projection time in the main world is limited, and when the time is up, they will naturally disappear. Moreover, Heaven and Devil creatures are more difficult to control and often don't listen to orders. If you don't have specialized skills, you might even be killed by the Summoned creatures. In addition to Heaven and Devil creatures, the other two types of Summoners are Necromancers and Necromancers. These two types of Spell Casters play with corpses for fun. Everyone wants to beat them up, but you don't need to know too much about them. If you have a chance to meet these two types of people in the future, cut them up if you can beat them, and run if you can't, understand? "
Kail listened with relish. He scratched his head and said, "Teacher, can you tell me more about Spell Casters and professionals?"
"I'll tell you in detail when I have the chance in the future." Liang Lidong patted Kail's head lightly. Although he didn't look much older than the youth, it was a matter of course, and the latter didn't find it strange. He said slowly, "I'm going to contract a magic pet to increase my strength, so I need to find a more powerful beast. Come with me, it's good to broaden your horizons."
Kail nodded vigorously. He naturally couldn't ask for more.
With a snap of his fingers, the Mist Riding skill was activated again. Kail stood in it and felt very safe. He followed behind Liang Lidong, walked a few steps, and then exclaimed, "Teacher, the range of the thick fog seems to be a little bigger."
"Well, it's a fifty-meter radius." Liang Lidong smiled. "Because I'm a little stronger."
"If you contract a magic pet, Teacher will become stronger." Kail said enviously, "If I had the same strength as Teacher, I don't think Grandpa would stop me from being a mercenary."
"I'm actually not strong right now." Liang Lidong advised, "Your grandfather is doing this for your own good. After all, you're the only son of the Reed family, and your parents are gone. If something happens to you, the Reed family will really have no descendants. Maybe you think it's easy to become a mercenary and travel around, but in reality, the life of a mercenary is very hard, and with your current abilities, you're not enough to become a mercenary. "
Kail was a little unconvinced. "I think I can. At least in the village, no one is my match except Teacher. Also, I've also competed with some mercenaries in the city. Except for a small number of people I can't beat, the others are no match for me. "
"Mercenaries in the city?" Liang Lidong laughed quite happily. "How can a mercenary who can even beat you be called a mercenary? Kyle, you've obviously been deceived. Once a real mercenary makes a move, even if you don't die, you'll still lose half your life. This is because they've been living in danger for many years. Once they make a move, it's already an instinct. My current strength is at the bottom of the mercenaries, but if I want to deal with you now, I don't need weapons or spells. One hand is enough. "
Kail said unconvinced, "Teacher, of course I believe you're better than me, but I don't believe you can beat me with one hand without spells. In any case, I've practiced swordsmanship. "
"Strength is one thing, and then mercenary common sense is another." Liang Lidong stepped on a thorn vine and continued to walk up the mountain, ignoring the little guy's provocation. Now the roar coming from the mountain was getting more and more obvious. "Strength is only the stepping stone to becoming a mercenary. To become a reliable mercenary, you have to learn a lot of skills. If you're not a spellcaster, you have to know how to use a variety of weapons to fight, and how to maintain weapons and armor, because most of the time, you can't use specialized weapons to fight. You have to learn how to distinguish weather changes, and understand basic botany, zoology, and magical beasts. You have to know how to make a fire in a humid environment without flint or the help of a spellcaster. You have to know how to swim, how to climb trees without making a sound, how to track prey, and how to counter-track … "
Kail listened until he could not open his eyes. "Mercenaries have to learn so many things. Then why do I feel that many mercenaries don't look knowledgeable?"
"Mercenaries who can't even grasp these basic knowledge usually don't live long."
Kail suddenly felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on his head, and the blood on his face immediately cooled down. "Teacher is not a mercenary, how would he know what a mercenary should learn!"
"Who said I haven't been a mercenary before? I've been one for at least six years." Liang Lidong added in his mind: Just in the game.
Kail's mouth was wide open.
"Look at my soft skin, I look like a noble young master. I don't look like one." Liang Lidong turned back and asked with a smile.
Kail nodded hard. He gulped and said, "Teacher is not much older than me. You said you've been a mercenary for six years. Did you become a qualified mercenary at the age of twelve or thirteen?"
"Who told you I'm only about twenty years old! Professionals are different from ordinary people. The stronger they are, the longer they live. You can't judge a professional's age from their appearance. " Liang Lidong explained, "I once saw a girl who looked like she was about twelve years old. She was ridiculously strong, but in fact, she was already one hundred and seventy-four years old. And at that time, she was still considered a child. She once told me that she would reach adulthood at around five hundred and thirty-six years old. "
Kail's mouth opened even wider, to the point where his fist could fit inside. "What's the girl's name? How could she live for so long?"
"A human-dragon hybrid, the Fire Dragon King Margaret, the strongest humanoid creature." Liang Lidong continued to explain, "Generally speaking, human professionals can live up to one hundred and forty years old, and the stronger professionals may live up to two hundred years old. If they have special bloodlines, their lifespan will be even longer. And people with special bloodlines will look slightly different from ordinary people and will be very conspicuous. "
"For example, like teacher?" Kail pointed to Liang Lidong's bright golden hair.
Generally speaking, the blonde hair of ordinary people was dark, but Liang Lidong's bright golden hair was different. It seemed to have a faint light source of its own. It was bright even in the dark, and the luster was very clean, like soft golden crystal threads. It had to be said that it was beautiful.
Liang Lidong touched his hair. In the game, his hair color wasn't so conspicuous, similar to ordinary people's, but now it was ridiculously beautiful, and it was a bit like Margaret's hair quality. The difference was that Margaret's hair was a passionate fiery red and very long, almost reaching her heels.
Perhaps it was because of the Cloud Dragon bloodline, Liang Lidong guessed.
Seeing that Liang Lidong didn't answer, Kail took the former as a tacit agreement and continued to ask, "Teacher, how old are you?"
"Guess!" Liang Lidong kept him in suspense.
"How can I guess?" Kail was somewhat helpless.
Liang Lidong chuckled and then said, "Let's not talk about these things for now. There's a tiger over there, let's go take a look and see if it's suitable to be a magic pet."
At this time, they had already reached the waist of the mountain, just at the edge of the forest. The range of the Mistriding skill expanded, and at this time, there were many red dots in their vision, and at the edge of the thick fog, there was a relatively large red dot. When the system notification was opened, it showed the system introduction of Fierce Tiger of the Forest.
The two of them walked over. Tigers belonged to the feline family. Generally speaking, felines had a good sense of hearing, vision, and smell. However, when the two of them walked fifty meters in front of the big cat, the tiger was still looking around, not knowing what was going on. The Mistriding skill deprived the tiger of most of its senses, and now it couldn't even see clearly what was in front of it. It was at a loss for what to do and growled softly, looking very uneasy. This tiger had eaten and drunk enough and ran to the grass by the forest to bask in the sun, but it didn't expect to be instantly wrapped up by Liang Lidong's Mistriding skill.
Although tigers were the kings of the forest, as a natural creature, they were still a weak group in the face of magic.
Liang Lidong clicked on the Magic Pet Contract system function, faced the big cat that was hesitating left and right in front of him, and then checked the system's notification.
Name: Fierce Mountain Tiger (Adult)
Race: Feline (Can be contracted as a magic pet)
Contract Specialization: Silent Movement
Liang Lidong nodded. Just like in the game, after felines became magic beasts, their specialization was indeed Silent Movement. Felines had very strong attack power and a variety of attack methods, making them very strong combat-type magic pets. However, Liang Lidong's Mistriding already had the effect of Silent Movement, and if he contracted another feline, there would be an overlap in the specialization, which would be a waste.
Bypassing the bewildered big cat, Liang Lidong entered the woods, and Kail followed behind and asked, "Teacher, is a tiger not suitable? I think it's very strong in combat. "
"Its combat strength is indeed good, but its combat specialization conflicts with my skills."
Kail nodded, not really understanding, but he remembered the term "combat specialization."
Many animals could become magic pets, but not all magic pets had enough combat strength. For example, squirrels, sparrows, rabbits, and so on could become magic pets, and their contract specializations were also quite practical, but even after they became magic beasts, their combat strength was average and more inclined toward combat support. What Liang Lidong needed was a magic pet with strong combat strength and a specialization that didn't conflict or overlap with his own.
The two walked in the woods for a while, and Liang Lidong found another natural creature suitable for fighting magic pets: a python.
Name: Hundred Points Yellow Python
Race: Pythonidae
Contract Specialization: Blind Fight
This python had actually discovered Liang Lidong and Kail, but it didn't attack because the two were more than fifty meters apart. In addition, snakes were actually very afraid of people, and they generally wouldn't attack unless they were too hungry or threatened. Snakes didn't rely on vision and hearing to detect creatures, so Mistriding didn't have much effect on it. However, it was still affected by the reduction in movement speed. It wanted to escape from these two terrifying humanoid creatures, but its movement speed was very slow.
Blind fight, Liang Lidong was tempted. The python's combat strength after transformation was very high, and there was no conflict in the specialization, but Liang Lidong thought for a moment and gave up. He had True Vision, and he could see things in any environment, so the combat specialization of blind fight wouldn't come in handy.
Liang Lidong and Kyle continued to wander around the forest after leaving the python that was scared out of its wits. Soon, they encountered new combat type creatures.
Name: Woodland Gray Wolf
Race: Canine
Contract Specialization: Spell Resistance
Spell Resistance was a very good support specialization that could slightly increase the holder's various magic resistances. The effect was average, but it was more comprehensive. This effect could have some effect on any type, and as the holder's level increased, the effect would gradually become more obvious. Liang Lidong had seven points of Willpower growth, and his magic resistance was quite good. If he also had Spell Resistance, the effect would be even better, and it would be difficult for ordinary magic to have an obvious effect on him.
Moreover, canines' combat abilities were also quite good. Although not as strong as felines, they were at least much stronger than support magic pets like squirrels.
I'll write it down first and look at other creatures before making a decision. The two continued to wander in the woods and encountered a lot of wild animals. Liang Lidong wanted to see insect-type magic pets, but he found that there were no large insects in this forest, and even if the small insects were transformed, no matter how good their specialization was, their combat strength wouldn't be that strong, so he could only give up.
After walking for a long time, the sun was about to set, and Liang Lidong finally decided to take the gray wolf as his contract magic pet.
They soon caught a lone gray wolf in the forest. Liang Lidong brought up the Magic Pet Contract System, and his entire body was glowing with blue light, mixed with small crackling lightning bolts surrounding him, making him look like a terrifying Mage. Kail frowned as he watched. The gray wolf lay on the ground, not daring to move, howling in fear.
With the help of the system, Liang Lidong tore out a small soul fragment from his sea of consciousness and condensed it on the index finger of his right hand. In the game, when he contracted a magic pet, the soul fragment was blue, but now, his soul fragment was bright gold, the same color as his hair.
Although it was more painful when his soul was torn apart than in the game, Liang Lidong still endured it. He wiped the cold sweat off his forehead with his left hand and was about to point the soul fragment on his right index finger into the gray wolf's brain when a chirping sound came from above. He subconsciously looked up and saw a large bird with long green tail feathers, a white body, and a tricolored feather crown flying over his head. Because of the reduced movement speed of Mist Riding, this bird flew with difficulty and wasn't fast.
The information of this green long-tailed bird soon appeared in Liang Lidong's vision.
Name: Three-Feathered Falcon (Half Magical Beast)
Race: Falcon (Can be contracted as a magic pet)
Contract Specialization: Dodging Intuition, Light of Wisdom
F * ck! Liang Lidong almost jumped up. It was actually a creature with two specializations, and it was a natural creature that was half a magical beast. He had heard of such a special species that was between natural and magical creatures in the game, but he had never seen it. It was the type that could only be encountered, but he didn't expect to encounter it here.
"Kail, help me catch this bird."
Liang Lidong yelled and chased after him. He now has a coordination value of 7.35, and with the addition of the speed increase added by the two specialty skills, he disappeared in a flash. Kail was terrified. With a jump, he quickly chased after him.