Third-Tier Animal Taming, Special Effect: Wild Heart (Please Give Follow-up Reads)

Third-Tier Animal Taming, Special Effect: [Wild Heart] (Please Give Follow-up Reads)

Time flew like an arrow; days and months slipped by like a shuttle.

Cultivating the breathing technique, practicing sword skills, smithing, petting bears, reading idle books... The cycle repeated over and over. Days spent grinding experience always passed especially fast. Spring went, autumn came, winter was drawing near, and it was once again the Month of the North Wind in the Holy Radiance Calendar year 1005.

On the training ground, Levi and Knight Fred darted and shifted around each other, matching sword skills. Knight Fred used only one hand, yet his storm-like sword attacks left Levi hard-pressed to defend.

In the end, Levi was defeated. Knight Fred smiled and said, "Not bad. This time last year, you could only last one minute under me. This year, you can last five."

Levi laughed heartily. "That felt great."

He knew Knight Fred had not even used a third of his strength.

With Knight Fred's prodigious talent in swordsmanship, even if he suppressed his strength to the Pre-Knight level, Levi was still far from being his match.

After training Levi, Knight Fred went to train the Militia.

Levi sat there and opened the Proficiency Panel.

Levi-----

Black Snake Breathing Technique: Third-Tier (3666/10000)

Golden Cross Slash: Third-Tier (4399/10000), Special Effect: Advanced Vibration

Animal Taming: Third-Tier (Limit), Special Effect: Wild Heart

Forging: Third-Tier (1314/10000), Special Effect: Guaranteed Masterpiece

...

Over the past year, the four major skills he had been grinding had all made great progress.

The slowest and hardest to cultivate was undoubtedly the Black Snake Breathing Technique. In a year, he had only ground out a little over three thousand proficiency. Without Secret Medicine, it would take at least another two years to grind it to the Fourth Order.

This speed could not be called slow, but Levi still was not satisfied.

This world was fraught with danger. Without strength, one could only humble oneself. Take the Boar Gang, for example. They bullied him for being weak and actually dared to snatch his people.

And he really could not do anything to them. Who told them to have the Brotherhood of the Wilds behind them?

The cultivation speed of Golden Cross Slash was quite fast. At this rate, in about another year, he would be able to master Ripple Power.

When the time came, with Ripple Power, he supposed that even as a Pre-Knight, he would be able to fight a Formal Knight.

Animal Taming had reached its limit. Levi had read almost every book related to animal taming that could be found on the market, and he also had three Northern Giant Bear cubs as taming subjects, so this skill had not been difficult to improve. Levi was now confident that in the field of animal taming, he deserved to be called a "Taming Master."

What delighted Levi most was that after the Animal Taming skill reached its limit, a special effect had actually been born. This was something he had never expected.

"Wild Heart: You can sense the thoughts of most wild beasts by observing their movements and listening to their sounds. You can use body language and special vocalization techniques to communicate perfectly with the wild beasts you tame."

This was the effect of Wild Heart. The most direct change was that now, when the Three Little Bears met Levi, they no longer feared him or acted fierce toward him. Instead, they were very close to him, and Levi could also miraculously sense the thoughts of the Three Little Bears. It was a wonderful feeling.

So, with such a divine skill, the Three Little Bears were all taken excellent care of by Levi. Their sizes had also undergone earth-shaking changes over the year. Their body length had already reached nearly two meters, and their weight exceeded five hundred catties. Of course, compared to their several-ton mother, they were still little things.

Without weapons, an adult man could no longer subdue the cubs. And if the Three Little Bears attacked together, even Levi, a Pre-Knight, had to be extremely careful.

If one of their paws landed solidly on him, even the Third-Tier Black Snake Breathing Technique would have a hard time holding up.

Levi had known this in his previous life when he saw the Siberian Tiger Wandashan Number One smash a car window with one slap. One must never underestimate these little fellows that looked a little cute.

And the most terrifying thing was that they were still babies under two years old.

Grinding Animal Taming to its limit was only one of Levi's gains over the past year.

The other thing he valued most was his Third-Tier Forging skill. The Third-Tier was not the limit for this skill, but it had also produced a special effect.

[Guaranteed Masterpiece: Anything you forge is guaranteed to be a masterpiece!] (Author's note: This "masterpiece" is only in comparison with others on the same level. A masterpiece iron sword born from this special effect still cannot compare to an inferior Mithril iron sword forged by an ordinary blacksmith.) A plain and simple special effect description, but it was the key to Levi's next grand plan to get rich.

With this Third-Tier forging, becoming as wealthy as a nation was difficult. After all, he was only one person and did not have that much time to focus solely on forging. But supporting himself and funding his cultivation was still no problem.

Over the past year, in addition to cultivating, Levi had forged a full hundred-plus Knight Longswords, fifty of them masterpieces, to arm his Militia unit.

Before Third-Tier Forging, he could only occasionally produce a masterpiece longsword. But after reaching Third-Tier, as long as it was a longsword he forged with his own hands, it was guaranteed to be masterpiece grade.

Even if the official forger Old Toby came, in terms of masterpiece rate and forging efficiency, he would definitely be far inferior to Levi. After all, Levi was a Pre-Knight. Whether in stamina or control over hammering force, his upper limit far exceeded Old Toby, an ordinary person.

However, if one wanted to become a true official forger in this world, being able to forge only longswords was not enough. Longswords were the simplest to forge.

Knight Armor, with its complex workmanship and representation of the high-end achievements of this world's forging craft, was the lifelong pursuit of every forger.

For Levi, who had already reached Third-Tier, the proficiency gained from forging Knight Longswords was now negligible. Every sword he forged now could only increase the minimum guaranteed proficiency by one point. Compared to the tens of thousands of proficiency needed, it was a drop in the bucket.

So Levi planned to begin forging Knight Armor. However, Levi's forging efficiency was too high, causing the iron in the territory to run short. The iron ore used for smelting in the territory had mainly come from imports from other territories before, but because these years had been rather chaotic, as an important strategic resource, the lords whose territories had iron ore now rarely exported it anymore.

As for charcoal, there was no need to worry. With the endless Black Mountain Range at its back, wood resources were inexhaustible for a small territory like Blackwater Valley.

Levi planned to sell off a batch of surplus Knight Swords first. For the time being, he did not plan to expand his forces. It was enough to first build a fifty-man elite unit. If there were too many people, the territory could not afford to support them.

Next, he planned to start searching for iron ore in the Black Mountain behind his territory. He vaguely remembered having read some articles in his previous life about how to find iron ore, so he could try when the time came.

Of course, now that heavy snow had sealed the mountains, whether it was selling Knight Swords or looking for iron ore, these matters could only wait until spring next year.

Levi temporarily stopped forging and began devoting himself fully to the breathing technique and sword skills.

Holy Radiance Calendar year 1005, Month of the Freezing Winter.

Levi, who was cultivating the breathing technique, was suddenly awakened by faint wolf howls coming from the mountain behind the castle.

His expression turned grave. From the sound, these wolf howls were not far from his castle.

Just as he was about to go ask about the situation, Knight Fred hurried in and said, "Young Master Levi, the territory has been attacked by a wolf pack. We estimate there are over a hundred of them. Many cattle and sheep raised by the farmers have been eaten, and several farmers have been dragged away as well. Stay inside the castle and don't come out. I'll lead a team outside to kill the wolves."

"What? I'm going too!" Levi's expression changed. Because Blackwater Valley was located beneath the Black Mountain, it was normal for it to be attacked by wolves from time to time, but this was the first time he had heard of such a large-scale wolf pack attack.

Seeing Young Master Levi's firm attitude, Knight Fred did not stop him. He said solemnly, "Then please do not leave my side, Young Master."

They put on armor, mounted their horses, shut the castle gates, and Levi and Fred hurried toward the place where the incident had occurred.

Levi had now advanced to Pre-Knight and had mastered Advanced Vibration Power. His Militia also all had Knight Longswords, and Knight Fred was there to hold the fort.

He refused to believe they could not subdue these beasts!