"There aren't any particularly powerful magical beasts here."
When Jason had read the original story, he had thought this place was quite dangerous. Linley and Bebe had narrowly escaped death here.
But now that he saw it, it was nothing special.
Jason cautiously entered a hollow in the mountains and carefully surveyed his surroundings. Most of the magical beasts were level five, a few were level six, and there were no Seventh-Level Magical Beasts at all.
He released a little of his aura as a Seventh-level Warrior, and the magical beasts scattered.
"The elemental energy is only two or three times as dense as outside. No wonder there are only relatively weak magical beasts in this area."
This was the farthest end of the valley, and the concentration of elemental energy was only so high.
"First, we'll find the Blue Heart Grass."
Veronica was only level four, and this valley was far too dangerous for her. Jason planned to find the Blue Heart Grass and have her awaken her bloodline first.
"The environment has changed so much. What if there isn't any Blue Heart Grass at all?" Jason said to Veronica, feeling unsure.
"It doesn't matter. If I'm of no use to you, it's fine to leave me behind."
Jason glanced back, took her hand, and led her forward.
A nineteen-year-old Seventh-level Warrior and Sixth-level Magus was far behind Linley at the same age in the original story, but on the outskirts of Mist Valley, Jason was in little danger.
A cry rang out in the distance, startling a flock of birds into flight.
"That was a griffon." Jason found a giant tree to hide behind for a moment and identified the magical beast that had made the sound as a griffon.
Many countries tried to tame griffons as mounts for their armies.
The most common were level five and six magical beasts called White-Headed Griffons. Stronger soldiers would try to form contracts with level seven or eight Royal Griffons. These two varieties had been domesticated by humans over a long period and were good at working together.
Both varieties could also be found in the wild, but most wild griffons belonged to varieties whose wild natures were hard to tame.
Sound alone wasn't enough to tell what variety the griffon had been.
Jason suspected that griffons were descended from a union between a Deity-level lion magical beast and a Deity-level eagle magical beast. As it happened, griffons were highly adaptable, and they had gradually bred and spread throughout the world.
"What's wrong?" Veronica asked when she saw Jason stop.
"A place this good for cultivation should have powerful magical beasts living here. It might even be guarded by an entire group. Griffons live in groups, so since there's one, there should be more. This place might be ruled by a flock of griffons."
A flock of griffons did have the strength to occupy this valley.
Griffons lived in groups, and they had a particular trait: different varieties could coexist. Even relatively weak White-Headed Griffons could be accepted into a flock of Royal Griffons.
The strongest griffon was probably the Frostflame Griffon, a Saint-level magical beast with both water and fire attributes.
Considering that the valley would later be occupied by the Purple-Striped Black Bear and then taken by the Spined Iron-Armored Dragon, there probably weren't any Saint-level magical beasts here at present.
Of the remaining griffon varieties, it should be either the Ironback Gryphon, an earth-attribute Level Nine Magical Beast, or the Golden Griffon, a light-attribute Level Nine Magical Beast. Royal Griffons were a variety created by crossbreeding Golden Griffons and White-Headed Griffons, then deliberately bred on a large scale by humans.
Although these two magical beasts also lived in groups, their birth rates were extremely low. A flock generally consisted of one or two level nine griffons ruling over lower-level griffons.
With that in mind, Jason decided to be more cautious. Dragons were powerful, but they had little sense of belonging to a group, so even if he encountered one, it would generally fight alone.
Griffons, on the other hand, lived in groups and held grudges over the slightest offense. Fight one, and a whole flock would come.
After carefully traveling five or six li, he gained a general understanding of the magical beasts in the valley.
Griffons were at the top of the food chain here. Along the way, he saw quite a few White-Headed Griffons hunting for food, but no other predatory magical beasts.
With griffons around, the Green-Striped Pythons that breathed mist in the original story naturally had no environment in which to survive. The vegetation here also tended to suit griffons hunting for prey: the trees had straight trunks, dense crowns, and sturdy branches, while low shrubs were scarce.
Apart from griffons, there were quite a few kinds of magical beasts in this area.
Green-Horned Forest Deer, Windmane Rabbits, Firefluff Foxes, Shadowmice and Stone-Eater Rats, some snakes, and all kinds of birds.
Compared to the valley described in the original story, where a family of dragons reigned supreme, the valley now had a great variety of animals.
Most importantly, Jason finally spotted some Blue Heart Grass.
Blue Heart Grass itself had no particularly powerful effects. Its main use was as a supplementary ingredient in various potions, making them milder.
So although it was expensive and rare, it was only popular among humans. Magical beasts didn't care much for Blue Heart Grass, though some water-attribute magical beasts might like to eat it as a snack.
Jason and Veronica crouched low and cautiously surveyed their surroundings.
A small skeletal leopard was summoned. It was an undead creature Lumba had subdued himself. After his first zombie leopard perished, Lumba had found it hard to adjust. He had happened upon this level five skeletal leopard, found it somewhat interesting, and taken it in.
The skeletal leopard turned into an afterimage and darted into the patch of Blue Heart Grass.
After looking around and finding nothing amiss, the skeletal leopard picked up a dozen or so stalks of Blue Heart Grass in its mouth and darted back.
"We've got the Blue Heart Grass." After sending the undead creature back, Jason led Veronica back the way they had come.
First, he would have Veronica awaken her bloodline.
Jason and Veronica sat facing each other in a very shallow cave at the spot where they had entered the valley. Jason had dug it out on the spot.
"You're level four now. After you awaken your bloodline, you should reach the peak of level five, and after transforming, you'll be at the peak of level seven-a little stronger than me."
Veronica looked at the flask of dragon blood and the dozen or so stalks of Blue Heart Grass in front of her.
Realizing something, Jason picked up the Blue Heart Grass and pinched off every part that bore the skeletal leopard's tooth marks.
"Don't mind that. The undead I've taken in were all born directly in the Netherworld. They're made directly from the Power of Death, unlike undead transformed directly from corpses in the Material Plane. Unless they have a special innate gift, they aren't poisonous," Jason explained.
"I don't mind," Veronica said simply.
"Blue Heart Grass really can activate a Dragonblood Warrior's bloodline when combined with dragon blood," Jason stressed again.
"Mm, I believe you."
In the end, Jason could only put Veronica's indifferent expression down to a child's rebelliousness and her trying to look cool.
Under Jason's watch, Veronica ate the dozen or so stalks of Blue Heart Grass. Then she gulped down a whole flask of Silver Dragon blood.
The Silver Dragon blood came from the Interspatial Ring in Jason's possession. Veronica had heard that a member of the Baruch Clan had once drunk Saint-level Silver Dragon blood and died on the spot. The blood had probably been drawn from the wing of the Silver Dragon in the Interspatial Ring.
As a level nine light-attribute magical beast, the Silver Dragon excelled in speed and light magic and had powerful regenerative abilities. It was as strong as a Black Dragon. Both belonged to the dragons at the peak of level nine and were slightly weaker than the Spined Iron-Armored Dragon.
After a few breaths, Veronica's breathing grew rapid. Silver scales began to emerge on her body, and her pupils became bright stars flickering with white fluorescence.
I want to see a Dragonblood Warrior transform. Better yet, I'd like to spar with her.
Jason had thought he would have to wait until after Linley was born to fulfill that wish. Now it seemed he could do so right away.
Looks like saving her back then was the right decision. Mm, a Dragonblood Warrior. I'll have to work harder from now on, or she'll overtake me.
As Jason watched Veronica's transformation, all sorts of thoughts ran through his head.