BXBX NOVEL Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Beast Tamer
With the go-ahead, Olivia ignored her shocked brother and began speaking softly, "Forebearer, I know we have blood feuds with the Heath and Gonzalez families of Forest, but that doesn\'t mean we can\'t trade with the other two families."
"People are selfish and greedy."
"They say the four big families of Forest Town are united, but at the end of the day, they\'re not one big happy family. I\'ve checked, and because of the drought over the years, each of their families is facing troubles, many industries are struggling to continue, especially since they\'re afraid of us in Blackwood going on a rampage, they don\'t even dare to hunt in the Silver Iron Forest."
"Moreover, our feud with the Heath and Gonzalez families has nothing to do with them."
"Our trading terms are valid."
Listening to Olivia, Ethan took a swig of his Coke and then sent another command to the Purple Lightning Python, signaling Olivia to continue.
Olivia took a deep breath, "We should try to trade with them, show them our sincerity, this is just the beginning."
"What will the Heath and Gonzalez families think next?"
"Their relationship will start to crack irreparably, and the Su and Chen families will gradually realize that we, Blackwood, could replace the Heath and Gonzalez families!"
"The alliance of Forest Town will crumble on its own, and we will have our revenge!"
Slap!
Ethan smacked his thigh; Olivia\'s years of reading hadn\'t gone to waste. Although she had no combat power, Olivia\'s intelligence could match that of someone at the Emerging Ability stage!
But Olivia\'s next words made Ethan twitch.
"This is all an open strategy, next we can completely step back behind the scenes when the conflicts in Forest Town escalate!"
"It would be best if we secretly eliminate their heirs and frame others."
"Without their descendants, they will be utterly desperate, they will fight each other to the death, and we will dominate Forest Town without lifting a finger!"
"Without the presence of Psychics, chaos and death will descend upon Forest Town, forty thousand civilians will gradually die in this year of drought, and vengeful spirits will take over the city, we will get a lot of corpses to nourish the beast blood fruit trees!"
???
Ethan\'s face darkened, sometimes he felt a bit unscrupulous, but now, looking at the text above Olivia\'s head, he felt relieved.
Not just Ethan.
Even Lucas incredulously looked at his sister, even moving a step away and swallowing hard.
Next.
Ethan and Olivia talked in detail for a moment, then continued to check on the family\'s development. Schemes are just schemes, but everything needs to be seen in actual operation.
No matter what kind of cunning plan, it all depends on the premise of strong power.
It\'s been 29 years since the Blackwood clan started their gig, and they\'ve built up a self-sustaining village. Lucas is still the head honcho, running the family operations like a boss.
He\'s got a crew of 150 guards, all decked out in thick black iron chainmail and each packing fifteen iron arrows. Seriously, any one of these guys could go head-to-head with a Psychic at the Foundational Energy level.
Ethan reckons that if all 150 of these dudes fired at once, any newbie Psychic just stepping into the Emerging Ability phase without any fancy defensive tricks would end up looking like a hedgehog. That is, if they don\'t manage to dodge.
Even though Lucas is busy managing the family biz, he hasn\'t slacked off on powering up his psychic abilities.
Lucas (Second Generation)
Level: Foundational Energy, Level 8
Skills: Qi Gathering Technique, Autumn Wind Steps, Basic Swordsmanship, Sword Glow
Traits: Killing Potential
Gear: Psychic Breath Sword, God Confusing Pendant, Black Iron Beast Blood Set
That Autumn Wind Step is a slick move he picked up from a scrap with Elder Gonzalez. It\'s quick like a gust in fall, but every step packs a deadly punch. And that\'s just one of the many skills the Blackwood crew has in their arsenal now, with a whole library of six or seven skill manuals.
Most of their gear, including the trippy God Confusing Pendant that messes with your head and boosts your psychic powers, came from the Heath and Gonzalez families.
Now, about that Black Iron Beast Blood Set...
Julian, after becoming a psychic gear craftsman, has a pretty wild way of making gear, full of randomness. The randomness comes from this dude mixing all sorts of beast heart blood in a big pot and sealing it with magic.
He calls this mix in the pot the \'Blood Altar\'.
Whenever he needs to make some psychic gear, he tosses the materials in the Blood Altar and lets them soak for 49 days. Then he starts hammering away, crafting gear whose powers even he can\'t predict. And all the gear he makes is pretty basic; he calls it \'Destiny Forged Psychic Gear\'.
The Black Iron Beast Blood Set is Julian\'s masterpiece, and every member of Blackwood rocks a set! When Lucas wears his set, it shows a dark red hue, including a robe, underarmor, gloves, belt, pants, and boots.
Its special trick is a chameleon-like blending with the environment, and when powered up with psychic energy, it can summon two blood tigers to attack the enemy.
Next up are Julian and Amelia.
Both have reached Level 6 in Foundational Energy. Julian might be obsessed with blacksmithing, but don\'t underestimate his strength.
If you\'re wondering who\'s the toughest in Blackwood, it\'s definitely Julian. All that hammering not only shapes metal but also his physique. He wields two hammers; the smaller one, made entirely of pure black iron and weighing about 50 pounds, he swings with one hand as easily as pointing a finger.
The big hammer...
The handle is as tall as a man, and the hammerhead is thicker than Julian\'s broad shoulders. Ethan believes that if anyone in the Emerging Ability phase dared to take a direct hit from Julian\'s hammer, they\'d be smashed into the ground like a nail.
Of course, using that monster in a fight is out of the question. Julian made it for blacksmithing, and swinging it more than three times would totally wipe him out, let alone hitting anything.
Amelia, this gal, might be a pharmacist, but she\'s way more than just your average healer.
The "Thousand Herbs Scripture" details the art of potion-making, and whipping up poisons is like the cherry on top in that book.
So, this one time, some baddies decided to invade.
They thought they had an easy target when they stumbled into the supernatural garden and saw Amelia, just a lady on her own.
Ethan caught on but hadn\'t yet whipped out his \'Forebearer\'s Fury\' to come to the rescue.
Before he could, a level eight Foundational Energy assassin had already fallen into Amelia\'s trap. She had a swarm of purple bees, and getting stung meant slowly losing your strength until all your supernatural powers were drained—totally kaput.
As for Nathan, that dude was still cooped up in Blackwood\'s secret chamber, been two years without a breakthrough.
He\'s been hoarding his supernatural powers, trying to bust open all his body\'s energy points.
Of course, jumping from Foundational Energy to Emerging Ability ain\'t as easy as it sounds. Each major level up is like cracking open the human genetic lock, a complete transformation.
Before Foundational Energy, you\'re just mortal. Reach Emerging Ability, and you can rejuvenate your body, bagging over two hundred years of life, and your Psychic Constitution gets a nice boost too.
A perfect Emerging Ability is like flipping fate on its head.
[Luna tamed her spirit beast \'Heavenly Moon Fox\' with beast-contracting skills!]
[Achieved the profession: Beast Tamer!]
[Gained trait: Fox Handler]
[Gained Spiritual Tribute +100!]
Outta nowhere, the game throws out this great news.
In the beast garden, there\'s Luna, surrounded by creatures, sitting cross-legged with a ghostly white fox appearing around her!
"Who would\'ve thought, Luna, you\'re a tough cookie, keeping it real low-key!" Ethan was all lit up, just when he thought Nathan was defying fate.
Turns out Nathan\'s better half has already nailed it!
[Luna (Nathan\'s wife)]
[Profession: Beast Tamer]
[Level: Foundational Energy Level 5]
[Skills: Energy Gathering, Beast Taming]
[Trait: Fox Handler]
[Fox Handler: Contracted with the supernatural beast \'Heavenly Moon Fox\' as her spirit beast, sharing its lifespan and magical powers!]
Being a Beast Tamer is kinda niche.
In Ethan\'s memory, throughout the thousand-year history of supernatural resurgence, Beast Tamers were once top dogs, always drawing various powers from their beasts.
And now.
By bonding with a supernatural beast, Luna\'s basically got the strength of someone in the Emerging Ability phase. With the Heavenly Moon Fox\'s combat prowess, she\'s even hit mid-Emerging Ability, making her the strongest in the Blackwood crew!
She\'s even surpassed the two-hundred-year lifespan mark. These beasties live long, and blessed by the moonlight, the Heavenly Moon Fox can live up to a thousand years!
"Wowza."
Ethan was amazed and happy to see Blackwood\'s daughter-in-law thriving.
But compared to Luna, Lucas\'s wife Karen is just plain Jane.
Karen\'s dad, Thomas, is a Psychic, but Karen\'s just a mortal. Even with Blackwood\'s resources, she\'s only at Foundational Energy level one, pampered and lazy. Since marrying Lucas, she\'s put on some weight, but now she\'s showing again.
At least their kid Marcus is doing alright.
At 8, Marcus has hit Foundational Energy level two. His triple Psychic Constitution makes his psychic power cultivation faster, plus with Blackwood\'s current resources and past experiences, he\'s well-supported.
Good thing the kid\'s been soaking up the Blackwood vibe since he was little, not picking up his mom\'s bad habits. He\'s not as hardworking as the other Blackwood members, but he\'s doing alright.
"The next big ritual\'s about to kick off."
Ethan, looking at the screen, was feeling pretty nostalgic.
He\'d only been playing for a bit over a day.
But in the game world, nearly thirty years had passed, and he\'d watched the Blackwood kids grow up.
Just as he was about to stretch and prep for the upcoming Divine Gift,
Olivia appeared in the temple on the screen.
"Forebearer, after a year, Olivia finally gained the trust of the Rodriguez and Martinez families!"