Chapter 397: The Lake Serpent of Aismier

"Master Gao De, this is the detailed introduction to the Hetero-Tanuki. Take a look." The duty mage for the day, Mage Fredi, searched through the library on the second floor before producing a small, slightly yellowed scroll of parchment and handing it to Gao De.

"Many thanks." Gao De thanked him as he took the parchment, lowered his head slightly, and began to read:

"Hetero-Tanuki: A geo-pulse creature with no fixed attribute and no fixed rank. Its innate supernatural ability is 'Transformation,' possessing the potential to assume multiple forms, each extending into different supernatural abilities. Its transformations are infinite."

"Eight forms of Hetero-Tanuki have been discovered to date: Thunder, Fire, Wind, Poison, Wood, Water, Ice, and Moonlight."

"The highest rank of Hetero-Tanuki discovered thus far is a fifth-rank Poison Hetero-Tanuki."

"Regardless of form or rank, the eggs laid by all Hetero-Tanuki are 'initial' eggs, possessing no attribute and no rank."

"Their specific form and future rank are determined by the environment in which they reside during the incubation period."

"During incubation, the egg continuously absorbs various elemental forces from its surroundings. The dominant elemental force determines its final form. The purer the elemental force absorbed and the more concentrated the magic power during this process, the more powerful its final form will be."

"A Thunder Hetero-Tanuki can inhale and store electrical energy from the air, spitting out lightning when needed..."

"A Fire Hetero-Tanuki possesses a fire sac; after a deep inhalation, it can exhale extremely high-temperature flames. While accumulating fire within its body, its own temperature rises sharply, making it extremely dangerous..."

"A Water Hetero-Tanuki can merge with water, rendering itself invisible to others, and slowly recovers its state while in water..."

"A Wood Hetero-Tanuki can absorb sunlight to produce fresh air, refined magic power, and wood-elemental energy. If sunlight is available, it requires no food, and its body emits a unique fragrance..."

"An Ice Hetero-Tanuki possesses the ability to rapidly lower its body temperature and create ice crystals, capable of freezing the atmosphere and creating a scene of ice and snow..."

Seeing Gao De finally lift his gaze from the parchment, Mage Fredi knew he had finished reading the basics. Out of kindness, he offered a few tips not mentioned in the introduction:

"Some high-ranking mages are quite interested in Hetero-Tanuki. In their view, the potential for multiple forms holds a great secret that they wish to uncover..."

"If you are short on money, you could sell this egg to them; it should fetch a good price."

"It is a pity that this egg is already shifting toward the Water Hetero-Tanuki form. If it were an egg that hadn't yet shown a trend toward a specific form, that would be truly valuable."

"Once a form trend appears, its value is cut in half," Mage Fredi said with a look of regret.

"Forget it. After all, I fished it out of the water myself. It had been lying there for over a decade without anyone finding it, yet I was the one who did. That counts as a kind of fate, and I'm not that hard up for cash. I intend to raise it myself," Gao De shook his head and said.

"I see..." Mage Fredi looked at Gao De thoughtfully. After a moment, he added: "Then you had best head to the Azure Wave Pavilion and seek advice on the taming of geo-pulse creatures."

"You must understand, even if you raise a geo-pulse creature from an egg, if you do not employ the correct taming methods, its inherently unruly nature may lead to it refusing to acknowledge its master once it reaches adulthood."

"By then, all the effort you put in will have gone to waste."

"The Azure Wave Pavilion is quite professional when it comes to taming geo-pulse creatures."

"I will certainly go. Thank you for the reminder," Gao De thanked him.

Leaving the second floor of the Sea Hai Shao Bing Tower, Gao De did not leave the tower immediately but instead turned toward the "Mission Hall."

The "Crab Disaster Hazard" mission could not yet be considered complete, but that did not prevent him from accepting new ones.

He needed to accumulate enough military merit to exchange for spell formulas; the reward from the "Crab Disaster Hazard" alone was far from enough.

The grind had to continue.

Upon stepping into the Mission Hall, it was as deserted as ever, with no other Sea Hai Shao Bing mages present.

Gao De's gaze swept rapidly across the crystal board, searching for suitable missions.

This time, the timing seemed perfect; there were several more available missions than the previous two times.

He favored missions involving the suppression of water beasts.

This type of mission was simple and direct, without unnecessary complications. The core objective was to hunt down water beasts discovered in the water system and return to claim the reward upon completion.

Of course, while the process was simple, completing it was not easy.

Water beasts were cunning and possessed immense mobility, with vast ranges of activity.

The typical mission issuance process was: local residents discovered traces of a water beast and reported it to the Sea Sentinels, who verified the information before posting the mission.

By the time a mage saw the mission, "accepted the order," and rushed to the "scene," at least a day had passed.

With so much time gone, the water beast had long since left its original location and vanished.

This meant the Sea Hai Shao Bing mage had to take their water-pig partner and patiently search for the slightest trace of the beast across the vast, boundless water.

While this search process wasn't quite as hopeless as finding a needle in a haystack, it was certainly a massive and arduous undertaking.

Lucky mages might find the beast in half a day;

But for the unlucky, searching for a week or two, or even half a month, without finding a single trace was common.

Moreover, even if they finally found the beast, successfully killing it remained a huge challenge.

Water beasts possessed astonishing speed and agility in the water.

Even with a water-pig partner adept at aquatic pursuit, no Sea Hai Shao Bing mage dared to guarantee they could complete the mission on the first attempt.

After all, in the complex and ever-changing aquatic environment, any number of accidents could occur.

However, troublesome as they were, water beast suppression missions were the most fundamental, stable, and long-lasting source of military merit for Sea Hai Shao Bing mages.

It could be said that the bulk of every Sea Hai Shao Bing mage's military merit came from this type of mission.

The missions issued by the Sea Sentinels were also primarily of this type.

The missions Gao De had screened this time were all water beast suppression missions from various regions.

Although he would have liked to take them all, he couldn't, so he had to pick one.

"I'll choose the one with the highest military merit reward. With my 'God-Berry Art' for baiting, finding water beasts is much easier for me than for other mages. I don't fear a difficult mission; I only fear the reward isn't high enough."

"Also, I'll try to choose towns I haven't visited before, the further from Doen the better, so I can collect more new tree species."

Once Gao De clarified his criteria, he quickly settled on the appropriate mission.

"I'll take the 'Aismier Lake Serpent' mission. Sorry for the trouble," he said, handing his identity tag to the staff member.

The staff member scanned the mission requirements and said: "Mage Gao De, a reminder: the information provided by witnesses of the serpent is extremely limited. We cannot currently determine whether this serpent is a first-rank Thin-Winged Water Snake or a second-rank Black-Winged Scaled Snake."

"After all, in terms of appearance, these two water beasts are extremely similar."

"Because the specific information about the serpent cannot be determined, both first-rank and second-rank mages are permitted to accept this mission."

"If a first-rank mage accepts this mission and arrives at the scene to search, only to discover the serpent is a second-rank Black-Winged Scaled Snake, they may return to hand in the mission, and it will not be counted as a failure."

"But at the same time, the trip will have been for nothing, and there will be no reward. Therefore, from a prudent perspective, we recommend that a second-rank mage accept this mission."

"Are you certain you still wish to accept this mission?"

These key factors were all explained in the mission description, and it was precisely these uncertainties that made Gao De even more tempted: if the serpent were only a first-rank Thin-Winged Water Snake, the final military merit reward would be two third-rank merits.

But if it were a second-rank Black-Winged Scaled Snake, and he, as a first-rank mage, could successfully kill it, that would inevitably mean a second-rank merit in his pocket.

Missions that rewarded a second-rank merit were few and far between, especially while he was still only a first-rank mage.

Having encountered such a mission, how could he not accept it?

Gao De had already considered everything, so he nodded decisively. "I am certain."

"Very well," the staff member, seeing Gao De's firm attitude, quickly finished registering the mission and returned his identity tag. "Mage Gao De, I wish you success in your mission."

Azure Wave Pavilion.

Gao De had always been someone who could accept the advice of others.

Before setting off to execute the "Aismier Lake Serpent" mission, he came here to learn from the experts.

Upon hearing Gao De's purpose, the Azure Wave Pavilion, which specialized in cultivating animal companions for the Sea Sentinels, showed great enthusiasm and friendliness, withholding nothing regarding taming methods.

They immediately arranged for a keeper to explain the general methods for taming geo-pulse creatures to Gao De in detail.

"If it's still an egg, taming is actually much simpler."

"We at the Azure Wave Pavilion possess a special 'Magic Imprint Method' that can help a mage inject their own magic power into the egg in an extremely subtle and stable way before it hatches."

"This is not a method of control, but rather a way for the geo-pulse creature to develop a sense of familiarity and closeness to this specific magic power while still inside the shell."

"This way, after it hatches, it will develop a sense of recognition and follow-instinct toward you, as you possess the same magic characteristics."

"Once this step is complete, the rest is even simpler."

"After the egg hatches, with the groundwork laid, you only need to wipe its body with soft fabric that carries your scent, allowing it to become familiar with you."

"At the same time, mix a small amount of your blood into its feed; the magic power and scent in your blood can further deepen its connection to you."

"Continue this for anywhere from one to two months, and it will develop a dependence on you. Afterward, you can raise and cultivate it as a normal animal companion, and generally, there will be no risk of it rebelling against its master upon adulthood." The keeper explained every step in meticulous detail.

"However, all of this assumes it is a tammable geo-pulse creature. Some geo-pulse creatures are inherently vicious, and no matter what method you use, you will never be able to tame them."

After finishing, the keeper enthusiastically led Gao De to the Azure Wave Pavilion's office building and retrieved a copy of the Magic Imprint Method for him.

Carrying the Hetero-Tanuki egg back to his dormitory, Gao De couldn't wait to sit at his desk, unfold the Magic Imprint Method, and begin his study.

It wasn't particularly complex.

Following the requirements, Gao De first entered a state of deep meditation, controlling his magic power to be pure and peaceful, then channeled it to his fingertips.

At this moment, his fingertips seemed to become a focal point for magic power, emitting a faint glow.

Following the Magic Imprint Method, he used his fingertips as a brush, gently touching the shell.

Under the touch of his fingertips, the shell trembled slightly, as if responding to Gao De.

He moved his fingertips along a strange trajectory, slowly channeling a trace of magic power into the egg.

With every trace of magic power channeled, Gao De could feel a subtle reaction from within the egg, as if he could hear the heartbeat contained inside.

This process lasted for about half an hour.

Once finished, Gao De tidied up his belongings, strapped on his water-pig bag, and, carrying the Hetero-Tanuki egg, headed toward the airship base outside Doen City.

He had a mission to attend to.

He brought the Hetero-Tanuki egg because, according to the Azure Wave Pavilion keeper, this magic infusion had to be done at least once a day for a month to produce a noticeable effect.

In the Kingdom of Jin Quehua, Gao De couldn't find a suitable environment to keep the Hetero-Tanuki egg.

For him, the most practical method was to bring the egg back to the Northern Realm.

In the Northern Realm, there were environments naturally suited for the Hetero-Tanuki egg.

And once the egg was brought to the Northern Realm, since he spent more time in the Kingdom of Jin Quehua, he generally wouldn't stay in the North for more than a month.

Therefore, before that, Gao De needed to complete the magic imprint step so he could safely leave the Hetero-Tanuki in the North.

Of course, Gao De wasn't yet certain if the egg could pass through the Astral Portal.

By scientific definition, it should count as a living thing.

But it hadn't hatched yet; it was just an egg, so calling it an object wouldn't be wrong either.

How the Astral Portal would judge it was something Gao De couldn't be sure of; he would only know after trying.

However, he was broad-minded and didn't dwell on it too much. If it really didn't work, he would find another way.

*Splash, splash... *

The night was like ink, the water murmuring.

Gao De stood at the bow, rowing the oar.

It was the dead of night, and the water surface was pitch black, like a giant piece of black silk spread out. From time to time, slight sounds of water echoed across the lake, enough to make one's heart tremble.

Gao De stood at the bow without even lighting a lamp.

His left eye glowed faintly.

The Mandora Magic Eye was already active, and combined with the dark-vision ability gained from his "Adaptation," his actual field of vision was far wider than if he had lit a lamp.

Of course, lighting a lamp would naturally be better, but both the Thin-Winged Water Snake and the Black-Winged Scaled Snake were extremely sensitive to light, making it easy to startle them.

As for why he had to search for water beasts at night, it wasn't because Gao De was a workaholic "pulling an all-nighter," but because both water beasts were nocturnal geo-pulse creatures.

Even with the God-Berry bait during the day, it wasn't certain that the serpent would be lured out while in a dormant state.

—Just like humans, who aren't necessarily willing to wake up for a gourmet meal while they are sleeping.

Aismier Lake, one of the three major freshwater lakes in the Bairo Prefecture, belonged to the city of Broster.

The surface area of the entire lake was extraordinarily vast, with no end in sight.

Under the moonlight, the occasional ripples on the lake surface shimmered with a mysterious aura in the darkness.

Gao De's search centered on the point where witnesses had first seen the serpent's shadow, then expanded outward in a circle.

Fortunately, there was more than one witness, and the serpent had been seen more than once.

It was just a pity that they were all seen at night, when visibility was poor.

Furthermore, when ordinary people encountered a water beast, the icy lake water felt like scalding iron, and they only wished they could grow wings to escape; there was no way they could have observed the beast's appearance clearly.

With these multiple factors, the descriptions of the serpent's appearance provided by the witnesses were imprecise, and the information remembered in a state of panic was distorted, making it impossible for the Sea Sentinels to determine the serpent's true identity.

There was even an unfortunate victim who had likely lost their life to the serpent.

By connecting the witness sightings with the serpent's attack site, a rough range and direction of activity could be deduced.

Beneath the small boat, Tuanzi had entered a serious working state, patrolling and observing the surroundings with vigilance.

Gao De rowed the boat, tossing a few God-Berries every so often, then waiting for half an hour.

If there was no movement after half an hour, he would retrieve the God-Berries and head to the next spot, repeating the process.

(End of Chapter)