System of the Beast Slayer [litrpg Adventure]
Copyright© 1999 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 278: The Guardian of Lost Species
The Witchers pushed the gear-driven barrels into the elephant grass. A ring of dried dung appeared on the ground, foul and sharp with the sting of urine.
“Since the masters also study ecology, you must understand that many animals use excrement to mark their demesne. We are now within the demesne of Yak, the gliding lizard. But it has eaten its fill and is resting in its lair.”
Sure enough, ten yards away, they saw the great beast from before, half asleep, rubbing itself against a dawn redwood to scratch an itch.
“Let us look at something else.”
The professor led them away from the gliding lizard and into an area rich with rocks and sand.
At the center of the area, atop a clearly modified dragon-mouth rock, stood two triangular nests.
Linus Pitt gave a loud whistle toward them. Two pointed heads emerged from the nests at once, and two enormous creatures leapt down from the dragon-mouth rock, dragging heavy wings as they quickly drew near.
One had a thick black mane around its neck, the other a white mane. Both possessed the sleek body, claws, and tail of a lion, along with the beak and wings of a vulture.
“Oh ... griffins. A family.” The Witchers were collectively stunned. They truly could not imagine griffins becoming peaceful, loving neighbors with a dracolizard.
In their fixed impression, this animal was a very special creature, possessing certain precious qualities: courage, fearlessness in any battle; unwavering loyalty, for a griffin would only have one mate in its lifetime. When its mate died, it would fight to the death to kill the murderer, or starve itself to death out of grief. But they were just as impulsive and dangerous.
“Try not to stare into their eyes for too long. They will take it as provocation and launch a ‘duel’ at any cost.” The professor gave the warning with some humor, then pushed the barrel straight toward the two griffins. They had clearly been fully tamed, entirely lacking the instinct to guard food. They crowded around the thin man, pecking fresh fish, pork, and seasonal vegetables from that fragile, small hand.
The Oxenfurt Academy scholar comfortably stroked the two tawny bodies radiating astonishing heat. Their metabolism far exceeded that of ordinary animals, and their body temperature was very high.
Roy quietly admired the scene of harmony between man and beast. He had never thought that, besides Griffin, he could see such docile griffins, adult ones at that, with astonishing combat strength.
Griffin
Age: 3
Gender: Male
HP: 300
Attributes:
Strength: 30
Agility: 18
Constitution: 30
Perception: 13
Willpower: 9
Charisma: 6
Spirit: 7
Skills:
Hybrid Beast (Passive Trait): A Griffin possesses the advantages of both eagle and lion, with enhanced digestion and recovery. Upon reaching maturity: Agility +8, Strength +8, Constitution +8.
Predator (Passive Trait): One of the most formidable predators in the animal kingdom. Its claws and beak structure cause wounds that bleed profusely. It sees farther and has a sharper sense of smell than most animals. Upon maturity: Perception +6.
...
The others watched from a distance.
The boy looked astonished by every little thing.
Letho, the Orin brothers, and Flavius had all seen griffins before. No small number had died by their hands, so they were much calmer.
“Would any of you like to try it by hand?” Linus Pitt patted the necks of the two pets and smiled. “Feed Blake and Chelsea something? I will be watching, I guarantee there will be no problem.”
“I’ll do it.” Roy volunteered and moved closer. Following the method Linus taught him, he lowered his head, avoided direct eye contact, moved gently, and lifted the chopped meat in both hands before placing it in front of them.
The griffins craned their heads and watched for a while. Only after receiving the professor’s approval did they pick up the meat.
Watching the two big heads feast with rumbling satisfaction, Roy began to feel envious. Linus Pitt, an ordinary man, had actually tamed a gliding lizard and griffins. Roy himself clearly possessed Forced Taming, yet had only tamed a horse, and a mount that was mostly good for looking cute.
If he wanted to ride every corner of the world, he was still a long way off.
“Mm. Better get along well with the professor. Perhaps I can ‘borrow’ them one day?”
While Roy was thinking, Griffin, stirred by the scent of its own kind, wriggled restlessly and somehow twisted its way out of the hood. It slid down along its master’s lowered head and dropped to the ground like a ball, its round little body rolling, by no accident at all, right between the griffins.
The two great creatures stopped eating at once. Two pairs of black eyes fixed on the palm-sized, sticky, slippery Vodyanoi hatchling.
“Raaah...” Two cries, full of almost human curiosity.
“Do not worry ... Though I do not know why,” the Oxenfurt Academy scholar held Roy back, the narrowed eyes beneath his thick lenses blinking with surprise, “Blake and Chelsea seem to like the little fellow. Perhaps they want to play with it.”
“Uh, are you sure...”
The male griffin gently pushed Griffin with one claw, sending it to his companion’s feet. The female griffin batted it back.
For more than a dozen rounds.
The two great creatures, like cats batting a ball of yarn, pushed Griffin until it was dizzy and lost in the clouds. Only then did they let out delighted, high-pitched cries and stop in satisfaction, their long crimson tongues licking Griffin’s belly as a reward, as if grooming one of their own.
After being toyed with for so long, Griffin stretched out two translucent webbed toes in shame and fury, wrapped them around the hooked claws, and launched a puffing bubble attack.
“Smack.” Linus Pitt scooped the Vodyanoi up in one motion.
Then he patted the griffins’ necks and had them return to their nest.
“This little fellow is a Vodyanoi? Bold, isn’t he.” Linus Pitt turned a curious gaze on little Griffin. “Not even afraid of griffins.”
The Witcher held Griffin upside down by the short translucent fish tail behind its rump, flicking its slippery belly several times in punishment, letting it blow bubbles in retaliation.
With its master looking on and doing nothing, the little fellow began to sulk.
“Ah, it is a long story. Griffin’s identity is rather complicated.” Roy changed the subject. “By the way, Mr. Linus, did you raise those two griffins from birth as well?”
He had used Forced Taming to make Griffin submit, while the professor, an ordinary man, had somehow managed to achieve this level.
“Chelsea and Blake had just left their mother’s belly, still inside their eggs, when a ranger stole them from the nest and brought them to the Oxenfurt market for sale. I happened to run into that bastard, identified their species through many years of experience, and simply bought them. Then I built them a warm little nest for hatching. It has been three years since.” The Oxenfurt Academy scholar pinched his beard, unable to hide his pride. “Like most animals, griffins become especially attached to the first thing they see after breaking their shells.”
“Then you must have a great deal of experience raising griffins, such as how to make them grow healthier and faster?” Roy pinched Griffin’s little belly, eyes full of expectation.
“Of course. Truth be told, raising two griffins is far harder than raising children, especially during the first six months after birth. Food combinations, nest construction, cleaning and parasite removal, daily exercise, all of it has its rules. If you are interested, I will explain in detail after the tour.”
...
The rare animals kept by the Oxenfurt Academy scholar were more numerous than the Witchers had imagined. Besides the dracolizard and griffins, the group later saw a basilisk that looked honest and clumsy, but was in fact extremely dangerous, and a soft, limp “kraken” chained inside a pond.
There were also other milder, less dangerous birds, beasts, and aquatic animals.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.