Chapter 18 - Sword Wielding Dog
“Ever since I was a child, I dreamed about becoming a swordsman that traveled the world committing acts of chivalry and righteousness. But when I grew up, I realized that dreams are just dreams."
As he looked at Captain Doofus with a sword in its mouth, Lu Ran couldn't help but feel a little emotional. It was almost like how a father entrusted his dreams onto his child.
"Whether I succeed or not, I’m entrusting this dream to you, Captain Doofus! You must take my place and become a chivalrous swordsman! Society is very restrictive for people, but you have much greater freedom as a dog. Come now! Take this sword and let your light and talent shine through!"
"Woof!" Captain Doofus barked as it held the sword in its mouth. It wasn’t clear whether it understood Lu Ran’s indoctrination speech, but whatever Captain Lu said went. It turned its head and waved the sword with proficiency.
Lu Ran looked on with satisfaction. The dog was still able to learn new tricks. However Lu Ran wasn’t sure if this kind of training would actually work. The mythical Yazi was ultimately just something people fabricated.
If traits can allow familiars to grasp incredible special abilities, then could there be a trait that helps Captain Doofus better wield weapons?
This would determine whether Captain Doofus could continue down the path of being a swordsdog.
Lu Ran chose this training method because the swordsdog route maximized the benefits received from Super Beast Mimicry and the meteorite iron ore. The path forward, however, he still needed to play by ear. In the end, that was just how raising beasts was—stumbling through the dark and creating miracles.
"I also remember the training manual saying that beastmaster skills are not fixed and can be further developed based on one’s talent later on. Do I have the ability to continue developing Super Beast Mimicry?"
Lu Ran had thought about it before. Super Beast Mimicry allowed beastmasters to gain the power of their familiars. So, was it possible to use Super Beast Mimicry in reverse, enabling familiars to imitate beastmasters and acquire some human characteristics—like the ability to use tools?
The most significant difference between humans and animals lay in their ability to use and create tools. Swords, theoretically, were meant for humans. However, if Captain Doofus could acquire certain traits from Lu Ran, it might wield a sword more effectively. In essence, there was no difference between beastmasters imitating familiars and familiars imitating beastmasters. If he could make this work, it would be like killing two birds with one stone!
"Pioneering a new path was unquestionably difficult, but if I’m simply reversing it, the path will be much smoother. This is a plausible direction."
Lu Ran felt that Super Beast Mimicry was worth trying out.
As Fang Lan said, Lu Ran wasn’t someone who liked to follow the crowd or take the ordinary path. Adversity only motivated him more. Even at his current low level, he was already planning to explore new ways to use beastmaster skills. He was, after all, a rare talent.
As for how to actually develop this new path, Lu Ran first needed a deep understanding of the Super Beast Mimicry skill. Once he acquired Super Beast Mimicry, basic usage information appeared in his mind. It was as if the skill card had downloaded the information directly into his head.
"Next, follow my movements," Lu Ran instructed.
"Woof!"
Captain Doofus imitated Lu Ran’s movements from behind. As Lu Ran drew his sword, it also turned its head and drew its sword. The two did their best to stay in sync.
***
In the living room, Lu Ran ran a brief trial with Captain Doofus that lasted about 30 minutes. During this time, he unexpectedly discovered that having Captain Doofus train with a sword through imitation was entirely feasible. Even if swordsmanship became only a secondary skill in Captain Doofus’s repertoire, it would still be worthwhile.
After using Super Beast Mimicry to go through sword practice with Captain Doofus, Lu Ran faintly felt a slight improvement in his physical fitness. Though minuscule, there was definitely a difference, and it wasn’t just in his head. Perhaps with more time, his strength would continue to grow, and one day, he might be able to fight lions and tigers bare-handed.
"Phew..."
A moment later, Lu Ran put down the iron sword and exhaled, feeling a bit tired. He glanced at Captain Doofus, who was still vigorously swinging his sword, and scratched his head.
Not bad. Captain Doofus is still quite energetic, I see.
While other beastmasters worried that their familiars might act up due to fatigue, here, Captain Doofus might end up complaining that Lu Ran didn’t have enough energy.
"Arf?"
Indeed, when it saw Lu Ran stop, Captain Doofus looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Why did you stop?
"Because I feel your strength weakening. Did you not eat? I'll prepare some food for you," Lu Ran deflected.
"Woof!" Captain Doofus was startled. It had almost forgotten that it was hungry.
Deep in thought, Lu Ran turned to prepare food for the two of them. By this point, Lu Ran already had some thoughts on the reverse application of Super Beast Mimicry. Although he wasn’t sure if it would succeed, other beastmasters would definitely be shocked if they found out that he was even trying. After all, even for advanced beastmasters, developing beastmaster skills was very difficult.
As he prepared the food, Lu Ran continued to gather his thoughts. The core concepts behind operating Super Beast Mimicry was actually quite simple.
After he mastered Super Beast Mimicry, a unique visualization space appeared in his mind. He just needed to visualize the behavioral characteristics of his familiar, and his body would instinctively copy them. As long as their movements were close enough, the beastmaster would gradually receive feedback. This connection was based on the very spiritual power that formed the contract.
"The spiritual connection is used to receive responses from Captain Doofus. If I want to send Captain Doofus a response, I will have to find another bridge. After all, if I used the same bridge, it would cause congestion. This is why Super Beast Mimicry normally cannot be used both ways simultaneously.
“Compared to other beginner beastmasters, I have a huge advantage: I have been practicing telepathy for two years! Back when Captain Doofus would fall into frenzies, I used telepathy to calm it down, proving that the mind can also be a bridge connecting me and Captain Doofus.
"Perhaps I can use telepathy to simulate Super Beast Mimicry and establish a bridge to synchronize my insights and gains with Captain Doofus, allowing it to train twice as fast!"
Bridging the mind and spirit, and operating both at the same time!
Lu Ran thought he could give it a shot. While pondering, he quickly finished preparing the food. However, Lu Ran was stunned when he returned to the living room with the dog food.
"What the heck?"
In the living room, he saw Captain Doofus with a sword in his mouth that suddenly flashed with a dazzling white light.
It seemed that Captain Doofus had wrapped attributeless energy around the wooden sword that made it look divine.
"How did you do that?" Lu Ran’s jaw dropped at the scene.
According to the training manual, it was already impressive for a low-level familiar to cover its own body with energy. However, utilizing the energy wrapped around the body on external objects was an advanced application of energy infusion. It typically took a long time to achieve.
"Woof!!!"
Captain Doofus looked at Lu Ran in confusion.
I... wanted to release sword qi. Why won’t it come out?
"!@#$, stop messing around! We're still inside the house! How are we going to keep living here if you unleash it inside!?" Lu Ran berated as he hurriedly stopped it.
Although the probability of a level four Captain Doofus mastering advanced energy application techniques such as external energy infusion and projection after half an hour of training was minuscule, Lu Ran didn’t dare to take the risk after seeing that Captain Doofus had already mastered one of them.
Anyway, Lu Ran was now very shocked. He suddenly remembered something and quickly took out the training manual before flipping to the section on species rank.
[The species rank of a familiar determines its life force, energy reserves, physical strength and other important physical qualities. The higher the species rank, the higher the familiar’s base attributes will be. High ranking species are also able to easily win against familiars of a lower rank.
But there is only one attribute that is not affected by species rank, and that is comprehension. The comprehension of a familiar cannot be directly measured, and needs to be uncovered by the beastmaster in the process of training the familiar.
A higher species rank translates to stronger base attributes, which is an innate advantage. Higher comprehension, on the other hand, means that the familiar learns various skills more quickly, which is an acquired advantage.
Therefore, the species rank does not determine everything, and the beastmaster must be good at uncovering the talents of their familiar.]
Lu Ran put down the manual and looked at Captain Doofus in a daze. So, Captain Doofus, who didn’t look very smart but had high combat power, didn’t have much of an advantage in species rank, but had a very high talent in comprehension? This was too absurd.
"Woof!"
Under Lu Ran's suspicious gaze, Captain Doofus didn't know what Lu Ran was thinking, but it couldn’t shake the feeling that Lu Ran was belittling it. It would remember this grudge!
"Thinking about it carefully, I have taught Captain Doofus all kinds of skills and it learned them very quickly. At first, I subconsciously attributed this to telepathy, thinking that it helped Captain Doofus understand faster. However, to think that it just has good comprehension…"
In any case, the stronger Captain Doofus was, the better. He always knew that Captain Doofus wasn’t simple!
Lu Ran put down the dog food in a good mood.
"Eat quickly, and we will go out after you’re done."
Next, he wanted to awaken Captain Doofus’ Wind attribute. However, awakening the Wind attribute wasn’t something that could be done at home. If anything went wrong, wouldn’t the Wind-attribute Captain Doofus tear down the ceiling?
So, Lu Ran decided to take Captain Doofus to his secret base to awaken the attribute. That place was the rear mountain of Red Leaf Park. Few people visited there all year long, so it was very quiet.
I will train with Captain Doofus there while waiting for Fang Lan.
***
Wildlife Safari, Green Sea City.
A young man wearing a special forces uniform, accompanied by a huge Rottweiler, passed through many blockades and arrived at an area. The police officers who blocked the area were surprised to see the ridiculously large police dog beside him.
Inside the blocked area, in the wildlife safari area that housed predators, a woman dressed in black was taking over the crime scene. After seeing the young man, she spoke to him.
"Captain Luo, you’re here."
"Little Liu, give me the run down again."
The man called Captain Luo saw the blood on the ground and his heart sank. The police dog next to him also bared its teeth and looked fierce, but became a little timid when he smelled something.
"This wasn’t a simple animal attack. An animal keeper got a black card and thought he could contract a beast, but ended up getting attacked. The man died, but the beast completed its initial mutation and evolution, escaped the safari, and is now missing.
"It was a Siberian tiger. It most likely fled towards the rear mountain of Red Leaf Park. Although there aren’t many people there, it’s adjacent to Red Leaf Park and the Starlight Mansions District, so it must be dealt with as soon as possible. Otherwise, passers-by who encounter it will be in fatal danger," the woman in black reported seriously.
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