A Clumsy Method (Part 2)

Linley darted forward and seized the wild rabbit by the throat with one hand. With a crack, the rabbit, which had been struggling in agony, twitched twice and stopped moving. Ever since watching those two battles half a year ago, the bloodthirst hidden in his Dragonblood Warrior bloodline had begun to emerge.

“I am a first-rank warrior and a first-rank magus, but magic is still stronger in terms of attack.” Holding the rabbit, Linley smiled and sighed.

Magi were mainly divided into nine ranks. Reaching first-rank was relatively easy, but each higher rank required more time. Many formidable seventh-rank and eighth-rank magi could spend a hundred years without advancing a single rank.

A talented person could become a first-rank magus in half a year. Even one with mediocre aptitude, as long as he met the conditions to become a magus, could do so within two or three years.

Carrying the dead rabbit, Linley ran straight down the mountain.

“Linley, why are you not roasting it? That Magical Beast Shadow Rat likes meat, but roasted meat is its favorite,” Doehring Cowart’s voice sounded in Linley’s mind.

“Grandpa Doehring, you have probably never coaxed a child, have you?” Linley teased as he ran.

Doehring Cowart froze. He had no grandchildren. Why would a dignified Saint-level Grand Magus ever coax children?

“Uh... no,” he admitted.

Linley said confidently, “I often coax little Wharton. You cannot give children the very best thing from the start, or they will demand the good things every time, and then demand still better ones. That Shadow Rat is gnawing on stone now. If I give it raw meat today, it will be delighted. I will give it raw meat for seven or eight days first. When I give it roasted meat after that, it will be even happier.”

Doehring Cowart immediately understood. An old hand like him naturally understood the principle. The same was true of governing subordinates: give them a little sweetness first, then better rewards later. If one gave too much at the beginning, satisfying their desires afterward became difficult.

“I read this in a book. It was about raising monkeys. Giving three acorns in the morning and four at night works much better than giving four in the morning and three at night,” Linley said with a grin.

Doehring Cowart suddenly felt that although Linley was only eight and a half, he was no less capable than many older youths.

“It seems the Baruch Clan’s education has indeed been effective,” Doehring Cowart silently praised. Education opened the mind, yet most commoners could not afford it. The admissions requirements and tuition of good magic academies and warrior academies were beyond ordinary people.

...

No one in Wushan Town found it strange when Linley came home carrying a wild rabbit. Ever since he learned to cast Earth Spike, he often brought rabbits home.

“Young Master Linley is impressive. He caught another rabbit,” the townspeople said with smiles.

Linley smiled politely as he walked along the street.

“I wonder whether that Shadow Rat will eat food given to it by someone else.”

Drawing a deep breath, Linley entered the old houses behind the clan estate and carefully approached the courtyard where the Shadow Rat had been. Every step made no sound. Soon, he arrived at the same place as before.

“Where is the Shadow Rat?”

There were only rubble and withered leaves in the courtyard. The gnaw marks on the stones remained, but the Shadow Rat was nowhere to be seen. Linley felt disappointed and miserable. “Grandpa Doehring, it is gone. It has only been an hour. Did it leave?”

A stream of light flew from the Coiling Dragon Ring and became Doehring Cowart in his moon-white robes. He frowned as well. “It should not have. It has only been an hour. Did it really leave?”

Suddenly—

Crunch, crunch...

The familiar soft gnawing sounded again. Linley’s eyes lit up, and he went to a neighboring ruined courtyard. At the threshold, he saw the black Shadow Rat constantly moving as it gnawed stone, like a sculptor turning a rock into strange shapes.

Linley stood in the doorway.

Bang!

He deliberately kicked the threshold, making a small sound.

Whoosh!

The black Shadow Rat flashed away more than ten meters. Its round black eyes fixed on the doorway and immediately saw Linley, full of vigilance.

“Here. This is for you.”

Linley smiled at the Magical Beast Shadow Rat and tossed the wild rabbit onto the threshold. The rat might not understand human speech, but Linley believed a reasonably intelligent Magical Beast should understand what a smile meant.

Magical Beasts were not ordinary animals. Their intelligence was only a little below that of humans, and some powerful ones were exceptionally cunning.

“Do not rush. Do not rush,” Linley reminded himself. He forced himself to leave despite his reluctance.

After Linley went away, the Shadow Rat waited in place for a short time. Unable to resist, it flashed to the threshold, glanced into the distance, and saw that Linley was already far away. Looking at the rabbit before it, the Magical Beast Shadow Rat rose upright in delight and hopped happily.

“Squeak, squeak!” it cried joyfully.

It swiftly began tearing into the rabbit. Its sharp teeth worked with incredible speed. Though the Shadow Rat was small, it ate the rabbit, which was larger than itself, completely clean—apart from the fur, not even bone fragments remained.

“Gulp.” The little Shadow Rat swallowed, then patted its belly in a very humanlike manner, delighted beyond measure.

Compared with stone, flesh was clearly far more delicious.

After eating, the little Shadow Rat looked in the direction Linley had gone. In its young heart, its fondness for the boy immediately increased. Born only recently and still an infant Magical Beast, it even began to hope that the boy might bring it another rabbit.

That day, before dinner, Linley returned to the old houses in the rear courtyard and walked straight toward the threshold where he had left the rabbit.

“Linley, do not worry. It is only a Magical Beast infant, and it is terribly greedy,” Doehring Cowart laughed in his mind.

Linley nodded. When he reached the threshold, he saw some rabbit fur stained with blood. The flesh and bones were gone. His eyes lit up.

“Wonderful!” He clenched a fist.

The first step had succeeded. What remained was persistence.

The next afternoon, Linley killed a rabbit and a pheasant. He left the rabbit with Grandpa Hiri to be roasted for dinner and placed the pheasant at the old threshold.

“That Magical Beast Shadow Rat is watching me,” Linley said with a smile as it stared at him from inside the courtyard.

“The situation looks good. It no longer flees as soon as it sees you, so it is not very hostile toward you anymore.” Doehring Cowart was happy for him. Finding the infant of a formidable Magical Beast was truly good fortune.

He still wondered what the little Shadow Rat’s parents were doing.

Linley tossed the pheasant onto the threshold, said a few words to the little Shadow Rat, smiled, and retreated. This time, he did not leave at once. He looked back as he walked. Soon the little Shadow Rat darted out, looked around, and, after seeing Linley in the distance, was not too frightened. It lowered its head and began tearing into the pheasant.

...

The third day, the fourth day, the fifth day...

Life continued this way. Linley still meditated and trained each day, while often bringing rabbits and other food for the little Shadow Rat. No one in Wushan Town, including Hogg and Hillman, knew that Linley was practicing magic. Nor did they know that he was caring for an infant Magical Beast that already possessed the strength of a fourth-rank creature.

Only Doehring Cowart, who watched Linley grow, knew.

“This tiny Wushan Town cannot contain Linley.” Looking at Linley, who was meditating to accumulate Mana, Doehring Cowart spoke with anticipation. “One day, he will bring an adult violet Shadow Rat and step onto the vast stage of the entire Yulan Continent.”