Chapter 198 - To cage a beast. (1/2)
”So, adventurer I have no problem in teaching you, if you can prove yourself to be capable of more than blind killing of beasts. You have already proved that you consider beasts to be much more than simple pieces of walking meat. In fact, you had better foresight than me in this aspect as you have considered this alchemical experiment. So, are you willing to accept my test?” asked the tamer again to which Balthazar had nodded his head in agreement. He took the job and confirmed the quest details by asking Kiran before he left the tamers with a mobile cage which had wheels and a plank that lead into the cage. The cage once locked will have a small field generated around it and the beasts wouldn't be able to use any magical attacks from within it.
”Received quest item: Mobile cage - Durability: 200/200”
The cage could be put in his bag but only when there is no living being occupying it. The players could only put in tamed pets into their pet pouch or living being which consented to move into it. So, the players needed to move it manually once the cage was occupied. It would be very hard to move it back so Balthazar bought a pair of horses which were the most common beasts of burden in the game at this level.
[Clydesdale horse] (Common pet)
Level 15;
HP: 2400/2400;
SP: 5000/5000;
Movement speed: 130;
Kick attack: 150; (Causes a cripple or stun effect.
The only thing good about it was that it had a higher movement speed, endurance and stamina which is the reason it could be used for long distances. Though its attack has a sure-fire effect of cripple or stun on kicking, most of the time it would only be effective on beasts smaller than it which was a small amount. So, they were mostly used for transport than anything else at this level as they could outrun most other beasts up to level 20.
Capturing a beast was always much harder than fighting one to kill it. Capturing a beast required it to be pushed into the cage. Most wild beasts would fight to death rather than being captured. He needed to have methods to trick and attract them into the cage and if that failed, a forceful way to pull the beast into the cage.
The most common method was to pull a beast into a cage is to use food and blood of other animals to lure it till the cage, but it would probably lead more than one beast using this method. So, he needed to have good number of helpers that would keep the others at bay and probably also need the others to be handled quietly which was the most difficult part. If there was noise which would attract the beast, they would lose the chance to capture it. It is best if he kept the cage at a certain distance with a few others and lure in the beast into the cage. If the cage was close to other beasts both the beast inside and the ones outside would try to attack the cage. The cage was a passive tool which can't be used like shield or other armaments. So, it would loose its durability and would be wasted if they were near multiple beasts when they managed to get
He immediately contacted Agua Canalon and requested his location so that he could come to him. As he had hoped they were still in the forest and were hunting animals. The monsters in the forest behind the town were mostly blue gorillas, rock bears and star deer. These were the ones that the players usually hunted as they could be found in abundance in the forests near the Murk Water town.
He checked the location given by Agua and realized that they had to move quite some distance from their current location to be able to reach the location giving to him by Kiran. Kiran had mentioned that the mud lizards would only be found in that location which lacked trees and was filled with dirt and mud with most of it being a plain area.
He first decided to meet up with Agua. Though Agua was helping him out of courtesy, he couldn't ask them to help him in capturing the mud lizard for his quest. They were not a part of his guild and it wouldn't be fair of him to ask them for their help without providing something in return. He thought for some time and he decided to offer some of his loot from the marshlands and information that he gathered and will gather about the marshlands to them. He could also bargain with them about the information he could collect from the beach. For starters, he already had the location of the coastal guards' station on the beach.
Once, he met them he requested their help and made his proposal. He already offered them a bit of the poison and the location of the coastal guard station as advance and after a bit of conversation, they agreed to help him. The information that he provided them would sooner or later become available for the others. It is better if he could have a collaborative effort with them in the Murk Water town. He also wanted to expand his own guild to the town if possible. The Valhalla Raiders were only able to have a strong influence as it was still the starting stages of the game. It would be much harder for them to maintain it later.
The town was on the coast which allowed the players to explore the marine territories and it was also in an empire. So, he hoped to be able to get a few guild members to start developing here. He would also have support of the Divine Swords and could probably develop together.
Having reached an agreement, Balthazar led Agua and his team towards the location of the mud lizards. The team was composed of two guardians, an assassin, an archer, a priest, a warlock and four elementalists. Two of the four elementalists were actually fae players. The fae had the advantage of flight and better sight, allowing them a few innate scouting abilities than other species. In any terrain they could always fly up and check for enemies.
The problem was that their wings were like those of flies and the continuous flapping sound could also alert other players and monsters of their presence, if they were close enough. They would also be spotted flying in the air and attract unwanted attention. Their worst problem would be seen after the players reach close to level 20. At that time, strong flying beasts would become common and they would be the hardest enemies that the fae players would have to face.
But currently, they were very useful in hunting in forests. Apart from scouting, they could attack from the air with their spells without any problem of having to worry about damage from most beasts as the beasts' attacks couldn't reach them properly. They would also be effective lookouts when the team were hunting. This would reduce the burden on the other players of the team by a large amount.
This is the reason that many teams would try to actively get a few fae members in their team. But it didn't mean that fae players always had the advantage or that they could alone go hunting. The first problem that many fae players had was the lower weight which allowed them to fly. This made it harder for physical attack classes and tanks. Low weight tanks would easily be subjected to blowback effects than the human players. Apart from that flying depleted stamina of the players at a faster rate. A fae player couldn't maintain flight continuously during the time, he was hunting because he would keep losing SP as they kept flying.
Even if a player could keep flying throughout the fight and had a lot of stamina, one couldn't fight while flying all the time. Most monsters would tend to run away if they are unable to reach the players attacking them and would need close combat players and tanks to keep them occupied and from running away.
They slowly made their way to the area that Balthazar had marked on his map. If he was alone, he could move easily through stealth at a faster pace, but with a team they had to fight and kill whatever beast that could pose a danger to them. It took more than an hour for them to finally reach the location.
The area around the place had a number of level 17 and level 18 beasts. The star deer were all level 17 and there were blue gorillas which were level 18 beasts. The star deer were called so as their spots were in the shape of stars. They always moved in groups of seven or eight. They would also fight and coordinate with each other and ramming the players with their antlers and kicking them.