Cornflower Witch

Chapter 291 Sexual Countermeasures in Combat
"Miss Tiya, this way please."

Inside the Beast Cry Valley, a woman with battle scars on her face led the way. The two descended along the stone path on the mountainside. Along the way, the girl could look down at the animal enclosures at the bottom of the valley and hear the sounds of many animals, as well as smell the scent of livestock coming towards her.

The girl had to take out a veil and put it on to filter out some of the smell, then her light blue eyes turned around and looked at the scene below.

Many of the war beasts were kept in pens, which contained feed troughs and haystacks for sleeping, just like livestock in the mortal world. However, they were much larger and their formidable strength required more sturdy pens.

Most of the railings were thicker than Hilti's legs. She blinked and noticed some beast tamers communicating with and training some of the war beasts.

Beasts that can advance to higher levels often have significantly higher intelligence than their peers. According to research, if they reach the third level, their intelligence is similar to that of a human child, and if they reach the fourth level, it is roughly equivalent to that of an adult. However, there are exceptions, and some beasts are exceptionally intelligent.

"This is the Wild Bull," the woman leading the way introduced to Tia.

The two arrived at a beast pen, where a bull was kept. It was about three meters tall, with a thick, tough, brown-black hide that ordinary steel spears and swords could not pierce. Only a superhuman could inflict any damage on it after being empowered by their abilities.

With thick hides and immense strength, the bull is an excellent beast of war, whether used as a tool for labor or as a war animal. Furthermore, the techniques for taming them are quite sophisticated, and after generations of breeding, most of these bulls have become docile and obedient.

The woman opened a pen, put a rope around a bull, and led it out. It weighed more than a ton. The bull walked behind the woman, creating a stark contrast in size.

"It's huge," Hilti whispered.

She didn't realize it when she looked down from above, but when she got closer, she discovered that such a bull probably weighed more than ten times her weight.

"Could you demonstrate what skills it has?" Hilti turned around and asked the woman who had led the way.

"no problem."

She led the bull to the open space in the middle and then pointed to a huge rock used for demonstration.

"Hit that rock."

After she finished speaking, the bull kicked its hooves and charged forward at a trot. When it reached the rocks, it raised its head high and then slammed down with its huge, exaggerated horns, shattering the rocks with a cracking sound.

"It can be used to clear mountains, but it's best not to hit rocks more than 20 times a day," the woman explained.

"I see."

The woman then took a plow yoke, put it around the bull's neck, and let it plow the gravelly ground next to it, turning over various stones as it went.

Such power is probably similar to that of large machinery in her previous life. Hilti nodded slightly. Then she looked at the bull's defense, which was not much different from that of the petrified lizard in the past. Generally, a second-tier superhuman would need to use a high-quality weapon or skill to penetrate it.

"What does it eat?" Hiltiya wondered how much it would take to raise such a wild bull.

"If it's high-quality feed, you need at least 30 kilograms a day," she told the girl, explaining the standards for high-quality feed.

It's probably a crop similar to high-quality wheat, Hiltiya estimated in her mind.

“What if it’s straw and forage of the ‘first-order’ nature?” Hiltiya asked.

“That’s top-quality fodder. Just 3 kilograms a day is enough to gradually strengthen the bulls,” she explained.

“Generally speaking, we feed calves with some high-quality forage during their calf stage to accelerate the formation of their ‘sexual characteristics’ and increase their strength. However, once they reach the second stage of adulthood, we stop feeding them high-quality forage.”

“Raising them to the second tier is the most cost-effective and also the most in demand. Raising third-tier bulls is very difficult, and you can easily lose money if you're not careful,” she said, shaking her head slightly.

"Why would we lose money? Is it because no one is willing to pay a high price to buy it?" Hiltiya asked with slight curiosity.

"Yes, although the physique and strength of the Tier 3 bulls have been greatly improved, relatively speaking, there are fewer places where they can be used."

"For some simple tasks, the second-tier bulls can do them very well, so there is no need for larger bulls. However, for combat, the bulls' attack methods are too simple and lack variety, and their speed is not particularly fast."

Upon hearing this, Hilti compared it with the floating eye demons she had seen before, and it was indeed as the woman had said. If a bull of the same level three were to fight an eye demon one-on-one, it would be killed by the eye demon's rays before it even got close. Moreover, even if it did get close, the bull's attack relied purely on ramming, and it wouldn't be able to cause much damage to the giant eye demon that was as big as a ball.

Afterwards, Hilti also visited the valley rhinoceros and the wilderness horse. Compared to the wild bull, the valley rhinoceros has the advantage of being able to move underwater, making it more defensive, but it has less endurance and requires more feed. The wilderness horse is not as strong or defensive as the wild bull, but it has excellent endurance, making it a very suitable animal to be used as a pack animal.

The Dark Mist Mountains are located in a remote area, and caravans often need to travel between them for communication, so the Wilderness Horse is extremely useful.

"100 wild horses, 30 bulls, and 10 valley rhinoceroses." Hiltiya asked the other party to write down her requirements.

“好勒，一共是10450金币。”（72*100+80*30+85*10=10450）

After observing these animals used for living and working, Hiltiya went to the cliff face of the valley, where there were many bird nests.

“The Sharp-Eyed Hawk is a commonly used auxiliary raptor, providing excellent vision for scouting distant information,” a tall, thin, bald man explained to Silti.

The falconer was nearly two meters tall. Standing next to him, Hiltiya appeared rather petite. She nodded and then looked at the falcons that were swiftly flying overhead.

"Is that just an 'Electric Wing Falcon'?" "That's right. These kinds of falcons fly extremely fast and can also harness the power of lightning. If it completes the trial and advances, it can become a third-tier 'Thunder Bird'."

"Thunderbirds? I noticed those thunderbirds were exceptionally large; could they be evolved from 'Electric Wing Falcons'?"

"Yes, you may not know this, but our 'Beast Cry Valley' is best at the 'Giant Body' trial advancement. After completion, the beasts will become larger and stronger."

"In the wild, being huge means you can completely overwhelm your enemies, which is better than any skill."

As expected, everyone wants to experience the thrill of numerical superiority, Sylvia thought to herself.

Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. If it's just about increasing a certain ability, it's hard to achieve the same comprehensive enhancement as a huge body size. Humans and other creatures also gain 'bloodline advancement' at the third tier, which enhances their overall qualities, but the extent is not as great as the 'giant body' of beasts.

A mature, Tier 3 Thunderbird is roughly equivalent to sixteen Electricwing Falcons, though their strengths differ greatly. However, a Thunderbird might struggle to perform the tasks that sixteen Electricwing Falcons can, making it difficult to say whether it can necessarily win. The two are roughly of equal value.

How many Tier 3 Thunderbirds are there?

"Currently, there are 6 available for delivery, while there are more Electric Wing Falcons with 54 available for delivery, and there is a good supply of Sharp-Eyed Eagles with 112 available for delivery."

“Three Thunderbirds, forty Electric-winged Falcons, and twenty Sharp-eyed Hawks,” Hilti announced the quantities she needed.

“一共15000金币。”（2000*3+180*40+90*20=15000）

With 1300 gold coins remaining, Hilti used them to purchase food for these beasts and birds of prey, as well as the complete set of secret techniques that 'Beast Valley' offered to major clients, which included three main parts: taming, breeding, and combat.

"This is basically all the secret techniques below the third rank in Beast Cry Valley. We don't teach secret techniques above the fourth rank to outsiders," Iron Finger told Xilutiya.

“However, since Miss Tia is so generous, I will definitely impart all my knowledge to the student you recommend, as long as he advances to the third rank and becomes a formal member.” Iron Finger Romet promised.

Nodding slightly, Hiltiya indicated her understanding, and then asked curiously.

"How long will it take you to replenish the war beasts I purchased today?"

"Are you asking about the number of war beasts we tame and deliver? If it's based on the number tame and breed each year, what you're purchasing today is about one-sixth, or two months' worth of production."

"So fast?" Hiltiya asked in surprise.

"It's not about speed, it's about quantity." Iron Finger shook his head and smiled.

"Besides, this is the output of one of our factions, which is already very little. You probably don't know the true situation in the Radiant Gold Plains. The number of knights trained there every year is more than the number of war beasts we tame."

“This…” Hiltiya really didn’t know, because she spent most of her time either planting wheat and growing flowers in the valley or reading and studying, and rarely socialized, so she didn’t know exactly how many knights and knight squires there were in the Radiant Plains.

It seems there are indeed many knights there, with at least a thousand knights and squires. The official 'White Knight' Hilti has seen sixty to seventy of them, which is comparable to the entire territory of Regas. Not to mention the knights who are adventuring outside, going out to carry out missions, and dispatching various branches.

It seems, indeed, possibly, that the 'Holy White Knights' is a rather large knightly organization within the woodland, which is why it occupies the core heartland of the 'Radiant Plains' as its faction's base, a fact that Hiltiah only realized belatedly.

The Ironwall Crown Furnace is also a knightly organization in the woods. They have more members than the Holy White Knights, but their average strength is about one level lower than the Holy White Knights. Therefore, their reputation is not as good as the Holy White Knights. They are often called "commoner knights" because their faction requires fewer resources to advance and is not difficult, making them suitable for commoners.

After clarifying the details that had been overlooked in the past, Hiltiya then discussed the strength comparison within the third tier with the other party.

“If it’s a Tier 3 bull, it’s difficult for an ordinary knight to kill it.” Iron Finger pondered, tapping his fingers on the armrest.

"They are enormous and rely entirely on brute force to attack. In this way, the knight's veil is not very effective, and armor and flesh are also difficult to withstand their terrifying trampling and collision."

"However... if a bull encounters a witch with the 'Nightmare' or 'Mist Shadow' traits, it will most likely be a one-sided situation."

“The bull’s mental strength is not strong, nor is it smart enough. It is easily corrupted by ‘nightmares’, and it will immediately fall into a coma and die or be fooled by illusions, accidentally injuring its own people.”

"Some witches even use their powerful mental abilities to control stupid giant beasts as their familiars and servants," he remarked.

"However, the spells and illusions of witches and wizards are often ineffective against knights; this is probably due to their mutual restraint."

“I understand.” Hilti suddenly figured out the relationship between the various beings, and even thought of the restraint patterns between different types of extraordinary beings.

Those with attributes like 'Beast Fang and Blood Law' that focus on themselves and their power can often overwhelm opponents of the same level, but they can be easily defeated if they encounter abilities in the mental realm or spells with special methods.

The 'castle' has gained normalized resistance to abnormal statuses and other gender-related abilities, which greatly restrains the corrosive damage of 'Nightmare Hibernation'.

'Nightmare·Mist Shadow' is extremely adept at mental battles, which often causes the power of 'Beast Fang·Blood Law' to fall into empty space, making it difficult to resist.

Therefore, at lower levels, as long as you find the right way to counter your opponent, you can easily defeat them.

(End of this chapter)