Rheo was thankful for having a pet that could scout.
With Raizen eyes, the second sharpest in the animal kingdom, the thunder falcon could easily survey every area of the woods for imminent danger.
That was the number one priority, he was just here to try his luck.
However, if he could just lure one out, the taming might just be successful.
Like in the case of Muscle rats, he just needed a few mountain seeds to tame one.
Aside from their muscular body, they were also buffoonish monsters with muscle brains.
That being said, it was better not to provoke any one of them since they could also attack with a projectile of boulders.
Rheo didn't want to be pounded into a lump of meat here so the youth had brought some baits.
Rheo checked his pocket, he had brought mountain seeds, Muscle rats' favorite food, with him.
The seeds were black and hard as a rock, but for Muscle rats with great bitting power, the hardness was nothing.
Rheo looked at the bird, its eyes sparkling with complete anticipation.
Even though the bird looked so active to catch the muscle rats, Rheo knew better than to charge head-on at monsters with heavyweight championship records.
"Don't go too far"
The monster bird took off to a higher altitude, circling the area.
Not long after, a familiar voice resounded in Rheo's mind.
Muscle rats, many muscle rats, Raizen see their colony, wide clearing, just after the entrance, look delicious, thick meat!
He blinked, why was the bird happy to invade the colony of wild-grade monsters?
The bird was a tier-4 iron-grade monster while the monsters were tier-5 wild-grade monsters, it should be able to gauge their difference in strength right?
Or was it because it was a flying type that gave it such confidence and mind to think it could attack a high-tier monster colony? Or was it because the monsters were miniature?
The youngster couldn't wrap his head around it.
Raizen, are there any other monster types around them?
Raizen sees only yummy Muscle rats, coming out of tunnels!
Rheo looked up, the monster bird was swooping down, its feathers caught the sunlight, glinting with a metallic luster.
Where does this confidence come from?
Even with its steel feathers, if they catch it, these monsters could pound its body into a lump of meat.
Anyway, I have to think of a plan to lure one of them out.
Rheo sized up the talons of the bird hovering in front of him.
Can it snatch one of the rats away?
After all, these rats were just the same size as Earth's rats in the pre-mutation era, except now they were bipedal with bulging muscles.
His mind was swirling around different thoughts, perhaps there was a safer method aside luring one out.
To lure one Muscle rat out to a place where there were no boulders, he would also have to enter the wood.
However, the spine-chilling sounds that were scrapping the air at intervals were enough to demotivate him.
With Raizen's lightning dive skill, a plan came to Rheo's mind.
But still, he wonder if it would work, after all, Earth-type monsters are immune to electric attacks.
If the luring plan fails, this would be plan B.
'Raizen cloaked itself in pure lightning after the contract.
If the bird could snatch a Muscle rat up to a high altitude in the air and then use a lightning dive, even an insulator would become a temporary conductor if it got struck with raw lightning power.
If it doesn't work, Raizen would just have to release the monster rat midair '
Rheo wanted to reconsider about Raizen dropping the Muscle rat midair, he knew Raizen well, it might just drop it in the maw of a higher-grade monster as free breakfast.
Raizen lightning will work, he can't wait to eat roasted meat.
The youth looked at the hovering pet and laughed lightly.
Raizen flew up, this time, it flared up its wings, and blue arcs of electricity danced around its body.
However, they looked weak, compared to the ones he had witnessed in videos of electric-type monsters.
This is probably not lightning dive, right?
Rheo wore a puzzled expression, his eyes rolled sideways.
As if in response, the bird flew up to a very high altitude, about thousands of meters into the air, its feathers catching and reflecting the rays of sunlight.
Then, suddenly, it dove down with an extraordinary speed! Such that Rheo's eyes failed to track its movement.
What he saw made him blink twice, the steel feather thunder falcon was covered in a cloak of raw electricity.
It was as if a beam of lightning was descending down from the heavens.
Multiple sounds of thunder erupted as it moved through the air.
This was indeed a thunderbird.
Lightning trails followed everywhere it moved, streaking through the sky with great speed.
All Rheo's eyes could see were blue-white lightning streaks.
A smile curled at the corner of his lips.
It would become a battle of endurance, will the insulator properties of the muscle rat's earth element break down first or will Raizen lose its stamina first?
Even if Earth-types were immune to electricity, it was just probably because they were in the same grade or the electric-type was below the grade.
If the electric-type monster was commander-grade, a bolt of lightning was enough for the wild-grade Muscle rats.
However, the bird needed to snatch just one,
They couldn't risk the others launching projectiles of boulders at them.
Rheo knew he had to be careful since he had the lowest chance of survival, if it was Raizen, the monster bird could just fly away.
And since this was plan B, he still hoped plan A would work and he would never bother to use this method to knock the Muscle rat out.
The bird swooped down in front of him, causing the surrounding air to be singe by its menacing cloak of electricity, heat waves spread across the area, the air humming with electricity.
After some moment, the arc of electricity flickered and went out, the bird wore a proud expression.
'What Smugness! '
"Raizen, lead!"
Rheo motioned for the bird to lead.
Since multiple paths lead into the woods, he couldn't risk taking a path that would lead him into the maw of a monster.
The bird flew up to a higher level, about a couple of meters above, and then it started leading the way.
"If only it could carry me, that would have been great"
Rheo murmured as he trudged lightly into the woods, following Raizen.
After a while, they reached a wide clearing but it was empty with no rocks and boulders, there weren't even any tunnels there.
He stopped in his tracks, clearly suspicious.
Only black vines that were rooted into the ground at random places were there.
"Raizen, we are not there yet?"
The bird shook its head, obviously immersed in where it was going.
But, what about him? What if these vines were traps?
[Monster: Lightning-Struck Vine]
[Level: 8]
[Grade: Iron, Tier-6(uncontracted)]
[Type: Electric/Plant]
[Stats: STR 2 | AGI 1 | END 3 | INT 2 ]
Skill:
[Electric Multiplier: Evolved from years of surviving the predatory assault of Electric-type monsters. It feeds on the electric power of Electric-type foes. Absorbed voltage is amplified and unleashed in a sudden, violent burst—overloading the attacker with a surge multiple-fold more powerful than what they could handle]
Rheo looked at the data that had just appeared in his mind.
Was this what deterred other monsters?
[Lightning-Struck Vine: plant-type, effective only against electric type]
Rheo didn't know what it meant in particular, so he summoned enough courage to touch it.
After touching one of the black vines, there wasn't a single spark, the youth heaved a heavy sigh of relief.
Raizen was also not at any risk, it could fly above it.
Rheo's mind started spiraling around multiple thoughts.
Raizen, sensing this development, looked back at him and then stopped, clearly wondering what its master was thinking about. Life wasn't hard, for it, it was eat and fly.
It tried to heave drop into its master mind but the multiple spiraling thoughts almost made it pass out.
It shook its head and started circling the air, chasing some unknown flies.
Rheo mind was busy calculating.
The system said the vine could absorb and redirect the lightning power of electric-type monsters in multiple folds, which meant, a hundred million volts of lightning could become one billion volts.
What if the lightning monster was releasing the lightning power at the same time?...
A mischievous grin spread across Rheo's face.