Lin Lei darted forward, snatching the wild rabbit by the throat with one hand. With a sharp crack, the rabbit, which had been struggling in pain, twitched twice and then went still. Since witnessing those two battles half a year ago, the 'bloodlust' hidden within his Dragon Blood Warrior lineage had slowly begun to stir.
"I've reached the level of a first-grade warrior and a first-grade magician, but in terms of pure attack power, magic is still stronger." Holding the dead rabbit, Lin Lei couldn't help but smile and sigh.
Magicians were primarily divided into nine grades. Reaching the first grade was relatively easy. But as the grades increased, the time required for each advancement grew longer! Many powerful seventh or eighth-grade magicians might spend a century and still find it difficult to advance a single grade.
A first-grade magician, for someone with good talent, could be achieved in half a year. Even for someone with mediocre talent, as long as they met the basic conditions to become a magician, they could reach the first grade within two or three years.
Clutching the dead rabbit, Lin Lei started running down the mountain.
"Lin Lei, why aren't you cooking it first? This Shadow Mouse might be a magic beast, but it loves roasted meat the most," Derinkoort's voice echoed in Lin Lei's mind.
"Grandpa Derinkoort, you probably never had to coax a child, did you?" Lin Lei teased as he ran.
Derinkoort was momentarily stunned. He had no grandchildren of his own, and as a majestic Holy Domain Grand Mage, why would he ever need to coax a child?
"Uh, no, I haven't," Derinkoort admitted.
Lin Lei said confidently, "I often have to deal with little Wotton. Let me tell you, when giving something to a child, you can't start with the best, or else they'll always want the best later, or even something better. Right now, that Shadow Mouse is chewing on stones. If I give it raw meat now, it will definitely be happy. I'll feed it raw meat for seven or eight days first, and then I'll give it roasted meat. It will be even happier then."
Derinkoort understood immediately.
As an old and experienced soul, how could he not grasp this principle? It was the same when leading subordinates: give them a small reward first, then a bigger one later. Otherwise, if you give too much at once, it becomes harder to satisfy their desires afterward.
"This principle is in a book I read," Lin Lei chuckled. "It's about raising monkeys. 'Three in the morning, four in the evening' is much more effective than 'four in the morning, three in the evening.'"
Derinkoort suddenly felt that although Lin Lei was only eight and a half years old, he wasn't inferior to many teenagers.
"It seems the
……
Carrying a dead rabbit home, even the townsfolk of
"Young Master Lin Lei is truly amazing, catching another rabbit!" the townsfolk said with smiles.
Walking down the street, Lin Lei politely smiled back.
"I wonder if that Shadow Mouse will accept food from someone else."
Taking a deep breath, Lin Lei entered the cluster of ancient houses behind the family estate, carefully approaching the spot where the Shadow Mouse was. His footsteps made absolutely no sound. In just a moment, he arrived at the same place again.
"Where's the Shadow Mouse?" Lin Lei looked towards the courtyard of the ancient house. There were only scattered stones and withered leaves in the courtyard.
The marks from the stones being gnawed were still visible, but scanning the entire courtyard, there was no sign of the Shadow Mouse. Lin Lei felt a pang of disappointment and sadness. "Grandpa Derinkoort, the Shadow Mouse is gone. It's only been an hour. Did it leave?"
A streak of light flew out from the
Derinkoort also frowned. "That shouldn't be right. Only an hour, and the Shadow Mouse left?"
Suddenly— "Crunch, crunch~~" The familiar, faint sound of gnawing started again. Lin Lei's eyes lit up, and he immediately walked towards the courtyard of another dilapidated ancient house. As he stepped over the threshold, he clearly saw the little black Shadow Mouse moving about, gnawing on a stone, like a sculptor shaping a rock into a strange form.
Lin Lei stood at the threshold.
"Bam!" He deliberately kicked the threshold, making a small noise.