Chapter 23: The Strategic Shift: Battle Pets and Level 100 Crafting

Hank pondered for a moment before speaking.

“Even so, we still need to devise another plan. The monsters in this cursed forest at night are like they’re on drugs; it’s far too dangerous.

However, if we forgo hunting monsters at night, reaching level 200 will be virtually impossible.”

“Moreover, the Azure Dragon, being our ultimate target, certainly won’t be easy to deal with.

If there’s too great a disparity in strength, let alone capturing the Azure Dragon, it’s debatable whether we could even defeat it.”

“That’s certainly true,” Kabasiji nodded, then turned to Xingxing and Xue Hu.

“By the way, let me ask you two, have either of you captured battle pets?”

“Is your monster-hunting efficiency so low because you haven’t caught any battle pets?”

“Battle pets? What are those?” Xingxing asked, her voice laced with curiosity.

Just then, Kabasiji summoned a bat the size of a person, startling Xingxing so much that she leaped back.

“Ah! A bat! Why is there a monster here?!”

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t panic! I knew you two hadn’t captured any battle pets.

This isn’t a monster; it’s my battle pet!” Kabasiji immediately called the bat to his side, stroking its head as he spoke.

“A battle pet, as the name suggests, is a companion that helps you fight.

After you defeat a monster, you can ‘capture’ its corpse, turning it into your battle pet.

In fact, the process for capturing the Azure Dragon later on will be exactly the same.”

“Then, if we capture battle pets now, won’t it affect our ability to capture the Azure Dragon later?” Xingxing asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

“What if there’s no space left for the Azure Dragon?”

“Also, this bat doesn’t seem like a high-level monster, does it?

Why don’t you go capture a high-level monster to be your battle pet?”

“Oh, if only it were that easy!” Kabasiji shook his head.

“Not all monsters can be captured, and among those we’ve defeated so far that *can* be captured, this ‘Vampire Bat’ is the highest level.”

“However, once a battle pet is captured, it turns into an item stored in your inventory.

You simply use it when you want to summon it, so it won’t hinder you from capturing other battle pets.”

“If you catch a higher-level one later, you can just swap it out.

Plus, this one can level up, making it quite useful.”

Xue Hu noticed that Xingxing was no longer stuttering.

While it might have been understandable if she had grown comfortable with the other girls during the day, the fact that she wasn’t stuttering now raised suspicions.

‘It seems this little girl, Xingxing, might have been faking it from the start, trying to gain sympathy and affection.

We really need to be wary of her.’

“Even so, our current strength is still insufficient to venture deeper into the forest or to hunt monsters at night,” Xue Hu wrote on the wooden board.

“I have a suggestion; what do you all think?”

“We are currently lacking equipment and some buff-type consumables.

I just researched the crafting professions, and I think it would be better if we practiced them for a few days, got all our equipment sorted, and *then* went monster hunting, wouldn’t it?”

“Hmm, Xue Hu, what you’re saying isn’t without merit,” Hank mused, stroking his chin.

“But the problem is, leveling up crafting professions also takes time.

Can we really afford to spend that much time?”

“Keep in mind that crafting professions and warrior levels aren’t shared.

This means that if we start practicing crafting professions now, we’d have to begin from scratch, which would be far too time-consuming!”

“No, actually, our crafting professions start at level 100; the system can be quite considerate sometimes,” Xue Hu said, shaking her head with a smile.

She then walked over to the class-change NPC, made her selection, and a white light shone from her body.

In an instant, she transformed into a “Fisherman,” complete with a bamboo hat and a straw rain cape.

“I can show you by inviting you to a party.

I’m currently level 100, and I can fish for most types of fish and cook them into dishes that grant various buffs.”

Xingxing glanced at the party information.

Indeed, Xue Hu had become a level 100 “Fisherman,” but her HP and MP bars had turned gray.

“It’s true!” she asked in surprise.

“Xue Hu really turned into a level 100 ‘Fisherman’! But why did her HP and MP bars turn gray?”

Hank and Kabasiji excitedly disbanded their current party and submitted “party invitations” to Xue Hu.

(After Chen Lili’s death, the captaincy had automatically been assigned to Xue Hu, and Xingxing hadn’t voiced any objections.)

As soon as they joined the party, they saw Xue Hu’s and Xingxing’s personal information.

Xue Hu had indeed become a level 100 “Fisherman,” just as Xingxing had said.

“Well, what do you think? I didn’t lie to you, did I?” Xue Hu explained on the wooden board.

“As for the HP and MP bars, do you remember what the system once said?

Crafting professions cannot be attacked by monsters.

This means that HP and MP bars are superfluous for crafting professions, so they naturally turn gray.”

“So, what are your thoughts now on my suggestion?”