Chapter 2 — The Skill Codex

No wonder that, fellow intern though he was, he had so little impression of the others — he had not even remembered their names... The pet beast files of the breeding base, on the other hand, he remembered a great deal of.

Shi Jin shook his head. For the time being, there was nothing bad about this. He would keep it that way for now.

The pressing matter was to slowly get familiar with this world first; socializing and the like could all be put off.

At last, after a stretch of effort spent loading a cart of meat feed, Shi Jin started the transport vehicle and drove alone to a certain snow mountain region — this was precisely the snow wolves' habitat.

On reaching the destination, he parked, got out, and then began hauling the meat. Shi Jin bustled about quickly.

In the midst of this, on the distant white slopes of the snow mountain, afterimages flickered, and the traces of dozens of giant wolves appeared.

"Awoo!!!~~~~"

"Awoo!!!~~~~"

A sound that made the heart tremble rang out. Amid howl after howl, the snow-white giant wolves on the mountain came running toward this side — fast at first, but gradually slowing to a walk.

Yet even walking, they carried an immense sense of menace.

"Awoo!!!~~~~"

Each giant wolf was two meters long and nearly one meter tall, splendidly developed. It was hard to imagine that these were merely "cubs."

Their bodies were covered in long white fur, while their tails, backs, and limbs were clad in very dense ice-blue hair.

As they came, the pack's blue pupils fixed on Shi Jin, fangs bared, a cold mist seeping from their mouths.

[Name]: Snow Wolf

[Attribute]: Ice

[Racial Rank]: High Transcendent

[Racial Skills]: Ice-Shatter Fang, Ice-Rending Claw, Snow Concealment, Chill Breath

[Description]: A transcendent beast species evolved in the snow mountain regions. Its frozen fangs and sharp claws can easily tear through steel, and it is exceedingly skilled at hidden hunting in snowy, windy weather.

Shi Ling's store of knowledge was decent, and the specific data on this kind of pet beast surfaced in his mind at once.

"Awooo!!!~~~~"

"Awooo!!!~~~~"

By now, one giant wolf after another was staring at Shi Jin with drool running down their jaws, their pupils gleaming.

"So I really can understand them."

As for Shi Jin, watched by a pack of snow wolves, he felt nothing but fresh wonder.

He did not need to guess that the pack was hungry and eager to eat, but he was genuinely hearing it.

This feeling of knowing exactly what the other side was saying... put him at ease and made his balls ache all at once.

At ease, because it felt like the two sides were on the same wavelength; aching, because one of the wolves had said it wanted a taste of him.

Damn it...

What kind of rotten job was this?

Had he come here to be a keeper, or to be backup ingredients?

"Where's the wolf king?"

Shi Jin tried his best to ignore the big talk and looked further off, searching for the thigh he meant to cling to.

"Grrrwooo!!!~~~~"

After this pack of snow wolves arrived, they had all stood meekly in a row, none daring to act rashly — not out of any fear of scaring Shi Jin, nor out of politeness, but because their boss had not yet come over.

At a roar of still greater menace, the pack parted to make way, and out walked a snow wolf of even more enormous build, fully three meters long and at least one meter sixty or seventy tall.

"Grrrwooo!!!~~~~"

The wolf king of the snow wolf pack paced slowly out, its gaze locking onto Shi Jin.

The other snow wolves all looked at the wolf king with fear and reverence.

Snow wolves were a highly gregarious transcendent species, and the wolf king held supreme intimidating power.

Some wolf kings could even awaken a deterrent skill that generated a sense of oppression, used to command the pack.

This was not a basic racial skill of the snow wolves, but a high-tier ability that could only be awakened later under extremely stringent conditions.

Under that deterrent force, the snow wolves were utterly docile, not daring to act rashly, and very orderly.

Clearly, the reason interns like Shi Jin could safely come feed this pack of snow wolves was not any telepathic ability to communicate, but the wolf king's deterrent.

This snow wolf king was the pet beast of a beast tamer at the breeding base, tasked with helping manage the pack.

Now Shi Jin suspected that the snow wolf king's master might be hiding somewhere on the scene, secretly watching his performance and scoring him...

But that person held very high standing throughout the breeding base, and this wolf king was only one of the pet beasts that person kept at large; surely they would not be bored enough to pay attention to a bunch of interns like them.

Could it be that this wolf was his grading teacher? Shi Jin's expression turned strange.

Next, the snow wolf king walked closer step by cold step and came to Shi Jin's side.

Shi Jin's heart tightened for a moment, and he watched this magnificent giant wolf with a peculiar look in his eyes.

The sense of oppression this wolf king gave him was nothing the ordinary snow wolves could compare with.

A single glance from it, and the deterrent it exuded was enough to set Shi Jin's heart pounding.

At this moment the wolf king was likewise looking at Shi Jin; it did not go straight to feeding, but with cold air wreathing its body, it continued to approach him.

Then its body brushed past Shi Jin's, and its head touched him lightly.

By convention, the wolf king would leave its scent on the intern keeper, letting that scent carry its unique deterrent on the keeper's body, so that the pack would be much more docile during feeding.

When Shi Jin felt the chill at his side, he understood that the wolf king had marked him.

So this was how it left its scent?

Not bad — far more civilized than marking by pissing.

As Shi Jin was marveling, his skill codex suddenly took effect.

Because the wolf king had just subconsciously released its deterrent, and had also come into contact with Shi Jin...

Such a dramatic and smooth process left Shi Jin dazed for a moment; he had been wondering how to find a chance to copy a snow wolf's skill, and it had turned out to be this easy?

And it was even the wolf king's high-tier skill.

The codex opened to its first page, and at the very top was an image of this snow wolf king.

Below it was a mass of text.

[Skill]: Intimidation

[Skill Grade]: Advanced

[Description]: A psychic-type skill that allows the user to intimidate, overawe, and command through sheer presence, and can also cause creatures far weaker than the user to faint. It is the symbol of possessing "the qualifications of a king."

[Status]: No teaching target at present

————

Chapter Two is here. Thanks to Vera0205, Hen Meng Hen Hao Chi, Lady Liuxi's Mystic Crystal, the Old Bookworm of '06, Violet Thunder Venerable, and other esteemed patrons for their Grand Patron support; thanks to He Jia and Young Master He for their Sect Master support; thanks to Gu Yan Di Tian Xiao for their Helmsman support; and thanks to all fellow readers for your tips, monthly tickets, and recommendation support!