Arena Chapter 167:

Chapter 167 – Growth of the Eagles (Part 2)

The employees dispatched from the research agency worked from East Sa Geum Island .

The security agents rode motorboats and scouted the area while the other employees set up barbed wire fencing on East Sa Geum Island .

I figured that their plan was to wrap it seamlessly in barbed wire and raise the dairy cows from Arena inside of it .

The ship came by every day and brought building supplies like barbed wire and food, and brought tons of food for the eagles too .

Now, every time the ship appeared, the rake eagles nearly drooled and flew in circles around it .

With that much food, the rake eagles were growing noticeably every day .

The two sets of parents that were already adults, number one, two, seven, and eight, were already three times as big as a normal rake eagle and looked like giant monsters .

The other babies weren’t as large as their parents but looked to be about as twice as big as a normal rake eagle .

They were continuing to benefit from my growth acceleration skill so catching up to their parents was just a matter of time .

“With this many, if you combined the power of all ten, don’t you think you could hunt wyverns too?”

“It would be a stretch without a finding a way to pierce through the skin of a wyvern . ”

A way to pierce through… .

Then again, Cha Ji-hye was right . Without a level of attack equal to using a weapon imbued with aura, you cannot pierce it .

The rake eagles had talons like that could be considered lethal weapons but they were a bit lacking if we wanted to catch a wyvern .

“Hold on, do you think there’s some weapon for the eagles?”

“There should be gear, like the armor of a horse, which can used on animals . ”

“Now that you mention it I’ll have to take a look . ”

I happen to have 1,300 karma with nowhere to really use it so I’ll look for some gear and equipment for the eagles .

“Summon board . ”

I then said to the board that was summoned .

“Show me gear I can use for the eagles . ”

Then the words began to wiggle on the board . Two items were listed .

-Showing items that can be used on rake eagles .

Steel rake: a weapon that can be attached to the feet of pet birds . These are sharp steel blades that are worn on the bird’s talons . (-100) Steel armor – animal-use only: armor that can be used by all kinds of animals . (-100)

‘Hm . ’

Just two items .

But I didn’t really like them .

The steel rakes aren’t very useful for rake eagles whose talons were already as strong as steel .

The steel armor did seem like it would help with defense but wearing defense tools that are made of steel meant it would likely hinder their flight speed .

“Nothing I really like . ”

“What is there?”

“Steel rake and steel armor for animals? Just those two is all . ”

“Items that you can get with karma are only based on things that exist in Arena . Ironwork weapons from Arena that isn’t industrialized, are very expensive, and instances where they are created for animals is pretty rare . ”

“I guess so . But it would still be nice if there was a tool imbued with magic or something . ”

“How about instead you create something in Arena? Have a magician and a blacksmith commission it for you . That should work . ”

“Ah, I could . ”

In Arena I was a noble with the title of count and had my own land . With my standing, I could always commission something like that .

“Hm, then is there nothing else for me to buy . ”

I feel a little let down .

But then, Cha Ji-hye suggested something completely different .

“How about you try a skill synthesis?”

“Skill synthesis?”

“If you use ingredients that are items made for animals, don’t you think you’d get a skill made for an animal?”

“…… . . Huh? I suppose so . ”

Why hadn’t I thought of that?

“I’ll buy the steel rakes . ”

I said to the board .

-You have acquired the steel rake . Along with the name of your pet, say ‘arm and the weapon will be applied to the pets’ talons . Say ‘disarm’ and the weapon will disappear .

-Remaining karma: +1,200

“I’ll buy the armor too . ”

-You have acquired the Steel Armor – Animal-use only . Along with the name of your pet, say ‘wield’ and the gear will be summoned . ‘The gear will disappear when you say ‘un-wield . ’

-Remaining karma: +1,100

For now, I bought one of each .

But then I had a thought to dress up one of the eagles once before using it for skill synthesis . Because I was curious how it would look .

“Number one, come here!”

When I called, number one screeched and came shooting like an arrow to me .

I was petting its back which number one enjoyed .

‘Now, shall I arm you?’

“Number one, arm; number one, wield . ”

Then, heinously long daggers attached themselves onto both of number one’s talons .

Not only that, but all over its body the armor strung itself together as small pieces of steel locked in place to look like scales .

“Wow……”

I was in awe at number one with its weapons and defense gear on .

With that big build, number one’s entire body being wrapped in the steel made me feel danger like that of a mythological creature .

Number one was slightly uncomfortable but it must have become accustomed to it quickly because it didn’t notice the weapons or gear on its feet and body much .

“It is impressive . ”

Said Cha Ji-hye . It was the first time in a while that she had this expression as she looked at the impressive looking number one .

This expression of her being in such admiration, it was the first time since she saw Sylph use the Mosin-Nagant .

Cha Ji-hye was petting number one’s back which was wrapped in armor as she said .

“I think it would be better if there was a seat on the back . ”

“Ah, right . If there were handles too it’d be easier to steer . ”

“That is also a good idea . ”

“I’ll have to ask the blacksmith when I get to Arena and commission one . ”

I’ll have to check out a magician too since it’d be good if they could put a magic that would make the armor lighter or increase the strength of the gear .

“But because it isn’t an item you’ll have to individually store them in the virtual space and dress them one by one . ”

“After I create it I’ll have to use karma to itemize it or something . Of course that’s when I have the karma to do so . ”

“For now try the skill synthesis . ”

“Ah . right . ”

I cleared the steel rake and armor that number one was wearing .

“Skill synthesis . ”

-Please choose skills or items you wish to synthesize . ”

Skills available for synthesis: spirit summons (Sylph), spirit summons (Kasa), physical strength buff, guider, teleport, vision buffer, animal taming . Items available for synthesis: AW50F, Neilson H2 (Qty 2), magnum 357 (qty 4), Neilson R8, steel rake, steel armor – animal-use only .

*Items used for synthesis will be consumed .

“I synthesize Sylph and steel rake . ”

-Synthesizing spirit summons (Sylph) and steel rake .

-Synthesis successful . You have acquired rake wind (synthesis skill) .

-Steel rake will be consumed .

-Rake wind (synthesis skill): attack enemies by creating a sharp wind with talons . Only usable by animals tamed under animal taming (assist skill) .

*Entry level 1: cool down 60 minutes .

“Ohhh!”

“Did something come of it?”

“Yes! A very good skill!”

I explained to her about the new rake wind skill .

“If the cool down is 60 minutes, you can only use it once an hour . I’m curious how powerful it is . ”

“I’m sure the cool down and power will be better as the levels increase . For now I’ll keep trying to synthesize . ”

For now, I used another 100 karma to buy one more steel rake .

Then I tried the skill synthesis again .

“I’ll synthesize Kasa and steel rake . ”

-Synthesizing spirit summons (Kasa) with steel rake .

-Synthesis failed .

Disappointingly, it failed this time .

Perhaps because they’re birds, it matched with Sylph, the spirit of wind, but doesn’t seem to match with Kasa, the spirit of fire .

I continued attempting to synthesize with other skills .

Guider, teleport, vision buffer, animal taming . But the synthesis failed with all these assist skills .

But when I synthesized with the physical strength buff it created yet another new skill .

-Synthesis successful . You have acquired talon strength (synthesis skill) .

-Steel rake will be used .

-Talon strength (synthesis skill): strengthens the talons to be strong and sharp . Only useable on animals tamed under animal taming (assist skill) .

*Entry level 1: talons become strong as steel .

‘Nice!’

I rejoiced with fists pumped .

Following that I used the steel armor as a synthesis ingredient .

-Synthesizing spirit summons (Sylph) and steel armor .

-Synthesis failed .

-Synthesizing spirit summons (Kasa) and steel armor .

-Synthesis failed .

After that, the physical strength buffer, guider, teleport, vision buffer, animal training, synthesis also all failed .

With no choice, I returned the animal armor for karma .

Remaining karma 1,000 .

‘Huh, I don’t need the AW50F anymore right? I should exchange this for karma too . ’

It took 3,300 karma to itemize the AW50F . When I exchanged it, 1,650 was refunded back to me .

Altogether, I had 2,650 karma!

For now, I’ll have to use this to raise the levels of the skills I got today .

After much consideration, I raised the talon strength to intermediate level 1 .

-Using 1400 karma to raise talon strength (synthesis skill) to intermediate level 1 .

-Talon strength (synthesis skill): talons strengthen to become stronger and sharper . Only usable on animals tamed under animal taming (assist skill) .

*Intermediate level 1: talons become as strong as diamonds .

-Remaining karma: +1,250

‘Damn . ’

When I upgraded it from entry to intermediate, the explanation changed from steel to diamonds .

All ten of the rake eagles I had would now have talons as strong as diamonds .

“I will invest the remaining karma into raising the level of the rake wind . ”

When I said that to the board, a light shone out from the board again .

-1000 karma will raise rake wind (synthesis skill) to entry level 5 .

-Rake wind (synthesis skill): create a sharp wind with talons to attack enemies . Only usable by animals tamed with animal taming (assist skill) .

*Entry level 5: cool down 1 minute

-Remaining karma: +250

The cool down decreased from 60 minutes to 1 minute .

Since I could use it once every minute, it was like the power of the skill had been exponentially upgraded .

I felt proud because I thought I had used the karma well .

My ten rake eagles now had talons like diamonds plus long distance attack capabilities .

With these abilities, not only are they good for aerial movement but they boast incredible fighting prowess .

Going forward, if I master the talon strength and rake wind, in a fight against an average examinee they may not lose .

‘If I master the animal training, I can train 2 more animals, shall I try to tame a stronger beast this time?’

Rake wind was a skill only usable by bird type pets .

But not the talon strength . If it’s an animal that I tame, then it doesn’t matter what kind of animal it is .

It doesn’t matter even if it’s an animal like a tiger or a wolf .

I asked Cha Ji-hye .

“What animal do you like?”

“I like cats . ”

“Hm, cats…… I don’t know if there’s a cat worth training . ”

“Is that what you meant? Then a beast more useful in battle than a cat……”

“No, you said you like cats so I’ll train a cat . ”

“No, what I meant was……”

“For you, I’ll definitely pick a cat . ”

“You asked what I like, not in that sense…”

“A cat for sure . ”

I declared matter-of-factly and felt glee while watching Cha Ji-hye get flustered because of it . This is what I lived for .