Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 346: Chapter 346. Attempting a Mental Link

Ha Gild brought Amon to the internal courtyard. The entire complex was surrounded by tall walls, so the people outside couldn’t see what was inside. Now that Amon laid eyes on the inside, it was incredibly huge. Its layout made it seem more like a ranch. It had several buildings in its periphery, while the large open space in the middle was divided by fences.

Amon could see some of these fenced areas were occupied by students, some had spirit beasts, and most were empty. The fenced area they were in was empty except for Ha Gild, him, and an assistant. Ha Gild nodded to this assistant, who then entered a nearby building.

Amon looked at the fences surrounding the place. It had words of power inscribed on them. He put his hand above the fence. His hand hit an invisible wall.

”The enchantment keeps the spirit beasts inside and prevents them from wandering about,” Ha Gild informed.

Amon waited there while Ha Gild kept speaking. After a while, the assistant returned. He had a pair of reins in his hand. Towed behind the assistant were two dog-like creatures with bronze-black furs. Amon identified the creatures as the Marsh Howling Hounds. They were classified as lower superior beasts.

”The Marsh Howling Hounds are the standard spirit beasts we use to train beginner beast tamers,” Ha Gild explained. ”They are weak compared to senior class students, so the students should have no problem dominating them. They are also slightly docile for spirit beasts. Aside from that, they are abundant and easy to capture. Hence, they are cheap. We can always buy a new one if something goes wrong during the mental-linking process.”

”Why must you catch a new one if the mental-linking process goes wrong?” Amon asked.

”Because, in the best scenario, the spirit beast will be too distraught to accept another mental link for quite some while. At worst, the spirit beast dies,” Ha Gild answered.

”What about the tamer? Will there be a backfire if the process fails?”

”There is, but not as severe as for the spirit beast. The worst a tamer can suffer is needing rest for a few days before attempting another mental link. Still, I have seen cultivators with strong mental aptitude attempting another mental link directly after a failure.”

Ha Gild slapped Amon’s arm and added, ”You scored the best during the third entrance exam, right? So, you should have no problem in that department. That’s why I asked my assistant to bring two hounds in case you fail on your first try. Not that I want you to fail, though. Even though they are cheap, it doesn’t mean we can waste them for nothing.”

”What do I need to do?” Amon asked.

”Eager to learn. I like that!” Ha Gild exclaimed. He proceeded to take one of the reins from the assistant. The Marsh Howling Hounds tried to resist, but only mildly. The rein had words of power that soothed the hound and kept it from becoming aggressive.

”Your goal is to exert dominance over this hound,” Ha Gild said. ”To do that, you need to link with its energy core and use your energy to overwhelm it into submission. First, place your hand on it.”

Amon moved his hand above the hound’s head. He channeled his aether and released it in the hound’s direction. The hound tried moving away while whimpering. Ha Gild held the hound and kept it in place.

The hound’s head moved ever lower as Amon’s hand approached. The hound lowered its head until its lower jaw touched the ground. It closed its eyes as its body trembled when Amon’s hand touched its head.

”I need to warn you. You must be careful if you attempt to tame a wild spirit beast out there,” Ha Gild said. ”As I mentioned, this hound is mostly docile. We can easily control it. Other spirit beasts will most likely attack you when you try to dominate them. The higher the spirit beast’s grades, the more unlikely it is for you to tame them. High-grade spirit beasts had intelligence, and most prefer death over living under submission to a cultivator.”

”What should I do next?” Amon asked.

The assistant was rather ticked by Amon’s response. Ha Gild told Amon out of concern, but Amon acted like he didn’t need it.

Ha Gild didn’t seem offended, though. He answered, ”To start forming a mental link with this hound, you need to synchronize your aether with it. Once you do, you will be able to locate and intrude on its energy space.”

Amon closed his eyes and focused on doing what Ha Gild instructed. Every cultivator and spirit beast possessed a different frequency in their energy signature. Synchronizing his aether was adjusting his aether frequency to match his target. He had no problem with this because he had done this before when he practiced elemental support. Two cultivators needed to synchronize their energy to perform elemental support.

Ha Gild was an Intermediate Spirit Stage cultivator. He could sense Amon’s aether and its process of synchronizing with the Marsh Howling Hound. When he sensed that Amon had successfully achieved the objective, he said, ”Good, now concentrate on your energy core. Will it to reach out into the spirit beast.”

The assistant, who had a sour expression because of his unfavorable opinion of Amon, changed his expression into one that showed surprise. The Marsh Howling Hound might be among the easiest spirit beasts to be tamed, but the speed Amon synchronized his aether was still too fast for an inexperienced tamer.

Amon was fully focused on the task. His subconsciousness entered his energy space. As he tried to reach out as Ha Gild told him to, he observed thin threads of energy coming out of his energy core. These thin threads merged and became a thick cord that increased in length.

Following Amon’s will, the energy cord coursed through his arm and into his hand. From there, it attempted to pierce into the Marsh Howling Hound. The hound shivered when that happened. Ha Gild continued to hold it in place.

Amon felt resistance when his energy cord attempted penetration. His aether, which had synchronized with the hound’s, got into work. It blended with the hound’s aether and convinced it that the energy core was not hostile. Eventually, the mental wall blocking the energy core gave way.

Amon’s consciousness followed the energy core and entered the hound’s energy space. This was the first time his consciousness went into an alien energy space. He felt strange. It was nothing like when he was navigating his own energy space. It was empty all around. He didn’t know which way to go. He felt lost.

”Don’t worry,” he heard Ha Gild’s voice. ”The sensation is normal when you perform mental link for the first time. Take your time. Get used to it.”

Amon followed the advice. He went into a state of tranquility as he did when he meditated. At the same time, he expanded his senses to everything around him. Slowly, he didn’t feel as empty as before. The mental scenery of how he perceived the hound’s energy space also transformed. He now saw his surroundings as a large space covered by reddish clouds. A distance away was a red ball.

’That is the hound’s energy core,’ Amon thought.

He willed himself in that direction. His energy cord followed behind him.

When he arrived, he heard Ha Gild’s voice again. ”Very good. Now, slowly insert your energy cord into the energy core.”

Amon heeded the instructions. His energy cord moved past him and approached the red energy core. When the core and cord touched, a spark was ignited. An energy shockwave burst from the spark. It slammed into Amon’s mental body and almost obliterated it.

”Ugh...!” Amon’s mental body blurred for a while, but it slowly reformed and stabilized.

”Impressive! I did hear your mental capacity is above normal, but I’m still surprised,” Amon heard Ha Gild’s voice again. ”Most others... No, every student I know who attempted a mental link failed to withstand the mental backlash when they experienced it for the first time.”

’Asshole. This means he expected this backlash and didn’t warn me,’ Amon cursed in his mind.

”Don’t get discouraged. What happened was normal. All spirit beasts tamed through force will exhibit such resistance. You just need to be patient and continue your attempt to invade the energy core. Take your time. Continue exerting force. The energy core has its limits. Eventually, it will run out of energy. Since your cultivation is higher, it will run out of energy before you do. When that happens, you will be able to apply the mental link.”

’So, this is a brute force method,’ Amon thought. He sent a mental command for his energy cord to approach the red energy core again.

Since he knew what would happen, he was more prepared. He used his imagination and channeled his aether to form a mental shield before him. The backlash shockwave erupted again when his energy cord touched the target. The blast slammed into his mental shield.

The shield held. He wasn’t as disoriented as before.