Worthless Profession: Dragon Tamer

Chapter 180, Military Merits, Goal: Bronze Wing

Translator: Silavin

Seeing that Lu Fan did not need their help and could keep up with everyone’s flying speed, Lui Fei’s expression softened a bit. For him, the less trouble Lu Fan caused them, the more at ease he felt. If they had to bring someone who could not even fly, how could they even talk about exploration missions?

In four days’ time, advancing fifty kilometres would be good enough.

The four of them advanced together towards the deeper parts of the Far North. Although they were all flying, their speed was not fast. In fact, their altitude was very low, only about tens of metres above the ground.

This made Lu Fan confused, because logically speaking, the higher they flew, the fewer Monsters they would encounter, and the exploration mission would be completed faster.

So, Lu Fan raised his question to Lu Changkong, who was beside him.

Almost as soon as Lu Fan finished asking, before anyone could explain, a huge creature suddenly tore through the clouds in the skies ahead, reaching out with its claws.

The eagle guard at the front, used for scouting, did not even have time to dodge and was instantly killed.

“You see now? Above our heads, there are who knows how many of this type of Monsters. Rashly flying in high altitudes would attract them, and we would be easily encircled.” Lu Changkong said cheerfully, letting his Griffin get closer to Lu Fan.

“The Monsters here are all Level 75. You must not wander off. That way, I can keep you safe with my Skills at all times.”

Lu Fan saw that the creature that had just attacked was a giant lion-headed strange bird, similar in appearance to a Griffin but with some differences.

Lu Fan immediately cast Appraisal Eye on it and saw its Attributes.

It was called ‘Gamelyon (Fallen Corpse Puppet)’, a Level 75 Elite Monster with High Agility Attributes. It possessed the Passive Skill, Ice Crystal Refraction. Once in the cold air, it could use clouds, mist, and ice crystals to conceal its body, refracting light to achieve a Concealment Effect.

Moreover, when emerging from its Concealment to attack, it would inflict additional Frostbite Effects and even greater damage onto its enemies.

If one was not careful and was ambushed by this Monster, they could very likely perish on the spot.

Lu Fan finally understood why everyone was flying at such a low altitude.

Because for the Gamelyon to trigger its Ice Crystal Refraction Passive Skill, it needed to fly at a sufficient height to hide in the cold air.

With Lui Fei and others only flying at low altitudes, they maintained about a hundred metres distance from the Gamelyon. Even if it suddenly attacked, they would have time to react and avoid being killed in one hit.

The Gamelyon was not a Pack Monster, and usually appeared only as one.

Once it emerged from its concealed state, it was not actually that scary.

Lui Fei, as a High Damage Dealer Third Profession, Divine Punishment Knight, directly rode his Griffin to charge up and engage in battle with this Gamelyon.

Shen Cai also summoned two different types of Pet Eagles to help Lui Fei from the side.

Finally, the two successfully killed the Gamelyon.

Lu Changkong had been by Lu Fan’s side the whole time, not going forward. Seeing that the battle was over, he said to Lu Fan. “Monsters like this will be very common as we continue to explore. You also know that we’re now on ‘that thing’s’ body, so the Monsters here are not only numerous but also affected by some kind of power, all turning into Fallen Corpse Puppets. Their Attributes are much higher than before. For example, this Monster in front of us, in other parts of the Far North, would only be a Level 70 Normal Monster. But after becoming a Fallen Corpse Puppet, it turned into a Level 75 Elite Monster.”

“Still, not like it’s all bad. The Military Merits gained from killing one is also more than anywhere else. Shen Cai and I will probably become Bronze Wings in another month.” As he spoke, Lu Changkong tapped the badge on his chest.

Lu Fan nodded, quite interested in the so-called Military Merits, and asked. “Brother Lu, how are these Military Merits calculated?”

“It’s simple,” Lu Changkong patiently explained, “When hunting Monsters here, the badge automatically accumulates Military Merits. Also, after completing exploration missions, the badge will award Military Merits based on the explored area.”

“In fact, no matter what other method you use, most tasks won’t grant much Military Merits. In fact, it’s quite difficult to get Military Merits during peacetime. Brother Lui is a good example of this. After all this time, he’s only a Bronze Wing. That just shows how difficult it is to accumulate Military Merits.”

“I see,” Lu Fan silently noted in his heart because Tu Jing had previously said that his requirement for him was to get promoted to Bronze Wing before he had to leave the Far North.

Originally, Lu Fan thought that Bronze Wing was only one grade higher than Iron Wing, so it should not be difficult to get promoted. But now, even someone like Lu Changkong, who had been stationed here for over a year, had not become a Bronze Wing. [Seems like I would require a jaw-dropping amount of Military Merits to get promoted…]

At this point, Lui Fei had already called Lu Changkong and Lu Fan to continue advancing. Lu Fan did not think too much about it and followed along with Lu Changkong.

For the next ten hours, everyone continued to advance forward, encountering several waves of Monsters.

The Monsters here were all Actively Hostile Monsters, with High Levels and were extraordinarily strong. Encountering any of them was troublesome.

Therefore, in ten hours, the group only advanced a very small distance.

Lu Fan followed behind everyone, not making any rash moves. Because the area he was in was on ‘that thing’s’ body, there were many unexpected things here.

For example, some raised snow slopes had to be avoided, because under these snow slopes was not accumulated snow, but a purplish black gas. Once hit by this gas, one would be Frozen by frost, and in no time, would turn into a Fallen Corpse Puppet.

Most of the Monsters here had turned into Fallen Corpse Puppets, which was likely related to this purplish black gas.

Lu Fan felt that this was most likely the doing of the enormous creature under his feet. Although it had no vitality, it was using its body to change everything here.

Lu Fan was not sure if he and the Dragons had 100% Resistance and absolute Immunity to this strange gas.

He did not even want to take the risk.

Before figuring out everything that needed attention here, Lu Fan always stayed close to the experienced Lu Changkong, learning how to survive in the unfamiliar Wilderness.

These experiences were all figured out by the predecessors of the Griffin Legion at the cost of their lives.

After this period of silent learning, Lu Fan had a general understanding of how dangerous this place was. At the same time, he learned quite a few Wilderness survival skills from the three Seniors.

However, after such a long time of exploration, Lui Fei and Shen Cai could not hide the fatigue on their faces. After all, from beginning to end, they were responsible for leading the way.

Originally, a four-man squad cooperating with each other still faced great difficulty in advancing. Now, it was even worse. Not only could Lu Fan not help at all, but they also had to assign Lu Changkong to take care of him, which greatly hindered their squad.

Originally, their squad could advance for a day and night without rest, but the continuous high-intensity battles and additional concentration exhausted Lui Fei and Shen Cai.

The group decided to find a place, sheltered from the wind, to rest and eat.

Shen Cai’s Profession was quite interesting, as she could even summon Pet Eagles that could release Fire Skills.

She took out a pot and some canned food she carried, letting this Pet continuously spew fire to melt the snow in the pot. She then poured the canned food into the pot to boil.

The taste of field canned food was certainly not good, far inferior to the food made by Han Ke, but Lu Fan did not complain. He ate the food with the others, each holding a bowl, replenishing their energy.

Halfway through the meal, Shen Cai finally could not bear it anymore and said through gritted teeth. “I think if we continue like this, our exploration goals will be harder to complete as planned. Lu Fan, I will speak directly. I don’t care through what connections you used to manage to get onto our team. But I can tell you this, the mission on our shoulders is of great importance. If we still can’t figure out what kind of existence this monstrosity under our feet is before it fully awakens, then Dragon Country, no, the whole Human Race, will be in grave danger in the near future. This place is not for gaining prestige. So for the road ahead, I hope you either obediently go back and be an honest logistics soldier back at camp. Or, be useful, rather than requiring us to divert our energy to care for your life!”

“Shen Cai, silence!” Lui Fei glared at Shen Cai and said in a low voice. “It’s just one more person, we’ll just advance a bit slower.”

“But this is the Wilderness, not a playground…” Shen Cai was a bit emotional, but did not continue with the rest of her words. She knew that saying more might make Lu Fan develop misgivings.

Lui Fei was also silent for a moment. It was Lu Changkong who, seeing the atmosphere was a bit awkward, put his arm around Lu Fan’s shoulders and said. “Alright, alright. Shen Cai, I think you’re just thinking too much.”

“If we don’t consider Lu Fan’s status as a University student and his Low Level, he has just joined us. If he is an official member of the Griffin Legion, he would still be a new recruit. Wouldn’t he still need to follow us to figure out the situation here before he could really contribute to anything?”

“Earlier, I’ve already passed on what he needs to know. I believe Lu Fan already knows what can and can’t be done in this Hellish place. So, for the road ahead, I don’t need to follow him so closely. I can fight with you two in the frontline and share the pressure.”

Lu Fan could tell that if he kept dragging them down, the others would certainly have irrecoverable opinions of him. This was especially the case because Lui Fei and the others were tasked with such a vital mission.

Lu Fan nodded and said to everyone. “Brother Lui, Sister Shen, and Brother Lu, don’t worry. Brother Lu has taught me a lot before, and for the road ahead, I should be able to help you.”

Hearing Lu Fan say this, Shen Cai sighed and said. “You don’t need to help, as long as you can protect yourself in our team, that’s enough.”

Obviously, Shen Cai did not believe Lu Fan, who had just undergone his Second Profession Change, could be of much help.

Lu Changkong did not want to discourage Lu Fan’s enthusiasm and cheerfully asked. “Great, it’s best if you can help. By the way, Junior Brother, what’s your Profession? If it’s a Priest Type Profession, giving us some Buffs from behind. You would also be contributing if you can do that.”

Lu Fan smiled and said. “I’m a Silver Dragon Rider.”

“Silver Dragon Rider? A Hidden Profession? Your Profession Characteristics should be similar to us Knights, right? Then, it won’t be that easy for you to help. The Monsters here might kill you instantly if you try to charge ahead.” Lu Changkong scratched his head, slightly disappointed.

He did not know what Silver Dragon Rider represented.

Lu Fan was about to explain that his First Profession was Dragon Tamer, which specialises in taming Dragons. Unfortunately, a huge block of ice suddenly flew through the air, instantly smashing one of Shen Cai’s eagle guards into a pulp.