Chapter 166: Origin Realm, Seduction Technique

〖With your perspective, I’m sure you know〗 Neo said, 〖beasts aren’t mindless summons that are loyal because of the system. Every beast that’s bound to someone has a reason. Take me, for example, what do I want? I’m borrowing your hands to settle the score for the Old Village.〗

"I understand," Scarlett said. "We’re taught that summons aren’t mindless. They have their own thoughts, even if those thoughts are small. That’s why many people on Earth treat their beasts as brothers and as friends."

〖Then why don’t you understand your beast?〗Neo asked. 〖You understand your family, you understand your friends. If you really treat it like family, like a friend, then you should understand it. But you don’t. Why? Because many of you narrow your view of your beasts, dividing them into only two categories—loyal or disloyal〗

Scarlett scratched her head, a little confused: "So you mean we should look at it from a broader perspective?"

〖In short, yes〗 Neo said. 〖Look at humans. Humans aren’t just divided into good and bad. There are good ones, half-good ones, gray ones, annoying ones, bad ones, and utterly bad ones. All sorts of people, mixed together. It’s not just one or two. But if you say you treat your beasts as family, as your kind, then what gives you the right to categorize them into two types only?"〗

After Neo said so, some silence followed.

Scarlett pondered this and found it reasonable.

Beasts are more mysterious than humans.

They have the temperaments humans have, and they also have temperaments humans don’t.

So, to force them into any category in a single sentence is too simplistic.

Besides, hers is a mythic phoenix. Can a phoenix be explained in a few words?

〖This method of taming beasts is called Seduction Technique〗Neo said. 〖The first step is to understand its nature. The second step is to figure out what the beast wants beneath that nature. The third step is to give it what it wants〗

A confused Scarlett frowned, asking, "Isn’t that just the most common way of taming beasts?"

〖It is. But the one you’re familiar with, that’s the kind that flattens Beasts into two boxes — good, or too wild. You’ll know how to train a puppy, and the moment you run into a dragon, you’re lost. Your Phoenix, same story.〗

〖But if you look at it from all angles, you’ll find that they are beings with souls. There are six kinds: survival, freedom, Loyalty, Domination, Wisdom, Desire.〗

〖Survival-type wants stability and longevity〗

〖Freedom-type wants autonomy, wants to move, to choose〗

〖Loyalty-type wants companionship, wants attachment, wants something to hold onto〗

〖Dominance-type wants strength, wants to stand above others〗

〖Wisdom-type wants cleverness, wants to see through things〗

〖Desire-type wants a goal, and wants to achieve goals〗

〖Six types, each with its purpose. You can’t use one method to deal with all six. Which type of phoenix you are, you have to see for yourself.〗

*******

A few minutes later, Scarlett fell asleep.

When she awoke, she heard the sound of a branch snapping.

Meaning something was sneaking around the corner.

The fact that it could get so close before making a sound meant it had bypassed the Camp’s defense effect.

Gripping her flaming sword, Scarlett stood up and faced the approaching monster, whom she was trying to understand how it got into the camp.

However, after a longer look at this creature, she realized it wasn’t a monster, but it was a beast.

This explains why it was able to enter the camp, because the camp’s defenses only protected against monsters, not beasts.

Nevertheless, that did not make the beast safe.

It was a wolf-like beast. White fur, filthy and brownish. Dark eyes, radiating ferocity.

Soon, Scarlett realized it wasn’t there to fight or kill. It was there to eat her and Neo’s food. After all, Neo was munching on the beast rations that she had upgraded with her Refinement talent.

These refined rations must have increased aroma. And that strong aroma attracted uninvited guests.

However, Scarlett didn’t eliminate the danger, nor did she pursue it. Instead, she wanted to use this opportunity to try the Seduction Technique to tame the beast, because it was, after all, a beast, not a monster.

It must be said that trying to tame a beast you know nothing about, whose habits you have no idea about, or even what kind it is, is a gamble, and the slightest mistake could cost you dearly, like result in being torn apart by the same beast.

But Scarlett still intended to try, because, after all, true beast taming means taming a beast that you are stranger to.

Instead of targeting docile, well-known beasts, her choice is prey on unfamiliar ones.

GRRR.....

The Wolf growled dangerously as Scarlett moved slowly, dropping her burning sword and raising her hands.

The meaning was, "I won’t harm you."

The wolf appeared weary yet ferocious, its body covered in healed scars.

Judging by its appearance, it should have been dead long ago. It was the Black Sun Origin Realm’s "Rapid Recovery" that kept it alive whenever it sustained mortal wounds.

Immediately, Scarlett began to consider, according to Neo, which category this wolf belonged to.

A hungry wolf, savage and repeatedly on the verge of death, in this monster-infested realm. Always living in fear and always beaten by monsters.

Could it be a "survival-oriented" beast? Or a "loyal" beast?

It might be a survival-oriented one, because it came here in search of food, and it seemed to be attacked every minute.

But it can also be a loyalty-oriented one, because it seems lonely and needs some companions to watch its back.

Scarlett remembered that Neo didn’t say a beast cannot belong to two categories, so she tried to satisfy the wolf’s needs for both "survival" and "loyalty."

Slowly, she approached the wolf with high-quality beast food.

GRRRRLL.....

As she drew near, the wolf growled anxiously, but was surprised to find her still approaching.

The wind rustled the wolf’s fur, and Scarlett’s hair fluttered in the breeze.

She knelt before it and offered it the beast food.

At the same time, she stroked its fur, feeling the scars and pain on this beast she was yet to know.

Finally, as it ate hungrily from her hand, a tear slid from Scarlett’s eye, and she pressed her forehead against the wolf.

〖Ding!〗

〖Congratulations...〗