Chapter 039: The Imprisoned Ghost Rhino!

Beast King Fortress is the main stronghold for the orcs in the Chinese region, constructed from massive stones and resembling a minor city. Its area is equivalent to ten football fields, making it the largest among all strongholds. The orc tribe's outposts are marked on the world map, and the smaller maps connected to it are merely sub-points; the temporarily established main city is not particularly grand.

The orcs inside Beast King Fortress are level 40, and for now, no professional players or experts dare to challenge this stronghold. The level gap is simply too great; they would be killed instantly before even getting a few steps inside.

"I'll go in first and take a look!" With that, the shapeshifter Morning Wind transformed into a crow and flew toward Beast King Fortress. The others could only watch from outside.

Monk, seeing how easily Morning Wind entered Beast King Fortress, was jealous and said, "If only I'd chosen to be a rogue, then I could sneak in too!"

Currently, rogues are the most popular for assaulting orc strongholds. The reason is simple: rogues can sneak inside, making it the easiest way to obtain good items. For other professions, it's usually a matter of a large group charging in together and seeing who can grab the treasures. For a shapeshifter like Morning Wind, not only can he become a panther and sneak, but he can also turn into a crow and fly inside, making it extremely convenient.

Even as a crow, Morning Wind was exceptionally cautious when entering Beast King Fortress. If a mighty orc spotted him, he would be doomed. He flew in through an unguarded section of the wall, hid atop a wooden roof, and evaded the gaze of the mighty orcs. In the center of the fortress lay a small lake, surrounded by many wooden huts and tents, with numerous armored and armed mighty orcs patrolling the area.

"Don’t come in, the guards here are much denser than those at ordinary strongholds. If you try to force your way in, you’ll be surrounded and killed in an instant!" Morning Wind reported his findings. He knew the three outside would soon grow impatient and try to rush in themselves. With the fortress’s guards, even making it through the gates would mean facing a barrage from numerous orc warriors and shamans.

"Damn, does this mean I can't raid the stronghold tonight? What a waste!" Monk regretted his decision, wishing he hadn’t accompanied Morning Wind to the main stronghold. "You jerk, Morning Wind, we still have time to check out other outposts. Stay here by yourself!"

"Suit yourself," Morning Wind replied, knowing Monk wouldn’t want to wait around. Besides, they couldn’t help him from outside anyway.

"We're leaving then!" Martial Maniac, a bit more courteous, said before following Monk, while Shadow left silently without a word.

Exploring Beast King Fortress alone is no easy task! Fortunately, Morning Wind’s shapeshifter class is well-suited for survival in this environment. After calming himself, he began observing the patrol routes of the guards and looking for hidden spots among the surrounding buildings. The crow’s small size and black feathers made it very effective for concealment in the night, but Morning Wind’s instincts warned him that any slip would be fatal.

Orc hunters!

Morning Wind saw twelve orc hunters patrolling with their hounds. When a hound passed beneath the hut where Morning Wind was hiding, he even suppressed his breathing for fear of drawing attention. Luckily, the hounds didn’t pick up his scent; otherwise, it would have ended badly.

Even a rogue would likely be discovered by the hounds soon. Beast King Fortress truly isn’t somewhere players can handle at this stage. Just as Morning Wind was about to attempt an exploration, he suddenly heard incomprehensible, rough and heavy voices from inside the hut—clearly the orc language.

Looking again, Morning Wind realized this hut was the largest in the fortress; perhaps it was worth investigating for loot. After the hounds moved on, he slowly flew to the window. Inside, he saw two orcs conversing; the names above their heads were "Chieftain Carter of Beast King Fortress" and "Captain Dorman of the Beast King Fortress Guards."

After talking for a while, the chieftain and captain left the hut, apparently to attend to something. Morning Wind quickly flew through the half-open window and transformed back to human form, searching for anything worth taking.

Nothing? Not a single item!

Morning Wind was frustrated. Such a large hut, yet not a single decent item—not even a scroll! It was clearly not the chieftain’s room, but the captain’s. The chieftain’s quarters were probably in a cave by the mountainside, but entering there was nearly impossible.

Roar...

Just as Morning Wind was about to leave and check other huts, a roar rumbled up from below, prompting him to shift from crow back to human form. There were no cages nearby, so the sound could only mean there was a basement beneath the hut.

After searching carefully, Morning Wind found an entrance under the bedroom floor. When he lifted the floorboards, the roaring grew louder.

"What kind of fierce pet could this be?" Morning Wind wondered, cautious of potential traps as he descended into the basement. There, he saw a ghostly humanoid rhinoceros, chained and unable to break free, roaring wildly.

A ghost rhinoceros! And a mutated ghost humanoid rhinoceros!

Ghost pets are extremely rare. Even after two years of game operation, Morning Wind had never seen one, and now he had found a mutated ghost rhinoceros here. This humanoid ghost rhinoceros was ferocious, even more so than the legendary ghost white tiger.

"If you want to leave this place, become my pet! I’ll make you the most powerful ghost creature in this world!" Morning Wind didn’t waste words; time was of the essence. If Captain Dorman returned, taming the ghost rhinoceros would become much harder.

Morning Wind didn’t start the taming immediately; he let the ghost rhinoceros calm down first. After a few more roars, it finally quieted, seemingly realizing escape was impossible and it would have to become someone’s pet.

[Mutated Ghost Rhinoceros's Rage]: Taming condition. You must kill "Captain Dorman of the Beast King Fortress Guards" before the ghost rhinoceros in order to tame it. Mission duration: 1 hour. Restrictions: solo.

Morning Wind had thought he could tame it right away, but the mutated ghost rhinoceros’s rage toward the captain was so intense that this condition had to be met. Now he was in trouble: at only level 24, how could he defeat a level 40 elite monster? If he were playing a warrior, he might have a chance; with the Orichalcum Axe, he wouldn’t worry about damage. But his shapeshifter clone lacked real burst power.

Wait! Hunter class? Morning Wind looked around the small basement, barely forty square meters, and realized that the hunter had no advantage here at all, making it easier to kill. The main concern was preventing the captain from escaping to summon reinforcements.

Tap...

Hearing footsteps, Morning Wind knew the captain was coming down—his only chance to strike. Morning Wind immediately shifted into panther form and entered stealth mode, ready to ambush.

Sure enough, Captain Dorman the orc hunter descended. The mutated ghost rhinoceros roared furiously at the sight of him, its once pale eyes nearly crimson. As Dorman approached the ghost rhinoceros, he sensed something, but before he could react, Morning Wind activated his skill.

Shadow Strike!

This skill was much like a rogue’s ambush—used in stealth, plunging both claws into the opponent’s back for high damage. Morning Wind, now familiar with his shapeshifter skills, executed it with 90% proficiency, dealing 778 points of damage. Despite a sixteen-level difference, delivering such a blow was remarkable.

Crushing Rend!

Seizing the moment, Morning Wind unleashed another skill, which not only inflicted damage but added a continuous effect. Now, Morning Wind could only whittle away the orc hunter’s health; killing him quickly was impossible.

Dodge!

The hunter drew a large blade and slashed, but Morning Wind leapt back to evade, then rushed forward, driving both claws into the hunter’s eyes, blinding him. For four seconds, the orc hunter couldn’t use skills.

Blinded, the hunter swung his blade wildly, while Morning Wind darted aside, reverted to human form, cast a healing spell, then transformed into bear form and charged. As a bear, he tanked the boss and unleashed a flurry of skills, then leapt back, healed himself, and shifted again into panther form to continue the assault. In panther form, Morning Wind’s defense was low, so he relied on close combat and movement to keep the hunter from escaping.

After ten minutes, Morning Wind finally wore down the orc hunter! Killing a level 40 as a level 24 seems impossible, but in this stone chamber, the hunter had no room for kiting or shooting and was forced into melee combat, giving Morning Wind a chance. Outside in a more open area, Morning Wind would have had to flee.

[Ghost Rhinoceros]: Mutated ghost pet. Attack aptitude: 1634, defense aptitude: 1623, stamina aptitude: 6550, mana aptitude: 1280, speed aptitude: 1555. Comes with the skills: [Advanced Penetration], [Crushing Impact], [Advanced Reinforcement].

After looting the orc hunter’s drops, Morning Wind escaped Beast King Fortress to examine the ghost rhinoceros’s stats. Its aptitudes were astonishingly high—the highest attack stats he had ever seen in a pet. Unfortunately, it had only three skills, limiting its usefulness. For comparison, Morning Wind’s Sandstorm Birdman, not counting spell skills, had seven abilities. High stats are meaningless if a pet lacks enough skills.

"Let’s risk it and try mutating again!" Morning Wind couldn’t accept a ghost rhinoceros with only three skills. He had plenty of skill books in his warehouse, but couldn’t apply them now. He could only attempt another mutation, though it was irreversible—if the result was an even worse ghost rhinoceros, he’d have to resign himself to fate.