Chapter 101: Awakening the Beast Taming Skill

[Collecting!]
[Collection failed: There are still living creatures inside the hive.]

Just as Yeda hung suspended in midair, reaching out to touch the hive, intending to store the venom dart bee’s nest into his backpack, he received a failure notice.

“Still alive?” Yeda was puzzled. Weren’t all those venom dart bees already smoked out and dead? How could some still be alive?

But having finally exterminated the swarm, and with the sweet honey right before his eyes, Yeda was naturally unwilling to give up halfway.

He could only reach out, grasping a large hanging section of the hive, and snapped it off with force.

“Crack!”

A half-meter-long piece of hive broke off crisply, like a shard of brown sugar candy, landing firmly in Yeda’s hand.

The hive was quite heavy! Such a large chunk weighed about as much as a computer tower.

If it weren’t for Yeda’s petrification having increased his grip strength considerably, it would have been difficult to hold nearly twenty kilograms with one hand.

Because the hive was thick and slab-like, resembling an LCD screen, Yeda could only pinch it with his fingers.

Golden viscous honey flowed down from the snapped hive.

A faint floral fragrance mingled with the sweet scent of fructose surged into Yeda’s nostrils.

So fragrant, so sweet!

To prevent the honey from dripping away, Yeda hurriedly stored the hive chunk into his backpack.

[Collection successful!]

This large piece of honey easily fit inside the storage pack.

It seemed…

The part of the hive Yeda had just collected contained no living creatures.

Since the backpack could detect which areas of the hive still harbored living beings and which did not, Yeda naturally wouldn’t waste any time.

He quickly snapped off piece after piece of the hive.

The venom dart bee’s hive wasn’t oval like a common wasp’s but resembled thick overlapping roof tiles, each sheet sticking tightly to the cliff face.

Yeda snapped them off one by one, like breaking open Oreo cookies.

Peeling them apart revealed the hive’s interior.

Despite their venomous nature, the venom dart bees’ hive wasn’t much different from others—densely packed with small holes filled with golden honey.

Some holes also contained plump, white larvae curled motionless inside.

They appeared to have been killed by the toxic smoke!

Each time he broke off a piece, he immediately stored it in his backpack.

Until…

The fourth piece Yeda snapped off triggered a warning.

[Collection failed: There are still living creatures inside the hive.]

“Found it!” Yeda’s eyes lit up.

Although this piece couldn’t be stored, he was relieved—he could now collect the remaining hive pieces without dangling midair like Spider-Man.

Holding the hive chunk containing living creatures in one hand, and pressing the rest of the hive with the other,

[Collect!]

[Collection successful: Hive +6]

“Done!”

Yeda quickly descended to the base of the cliff, deciding to examine the hive chunk with living creatures once safely on the ground.

Being suspended in midair was truly difficult to operate in!

“Clack!”

The moment his feet touched solid ground, Yeda felt the true comfort of having a foothold.

Though he knew the grappling hooks kept him safe while suspended, the sensation of weightlessness made his heart race uncontrollably.

His heart rate surged so fast he almost feared a relapse of his congenital heart condition.

Now grounded, Yeda felt calm, as if his heart had settled back into place—such relief was wonderful.

“Crack!”

Immediately after landing, Yeda pried open the surface of the hive.

Then…

He saw a giant venom dart bee, the size of a key, struggling to rise within the hive.

It seemed severely poisoned, failing multiple attempts to crawl upright.

Yet its wings fluttered incessantly, gently beating the hive as it fought desperately for survival—a testament to the tenacity of life.

[Venom dart bee detected. Attempt to tame?]
[Note: The queen bee is currently weakened, increasing the taming success rate to 45%.]

The taming skill activated automatically?

Seeing this prompt, Yeda immediately realized it was a reward from completing the monster collection quest, granting him the secondary profession of Beast Tamer.

Though the novice Beast Tamer skill was somewhat underwhelming—only a 45% success rate to tame a weakened insect—Yeda still chose “Yes.”

After all, despite being just an insect, this venom dart bee was airborne and capable of deploying biochemical weapons—quite formidable.

If Yeda could have such a pet…

In future battles, he might even eliminate enemies before they realized it.

[Taming in progress!]

As the prompt appeared, a green light enveloped the queen bee.

The light twisted around her like a tether.

The queen immediately struggled fiercely.

Sensing the malicious intent of the green tether—a binding meant to imprison her—she fought with all her might, even sacrificing one leg that was twisted off in the struggle.

At the same time, Yeda felt his spirit linking with the green thread.

He could tighten or loosen it at will.

He even sensed that if he tightened it too much, the queen would be strangled to death.

If too loose, she would escape.

Of course…

This poisoned queen likely couldn’t fly away even if untethered.

But although she couldn’t flee, her struggles were intense, and Yeda felt the spiritual threads snapping one by one.

If all the threads broke, his taming attempt would fail.

So this was the Beast Tamer skill: controlling the beast.

More precisely, it was like wrangling a wild horse—a contest between human and beast.

Whoever had the stronger spirit would win.

Fortunately…

Yeda had already trained his spirit while cultivating his abilities.

Plus, as a third-tier Black Iron Warrior, his spiritual power far exceeded that of ordinary people.

He felt the bonds tightening, and the queen’s struggles weakening.

Success was imminent.

“Whoosh!”

Without warning, the queen suddenly raised her tail and fired a venomous stinger at Yeda.

“Damn!”

Yeda, who had thought victory was near, was startled by the sudden attack.

He hastily raised his arm and petrified it.

“Clang!”

The sting struck the stone arm, producing a metallic ringing sound.

This showed just how lethal the bee’s sting truly was.