บท 7: The Legend of the Tamer Chapter 7
Arthur watched on as his master's left hand dripped with blood. Arthur had wanted to rush forth and slay the jungle dog but wasn't able to because his master didn't order it, this was because tamed beasts were restricted in their actions when it was directly related to their master and fighting. This was the only restriction tamed beasts had unless ordered by the Tamer, otherwise they were free to do what they want, of course the Tamers could force the tamed beast with their soul connection but tamers rarely chose to do this. One, because it would waste their soul energy and second, because it would anger the tamed beast and make it even more defiant.
Aeron hissed in pain as the jungle dog's fang opened a wound on his left hand, this pain was a first for him, he had never had a bigger wound even in his past life. The jungle dog didn't let him rest as it started to rush at him again. Aeron quickly raised his spear, backing away while sweeping his spear on the jungle dogs' direction.
Hiss!
Aeron hissed again, his wound was opening further as more blood flowed out, the pain was unbearable to him, even tears started forming on eyes. He was a person who was raised in an environment where there were almost no life threating fights. He was a modern person whose worries were about money and food, sure there were people who enjoyed martial arts, he even liked watching mixed martial arts in television but that was it. But this time it was his fight, this was his first fight in this world and if he wasn't able to do this then he'd better be off dying now than burdening his pets or other people in the future.
Aeron's head cleared up as his resolve strengthened, but resolve was resolve, he still had to think of a way to kill this beast. As Aeron's mind tried to think of a way, the jungle dog kept on chasing him as he kept sweeping his spear in retreat, each sweep worsened his injured hand.
Aeron suddenly stopped backing away as he thrusted his spear at the jungle dog blood trailing through the air, his spear was noticeably slower than earlier but as smart as the jungle dog was it only knew to dodge at the moment. As the jungle dog crouched down, Aeron right hand reached for his back. The jungle dog noticed the movement but it still continued its lunge, its mouth was opened as sharp fangs made their appearance, much larger than typical dogs, but that was it.
"RAAAAHH!!"
Aeron shouted as he stabbed the jungle dog's head with an arrow, this was the plan he came up with. The spear thrust wasn't much slower because of his wounded hand, it was because he only used his left hand to thrust the spear, and as predicted, seeing the familiar movement the jungle dog repeated its actions. His right-hand reached behind him to grab an arrow from his quiver, and as the jungle dog lunged, he stabbed its head through its eyes.
"ha ha ha ha"
With the jungle dog dead, Aeron's body relaxed, the pain was still there but the feeling of victory was even more vivid. This was his first victory, the pain, exhaustion was nothing compared to the joy. Still he winced as his knees buckled. But before he fell, Arthur helped him, Arthur could finally help his master. The restriction on the tamed beast only applied when it comes to fighting, unless of course the master ordered it. This restriction was generally known as a protection for the Tamers, the tamed beasts weren't 100% loyal, this was depending on the Tamer's methods of taming the beast and also his treatment with the beast. If it came to the point where the thoughts fighting which was directed to the master came, then the beast would be restricted.
"Thanks Arthur"
As Aeron said this, an aura of promotion emanated from his body, this was a sign before a level up, Aeron quickly sat down. His body suddenly swelled with power, he felt like he could punch a tree down, but this was only temporary as the level up happened. There were actually those who used the level up process in battle, this would give a strengthened attack but would also cancel the leveling process as well as removing the accumulated mana before the level up.
This process usually took hours depending on the stage you're in, Mortal Stage usually took about an hour to consolidate, but Aeron was different. Pain started to throb all over his body as the level up process sped to mere seconds, this was because of his skill [Level Up (Anomalous)].
This time he had realized the drawback of his skill, right now he could consolidate his level quickly even though it normally took an hour to do so. But he already felt a slight pain, if he was in a higher stage then wouldn't he collapse from the pain? It seemed like the rumor he heard about anomalous skills were true, unlike other skills, anomalous skills were said to be "a blessing and a curse" he didn't know much about it yet.
Titans were said to be normal beasts who possessed an anomalous skill for endless growth, but the catch was that it had to maintain enough energy for its size, if it didn't then it would start to weaken and die, this was why Titans lorded among vast territories, it would hibernate a lot when it reached a certain size to save energy and let its territory grow abundant before it feasted again.
The pain on his hand also disappeared as he noticed that the wound had already scabbed. This was also a side effect of the sudden consolidation which he thought was a welcome addition. This was similar to what happens in games, when a character levels up, the HP and MP would regenerate.
'Maybe this skill did imitate the concept but it's still limited to a certain point' he thought, this was because his mana didn't feel like it had been regenerated. Still, skills didn't have an explanation, you just knew upon activation.
"Let's rest for a bit"
Aeron saw that it was already noon, so they ate for a bit and stopped to rest. He also looked at his status plate.
Level: 2
Name: Aeron Ironbull
Age: 16
Profession: Tamer
Innate Skill:
[Mana Manipulation]
Skill:
[Level Up (Anomalous)]
[Bestowal (Unique)] (1/5)
[Tame] (1/2)
[Heal Pet]
[Nurture]
[Golden Monkey King's Martial Mastery]
Pets:
[Golden Monkey King (Infant)]
Level: 5
Age: 1 year old
Innate Skill:
[Lesser Level Up (Anomalous)]
[Mana Circulation]
[Monkey Kings Might (Inactive)]
Skills:
[Monkey Kings Authority] (29/40
[Golden Monkey King's Martial Mastery]
[Make Staff]
[Metal Domination (Inactive)]
[Golden Armaments]
There weren't a lot of changes, only his level and pet limit increased by 1, one of Arthur's skill also activated. This was all he had achieved in a month, although this wasn't very impressive it was still enough for him.
'so it's already been a month since I've arrived huh' Aeron thought.
As they finished resting, they started to set off again, they combed through the whole southwestern part of the forest, most fights were given to Arthur as he was one level away to a High-Grade beast, Arthur had also relayed to him that his subordinates would never exceed his level, but in turn they would level up faster than normal.
Aeron also fought to familiarize himself more and gain a bit of mana from his foes, jungle cats were still too much, but jungle dogs were already easier to handle for him. The first jungle dog had been the smartest one he encountered, there were also jungle monkeys, but it seemed Arthur was a bit picky with his direct subordinates. Though the monkeys still followed Arthur but not through his skills, jungle monkeys were as strong as jungle dogs but are more agile, still they were at most level 3.
After clearing the southwestern part of the forest Aeron decided to call it a day, he went back and also checked the scented grass, they had already grown and looked like normal grass. He had planted them yesterday on every corner of the wall as well as inside the wall.
They didn't bring any corpse as there weren't any High-Grade Beasts among those that they killed. Aeron's thought also wandered around the wolf king, to say he had no thoughts of taming it would be a lie, just like Arthur, it must still be an infant and a Mid-Grade Beast while it was still less than a year old. Of course, this was only his thoughts, maybe if he got a bit stronger and Arthur leveled up to a High-Grade Beast then he would maybe sneak a peek at the young wolf king.
Howl!!!
It seems the wolves have started to get nearer, it was a good thing he already had the scented grass, else he would be in more danger. At first, he wanted to return to the City of Una, but he would fail the task, this was probably the reason why the rewards were very generous. He had a memory of his parents talking about how hard it was to get merit points, and yet he could earn 100 per month, he already had enough food here for 4 months, and if in 3 months there were no supplies delivered then he would just leave this place immediately.
As he slept, he dreamed of his past life, the comfort and his family although hazy made him sad. He had stayed here for a month, but his memory of his original life spanned for 20 something years. His dreams had always been like this since he got here, his senses were always on the high. Thoughts like being ripped to shreds by some monster had always haunted him, the comparison would sometimes make him homesick.
But he had always reminded himself that this was his new life, he also had parents here. He also had to fulfill the original's wishes of being a Tamer the Ironbull Family would respect, for his parents and the original. At the least he had his pets to accompany him, if it were any Profession then maybe he would've already been devoured by sadness then depression. Arthur was not a human being but he felt more like one, he was true and Aeron knew because he could feel it too. So, he had to grow stronger, not just for his family, or the original, but because he also wanted to enjoy his new life.
Morning came, and Aeron started to get ready again, this time they were to continue the exploration to the southern part of the forest. This was a bit more dangerous than yesterday because Aeron didn't know whether there were High-Grade Beasts there or not.
They started off just like yesterday, all the kills were given to Arthur. There had been disputes into this type of leveling style since this didn't normally work, weakening the enemy before letting others finish them off. Others have tried but only Tamers or Professions with familiars could do this, it was because the pets/familiars were considered as the part of their strength, unlike when other High-Level Professional intentionally weakens the beasts to let other finish it. This was unknown whether it was the work of another Rules of Mana or the work of the Status Plate.
Because Aeron and his pets were more familiar with battling, they cleared the whole southern part quicker. This time they finished about two hours after noon, Aeron decided not to proceed to the southeastern part of the forest, as he had found 2 wooden essence which could be used to make a bow, the vine essence used for the bow string was easier to find. Creating the bow would take half a day of training the wood essence, he could also let the silver monkeys maintain the mana supply after the wood essence was made into bow forms, but at the same time he would lose the 2 silver monkeys for tomorrows exploration.
Aeron had decided to go to the three hills tomorrow instead to dig up some ore essence, hopefully there would be some, so he could make more spears to fully arm his monkey army. After he made his plans, Aeron made the monkeys collect fruit from the trees in the explored areas, before he ended the exploration.
Aeron proceeded to make some arrows with Arthur and the silver monkeys, it took about an hour to make one, so they were able to make a total of 10 arrows after 2 hours. This was one of the reasons why he chose an area with a forest, unlike the City of Isa where the forests were already claimed by powerful individuals or families, here he could have a whole forest full of resources for himself. After Aeron finished crafting, he did some light training with Arthur and let the other monkeys spar with each other. After his training and meditation, he quickly fell asleep.
Morning quickly came and he left two silver monkeys inside the house to supply mana for training the bows. Aeron set off with the rest of the monkeys, this time he brought spirit with him. They quickly made it to the hills and started digging. A few hours past and Aeron already had a number of rock essence, and three pieces of iron essence.
When noon came, they rested for a bit while eating some fruits. Continuing with their mining activity, Aeron had already collected 10 iron essence before he noticed the sky turning dark. Aeron quickly had the monkeys stop then journey back immediately. Unlike in the past, there might be wolves wandering near here. He wanted to unsummon all the monkeys while he hurried back with spirit.
Howl!! Howl!!
"Arthur, assemble the monkeys"
Aeron ordered, he only saw about twenty wolves, if they sped up, they would be able to go back to the house.
"Let's go!" Aeron said as he led the monkeys back, he could unsummon them all but the weapons would be left behind, wolves were very vengeful beasts. If he left weapons behind, they would destroy it in frustration.
Howl!!
The wolves started to charge at them, if they continue their current path then the wolves would meet them halfway.
"Kii!!" Arthur suddenly gestured to the himself and the 4 silver monkeys, at this time Aeron had already unsummoned then summoned Gwaine and Percival for backup.
"Are you sure?" Aeron asked, he saw no Mid-Grade Beast among the pack, so he was sure Arthur and his silver monkeys would be able to handle the whole pack. But that was not the problem and the reason they were running.
"Ki!" Arthur nodded as it separated from the group along with the four silver monkeys, or his Silver Knights as Aeron liked to call them sometimes.
Seeing the 5 monkeys approaching them, the wolf pack changed direction to meet them.
woosh! woosh! woosh! woosh! woosh!
Four silver and one golden staff with sharp ends flew through the sky, each pierced a wolf down to the ground before disappearing. The golden and silver staffs reappeared on the monkey's hands as they clashed with the wolves.
Clash!!
Each monkey was coated with armor as they swept through the whole pack, yelping sounds could be heard each time the staffs swept through the wolves.
HOWL!!
The alpha made its last howl of despair as a golden staff crushed its skull.
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