Splash! Splash!
The angry Xandra rose from the waters. But the nearby Kragg Hippos and the Bewilderbisons were now glaring at them.
“If we fight any more, these beasts will kick us out of this Habitat! Calm down! And stop exaggerating! What happened?” Flay asked.
“It’s your fault! You and that stupid ears of yours! We should have never followed you to that cave! The Might Wolves attacked!”
“The Elite Tamers decided that. I acted on orders and led them to that cave because of the thump! You were there that night! After we successfully tamed the Spike Tortoise, everyone decided to turn this hunting expedition into one that was to understand the changes in the Homeostasis in this land! The Master of the Hunt, Glum, asked me to do this! Why are you blaming and attacking me for following orders? And the Tamers are strong! Have you seen all of them die?!” Flay was enraged. If there was another creature, more terrifying than the Might Wolves or the Pteranodon who attacked and caused a wipeout, Flay would have heard it earlier. If the beast was strong but not massive, then the Tamers could still flee and use their many tactics to survive. A total wipeout has never occurred in the history of Hunts!”
Xandra continued to glare at Flay and wanted to charge, but suddenly, she couldn’t move her legs very well. The ground was muddy, and she couldn’t see that Kairo had secretly sneaked on the river and held her legs with their sticky properties.
“What?! I can’t move!” Xandra cursed.
Flay continued to observe Xandra. He noticed that Xandra's anger was so unreasonably intense.
“Wait… Only the Elites moved inside the cave and followed my leading. The rest were guarding the outside of the cave. Scouts… Your exaggeration and desperation… Your friend died. Elrik of the Montayo family.”
“Shut up! It’s your fault! It’s your fault that he's dead!”
“No. It was the monster's fault. As I said, everyone agreed, and you did not complain but even commended my ears at the start. Everyone had their hopes up and wished to solve the collapsing Homeostasis in these lands. But now that someone had died, you push it all to blame on me? Even when I told everyone that what I’m hearing may not be the solution to the changes? Xandra. When you argued with your father a few days ago about how you wanted to join this hunt and experience all of its glory, then here you have it! How many times have the Tamers returned with few remaining among them? This is the glory of the hunt!” Flay shouted.
Xandra was trembling in anger, but tears began to fall down her face.
“Tell me what you saw. Hate me in your past time. But right now, we need to get back to the Tamers and to camp. I saw what was causing the thump and have seen a monster that could be at the center of the destruction of our Homeostasis!”
“Liar! You just want to redeem yourself from your failures! You dud! You never even passed the strength test! Why did you ever join this hunt! You don’t belong here.”
Flay was silent, but instead of fighting the rage of Xandra, he decided to leave her alone and let her cool down.
“If you weren’t that beautiful…” Flay muttered to himself and turned around.
“Coward! Look at you! You must have bribed Dirk to vouch for you! That’s it! It was him, right?! He was the one who left those marks in the forest! It wasn’t you! Of course, why didn’t I see it? The wood in those trees could never have sword marks from someone below Rookie-6! It was definitely Dirk!”
“Marks in the forest? You guys went to the place where I trained? The woods at the back of the village?” Flay then realized that since his sword attacks were stronger, his training in the forest would have provided a great reason to join the hunt.
"Those trees are that hard?!" Flay didn't know that the wood of those trees was so strong that it could resist Rookie-6 attacks.
"So that's why no one cuts the trees there!" Flay realized.
"Master, for a Tamer who has shown great deductive prowess in analyzing the state of the Edge Lands, you really suck in observation sometimes."
"So that's how Dirk convinced everyone that I should join the hunt!"
It was a mystery as to how he was allowed to join the hunt even though he failed the test. He had only shown the strength of a peak Rookie-3 when he punched the Strength Measuring Stone. The requirement to join the Hunt was at least to have the strength of a Rookie-4. But later, the elite Tamer Dirk looked for him and told him that he could join the hunt.
“That’s why Dirk is all friendly with you! What illegal deeds are you two planning?!” Xandra sent accusation after accusation.
“Master, she seems to be still affected by the heat. Forgive her for being unreasonable. Her friend died, and it seems she had to cross the desert. No wonder she’s very angry and desperate. And she must have been traveling the entire night and had to cross the heat of the desert. She’s in shock.” Kairo telepathically communicated.
“Yeah. I can see that. She also lost her Tamed Beast. That’s another blow. She loved that horse. So it's like she lost two friends.” Flay agreed.
“So Dirk figured that out… No wonder I was allowed to hunt. Xandra, calm down and think back. I have a… condition with my Taming Hand, and I can’t release Brute power through it. And if you don’t believe me, think back. I just blocked your fist without the slightest trouble. That contained all your might, right?”
“No! You listen to me! I have crossed the desert and am without any strength! That’s why my-”
“I healed you. Well, actually, he healed you. I call him Kairo. The Water Slime.” Flay introduced, and Kairo jumped out of the water and moved towards Flay.
Xandra was stunned that her legs could now move. She then saw the slime standing next to Flay.
“What?!”
“I’ve finally fixed my little problem as a dud. It’s not exactly legendary, but my JewelJewel is now red. There were several issues that were also resolved, including my Brute Power. I should be stronger than you know.”
“What are you-”
“Check for any wounds you have. I found you collapsed in the sands earlier and saved you. This slime used a water element magic to heal you. Show him, Kairo.”
A faint blue light began to glow around Kairo. The moment Xandra saw it, she was shocked. That was similar to how acolytes and mages cast magic!
“A magic slime!”
“Convenient, right? My Taming Jewel is colored red. Unfortunately, it’s the weakest Jewel, and I could only tame a slime. But see? The slime here has magic!”
“A slime that can heal?!”
Kairo jumped and turned into a sword.
“It can also do this. Neat, huh? It seems to have some intelligence. I can somehow understand it, but it only squirms and wiggles around when it talks. Oh. But now is not the time for that. We have to get back!”
Kairo spat out two balls of green essence.
“Our most immediate concern is getting back to the village. We have to move now. I allowed you to recover, but we have to keep moving.” Flay took one and began to rub it around his face.
Xandra was shocked at the slime that obeyed Flay and how it transformed into a sword.
“This green thing is concentrated plant essence. It masks our scents. This will allow us to move back into the Craggy Rock Plains without being detected by the Might Wolves. If you can retrace your steps, we could find a shortcut on how to get back to the Craggy Rock Plains. Now tell me what happened to the Tamers.” Flay’s words had a more commanding tone.
Xandra continued to give Flay a suspicious look. The way Flay carried himself was far more different than the weak-willed youth he knew a few days ago. She still hated Flay, but Flay was right. She had fled because she would have died if she remained. Now, they needed to get back to the hunt.
“I don’t know what happened. When you and the elites went inside that cave to investigate the thump you kept hearing, the Might wolves attacked us. The Alpha was there. It chased after me. The Alpha had Elrik’s bloody scarf…”
“I’m sorry about Elrik.”
“No, you’re not! But you’re right. I don’t have time to hate and argue with you. If a Tamer decides that he or she doesn’t need others, then that Tamer is doomed. Let’s get back. That magic Slime could protect us from the heat and cast a spell if needed. We can also use the leaves of the trees like an umbrella. I think I can point the right direction towards the Craggy Rock Plains. My horse did its best, and we wandered in the desert for a time. But because of his sacrifice, I can bring us both back. So be thankful, Flay. Two lives have died so that you could find a way back home!” Xandra began to move out of the waters, and as she reached land, she began to look up to look for a huge leaf that they could use.
SLASH! SLASH!
Flay was already on top of a tree and made two cuts that caused two huge leaves to fall down.
Xandra was shocked. But he saw the Slime turning into something that Flay used to step on, which allowed him to easily scale and move down the tall tree.
“Interesting leaves… I think we should get more. It’s constantly in a state of moisture to resist the heat. Kairo. Let’s get a few more. Maybe you absorb this instead, and we can create some sort of moisturizer.” Flay immediately ran up the tree, and with Kairo, he scaled to the top and slashed another branch off the tree.
Xandra was amazed at what he saw.
“What happened to this dud?” She marveled.
Two large leaves were seen moving across the desert. The desert was a wide, open land that stretched out endlessly with dunes rising and falling, making it impossible to see the distant terrain.But despite this, Xandra was still a Tamer of Monster’s Edge. And as a woman, her initial training was that of the Scouting Tamers. And so, despite her previous panicked retreat to escape the Might Wolves who chased her deep into the Desert Lands, she still managed to take note of the terrain and knew the path that would lead them into the Craggy Rock Plains.But the journey of the two tamers was very quiet. Flay knew that Xandra still blamed him for the death of her friend.They continued to move, and Flay simply watched Xandra take the lead.Finally, Flay spoke.“Erm… I need to get something there. Desert Vultures are there, and
Flay and Xandra continued to race towards the edge of the Desert Lands.The journey now no longer had the same tension as it did before. Xandra was kinder when talking to Flay. But Flay did his best to remain calm and not initiate any conversation about how he survived as he knew that if Xandra was genuinely interested and was willing to listen to the impossible deeds of Flay, she would ask her.Xandra asked about Flay strength and even asked for Flay to show his true strength.“I guess we’ll wait for an enemy. How about this, if we see few vultures trying to devour something, then let’s kill one. We are getting closer to the end of this Desert Land, right? I can feel that the ground below is not made of pure sand but have a mixture of soil.”“Yes. We’re getting closer to the end of the Desert Land. That’s one of the
Xandra charged forward and began to give continuous quick stabs to harass the vultures. Flay was in no position to fight as he was still recovering from his current form.Xandra was furious at the stupidity of Flay, who rushed forward and suddenly decided to bury his face on the sands.STAB! STAB! STAB!Xandra’s spear managed to stab the vulture's body, but each stab only produced shallow wounds.Her attacks were fast and steady, but the defenses of the vulture were much stronger than the damage Xandra was inflicting. The numerous wounds still annoyed the vulture, and it finally screeched and flew up. As the first vultures charge was stopped, it flew up high so its allies would finish the job.Xandra kept stabbing as the vulture flew up. She was des
The desert heat was no longer a problem to Xandra and Flay. The two rode the Unicorn, who managed to carry them with ease. The leaves the pair used as umbrellas provided great shade for them. And along the way, Flay found plants and cactuses and began to gather water and plant essence to rejuvenate and protect everyone from the wild battles they had. They continued to hurry to the path where Xandra saw the slime colony was. Without knowing what state the Grass Land was in, the two decided strengthening Kairo was a top priority. Flay and Xandra began to talk more about their power along the way, and Flay continued to list out the possibilities that Kairo pointed out. But Flay presented these facts as wild theories. “So you think that ev
The Unicorn continued to move in the desert. Vultures would often see it and fly above the sky to watch it, but the Unicorn didn’t seem to be exhausted as it continued to strut at full speed despite carrying two people riding it.“We’re almost there.” Xandra finally spoke. It had been nearly an hour that she didn’t talk. She was doing her best to calm down.As they rose and down the dunes, Flay could finally see the end of the Desert Lands. The Grass Lands could be seen on the distant horizon.Flay could not help but give a huge sigh.“And here I thought I’d be stuck in the Desert Lands for days and would hop from one Oasis to the next…” Flay smiled.Xandra leaped of Dara and began to look around.“It was just around this area. The sand dunes an
Kairo had finally completed absorbing all the water Slimes inside the colony. Kairo’s form was now three times bigger than what it once was.Xandra was still asleep together with Dara. The two were cuddling comfortably and caused Flay to look at them as Xandra looked so angelic as she slept comfortably and used Dara’s soft mane as a pillow.Flay had created another small fire and had been putting his hand in it, secretly absorbing more fire energy and hiding it from Xandra or Dara’s sight.Flay kept being on guard as he waited for Kairo to complete his fusion and the process of Mitosis to create a new slime.Soon, Kairo had managed to divide itself into two equal parts. The first was the green slime that was Kairo’s original form. But next to it was a light blue slime.Kairo began to walk around and tried to
Unknown to Flay, the Pteranodon was not an ordinary evolved beast. Instead, it had tremendous intelligence, and so did the Midnight Panther.The Midnight Panther was a very protective beast and had respected the Homeostasis of the land. It knew where they should hunt and where they should not hunt. They knew not to attack the Grass Lands in fear of the great Harass. If the Harass sensed a threat in the balance of their world, the Pegasus would gallop across the skies and attack the threat.Finally, the Pteranodon appeared over its forest. Its powers were too much, and dread and fear fell into the Midnight Panther’s heart as he knew that his entire family would be devoured.The Pteranodon was so powerful that the Midnight Panther began to plead with the Pteranodon. At first, the Pteranodon chased the Midnight Panther as it was enraged that it ate the slime. But as both groups beg
Flay and Xandra finally reached the familiar region of the Grasslands. To the northeastern direction would be the camp of the Tamers, where they made as their base to hunt the nearby regions.Flay never thought he would ever return here ever since he woke up in the lair of the Pteranodon. However, his emotions were bottling up as she realized that he was finally back.“I can’t believe I’m back.” Flay smiled.“Me too! I still can’t believe we went through that. And I can’t imagine what you’ve been through, Flay.”“We’ll talk about it when we have time. Xandra, where did the Might Wolves chase you?”“Elrik claimed he was scouting the outer perimeters near the cave as he heard some strange sounds. He told me that I would check for him near the brook down wes
Flay was even more intrigued.He had just shown the entire Beastmaster tribe his ability, yet they were certain he would die.He had just fought against an Expert, and while others were skeptical of his attempts, it was still a very impressive feat.“I guess I shouldn’t press my luck. Besides, there are more important matters at hand… This place has too many enemies. I have to also regain much of my lost strength and awaken the Eos System.” Flay decided. If this Chimera was something so powerful that everyone was convinced he was still inadequate, he would have to pursue other means to gain strength.“What is this… chimera?” Estelle asked in the midst of the angry accusations of Darwood and Trailtree.“My king… That is the beast that we have sealed long ago. The creature who was once sealed at the death of my great grandfather.” Primeroot finally spoke.“Trovine Primeroot… The greatest Beast Master who achieved the impossible and reached beyond Great Expert…” The King recalled.“Yes.
Narood and the other experts and high-level adjuncts returned with a rather confident look on themselves.“It seems you finally are agreeing.” Flay smiled.“We will agree. That staff is too much of a prize for us. But... Instead of Tenscream, we will offer you another beast instead. An Expert just like Tenscream. But, you have to tame it. You are confident of taming them, aren’t you?” Narood smiled.“Hmmm... Depends. I’m not saying that I can tame any and all monsters. There are several that will take a lot of effort.” Flay recalled the monsters he faced in his world. Particularly, the Carcadon.“I wonder if they tamed him?” Flay thought to himself.The strange expression and distant gaze of Flay irritated the beastmasters.“Then since we are all agreed...” Narood smiled.“Go and start taming them. Of course, we will set a time limit. You have five minutes! Show us! Show us how one can be the pack leader of the wolves!” Narood taunted.Everyone gave a curious look at Flay.“Here’s a l
Flay's words caused a great commotion and surprise to all who listened.Zegwood was shocked at Flay's declaration. But as a few seconds passed, the arrogant rookie's implication and demand slowly settled in his head."What?! A mere Rookie demands to take away my Tamed Beast?!""I already took control of it and made it attack you. Why not?" Flay sneered."That...! That was a trick! An evil trick!""So? I have the skill! Has anyone ever controlled your monster apart from yourself?" Flay countered."My monster is linked to my staff! Without the staff, you wouldn't have tamed it!""Did anyone manage to tame your beast using the staff?" Flay asked.There was silence as everyone awkwardly looked at each other.Zegwood was turning blue from holding back his breath and the urge to smack the kid before him."And you were doing a poor job at managing the kennels, I'll tell you that much. The wolves would grow stronger if allowed to roam in the wild. I was only planning to tame a few wolves and
The three generals revealed their power, which made the beastmasters cower.These were the strongest generals who often guarded the walls!But as Kairo had explained, they were actually weaker!Most of the Experts didn't pay much heed to this. After all, the three could have only revealed whatever portion of their power they were comfortable with.Only those who knew of the poison were delighted at how fast the progress was. A few months ago, no changes could be seen. But now, it was becoming increasingly clear."... It's so rare to see all three of you abandon your post. Especially now that the Beast of Dark Savagery lingers outside our walls." Narood answered.His eyes had an arrogance in him, for he knew, soon, he would surpass these three!"The Beast of Dark Savagery has all been slain. Remember their sudden retreat in the last war? They were being summoned. And they were all killed by the Master of that boy you are trying to kill." Holy Knight Galavus answered with certainty.Eve
The people who closed the doors were now panicking to open the gates. They were being forced to keep them closed as one of the prominent beast-taming families gave the orders not to let anyone in. But now, with their lives and families on the line, no one dared to keep the gates closed and be charged with treason.Holy Knight Galavus was famous for the incident known as the Path of Red that occurred in the previous wars against the Joverus Kingdom Alliance.It was here that the power of the Kalenshore Kingdom was revealed.For while the rest practiced magic, they combined it with Brute power and revolutionized warfare.At the center of all this was Holy Knight Galavus, who was the strongest and eventually led the other Experts to his path.When a great battle between the kingdoms happened, an ambush forced the King to retreat.Galavus stayed and fought against several Experts and an army.But his defenses were simply too firm, and his Brute, too powerful that all the magics that struck
Flay continued his casual stroll about the kennels and observed the wolves one at a time.Secretly, Kairo was busy wandering just like a casual slime would and would approach the kennels.But unknown to them, the slime was draining the magic from the kennels as it moved from one place to the other.“Flay!” Darwood shouted as he rushed towards his ally. The rest of the team followed, except Vem.“You are being summoned back.” Darwood spoke.All of them could not look Flay in the eyes after they were all berated for accepting bribes.Flay shrugged and moved with them, but his slimes continued to wander about.No one took any concern of the slimes and walked back.Behind him was the chaos of the ongoing debate.“Where is he?!” An enraged official demanded.“Bring him back here before that troublemaker starts creating more chaos!”“He is here!” Darwood called out.“What’s going on?” Flay asked Darwood.Darwood looked very angry, annoyed at Flay’s casual behavior, and even wandered out.Da
The crowd was silenced by Flay's suggestion.If the Princess was saved, she could clarify everything being discussed."I'm sure she would settle and fix everything here." Flay also added."If it's the princess…" One of the High Adepts thought."The Princess? Why would we bring her here? Is she even the Princess?" The expert that healed Tenscream asked."What do you mean by... that?" Ephesus frowned."We know that within the kingdom, assassinations and infiltrations have happened. The Dark Priest enlists Mimics who have entered this city. Have you tested her to see if she is a mimic?""If you think mere mimics can stand before us and fool us, then we would not have been her guard! Is not Vallenhall with us?" Ephesus challenged."Indeed. Great Experts. I am High Adept Terence. Lava Mage and Formation Specialist. This was a suspicion we had, and I already used an area magic to see whether or not she was the Princess. After all, Mimics are fearful of the fire. But the Princess shot her ma
The fight and even the interruption of the Expert happened so fast.Apart from Ephesus, all of the allies of the Princess were watching from the side.The traitor Vem couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. He hoped the boy would die, but the battle that transpired before him ended with an Expert down on the ground.If he hadn’t seen it, he wouldn’t have believed that a Rookie was able to bringThe strongest members of the Beast Master clan arrived.Surrounding the few Experts were also members of the tribe's elites. The commotion had caused anyone near to scurry over to see what had happened. The strongest high-level Adepts accompanied the few experts.The Expert, who shouted at Flay and summoned a powerful Brute voice, was startled at his fast reaction.One of the Adepts had moved over to the frog, and by injecting Brute, the energy invading the frog’s heart was dispelled.To hide his secret, Flay stopped pressuring the frog by enslaving it with his Pluton powers. The staff tha
Because of Flay’s innate ability to gauge a person's Brute and Magic energy, Flay could quickly tell where he could land a powerful damage. He knew that Ephesus would go to his defense. He commanded the Cerberus to make a bite on the other leg. The Brute energy was divided between the legs and the arm. And because of this, Flay weakened that part of the body. Flay’s pitiful strength of 12 points, added with 20 points of Brute energy, half of his defenses of 17 points, and 10 points worth of magic, totaled 59 points worth of punch. This attack would be equal to a mid-level apprentice's. It shouldn’t leave damage to the defenses of any average expert. But in that specific scenario, the guard of Zegwood and the natural vulnerability of that area was enough. Had his stat point been three points lower, this attack would not have worked, and if the Expert was in any way more guarded, then his natural Brute could easily defend against it. POW! Flay's fist dug deep into the groin as it