Taming skill increased to level sixty-one!
I sent the megasaurus hatchlings to rest and digest their food, then went back to the group and explained what had happened.
“What’s there to think about? Let’s catch the minotaur and get as far away from this dumb sandbox as we can, like we planned to before!” Edward Samarsky said. But to my next question, as to whether Edward would be personally involved in the hunt, our Mechanic blushed and answered no. “How could I even help, Sergeant? You’re the Beast Catcher here. My character is non-combat, and my skills aren’t suited to hunting at all. I’ll only get in your way.”
The Huntress and the Scout giggled to each other — it was comical to see the boy deflate after talking so bravely only a minute ago. I reminded the girls how serious our situation was and asked the whole group who among them would risk their life to catch the dangerous minotaur.
Diogenes refused, but nobody would even think of blaming him for that, let alone mocking him — with only one life left to him, he had to be extremely careful. Anyway, his writing had already boosted his level and skills. He was already level twenty-one — three levels in one day. Another couple of days of hard work and the Philosopher would reach level twenty-five, which would mean he could travel through the energy barrier.
All the other group members were willing to go. On top of that, Varya with the cat on her shoulder suggested the surprising idea of taking the unconscious girl with us, on the basis that she needed experience fast to level up and heal her wound. Then we could find out what happened to her and who mutilated her like that. At the same time, unnoticed to the other group members, Varya winked to me and gestured at the cat. I got the message. It was Whiskers who had given the girl that tip. Well, the cat probably had more information than the rest of us. His advice was worth taking.
“If everyone else is going, I’ll come too!” Edward said. “Only I need some time to get ready. I’m no fighter, so I don’t need a weapon, but we’ll probably need traps and snares to catch a beast as big and dangerous as a minotaur, and I’ll need materials to make them. Sergeant, you said there’s a market nearby. Maybe I can find the tools and parts I need there.”
“Now you’re talking!” I said, giving Edward an encouraging clap on the shoulder. “We all need to get ready, so let’s head to the market first. My sister is near there anyway. Saddle up the Marsh Mistress, Atlas and Irosaurus. We’ll take all three mounts. We’ll take the Chimeric Cougar’s kitten too, and the megasaurus hatchlings can run with us. It’ll help them level up and they won’t be in Diogenes’ way while he works.”
“Wait!” Anita Ur Vaye suddenly spoke up. “Maybe I’m ignorant of human customs, but someone just kidnapped a child that we all promised to take care of. Does that not bother any of you?”
The rebuke rang out harsh and true. Everyone lowered their eyes before the Huntress’s gaze. Whatever need the Courtesan had for Hope, nobody wanted to tangle with the Pharaoh’s spouse. But Anita was obviously right. We took the baby girl into our group and promised to take care of her. I knew that most of our group considered this child of someone else’s to be a burden, preventing us from escaping the sandbox, but I didn’t feel that way. I asked the white-haired girl to take a walk with me along the river bank, to talk alone. The Huntress obediently followed after me.
But I started the conversation with a completely different subject.
“Anita, you’re a close friend of your new guild leader. Why did Avelia Un Ponar suddenly decide to part ways with you forever, sending you to join a band of losers? Is it a punishment for something?”
The girl laughed, happily, sincerely and infectiously.
“What are you talking about, Sergeant? I didn’t do anything wrong, and I certainly haven’t parted ways with Avelia Un Ponar forever. On the contrary, I’m honored that the leader of Eastern Garrison entrusted me with this mission. She could give it only to her closest friend. Avelia had no doubt whatsoever that you and your group would soon go through the barrier. My task is to help you in all matters, and then help to find Eastern Garrison in the endless world outside. For many reasons, the guild leader wants to meet you there, beyond the barrier. You’re a capable Beast Catcher, and the sherkhs can protect you and your people. Avelia believes we can work together to the benefit of both sides.”
Wow… That suddenly cleared up a lot. It was true — I’d never heard of the invisible folk taming creatures, and it was a tough world to survive in, let alone thrive, without any trained animals. We really could help each other. Well, that was that question answered. I took a deep breath and returned to the matter of the stolen child. Anita told me her view:
“I am not blind, Sergeant. I have noticed that the only adult human female in your group is far from burning with desire to be a mother for that child. Varya Tolmachyova hasn’t spoken to the babe once, or picked her up, or played with her. She only took care of the child when she was asked directly to do so. I have to admit, I don’t understand her at all. The girl is healthy. Any woman would be glad to have such a wonderful child. Every baby needs a loving mother, and if Varya won’t be that for Hope, then I’m willing to take on that role myself. I was the one who saved Hope and took care of her, and I believe that my meeting with her was not by chance. To be honest, little Hope was one of the reasons I so willingly agreed to Avelia’s request to join your group. But my baby girl has been stolen! And I’ll do anything to bring her back! The sherkhs in the other guilds surely know where the Pharaoh’s noble Victoria Bastet lives. I’ll talk to my kin and find out. And then I’ll steal my child back. Yes, I know how dangerous that woman is, and I swear I’ll be careful!”
Right… That was all I needed, a mission to kidnap a child from the Pharaoh’s wife’s palace. That would put paid to our relationship with the strongest human guild once and for all. On the other hand, I had no idea what Lady Victoria wanted from a child not even a month old. The Courtesan already had her own child, and if she’d wanted to simply adopt the baby out of the kindness of her heart, then why not talk to me about it? That meant her intentions weren’t good. But then, what did she want with the girl? What if she needed to sacrifice an innocent child for something, or use her as an ingredient in some special magic potion? Who knew what to expect from that crazy Courtesan?
In short, the situation was complex. I thought for a while and weighed it all up, then made my decision.
“I was counting on you to help capture the minotaur, Anita, but I understand your concern for Hope. Alright. Go and talk to the other sherkh guilds. Find out where the Courtesan lives, how strong the defenses are, and, above all, find out how we can get a child through the barrier and into the wider world. As soon as you have that information, find me. I’ll help you get the child back. I promise!”
* * *
Our coming to the market caused a real furor. The humans of the new world were already used to raptorhound mounts, and giga-komodos weren’t too rare either. The huge cruel arachnoscorp, however, was another matter, as was the even larger megasaurus with her two hatchlings running along behind her. It made for exciting street theater. As did the winged veyer boy — many here hadn’t even heard of the flying species. But most surprising of all was that we were free humans who weren’t part of the New Pharaohs guild. We were showered with questions — who were we, why did we have no slave collars, and what was free life like? I answered all the questions as best I could, and I suspect that the number of people wanting to escape the whip hand of the Pharaoh significantly increased after our visit.
One unpleasant episode darkened my interactions with the townspeople. A stranger, a thin and unkempt level 40 Miner suddenly attacked me with his fists, accusing me of flirting with his wife. There were a few women standing around me at the time, listening raptly to a story of our difficult and dangerous free life. But I had no idea which of them was the jealous husband’s wife, and I certainly hadn’t been flirting with any of them. I suspected that this was my Casanova curse in action,
lowering my character’s standing with married men.
The Miner attacked suddenly from behind and pushed me to the ground, started beating me with his fists. But he clearly overestimated his strength — I grabbed his right arm and twisted it painfully, threatening to break it at the elbow over my leg. My opponent howled in pain and lost all his will to fight.
Hand-to-Hand Combat skill increased to level nineteen!
Heavy Armor skill increased to level fifteen!
Your character is now level twenty-four!
Reward: three skill points (total available: six) and one mutation point (total available: eleven).
Before I could express my surprise that the game system had rewarded me so generously with skill and character levels for an ordinary street fight, I suddenly realized that the man was dead. One of the market watchmen was wiping a bloody sword on the dead Miner’s clothes. He stood and made a loud announcement:
“This man broke the law by attacking a member of the first caste,” the guard pointed at the silver token around my neck. Then he turned to me and lowered his voice to a whisper. “As for you, Sergeant, stop these seditious speeches before you get yourself into trouble. You came to the market to buy things, so buy things, and stop spreading your tales of freedom!”
We did just that, examining the stalls with their goods laid out on top. Margarita hadn’t come round yet, so I entrusted Varya with picking out some clothes for the new group member, and asked her not to forget shoes for my sister too. There were silver and copper coins in circulation, so the seven gold ones I’d been given turned out to be a very hefty sum. Enough to buy clothes and shoes for my whole group, along with tools, thick ropes, skeins of wire, hooks, crossbow bolts and even ammunition for Max and Varya’s firearms. The ammo turned out to be handmade here in the new world, but the caliber matched our guns, and the rounds worked fine when we tested them.
“Sergeant,” Edward Samarsky said, running over with an armful of silver metal plates. “Look, I found some titanium at the armorer’s! It’ll be hard to work it, but I can remake your bone armor into titanium armor. It’ll be absolutely impenetrable! Handy for you, and I’ll level up my skills making it!”
We were still browsing when the sounds of distant cannonfire from the northeast drew our attention.
“It’s started…” the weapon merchant said with a heavy sigh, listening wide-eyed to the distant explosions. “Our people are assaulting the sherkh watchtowers in the mountain pass. The Pharaoh’s squads set off that way early this morning, towing howitzers and crates of shells. War is upon us…”
The other humans around us didn’t share the merchant’s gloom. On the contrary, shouts rang out all around us in praise of the Pharaoh. The townspeople celebrated “those sneaky invisible folk finally getting what’s comin’ to ‘em.” Few at the market had any doubt that human victory would come quick and easy, since they had a huge advantage in military technology on their side. Machine guns and artillery against spears and arrows. Who could doubt the campaign’s inevitable success?
“We’re gonna have cheap blonde sherkh girls for sale here soon! Make your pre-orders!” a fat slave trader shouted across the whole market. There was one who really celebrated war.
I thanked fate that Anita Ur Vaye wasn’t with us. Her presence right now would be extremely dangerous — wild with anticipation of sherkh blood, the crowd would have simply killed her, and we wouldn’t have been able to stop them. We hurried to finish our purchases and spend all our coins down to the last copper, then left the market behind.
* * *
My jaw hit the floor when I saw my level twenty-six sister. “Damn, you sure have grown… You overtook me. You could walk through the barrier right now.”
“Yeah, I worked pretty hard today,” Julie yawned, clearly exhausted, but proud of herself. “My Veterinarian class is confirmed now, and I got bonuses to my Medicine, Animal Healing and Herbalism skills. Plus a huge bonus to standing with wild beasts. I think I could even go into a hungry lion’s cage now. At least, the Chimeric Cougar doesn’t growl at me anymore, and she lets me look at her wounds. Oh, by the way, here’s some more milk for little Hope!” The girl handed me a full bottle.
I didn’t want to upset my sister with the news that baby Hope had been kidnapped. Instead, my sister and I picked up the cougar’s kitten and went to see the deadly man-eater herself. The Chimeric Cougar growled furiously as I entered, but all her aggression evaporated the moment she saw her kitten. Like last time, the beast froze and allowed us to bring her offspring to her. The kitten immediately sought out its mother’s breast. I seized my opportunity to use Calming Touch on her a few times. Then, slowly, with extreme care, I presented a large chunk of meat to the Chimeric Cougar. The hungry beast stared at me a moment as if weighing her options, then… she took the food right out of my hand and started eating! A taming bar appeared above her head.
Taming skill increased to level sixty-two!
Beast Master skill increased to level eleven!
“You’re awesome, bro! We’re going to have another strong defender alongside the Marsh Mistress. Let’s call her Darkness? It suits her.”
One piece of meat wasn’t enough, even such a big one — the beast was huge and starving. Fortunately, I was well prepared and had plenty of meat and fish with me. The cougar ate everything, and all the food seemed to have the same effect on the taming meter. It quickly filled up and had already reached sixty-five percent when Bald Skull came in. One look was enough to tell him what was happening.
“You did it, Sergeant! You broke the beast! Damn! Congratulations! I gotta say, I underestimated you. I thought you came to me to see how a more experienced Beast Catcher works with wild animals. But I just saw the monsters you have with you and I’m amazed. And this cougar, damn, I just couldn’t get her to start taming. I was ready to send her to slaughter.”
This praise from my colleague was pretty nice to hear. As was Bald Skull’s next offer — to spend the night at his house, with a promise of a tasty meal and the chance to try some home-made berry wine. We took a quick count. With the master of the house and his three servants, plus seven guests, that made eleven players. That meant one Alpha and eleven Feelers at a pretty low level would appear when night fell. We’d have no trouble with that. I told him as much.
My concern seemed to amuse the big man. “We sure won’t have any trouble! You’ll get to see what the pack raptorhounds are capable of, Sergeant. I have twenty of them trained in the back yard, plus thirty to thirty-five wild ones in another two pens. When they work together against a common enemy, their pack bonuses stack. If we release the whole lot of ‘em on the night beasts, it’ll be a fun show! With the pack bonuses, the raptorhounds will tear apart all the night beasts in seconds!”
At that moment, the Chimeric Cougar’s taming finished. I asked Bald Skull to remove the chains from the beast. I was now in full control of her, and she was no longer a threat to us.
☠ Darkness. Chimeric Cougar. Level 82 Female. Sergeant’s pet.
The huge Beast Catcher whistled in admiration. “A magnificent specimen! The crown jewel of your collection! I was offered a whole gold piece to prepare this beast for the gladiators’ arena. But I don’t regret the lost money at all. A beauty like this should live! Hey, speaking of money… you interested in selling those little megasauruses, Sergeant? They look a promising pair. I’d raise them to be mounts for the Pharaoh himself and his wife. I could pay you with a rare Beast Catcher item instead of money.”
I hadn’t thought of selling the two megasauruses until now. But… why not? I wouldn’t be able to take the hatchlings through the barrier anyway — they were more than a few days from level twenty-five. The local money here held no interest for me — it was in circulation only in the territory of the New Pharaohs. Outside the barrier, it would be useless. But an item for a Beast Catcher? That caught my attention. I asked him to show it to me. The hulking Beast Catcher departed for a couple of minutes, then came back w
ith something wrapped up in a bag. When the cloth was thrown back, I saw an aged bronze club, or rather a heavy scepter. It was around thirty inches long, ornate and covered with geometric patterns.
Stern Mentor. One-handed club. Class: rare.
Strength +1. Taming skill +8. Intimidation skill +8.
Chance to stun on hit: 24%. Chance to cause fear on hit: 12%. Chance to subdue target on hit: 0.5%.
ATTENTION! 90% of this weapon’s damage is dealt to the target’s Stamina Points instead of Health Points.
“I bartered it off a slave trader at the market,” Bald Skull said. “Imagine, it’s obviously for a Beast Catcher, but he was using it to beat his slaves. What a dumbass! I’ve been using it to stun wild giga-komodos. It’s convenient. Every fourth hit knocks those armored giants off their feet. Then ya club ‘em again to get ‘em tired and tame ‘em faster. And you never have to worry about accidentally killing ‘em, since the club takes away way more stamina than health. What do you say, do we have a deal? I can tell you’re interested. Your eyes are lit up.”
He was right, I was so interested that I couldn’t hide it at all. Although the item description didn’t say as much, the object was clearly specialized for Beast Catchers. And although I didn’t approve of Bald Skull’s brute-force taming methods, I couldn’t deny that sometimes force was what it took. That settled it. I’d take the Stern Mentor!
Chapter 26 [Kitten]
Mission of Survival
I DIDN’T LIKE any of this! I didn’t like the war that had started between two sentient races, or the fact that Victoria Bastet had treated me so badly, giving me conditions that barely differed from open blackmail and depriving me of the ability to turn into a human. I didn’t like the way that cat woman had mutilated the serving girl, or that Sergeant had failed to take with him the magic tome that I wanted to use to study Transformation Magic. But in particular, what infuriated me most of all was that my big oaf of a master had so thoughtlessly decided to spend the night a bare five miles away from the fiery frontier of the war.
In Service of the Pharaoh (League of Losers Book #2) Page 24