Ursa eyed him, sniffing the air a bit. “Yes, you could.” She whistled loudly and Luke could hear a distant rustling of noise. The noise got louder as it got closer, but he wasn’t able to make out what it was.
Without warning a large gorilla, not as big as the one at the goblin raid, but still large, came barreling through the door. “Mook, please take these two to the lake so they can clean themselves.” The gorilla leaned back on his feet, pushing out its chest. He hit his chest several times before returning his hands to the ground. “Good Mook.” Ursa patted him on the head a few times before she jumped on her wolf.
Her wolf went down on all fours and a massive gust of wind pushed out from underneath it as it took off. It forced Luke to close his eyes from the sudden gust and by the time he opened them, only a moment later, the spot Ursa and the wolf had occupied was now empty. The gorilla beat his chest again and gestured for Luke to follow.
The gorilla took them through a back exit and down a short stone path. At the end of the path was a large lake surrounded by grass and wild animals. “It's pretty isn’t it?” Luke telepathically sent to Ringo. She sent feelings of happiness toward him in return.
The group reached the lake and began to bathe. Luke did his best to clean his armor, and after some time the odor debuff disappeared from the gear’s description. He wanted to go swimming for a bit, but large, ominous shadows in the water changed his mind. Removing his armor and doing his best to shake off the excess water, the pair were on their way out of the facility.
He exited the facility but wasn’t sure where to go next. Missing his party a little, he wanted to check in with the guild and share his new information on apprenticeships. On his way through the city he stopped to get himself and Ringo more grilled meat which was becoming a favorite for the pair. Then he remembered that Edmund’s shop was just around the corner and he had a quest to turn in.
The bell attached to the door frame rang as he entered Critters and Creatures Pet Haven. “Welcome to Critters and Crea…” Edmund stopping his normal greeting after realizing who had entered. “Oh Luke! Come in, come in.”
“Hey Edmund.” Luke gave Edmund a warm greeting as he shut the shop door behind him.
Edmund’s eyes immediately went to Ringo. “Ohhh my. You’ve grown little one. Luke must be taking good care of you, huh?” Ringo barked in response. Edmund pulled out his monocle and placed it in his eye before it began to glow. “Hmm… yes you have grown little one and a primary animal companion.” He said the last few words really slowly. “Does that mean…” His gaze drifted to Luke as the glowing intensified. Edmund jumped into the air and kicked his heels together. “My boy you did it! You're a beast tamer!” He started laughing from excitement and it was contagious, with Luke quickly joining in.
They moved to a small sitting area, grabbing a pair of stools to talk and catch up. Luke started and explained what happened to him after he met Edmund. He explained the goblin raid, being reunited with Rose and meeting Ursa. He spared no detail when it came to Ursa’s rather unique training methods, garnishing him more laughs.
“Sorry about that. I knew she was a tough bird but didn’t think she would endanger you like that.” Luke waved away Edmund’s concern. “Well, what can I do for the world’s latest beast tamer today?”
Luke rubbed the back of his neck. “Well… you kinda gave me a quest that promised a reward…”
Edmund jumped up from his stool. “That's right!” Luke was startled and almost fell back out of the stool, his high agility saving him from making a fool of himself. “Come with me.” Edmund grabbed Luke’s forearm and pulled him to the back door.
Opening the door revealed a large, octagon shaped enclosure. Stone surrounded the space, but the middle had a small pond, a handful of trees, and grass everywhere. The top of the enclosure was open to let the sun in but was protected by a steel cage. There were a couple of doors leading out of the enclosure, and the space appeared to be a habitat of sorts.
“Wow. What is this place?” Luke asked as he slowly walked around.
Clasping his hands together, Edmund replied. “This is my personal wildlife enclosure that I let beast tamers use.”
“I appreciate you showing this to me, but what would I need a habitat for? I plan on keeping Ringo close to me at all times.” Ringo rubbed up against him at the mention of keeping her close.
“Of course you do, but this is for when you need to release your companions. You know how minor companions work, don’t you? Luke gave Edmund a bewildered look. Edmund’s eyes lit up. “I get to explain this to a beast tamer?” He let out a squeal of excitement as he rubbed his hands together. “It's been so long since someone has asked me to explain this. While it's true that you can keep all of your animal companions near you at all times, there are several occasions when you wouldn’t want to. Imagine sneaking into an enemy base and you have your wolf, a bird, a ferret, a panther, and a lizard with you. Good luck with that. Also, feeding and caring for all those animals simultaneously can be troublesome. The other thing to keep in mind is that minor companions can’t be used in combat. They are for utility purposes only.”
Luke nodded in understanding. “So I can leave them here with you and you would take care of them for me?” Edmund nodded enthusiastically.
“Well, it wouldn’t just be me. My wife and daughter would help out but it's also more than that. If you register yourself as a beast tamer with a habitat like this, you will gain the ability to release and summon your companions from any distance for nothing more than a little bit of mana. As you can see, with the lack of beast tamers nowadays, you would get exclusive access to this area.”
Luke thought about it for a moment. Being able to summon more animal companions when he needed them would be really helpful. It would also be great for saving Ringo if he was in a tough spot. If he knew he wouldn’t survive a fight, he could release Ringo here where it was safe, rather than letting her die along with him. “Well, how does it work?”
Edmund reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blue crystal, about the size of a salt shaker, and handed it to Luke.
Edmund’s Habitat Beast Tamer Crystal (unique) x1 obtained. This crystal allows a beast tamer to magically summon or release his animal companions at will. Mana is consumed when using the crystal and the cost of each use is based on the animal’s mass but can not exceed the user’s maximum mana. This crystal is currently unbound.
“You will need to pour a little mana into the crystal to bond to it.” Edmund explained.
Luke summoned his mana and directed it to the crystal. After a moment, the crystal gained a faint glow in its center.
This item is soul-bound to Beast Tamer Luke. It can not be unwillingly taken from you and is not lost upon death.
This was the first soul-bound item Luke had ever seen in Endless Fantasy Online. He was happy knowing that he wouldn’t be able to lose such a valuable and heartfelt gift. “Thank you Edmund, this means a lot.”
Edmund smiled. “I’m just happy to be in service to a beast tamer again. It beats selling pets to ungrateful travelers any day. Why don’t you try using it?” He gestured toward Ringo.
Luke mentally asked Ringo if she was up for testing the crystal. She shrugged in response so he took that as an acceptance. They left the habitat and went back into the store space. Luke gripped the crystal and began pouring mana into it as he thought of sending Ringo through it. He was pouring mana slowly, ten, fifteen, twenty, but nothing was happening. He poured mana faster and the crystal greedily drank it in until he lost 100 mana, at which point the flow of mana abruptly stopped.
Ringo panicked when her feet began to turn translucent. The process continued up her body and flowed through her head and she began to howl. The howling stopped when her head, the last thing to fade away, vanished.
Edmund opened the back door and Ringo was standing in the center of the grass with her tail wagging. She began to walk toward the door but Edmund put his hands up for her to stop. “L
et's make sure it works both ways.” Ringo laid down, knowing it would be a minute or more for Luke to regain his mana.
When his mana was full again he repeated the process but instead thought of bringing Ringo to him. When the crystal was done draining his mana Ringo started fading into existence next to him.
“That's incredible! Thank you again Edmund. I honestly don’t know how to repay you.” Luke was genuine with his words and Edmund appreciated that.
Edmund shook his head. “No thanks needed. I’m just happy that you are keeping the beast tamer specialization alive. Repayment, on the other hand… I will require you to cover the costs of food for the animals, but we won’t charge you for any care taking. That is my gift to you in honor of beast tamers past.”
Luke’s happy expression fell at the mention of money. I will never have any gold, will I? He thought as he patted his light coin purse.
Edmund made tea and the two continued to chat and catch up for an hour or so, until Luke decided it was time to leave. As Luke was on his way out, Edmund offered him one more piece of advice. “I highly suggest you find a flying animal and tame it. When you do, go see Ursa to learn the skill beast sight.”
Making a mental note of Edmund’s advice, Luke headed out of the store and toward the city’s main gate. He stopped at the guild hall only to find it sparsely populated, as most of the guild members were out training. Shrapnel was one of those people, so Luke left a message for him regarding specializations and the apprenticeship system. He left another message for his party, asking if they wanted to grab a bite to eat, compare notes and catch up.
Since he couldn’t spend time with his party, he decided to focus on the next best thing: attempt to tame a beast.
It didn’t take long for him and Ringo to make their way into the forest. Wildlife was everywhere. “So what should we try to tame?” Luke asked Ringo.
“I don’t know Papa, whatever you like, I suppose,” she responded.
Luke looked around for suitable targets. There were squirrels, woodpeckers, robins, rabbits and a whole slew of other wildlife. “Edmund said we should get a flying animal but I don’t think a woodpecker or robin would do much for us.” Ringo nodded her head in agreement. “I wish there were hawks or eagles in this forest. It would be cool to have one of those.”
The pair kept walking, checking the treetops for something better than a robin, when Luke noticed large holes high up in several trees. He decided to get a closer look and attempted to climb the tree. After several failed attempts, and dropped hit points, he successfully got to the top of one of the trees.
New skill acquired: Climbing, Beginner 0. You have learned the basics of climbing. Congratulations, you have the same climbing ability as a small child. Effect: 1+x% bonuses added to your climbing attempts where x is skill level.
Chuckling at the system notification, he inched himself closer to the hole. Peeking inside he found a small white bird with brown and tan markings on it. Its head was oval and had a T pattern in its markings. Luke knew instantly what it was but inspected it to be sure.
Inspect Successful!
Name: Barn Owl
Level: 1
HP/MP/Stamina: 25/0/50
Status: Neutral
Skill Up: Inspect, Beginner 3.
“Ringo. I think I found a good animal to try taming.” Luke received happy emotions in response. “I’m gonna give this a try.”
Luke hoped that since the barn owl was sleeping he might get a bonus by taming it. He mentally gave the command to activate his beast bond ability, but nothing happened. Maybe I had to be touching the animal, he thought. Luke extended his arm and, as gently as he could, he placed his hand on the owl, barely making contact with its wing. He mentally tried to activate the ability again, but nothing happened.
“I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong?” He forgot to mentally project his words and instead spoke them aloud. At that time the barn owl woke up and freaked out.
The barn owl started flapping its wings rapidly and pecking at the intruding hand in its nest. The flapping was causing twigs and dirt to fly from the hole’s opening and directly into Luke’s face.
“Ahh!” Luke started rubbing at his eyes to get the dirt out. The owl leaped out of its nest and attached itself to Luke’s face, pecking and scratching when it could. The whole ordeal looked like a scene out of a three stooge's film.
Startled by the attack and unable to see, Luke lost his balance, and he began plummeting toward the ground. Ringo sprung into action and leaped into the air, attempting to use her back as a softer platform for her masters descent. The three of them collided midair and bounced in different directions. Luke let out a grunt of pain and checked his health bar. He had lost over 30% from the stunt, and Ringo had lost almost 20%.
He pulled himself to his feet, grunted again and started dusting himself off. Ringo let out a small whimper but seemed to be fine as she began licking her wounds. It didn’t take long for Luke to find the fallen owl. It was about fifteen feet away and struggling to stand. It seemed unable to lift its left wing, causing Luke to think that he may have broken it.
Luke tried using his beast bond ability again, and this time he felt strands of energy leap out of him and toward the owl. He could feel the energy meeting resistance and after only a few minutes, he felt the energy fade away.
Beast Bond failed.
The creature must be conscious for me to attempt bonding with it, he thought as he stared at the owl. “Well… I don’t think you want to bond with me very much, do you?” He received only cries of pain in response. “That looks like it hurts.” Luke hesitated for a moment before getting a little closer. The owl reacted and tried to pull away. “It’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you.” Luke cast nature’s regrowth on the owl and saw his magic take action. He heard a faint pop as bones moved back into their proper sockets and tendons began stitching themselves back together.
The owl stilled as the magic coursed through it. It looked shocked as it pulled its wing back into position and stood up. Luke took this opportunity to get closer to the owl. He closed his eyes and stretched an arm toward it. He heard the animal take flight and then felt a weight pressing down on his arm. Opening his eyes he saw the owl perched on his forearm and staring back at him.
Not wanting to lose this opportunity, he attempted his beast bond skill again. Feeling the strands of energy cascade outward toward the owl, he encountered the same strange resistance, but things were different this time. The resistance wasn’t pushing back as hard as it was before and he could sense that some strands were breaking through.
As soon as one of the strands reached the owl, it became visible, represented by a semi-translucent green string. One end of the energy string was attached to Luke’s chest and the other end led into the owl’s chest. With that, Luke could sense and feel the owl’s presence.
Beast Bond successful! Please name your new animal companion.
“Umm. How about Luna? It means moon and you’re nocturnal, right?” The owl screeched in response, but Luke could interpret it as happiness through his bond. “Well, doesn’t sound like I can understand your words like Ringo but I’m still getting your emotions. Maybe after we bond more?” Luna screeched again before her eyelids started to look heavy. “You must still be tired, huh?” Luna was almost sleeping on her perch at this point.
Luke pulled out his transportation crystal and began pouring mana into it. His eyebrows rose with confusion when the crystal stopped accepting mana only a moment after he started the transfer. Luna had already faded away by the time he was done checking his logs. According to his system log, he only needed twenty mana to transport Luna from one space to another.
Luke was about to close his notifications and log when he noticed a pending traveler notification. He clicked the icon to open it and a new window opened up. The window showed a photo of Penny and the icon of a phone. There was a long blue line that moved in rhythm with her voice when she began talking.
“
Hello?” Penny’s voice seemed to come from the new hanging box, as if it was some form of speaker.
“Penny?” Luke responded.
“Where are we?” Taken aback by the question, Luke didn’t know how to respond. “We’re in a virtual world. Who leaves a paper note for someone when you can just call them?” She began to laugh loudly.
Luke joined in on the laughter before he responded. “Sorry, I forget we're in a game sometimes. You know, everything being so real and all.”
“Yeah, I get it. Still funny though.” She chuckled again.
“Yeah, yeah. Can’t wait for you to slip up so I can give it to you.” He commented.
“You want to give it to me eh?” Luke’s face turned beet red.
“I… uhh… no… I mean yes, I mean no. Uhh, I didn’t mean it like that.” He was stuttering and barely able to get his response out.
“Luke, I’m fucking with you.” Luke was happy this was only a voice call, otherwise Penny would see just how flustered that comment made him. “Anywho, we're all about to meet up at the guild hall for drinks if you want to join us.”
Taking a few deep breaths, Luke responded. “Yeah, that would be great. I’m just finishing up now so I’ll head back.”
“Awesome. See you soon.” The phone icon turned red and the system box disappeared moments later.
“It’s time to head back Ringo, for a well-deserved drink.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Preparations for War
“Explain to me again how you have your specialization already?” Nanoc asked. Luke explained his time with Ursa and her choosing him as her apprentice for the second time.
“You really have a lot of NPC friends, don’t you? What, can’t get more travelers to tolerate you?” Penny barbed him.
“Ha ha ha. You're so funny,” Luke commented in a joking monotone as the group all chuckled and downed their drinks. “This is nice.” Everyone's attention turned back to him, causing his cheeks to flush. “I mean it's nice to share drinks with all of you again. I missed hanging out with you guys. Well, all of you but Backstab.”
Endless Fantasy Online Page 20