Freelance Saga: Learning Curves

by Scottie Futch

  His knowledge of pet and monster care told him that these girls would remain in stasis, trapped within the sphere of light that they are bound too during the contract. They could be trapped in there forever if they are not bonded to someone else.

  He refreshed the site and noticed that several girls, and surprisingly a few monster guys, had been added to the list. However, many others had been removed, a sold tag placed over their information screen.

  Scott struggled with his inner American. He did not like the idea of buying and selling people, but these monsters deserved to find good masters or to be set free. As much as the basic idea disturbed him, he had to admit that it was simpler to sell them off than it was to try and build a relationship with someone incompatible.

  “I really need a strong team if I plan to hunt monsters. I can’t just have a picnic every time I meet a monster king or queen. They’ll annihilate me.”

  Despite his misgivings he searched the monster auction section thoroughly. The prices were far too high, however. Even a level one mouse was over two thousand dollars. She was cute, but he could probably catch one himself if he just went into a cave or something.

  “I’ve become a professional monster tamer and trainer. Yet, I barely know what I’m doing.” Scarlet was strong, but he knew that there would be a problem working with her for a while. She was actually too strong.

  While it did not cost any mana to keep her manifested most of the time, the moment they entered into a combat situation he had to expend mana equal to her level just to keep her manifested. She was level twenty-two. At her level that meant twenty-two mana per second had to be spent. He could keep her manifested in battle for a grand total of four seconds. She was powerful, but it was useless at the moment. He needed to train his mana!

  Scott thought about his monster for a moment then changed the auction site page to one that showcased skill books. Maybe there was a skill for sale that would allow him to train mana more effectively? The torchlight spell was good to train at night or in the dark, but it could not be rapidly used. He could call it and it lasted several minutes, then he could call it again. What he needed was a spell or skill that could be spammed.

  As with most of the auction, the skills were primarily junk or things that he already could do. Magic based skills seemed to be in short supply. Either this meant that a lot of people were mages, or most were not. He could not be sure. Skill books might also be rare for certain types of skills.

  “I’m a monster trainer. That means that even though it is important for me to become as strong as possible, my real skill lies in keeping my pets fully ready to fight.” Scott mused on this for a moment then delved into the spell book section.

  “Junk, junk, junk. There are so many torchlight spells up here!” He did eventually discover a few spells that might be good to work with, but their price tag for buying without bidding was prohibitive. He did not want to bid at the moment. He absolutely needed to buy something. In the future, bidding would be better than outright purchasing most of the time, he was sure.

  “Eighteen hundred dollars for a simple defensive aura spell? Two thousand for a first circle healing prayer spell?” He shuddered at the costs. He could buy only one, but he needed at least one of them.

  He looked at the information screen carefully and made his choice. The defensive aura was like torchlight. It could be used once, and then lasted for a short time. You could not stack the spell and could only cast it again once it wore off. The healing spell only worked to heal an incredibly small amount of hit points, but working with it would raise intelligence, charisma, and faith over time.

  “If it only heals a small amount, then I can probably train my unarmed combat skills till my knuckles are bloody and raw. Use the healing spell to heal, then train some more.” Scott told the empty air his plans then chose to purchase the spell.

  Once he clicked the buy button, he entered his information, and the request for payment appeared. He was not certain how to pay for his item, since he had the money primarily in cash. Strangely, however, there was an option for cash purchase.

  A message screen popped up, followed by a circular plate that floated in mid-air. “Please present the money.”

  Scott looked at the message for a moment then retrieved his wallet. He placed the money onto the plate and the sale registered as complete. The plate, and his money, disappeared immediately. In its place a new plate appeared. Atop it sat a skill book entitled, “Divine guidance in trying times. Volume I”

  He took the book and the plate disappeared. “So, this is a skill book?”

  He opened the book and nearly dropped it in surprise. He had seen the effect of opening skill books before in the game, but he had not expected that the same thing would happen on Earth!

  The light of knowledge streamed into him and after the mental dust cleared he was able to completely understand the basics of divine healing and restoration. He had gained the ability to lay hands on the injured and provide them solace through divine grace.

  Of course, the power was restricted on Earth. He was not strong enough to use his abilities here and might never be.

  Scott quickly checked his spell list and grinned. The information for healing prayer was listed. “I can heal three hit points per use at this level of skill. That’s absurdly low, but kind of perfect for training purposes.”

  Each use would cost him ten mana, however. Over time it would become more powerful, but right now he could use it ten times or so without running out of mana.

  The grin that crossed his face was both feral and delightful. He was excited and really could not help himself. He planned to stay in the other world for at least three days next time. There was no time limit. He would be able to stay there for as long as he wanted, but once there he had to remain for twenty-four hours, and the same was true for when he came back here.

  He still had a life here, as limited as it was. He had family even if he did not have any real friends that he would miss enough to never return to the other world. Plus, he could only access the auction site here. That could prove useful in the future.

  Scott looked at the auction site and then checked his clock once more. The waiting was terrible, but the time would come soon. He already knew that he had passed the tutorial with flying colors. Alterra was happy with his actions.

  “So, a whole new world to explore, a world filled with monsters, danger, and hot girls that are into hardcore sex in public. Sounds like my kind of place.” Scott shut down the auction site, leaned back, and smiled. In a few hours he would be able to go on the adventure of a life-time. Sure, he was low-level, and might not be able to gain strength quickly due to the fact that he would no longer be in training mode. That did not matter.

  He was a monster trainer, now. In one beautiful day he had gained a kickass new job and acquired a hot love slave. He needed to get a few more monsters on his team soon. That meant that he needed to acquire more absurdly hot girls to kick ass on his behalf. He didn’t even know how to express his perverted joy at such a turn of events.

  It was then that a word burst forth from his lips. He raised his hands and shouted, “Winning!” before collapsing back onto the couch. He laughed loudly at his own silliness then looked at the clock. Only a few more hours, yes only a few more hours.

  ###

  Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, won’t you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer?

  I enjoy writing stories that merge modern pop-culture with erotica. I plan to turn this into an ongoing short story and novella series. If people like the concept well enough, there may even be a web-comic created eventually. If you like the story, tell your friends! It’s the best way to make things happen.

  Thanks!

  About the Author

  Scottie Futch is a former soldier, and current part-time writer. He enjoys anime, manga, comics, video games, and erotic things in general. He can often be seen doing nothing, but he’s always thinking.