Tamed Monsters
As soon as Adam woke up, he went outside of the house.
It was very dark, but it wasn't raining, unlike the day before.
He walked towards a closeby tree and sat with his back against it.
'Let's check the new Items and Artefacts I got.' Adam thought.
He selected the new Artefacts and Items from his Inventory.
They appeared in his hands one by one and he put them on the ground.
He also called out his Familiars.
In front of Adam were:
A [B]-grade Artefact, the Neverending Water Source that the Water Spirit had given him.
Two Monster Tamer's Evolution Scrolls that did not have a grade.
The Winged Fire Salamander, Python.
The Great Black Wolf, Light.
The Frost Cheetah, was still unnamed.
As soon as Light appeared, he walked towards Adam's side and lowered his body.
His head was lying on Adam's extended legs.
Python flapped his wings and positioned himself on Adam's right shoulder.
The Frost Cheetah sat in front of Adam.
'Now that I look at it, it looks very cool...' He thought as he looked at the black and white cheetah.
Adam stroke Light's black pelt as he thought about how to call the Frost Cheetah.
After a bit, he shook and head and checked the Items and Artefacts instead.
[ Artefact: Neverending Water Source [B]
A simple glass bottle that used to hold a potion. It is now filled with water. After being blessed by a Water Spirit, it is now linked to a certain lake. The water it contains will forever be replenished by using the water from that lake.]
Indeed, the Artifact looked exactly like the usual Healing Potions and Mana Potions Adam was used to drink, except that the liquid it contained was water.
Adam took it in his hands.
The glass bottle was closed with a wooden cap.
He opened it and drank from it.
Then, he drank some more.
The bottle was still as full of water as it was before.
'This is nice. Having water at hand forever...' He thought.
After that, he checked the scrolls.
[ Scroll: Monster Tamer's Evolution Scroll
A Scroll that can be used by Monster Tamers to help their Familiar(s) evolve.
Can only be used once. Can only be used on one Familiar.]
'So Artefacts and Scrolls aren't the same, huh? But this is really interesting. I'd like to see Light get even stronger. I hope he won't get much bigger though, the size of an elephant would be way too big. The Frost Cheetah could be a good choice too. It's already very agile and overall pretty strong. It's an [E+] rank monster after all. Python getting bigger would help though. The bigger he is, the stronger his Fire Balls will become I think...'
"Show me the cheetah's status." Adam said.
[ Owner: Adam
Species & level : Frost Cheetah Lv1 (0/1000 Experience Points)
HP: 300/300
Endurance: 150/150
Mana Points: 400/400
Stats: Strength: 35
Agility: 105
Sense: 23
Vigor & Endurance: 30
Mana: 40
Skill(s): Freezing Breath
]
'No wonder Layla found it hard to deal with it even after using her Acceleration Skill. 105 Agility Points is amazing. 23 Sense Points is low. That sounds about right since I could defeat it easily once I used my Temporary Concealment Skill...'
Adam raised his head towards the dark sky.
Not one star could be seen.
The moon alone was watching over him.
He lowered his gaze towards the white cheetah that was lying in front of him.
"Come closer."
It stood up and walked towards Adam.
Once he put his hand on the Tamed Monster's head, he was surprised by how cold it was.
He stroke its white pelt.
'It's cold. But not too cold. Like a gentle breeze.' He thought as he stared into the cheetah's yellow eyes.
Adam had a distant expression, as if he looked at something far far away.
"You know..." Adam said as he stroke the cheetah's white pelt with one hand and Light's black pelt with the other.
"... Apparently, white roses exist. They're usually red or pink so white ones are rare. I never got to see a white rose. I'm not even sure I've seen a normal rose. Flowers kind of all look the same to me. But the rose is my mother's favorite flower. Was, I should say..." He continued as he looked at Python.
"She used to talk to us about them a lot. Some are red, some are pink, some are yellow and others are white. All kinds of shades exist between each of the four colors too." He added while looking at Light who had lifted his head.
"On her wedding day, my father wanted roses to be everywhere. On every wall, a bouquet of at least a dozen roses was hanging. On the middle of every table, a bouquet of roses could be seen. Roses of all sorts. All sorts, but not one white rose." He said before raising his gaze towards the night sky.
A tear clouded his vision a bit.
"It was only after my father had promised my mother to love her and cherish her for the rest of their lives, that he gave her a white rose. The most beautiful of not only all roses, but also all flowers. All the other roses that were hanging on the walls or put on tables could not even compare to this white rose. It wasn't a bouquet of white roses you see, it was just one white rose, which made it all the more special." He said.
The lone tear made its way down his cheek.
"She only talked about her wedding day when I was very young. I must have been about 7 years old the last time I heard her talk about that day. It's actually a bit weird that I remembered that story now."
Adam wiped that tear and looked at his hand for a bit.
"I wonder if she had always loved roses, or if she only started liking them after her wedding day..." He muttered.
'I guess there were many things... I still didn't know about them...'
At the thought of that, his heart sank and a lonely expression appeared on his face.
Just before tears started flowing down his face, the Frost Cheetah pushed its head into Adam's face gently.
Adam giggled and shook his head.
"Alright, alright."
He noticed that his three Tamed Monsters had been looking at him ever since he started talking.
'I wonder if they understand me...'
Adam turned his gaze towards the Frost Cheetah.
"I think... I'll call you...Ummm..."
He looked away for inspiration.
"It can't be something long, since you're fast. It also has to sound cool..." Adam muttered as he looked at the night sky once more.
After a while, he lowered his gaze and pursed his lips inwards as he looked at the cheetah.
"Can I call you Rose?" He asked.
The Frost Cheetah tilted its head sideways before pushing its head into Adam's left arm.
"I take it that's a yes... It's a feminine name... But monsters don't have a gender, do they?" Adam muttered with a relieved expression.
'It's a bit hard to think of these guys as monsters in the first place...' He thought as he stroked his Tamed Monsters' heads one by one.
Adam stood up and ordered the 3 Tamed Monsters to sit in front of him in a line.
"Alright. I only have two scrolls. Who's taking them?" He asked.
Both Light and Rose stood up while Python spread his wings wide.
Adam giggled lightly.
He decided to talk out loud as he felt like his Tamed Monster could understand him, at least a little bit.
"Python is a Winged Fire Salamander. You're a reptile who can fly and spit fire. I'm not sure how evolutions work, but you have the highest potential. You're basically a small dragon."
Python spread his wings even wider and stuck his chest out.
"Light is a Great Black Wolf. You're big, strong and agile. With your Intimidation Stare Skill, you work well in a team since you can get all the attention. Your rank is [E], but you're probably at the top of that rank. You getting stronger and faster would definitely help."
Light howled loudly, but he was interrupted a second later by Adam's shushing.
After all, they were only about a kilometer away from the sleeping family.
"Rose is a Frost Cheetah. Your Agility Stat is over 100 and your Mana Stat is at 40. You're going to be very useful from now on. You also have the highest rank, [E+]. Which means that you can compete with the likes of a Fire Lion, an Ogre or a Sonic Leopard. You're not at the top of the [E+] rank, since there was the Thunder Eagle, the Goblin Chief and the Sonic Leopard before arriving at the Great Mutated Gorilla, the first [D-] monster in the Testing Room. Your evolution might make you strong enough to compete with those [E+] monsters or even bottom [D-] rank monsters."
Rose stuck his chest out silently, learning from Light's mistake.
'I really want to see Python get stronger, but the choice is obvious... Let's ask about that first.'
"What's Python's rank?" He asked.
[As the monster is your Familiar, that information is available even though you have not killed a Winged Fire Salamander before. The Rank of an average Winged Fire Salamander is [E-] rank.]
"Same as that Hobgoblin... Maybe it's also because of his potential." Adam muttered.
Python flapped his wings as he shot a Fire Ball towards the night sky.
"Don't get that excited. I don't think you're even as strong as Light used to be."
The Winged Fire Salamander lowered his gaze.
"Still, you can fly and attack from a safe distance. If anything, the fight would be a draw." Adam said after chuckling lightheartedly.
'If I think about it differently, both Light and Rose are strong Familiars. Maybe my third one should be strengthened instead of the already stronger ones...' He wondered.
"Alright. Python, you're getting one of the scrolls." Adam said as he took one of the two scrolls in his hand.
The scroll disappeared.
[You have used one Monster Tamer's Evolution Scroll on your Tamed Monster Python.]
[ Please choose between the following Evolutions:
1) Great Fire Salamander.
2) Great Winged Fire Salamander.
3) Winged Fire-Lizard.
]
"Ummm, Great Fire Salamander sounds inferior to Great Winged Fire Salamander. I will choose the Great Winged Fire Salamander."
Flames engulfed Python's body for a couple of seconds.
The ball of flames got larger and larger.
Once the flames faded away, Python's size had tripled.
[ Your Winged Fire Salamander Python has evolved into a Great Winged Fire Salamander.]
"Nice. Show me Python's status."
Python was now about 80centimeters from head to the tip of his tail. His wings also got a lot bigger.
Overall, he looked a lot sturdier.
[ Owner: Adam
Name: Python
Species & level : Winged Fire Salamander Lv1 (0/500 Experience Points)
HP: 240/240
Endurance: 120/120
Mana Points: 350/350
Stats: Strength: 28
Agility: 35
Sense: 25
Vigor & Endurance: 24
Mana: 35
Skill(s): Condensed Fire Ball
Fire Resistance
Mana Regeneration
Fire Fangs
]
"Your Strength and Vigor Stats shot up... Your Fire Fangs Skill also goes well with the strength increase." Adam noted after reading the information.
After thinking for some time, he decided which of the Tamed Monsters he was going to use the remaining scroll on.
He took the last scroll into his hand.
"I'll use this one on Python again."
[You have used one Monster Tamer's Evolution Scroll on your Tamed Monster Python.]
[ Please choose between the following Evolutions:
1) Winged Fire Komodo Dragon.
2) Hellfire Salamander.
3) Weak Red Wyrmling.
4) Burning Fire Salamander.
]
"Oh, wow. Four choices, huh? Can I have extra information?"
[No additional information can be given.]
'Thought as much...' Adam clicked his tongue.
"What's a Komodo Dragon? Is it a dragon? Maybe a small dragon? Hellfire Salamander and Burning Fire Salamander sound like stronger versions of the Fire Salamander. Weak Red Wyrmling sounds different. Usually, monsters aren't differentiated by using weak or strong..."
Adam thought for a bit about the options he had.
"Weak Red Wyrmling might be the right choice. That evil guy turned you into a red salamander after all. I choose the Weak Red Wyrmling." He finally said while looking at Python.
Once again, flames engulfed Python's body for a couple of seconds.
This time, the flames got smaller.
Once the flames faded away, Python's whole figure had changed.
[ Your Great Winged Fire Salamander Python has evolved into a Weak Red Wyrmling.]
"You look... like a little dragon..." Adam muttered.
Python was now a small red dragon.
His scales were red and looked sturdy.
His pupils were red too.
He stood on four legs and spread his wings.
Python was now bigger than a cat, but smaller than a wolf, although his wings made him look bigger than he was.
The little dragon, also known as a Weak Red Wyrmling, flapped his wings and took off.
His speed was a lot higher than it used to be.
He could also control himself better in the air.
"Can I see his status... Python's status..."
[ Owner: Adam
Name: Python
Species & level: Weak Red Wyrmling Lv1 (0/1500Experience Points)
HP: 500/500
Endurance: 250/250
Mana Points: 1050/1050
Stats: Strength: 25
Agility: 65
Sense: 45
Vigor & Endurance: 50
Mana: 105
Skill(s): Condensed Fire Ball
Weak Dragon Breath
Fire Immunity
High Mana Regeneration
Fire Fangs
Fire Claws
]
"Alright!" Adam shouted.
'He has a lot more Skills and his Mana and Vigor Stats increased a lot. 1050 Mana Points... Agility too...'
"Oh. Fire Resistance became Fire Immunity." He noted as Python landed in front of him.
[A Certain Evil chuckles.]
'Oh. Right. They're watching... Of course, they are...'
"What's Python's rank now?"
[As the monster is your Familiar, that information is available even though you have not killed a Weak Red Wyrmling before. The Rank of an average Weak Red Wyrmling is [E+] rank.]
"Am not asking about an average one. Am asking about Python."
[Your Tamed Monster Python would be ranked as an [E+] monster.]