Departing

Stunned by the answer and sudden change of topic sending Eric into thought.

How could one just get over seeing themselves die?

"How was one just get over that? It makes no sense to shrug it off." said Eric.

"I didn't just shrug it off, it's harder to explain than that. It's more like one day it just kinda clicked and it just made sense." Conor said.

Eric's mind was now racing at a million miles per hour.

How would it just click?

Or was he just crazy, honestly Eric couldn't understand what he was thinking.

Replacing his quiver and grabbing his bag, Eric gestured for Conor to follow.

Finally, dropping the topic and leaving the clearing, the boys set out.

"Any place you want to look in particular?" Asked Eric, as his eyes swept over the area, looking for a trail.

"Would there be a place that common tiers would hang around?" said Conor.

"There are a few places. I guess we'll head to the closest one first, but we are not picking a fight in any of those places. Sometimes uncommon tiers pass through those areas, so it's too risky to pick a fight in them." Eric said and began walking.

On a small ridge, the two boys sat looking down at a pond.

Both boys were eating a small lunch.

Eric tore a small piece of his strip of jerky and passed it to Zeus, who wolfed it down greedily.

Seeing this, Conor put on a small smile and commented. "You two seem rather close, almost like me and Fun here. What stage are you at?"

"What do you mean, stage? " Eric asked, scratching Zeus's neck.

"So you're a tamer that doesn't even know the basics. Now that's pretty funny." He laughed and pet the badger laying on his lap.

"Listen closely, as I'll only explain this once." Conor said, looking Eric in the eye.

"Tamers are classified by realms and stages. In the order of contract sighing, where you sign your contract and give a name to your partner, but if you don't name your partner, you don't have a complete contract. Seeing how you called your partner Zeus, you completed your contract and moved up to the bonding realm." He explained, giving Eric a moment to take it in before continuing.

"They divide the bonding realm into nine levels. When you complete them all, you go up to the understanding realm, but it's a little early for you to learn about that. You are most likely only in the first stage of bonding." he said.

Eric took in this new information, letting it soak into his head and form a question.

"If I'm only at the first stage, how do I advance?" Asked Eric, looking over at Conor.

"It works in different ways for different people. For me, it helps when I fight or move my body, but for you, it could be something completely different." Said Conor, getting up and stretching.

Both boys were now standing and getting ready to leave when suddenly the atmosphere changed.

The tranquil and light suddenly became intense and crushing.

Slowly, a large hoof came down and stepped into the clearing around the pond.

A head followed, slowly moving out of the sea of trees.

With two large antlers, like boney wings, jutting out from each side of its head.

Fully emerging and showing its rich dirt, brown fur, and cruel majesty striding forth like nothing could touch it.

It bent down and drank from the pristine pond.

After getting its fill, it stood up and glanced at the ridge as if looking at flies before walking off.

Out of everything that could have appeared, it was the worst of all.

Eric panicked.

That was the King of the Forest, a moose that was a rare tier, an existence that could raze a city to the ground like it was nothing.

Releasing the breath he was holding, hugging Zeus, and stammering out. "We need to leave now."

Walking toward home, Eric continued to panic.

Once again, death just breathed down his neck.

What had he done to keep walking into near-death situations?

"what the was that monster? I thought the strongest thing here was an uncommon tier?" Asked Conor, trying to calm himself.

"That was the King of the forest. Normally, he never comes out this far. If he is, something is very wrong. We need to get out of here now and warn the city." said Eric, quickly breaking into a sprint.

Quickly heading to the city, arriving with both boys out of breath and tired.

Immediately seeing the first guard, Eric yelled at him to get the captain.

Recognizing Eric, the guard ran off.

Arriving at the gate, both Eric and Conor stopped and tried to catch their breath.

After waiting for a few minutes, a man riding on an enormous horse with a blazing mane appeared.

The man dismounted the horse.

He was a middle-aged man with a large scar running down his cheek, wearing full plate mail hiding his frame.

The man looked at Eric, greeting him with a strict. "This better be important. I was about to go on break and we both know how little I enjoy missing those."

This man was Syd Bannerman, captain of the guard.

He was a strict and straightforward man that enjoyed simple pleasures in life, like his breaks and days off, and had no mercy toward anyone that interrupted them.

"Syd, the king of the forest, was around an hour away from the city. We might have a new beast tide coming."

Beast tides were nothing new to the people.

They became a part of life.

Every couple of years, animals would gather up and attack cities for some unknown reasons.

If the tide was too strong, it would mean the end of a city.

But even if it was repelled, it rarely came without losing people and supplies.

Most beast tides would be hard-fought battles, with everyone capable of joining the fight and barely surviving.

Battles like these made every tamer count, as tamers are much stronger than the average human.

A single bonding realm tamer would be worth one hundred regular men, but would something in such high demand be available too commonly?

Tamers are a rare commodity.

Most tamers form a contract with a young animal and rarely made contracts with animals as Eric did.

But would the young animals be common to come by?

The answer is no; they became a highly sought-after resource that only those with money and status could get and anyone would have to try their luck.