CH48: Beast Pets

***

CH48: Beast Pets

[The Fool's Sanctuary.]

-Bio-

Tier: Tier II (Basic Territory)

Territory Type: Farmland.

Territory Size: 30 Acres

Farm Size: 27 acres

Land for other use: 3 Acres.

-Census-

Territory Inhabitants: Forest Elves.

Territory Profession: Farm hands.

Spawn Rate 1: 5 Forest Elves every 1 month.

Spawn Rate 2: 1 Forest Elf Elder every 100 Forest Elves.

-Advantages.-

-Influence of Great Tree: x10 growth rate of all herbs planted on territory.

-Soil Fertility: Reduces the growth time of herbs planted in soil by 20%

-Ambient Astra Environment: Energy content of herbs increases by 50%

-Nature Elves Skills: Yield and Vigour of harvest increases by 50%

***

The next day, Navia and I woke up to prepare breakfast.

We planned to leave for Landrose midday today.

Breakfast was simple. Bread, fried eggs, meat (warmed leftover stake) and milk.

It didn't take long to prepare. I was on frying duty while Navia 'prepared' the other food items.

Suddenly, Gandr innocently poked its head out of my shadow without me realising it. It slithered all the way to Navia.

The lady was startled by the snake's sudden appearance, but she strangely wasn't afraid of it.

The two were locked in a staring contest when I realised it.

'Fork!' I thought.

Just as I was about to say something, Navia stretched out her hand. Gandr obediently placed his head in her palm, much to my shock.

"Where did you come from, little guy?" She muttered.

I walked up to her.

"Look, Leo. A snake got into the house." She said.

I wasn't sure if she realised how strange she sounded. She said it as if it was a puppy who got into the house.

"I wonder where it came from." She added.

She waved her hand around and Gandr followed.

The two's actions reminded me of how snakes danced to the tune of snake charmers in my previous life.

'Snake... charmer?' A light bulb went off in my head. 'Navia's charm works on even snakes, I wonder.'

I soon shook the thought out of my head.

"It came to me last night in the study." I said to her. "Gandr, come here." I called out.

'Inanimate Form.' I ordered mentally.

Gandr slithered to me, then turned into a walking cane in my hand.

"Have you ever seen something like this before?" I asked.

Well, she didn't need to answer. The jaw-dropped reaction of hers was answer enough.

"No. I've never heard or seen a creature that can do that. If I didn't know better, I'd say it's your Pangea."

"I can't have a Pangea."

"I know that. That's why it's so shocking." Navia suddenly became serious. "Don't show this to anyone you don't trust. It might bring unnecessary trouble."

"Understood." I nodded.

'Animate Form.'

I ordered Gandr to return to its snake form. It slithered away from me and went to coil around Navia's arm.

It was interesting to note that the woman wasn't disgusted at all.

I thought it aligned with my observation that Gandr was too 'handsome' to be treated like an ordinary snake. It didn't elicit any sense of disgust, none so ever, in humans like other members of the serpentine family.

Of course, I needed to test this some more before I can be proven right.

"How can I get approval to keep it as a pet?"

"Oh, I can handle that for you." Navia said. "Is it the only pet you want to keep?"

"Hmm..." I thought about it. Then, I remembered I had two other incarnation-type Blessings that might also come in animal forms. "I have an idea to see if I can tame beast for my use. They'll act as cover for me. After all, I'm a mana-inept person as far as the world is concerned. It will help greatly if I can use beasts as a cover for my strength. I'm thinking about three, five at most."

Navia was speechless.

"Are you even sure you can tame any beasts?"

"Who knows... At least, Gandr looks tame enough."

"He might be a special case. We are not even sure he's a normal beast."

"We just have to find out."

"Fine. I'll work on getting you a tamer permit. With that, you can keep up to five animals." She said. Then, she added sarcastically. "We'll upgrade it if you want to keep more."

"Nah, five is enough."

Meanwhile, Gandr had taken the chance of my distraction to attack my food. The damned thing actually gobbled down my stake.

"Hey!"

It quickly darted back to Navia.

"You're scaring it. It's just hungry." She said before offering her stake.

It gobbled that down as well.

I could sense {Energy Devourer}, through our connection, working its magic to digest the meat into free energy for Gandr's use.

"You're spoiling it. It will be harder to discipline later on."

"Don't worry. Taming someone is about carrot and stick. You can't use only a stick all the time. The person will run away from you."

"Are you sure we're talking about the same thing?"

"Of course."

I shook my head. However, I made up my mind to put Gandr through some military-style drills to... well, drill some discipline into it.

We enjoyed our breakfast, which was now devoid of meat thanks to a certain serpent, while chatting on some topics, amongst which were my Academy Graduation and House of Death induction.

The two events were scheduled for two weeks time.

**

Navia and I returned to Landrose in the latter half of the afternoon. I led her back to her workshop and apartment in the Charwell Mall.

I was concerned about her living conditions but she said she was fine with her accommodation.

I didn't want to impose so I could only take her word for it, after all, I knew she was rich enough to afford any apartment she wanted in the city.

Her stay in the mall certainly had nothing to do with money.

I tried out the suit she was making for me so that she could adjust the fittings. There were only a few more touches to go before it was ready.

I was satisfied with what she made.

She was a true professional be it her in her job as a Broker or as a Tailor.

*

I returned to my house within the DoomMane Guild estate.

The members of the elite camp were training there when I arrived.

"Welcome home, Leo." Zora stopped what she was doing and came to me. "You took longer than usual."

"I felt nostalgic and decided to spend a few more days in my hometown." I replied.

Zora's attention shifted to the cane in my hand.

"That's new." She said as we walked together to my lodging in the camp.

"It's something I got in Pryford." I passed the cane over to her.

"The snakehead is pretty."

She passed it back to me.

"Aren't you disgusted? I thought you didn't like snakes." I asked as I took back the cane.

"Maybe I only dislike live ones. The cane doesn't bother me at all." She herself wondered why.

I smiled.

My Gandr universal acceptance hypothesis was proving more correct by the minute.

"I have something to show you later." I said.

"What?" Zora asked.

"Later, when we are alone."

She nodded.

"Actually, I got something for you while you were away. It reminded me of you."

We reached the door of my little house. The other members of the party joined us at this point.

"Huh? What did you get?"

"You'll see." She smiled.

I could only nod.

"Welcome back, teacher." The others greeted me, except Ella of course.

I wondered when the girl would grow up and realise what I did was for her own good.

I exchanged pleasantries with the others while Zora opened the door to my house.

Since she always help me with things in the house and I kept some training materials there, I gave her a spare key to access the house when I'm not around.

I passed by Ella and was about to enter the house when she exclaimed.

"Ah!"

Everyone turned to her in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Jaras asked.

"You... you..." Ella pointed at me. "No wonder you came later than usual. You were with a woman!"

I was surprised.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't bother denying it. I can smell the female perfume on your body."

I couldn't help smelling my clothes. She was right, there was a sweet scent on my body, however, it was faint. I couldn't believe she picked that up.

'Are you a dog?' I wondered.

"How could you? Leader was here pinning for you these last few days, but you were out frolicking with a woman."

Zora was embarrassed by what she said and quickly covered her mouth. It didn't stop the spiteful girl from glaring at me.

I felt a headache coming.

The others looked at me with varying expressions.

Fenton looked at me reproachfully. I guess that's expected from a guy who's devoted himself to the sword.

Milos, the lively testosterone-powered teen, gave me secret thumbs up. I could see admiration in his eyes.

Ramla was... well, Ramla. Her expression was as neutral as always.

Jaras gave me an apologetic look on Ella's behalf.

I massaged my forehead. I hadn't even entered my house and I already had to deal with this hassle.

"Listen, Ella." I said to the girl. "My relationship with Zora or any other woman has nothing to do with you. This will be the last time you pull this kind of stunt."

I unconsciously released some of my predatory aura.

Fortunately, I noticed the discomfort of the others and reined it back in.

Alas, Ella didn't learn her lesson.

"So, you admit that you were with another woman?"

"Yes, my tailor is a woman. I just left her store. She asked me to come over today to adjust the fittings of my suit for the graduation party." I answered. "And if it's what you want to hear, you guess is right. There will be something between us in the future. Are you happy?"

Ella looked elated.

She turned to Zora.

"You see, Leader. This guy isn't worth it..."

She was about to slander me when she noticed Ella bending down her head. There was a downcast vibe coming from her. She realised she did more harm than good.

She was about to say something else when Zora raised her head again. She had a faint smile on her face.

"I understand what you're trying to do and I love you for it. But can you stop? This is my decision."

Ella woodenly nodded her head.

Zora turned to me.

"I wish you success. I won't give up as well."

I sighed silently.

'Even this isn't enough.'

She hooked my hand and led me into the house.

At the corner of my eye, I saw Jaras admonishing Ella.

-

The house was clean. Zora must've cleaned it while I was away.

She led me to my bedroom at the back.

There wasn't much to say about the room. It was minimalistic. Just a bed, a desk and a wardrobe.

There was a new addition though. There was an egg to the side of the bed. It was placed on a cradle made from a pile of soft cloths. There were also four Low-grade Mana Stones around it.

"What is that?" I couldn't help asking.

"Dad took us out to get mounts as gifts for our graduation. I remembered you said having a good mount would be beneficial to us in the future. So, I asked dad to buy one for each of us.

"We had planned to get horses but they were so many other types of beast mounts some of us selected other types. That was when I found this egg. The space around it is the same as you.

"The beast merchant told me that the Hunters who sold it to him found it by accident. The egg doesn't show any mana affinity or signature so no one is sure what creature is inside." Ella explained.

"So, you bought it just because it reminded you of me?"

"Yes." Ella nodded. "I feel it will be special like you."

I stared at the girl at bit before my gaze turned back to the egg.

People exert some invisible influence on their surrounding space. The more powerful or special that person is, the stronger the distortion they cause on their surrounding space. We can call this their 'Presence' so to say.

Perhaps due to the Spatial affinity from her Pangea, Ella can sense this invisible spatial distortion around each person.

Now, according to her, this egg distorts space the same way as me.

The fact that it doesn't show any distinct mana signature or affinity is already strange.

'Does this mean it doesn't have mana like me?' I wondered.

I raised my mana sensitivity and examined the egg.

There was actually a large amount of mana pooling within it.

I understood something from this.

'It has mana, however, it's still similar to me. That must mean it's a physical-type fighter. It doesn't show any affinity because it's fleshy body is its affinity.' I mused.

"Interesting." I said. "You're giving me this?"

"Yes." Ella nodded. She looked fondly at the egg. "Nobody wanted it because they couldn't feel anything from it. It's a pity because I can tell it's special. Then, I thought since you're similar, perhaps no one other then you will be able to appreciate it as it is now."

"You're wrong, Ella." I said. "Don't you also appreciate it?"

The girl's eyes widened.

"I'll take it. Thanks for the gift. Don't worry, I'll treat it well. Who knows? All those people who let it go, might come to regret it in future."

I rubbed her head.

A smile blossomed on her face.

My attention turned to the four mana stones around it. They had almost been depleted.

"It's absorbing a lot of mana." I said.

"The Beast merchant said it needs a lot of mana to hatch. That's another reason why people didn't buy it."

'Beast Merchant, huh...' I thought.

Remember I said humans could do anything as long as there's money to be made.

Well, Beast trade was another one of those professions.

By nature, all beasts hate humans. This was a Law of Arun. However, humans have found ways to circumvent this 'Law'.

These methods include generational captivity and young beast theft.

The first method worked mostly for Herbivore Beasts.

The beasts were kept in an enclosure and made to breed. The adults are killed while the young are allowed to grow and breed the next generation. Then they are killed after breeding as well. This cycle continues until a generation where the fear of humans has been imprinted into the nature of the Beasts.

Then, they become ripe for taming as mounts.

This gave birth to the use of Beasts as animals of burden as well as the emergence of Nests.

Of course, even with these measure, it didn't mean it was easy to capture and tame the beasts. It only made it easier to do.

As for the other method, it's mainly used for Carnivore Beasts or Beast in the wild in general.

For some reason, Beast cubs grow in eggs or cocoons, even for the mammals.

The mammals carry the pregnancy of their young as normal, but when they give birth to them, the new-born becomes wrapped in a cocoon of mana for a while.

Meanwhile other Beasts just give birth to their young in eggs which doubles as this mana cocoon.

Hunters target and steal these young mana cocoon because Humans have found out that Beast imprint on the first person they see when they come out of their cocoon.

So, they target the eggs or cocoons of different Beasts and hatch them. The Beast would be forever loyal to the person who hatched it.

This is actually the most prevalent way of getting mounts as it ensures absolute obedience.

The thing is, even tamed beast attack humans. The nature of hating humans is always there, just not as much as the Beasts in the wild.

The beasts tamed through the first method are relatively docile and obedient as long as their masters are strong enough. They won't attack any humans unless provoked beyond a certain measure, plus they calm down pretty quickly. This makes them excellent for trading and use amongst different people.

Meanwhile, the Beasts tamed through the second method aren't docile to anyone else except their masters and possibly their masters' immediate family. Once provoked, they can only be calmed by their master or they have to be put down. As such, they can't be traded.

Once their masters die, most of them leave for the wild, return to their master's family or are put down.

The people who specialise in the dangerous business of Beast trading and taming are called Beast Merchants.

(To be continued...)