I walked for the rest of the evening, descending deeper into the valley; the merciless rocky terrain and steep gradients giving way to far more forgiving, gentle slopes. The land became more verdant with my descent. Strange cries punctuated the quieting dusk, fantastic and alien to my pointy, heavily pierced green ears. I eventually decided to settle down a few hours after nightfall. Before heading out, I had purchased supplies in town and had bought my own canteen. Iâd never camped before; home didnât have the best atmosphere for it yet. I had fun; a fire kit had popped out of my inventory waiting to be lit. A flint and tinder appearing in my hands a second later. Retrieving items from the inventory was as simple as thinking of them, it was a handy and neat trick. The fire kit was a pile of cut and dried kindling arranged like a small tepee, surrounded about a ring of stones, dry plant fibres were arranged in a neat pile at the centre. I struck the flint a few times, raining sparks down onto the dry fibres, pausing occasionally to see if the gently smoking bundle would take light. It required a few attempts but eventually the fire took, banishing the cold night breeze in a small radius of soft, warm light. My success was accompanied by a sound I was growing to appreciate, the little bing-bop that announced a skill-up.
Skill acquired
Survival I
Skill level:1/100
You lit a fire; you have the beginnings of what you need to survive the wild places of the world.
.
I chuckled, it seemed that I could raise this skill by sleeping out under the stars, which is what I intended to do after a day of âgrindingâ as Fizzle called it. I was also excited to make use of the relic-quality stone that dropped from the rare snow slime queen. As the night progressed, the noises of presumably more complex creatures than the slime came from all around the clearing I had bedded down in. Even now, axe close at hand I felt an unusual sense of anxiety creeping in on me. I had seen the sort of monsters this game had. I had watched friends riding monsters larger than imagining into battle, massive terrible things that would ruin kingdoms and often did. Some players like to think themselves kingmakers I was told. But out here in this unfamiliar place I had no idea what might be lurking and there were several times that night I felt eyes sizing me up during moments of eerie silence. When it all became too much I logged out.
I logged back in, feeling refreshed from my brief absence, having used the opportunity to eat real food and take a âcomfort breakâ. It was morning in the game, and gentle bird-like songs could be heard drifting through the trees. I strode through the sun-dappled meadow valley in search of the creature that would become my first monster. I had thought long and hard on the sort of creature I would like to capture, deciding that since I couldnât predict the monster spawns of the new area that I would just wing it. Before too long, I found myself in an area called the âCradled Valleyâ. I would capture whatever caught my eye. That was ambitious as I soon learned. The first creature I encountered was a small bird of some sort. It had large facetted eyes and its feathers sparkled with a dusky blue hue. I inspected the small, roundish creature and a nameplate appeared:
Bejewelled twilight owlkin, Level 2.
I frowned at the level, the slimes I had encountered had been mostly roundabout Level three, the matriarch topping out at four. Why was this creature so comparatively weak? I shrugged and took the shard of the first stone out of my inventory. Bouncing it on my palm I considered the owlkin; it had turned to observe me, hooting indignantly at my presence in its copse of trees. I took aim then threw the stone at the creature which, rather lazily stepped to the side, the stone bouncing off the part of the branch the where creature had been moments before only to fall back down to the ground. As I retrieved the stone, the owlkin took flight and flew out of view, I scowled after it.
My second encounter was closer to being a success. A few game hours had passed since my encounter with the owlkin and I was beginning to doubt Iâd find any more creatures as advanced as the bird when I stumbled upon something entirely alien. While I was only familiar with certain livestock species and pictures of long-extinct Earth animals, the creature I saw here defied all evolutionary sense. It was constructed of a pile of rubble, plant fibres, and moss holding the rocks together in the semblance of a vaguely humanoid shape. It was short, barely as tall as Fizzlewiz but blockier in appearance. Upon further inspection a nameplate popped into view above what served as the creatureâs head:
Living-Earth elemental, Level four.
As I peered at it from the bushes, I grinned to myself. This bulky little creature looked like it could hold itsâ own in a fight. I watched it slowly lumber around for a few minutes before trying my luck again with the stone. But when I stood up to pitch the rock at my quarry, it simply melted into the earth beneath its feet, nameplate vanishing with it. I sighed and put the stone back into my inventory.
My search continued long into the afternoon; I occasionally vented my frustration on the slimes that spawned around me in a reverse of the death animation. I gathered up what random chunks of assorted fragments of stone, gems, and ores. Netting a few levels in my axe skill and creeping closer to my next level-up. I took a break when my wandering returned me to the stream I had followed down into the valley where it terminated into another large pool, this one with sandy banks and a few rocky outcroppings. Honestly, the scale of the valley surprised me, easily as large as Meadows Edge; itâs buildings and streets replaced with copses of trees; small woods; and rolling meadows. The pool I stood beside seemed to be close to the valleyâs centre and, figuring that monsters needed to drink, I sat and I waited. It was mind-numbingly boring; and, as the sun started to disappear behind the mountains that surrounded the valley, a chill set into the air. I wasnât fond of the cold after my experience with the snow slimes and I vowed to myself that Iâd invest in a cloak or something when I returned to the town with my waiting quest reward.
As the evening began to yield to night, a variety of interesting monsters ranging in design from unsettling to adorable made their brief appearances at the watering hole. One creature was just an eye on a long neck attached to a short trunk body, four long three-toed legs sprouting from its sides. I didnât even want to think about what that was and never even bothered to take the stone from my inventory. I saw the owlkin again, glittering in the fading light far overhead, heading back towards its copse of trees presumably to hunt its territory now that I, the intruder, was gone. One creature I almost didnât notice at all was a small yellow rodent of some sort, no bigger than a tennis ball, blue sparks crackle across its fur but, like the owlkin, it was too fast to capture.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Eventually two more creatures appeared at the watering hole as I was about to give up and look elsewhere. The first was a small lamb-like creature with its hindquarters shrouded in mist or fog. It had stubby horns and a bony, roughly triangular, plate across its brow. It was cute. I decided, but it didnât really strike me as a monster to fight alongside; indeed, as it tottered shakily to the waterâs edge it was a wonder it was alive. Not compared to the beast stalking it a few meters back, only now emerging from some long grass. I crept around the watering hole to observe it further. It had no eyes that I could see and had incredibly long ears that were flattened to the side of its head and neck, its dark fur was patterned with naturally occurring blue bands. It was a quadruped and resembled the big cats you could see on Earth, in a way. The tail however was thick, fleshy, and whip-like. It swayed menacingly from side to side as it approached the small lamb-like creature, now obliviously drinking from the water. Their name bars lit up.
Mist-Springer fawn, Level five
Umbra strangler cat, Level five
I came to a halt and stared at the creatures, easily the two strongest I had seen all day, even by the small lake. The obvious choice was to catch the strangler, it looked vicious and I could see it throwing enemies aside with its powerful tail. However, stood where I was across from the two monsters, it occurred to me that should the cat creature pounce on the lamb-deer looking one I could then catch it while it was distracted, or better yet catch it before it molested the frail little beast drinking from the pool. I retrieved the shard from my inventory and waited. Sure enough, as the umbra cat strangler moved closer it lowered itself down and prepared to pounce. My breath caught in my throat.
I stepped forward, sand and grit crunching under my booted feet and launched the stone the short distance across the lake. As I moved to throw, the stranglerâs large ears perked up and the creature paused, not leaping as it listened for any further sounds. I watched, pleading that this throw would miss like all the others, it skipped gracefully across the surface of the watering hole and smacked into the mist springerâs dumb little head. The lamblike creature gave one startled bleat before it broke apart into the dancing lights but instead of slowly ascending and winking out, they angrily swarmed into the stone that a moment later reappeared in my hand. Notifications began opening, flashing for my attention. I sighed, feeling numb looking at the stone containing my first monster. I looked up in time to see the umbra cat slink off, back through the tall grasses it had come, no doubt seeking fresh prey. I shook myself; this wasnât the time to feel down. For better or worse, I had a monster now and now my game had really begun.
I turned my attention to the notifications, there were a few of them so I started with the first.
Congratulations
You have contracted with your first monster, a âMist-Springer Fawnâ
Your new monstersâ level has been set to your own, it will increase in level automatically as you do.
Perfect capture +200 XP
Monster Window tutorial
Well done you have captured your first monster. Would you like an explanation of the monster window?
Yes/No
I hit âyesâ and a tutorial window popped up explaining the various tables throughout the monster page. The left-hand column was the stat array that worked similarly to my own. The next was a grid of five spheres with one in the centre and four surrounding it. While the tutorial windows diagram showed empty squares; my monster page, which had opened alongside the explanation showed four of the five orbs were coloured with an animated effect. Scanning the instructions, I tapped on each orb in turn revealing that these were the creatureâs magical affinities, one of which would be passed on to me at Level four. The fawn had access to the air, water, earth, and nature domains which I felt was very cool. I had only faced monsters with what I guessed was an ice typing up until now. Below the two tables was a list of percentages that I learned (after wading deeper into the tutorial text) represented the creatureâs species attributes. The fawn had a mix of the mammalian and elemental species. Tapping on each revealed the minutia of each species type, and how and why it manifested in a way. It made my head spin, so I decided to ignore it and ask Fizzle for a simpler explanation though doubtless just as long-winded as the tutorial text was dense. In the bottom right of the monster screen was a list of the tiny monsterâs abilities, spells, and traits. For example, the fawn had the cloud stride. A trait that allowed it to essentially levitate or float at will for an hour at a time. It also had an ability from its fleece which gave it a small resistance to fire and cold damage. All in all, and from what I could tell, it was a decent little monster. Then I noticed something, at the very bottom of the monster page it read: Current Grade: C, low tier.
After tinkering with my menus and reading about my new partner I tried to consider how to take it out of the stone so I could get to know it. However, no tutorial appeared forthcoming. I placed the stone on the ground in front of me, settling down onto the ground myself. The stone, which had transformed to have a crude engraving of a goat sat there, doing nothing. I prodded it, nothing. I clapped my hands then thrust them forward, nothing. Scowling, I rubbed at my jaw. How did people summon monsters? I couldnât ask Alber; he had gone offline as night had fallen, no doubt skipping the dangerous night cycle altogether in his diminutive, squishy state. I puzzled for a moment, trying to remember how my friends had called their various companions into being. It was hard to say given the chaotic nature of their warmongering pastimes. Maybe there was someone on my friends list I could ask, as CO had linked to my social media profile and had put me on a realm with Alber. It naturally had access to my contacts who were in the game but no one was online, I snapped my fingers cursing to myself only to be dazzled by a flash of light and a loud distressed bleating. I stared at my little mist-springer fawn. It was just as wimpy as I initially assumed yet I thought to myself as I pulled up its stats, while its strength and constitution were abysmal, its intellect, wisdom, and charisma scores were quite high. The high stat values of those associated with magic might explain why a prey animal like this had survived this long.
âBa-oooh,â it bleated at me questioningly.
âWhat,â I grunted at it bemused. âI didnât expect to bond with you either.â
It stared at me for a moment with silver eyes, its pupils like that of a sheep or goat then tottered over to sniff at my pant leg. I would occasionally reach out to the creature as it acclimatized to be, but it would shy away bleating at me plaintively. I decided to give it some time, my own charisma score wasnât particularly great; and to the fawn I was probably even scarier than the umbra cat if she had she even seen it coming. Eventually, with a fat moon hanging high overhead, the fawn had grown somewhat accustomed to me; it no longer moved away if I tried to touch it, but it would occasionally give a nervous bleat. It rested its head on my lap and closed its eyes. A notification popped up as the creature fell into a deep sleep.
You have successfully bonded with your mist springer fawn, what shall this monsterâs name be?
âWhat should we call you then little one?â I asked quietly as I stroked itâs sleeping head.
âBa-too?â It lowed at me almost questioningly, opening a single silvery eye.
âBaâoo?â I asked it, it bleated at me and wriggled as though showing its displeasure. I chuckled at it, âOkay so not Baâoo then.â
âBaoooâ it confirmed.
âBaruu then?â It lay its woolly horned head back on my lap. Itâs one open eye closing as it went back to sleep.
I smiled at the sleeping creature, after a night of listening to its incessant bleating I had the perfect name for it. Indeed, the little thing already responded in a way when I had used it as it grew more familiar with me.
I entered a single nonsensical word: Baruu.