Here is another chapter for you. This one is rather long. Please continue to vote review my story. I love the comments everyone has made so far. I hope that my writing has included any requests that have been made. Please keep reading and I will keep writing. Enjoy!

Chapter 16

Hiro awoke as the sun began to shine on his face. As he opened his eyes he saw several notifications.

Quest completed defeat the troll. Rewards: Troll hammer.

Level up

Quest completed town saved.

Level up.

You have now reach level 20. You have me the requirements for the following classes, swordsman, fire mage, and the rare class, ki warrior. Which do you wish to make this your class?

"The first two I can guess what they do but I wonder about the ki warrior class. What bonuses does it give?" Immediately when Hiro thought of the question a blinking exclamation point popped up in his HUD. He touched it and ....

This job allows greater reservoir of ki in addition ki regeneration is accelerated and ki attack and defense skills are strengthened.

"That sounds great!" Hiro pressed the accept button and immediately he felt a rush of energy run over his entire body. "It feels like I'm about to explode with power! This is AWESOME!"

New titled gained Town Hero. People of the town of Kaito will be forever in your debt. Cost of goods purchased in the town of Kaito will be give 25% discount and your ability to lead people of Kaito has increased.

Toughness now level 8

Dashing Slash now novice level 1

You gained 450 points of Fame for your part in saving the town of Kaito.

Body enhancement and weapon enhancement have merged into ki manipulation.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Ki manipulationNovice825%This skill allows the user to manipulate their ki in various ways. The more this skilled is practiced the more different things you can do with it. As you master this skill you will be able to mold your ki into attacks outside of your body.

.

“Wow that was a lot of upgrades. Those quests are definitely ways to help improve my skills and levels.”

“Man my body feels so much better. It’s as if I was as never in a battle at all.” He hadn't noticed because he was paying so much attention to all of the notifications but he felt something soft underneath him. "It can't be!" It was a bed. It felt amazing. He didn’t realize how much he missed sleeping on a bed with a mattress. He looked around him. The room he was in was huge. It looked as if he could have fit his whole apartment in the bedroom. The bed was enormous. Four or maybe even five people could have comfortably slept in this bed.

Hiro got up and felt a cool breeze. “Man why did that breeze feel so cold?” He suddenly recognized he wasn’t wearing any clothes. “I’m naked! How did I get like this? Where are my clothes? More importantly, who took them off?” He looked across the room and found them sitting on a chair fold up neatly. The stains of blood had been cleaned and they smelled great. As he put oh his pants on and his boots, he noticed a mirror on the wall.

He saw his reflection in the mirror for the first time since he had been in this world. He had grown about 10 to 15cm. “I guess that my height is now about 6 feet tall and I’ve developed some serious muscle.” His chest had become well defined and his abdominals were like something out of an anime cartoon. His abdominal muscles looked like tiny bricks popping out. He turned around and saw his back. It looked wide and deep crease went down the middle. His arms looked massive for and defined, yet they still fit his frame. His waist was still slim so the width of his shoulders made his torso look like a capital “V”.

He looked and wondered, “If I simply worked out daily would I have looked like this in the real world. He started to pose a little in the mirror to see his well-developed physique. Well I guess my face has even changed a little. I’m the same average looking guy I’ve always been but I look a little older. I had just turned 17 in my world. Here I look to be about 21 to 23. Maybe that explains why I am taller. I still have my nice hazel colored eyes and short jet black hair. My skin is still a nice golden brown color. It’s funny I’ve been in the sun for weeks but my skin has not tanned at all and my hair hasn’t grown at all.” He could not help but appreciate the strength that he had cultivated through his hard work. Next, he saw a large window in front of him.

He looked in horror. There was death all over. The bodies of orcs, goblins, and townspeople were littered all over the ground.The scene was bleak people were moving dead bodies out in wooden wheel carts. It was awful. The battle wasn’t a dream and this scene was something directly out of his nightmares. All of those people were killed and all of the monsters he and his party killed. He clasped his hands and set a short prayer for the spirits of those who were killed human and monster. He decided to go out and see what he could do to help and he wanted to see Foria, Snow, and Korin.

Hiro walked out of his room and he recognized the where he was. It was the house where he and Foria killed the troll. He walked down the stairs and saw the man and the woman he saved in the house. They were feverishly cleaning up the blood on the stairs. The rest of the house staff was helping to clean up the mess that had been made inside the house during the battle. They all paused and bowed when he walked by saying thank you.

Hiro graciously said, “You are most welcome.” Then he walked out the front door.

Outside the sun was shining and people were trying to repair the damage done by the monster attack. People were moving the debris from damaged buildings and the corpses that were lying about. Hiro looked around at the charred remains of the buildings in the city. There was feeling of despair in the air around them. Hiro looked out farther and he saw Snow, Foria, and Korin in the middle of what appeared to be the town square. They seemed to be supervising the cleanup. Hiro ran out to meet them.

When he reached them he asked, “What’s going on? Why didn’t you wake me up I could have helped?”

“You were asleep for 3 days due to your injuries” said Korin. “Even with my healing spell you were pretty banged up. You had tons of internal injuries, two broken arms, dislocated shoulder, and almost all of your ribs were broken broken. I'm acutally surprised that you made it out here.”

“Are you serious?! Wow that attack from that trolls hammer was crazy. Also when he squeezed me I knew I was going to die. Enough about that, thank you guys for taking care of me”

“You must be kidding”, said Foria. “I couldn’t have taken down that monster without you. You are the reason that our parents can rest in peace and the reason I’m alive right now. How much do you remember about the end of the battle?

“I remember you stabbing the troll in the head. Then it let me go and you held me. I remember you giving me the potion then I passed out.”

“Anything else?”

“Ummmm…. Nothing. Everything went dark after you gave me the potion. Why? What happened?”

“Oh.. nothing” Foria said as he took a deep sigh of relief. “We are eternally in your debt so much so that we want you to be our general and build, train, and lead our army.”

“What!? Are you sure? Me? Wouldn’t Snow be better because he’s actually lead a group of soldiers” replied Hiro with his mouth wide open.

“It was Snow who suggested it” replied Korin.

“At some point I may return to my home in the north so I believe you would be better for the town” said Snow

“Who better to lead us than one of the finest swordsman I’ve ever seen?” said Foria.

“If you really believe in me, I’ll do it” said Hiro.

You have now gained the leadership stat. It expresses your ability as a leader. The higher the stat the more your troops will be able to lead and the more powerful troops you can command.

Then they began to talk of their plans to rebuild the town. “First, we will need materials and supplies to fix the buildings and begin building a wall” said Korin

“Yeah we can get wood from the forest that we just left” said Hiro.

“There was a mine nearby where we could get minerals to create metal objects such as weapons, armor, and even everyday items like nails” said Foria.

They decided to finish the town cleanup of corpses first. Korin went about 800 meters out of the town and used his earth magic open a large number of graves in the ground. There each of the villagers was buried. The remaining survivors of the attack came out and with heavy hearts they wept for their lost loved ones.

New Quests available:

1. Find food for the villagers to eat. Rewards increase in leadership and experience

2. Find wood to rebuild the buildings improvement in crafting skills, leadership, and experience.

3. Find a mine a get materials to create town defenses improvement in leadership blacksmithing skills, and experience.

4. Rebuild the town.

Hiro quickly accepted all of the quests

Amidst the tears Hiro decided he should say something. “In ancient times there was myth about a beautiful bird named the Phoenix. This bird was beautiful and strong but as time went on it was ravaged by time. In its weakest hour when all other animals fled from the sun’s powerful rays the phoenix stood firm. It was burned to ashes.” A hush fell over the crowd. Everyone looked at Hiro as if he was crazy.

Hiro continued, “The sun’s rays did cause the phoenix to burn to ashes, but in those ashes and from those flames it was reborn stronger and more beautiful than it was before! People I tell you, we will be like the great Phoenix! We will rise from this cowardly attack from these beasts and become stronger! Our town will become greater! We will see those savage beasts pay for what they did! Who is with me?!” he yelled as he pumped his fist in the air.

“YEAH!!!” the crowd cheered and pumped their fists with him. The crowd cheered at their the inspiring speech given by their new military leader.

Leadership improved to by 10 points

Afterwards, Hiro met with Snow. “I know you don’t plan on staying here forever but until you are ready to leave I would like you to help me with the army.”

“Sure. What would you like me to do?”

“I know you are a man who was trained from your youth to be a warrior and you were in the military at some point. I would like you to be my second in command in the military.”

“I accept. What would you like me to do?”

“You will be in charge of training the army including me.”

Snow said, “Including you? Won’t that look bad in the sight of your men?”

“It will look like their leader is training alongside them in order to get stronger just like they are. Hopefully it will inspire them to improve.

“Alright then Hiro, we will begin first thing tomorrow morning with physical training and basic combat training.” Hiro agreed.

For the rest of the day Hiro helped with the cleanup of the debris that was left from the attack. With his strength and ki manipulation he helped the people clear the larger stone debris and lift the large pieces of wood that others could not carry. The people marveled at the young man’s strength. The people loved having their hero work alongside them.

Due to your work in the town your strength and vitality have increased by 3 points each.

After a few hours passed, Hiro went and found Snow, Korin, and Foria talking in the town square. Foria was discussing with Snow that they currently had only about 200 people left in the town many of which were children whose parents were killed during the attack.

Korin added, “Only about 20 of the town’s soldiers were left but many of them were badly wounded during the battle. Only two would be able to fight currently.

Hiro asked, “Only 2?! This is going to be tougher than I thought. Anyway, the two who can fight please come out and introduce yourselves.”

The first was a young woman with short dark hair and a slender build. She had bronze colored skin and her eyes were green like the finest jade. She wore a green cloak with a katana strapped to her back. Along her thighs she had several in her pants holding throwing knives. She said, “My name Kaura and I was our team’s scout.

Next, a very young looking girl came up and timidly said, “My name is Rain and I am a magician.” Her frail appearance showed that she lacked any physical strength. Her deep blue eyes were covered up by the fact that she wore glasses.Her jet black hair was partially covered by the dirty white cloak she was wearing. Her pale skin was covered a dark blue robe. She also wore a ring on each of her index fingers.

“This girl reminds me a lot of myself before he came into this world.” Hiro said to himself.

“Pleased to meet both of you”, said Hiro.

“Please to meet you sir”, they said in unison.

“This is my second in command Captain Snow, he will be training you in combat.”

“Yes sir!” said Kaura

“Umm….Sir…. I’m not very good at melee combat”, said Rain

“I can see that. Korin would you mind spending some time training Rain in the ways of magic?”

“Sure but my duties in running the town will come first so I will not have much time.”

“I will learn all I can from you sir”, Rain said as she bowed her head deeply.

Foria informed Hiro, “There was not enough food in the store houses to feed the people.

”We need to remedy that situation immediately.”

[window[ Quest get food to feed the townspeople tonight [/window]

Rewards: improved fame among the people of Kaito, vitality increase.

Hiro accepted the quest.

Hiro decided to take this opportunity to go out to the nearby plains to see his new comrades in action. Hiro decided they would hunt some of the large birds he saw out in that area. He told Rain, Snow, and Kaura to come along. They would have to do a lot of hunting in order to feed the town. They immediately packed up their food and Hiro’s 2 magic bags and their equipment and head west out of town. Snow and Hiro led the party while Kaura scouted ahead with Rain bringing up the rear. They found the area Hiro had spoken of where the large birds resided. There were 6 large bloody vultures.

“Let’s see what you can do” said Hiro. “You first Rain.”

Snow watched with Hiro as Rain moved forward and placed her hands on her staff. She murmured some words and a bolt of lightning came out. It knocked the bloody vulture to the ground killing it. The vulture that was close to it began to charge. Rain cast the same lightning spell and again the vulture dropped dead.

“Ok. Your turn Kaura.”

Kaura moved in towards the vultures. She threw and knife at one of the vultures hitting it in the wing immediately gaining its attention. The vulture was bleeding and unable to move its wing. The pain must have enraged the vulture as it began chasing Kaura as she backed away from the group. When she had gotten to a safe distance she engaged the vulture.

Kaura’s movements were like a ninja. She easily avoided the vulture’s wing attacks as well as the attacks from its strong talons. The vulture thrust its beak at her and she leaped into the air avoiding the attack. While in the air she did a somersault landing on the back of the vulture where she stuck her katana into the bird’s neck. It fell to the ground instantly. Hiro was impressed. He then moved forward to attack the remaining 3 birds head on.

“Don’t worry Snow, I will take care of the rest.”

“Not a chance. I want some of this action” replied Snow

Hiro and Snow moved in and began to attack. Each attack the birds used they saw with and they were easily able to avoid them. Hiro used his bind magic on one of the birds. It was instantly paralyzed. While it was paralyzed Snow cut the head clean off of the vulture. The other 2 vultures attacked him viciously from both sides. Snow guarded with his shield while Hiro took on the second bird. Hiro and both used their ki enhance their strength. Hiro hit one of the vultures with the hilt of his claymore stunning the vulture and knocking it to the ground. He took this opportunity to activate his icy stare. The other vulture began to cower in fear as Hiro approached. It thrust its beak at him but he dodged and grabbed it by the neck. He moved his ki to his hand and squeezed. He easily broke the neck, killing the vulture. Finally, the last vulture returned and began a futile attack against Snow. He dodged the attacks one by one. Then Snow found an opening and plunged his blade deep within the chest of the bird killing it.

“Two to one, It’s my win this time Hiro.”

“Yeah you won this one. I’ll get you next time.”

“I must say though, each time I watch you fight you get better and better. Especially with your ability to manipulate your ki. I can’t believe you have improved that much in only 2 weeks.

“I had a good teacher”, Hiro said with a smile.

Hiro was pleased with the result. He and his companions grabbed the bodies of the bloody vultures and put them into the magic bags. Then they paused.

“Kaura you were a scout correct?”

“Yes sir!”

“Scout ahead and come back with what you find.”

While they waited Hiro asked Rain a few questions. “What types of magic can you use Rain?”

“Right now I am able to use lightning and healing magic.”replied Rain.

“Is your healing magic powerful? Can it be used on a group or is it limited to just one person?”

“It can be used to heal as many as 8 people. It is my highest level spell.”

“So you are more of a cleric than a magician?”

“I think I’m suited to be a good auxillary person in a party. If the party is injured I can heal. If we need to do damage, my spells can do a lot of it.”

“Sounds good Rain. I am impressed with your understanding of your role in battle.”

“Thank you sir”, Rain said while blushing.

After about 15 minutes of talking, Kaura returned with a report.

“Sir! I found a group of beasts living up ahead there were about twenty of them. They looked like the cats of the forest but larger and considerably more powerful. I also saw some animals that looked like they were grazing in the pasture about 1000 meters south of their current position.”

Hiro decided to try to take advantage of the animals that were in the pasture so they headed south. After a short time they came upon animals that looked similar to cows but they had very thick brown fur all over their bodies. Hiro used his inspect ability.

Name: Plains Cow

Plains Cow: a beast that roams the plains. They are very docile and reproduce quickly.

Hiro thought, “This would be a good thing to try to domesticate these animals. This would give the town a constant food source rather than having a meal for a single day.Maybe I could use my tame beast ability on the leader of their group at another time.” Now he asked Snow to follow him and they would kill a few of the beasts.

Rain asked, “Um I have a request. Can use a spell to end this quickly? I hate to see animals suffer.”

“Sure, go ahead” replied Snow.

Rain placed her hand in a circle and the ki within her rose dramatically. Hiro felt the power she had within her. She said the words “Chain Lightning” and a bolt of lightning came out from her hands and struck one cow. Immediately the other cows began to run away but the lightning jumped from the first cow and struck another and then another. In the end 4 cows had been struck down. She did it 2 more times then Rain fell down on her knees and took a deep breath. The next two spells killed a total of 10 beasts bringing the total 14 cows.

“Is that enough captain?” Snow and Hiro nodded in agreement. Hiro recognized his new found comrades were going to be very useful. Hiro and Snow grabbed the beasts and stuffed them inside Snow’s magic bag.

Hiro then told everyone, “Return to the city. I want to see these other beasts that looked like the forest panthers.”

“Are you sure Hiro?” asked Snow.

“Yes, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Ok. Everyone place the dead animals in your bags so we can get them back to the city to feed the group.

After everyone left Hiro thought, “it may be time to put his tame beast ability to good use.”

Hiro traveled to the place that Kaura told him the panther-like beast would be. Sure enough they were exactly where she said. She was an excellent scout. Hiro used his inspect ability on the beasts.

Female LigerType:BeastHealth:750/ 750Mana:0/0IThe offspring of a lion and a tiger. This beast hunts with the pack mentality of a lion but a body that is camouflaged like a tiger yet it is larger and more powerful than either. Its strong powerful legs, sharp claws, muscular body, and sharp teeth make it truly the king of all felines. It is an extremely dangerous foe.

“I have to have one of them, no, not just one but the strongest of them.” He looked at the group. Most were of similar size. “If they are a mix between lions and tigers, the leader should be the only male and I can recognize him because he should have a large mane.” He searched but could not find the leader. Just then he heard a growl that was so powerful it nearly made him jump out of his kin. He looked around and on top of a large rock above where the other ligers were walked out the alpha male.

He was beautiful. His mane was thick and brown. His fur was golden brown but it black and white stripes like a tiger. His paws were huge. As he roared again Hiro was able to see the teeth of the monster. The sharp canine teeth left no doubt about what this beast was born to do. It was made to rip other animals apart. The ligers majestic appearance was definitely overshadowed by the ferocity of its aura. Hiro smiled and knew at that moment this would be his partner. He had to have him but retrieving him while all of the others were around would be too much.

He thought back to when his family visited the zoo and saw lions and remembered that in a pride of lions the apha protects the pride against invaders and defends against challengers. “I’ll make a huge racket and hopefully the alpha will mistake me for an invader and come out to protect his territory.” Hiro went on the outskirts of what he believed was their territory. So he walked out about 200 meters and started yelling at the top of his voice. He banged his sword against his gauntlet. The racket was incredibly loud.

You sense a dangerous presence

Hiro knew without looking that the shadowy figure that began to appear before him was the alpha liger. Behind the beast the sun was setting creating a picturesque background of oranges, reds, and yellows behind the alpha. The aura of this beast was incredible. It was on a totally different level than a forest panther. Its bloodlust was overwhelming. Hiro felt a cold chill run down his spine. The danger was real and he liked it.

“No need to inspect this enemy as your aura is telling me that you are powerful.” This enemy could truly kill him. Its claws probably could rip through my armor. Its teeth could tear off my limbs. “Seeing it from a distance didn’t do it any justice. This thing was so big that I could ride on it if I chose. We will have a fair fight between the two of us. I will not use my magic only my ki. Just in case I’m gonna use copy. I would like to learn any abilities that this thing has.”

He activated his tame beast ability. The alpha began to act erradictly. It let out a growl and began to glare at Hiro. Hiro activated his Hero’s courage to counteract the beast’s attempt at intimidating him.

“Was he tamed?”

The Liger charged at Hiro.

“Guess not.” Hiro understood in a game you can’t tame a strong beast without lowering its hp to a critical state. So Hiro set his mind to do battle with this ferocious beast.

Hiro enhanced his body with his ki. “This surge of strength is incredible. This must be due to my new ki warrior job. The ki is flowing so smoothly and I can feel it permeating through every cell in his body. It is incredible.” His predict ability allowed him to see where the beast was going to attack. His body felt incredibly light. It took almost no strength whatsoever to avoid the beast’s attack. It seemed like the beast was moving in slow motion compared to him. He slashed the beast across its abdomen. The slash was superficial as Hiro was not trying to kill the beast. The attack did cause the liger to start bleeding. The Liger arched its back a showed its large teeth.

“Ahhhh…. You are angry now huh?”

He decided to drop his blade as his strength right now would probably cause him to slay the beast in one attack if he made a mistake.

After dropping his sword he began to counterattack the beast after he dodged his ferocious attacks. His punches and kicks landed solidly against the beast causing it to howl out in pain. The beast then jumped at Hiro. He stepped back but when the beast hit the ground it caused a seismic wave that caused Hiro to lose his balance. Hiro was falling backwards onto the ground and the beast took advantage of the opportunity. It struck Hiro on the across his arm. Hiro defended with his ki and his leather armguard but the impact brought him down hard. His arm wasn’t broken but if felt numb and he had trouble lifting it. There was also a large gash on his arm where the beast had torn through his leather armguard.

“He cut through that hard leather like it was paper. Those claws are no joke.”

While Hiro was getting up, the liger attacked again. This time it ran directly into Hiro it felt like a car hit him. He flew back about 20 meters and rolled on the ground several times before coming to a halt. He slowly stood up.

“Wow my armor and my toughness ability are faring pretty well against this beast’s attacks. He got back to his feet and wiped the blood from his mouth. “You have done well so far in this battle. I expected nothing less than this from my new partner”, Hiro said with a smile. “Come beast and face me with all of your might so that I can show you who the Alpha truly is.” The beast roared again.

New ability learned, Liger’s roar.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Liger's RoarBeginner0100%This loud roar causes the opponent to fear you. Your opponent’s accuracy and speed decrease due to their overwhelming fear of you.

"This liger sure is tough." As the beast came at him Hiro began to gather his ki into his right hand. “I can’t let this fight draw out because my ki is less than a quarter so I need to end it with the blow.” He said breathing heavily. The power continued to build in his hand until it became covered in a glowing red ki shroud. Hiro waited until the beast jumped in, knowing that the seismic shocked cause him to lose his balance he jumped up to attack the beast just as it landed. By jumping he avoided the seismic shock and then he was in perfect position to land a devastating blow right on the crown of the liger’s head. The crushing blow knocked the beast’s head straight into the ground causing a crater to develop in the ground.

Ki strike technique learned.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Ki StrikeBeginner0125?%Ki Strike: An attack imbued with the users ki. The attack is more powerful than a normal strike. Its power is amplified by the amount of ki used and the physical ability of the person using the skill. With higher levels you will be able to use ki strike with any attack you desire.

Seeing the beast was down and not moving Hiro thought to himself, “Did I overdo it? Did I kill him?” He went closer to see if the beast was still alive and just then the beast snorted. It was still breathing so he was alive. “This thing was tough” Hiro said to himself, “That attack would have killed any other foe he had faced thus far but this beast took the attack even in a weakened state.” The liger began moving and struggled to get to get to its feet. Hiro moved slowly closer and noticed that the liger had a red flickering glow to it. Hiro was worn out and his ki was almost empty. “I better release my ki before I completely empty out my ki.”

The liger stood tall and bore its fangs at Hiro. It swiped its claw at Hiro one last time but it was to no avail because Hiro easily dodged the attack. Then it collapsed. Hiro stood over the beast.

“You did well my friend. Now join me and grow even stronger.”Hiro placed his hand over the alpha’s head then activated the tame beast ability.

You have acquired a pet! What will you name him?

Hiro thought for a moment and the decided, “Your name shall be Leo”

For taming such a powerful beast, your Tame beast ability has increased novice level 5. You are now able to effectively communicate with a beast using gestures.

Before completing the process you must share some of your ki with the pet.

“Oh! I need to meditate then.”

As Hiro sat down and began meditating his ki began to recover. It seemed as the though the ki did not return to him but it simply went into Leo. Hiro continued meditating until Leo no longer absorbed his ki. Once the absorption stopped, Hiro went to his bag and grabbed some of the flowers he had saved to make healing potions. He crushed some of the flowers up and poured it into his empty bottles to make the healing potions.

You created 4 light healing potions.

Hiro poured two into Leo’s mouth and drank two potions himself. Hiro fell onto his back as Leo continued to lie on the ground. Hiro closed his eyes as he was exhausted from his battle with Leo. Hiro felt the sun on his face and a cool breeze blowing. “This is nice.”

Moments later Hiro opened his eyes to find Leo standing over him. “Good boy Leo”, Hiro said with apprehension. Leo opened his mouth exposing all of his teeth. Hiro could not fight the beast anymore he was still too fatigued to fight on.

“What should I do?”

Slowly, Hiro slid back from underneath of Leo and got on his feet. In all of his nervousness he forgot that the potions had worked. Hiro was healed of his external wounds .“We can’t stay out here tonight. I have to get us both back to the town.”

“Sit!”

Leo just stared at Hiro.

“Come here!”

Leo continue to stare at Hiro. “That’s right my skill isn’t high enough to talk to him yet.”He motioned for Leo to lie down and he did as he was commanded. Hiro climbed on his back grabbing the fur from Leo’s mane. Once atop the mighty beast

Beast riding skill learned.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Beast RidingBeginner0100%With this skill user can ride on the back of any beast. The increased skill will allow the rider to be more effective in battle from atop the mount and it will be more difficult for foes to make the rider dismount.

Hiro clicked his heels to order Leo to run. Immediately Leo began running. This was incredible. The speed that this big cat could move was amazing. In no time they were back on the outskirts of town. Hiro commanded Leo to stay. Leo sat down curling up on the ground to rest. Hiro decided it would be a bit awkward to have a beast like Hiro in the town.

Beast Riding increased to level 2.

Hiro went into town and smelled something delicious cooking. The villagers were cooking the meet from the plains cows. The smell made his stomach growl. Hiro followed his nose and he made his way to the town square where the villagers were all gathered round as Foria was passing out bowls of stew. The stew must have been made of vegetables and the meat from the cows.

Hiro came up to Snow, Rain, and Korin. They asked where he had been. He told them, “I went out and tamed a beast.”

“What kind?” asked Snow

“A liger!”

“What?! Those things are monsters.” Replied Korin.

“Yes he was but my ki is so much stronger now. It was a pretty even battle.”

They were in awe of him. Rain asked, “Can I please see him?”

“Sure let’s get some food and take it to him”, replied Hiro. The got some stew from Foria and then Hiro cut a leg from one of the beasts that were being prepared into more stew for the villagers. He carried the leg and led Rain to the outskirts of town where Leo was resting.

It had become night and Leo’s stripes made it difficult to see him as he lay in the all grass. Hiro whistled and Leo jumped from his resting place and came running. He stopped in front of Hiro who tossed him the leg from the cow. Leo immediately began tearing the flesh from the leg. Rain was terrified at first at the sheer size and aura given off by this beast.

“It’s ok Rain. He’s been tamed. He won’t hurt you.”

Rain felt relieved and went closer. Leo leaped to his feet as she approached. She reached out her hand and Leo sniffed her. He then stuck his tongue and licked her. Rain smiled and began to pet Leo on his head. She felt the softness of his fur. She observed him and said he is even more impressive than what I’ve read about in books. I never thought I would see one of these creatures so close.

“Well now that you have, just be glad he’s on our side.” Hiro gave Leo a gesture for him to lie down. Hiro told Rain that he would sleep outside with Leo tonight. Rain agreed and returned to the town.

Tame beast level increased to novice level 6

Hiro sat down and ate his stew as Leo continued eating the cow leg until nothing remained but the bone. While he ate Hiro thought about what he should do next. He decided to skin the bloody vultures that he and his group killed today. He opened his bag and pulled out the vultures and skinned them 1 by one. When he finished..

You gained 6 pieces of light leather.

Leo stared at the corpses of the vultures.

"Oh you are still hungry?" Hiro gestured for Leo to come and he ate the vultures.

You and Leo gain the affinity of wind

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Wind AffinityBeginner0000%This allows the user to have a connection with the wind element. This gives the user greater bonuses from wind based materials, provides protection from wind based attacks, and gives add damage to the user's wind based attacks or spells.

You gain the magic spell wind cutter

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Wind CutterBeginner0100%This wind based spell allows the user to shoot out blades of wind to attack a foe. As the skill improves the user will be able to release more blades at a greater velocity causing more damage.

"What just happened? How did I gain these and I didn't do anything? I didn't copy it. I didn't learn it in combat. What is going on?" Hiro thought for a few moments but he could not come up with a reason why this happened. "Guess I'll just attribute it to having good luck." He shrugged his shoulders and sat down with the pieces of leather he had just gotten from skinning the vultures.

“Well since I’m not doing much I guess I’ll try and craft some more pieces of leather armor to see if I can improve on my current equipment. He successfully made 2 pairs of leather gloves and a leather hat. The gloves were the same as the first 2 pairs. He was able to make them with less effort but they did not come out any better. The hat was something new.

Feather capType:HatDurability:30 /30Quality:MediumDefense + 9

Agility +3

“My skill in armor making is definitely improving. Next I should check my stats.” So he looked at his character screen.

Status:

Status WindowName:HiroAlignment:GoodLevel:20Class:Ki WarriorRace:HumanGender:MaleTitlesHero of KaitoFame:500Infamy:0-Health:800 / 800Health Regen:4.5 / SecMana:700 / 700Mana Regen:10.1 / SecStamina:1450/ 1450Stamina Regen:15 / Sec-Strenght:130Agility:82Vitality:145Intelligence:68Wisdom:53Leadership:50Luck:23-Attack:155Defense:102Physical ResistancesSlashing:18%Piercing:18%Crushing:18%Elemental ResistancesFire:??Water:??Wind:??Earth:??Light:??Darkness:??

Wow my stats have improved a lot. I can’t believe I have gotten this strong. He clicked the icon next to his name that looked like a set of scales he clicked it and then his skills menu opened.

Below his picture there was another one that looked like Leo. He figured it was his pet’s status. Hiro clicked it and it opened.

LeoJob:Hiro's PetLevel:20Health:2,000/2000Strength- 175

Agility- 250

"I wonder if he has any skills? As soon as he thought about it there was a skill icon next to Leo's picture.

Skills:

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Liger's Roar???????%Liger’s Roar: Roar that strikes fear in the heart of enemies occasionally paralyzing them.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Absorption???????%Allows Liger to gain strength and abilities to from things he has eaten.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Symbiosis???????%Abilities gained will be immediately shared with the pet’s master.

“Wow this is cool”, he thought. “If Leo eats enemies he can gain new skills and pass them on to me. I guess that is why he absorbed some of my ki. That must be how I learned the wind affinity and windcutter. It must have happened when he ate the vultures. I can't see the levels of his skills. Does that mean that they do not improve like mine? Or are they already at there maximum level? Or maybe I just have leveled up high enough as a trainer to see them. No need to worry about that now because my partner has already increased my learning potential dramatically. What should I do next?” he thought.

Hiro decided that he would take part in the military training exercises to gain fighting experience. He also decided to train Leo so that their abilities would grow and his bond with Leo would grow so that he could communicate his thoughts to Leo and he could hear Leo’s thoughts.

“With my abilities coupled with my daily practice, and my strong pet I should now be a very formidable opponent when facing the orcs or any other enemy in the future. I also need to spend some time fighting without my weapon to develop his basic skills. I’ve been relying too much on his abilities. I should improve my actual fighting skills so that when I use my abilities I will be even more powerful.” He lay back on the soft fur of Leo’s abdomen. Leo wrapped his tail around Hiro. Looking up at the stars, Leo said, "So beautiful"

"Were you talking about me?" a voice said

Surprised, Hiro jumped to his feet and Leo did as well letting out a ferocious growl.

"Whoa boys calm down!"

As he looked closer he recognized the figure from her walk and her figure. It was Foria. Hiro quickly gestured for Leo to lay down. Leo did as Hiro commanded. Foria continued to walk closer. "What is she doing out here at this time of night? What should I do?" Hiro's hands began to sweat and his heart began to beat faster.

As she came into view, Foria looked beautiful as ever. She was wearing a beautiful green dress that accentuated her curves just right. As she continued to move closer she asked him again, "When you said beautiful were you talking about me?"

In his head Hiro began to say, "How should I respond? What should I do? I have never had a woman take any interest in me? Hiro began to panic. For moved closer until she was almost within an arm's length from Hiro. Her smell was intoxicating. "Screw it!" he thought. "I might as well go for it. I won't know unless I try." He reached out his arms and grabbed Foria by the waist.

"What are you doing?" she said

"Answering your question" , he replied "All the stars in the sky together could not match the beauty that you possess."

Foria blushed as she laid her head on Hiro's chest.

Hiro leaned down and whispered in her ear, "That kiss was amazing. I could never forget it"

She pounded softly on Hiro's chest and said,"You jerk why didn't you say anything when I asked you earlier?"

"I didn't want to embarrass you."

"Uh huh. Well let's make another memory you won't forget" she said as she leaned closer to him. and placed her hand softly on his cheek.

Hiro placed his index finger under her chin and lifted it up. The both closed their eyes. He leaned in and their lips touched. The kiss was only a moment but it seemed like time stood still for Hiro. "I can't believe! This beautiful girl kissed me" he said as he opened his eyes a looked at his goddess of love, Foria. Once the kiss ended he held her tightly. Foria felt safe and warm in his arms.

"I have never felt this way about anyone."

"Me either. Where I am from most women ignored me."

"Well I will never ignore you." Hiro smiled and all he could do was hug her. He never wanted to let her go. "I have to go home for tonight. I will see you tomorrow."

Hiro didn't want her to go but he replied, " Until tomorrow then." He watched her walk off into the distance smiling as wide as his mouth could possibly go. Once she disappeared from sight, Hiro laid back down on Leo's soft fur and drifted off to sleep.