John grinned at Kyle as he hefted his lance briefly before launching himself forwards like some sort of massive, armoured projectile. Kyle cursed as he leapt to the side and retaliated with his spiked chain as John sailed past but as he had expected the spike just bounced off with a metallic scraping sound.

“Damn it,” Kyle grumbled as he burst into motion. He knew that while John might have enough Strength to launch himself in a straight line with incredible speed like he had just done his Agility and Endurance would prevent him from either manoeuvring well enough to keep up with him or continuously launch himself around the arena longer than he could keep moving. Or at least not while he was using his Mentor Skill like he was right now which much like when Reginald was teaching him at the Adventurer’s School meant that his Stats were set to about the same as his own.

Kyle was currently assuming that John had kept most of his Stats in Strength, Endurance and Constitution which meant that in theory he should be able to avoid most of John’s attacks and retaliate with his magical abilities if he was careful.

With a thought lightning started crackling around his spiked chain which blurred out once again as John turned towards him. John was able to block the surprise attack with his shield but was still jolted by the electrical discharge that the weapon brought with it causing the man shout grunt in pain. Kyle immediately followed this up with a Mana Bolt that John also blocked but Kyle was still pretty happy with the outcome of his little test.

Kyle continued to poke away at John’s rather impressive defences while dodging the heavily armoured man’s powerful charges as best he could. Unfortunately, John did manage to clip him with one of his charges which broke Kyle’s arm when he was sent crashing to the ground. John almost called the fight right then and there, but Kyle was on his feet and retaliating before he could even open his mouth with a combination of magical projectiles and a burning chain. Kyle had used up the charges for Minor Lightning Enchantment pretty quickly and had immediately cast his Flame Enchantment to replace it. The Flame Enchantment wasn’t as effective as his Minor Lightning Enchantment, but it was still a nasty thing to hit someone wearing metal armour with as the magical flames were hot enough that they left cherry red spots of metal on John’s armour with each strike making it incredibly unpleasant for John despite the padding that he was wearing underneath the armour.

Then John received an even bigger surprise when bands of solid shadow shot out of his own shadow and started wrapping themselves around his limbs. John cursed loudly as Kyle started pummelling him with both his weighted chain that he was wielding with the arm that hadn’t just been broken and attempting to stab him through one of the gaps in his armour with the burning spiked chain that he was manipulating while he attempted to break free of the spell that Kyle had just cast.

Kyle’s face was a rictus of pain as every swing of his right arm jolted his broken left one, but he knew that this was the only real chance that he was going to have to defeat John. If John managed to break free of his Shadow Binding spell before Kyle could deal enough damage to at least slow him down, then he was going to have to surrender before he got injured even worse than he already was. Kyle was pretty sure that the healers who were present were going to be able to heal his broken arm if he ended the fight quickly but every minute that dragged on increased the difficulty of doing so thanks to his regeneration.

With a loud shout John activated one of his Skills which allowed him to increase his Strength for a short period. His muscles bulged with power as he tore free of the Shadow Bindings before launching himself at Kyle once more.

Kyle cursed loudly as he quickly cast his Mana Barrier spell in the hopes of slowing John down enough that he could sidestep the attack as attempting anything more acrobatic than that would only serve to worsen his injury. John barely slowed down when he slammed into the Mana Barrier, but it was still enough for Kyle to step out of the way.

“Okay, I give up!” Kyle shouted as John came to a halt. “I can’t beat you with my arm like this.”

“That was the right decision,” John nodded as he lowered his weapon. “That last gambit of yours was definitely a good one though. I’m honestly impressed with how you did. I am glad that I was using my good armour though.”

“I kind of hoped that I would do a bit better,” Kyle sighed as one of the healers rushed over to check on his arm.

“Don’t worry about it too much, kid,” John chuckled. “Even if my Stats and Skills were lowered enough to be similar to your own, I still have years of experience that you don’t.”

“Yeah, I know but still,” Kyle grumbled as the healer cast a spell on his arm that made him grimace uncomfortably as his bone was set. The healer didn’t even bother to glance up at him as he quickly cast another spell to speed the healing process along. The healer then told Kyle that his arm would be healed in a few minutes before rushing off to another one of the arenas where someone else had been injured.

Fi had returned during the fight and once she was sure that the healer was done with Kyle, she carefully draped herself over his neck so that she wouldn’t jolt his still sore arm.

“You did well Kyle,” she told her partner who reached up to stroke her with his uninjured arm.

“Thanks, Fi. It sure is busy here today though John,” Kyle noted as the crowd that had gathered to watch his match with John dispersed to the other arenas to watch the other matches that were taking place.

“Yes, we just got a big group of newbie Adventurer’s in so they’re all being tested,” John explained. “The Kingdom decided to give Low-Levelled incentives to become Adventurer’s so that they could be trained up until they were strong enough to join the army what with the war going on and everything and a bunch of them came here so that they could train in the Dungeon.”

“Was it alright for me to take up so much of your time then?” Kyle asked. “It’s normally your job to keep track of things like that right?”

“Yeah, but that’s okay,” John chuckled. “What’s the point of being in charge if you can’t do what you want every now and again?”

“Well, that’s fair enough,” Kyle chuckled. “But I’d better let you get back to it. I’ll see you tonight though, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” John nodded. They hadn’t known each other that long but John had been very helpful and friendly to Kyle while his foot was healing so Kyle had decided to invite him to the dinner that he was planning on having with all of his friends. “It was a good fight Kyle and I hope that you managed to get some ideas for how to improve out of it.”

“Well, I mostly learned things that I already knew,” Kyle admitted. “But I still enjoyed it up until you broke my arm.”

“Fair enough,” John chuckled. “Well, I’m sure that you have places to be and so do I.”

Kyle nodded and the two parted ways. Kyle decided to head to the stables like he had planned to do earlier. Hopefully Fi would meet him there. After exiting the Adventurer’s Guild, he started walking down the street towards the stables when he noticed that some people that he didn’t recognise were glaring at him. Kyle assumed that these people were new in town and hadn’t yet heard about him and pulled the hood of his jacket over his head. While this was of course far from the first time that he had experienced being stared at because of his appearance it had been quite a long time since it had happened, and it was certainly the first time that he had been glared at quite this much in Greenhaven since his first few days.

One of the unfamiliar figures started to make his way over towards Kyle who attempted to ignore him while continuing on his way towards the stables where the Phantom Chameleon that he had eventually managed to purchase waited for him. True to their word the stables had managed to contact a Tamer who had successfully Tamed the ornery beast. The owner of the stables had immediately notified Kyle of their success and recommended that he head over to receive the Tamer Stone. A Tamer Stone was a magical item that could only be created by someone with the Taming Skill that allowed the Tamer to give someone else the ability to control the Tamed monster like they had Tamed it themselves.

Kyle had been spending quite a lot of time getting to know the Shadow Chameleon over the past couple of days and actually enjoyed spending time with it now that it was Tamed. He had even been given permission to ride it around town the other day which was an interesting experience since the Shadow Chameleon had six legs making its gait quite difficult to get used to. However, it had managed to traverse the broken buildings and rough terrain outside of Greenhaven with impressive ease. The Shadow Chameleon wasn’t quite as fast as a horse for now but that would eventually change as it Levelled Up.

“Hey!” The man that had been following Kyle shouted as he grabbed Kyle’s shoulder and spun him around then froze when Kyle’s spiked chain shot out from under his jacket and hovered in front of his right eye while he raised her head and hissed angrily at the man’s quickly paling face..

“I would suggest that you let go of me sir or we will be forced to consider you a threat and defend ourselves,” Kyle told the man quietly as his blue eyes blazed underneath his hood. The man glared angrily at Kyle as he carefully removed his hand from Kyle’s shoulder. “Thank you. Now is there something that I can help you with?”

“Who the hell do you think you are?” The Adventurer snarled. “Do you really think that people don’t know what you are?”

“I’m sure that people know that I’m an Aethereal Human yes,” Kyle replied easily as he met the man’s angry gaze. “What of it?”

“You do realise that we’re at war with the Empire, right?” The man growled. “Why is a spy like you just walking around like you own the place?”

“A spy?” Kyle asked as both him and Fi struggled to hold back their laughter. “Is that what this is about?”

“Well, you said it yourself,” the man replied. He was starting to look a bit unsure of himself, but Kyle could see some of the people he had been hanging out with slowly making their way over with similar angry expressions on their faces. “You’re an Aethereal Human. Everyone knows that they’re all from the Empire. What else would you be but a spy.”

“Ah, I’m afraid that your information is incorrect,” Kyle explained as patiently as possible. “As far as I know there have been about three small groups of Aethereal Humans who managed to escape from the Empire and some of them, like my grandparents managed to start families which is why I have Fi here. However, I understand that you won’t believe me when I say that so why don’t we have a little chat with the Guards before this gets out of hand.”

Kyle had spotted a small group of Guards who were moving in their direction. He had worked with one of the Guards before while he was recovering from his injuries so he was fairly confident that they would at least listen to what he had to say instead of just arresting him because he seemed to be threatening the Adventurer. The Guard’s name was Sam and he held up a hand to stop the other Guards that he was working with before they could get too close.

“Kyle, what the hell are you doing?” Sam hissed.

“This man attempted to accost me, so I defended myself,” Kyle explained quickly before the Adventurer could claim otherwise. “Apparently he had a problem with me walking around town because of my heritage.”

“Well how about you withdraw your weapon Kyle so that we can talk about this calmly?” Sam asked.

“Sure,” Kyle replied, and his chain slowly withdrew underneath his jacket once more. “

“Thanks Kyle,” Sam sighed as the other Guards relaxed slightly. Sam then turned his attention upon the Adventurer. “Now what do you have to say for yourself?”

“Why the hell are you not arresting him?” the Adventurer asked angrily as he pointed his finger at me. “He’s the one who was threatening me! And he’s an Aethereal Human, why’s he walking around town like he’s got no worries in the world?”

“Because he hasn’t done anything wrong,” Sam replied with a shrug. “Don’t think that I haven’t noticed that you didn’t deny his accusation that you started this. He’s a citizen of the Kingdom just the same as you and according to him you assaulted him first.”

“What do you mean he’s a citizen of the Kingdom?” the Adventurer asked. “He’s an Aethereal Human. How can he be a citizen of the Kingdom?”

“Because he was born in a village not far from here,” Sam replied as he rolled his eyes in exasperation. By now the other Guards were glaring at the Adventurer who was looking g increasingly uncomfortable. While none of them had actually spoken to Kyle before they had seen him working with the Guards before so now that both Kyle and the Adventurer had explained their part in what happened they had all come down on Kyle’s side. “The village that was destroyed by the Empire a few weeks ago that started this war.”

“And do you have any proof of this, or did he just tell you this himself?” the Adventurer asked as he doubled down.

“Not on me no,” Sam sighed. “But we can always go to the Barracks and talk to someone who can access that information if you really want to.”

“Uh, is it alright if I go Sam?” Kyle asked. “I still have quite a few things to do today since I’m heading out tomorrow morning.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Sam nodded. “You’re having that party with your friends tonight, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, well I don’t see any reason to keep you,” Sam decided. “I hope you have a safe trip tomorrow.”

“Thanks Sam,” Kyle nodded before glancing at the bewildered looking Adventurer. “However, I would like to request that you let this man go once this gets sorted out. This isn’t the first time that I’ve been treated badly because of my heritage and normally he would be right to be suspicious of an Aethereal Human like me walking around town.”

“Well, that’s quite magnanimous of you,” Sam chuckled. “I don’t know if I would say the same thing in your situation. Tell you what I’ll be sure to put in a good word for him.”

“Thanks Sam,” Kyle nodded. “I hope we meet again one day.”

Sam thanked him and the Guards walked away with the Adventurer in tow. They stopped briefly when the Adventurer’s friends asked them what was going on before continuing on their way with them following behind as well. Kyle shook his head sadly as he watched them go. It was probably a good thing that this had happened in Greenhearth when he was known because things probably would’ve gone quite differently if it had happened anywhere else and he made a mental note to make sure that he always wear the hood of his jacket up. It probably wouldn’t stop that sort of thing from happening completely, but it would help at the very least.

“You took that better than I expected,” Fi muttered as the pair approached the main entrance to the stable.

“Well, we are at war with the Empire so I can’t really blame him for being suspicious,” Kyle shrugged. “If I saw someone that looked like me just walking around town like this then I would probably keep an eye on them as well.”

“That’s a good point I suppose,” Fi sighed as Kyle opened the door to the stables.

“Hey Dermot,” Kyle greeted the receptionist who smiled back as the door closed behind him. “I’m here to see Gloom.”

“You really like that thing don’t you,” the Beastman chuckled as he stepped out from behind his desk. Gloom was the name that Kyle had given the Shadow Chameleon that he had bought. “Did you bring it some more treats?”

“I have a couple of rabbit haunches yes,” Kyle replied.

“Just don’t feed it too much,” Dermot counselled. “I know that the first month is an important time to cement your bond with a newly bought Tamed Beast, but it will eat until it gets sick if you let it.”

“Yeah, I know,” Kyle nodded.

Unlike with Fi who was bound to his soul in a way that couldn’t be broken even if both of them wanted to break it. On the other hand a Tamed Monster like the Shadow Chameleon could actually break free of the Tamer’s power if it really wanted it to. This meant that people, particularly people who didn’t have the Taming Skill had to treat their Tamed Monster as well as they could because if they didn’t then they would have to fight a monster that knew how they fought and even the dumbest monster was smart enough to pick the right moment to betray a cruel master so that it could make sure that they were dead.

“Well alright then,” Dermot nodded as he led them back to where Gloom was waiting for them.

At first it seemed that Gloom was asleep but as soon as Kyle walked up to its pen it opened its bulging eyes and chirped at him in a way that would be cute coming from something smaller than the average warhorse but from the Shadow Chameleon it was weirdly amusing.

“Hey there boy,” Kyle chuckled as the massive monster shuffled its feet excitedly at his approach. Fi passed him one of the rabbit haunches that they had placed in her Inventory earlier and Kyle tossed it into the air. Gloom leaned back and snatched it out of the air with impressive ease. The monster’s jaws snapped shit with a loud crunch as it blinked happily.

Kyle chuckled as Fi passed him the Tamer Stone from her Inventory and brought up Gloom’s Stats. While a Tamer could access that Status of any monster that they had Tamed someone who owned a Tamed Monster had to use their Tamer Stone to do so but neither could actually change anything about the monster’s Status itself only check its Stats and natural Abilities. Kyle had of course checked Gloom’s Stats when he had first obtained the monster’s Tamer Stone but he had decided that it was a good idea to go over it again before they left.

Statistics

Name: Gloom

Monster Species: Shadow Chameleon

Level: 2

HP: 110/110

HP regen: 1.1 p/s

MP: 60/60

MP regen: 2.5 p/s

SP: 110/110

SP regen: 5.5 p/s

Str: 7

Dex: 6

Agi: 9

Con: 11

End: 11

Int: 6

Wis: 5

Will: 4

Exp to next Level: 41%

Abilities Sheet

Spells

Tongue Lash- The monster fires it’s tongue like a projectile dealing 6-9 damage and drawing an enemy in close. Cost: 15 SP

Chomp- Bites down on an enemy with incredible force. Cost: 10 SP

Camouflage- The monster uses its limited magic to blend in with its surroundings. Costs: 5 MP/sec.

Kyle patted Gloom on the snout as the inquisitive monster nuzzled him in the hopes of finding more treats while he read the monster’s Status Screen and Abilities Sheet. Unlike him and Fi Gloom Levelled Up on his own instead of having his Level matched to Kyle’s like Fi did. As a monster Gloom received Stat Points and new Abilities based partially on his species and partially on his preferred fighting style. So, if he used his Camouflage Ability a lot, he would get more Intelligence and Wisdom which would allow him to use his favoured Ability even more often as well as new Abilities to compliment Camouflage. However, if he used his other Abilities more then he would receive Stats and new Abilities that complimented whatever Ability that he used the most. It was this strange method of growth that led to the different breeds of monster that started showing up as they Levelled Up like Scorprat Impalers or Brutes.

Kyle wasn’t quite sure what path he wanted Gloom to focus on for the moment, but he was leaning towards either a close combat specialist by ordering Gloom to focus on using his Chomp Ability or sneak attacks using his Camouflage Ability. After considering his options for a bit he decided to just let Gloom do what he wanted for now. Honestly, it was impressive enough that such a Low-Level monster had three Skills at Level 2 which was in part due to how rare Shadow Chameleons were and partly because of Gloom’s higher than average intellect.

Having come to a decision Kyle passed the pleased monster the other rabbit haunch that he had bought it and bid farewell to Dermot. It was time to get ready for his dinner tonight.