Yay, new chapter! I decided to pull it together and dedicated a good chunk of my day off to present to you guys this chapter. Although its not too exciting, it does provide a lot of info on how the taming class will work. Also Ive started to read and reply to all of the comments (if you commented on the first chapter, you can go back and see what I wrote) Anyways, for those of you who like the introduction of the new character, (kinda) the Blue Slime, go thank superloner. The slime was actually not supposed to be a big part of the story, but I slightly changed the story after reading superloner's comment on how the mc was going to die really quickly. Anyways, not much to say this chapter, except that the first pet will most likely be introducted next time (hopefully), and that I hope you guys enjoy. Also, it would be great if you could give the story a rating and comment. Ill try my best to reply to your comment, although if this story somehow becomes popular, then I might have a harder time later on, but ill deal with it if the time comes. Also, if anyone wants to the boxes for me, pls comment :) or msg or do whatever to get my attention, I promise it wont be a lot of work. Also if anyone wants to give me an idea of how to limit the number of pets the MC can have, feel free to type out a comment explaining it. I have some kind of an idea, but its not really that concrete yet so, help would be appreciated. Also if you have any idea, post it. I try to take into account what everyone says, and you never know, your suggestion could end up having a big impact on the story :). Anyways, enjoy.

...................................................................................................................................................................................................

Reaching the edge of the clearing, Shar slowly entered the forest, making sure to mentally and physically prepare himself for whatever lay ahead. Pulling out his dagger, Shar proceeded to walk through the dense forest, trying to keep as silent as possible. Looking around, he could not find anything out of the ordinary, and cautiously continued to go deeper into the forest. Although the unknown creature was nowhere to be seen, Shar felt as if he was being watched, an ominous feeling. Walking through the forest for another couple minutes, he began to calm down, the nervousness he had felt before entering the forest slowly began to disappear as he began to pay more attention to his surroundings. At first, the forest had seemed dark and dangerous, but looking at it now, Shar was in awe. The forest seemed to be full of life and gave a calming feeling. Tall trees grew in abundance and the crown canopy covered the skies, blocking out the sun, allowing only the smallest of rays of light to go through. On the forest floor, a myriad of different plants grew without restraint. Randomly picking up a bright green plant with wide leaves, Shar examined it:

Tier: Common

[Description]

A plant that possesses minor healing properties, it leaves are often used in the production of lesser healing potions.

Plucking a leaf off of the plant, Shar looked at it carefully:

Tier: Common

[Description]

An Abascal leaf, it can be used to make lesser healing potions or consumed as is.

[Effects]

Restores 10 health

Excited by the new discovery, Shar began to examing each plant, gathering Abascal leaves whenever he could. Surprisingly, despite the large variety of plants, he could not find another plant that was particularly useful. Putting his dagger away, he redirected his focus on collecting Abascal leaves. Due to his attention being elsewhere, he was caught off guard when he heard a rustling sound coming from his right side. Jumping away from the noise in order to gain some distance from whatever was coming, Shar hurryingly pulled out his dagger, only to feel a little bit silly as he watched a small rabbit hop out of the undergrowth and proceed to nibble on a small green plant. Somewhat fascinated by the small creature, he watched it eat the little green plant.

[Description]

A common species of rabbit found throughout the continent. Although it possesses low intelligence and combat abilities, its fast reaction speed combined with its fast sprint allows it to escape most predators.

Focused on the rabbit, Shar fell forward as he felt a foreign object slam into his back. Using the momentum from the impact, he rolled forwards, lessening the impact of the fall. Getting back up, he felt a slight throbbing pain from where the mysterious object had hit him, only to realize that one third of his health was gone. Looking around to locate his attacker, his eyes fell upon a small round creature. Shar immediately recognized the monster that had appeared before him. The creature, approximately forty centimeters tall, half a meter wide and possessing a round and semi transparent body, was definitely a slime; however, instead of it being a dull green, the slime in front of him possessed a dark blue coloring.

[Description]

Often found in deep caves all over the continent, Blue Slimes possess a semi rigid body, making them almost impervious to all physical attacks. Their bodies also possess very acidic properties, allowing them to digest almost any material. In addition, they can regenerate their bodies at incredible speeds, making it difficult to damage their cores.

(MC) ‘Holy shit, this thing is eleven levels higher than me.’

Shocked by what he had just found out, Shar stood there, dumbfounded. However, the Blue Slime, not giving him any time to think, hopped towards him at an alarmingly fast speed, before proceeding to launch itself towards him. Barely reacting in time, Shar leaped to the left, avoiding most of the impact; however, due to his late reaction, the Blue Slime had managed to clip the edge of his right arm, taking away one sixth of his health. With only half of his health remaining, Shar began to panic. Luckily for him, the Blue Slime, surprised by the fact that his weak prey had managed to dodge its attack, stood there, not continuing its assault. Instead, the Blue Slime looked at him carefully, reassessing him. Unfortunately for the Blue Slime, this gave Shar time to think about his situation. Quickly coming to the conclusion that his odds of winning this fight were definitely not in his favor, he decided to do the only thing that would allow him to possibly survive: a strategic retreat.

Running towards the Blue Slime with his dagger held out, Shar slashed at the fearsome menace; however, instead of following up on his attack, he had chosen to keep on running past the Blue Slime. Surprised by the sudden retaliation, the Blue Slime hopped to its left in order to dodge the attack. Repositioning itself so that it could face its opponent, the Blue Slime stood still for a second, slightly confused as it watched his prey run away. Almost instantly snapping out of its confusion, the Blue Slime gave chase. Although the Blue Slime had no problem keeping up with Shar, it could not find a moment to attack, this was because of something Shar had found out when he previously dodged the Blue Slime’s attack. Since the Blue Slime used the momentum of its run in order to leap and inflict damage, it could not change the direction of its attack midway, making it easy for him to dodge its attacks by running in a zigzag pattern. After running like this for the past ten minutes, Shar could now see the edge of the forest. Running even faster, he dashed out of the forest and into the clearing. Briefly looking back to see if the Blue Slime was still giving chase, he let out a sigh of relief as he saw that the Blue Slime had stopped by the edge of the forest. Walking back to the village, Shar vowed that he would one day get his revenge.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest, a small Blue Slime was rolling back and forth, clearly agitated. Due to its recent string of successful hunts, the Blue Slime had grown cocky and it had just paid the price for its overconfidence; its prey had escaped. Had the Blue Slime been more careful, more prepared, then its prey would have not gotten away; the Blue Slime felt humiliated that it allowed such a weak prey to escape, and vowed that one day; it will get its revenge.

As he got near the village entrance, the two guards, upon seeing Shar, rushed towards him.

(Guard 1+2) “Are you okay foreigner?”

(MC) “Yeah I am fine, just a bit bruised up, and you can call me Shar.”

(Roderick) “I am Roderick, and this is Timothy, may I ask what happened?”

(MC) “I was attacked by a Blue Slime.”

(Roderick) “That’s impossible; there aren’t any caves nearby that it could have come from.”

(MC) “Well I am just telling you what happened, it’s up to you to decide if you want to believe me or not.”

(Roderick) “Hmm, I don’t see any reason for you to lie, but Blue Slimes normally live in deep caves, which is why you never see them in this area. Unless…..

(MC) “Why, is something wrong?”

(Roderick) “I am not one hundred percent sure, but can you report this to Captain Dalton?”

[Description]

Report the appearance of the Blue Slime to Captain Dalton, captain of the guards in Ferrick.

[Rewards]

+5 intimacy with Roderick

(MC) “Sure, I’ll go look for him immediately.”

(Roderick) “Thank you so much.”

Thankfully for Shar, Captain Dalton wasn’t hard to fine. Running towards where he had first met him, Shar found Captain Dalton standing nearby.

(MC) “Captain Dalton!”

(CD) “No need to shout lad, I am still not that old.”

(MC) “I been told to relay some important news to you.”

(CD) “By who?”

(MC) “Roderick.”

(CD) “So what’s the news, spit it out already.”

(MC) “I was attacked by a Blue Slime in the nearby forest; thankfully, I had managed to escape. When I reached the village entrance and told Roderick what had happened, he told me to go inform you immediately.”

(CD) “What in the world? A Blue Slime appearing by Ferrick? Looks like the guards will have to be dispatched tomorrow. Thanks for telling me, lad.”

(MC) “Sorry to interrupt Captain Dalton, but is a single Blue Slime really that big of an issue?”

(CD) “Not really, but that is assuming the Blue Slime stays a Blue Slime.”

(MC) “What do you mean?”

(CD) “Makes sense that you don’t know since you’ve only come to our world recently, but just like humans, creatures can also become stronger; however, unlike humans, creatures can undergo evolution.”

(MC) “What does that mean?”

(CD) “It means that creatures can evolve into a stronger species if it meets the right conditions. In addition, not all creatures of the same species evolve the same. Although most Green Slimes tend to evolve into an Acid Slime, some can evolve into a Blue Slime; it just depends on the conditions that the creature meets. The Blue Slime that you encountered today could eventually become a King Slime, and if that happens, it can cause a lot of damage to the village. This is why all settlements regularly send guards to slay creatures nearby, so that nothing gets too strong. Unfortunately, Ferrick doesn’t have that many guards, so we can’t clear the monsters as often as we would like to, which is also the reason why creatures around Ferrick are a lot stronger than the ones you would normally see around settlements.

(MC) “Do creatures often evolve?”

(CD) “In the wild, yes and no. Like I said, certain conditions need to be met before a creature can evolve into a stronger species, and these conditions become more difficult to satisfy after each evolution, so in the wild, creatures will normally only undergo one evolution in their lifetime. However, it’s a different story if you are talking about tamed creatures.”

(MC) “Tamed creatures?”

(CD) “Yes, certain creatures are often tamed so that they can be used for various purposes. Species like the Spotted Bovine are often used to produce milk or pull carts, while species like the Red Hoofed Mustang are used as war horses.”

(MC) “Do tamed creatures evolve more often?”

(CD) “It depends on what the creature is being used for, a tamed Spotted Bovines will rarely ever undergo evolution, while a tamed Red Hoofed Mustang might undergo evolution two to three times in its lifetime. The important factor is not whether the creature is tamed or not, but rather how long it lives for and how strong it becomes. Tamed creatures normally live longer lives compared to their wild counterparts; in addition, skilled Tamers will often help their pets meet their evolution conditions, which is the reason why tamed creatures tend to undergo more evolutions.

(MC) “That’s good to know, and just wondering, what is the weakest creature around here?|

(CD) “Around here the weakest creature would be a Green Slime, they are usually around level 2, but here in Ferrick they are around level 7. I wouldn’t suggest trying to fight one unless you are at least level 5.”

(MC) “But if I can’t fight any creatures, how will I gain levels?

(CD) “Lad, there are other ways to gain levels. Go start by doing small tasks around the village, they won’t give you that much experience and it’ll be slow, but it’s better than doing nothing. Plus, you’ll get to know some of the townsfolk better, and you’ll make a little bit of money doing it as well.

(MC) “Thanks for the advice Captain Dalton.”

(CD) “No problem lad. Like I said, if you have any questions, feel free to come and ask me.”

Waving goodbye to Captain Dalton, Shar left the village square. Although he was slightly disappointed that he would not be vanquishing monsters any time soon, he quickly got over it. In the end, it was something, and something was always better than nothing. So with renewed determination, Shar walked around the village, looking for NPC’s in need of help.