“He’s my familiar,” I said calmly wondering why Faron was being so dramatic.

“You...have a familiar,” He said clearly agitated, “You didn’t know anything about levels or anything basic. Pretty much EVERYONE doesn’t get to be a monster tamer class until their first advancement, OR THE SKILL UNTIL JUST BEFORE!”

“Oh…” I was stunned but whispered, “You’re really not gonna like what I have to tell you.”

“Don’t tell me, no no actually please tell, no don’t tell me, But I have to know,” Faron was going on and off wanting to know.

“Well...for starters, I’m level 3, and...there might be one more familiar.”

Faron’s jaw hung open as he fell back contemplating everything he knew. He started moving his mouth as if trying to say something but no words came out.

“What’s the big deal,” I asked out of pure curiosity?

He looked up and stared before asking, “Do you know what the first requirement is for the monster tamer skill.”

“Not a clue.”

His head fell even lower before looking up and saying, “The very first requirement is to have 15 affinity. This is the minimum to not have low-level monsters run away or attack you on the spot.

“Oh that explains a lot,” I exclaimed realizing, “That’s why Tiny didn’t run away!”

“NO, for reptiles especially the low-level ones who have an especially skittish nature, need at least TWENTY affinity!”

“Oh...well,” I chuckled nervously.

“So tell me how at LEVEL 3 you have 20 affinity, HOW does a level 3 go through their first metamorphosis,” Faron started yelling now!

“Well do you want the long or the short!”

“Long!”

“Well one day I opened up my eyes and I was face down in the dirt. I got hungry, so I went into the woods looking for food, as one does. There I found these little blue grapes which I ate and then a fox came along so I shared my fruit. He let me pet him, I gave him a name, and boom monster tamer skill unlocked. That’s when I learned about having a status screen and stats.

“I got an affinity from getting monster taming, a little later I learned three more skills letting me unlocked attunement, control, which ended with a level up. This let me get affinity up to 20. I went looking for people but my fluffy boy ran off, I got lost soon after. Climbed a tree, found Tiny, tamed Tiny, and now I’m here,” I said now breathless.

Faron's eyes opened wider the more the story went on and at the end said, “First of all, a lot of the story I don’t want to touch with a three-meter pole. But you’re telling me you had 18 AFFINITY FROM THE START!”

“Yes?”

“Do you know the average stats?”

“Not a clue.”

“I hate you,” Faron said rubbing his temples with his shock stomped down from my stupidity before saying, “So you know how you SHOULD only see strength, dex, and constitution at the first, right?”

I nodded but internally I said no.

“Well, those are the only stats everyone starts off seeing with the average adult man with around five in each. Now five is the average but it’s not uncommon to see someone with six or even seven. NORMAL people don’t see attunement, control, or affinity, etc. because those are gained through the learning of growth skills. Normally those stats start with zero but some start with one or two. Geniuses start with a shocking five!

“Even when geniuses have such a high value they can’t see that stat until after getting the growth skill. So what I’m trying to get through to you is that YOU ARE AbOVE GENIUSES AND BROACHING ON LEGEND TERRITORY!”

“Ooooo legend you say,” I smirked saying, “Please tell me some, I gotta know what I’m competing with.”

Faron took a deep breath before saying, “First there is no competing, and two I’ll tell you one. A millennium ago there was a man. When this man was born it is said that the sky darkened as if the sun didn’t want to burn him. As he cried animals for kilometers bowed down and when he smiled the flowers would bloom in a single day. The legend goes that this man took only a hundred years to get to level 200 at which point he disappeared never to be seen or heard about again. When he left he was already a legend, some considered him a god.

With each passing word, I watched Faron’s eyes light up showing more admiration and determination.

“That’s so cool,” I said in wonder. Could I become a legend like that?

“Don’t even think about it,” Faron glared like reading my mind, “Becoming a legend is hard and they’re legends so no one truly knows if he existed.”

“Who cares, if there’s a story then there’s some truth as it came from somewhere. I clearly have a special scenario going one so why not dream big,” I proudly said!

Faron sighed saying, “Give me Tiny so you can bathe, also make sure to keep some of these things secret from others.”

I thought about it quickly before nodding and handing Tiny over. Entering the bathhouse and closing the door I started stripping. Throwing my dirty clothes to the corner I pulled the curtain over blocking the door as I stared at the pump.

“How the fuck do I use this,” I whispered.

Taking entirely too long I figured out the pump and made use of the thing that passed as soap here. Finally, I got clean and felt refreshed as I stepped out from behind the curtain.

On the table was a towel and a pair of clothes similar to everything else I’ve seen here. So after drying off I threw on the brown shirt and green pants which surprisingly weren’t that bad. They were actually quite nice wearing compared to what I thought they would feel like.

Stepping out of the bathhouse and walking back to the house I heard Faron and Mr. Tann talking about something. When I opened the door they stopped talking and snapped their heads in my direction. Tiny sensing the change in the situation looked up but perked up seeing me.

Walking over I let Tiny slither up to his normal spot and chuckled as I said, “What you people saying about me.”

“We were doing no such thing,” Faron said but his shifty eyes gave him away.

“Ok well if you weren’t talking about me then I’ll just ask what the next step in the plan is?”

“What the hell are you talking about, boy,” Mr. Tann asked sternly?

“Oh well, I don’t know if I’m gonna start working now or if I have to go to the elders with Faron.”

“You have to go to the elders with Faron and depending on when you two get back we’ll see if you work or not.”

“Ok cool,” I gave him a thumbs-up before turning towards the door saying, “Let's get a move on then.”

Faron who had been silent and anxious jumped up following me. As we got out the door he got in front of me saying, “I lead.” So we started walking back to the center of the village.

After we got a considerable distance from Mr. Tann I asked, “So what’s up with Mr. Tann?”

“What do you mean,” Faron looked back confused.

“Does he have a son or something and if he does, where's his wife.”

Faron stood still as his shoulders started to slump, “That’s not my story to tell you but it is a tragic one to hear. How’d you guess he had a son?”

“Oh,” I got a little sad before responding, “Well Mr. Tann is a head shorter than me, and these clothes have been worn before. So I guess they weren’t his but instead his son’s.”

“That’s actually pretty observant of you,” Faron said, sounding surprised.

“I’m stupid but that doesn’t mean I’m clueless. I have a knack for reading things.” By the time our talk finished, we were in front of the hall.

Walking through the heavy wooden doors many eyes turned toward us. Some of the eyes were the familiar elders, while the others were strangers all carrying different meanings. Some were curious, others dismissive, and some looked at Faron with hate like the elders.

Faron led me to a seat in the back as conversations started erupting from the

silent room. Some of them were wondering why everyone was called here. Others made plans for later but the elders had a seriousness about them that weighed throughout the room.

Looking over the room Elder Aaron stood saying, “Now that everyone is here we shall begin our meeting.”

A hush fell over the room as everyone stopped talking at once.

Aaron continued, “First thing first we have a traveler that comes bringing us news, Duke please stand.”

Dammit, old man was all I thought as I pasted a carefree smile on my face saying, “Hey.” Sweat was dripping down my back as I sat back down.

“Now back to the news. We have yet to confirm but he says he saw the prints of Big Bertha a kilometer from the village walls.”

Now the room fell eerily silent as no one wanted to make a noise now. People grew pale, others looked terrified, others even started shaking.

“That means until we have verified and handled the situation all normal citizens shall stay within the walls. Hunters level 10-15 must go no farther than half a kilometer south of the village. All hunters may only go a kilometer south of the wall.

“All hunters will start taking shifts scouting out in the woods, watching for signs of Big Bertha. While hunters are working all guards shall do the same. All guards will be placed in two shifts and those shifts will watch the walls day and night Captain Hermes will fill you in on that.

“We will also be implementing a mandatory training of all able-bodied men and women held at noon every day. These training sessions will be led by Captain Hermes.

“Now everyone shall go home and remain calm as nothing has been verified. We are only taking precautionary measures to decrease any loss of life. We are not going to repeat past tragedies. Dismissed.”

With the final word given the elders rose as one. They started walking out the door in a single file line.

Once they were no longer here hell broke loose. People screamed and cried clearly Big

Bertha was a thing of nightmares.

Faron tapped my shoulder breaking me out of the trance I was in before leading me out of the building.

Once out I asked, “I know I’m new to town but what has Big Bertha done here?”