Tamers have a very unique role in parties. They not only act as combatants and defenders, they can also provide knowledge about creatures such as weak points, habits, how threatening it is and whether or not it is necessary to fight. A tamer's creatures can also provide other use. Weaponry can be envenomed, poisons cured and wounds clotted from a pet's saliva, a certain pets, such as Herbal  Slimes, can even produce medicines outright. Stronger pets can carry large amounts of provisions, although food for such pets tend to require more space. If used for such purposes, it is recommended to bring pets that have little combat ability, but high strength.

-Excerpt from Adventurer Hearth's guide to Monster Taming

Janice and I decided to work together for our first rank two quest. She made it quite clear that we are not a party, but will be doing this often. Our social gathering have decided to do a subjugation quest. We are to bring the pelt or claw of the large Red Bear in the area that is attacking livestock. I think this town farms something that is a mix of a cow and a sheep, but I am not quite sure. I may have to go look later.

"A Red Bear is a big quest. Are you sure you can handle it?" Eyebrow gives the look that got him the nickname.

"That's why you are here. If we don't, you have to make sure we live." I answer back. "It's your new job." He sighs.

"I've seen a ton of adventurers do jobs like this. Quite a few claws passed through my hands. They said it was harder to skin the thing for the pelt." Janice interjects with her story.

It is quite likely that those adventurers were much stronger than us, but that doesn't matter much. With Janice's saved up money for adventuring, her equipment is as good as Eyebrow's and she was even able to get me a sword. I owe her 7,000 copper coins though. And the interest is 5% bimonthly. Since the reward is about 1,000 copper coins split three ways, I'll have to do quite a few quests before I can pay her back.

Maybe if I solo seven missions without eating, drinking, or paying for other necessities, I can pay her back before the interest builds up. But since she wants to come along and take half on every mission, I'll likely end up doing more than twenty before i pay her back.

"The Red Bear's cave is said to be south west, so why are we heading south east?" Janice points in a direction to my right.

"That is because I have a terrible sense of direction." I start heading to where Janice is pointing.  I will be very surprised if I live long in the wild.

A large cave that seemed more fit for a giant than for a bear loomed over us.

"Should we smoke it out?" I suggest, not wanting to go in.

"None of us can make fire here." Janice pointed out. Why is she so excited?

"How do we light up the inside?" She points her finger and chants before a magelight floats in. Eyebrow shoves me.

"Ladies first." Oh, damn. I hold my sword up, very awkwardly at that, and take my first step in.

"Sabrina, let's lead the way." She follows by my side, completely oblivious to the danger. This will be bad, I just know it.

The cave did not go as deep as I imagined it. I figured it would be more like a dungeon, but it was a normal, short cave. The bear was not in. The magelight flickers a bit, which causes me to jump. Janice laughs at me for being so tense and said I worry too much. Suddenly Sabrina starts growling at the entrance.

"I know what that means. Get out before it traps us in here!" I tried to warn the other two before it was too late, but, well, it was too late.

"Hearth, switch positions! I'll cast magic from the back, hold it off!" Sabrina follows by my side as I take the lead. The bear hulks over the entrance at the cave. This is the biggest bear I've ever heard of.

"Hearth! Step back, this is an unusually large Red Bear. I'll push it back and you guys escape. Call the guard and tell them to come here." Eyebrow shouts and starts taking a step forward.

"No!" I shout back. "If you interfere then we fail. I'll find a path. Janice, what's the biggest thing you can make move?" I parry a slap from the bear. That was way too powerful to take head on.

"I know a rock golem spell. It's about seven feet in height."

"That'll have to do. Both of you get ready to dash to my right. Janice, have your golem jump up and down from the left- AH!" I try to parry another blow, but it landed more squarely on me than I'd hope. I was knocked over, but I got up in a flash. I almost lost my sword.

"Hearth, you can't sacrifice yourself to-" I cut Eyebrow off.

"That's not what I'm doing! That's what the damn golem is for!"

"Ah, that makes sense. Nevermind, carry on." I want to slap the idiot so hard. Must refrain. Channel that anger into fighting off the bear. I manage to survive three more slaps from the bear. It's looking very angry that I'm not dead yet. I would be if it could slap faster, but it seems to be stuck at once every twelve seconds. Maybe because its size, it can't move that quickly?

"You know, if you were good at swordsmanship, you could've gotten a few slashes in."

"NOT. THE. TIME!" I parry another slap from the bear. It's not biting, seemingly wary of my sword. I really want to stab it in the mouth, but it won't give me that chance. The chanting from behind me stopped. Does that mean Janice is done now?

"I've finished! The golem will go after the next slap!" Janice shouts from behind. Good.

"Go after it does! I will follow behind!" I wait, ready for the next slap. My stance holds and the parry is successful. The golem runs with a limp towards the bear and jumps on it, distracting it long enough for Eyebrow and Janice to get through. I follow behind with Sabrina, who I just noticed has been completely useless, and escape safely.

"Let's go! We'll come back to kill it later. Coming right away was a mistake." Eyebrow definitely agreed with me on that one. The bear didn't follow, probably because it was trying to eat the golem it pummeled.

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Back at town we laid on a stretch of grass to catch our breaths.

"Eyebrow, train me in swordsmanship." Eyebrow looks around for a little bit.

"Wait, are you talking to me? My name is Daniel! Where the fuck did you get Eyebrow?" I laugh pretty hard and Janice started giggling.

"It's because all you did was raise your eyebrow when I talked. You never told me your name."

"You never bothered to ask. I refuse, now." I've still got a few cards up my sleeve for this one.

"Come on man, I'm a tamer. If you don't teach me, nobody else is going to be willing to."

"I still refuse." Damn, being stubborn huh?

"Think of it like teaching subordinate! You said yourself I could've gotten a few slashes in on that bear, show me how it's done!"

"Tch, fine. I'll train you a little bit." Sweet, I still get to hold onto my 'I got you a promotion' card. I'll save that one for later.

I get up and reach for my sword. Daniel stops me, walking off towards the guards instead. They then run off.

"What was that?" I ask, wary of what's to come.

"Maybe he wanted to get rid of all of the eye-witnesses so he can beat you to a pulp." Janice adds in, probably trying to make a joke. I hope so anyway, as I don't know the customs for training a guard and that could be a real possibility.

Soon the guards come back with wooden training swords. Oh, good, he can hit me now. He looks over at me, and as if he wants to intensify my fear, he smiles the creepiest smile I have ever seen.

"Catch!" One of the wooden sword sails through the air. I reach out to grab it, but as soon as I touch it, I can feel the weight of the sword. With both hands, I grab it and let the weight onto my legs. The sword must be filled with lead, making it way too heavy to wield normally.

"I want you to start with swinging the sword vertically one hundred times. Then I will show you how to block sideways swipes, and you will do both in combination. That should be enough to help you defeat the bear." Seems pretty straightforward. If I can block the sideways slap of the bear then I can hit it between each strike. If I do it enough times then it will get a concussion or die, right?

One! Two! Three! Four! Ugh, I'm already tired. I don't think I can hit one hundred. I put my sword down.

"If you want to stop, hold the sword at the end of the strike. Otherwise, give it back. Then I can put it away because you don't have the mental strength to do this." Daniel shouted. Dammit, why did he have to say mental strength. I would've been fine if he called me fat or lazy, but why did he have to question my mental strength? Five! Six! Seven!...

Ninety eight!... Ninety nine!... One hundred!

"What, you finished? I really thought you would fail with those stick arms of yours." I will beat the crap out of him when I get the chance.

"Just teach me to block already." He starts with an example. With a strong stance, he slants the sword to his body. The handle stays above his head and the end points downwards. With one hand on the handle and the other on the body of the blade, he has a sturdy looking defense.

"Block like that. To move into the strike, you would push up with the hand that's on the blade, then go into the vertical strike. Simple, right? Do it a hundred times while I try to hit you." Another hundred times. I block his first swing the way he showed me and push it over my head. Then I try to strike him, which he blocks very smoothly. Actually, it looks more like he was swatting a fly away.

"Swing harder!" He shouts. That strike would've fatally injured most people, though. I'm not sure many people could've blocked that, just dropping the weight of the sword. Then again, this is a world of magic and swords, so my knowledge of people in general don't apply here. I block his next attack and swing.

"Again!" He shouts. I've been doing this for quite a while already. His attacks have been getting stronger and I've only been getting weaker. My sweat is also making the sword slippery. He strikes and I barely manage a block. I push up and his sword slides over my head, hitting a leaf. Normally, that wouldn't be significant, but the leaf was ripped apart.

"THAT BLOW COULD'VE KILLED ME!" I shout. He shrugs his shoulders.

"I don't think so. At worst it would've crippled you." I drop my jaw in shock at his reply, too tired to take any other action. I'm going to go to the river to wash up. If I can move, that is. Nope, can't move. I'm just going to lay here and water the grass then. Daniel starts to walk away.

"By the way, where do you even sleep? I haven't seen you lodge anywhere." Oh, he came back.

"The dirt." I respond, very weakly.

"Oh, okay then." He just leaves. That bastard! I thought he was going to offer me a place to stay.

Some time passes, probably close to an hour and a half, before I manage to get up again. I should go to the river to wash up. And clean out my clothes. When I get enough money to spend normally, I will buy more, pay for a room, take a nice shower and eat some real food. And maybe buy some pet stuff for Sabrina, but she seems to be taking care of herself pretty well.

After a trip to the goblin village's river and orchard, I was feeling renewed, if I ignore the sore muscles from training. If I go take the bear on tomorrow, with Janice's help, we may be able to take it down. And if I skin it, maybe I can get that old lady that I got my pillow journal from to make me something cool. Only if it's practical, of course. Probably a blanket or a sleeping bag, nights are cold. Unfortunately, I'll have to spend another cold night outside. At least I have Sabrina to keep my stomach warm. She curls up next to me as I fall asleep.