Side story: Zergnar's point of view

Me and my troop of beast riders left the fortress two months ago. We haven't found any pets worth taming yet. Most of my troops have gotten passed the fifty mark with beast tamer now. We should be able to tame four pets now because of that.

I'm not really sure what I should tame. I already have my dire dread wolf, dartwing bat… Most of my troops have a wolf and bat or spider as their pets. We only need to find two more pets for everyone. I'd like to keep our pets similar so we can coordinate attacks better. I asked master where we should look for pets and he sent me towards the central region of the continent.

Once we get passed the mountains we should fight stronger enemies. It would be nice to tame an animal that could be used defensively or ranged. Since that is the main problem with our troops right now. Like a thick shelled snail or turtle. I haven't found any yet, we continue to head towards our main destination though.

As soon as we start traversing the mountains we see a rare! It's a changling. A creature that can change its appearance to suit its needs. We managed to see it in its base form or I might have mistaken it for the creature it was turned into… I have to capture it for master. He made me two rare saddles with mind control on them. If I can sneak up on it I think I can jump and place the saddle at the same time. If I can't it will change into something different and will be a hassle to deal with.

With an army of over twenty soldiers hiding close by. I sneak closer to the changling. It would be awful if it got away or we had to kill it. Within ten feet of it, it is preoccupied with drinking water to have noticed me yet. I leap into the air with dragoon placing the saddle in a better position to land on him. As soon as I do he almost lurches me off.

“Calm down!”

The changling stops moving… YES! I've gotten a future mount for master! Without a fight too! This mount couldn't fit him better. The ability to change appearance, even travel method will be critical later on. The changling can only change into something of a similar size… At least for now, knowing master he will probably end up teaching it how to change into anything! I'll let another beast tamer watch over it for now while I say at the front of the group.

Another week of traveling and we're finally leaving the region. If we were heading more towards the west, we would be heading into the region we'll be going to war with soon. The central region is mostly untamed by humanoids. The very few populations are sparse and few between. If we get into any trouble we'll be on our own.

The central part of the continent is several degrees hotter than the southern part of the continent. It isn't a problem for me. Some of the other beast riders need to take more breaks than usual. I hope we find some suitable mounts or pets soon so we can leave.

The white mage we have with us is one of the surviving thieves. When he learned two new classes, both were magic related. The deaths of his brothers in the bandit fort was a religious experience for him. He devoted the rest of his life to serving the god of life. He's kind of annoying to be around but I understand what he's going through. I changed myself… My whole person from the death of my pet… I can understand changing for that reason. We get along because of that, my annoying friend Apotheius… He changed his name when he devoted himself…

We approach a rock formation in the middle of the forest… Getting closer we notice something. Griffins! A whole flock of them! Counting them it totals around a dozen. We'll still need to find more but if we can tame these we can switch some of our wolf riders to griffin riders… Finally we get to use our secret weapons. The perfect weapon for stopping these griffins from running… The net cannons, master made the beast riders.

We all charge in. The griffins notice and try to flee. Three get away but the nine left were all tamed. I passed on taming a griffin… I feel as the leader I should strive for a better mount. I just hope it wont come back to bite me in the ass if I can't tame something better. We have a blue mage reload our net cannons. We have some spare wind scrolls for them so we only need the net and poison spit to coat the tube.

Almost half of our troops are now riding griffins. It should help on capturing more griffins since we can now chase them through the air. We know there are at least three more flying around. Probably more than that though. We need to look for more rock formations where they like to lay their eggs at. I already have around a dozen griffin eggs for the journey home. We need to have enough for non beast riders once the war starts. Depending on when they were laid, it might be upwards of a month for them to hatch. In that time they need to be kept as warm as possible, so we'll be stuck in this high heat area until then.

We managed to tame the rest of the griffins. They returned home to the rock formation in the middle of the forest. I send a beast rider with the scout class into the sky to look for more. He eventually sees another one. Taming the remaining we needed for the rest of our troops, besides myself. For now the troops need to level them and get used to riding their new mounts. I'll lead the wolves on the ground until I can find an appropriate mount for myself. If need be I'll tame a griffin as well.

Finding a drake nest or a rare flying monster would be nice. It would suit me better than the griffins. They're too smart for my liking as a pet. They make better sentinels for bases and couriers for messages, than mounts for combat in my opinion. We pass a few monsters and take them out when appropriate. For now, I should worry about everyone else getting their fourth pet. Maybe capturing another pet for master before I worry about myself. As I think that I see it.

A black griffin rare, perched on top of griffin nest. It's standing close to a single pitch black egg… From that moment on I knew it was going to be my mount. No matter what I had to do to get it. I wasn't going to tame it with a net, I was going to fight it if I could. There is no way that griffin would abandon its egg like the other griffins did. It is too powerful to back down and give up like that. I move in close, just by myself. No pets, no troops, just myself… The only way I feel I'll get its trust is by taming it this way.

I slowly, cautiously continue approaching it. I have both my spears in my hands. I have a larger one and a much smaller one in my offhand. I don't want to hurt it if at all possible. I feel it though, I feel that it knows we're connected too. I throw my larger spear away and continue approaching it, less guarded… It's almost like I can hear it talking in my head. “I won't let you hurt my baby!”

“Don't worry, I'll protect your baby with all of my power.”

It looks at me cautiously. I'll keep slowly approaching it. Dropping my other spear, I'm completely defenseless now. I feel like that is the only way I can get this special griffin to trust me. I'm a few steps from it. I reach my hand out… And touch it, slowly petting it.

Unique Black griffin bonded with you

Yes! Yes! Thank you greater god! Thank you for this gift! I'll have to be especially careful with moving this egg… Maybe I should wait for it to hatch… No, we haven't had any of the other eggs break yet. The griffins can take care of their own pretty well…

The griffins are comically bigger than most of the gnolls. A few have evolved but most of the gnolls are still regular gnolls. My griffin is a perfect fit for me. I guess it's good that they're so disproportionate though. That means they can carry two or three people per griffin. If we ever get an archer detachment from the army. It might be beneficial to ride in together.

It's been another month. We've slowly been leveling up. Most of the griffin eggs have hatched except my black one… Maybe it's a bad egg… I pray it isn't. We still haven't found any defensive monsters. No ranged ones either. Some snakes can spit, same with snails and a few others. Some monsters can shoot off parts of their bodies like bomb bugs and needle birds. Some pets can get into close range instantly. Some being blink dogs and displacer beasts, we need to find them outside of dungeons though. You can't tame monsters inside dungeons as most are mindless.

Finally we find something! After months of getting here and searching. We finally find suitable pets. We come across a field with around fifty arrow porcupine monsters… Too many to approach at once, we'll have to lure some away. We could possibly beat them all and tame them but we might get casualties… I'll try to avoid that as much as possible… Perhaps a night raid? Nope, too dangerous. We might get attacked by something even more dangerous… Maybe I can act as a distraction while the rest tame a handful. That is the plan we're going with for now. We'll wait until tomorrow.

The next day we go to approach the arrow porcupines but they're in battle with a raid boss! The boss is a giant bird, big enough to possibly wipe out all the porcupines. Should we help? There is no guarantee that the porcupine monsters wont attack us as soon as we show up. This is it though, we have to tame as many as we can while we have the chance. A raid boss amount of experience would also be nice. We push the attack. I'm not good with monster names but it looks like a giant eagle. It would be big enough to carry ten troops on its back easily. If only we had the power to capture it.

We rush in to help. Mounted on griffins the raid boss has lost its aerial advantage. Some of the troops push the group to protect the arrow porcupines. The porcupines aren't dying easily. They have tough quills that protect their body. The quills could take a few hits from a sword so the eagle raid boss can't easily eat them. The porcupines can also shoot their quills off as an attack. I think it takes around one month to regenerate the quills though. That's why these pets are so important. They fit the tank and the ranged part of our group.

I'm on my unique griffon, she flies over the eagle boss and I jump off her. I'm riding the mind control saddle down on my feet. I highly doubt it will work, so I'm also attacking with both spears in the same instant I land. Bam! Piercing through its back and a wing with my extra spear. It starts to fall towards the ground. When we crash I yell at it hoping it can possibly be tamed with this saddle. Even though it is far to big for the saddle to fit it.

“Calm down!”

It flings me off. Of course the saddle wasn't big or strong enough to tame it. I'll have to talk with master about attempting to tame raid bosses later. It starts to get up but I've injured its wing. It should be grounded now. Some of the porcupines have run away, about ten are dead so only thirty are still around. Then I see something amazing. The beast riders who stayed on the ground led a charge of the arrow porcupines. What!? That should be impossible, unless the few beast riders tamed all the porcupines.

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Around ten beast riders are leading a charge towards the eagle boss. We still have slightly over ten beast riders in the air throwing down rocks and other things towards the eagle. We don't have anyone skilled enough to fire arrows while riding without risking hitting their own griffins wings. Rocks are still effective for damage though when they're at the speed of falling. With the griffins being so much bigger than the gnolls. They can hold almost a similar amount of rocks as the weight of the gnolls with no problems.

Finally the porcupines make it to the eagle boss. A few jump so their quills are facing it and explode them out towards it. Like firing twenty high powered arrows at once. It is quite effective. Some of the beast riders make passing attacks at the eagle not giving it time to counterattack. It is worrisome but I guess I should finish it off. Jumping as high into the air as I can. Landing on my black griffin than jumping even higher I fall from the sky. Tossing my tiny spear to the side I'm going to put all my weight onto my biggest spear. Bam! My spear went completely through. Only the spears handle where my hand was at the very top was sticking out of it... It falls over, dead.

Beast tamer level 97 to 100 

Beast rider 100 to 100 

Knight 91 to 95 

Dragoon 60 to 64 

Berserker 56 to 60 

Level 100 Beast tamer passive skill gained Telepathic commands- Can give commands to pets telepathically 

Beast tamer rank up requirements met 

Beast master | Hunter 

Beast rider rank up requirements met 

Auto rank up to Griffin rider 

Level 1 Griffin rider skill gained Aerial strike- Preform a dive bomb with your griffin jumping off at the last second to attack someone underneath your pet 

… I pick hunter.

Level 1 Hunter passive skill gained Bestiary- Able to see if the monster is tamable, whether it would make a good pet and secret information about pets, new information can be added and shared with other hunters 

The casualties of that fight was mostly porcupines. One of the beast riders was cut in half by the eagles beak attacking it… I hate to say it but one casualty isn't that big of a deal, it would have been better to have none. We also had two wolves die in the attack. Both were unmounted being led by the ground group… Still a pretty good turnout. We approach the porcupines and something weird happens. Most of my men say they've bonded with a porcupine! So coming to their aid made them feel indebted towards us. Meaning my men can tame one more monster. I didn't tame one, it didn't feel like the right pet for myself. With that we can go home though.

We'll start making our way back home. I wish I could have found more pets for master and myself. Only one for him to ride doesn't feel like enough. I hope we find some weird pets for master. It will still take a little over a month to make it back to the fortress. In that time we can strengthen our bonds with our new pets more. Maybe find more pets to tame. We didn't really check the mountains making it here.

While making our way back I take it slower in the mountains. I've been checking the surrounding areas by myself while the group rested. I've decided to name my black griffin Bloodyclaw. It matches my dead wolfs name of Bloodytooth. Both Dreadfang and Bloodyclaw are strong pets. Without getting a porcupine monster as a pet I'm still lacking a defensive pet. My dartwing bat I named… Dartwing… Is pretty good as ranged, it can attack things at such a speed it most likely wont get hit. Meaning defense is what I should be looking for.

We're almost through the mountains… I wish I had more time, it looks like I might have to come back here after we're gone. Than I see it. Bestiary says it is a rock shark and something else… Standing right beside it, I can't make it out… What is it? Getting closer I can see it is an imp. Slightly bigger than normal but the weird color of blue. Most imps are red or green to match their type of element. Bestiary has no information on this monster… It's exactly like Bloodyclaw. Then it speaks!

“Hey Sharkdar, we need to find some food. I know we don't have a problem with water but the lack of food has been bothering me.”

WHAT!? An imp that can speak! I've never… What a perfect pet for master… It fits in with his pets he has already. I would like that shark though. It would make up for my defense. While slower on land, it can still be helpful on both land and water. I doubt they'll cooperate with me if I continue being sneaky… The only way to bond with pets is to gain their trust so I call out.

“Hey! If you're looking for some food I'm willing to share some with you if you follow me and my master.”

The imp was frightened by me at first. Then it slowly assessed the situation… That isn't something a monster should do. I'm honestly surprised it didn't attack out of no where. I put both my weapons down at my feet and come out of hiding so it can see me better. It talks.

“Huh, a gnoll speaking common. That's something you don't see everyday.”

“I could say the same about you. I've never seen a blue imp before. You also didn't attack me on sight which is also weird.”

“Yea I guess you can say both of us are equally weird… I've never seen a gnoll with two spears before, that's a peculiar fighting style.”

“Yes, my master taught me dragoon and berserker. I'm also a knight, beast tamer and beast rider.”

“Whoa! That's compensating if I've ever heard of it… Five classes, you should be difficult to take down. But why should I believe you? You could be luring us into an ambush or something to eat us. You've done nothing to prove you're a beast tamer yet.”

I signal for Bloodyclaw with a telepathic command to come out from her hiding spot. The imp seen the black griffin and was shocked again.

“Wow! Well then… I guess I have to believe you when you have such a rare pet… I'm not really that interested in you… The person who is your master on the other hand… He must be a great man to have control over such a strong follower… I'll follow you for now and even let you tame Sharkdar. That is... If you can survive an attack.”

The land shark dives into the ground ripping it up as it heads towards me. Strong enough to swim through dirt and rock it is not going very... Shit! The blue imp just boosted its speed with a water trail behind it. The shark is going twice as fast now! I barely jump to avoid the attack. As I come down I land on the shark. Pulling it out of the ground, I suplex it.

"Do you still want to fight? It would be a shame to kill you so I can tame this shark!"

"Wow! I wasn't expecting you to counter... Suplexing a land shark that weights four hundred pounds should have been almost impossible. Yea you win."

With that I secured another weird pet for master and a good pet for myself too. Sharkdar wouldn't bond with me... Perhaps because I just suplexed him? It's fine though, bonding is a very rare occurance. While heading back towards our group the imp was scared to approach the troops. With Sharkdar barreling into the group he followed behind. I just realized something, so I ask.

“Hey, I haven't even heard your name yet tiny imp.”

“It's Blue, obviously.”

(Zergnar stats when Kite asked) (strength- 1500) (dexterity- 250) (intelligence- 50) (stamina- 1150) (total = 2950)

(Current stats) (strength- 1700) (dexterity- 350) (intelligence- 70) (stamina- 1350) (total = 3470)