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Crystals of Tame

Chapter 14

“Bye Carlos,” Lex said, waving goodbye at Carlos as he exited the research building.

“Thanks for saving us and have a safe trip,” Carlos said, waving goodbye to Lex.

“I can’t wait to see what kind of tamer you become, Lex”

Carlos thought,

as he watched the young kid of thirteen years old, make his way toward the major’s office, being glad that Lex had saved them from that mysterious person.

But Carlos did wonder what that person was looking for in this small little research building of his.

There was nothing worth stealing here besides research papers,

but they weren’t anything of great discovery, and he doubted it was Nessi either since it was too heavy for one person to take despite its size, it was quite sturdy. So what was he looking for?

“I do wonder? ” Carlos said, as he went back to the building.

***

As Lex made his way toward the major’s office, he looked around town and saw the faces of street vendors selling their products, which reminded him of how the people of Woodfield Village would do the same. But he noticed, that they didn’t have many products to sell, neither were there many people buying them. Which he found strange since Twinrock town was bigger than Woodfield Village, so he expected a more busy street.

He also noticed some people were walking with monster partners by their side, some of the monsters he recognized since they were found in the forest that surrounded Woodfield Village, such as the grey color Gremice, which were notorious for eating the food in Woodfield Village, he also saw green fur Leafoats, which were quite docile unless you bother them, then they will dash at you with their wooden horns, and a few Leafirrels, which were quite adorable, not as adorable as Mirabit, but he did find them cute.

“Here it is,” he said, coming to a stop at a large building. It looked so different from the houses of Twin Rock town that he was sure only a person of great importance lived here. There were two pillars next to the building giving it a look of great importance that the other houses of Twinrock town didn’t have.

Lex let out a sigh, he didn’t want to come here, receiving some sort of reward for saving Carlos was not something he wanted or cared for. Saving them was a reward enough. But he didn’t want to disrespect the mayor either.

“Shall we partner?” Lex said, petting Mirabit’s soft fur as it peeked from the brown bag that hung across his shoulder.

‘Mirabit,” Mirabit said, smiling, as the bright sun hit its face, embracing him in its warm light.

Lex opened the door and was greeted by a large room that looked like a waiting area of some kind to him. He also noticed a group of people by a brown desk that sat in the middle of the room, they were trying to speak to the individual behind the desk, trying to get her attention, it seemed to Lex.

“How is the major going to help us?”

Lex overheard some shouts from them.

“Is he doing anything? Has he contacted the association?”

They went on, Lex could see that whatever was happening, was of great importance to them.

“Gentlemen, please. The mayor is already working on it,” the lady behind the desk said, despite the commotion, she looked calm and even smiling at them, Lex noticed.

“Well, it doesn’t look like it,” one of the people in the group said, agitated. Lex wanted to leave the major’s office, whatever was happening seemed to be more important than getting some gift from the mayor.

And as Lex was about to leave, he heard the woman speak to him.

“How can I help you?” the woman said,

as she noticed the young blonde kid who had an expression of being lost on his face.

“I-I’m here to see the mayor,” Lex said, almost regretting having said that.

“Ah! You must be the young tamer Lex,” the woman said smiling,

“A tamer?” one of the people said, looking at Lex.

Lex felt all the eyes of the room on him, which made him nervous, and regretting his decision to stay.

“Is he the tamer from the association? He doesn’t look strong,” one of the people added,

“Gentlemen please refrain from being rude to our Mayor’s guest, now if you’ll excuse me, I have a job to do.”

“The mayor is expecting you,” she said, as she came around the corner. She had short black hair, round glasses, and a welcoming expression on her face that made Lex less nervous to be in the mayor’s building.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“This way please, Lex.”

Lex followed the lady as they left the other people in the lobby, he looked back and wondered what business had made them all rile up to see the mayor since they looked to be quite in trouble. Perhaps they should be the ones to meet the mayor and not a kid from some village, Lex thought.

“Excuse them, they’re good people but they’re just really stressed right now,” she said, as they walked the hallway of the building. Lex noticed that the hallway was adorned with paintings of great figures and small stone statues, It looked quite elegant to him.

“I heard from the mayor that you saved Carlos and his crew at the research building .”

“Y-Yes ma'am,” Lex said, blushing,

“Me and Mirabit did.”

“Mirabit,” Mirabit said, peeking out of Lex's bag.

“Well isn’t he just the cutest little fella ever,” she said, smiling at Mirabit.

“I’m glad nothing happened to them, they are such good people,” she continued while touching her cheek.

“Well, it was a good thing that you were there when you were.”

“Y-Yea, I was lucky,” Lex said.

“Well, here we are,” she said, stopping by a door that looked like it had been sculpted from a piece of wood, it looked quite majestic to Lex.

“Go on ahead, don’t be nervous. The mayor is quite nice behind that rough exterior,” she said chuckling

“Well, I better get back, it was nice meeting you Lex.”

“Thanks,” Lex said, as he watched her leave, she was friendly, he thought.

“Ready, partner?” Lex said, petting Mirabit’s head, he was glad he had Mirabit with him.

“Let’s do this.”

Lex opened the door and noticed a creaking sound as the door opened, which he was not thankful for, not wanting to make any noise.

“AH! Lex just in time,” the mayor said, greeting Lex as he appeared at the entrance of the door.

“You met Julian already, haven’t you?” he said, pointing at Julian who was sitting across from his desk.

“Nice to meet you again, Lex” Julian said, nodding at Lex.

“Y-You t to,” Lex said, nodding back,

“Mirabit,” Mirabit said, peeking out of Lex’s bag.

“Come take a seat,” the mayor said, signaling Lex to take a sit next to Julian.

“T-Thanks,” Lex said.

“I was just talking to Julian about what we could give a young tamer as brave as you for your reward.”

“Anything is fine,” Lex said,

“Personally, a thank you is enough for me and I have a feeling Lex is the same way,” Julian said, smiling at Lex.

“Y-Yes that’s fine too,” Lex said,

“Nonsense,” the mayor said,

“In Twin Rock Town we show gratitude for such brave actions, is not every day we get tamers around here, most just leave for the exam and head to bigger cities searching for fame, glory, and whatnot, or for strong and fearsome beasts to tame and show off, and the ones that do stay just cause troubles for us, like those pesky monster bandits at the outskirts of town. I bet you anything those monster bandits are ex-Rock Shield guild members.”

There was a hint of disdain that Lex picked up from the mayor as he said that name.

Lex didn’t know the history of the guilds, all he knew was that his mother was in the Rock Shield guild, that was what his aunt Lily had told him, so they couldn’t be bad, could they?

“I heard from Carlos that you’re on your way to take the taming exam in Stonetopolis city, is that correct?” Julian said,

“Yes sir, “ Lex said,

“I was just passing by to deliver bread to Carlos.”

“Bread?” the mayor asked,

“Y-yea, my grandmother and aunt make the most delicious bread in all of Woodfield village,” Lex said, there was a hint of pride in his words that the mayor and Julian caught. Which surprised them.

“Well I must say I have to try this well-renowned bread by our young hero’s family,” the mayor said,

“Me too,” Julian said, chuckling,

“Sorry,” Lex murmured under his breath feeling embarrassed.

“I heard Woodfield Village is very peaceful,” Julian asked,

“Yes, is a small farming village,” Lex added,

“That sounds pleasant, unlike around here lately,” the mayor said,

“Monster bandits have appeared around Turtle Trail,

causing nothing but headaches to our small town. Every day more and more townspeople come and pester me about what I’m going to do with these bandits assaulting and stealing inventory from the merchants and causing all kinds of issues, I’m sure you saw how busy the lobby was. “

Lex could see that the town was going through some troubles, which would explain the scenario he walked into at the lobby. He wished he could help, but he wasn’t even a licensed tamer yet. There wasn’t much he could do.

“Then is lucky I’m here,” Julian said,

“As an association tamer, I’ll make sure to deal with this bandits around Turtle Trail.”

“And we are forever grateful for your help and the Association as well,” the mayor said, being thankful that such a prestigious tamer with a master taming license like Julian was around town, though he did wonder why he had taken the job he had posted in the guild board in Stonetopolis city a few days ago. When almost no tamers had taken such a low-paying job, but it didn’t matter, he was here now and so their problems would be over now.

“Perhaps Lex would like to join me since he’s going the same way, and I fear is not quite safe for a young aspiring tamer to traverse the road at this time,” Julian added, looking at Lex.

“I WOULD!” Lex said, in excitement, he wanted to learn all he could about taming from an official tamer like Julian.

“That would be ever so wonderful,” the mayor said,

“I was supposed to give you a reward yet here I am asking for your help again.”

The mayor stood from his chair, and Lex noticed he was taller than he remembered.

‘The town of Twinrock Town owes the two of you a great thank you,” he said, shaking Lex’s hand.

“And it's perfect too,” the mayor added,

“For tomorrow morning a fellow townsfolk is traveling to Stonetopolis city with some merchandise and having two tamers tack along, guarding him, would be excellent, not that Julian isn’t capable but sometimes those pesky bandits do sneaky things, so having someone provide Julian with some assistance is wonderful .”

Lex blushed, he was just an aspiring tamer but he would help as much as he could, he looked at his hand, with his birthmark, and hoped he didn’t have to use his gift. The last thing he wanted right now was to bring more attention to himself.

“Then it's settled we’ll leave tomorrow morning,” Julian said, getting up from his chair.

“I need to buy some stuff around town, so see you guys later, also, Lex, get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

‘Yes sir,” Lex said, excited for tomorrow, being around a full-fledged tamer like Julian, he was sure to learn quite a lot.

“Would you believe he’s only sixteen and already a master license tamer for the association?” The mayor said as they watched Julian leave the room.

“That’s so cool,” Lex said, he could feel that he would learn a lot from Julian, and felt that this was the perfect reward for him, if he needed a reward at all, helping Carlos was a reward in itself.

“Do you have a place to stay?” the mayor asked,

“No,” Lex said, he figured he would stay at some taming inn he heard from his aunt, since that’s where tamers stayed the night when they were out on their journeys, she had mentioned.

“Our tamer inn isn’t the best due to not many tamers coming to town, but I could arrange for you to stay there, free of charge. ”

“Thank you,“ Lex said, bowing at the mayor. Lex could see that he cared about the town a lot.

“No problem, that is the least we could do for such a courageous tamer, and I look forward to your journey as a tamer with great interest,” The mayor said, nodding at Lex.

***

Back at the lobby, the commotion had died down, Lex noticed.

“Ah! Lex, “ the mayor’s assistant said, greeting Lex as she saw him by the hallway.

“I hear you going to stay at our Tamer Inn.”

“Yes ma’am,” Lex said,

“Well follow me, I’ll show you.”

As Lex followed the mayor’s assistance, he noticed that the town had become almost deserted as evening was settling in as they made their way to the inn.

***

The Tamer Inn was a small house with a sign over it, it looked no bigger than the houses around town, and as he entered the building, he noticed that it needed a few repairs here and there, but he was glad for it since it felt like he was finally on his journey as a tamer.

"Here we are,” the mayor's assistant said, showing Lex the small room in the Tamer Inn. It had a wooden bed and a small

drawer. It reminded him of his room back in Woodfield Village.

“Thank you,” Lex said,

“You welcome and have a good rest,” the mayor’s assistant said, as she left Lex and Mirabit in their room.

“Mirabit,” Mirabit said, jumping out of his bag and into the bed.

“It’s comfy isn’t it,” Lex said, jumping in as well.

“We better get some sleep since tomorrow we have a big day,” he said, as he looked at the ceiling, feeling happy since he was one step closer to his dream of becoming a tamer.