image [https://i.imgur.com/cooTTeR.png]

Crystals Of Tame

Chapter 22

“Welcome to Leaf Blade Guild,” Arthur said, coming to a stop in front of an old two-story inn-like house.

“Um.....” Lex said, nervously, as he looked at the dilapidated house, to him it did not look like a building that would house a taming guild, not that he knew what kind of building that would look like, but if he had to think of one, this old house was not what he would imagine a guild building to look like.

“Don’t be fooled by its appearance, the Leaf Blade guild is as powerful as any of the guilds in Monsterra. In fact, it was once part of the three major guilds, but that’s in the past now, anyway, welcome to our humble home,” Arthur said, smiling at Lex.

“It doesn’t look like we can go back on our word,” Lex said, rethinking his decision for a second, and petting Mirabit, but one thing was certain. He was going to be a tamer no matter what.

“Mirabit,” Mirabit said, nervously, just like its tamer partner, it also wasn’t convinced this was a building for a taming guild.

“Who cares how it looks,” Violet said, walking toward the run-down house, not being surprised by it. She had grown up in this house, but now it was different, she was entering the house as a licensed tamer and not Violet the sister of the captain of the Leaf Blade Guild.

“What counts is what’s on the inside.”

“I knew you would say that,” Arthur said, smiling at Violet. Even though he was nervous as to what Rose would say about Violet becoming a tamer, he knew he made the right decision. These two were going to be the next generation of the Leaf Blade Guild. He had picked the right tamers.

“Shall we Lex?” he said, extending his hand toward him,

“Trust me you won’t regret it.”

“Okay,” Lex said, walking toward the two of them, and entering the run-down house of the Leaf Blade Guild.

Inside the house, Lex noticed that it had a certain familiarity to him he couldn't quite explain. To him, it looked no different from an ordinary home back in Woodfield Forest the only difference was the large staircase in the middle that led to the upstairs floor.

“Wait here while I talk to the guild vice-captain,” Arthur said, winking at Violet.

“Have fun,” Violet said smirking back at him.

“Ok,” Lex said, taking a seat on one of the chairs inside the house.

Violet took a seat next to Lex, and the two young tamers waited in the empty lobby of the house.

Lex looked around the house more, and he couldn't find any resemblance to the Taming Association Building. A building filled with tamers and association workers and adorned in great stone furniture, while the Leaf Blade Guild house was empty except for him and Violet and a few chairs and a dining table to his left that seemed to lead to a kitchen of sorts, he noticed. Reminding him of his aunt's kitchen back home, wondering how they were.

“Mirabit, Mirabit said, peeking from Lex’s leather bag,

“I think we did the right thing, right?” Lex said giving Mirabit a slight smile.

He had agreed to join the Leaf Blade Guild per Arthur’s request as his requirement to pass, but as long as he passed, he didn’t care. He finally was a tamer and felt closer to his mother now.

"The Leaf Blade guild doesn’t have many tamers,” Violet said, noticing Lex's apprehension.

“But what it lacks in tamers it makes up in its quality. All the tamers in the guild are like family, you won’t regret it,” she said, looking at Lex and giving him a slight smile. Not being good at these kinds of things. But one thing was certain, the Leaf Blade Guild was more than a guild, it was family.

“That’s good,” Lex said, smiling at her.

She was nice, he thought.

The next few minutes were spent with the two of them sitting in silence, Lex would peek a glance at her a few times. He was sure that she was the person in the forest when Julian and Mr. Wilson came to Stonetopolis city. He wanted to ask her about the forest and Carlos, but he also didn’t think she was a bad person since he helped him protect the monsters in the forest. And no bandit would do such a thing, he was sure.

Violet looked at Lex, fearing that he remembered her. Which would only cause headaches for her.

"Spit it out, kid,” she said,

“Umm..” Lex said,

“Were you the person in the forest?”

“Yes,” Violet said,

Lex was surprised, not expecting her to say yes so nonchalantly.

"Are you a monster bandit?” he whispered as if trying to hide her secret. Perhaps she had a reason, he thought. She couldn't be a bad person, right?

“No,” she said.

“That’s good!’ Lex blurted out, which caused her to chuckle.

“Sorry,” Lex said, feeling better that she wasn’t a monster bandit who used her monster partners to commit crimes.

“No, why would I,” she said brushing her green hair to the side.

“Then what were you doing in the forest?’

Violet looked at Lex, not sure if she should tell him after all, they were strangers still.

“What was that thing that happened around you in the forest,” she said, switching the subject,

“The wind around you, I’m sure that cute bunny monster of yours was not the one responsible for it.”

Violet was curious as to what she witnessed back in the forest, the strange wind gathering around Lex, she had not paid much attention to it until now.

"Ummm….” Lex said, nervously.

“What do you mean?” he said, giving her a nervous smile.

“Lex, Violet,” they both looked at Arthur as he appeared from the brown staircase.

Lex felt relieved to see him.

"The guild vice-captain would like to see you two.”

Lex and Violet got up from their chairs and walked toward him, ready to meet the vice-captain.

They both climbed the spiral brown staircase behind Arthus and came to a stop at a brown door that had design carvings on its door, to Lex it looked like one of the doors at the Taming Association building.

"Ready," Arthur said, winking at them.

"Sure," Violet said sarcastically,

"Let's get this over with."

As they entered the brown door, Lex noticed a large brown desk in the center and bookshelves around the office, it had a certain aura of importance to Lex, he couldn't deny.

“This is Rose Greenleaf the captain of the Leaf Blade guild, which I’m sure one of you already knows,” Arthur said, smiling at Violet.

“Nice to meet you," Lex said, bowing before her.

“Mirabit,” Mirabit said, copying his tamer partner.

Rose smiled at Lex and signaled him to sit down.

“It’s nice to meet you Lex and Mirabit.”

“Hello, captain,” Violet said, sarcastically, taking a seat next to Lex.

Rose shook her head.

“Is that all you have to say, young lady, not only did you disobey me, you went and took the exam when you’re not even at the minimum age of thirteen to take it. You couldn’t wait one more year.”

“Now now, Rose,” Arthur said,

“What done is done. She passed the test so she’s a tamer now.”

“You!” Rose said, looking at Arthur and throwing daggers at him with her green eyes.

"What were you thinking about passing her, you should have failed her the second you found out it was her.”

“It’s alright, besides, I have instructor discretion so I can pass whoever I want,” Arthur said, smiling at her.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“That is not a thing,” Rose said, touching her forehead with her hand in a disapproving manner.

“You two are going to be the end of me.”

She looked at the young blonde boy sitting next to Violet, she would deal with the two of them later, for now she had a job to do as the Vice-Captain of Leaf Blade Guild.

“I’m sorry you had to see this,” she said, smiling at him,

“I-is fine,” Lex said, he could see that Rose had quite a handful on her hands.

“Since Arthur has already made you two license tamers, I can’t go against it since he’s one of the twelve captains for the association. ”

"Arthur is a captain!” Lex said, being surprised by the revelation.

“Unfortunately, “ Rose said,

"He's one of the twelve captains that oversees the Association of Tamers, but if he keeps up with these antics I wonder for how long.”

“Well get to that bridge when we cross it,” Arthur said, smiling at Rose.

“Hopefully not anytime soon. You already know how the Association views us,” Rose said.

“Let’s forget about all that and present the two new tamers their brand new taming license,” Arthur said, not caring for the small details.

“Do I have any other choice,” Rose said, taking out two boxes and putting them on her desk.

“Congratulations on becoming licensed tamers. I guess. ”

Rose opened the boxes revealing a shining brown copper license, a clear crystal of sorts, and two bracelet-like devices.

They were both the same color, a brown copper color with a strange shape in the middle that had an opening of sorts on its back.

Lex got up from his chair and saw what he had wanted all his life. A taming license.

"This is your tamer license, with this, you can tame more than one monster partner, up to three as a rookie bronze tamer.

All beginner tamers start at rank E, which you can upgrade as you advance in your taming career..”

“Rank E?” Lex asked,

“Don’t worry I’ll explain it soon enough,” Rose said smiling at him.

“There are six tamer ranks you can achieve. They range from the lowest rank E rookie bronze tamer to the highest rank of S legendary platinum tamer. As a tamer, you can increase your rank by completing tamer quests that are issued by tamer guilds or the association. Tamer quests can range from simple requests such as searching quests that involve finding ingredients for potion makers to finding some lost pet for people. And even advanced quests like monster subjugation of wild monsters, too. Quest can be issued by individuals, villages, towns, and cities. As a tamer accumulates achievements, he can request a rank up to the association. A tamer can also request a rank up by winning in tournaments of monsters which are battles tamers compete in to test their skill as a tamer.

“So much information,” Lex said, being taken aback by everything Rose was telling him.

“There is more to taming than just capturing monsters,” he thought, petting Mirabit’s soft fur.

“Is a lot but don’t worry you’ll get the hang of it,” Rose said,

“What are the devices for?” Lex asked, looking at both devices.

To him, they were glittering like gold.

“These are your taming crystal devices, as you can see ours has the turtle mountain shape in the middle signaling the south, other areas have a different symbol, with this device you are officially a tamer of the south,” Rose said,

"The devices come in bronze, silver, gold, and platinum," Arthur added, showing them his platinum bracelet.

To Lex, Arthur's taming bracelet seemed to shine brighter than the sun, a treasure he wanted more than anything at that moment.

"As you rank up your bracelet gets upgraded too."

"If you don't mind," Violet said, as she reached for her license and taming bracelet when Rose grabbed her hand,

“Violet please don’t do anything reckless,” she said.

“I won’t big sis,” Violet said taking her bronze license as well as one of the taming bracelets.

“If that’s all I’ll take my leave now.”

“Don’t go too far we still have to discuss you two teaming up for the double tournament monster battles, “ Arthur said,

“I was afraid of that,” Violet said letting out a sigh,

“I’ll be around the city buying some supplies."

Rose looked at her sister as she left the office, hoping she wouldn’t do anything that would endanger her life, considering she knew why she wanted a license so badly.

“What is a double battle?” Lex asked,

“Every tournament of monsters has two sections in which tamers can compete. One is the single battle where tamers compete with a team of up to five monsters and the double battle where a team of two tamers work together and compete against other teams. You two are going to be our next team for the upcoming Monster tournament,” Arthur said, grinning at Lex.

“Which is where this thing comes in handy.”

Arthur grabbed the crystal from the box and placed it in the taming bracelet that was left.

“This is a crystal of tame that lets you tame monsters,” he said, giving the device to Lex,

“Make sure your next partner is a strong one since you need a minimum of two partners for the double battles. ”

"Another monster partner?” Lex said, looking at his taming bracelet as he put it on his wrist.

"Mirabit,” Mirabit said, looking at the crystal in awe.

image [https://i.imgur.com/GhkyQL4.png]

"Have you told a certain person already of what you did,” Rose said, looking at Arthur,

“I’m sure she heard it already from some association worker,” ’ Arthur said, laughing nervously.

“Well it looks like she’s on her way,” Rose said, grinning at Arthur,

“Don’t tell me..” Arthur said, clearing his throat, and anticipating what was to come.

“Arthur what were you thinking about sending them to Turtle Mountain Forest,” a voice said, as the door flunked open, revealing a woman with an eye patch on her right eye and short black hair.

“Hi Emily,” Arthur said, waving at her nervously.

“Y-You look quite pretty today.”

“Don’t give me that,” Emily said,

“Rose are you going to let—”

She stopped herself as she noticed the young blonde boy sitting in front of her.

“Anita…” she said, her face flashing before her eyes. Her best friend whom she lost twelve years ago.

"Emily I like to introduce you to Lex Greyfield,” Arthur said, smiling.

“Greyfield, so he is a Greyfield. ” Rose said.

“What are you doing here? it can’t be,” Emily said,

“I thought she…”

Not believing he was in front of her, so close, at an arm’s reach, she couldn't hold herself, and hugged him, a tear flowing from her eye.

“Umm....” Lex said taken aback by her hug.

And for the first time, Arthur could see a certain softness in Emily that surprised him, and in a way it made her look quite pretty if only for a second to him.

“Is so good to see you again," she said.

“Do I know you?” Lex asked, perplexed about what was happening.

“Mirabit,” Mirabit tilted its head just as confused as Lex.

“Sorry,” Emily said, wiping her tears away,

“You probably wondering who this scary lady is.”

“You said it not me,” Arthur said, jokingly.

“Shut it,” Emily said throwing daggers at him with her eye.

She looked at Lex again and smiled.

“Anita would be so proud to see that you have become a tamer just like her.”

“Did you know my mother?” Lex asked, he had never met another person who knew his mother besides his grandmother and aunt.

“Yes, I knew your mother, “ Emily said,

“We both did.”

“Yeah, she was a fine woman, and a good tamer too,” Arthur said, winking at Lex.

“She was one of the best tamers in the Rock Shield guild,” Rose said.

“You all three were in the Rock Shield guild,” Lex asked, surprised to hear that.

“That’s right,” they all said nodding their heads.

There was a moment of silence in the room as all three of them reminisced about the Rock Shield guild.

“But enough about the past,” Arthur said,

“Leaf Blade Guild is going to be the best guild in all of Monsterra, I just know it.”

“Not at the rate we are going,” Rose said,

“We haven’t won one tournament or had any of our tamers ranked up in a while.”

“You worry too much you’re going to give that pretty face of yours wrinkles,” Arthur said, winking at Rose,

“And you don’t worry enough,” Rose said, getting up from her seat.

"Well talk about that later, now we have a very important thing to do, and that is to welcome Lex officially to the Leaf Blade Guild, is good to have you with us, Lex Greyfield.”

“Thank you,” Lex said, bowing. He had finally achieved his goal of becoming a licensed tamer, and now he was with the same tamers that his mother was with.

***

Julian landed on the roof of the Association headquarters building that was in the center of the kingdom of Traineria.

“A treat for your hard work,” Julian said, giving the black and white color Gryphon a monster snack.

‘Gryph!” Gryphon said, as it took the treat in its beak and began to eat it.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, petting the Gryphon’s soft feathers.

Julian walked toward the white door that was on the roof of the Association’s Headquarters.

The door took him directly toward the Association director’s chamber, where the director of the Monster Taming Association was waiting for him.

“Julian is good to see you,” Villa said, as Julian came through the door.

“Good afternoon director,” Julian said, bowing before him.

“You don’t have to do that,” Villa said, adjusting his glasses, and smiling at the young rank S legendary platinum tamer, Julian, and one of the twelve captains of the Association.

"How have you been director?” Julian asked, taking a seat in front of Villa’s towering desk made of stone. It had a certain light blue color as if he was looking straight at the sky.

“A very busy day as usual,” Villa said, folding his hands,

“But I don’t want to bore you with the details. How was your trip? “

“Uneventful for the most part,” Julian said,

“Though there was an incident in a small research building in Twinrock town.”

“Was it one of the bandit king’s henchmen?” Villa asked.

“I don’t know, they were gone when I got there. There was a young tamer that luckily scared them away.”

“Really, what was his name? Such a heroic act deserves a reward.”

“Lex Greyfield.”

“ Greyfied? "Villa thought, the name sounded familiar to him, yet he couldn't quite pinpoint it.

"He sounds promising, we should keep an eye on him, I’m sure he would be quite the tamer for the Association.”

“I agree with you director,” Julian said,

“Do you think it was a bandit that attacked the research building?” Villa said, adjusting his long black hair to the side.

“I couldn’t say, but the mayor of Twinrock town has complained that more bandits have appeared around Turtle Trail, but I can’t say I saw any while I was there. But I did come across an ex-Rock Shield member, though.”

“Really?” Villa said, with great interest.

“Are the ex-tamers from Rock Shield perhaps working with the bandit king?”

“I can't say either, but he was hiding his identity, I only noticed because of his tattoo, “ Julian said.

“The South seems to always have a knack for bringing trouble to itself,” Villa said,

“Investigate it more, and if you find anything let me know. I can’t have bandits getting a hold of the south and if the ex-members of the Rock Shield guild are joining with the bandit king, then we are going to have to deal with them before the queen finds out.”

“That’s not good, the queen of Traineria does seem to have a sore spot for the south.

Villa let out a chuckle,

“I don’t blame her considering the incident that happened almost 10 years ago,” Julian said, remembering the whole fiasco that happened in the south.

“Well if you excuse me,” Julian said, getting up from his chair,

“I shall be in the south to investigate further.”

“Good, “ Villa said, adjusting his glasses,

“I hope to hear from you soon.”

Julian bowed and left the director's chamber.

“Hopefully nothing happens,” Julian thought, as he walked back toward the roof of the association's headquarters building. Hoping the peace that has lasted since the red night to continue.

***

Villa looked outside his window, this morning had been quite an interesting one. He looked down at his desk and saw the blueprints for a small robot-like figure and underneath it the words MetaTech were written on it.

“Soon we would see a new era befall Monsterra,” he said, with a grin on his face, as the sun fell on the lands of Monsterra.