Now we had left the arena, with the four creatures in tow. Charlie led me not to the castle, but to a long stone building. I first mistook it for a church thanks to its two-story height and its tower at the end - but after looking closer, I realized that it was not a bell tower. It was a watchtower. After that, Charlie led me through the building. As we went, I realized it was a barracks, thanks to the number of armed and armored guards who were eating in its mess hall.

Now, I sat at a table with each of the monsters sitting at it as well. Charlie Darville had made sure each of the monsters got a bowl of food before putting in front of me a piping bowl of what I instantly recognized as beef stew and a yeast roll.

There was no conversation as I ate, and now that I was finished, the Lord of Tidewarren chose to speak up.

“So the selection isn’t just about you selecting them - but them selecting you. Tonight, you’ll sleep here in the barracks, in one of the empty officer’s quarters. They will be with you, and tomorrow we’ll begin the next part of the test. Spend time with them and by the time I come to you tomorrow, decide which two of the four you want to bring with you on the final part of your test.”

“Aren’t you testing me a bit harshly?” I said. I left out the part about if this was a game, someone would have already put it down by now thanks to the tutorial being too long.

“You have to understand that no matter what Marlie and the Church of the Octahedron think, it is somewhat of a disadvantage for you, me, and my family that you were incarnated into the world at the age that you did. It’s an auspicious number, 8 is the number of the basic elements and also the number which is considered most holy by the Octahedronites. However, I don’t have a lot of time to begin testing you and training you. We’re on a timetable, and the first thing I have to do is push you as far as I can before we begin training in earnest. I can’t test you without seeing your baseline.”

Before I could retort, he waved his hand dismissively while taking a scoop of his bowl of stew. After he was done, he continued.

“If I know where you’re at, I know what you and I have to work with. We can also potentially get you to the first step. By the time you’re ten years old here, you will be expected to have mastered four monsters. That’s not the standard they hold the common folk to here - but all of we incarnates -outworlders as they prefer- and all the nobility are expected to follow that standard. If you fail to pass the test ahead of you at the age of eight, they’ll take you from my household and foster you somewhere else.”

Huh. So he was trying to protect me and,-more important to him in all likelihood-his investment. That made sense and I thought about what it meant while taking another bite. After I was finished, I did ask a question.

“So I’m meant to take all four of them as partners?”

“No, you’re supposed to pick two and those two will choose for themselves if they join you as a partner. After that, you have to catch the remainder to get to four on your own and then you have to master them and gain the experience points necessary to keep them healthy and growing. They sustain themselves on experience points.”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

So I’d have to master the training of them, then get one to join me. Then catch three more partners in addition to whatever training I had to do before this test for those who were over twelve years old.

I finished my food before speaking up. “Okay. So one more question. What is the test for twelve plus year olds?”

“It’s a regional tournament. Next one is at the end of the current Mooncrawl, so two years from now.”

It was a tournament.

Jeez. I didn’t expect that so quickly. I’d only have two years to prepare. Then again, the Turtle School students went from untrained to world martial artist tier in that time; maybe I could be too.

I looked at the four of the monsters and then headed to bed. They followed me like a troop of ducklings; the bear leading the column.

***

The next morning.

One day since arrival.

Let it be said that I felt better emotionally as I woke up to my second day on Hekatondrona and physically better, but not perfect. That probably had to do with the three monsters that had chosen to join me on my twin-sized bed, despite my protestations. The bird, which resembled a fusion of a falcon and a raven, was perched on the bed’s headboard. The cat was on my head, the toad on my feet, and the bear sprawled across my chest and right arm.

The sensation had almost made me wake up thinking it was a bad dream, and that I wasn’t actually here. It made me think for a split second as I woke that I felt dog piled because I was dog piled by my four kids, like so many times before. I had woken up with them out of their beds and in my wife and I's far more than I could even pretend to count. It was a perpetual memory, and to say I felt disappointed upon waking up to the truth would be a huge understatement.

Tough luck, I thought to myself. They may not be here with me yet, but they would in time. I would just have to survive and prepare until they did get here.

"Okay guys, it's time to wake up and get going," I demanded.

I repeated myself three times before the first of them stirred and it was the kitten swiping at my face in its sleep like my nose was a snooze button. Instinct drove my left hand up and I stopped the mauling.

It took special focus to make my escape from the monster cub dogpile. That focus got me out but with the cost paid by falling off the bed and with them teetering in their sleep to fall off. Instincts told me to roll away from the incoming avalanche of fur and scales and horns. Instead, I pushed myself to my feet and rushed I pushed them back onto the bed proper.

Where words had not woke them up, this did.

"RIBBIT." From the toad.

"Mrrrrow." From the cat.

"Kaaaw." From the bird on its perch.

Burrowing into its blankets from the bear. I couldn't help but laugh as I directed the other monsters off the bed and used the blanket and sheet to vegetable sack the bear off the bed and roll it out.

Which surprised me. Why wasn't it some sort of heavy effort? It was a bear cub after all that in the situation at hand, but the movement had felt as if I was doing it to nothing but the blankets. Another mysterious question about this world.

I put my hands on my hips as the four monsters looked at me, the bird rather expectantly, the toad as if it was bored of the situation, the cat as if it was looking down one entirely, and the bear as if it enjoyed the game, it was grinning like a puppy and wagging its little bobbed tail.

"Okay troops, it's morning, so let's move out."