So while I've been working on the next chapter of Road To S, I wanted to do this chapter more.  Mainly because the last one was kind of depressing and I really wanted to introduce the new class and the antagonist/s in this series.  I'm looking at the source file for this story and I'm surprised that I'm at 91 pages already.   

Thanks for all of your comments and I hope you guys continue to read this story!

Chapter 5 – Beast Friend

“Ahhh...I don't think I could eat another bite!” sighed her father. He leaned back on the chair and patted his belly in what seemed like perfect satisfaction. Yuri and her mother both wore matching smirks at this display.

“He sounds like he's pretty full.” remarked Yuri.

“Definitely. Think he has room for cake?” asked her mother.

“Probably not.”

Her father snapped forwards and hastily said, “Well it would be rude just to leave the cake that you two so lovingly made for me.”

Yuri's mother raised one eyebrow, “Ah, but I wouldn't want my dear husband to suffer through such an ordeal.”

“If it's for cake-uh, I mean my dear family, then of course I would!” It seemed that his sweet tooth was overriding the complaints of his stomach at this point.

“Well, it is Papa's birthday after all.” said Yuri.

“True, so maybe we'll get him a small piece.” conceded her mother. Her father was beginning to have a truly pitiful look on his face that both her and Yuri decided to stop teasing him...for now at least. They cleared the plates from the table, Yuri put a hand on her father's shoulder to stop him from helping. It was his birthday after all.

Dimming the lights, her mother came back into the dining room, her face aglow from the light of the candles that danced merrily on top of the frosted vanilla cake.

“Do you know what to wish for?” asked Yuri.

Her father smiled and pulled her in close, “I don't need to wish for anything else.” With that cheesy statement, he blew out the candles in one mighty puff of air.

“Happy birthday!” chorused Yuri and her mother. The candles were quickly removed and the lights were returned to the dining room. As soon as the cake entered their mouths, both Yuri and her father began to extol praises towards her mother.

“With a taste of this level, I'm considering going back on my word for the guys at the office.” said her father.

“Oh? What's that about?” asked her mother, though she had a knowing smile on her face.

“'It might be your birthday Shin, but you can't hog such wonderful treats!'” began her father.

“'So either bring it in to work, or we'll hack your security system and get it for ourselves!'” finished her mother. “Something like that, I'd imagine.”

Her father laughed, “Spot on, actually! Ever since I brought in those muffins you baked for me that one time, they've been constantly pestering me to bring in more of what they seem to call, 'Slices of Heaven'.”

“Oh my.” laughed her mother, a slight blush in her cheeks.

“What happened to Uncle, by the way? Wasn't he supposed to come?” asked Yuri.

“Well the original plan was to surprise your father with a dinner at a popular restaurant and then we would all come back here for dessert.” answered her mother.

“Work?” guessed Yuri.

“Work.” confirmed her father glumly, “I asked him if he had enough time to sneak away and come back here, but a rather serious problem came up for him and it ended up with him having to work all night as a result.”

“Ah, hopefully we'll get to see him on the weekend then.” said Yuri, slightly crestfallen. She only had one uncle and he only had one niece. As a result, they were quite close with each other.

“Speaking of the weekend, did you have any plans Yuri?” asked her mother.

She shook her head, “On Sunday, I was planning on heading into the shelter and then hanging out with some of the girls from class.”

“Nothing on Saturday though?”

“Nope. Why, are we going somewhere?”

“Nowhere too special, I was thinking that maybe we could have your uncle over for dinner.”

“It's a good idea.” nodded her father, “He's a hard worker, but he needs a break every now and then.”

They chatted about various other topics for a while, as they digested the meal. Her mother talked about a female co-worker in her lab who was getting married to a Korean man here and was concerned with changing her last name to her fiancee's. Yuri stifled a yawn behind her hand as the evening progressed, though it wasn't missed by her parents. The warm, pleasant atmosphere had made everyone drowsy and they judged that it was time for the day to come to an end.

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There was a cold wind blowing from a south easterly direction, bringing the smells of freshly picked flowers that were displayed as wreaths over the tombstones that populated this graveyard. By his own count, there were thirty six people currently in the graveyard. 3 entrances, of which he could only see two. The third lay beyond even his vision. Such was the enormity of this place. Though it was not because it was cluttered with graves, rather it was because the graveyard had a very large space that was allotted to it. Jung-Hwa thought that was rather pessimistic of them.

He studiously kept his face towards a solitary grave that hadn't looked like it had been kept for a very long time. A bouquet of flowers was in his hand, carefully chosen so it seemed like he was sincere in his mourning. He wasn't too sure about his expression however, even though he had practised it in the mirror before he had left the apartment. He thought he had nailed how a person should look like when they were sad, though Erich told him that it still looked unnatural. Tch. That something so inane could compromise me.

Still, he could work around that. Kneeling on the ground, he placed the flowers on the grave, a hand over his face that was carefully constructed so that his vision of his target remained unobstructed. He wasn't too sure whose grave it was, the only thing that mattered was that it was fairly isolated and it was close to his target.

Four rows down and eight graves over, a man of average height wearing a dark grey suit was standing over three graves. He seemed to be in his later thirties, though he looked quite young. The kind that would be popular with women, he supposed. Though speaking of women...

They were speaking in quite a low voice, despite the listening bug he had planted on him earlier. Jung-Hwa turned up the volume via the device implanted in his ear. They had been speaking of trivialities for a while now, but that was something that could change at any moment.

“...if you need to take a few weeks off, we'll understand. You...you don't have to keep coming in.” said the woman, who was dressed in a expensive-looking business suit. Based on his notes, she was a co-worker, though they didn't appear to be closer than that.

“What I do on my own time is my own business. I won't let this affect my work, so you don't have to worry about that.”

“No it's not about that...we're just all worried about you.”

“Don't be. I'm fine.”

“Please...Tae-Hyun nim...if you ever want to talk, I'll be here if you need me.”

Jung-Hwa could tell that Tae-Hyun's body was tensing. Was he going to give it away? He slowly got up and made it seem like he was going towards one of the exits, while drawing closer to them. He kept his eyes downcast with his hands in his pockets. A distance of thirty metres between him and them. He kept a loose, but firm grip on the knives in his hands.

I'll have to kill the woman first, otherwise she'll start screaming. If he transected her cervical spinal cord, she wouldn't be able to draw a breath to do so and she'd be dead in a few minutes from respiratory paralysis. He remembered his orders: If Tae-Hyun became a problem; dispose of him. Though Erich said that was only a last resort as Tae-Hyun was far more useful to the organization alive than he was dead.

Not that he cared. This assignment was quite annoying. Jung-Hwa felt more like an over-specialized babysitter than anything. He secretly hoped Tae-Hyun would reveal everything. Come on. Give me an excuse to drive my knife through your heart.

“...Just go. Go away.” said Tae-Hyun finally, shoulders slumping with exhaustion. The woman tried to place a hand on his shoulder, but Tae-Hyun flinched away from it. With a hurt look on her face, the woman rapidly made an exit from the graveyard, a hand over her mouth.

Jung-Hwa let go of the knives in his pockets and breathed out slowly to keep his frustration in check. Lucky bastard.

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Thirty-five. Thirty-six. Thirty-seven. Thirty-eight. Thirty-nine. Forty. Bolthram finished his customary forty strokes of Abel's coat. The brown horse whinnied in pleasure and gave Bolthram an affectionate nuzzle. “Almost done with the cage, girl?” asked Bolthram over his shoulder as he started working on the other horses.

“Just about!” she called back. He could hear the sounds of industrious sweeping from Dovar's cage and his old face cracked a smile. Bolthram had been travelling with the Stefan's circus for about 15 years now. The aches he felt in the morning served as a reminder that he was getting a bit too old for travelling around with a circus. There were certainly days when he considered retiring. A nice little village in Rosenheim, perhaps.

The mare he had been grooming nickered softly at his tender ministrations and a compassionate look decorated his face. Ah...but then I'd have to leave these fellows to themselves. Perhaps if I found a decent apprentice, then maybe. Maybe I'd consider packing it all up. Though that was easier said than done. While Bolthram certainly didn't receive a meagre amount of pay for his work, it was a hard job that had turned away many would-be prospectors looking for an easy line of work.

Such people thought that just because he was with the circus, that Bolthram's job entailed the same sense of liveliness that the circus brought with it. Even the immortal adventurers pestered him constantly in each town they showed up, hoping he'd lead them to some mystical treasure hoard or had a rare item to hand out. They all left when they realized he wasn't handing out anything though. Perhaps if they had displayed the right attitude, then Bolthram might've been more accommodating towards them.

Ah. But she's a different sort altogether, isn't she? pondered Bolthram as he moved to the mare's other side. They had been in Danaweir for about three weeks now; their last stop in the province of Dale before they headed out to the warmer climate of the Desert of Tranquility. Bolthram had been privy to the usual affair: Curious people seeking the mystique and thrill that the circus provided flocked in droves the first week they had been here.

After that, there was a sharp decline in customers who had long since grown bored of the attractions and the amount of adventurers who had come performing requests for Stefan was beginning to plummet as well.

But she...didn't seem to be like the other adventurers. She had first come to him like many other adventurers with the same drawn-out line, “Is there anything you need help with?”. She'd leave like all the rest, he thought, but before she did, he could at least put her to work and get some things done around here.

And yet she stayed that entire day, doing everything he asked of her with a quiet earnestness that thoroughly impressed him. The only thing she ever asked of him was if she could spend some more time with playing with the animals.

Bolthram chuckled as he recalled the scene of her entering Dovar's cage. Dovar was a rare variety of the golden lions found on the relatively unexplored island of Motharia. He had picked up the abandoned lion when he was just a cub and raised it as his own. So despite his intimidating appearance, he was extremely well-trained and would never attack anyone without Bolthram's permission. The first time she stepped into Dovar's cage to clean it, Bolthram had felt the most powerful surge of killing intent in his entire life. Within the span of a heartbeat, Dovar was on his back baring his neck in show of submission.

Bolthram finished grooming the mare's coat, and led it over to the others where he refilled the trough with fresh water pulled from the stream. He turned around to check on the girl's progress and true to her words, the cage was spotless. The broom had been placed neatly over to the side and the girl was in the midst of playing with Dovar who bounded around her like a kitten. Bolthram didn't bother to keep the wry grin off his face when he asked her, “Well, that's it for the day, but did you want to spend some more time playing with these guys?”.

The dark-haired girl gave him a wide smile, “Is that really okay?! You're the best!” replied Yuri ecstatically.

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“Here you go! 10 goblin ears as proof of their defeat!” declared Yuri triumphantly.

“Thank you citizen for your hard work. I must admit, I did not think a fragile-looking girl such as yourself could have stomached such a wretched business. Even if it was to kill those monsters.” replied an impressed Ser Daren, “Please, take this with my heartfelt thanks.”

[p=center]Quest Completed: Goblin Destruction:

You successfully dispatched of the goblins that had been plaguing the farms surrounding Danaweir!

Reward: 50 silver.

Fame has risen by 3 points (+3 FAME)[/p]

“It comes to mind that you've performed several tasks for the good of Danaweir in the past week. I wonder if you'd be interested in participating in a joint mission with some knights to take care of a kobold lair.”

[p=center]Quest: Anthropomorphic Extermination:

Ser Daren of the Knights of Dale has asked you to participate in a journey to the nearby village of Coven with a contingent of six of his knights to eliminate a group of kobolds.

Difficulty: E

Quest requirement: If either you or any one of the knights falls in battle, the quest will be considered an automatic failure and Ser Daren's trust in you will fall a great deal.[/p]

“Um, may I ask how far away is the village, Ser Daren?” Yuri didn't want to go on a long journey if it meant she wouldn't get to spend any time with Bolthram and his wonderful animals.

Ser Daren's eyes flashed with understanding, “Ah, I've been hearing that you've been spending a lot of time at the circus.”

Yuri blinked in confusion. “You heard that? From who?”

“A rumour of a raven-haired beauty helping out the old, crusty animal handler down by the circus.”

I guess fame isn't everything apparently. Yuri still had a relatively low fame, so she was surprised that word had travelled around about her. She was a little embarrassed of the details of the rumour, though she gained a new perspective of all of the guys who had tried hitting on her. With her lack of experience with guys, the best she could manage was a polite refusal coupled together with an expedited retreat towards her animal sanctuary. Yuri coughed to clear all of the weird thoughts that had suddenly entered her head, “A-Ah, so how far away is Coven?”

“Ah, you know the place already then?”

“What? No I just read it...” Yuri trailed off when she realized she only got the name off the quest details. Though Ser Daren apparently found this to be a normal thing.

“You adventurers and your mysterious abilities.” chuckled the old knight, “I'm glad you're on our side. Anyway, Coven is about a half-day journey away from here on horseback. So depending how fast you do everything, you could finish up everything in a day.”

Yuri was definitely tempted, mainly because that she would be getting there on horseback. She had never ridden one back in reality and she had been itching to try it here. I'm sure the knights horses are as lovely as the ones I first saw when I came here with Guin, ehehe! Hmm...but I still want to spend time with Dovar, Abel, Moxie and all of the other circus animals.

“I can see you're still a bit undecided, but since they're only leaving the day after tomorrow, I can give you until then to think about it.” offered Ser Daren with a kind smile.

Yuri brightened up considerably as the circus was only in town for one more day anyway. She doubted that this was a coincidence. “Thanks, Ser Daren!” she said laughing and then impulsively gave him a hug. Some players watching this scene felt twinges of jealousy towards Ser Daren.

The old knight awkwardly patted Yuri on the back and quickly broke the hug, feeling the stares of the males around him. Yuri thanked him and quickly darted off back towards the direction of the circus, evidently trying to squeeze in as much time as she could with them. Ser Daren thought he was in the clear and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt a sharp, steely presence coming up behind him.

Ser Daren was a high-ranking knight who had seen his fair share of battles, though there was always one opponent he was absolutely terrified of. An opponent whose wrath he had just incurred. “Dear, husband.” said a warm voice that was dripping with danger, “Can you tell me what you were doing with that young girl back there?”

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“There now! All better!” exclaimed Yuri as she finished tying off the knot to a bandage to Rubar's leg. The diminutive monkey-like creature chittered it's thanks and clambered up onto Yuri's shoulder where it immediately drifted off onto sleep. Giggling, Yuri lightly scratched Rubar's head and stood up; reading the info on the window that had popped up as soon as she had finished bandaging Rubar.

[p=center]You gained expertise rating in the Animal Husbandry skill

Level up: Animal Husbandry [Beginner 2]

Allows you to effectively care for and treat animals

+5% effect for any treatment performed[/p]

The animals at the circus were under a very loose set of rules with Bolthram. He gave them all free reign to wander about as they pleased; even their cages were specially designed so as to be opened by the animals themselves. It spoke volumes of Bolthram's station within the circus that he wasn't chastised for such behaviour. But perhaps that was because of the close relationship the scruffy old man had with the head of the circus, Stefan.

Of course, sometimes the animals would get into situations with other adventurers or monsters within the forest and come back with several injuries. It was on one such day that one of the curious breeds of horses in the circus with a jewel on it's forehead, limped back into camp with arrows sticking out of it.

Bolthram had left to go talk with Stefan about something, leaving Yuri in charge over the camp. Luckily she didn't panic and thanks to the remembered lessons of the veterinarian working at the animal shelter she attended, she was able to somehow stabilize the mare before Bolthram came back. That was when the skill of Animal Husbandry had popped up.

Since then, she had been asking Bolthram to let her help with any other injuries on the animals and tried to level it up. She was delighted every time her skills seemed to improve and the animals she treated showed more and more significant improvement with every subsequent treatment.

“Even though I've seen it with my own eyes, I never thought you would pick this up so fast.” remarked Bolthram warmly. The fine lines of age that peppered his face shifted as he gave one of his rare, crooked smiles.

“You made a pretty good teacher.”

He smiled again and ruffled her hair. They both turned their heads towards the village as a loud gong sound echoed from it's vicinity. It was the town bell signalling that the day was coming to an end and for the people and adventurers to get inside before they closed the gates. The circus had it's own defences established and so there was no worry of being without a place to stay if she didn't make it to town on time.

Yuri gazed at the town with mixed feelings. One more day...huh? Danaweir was a nice enough town, but at the moment she had no positive association with the place. In that sense, the presence of the circus had been a blessing. She felt somewhat okay as long as she spent her time here. And when she spent the night here, as she often did, she didn't soak the pillow with tears.

She was truly thankful for Guinevere introducing her to this place. After crying into Guinevere's chest for the entire night, they had returned to see Dr. Lee and Guin's older brother. This time she was able to be more receptive of the current plan for her and her mother's treatment. Dr. Lee had at one point offered if she would like a therapist to log in and act as her companion. Yuri didn't feel comfortable with opening up to another person like that however and declined.

Truthfully she was a little panicky when she realized that Guinevere had to eventually log out. That was when Guinevere told her about the circus just outside of town. The two had gone there together to see it and Yuri had almost instantly fell in love with the animals. Guinevere promised she'd check in with Yuri whenever she had time, giving her that dazzling smile of hers as she did so.

Really...I'm so glad that she was the person I met in this world. Her eyes were a little misty and she rubbed a tear out of her eye.

“Ook, ookya?” Rubar's sister, Mila, had made her way onto Yuri's other shoulder and seemed to look at her with concern. Like always, Yuri was amazed with the innate senses of animals; something that she had seen not only in the virtual, but in the real world as well.

“I'm okay. I'm just going to miss you guys.” said Yuri, crooking a finger underneath Mila's chin and tickling her.

“I think the feeling is mutual.” commented Bolthram. When Yuri raised an eyebrow at him, he quickly amended his previous statement, “The animals I mean, they'll miss you a lot.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Bolthram stared at Yuri as he seemed to contemplate something. “Why is a person like you not one of us...” he mumbled, though it was in such a low voice that Yuri couldn't catch every word.

“Sorry? What did you say?”

“It's nothing...No, if it's you...”

“Bolthram?...What's wrong?”

“If you're willing, would you want to become like me?”

Baffled, Yuri could only repeat question back to him, “Become like you?”

“You still have not decided on what class you would like to be, correct?”

“I-” Truthfully, Yuri didn't care about things like changing class. None of them really appealed to her and she was getting all the enjoyment she wanted just from hanging out at the circus. Well...some of the quests Ser Daren sent me out on were kinda fun. “I guess magic users sound kind of interesting?”

Like most kids, the idea of using magic was quite literally, an enchanting one. Though the reason she didn't choose any such class was because all of the ones she had seen didn't look like they would be much fun. She might've had too high of an expectation, although the images of mages in her mind were certainly possible in this world...provided you reached a very high level that is.

“Hooh, I thought you might have picked something related to animals.”

“Maybe if there were any good ones.” snorted Yuri. There was a class known as Hunter, which utilized bow skills and setting up traps. They also had a special ability whereupon they could call upon the help of animals for a short period of time. Like the name suggested though, this class mainly dealt with hunting wild animals and that was something that Yuri did not want to do.

“And if there was such a class? One that fit people like you and I?”

“Then I guess...yeah. Why not?” shrugged Yuri.

“If it were anyone else, I don't think they could do it in a day. But I think you have the ability to do so.”

“To do what?”

“To retrieve a certain token gained from helping an animal in need. To bring it back here to me and obtain the qualification to become a 'Beast Friend'.” Bolthram began to talk about how Yuri should try going into the forest to find such an animal and try and obtain such an item. In response, Yuri lifted out the medallion from beneath her shirt that she had received from the silver alpha wolf.

“Like this?” she said, holding out the wolf medallion.

“-it will be a difficult-What's that?” asked Bolthram, cutting off his explanation and stared intently at the medallion clutched between Yuri's hands.

“Um...a token I got from helping out a pack of wolves in need?”

“...How long have you had that?”

“About a week.”

Bolthram seemed to be stunned and the two stood in an awkward silence for a second until Yuri heard the sound of a Ding! And a new window popped up.

[p=center]Quest Completed: A Friend in Need is a Beast Friend Indeed:

By obtaining the token gained from helping a pack of wolves, you have successfully fulfilled Bolthram's request! Return to Bolthram for more information.[/p]

“So...” started Yuri.

“Ah...you appear to have...already done the first part.” said Bolthram, looking deflated. “Well then...I guess we can move on then.”

“So...what's the next step?”

“I offer you the choice of becoming a 'Beast Friend'.”

“...That's it?”

“...That's it.” confirmed Bolthram.

“...Did you want me to come back tomorrow?” asked Yuri, sensing that there should have been a little more grandeur with this class change.

“...Please do.”

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“You almost ready?” called Dae-Hyun from downstairs.

“Just about!” shouted back Chun Hei. She checked over her appearance once in the mirror, pushing back a loose curl of hair as she did so. Her bag was already packed with her dobok, towel and a water bottle. She was dressed in a light brown pair of Capri pants and a aquamarine tank-top. It was a fairly light dress, but it was supposed to be a fairly warm Sunday afternoon based on the weather report.

Grabbing her bag, she dashed down the stairs to the entryway where her brothers were waiting. As soon as they had seen her, they all immediately voiced their disapproval.

“Nope!” “Rejected!” “Abso-lutely not!” It was such a familiar scene that Chun Hei only inwardly sighed and skipped the preamble to the most important question.

“...What's wrong with what I'm wearing today.”

“You look too cute!” “Adorable, really.” “Think about all of the guys who would hit on you, or look at you.”

“Come on! This is the most casual of casual!”

“Ehh! That's the problem! You're at your medium best in casual clothes!” declared Dae-Jung with her two other idiot brothers emphatically nodding their heads in agreement, “That's right!” “Tell it true, Hyung!”

“I'm probably going to regret asking this, but what do you mean by 'medium best'?”

“You look good enough to attract stares of filthy men and perhaps attempts at trying to talk to you, but not enough to cause a whole mess of the creatures to try and hit on you. At which point we would thoroughly and utterly beat them down in perfectly legal self-defence.” rambled Dae-Jung.

“For the love of- You know what? Fine, I'll just go change into a tracksuit or something-Hya!” cutting off her sentence with a startled shriek as Dae-Ho jumped in front of her to block her from going back up the staircase.

“Nooo! Wearing such a drab grey striped clothing would deprive us of basking in your cuteness!” objected Dae-Ho intensely.

“Seriously?!” she cried out in frustration and was about to burst into an angry tirade when a sudden thought struck her. “Wait a second...How do you know I have a striped grey tracksuit? I only bought that two days ago!”

“...Uh...Lucky guess?” muttered Dae-Ho, looking very much like a cornered rat. Chun Hei whipped around to see her other two brothers with similar guilty looking expressions. “...Did you three idiots go through my wardrobe again?” she hissed in dangerous tones.

“No!” instantly denied Dae-Ho.

“Of course not!” protested Dae-Jung.

“I mean we did replace it with something much more suitable for you after all!” Dae-Hyun belatedly slapped a hand over his mouth when he realized what he had just said. As if they were one body, all of their eyes slowly turned towards Chun Hei. There was a scary smile on her face along with a killing intent that poured out of her that Yuri would've been proud of. Cracking a knuckle, a vein twitched in her forehead as she sweetly sang to her brothers.

“♪ Looks like you morons still haven't learned your lesson. ♪”

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“You know, if you did the other eye, they'd look like a family of raccoons.” quietly laughed Jung-Hee when he saw the state of Chun Hei's brothers. “What'd they do this time?” He grinned like a child, with an expectant expression of a funny story, though he made sure to hold the kick pad properly.

Chun Hei sighed and rolled her eyes as she got into a proper stance. Thwak! She snapped out a mid-range kick. “The usual idiocy.” She didn't want to go into details and focused on solely kicking the pad. “Higher, please.”

Thwak! Conversation was sparse between the many people in the dojo who were all fearful of coming underneath the watchful gaze of the dojo's master. Chun Hei didn't mind though, it helped take her mind off of things. Even Jung-Hee, who was normally quite the chatterbox in class, had a (somewhat) serious face. Still, they had developed a smooth rhythm between the two of them that they could hold on a conversation, despite how disjointed it was.

“Come on. You gotta give me more than that!”

Chun Hei flushed angrily and delivered a straight jab with perhaps a bit more force than she intended. “They had an issue with how I was dressed.” she said with gritted teeth and proceeded to tell him how they had sneaked into her room and replaced a tracksuit with something more feminine.

Jung-Hee snorted, “Classic. I swear, half the reason I even come here is just to listen to stories about your family.”

They swapped positions, though Chun Hei was helping Jung-Hee correct his posture before every few hits. Normally she would've paired off with one of her brothers or the senior members of the dojo, but right now she just felt like venting. Jung-Hee took it all in good cheer and even brightened up considerably when she asked him to pair up with her.

“Ehh, enough about me. What about your family? Where's Min-Hee?”

“Finishing some homework at the last minute.” chortled Jung-Hee. Both he and his twin sister Min-Hee were in the same class as Chun Hei. They had recently gotten to know each other pretty well and both of them expressed interest in Taekkyeon when Chun Hei had talked about it. Or demonstrated it, really. Both of them played Royal Road and they invited Chun Hei to a party when they heard she had a capsule.

“She said she tried to contact you on Royal Road, but you were apparently busy with something.”

“Yeah...” her arms slightly dropped. 'This is a rather special case, but I hope you can respect patient confidentiality.' said Dr. Lee. “I was helping out a player that was new to the game. Guess I lost track of time when I was helping her.”

“Is she cute?” asked Jung-Hee.

“That's all you care about, huh?” smirked Chun Hei.

“Of course! I'm a healthy teenager after all!” They both laughed, which won them five laps around the building by Chun Hei's grandfather when he caught them slacking off.

“You logging in after this?” asked Jung-Hee at the end of the session. He was pointedly ignoring the fact that Chun Hei's brothers were glaring daggers at him with a feigned nonchalance.

“I might for a bit, yeah.” Chun Hei didn't want to advertise the fact that she was logging in as soon she got back to check in on Yuri. But it wasn't like she could lie about it either. Ehh, this is getting complicated.

Luckily, Jung-Hee dropped the subject easily, “Cool stuff, see you tomorrow then!” The boy hefted his duffel bag and made a hasty exit through the large doors of the dojo. Chun Hei's brothers came up to her and immediately started pestering her,

“What did he mean by 'See you tomorrow?'” “Oppa won't let you date such a boy!” were some of the annoying statements they bombarded her with, even they knew perfectly well that he was just a classmate. I hope Yuri is doing okay.

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“So who's the pervert?” asked Guinevere, pointing her chin towards the heavily built man that was dressed like a caveman. Odd tribal markings were arranged in a ring around his shoulders and thighs. The most prominent marking was a very realistic looking bear head in mid-roar plastered on his chest in bright red colors.

“Who are you calling a pervert!” demanded the pervert as he stomped his foot angrily on the ground.

“I'm sorry Yuri, I should have checked out this place more thoroughly!” apologized Guinevere profusely.

“Ahaha.” nervously laughed Yuri, flicking her eyes back and forth between her and the pervert, “No, this is Bolthram...he's my friend.” Yuri had a very complicated look on her face and was looking everywhere but the spot where the pervert was. “I'm not too sure what's going on though...”

“This!...This is the traditional costume of the Beast Friend! This is what I wore when I truly unlocked the secrets of nature!” explained the pervert hastily. Guinevere inwardly sighed at how exactly she had gotten into this situation. It had been a week in Royal Road time since she had logged in and she was anxious at how Yuri was doing.

Surprisingly (and a little bit disconcerting) was how normal Yuri was behaving; she wasn't overly cheery or moping which was good. But it almost seemed like nothing had even happened. Guinevere didn't want to pry though. What was important was that she was there for Yuri. So when Yuri had asked if she had time to come with her to the circus for some mysterious class change, she had immediately hopped on board.

Which brings us here. “So this is something you'd wear outside of this tent?” questioned Guinevere, idly glancing around the dark interior of Bolthram's tent.

“Well...no. This is just for special occasions.” answered Bolthram the pervert hesitantly.

“I bet.” she glared suspiciously at him.

“Maybe we should just get this class change over with.” said Yuri in a clear attempt to placate the situation. That was the other thing that was weird about this. Class change? The circus had been in the game for a while and she had never even heard about someone changing classes here. Let alone something called 'Beast Friend'. Well whatever. If this is all some perverted game he's playing, I'll just beat him to a pulp.

“That might be best after all.” she said.

“R-Right. Ahem. Yuri.” said Bolthram the ultra pervert.

“Yes?” replied Yuri.

“Please take out the wolf medallion you showed me the other day.” In response, Yuri pulled on the rough leather cord dangling from her neck and lifted it off of her head.

He continued in a solemn voice, “That medallion is proof of your great service towards a wolf and his pack. More than that, it is the product of your unwavering love for animals; something that you have clearly demonstrated during the time you spent here. It is within my rights to offer you the choice to truly understand the hearts of animals and develop an even closer bond with them should you accept.

"The path of a Beast Friend is a hard one. There are those who will ridicule it-” he shot a piercing glare towards her, which Guin coolly returned back at him, “-for it is not a glamourous profession like that of a mage. Nor is it a strong one like that of a warrior. But it is an honest one. And it is a job that I believe you would excel at.”

Yuri's gaze shifted over to something in her vision. Most likely it was the dialog box asking whether or not she wanted to accept the class change. “Yuri.” said Guinevere, “Keep in mind that this is permanent. You can't change this later on.”

“I know...but...I still think I'd like to try it out anyway.” Yuri returned her gaze towards Bolthram, “I would like to become a Beast Friend.”

Bolthram gave an odd, but warm, smile to Yuri. “Then by my authority as a Beast Friend master, I invoke the ancient pact-” The medallion held in Yuri's outstretched hand flashed with a wild green light. Both girls flinched as the medallion levitated off of her hand and pulsed with that same light, but in a softer intensity. “As the animals of the world have recognized this one, so too do I, Bolthram Hevring recognize that she is qualified to become a Beast Friend.”

“Ah!” cried out Yuri, though it was more in surprise than pain. Guinevere saw the same design on the medallion appear on the back of Yuri's hand in bright red colors. The medallion stopped flashing and floated slowly back towards Yuri looking considerably different. It was no longer a medallion first of all, and was now a miniature gold-coloured wolf head with blood-red gems for eyes.

“Congratulations.” said Bolthram in the silence that had followed, “Are you ready to see what changed?” walking over towards the flap that marked the entrance of the tent.

“Um...Bolthram?” said Yuri.

“Yes?”

“...Could you put on some clothes first.”

“R-Right.”

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“Okay, so I get that the foxes were a family and you can't really split them up and the bear had a cub with it, so that was a no go. But even the lone deer? What was wrong with her?” asked Guinevere, ducking underneath a low branch as they moved through the forest. They had been exploring for a while and they had reached a fairly deep place where no other players could be seen.

“Technically it was a buck. Only the males have antlers.” corrected Yuri as she wound her way through the trees. She could almost feel Guin rolling her eyes behind her.

“Yeah, but when you asked him, he seemed interested in the idea of accompanying you tomorrow.” The first ability of her new class change and possibly her favourite aspect of it was that she could actually talk to animals. She was close to tears when she was able to talk with all of the circus animals she had bonded with over the past week. Sure she could tell their affection through their actions, but it was such an amazing experience to hear them say it in their own words. Anyone that was in a party with Yuri was also able to communicate with animals too. Quite the incredible feat.

Along with a significant boost in her stats, Yuri had also received two unique skills: “Tame Familiar” and “Heal Familiar”. From Bolthram's explanation, she learned that initially she would only be able to have one animal as a companion or 'familiar', which was the more correct term apparently. Yuri had already told Bolthram about the quest she was going to participate in tomorrow morning and since Guin would unfortunately be unable to come with her, he had advised her to try and find such a companion. She wasn't having much luck however.

“Well, yeah, he did seem interested. But I wasn't too sure about the idea of bringing a deer to a wolves' lair.” explained Yuri. Despite the name of the skill, it was more of a contract between the player and the animal: Both parties had to agree to the union, much like how a party between players was formed.

“You're way too nice, you know?” sighed Guinevere.

“Uh, thanks?” replied Yuri uncertainly.

She laughed, “That's not a bad thing though!” The sound of rustling branches could be overhead them.

“You think a squirrel would be good against kobolds?” asked Yuri. Before Guinevere could respond, a harsh grating voice that sounded like it would belong to an old man could be heard from the tree: 'Fuck off!'

“He could probably cuss them out, I think.” snickered Guin. I guess being able to understand animals has it's downsides too. Yuri heard Guin stop moving behind her. She turned and looked at her in confusion.

“Guin?”

“Shh!” she held up a finger. “Did you hear that?”

Yuri frowned as she concentrated, trying to pick out the sounds of the forest. The flitting of birds and some small animals skittering on the ground and trees. A nearby river with a gentle trickling sound that was mixed with something like...whimpering?

Yuri nodded towards Guinevere and they both started moving towards the river and the mysterious sound. They broke out of the tree cover to see a small river gently flowing past them. Upstream from them, near a shallow pool formed by a small tributary from the river were two dark wolves. Now that they were in the open, it was clear that the source of the whimpering was from the slightly smaller wolf that was half-submerged in the pool.

Without a second thought, Yuri immediately started moving towards the clearly hurt wolf. Guinevere followed closely behind, though she could tell her friend was still tensing herself for a possible fight. As they approached, the larger wolf stiffened and whipped it's head towards them. It crouched towards the ground and growled threateningly towards them.

'Come no closer!' he snarled. It might not have been evident towards Guin, but for Yuri, she could clearly hear the masculine and feminine tones to the voices of different animals.

“Please, we don't mean you any harm! We just want to help your friend!” assured Yuri.

The wolf recoiled slightly in surprise, 'I did not know there were humans who could speak our tongue.' The anger was gone from his voice, but he still seemed cautious.

“I'm a little bit unique in that sense. And I can help your friend if he's hurt.” explained Yuri quickly. The smaller wolf's body did not seem to be moving very much. It seemed the wounds were much more serious that she initially thought. “I'm a Beast Friend.” she added, hoping that her class info would help somehow.

'Truly?' he stared at Yuri with piercing yellow eyes, as if trying to divine her true intentions. He visibly relaxed and asked in a very tired voice, 'Please...save my brother.' before collapsing himself into the shallow pool.

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