Aaron took another bath and rolled his eyes once he saw the Red Squirrel in her embrace looking down at him with a smug and extremely annoying grin on its face!
"You're keeping it?" Aaron asked.
"Uh-Huh... it's so cute and adorable, aren't you?" Sherry nodded and rubbed her cheek on its fur.
The kid rolled his eyes when he heard that answer before looking this Buff-Tail Skipper directly in the eyes, its pair of Ruby-like eyes were glaring at him as if to say : "We're more or less of the same weight-class and size, I bet I can beat you black and blue if this chick would let me have a go at your skinny ass!"
'I guess it's time for me to see what Monster-Tamer Skill is all about.' He thought before saying : "Let go of it, There's something I need to confirm before allowing this brainless idiot to stay in my house."
The maid hesitated for a split-second before loosening her hold on the fat Squirrel once she saw the stern look within her young master's eyes.
*Kuk-Kuk*
Right when the Buff-Tail Skipper was about to lunge at this small and weak-looking fellow which abducted and mistreated it earlier.
"Pipe-down!"
Aaron activated Hero's-Echo which he just increased its Level a minute or so earlier.
Hero's Echo
Uses Mana to Endow one's voice with rallying-force.
Whoever hears it receives a boost of boundless courage and mighty power.
Enemies lose morale and receive a debuff to both Physical-Attack and Defense.
Hero's Echo Level 2 Mana Points Cost 150 Physical Attack +10 Allies, -10 Enemies Courage +5 Allies, -5 Enemies Physical Defense +10 Allies, -10 Enemies Constitution +5 Allies. -5 Enemies Attack Speed +10 Allies, -10 Enemies Luck +5 Allies, -5 Enemies Duration 5 Minutes Cooldown 10 Minutes Proficiency Points 7/100
*Screech*
Despite it being intimidated by the deep and influential voice, the Red Squirrel still bared its cute-looking fangs at the kid as if to warn him not to come any closer.
"Humph." He just ignored its threats and retrieved the Summoning Crystal from his Inventory Space which left the beast so entranced by it to the degree where it was shaking from excitement!
*Bar-*
Aaron immediately activated Lucid Nightmare to Stun the Red Squirrel before it could flex its legs to jump on him to snatch the Summoning Crystal, he's already aware that it's going to react this way because there was a piece of information which warns against this sort of behavior whenever the Summoning Crystal is revealed near Monsters.
Sherry was about to grab the Beast but immediately stopped once she saw her young master Ron handle the situation.
She saw the kid put his hand on the Buff-Tail Skipper's head and another diagram appeared around the two of them.
The maid couldn't help but feel slightly worried once she saw a small mark similar to the diagram on the floor appear on the Squirrel's head and its body started shaking which made it look like it's in so much pain.
Thankfully the whole process only lasted a few seconds before the diagram on the floor disappeared and the mark on the Beasts head broke in half then disappeared.
Her young master shook his head then sighed after seeing that result.
System : Brand failed, the Monster resisted the Host
*Kuk-Kuk-Kuk*
Once Lucid Nightmare was no longer restricting its movements, the Buff-Tail Skipper was no longer willing to attack the kid because the item which it felt like desperately needing is no longer there and... because it just won when he attempted to control it somehow.
'This stinking bastard is gloating in my face! Let's see you laughing in 3 Minutes you fucking piece of shit,' Aaron thought before adding 2 Neutral-Class Skill Points to raise the Level of Monster-Tamer, 'Huh! What the fuck is this? I already have Skill Points and the Skill itself clearly isn't maxed yet, why the hell am I supposed to pay Gold Coins for?' He glared at the notification window which appeared after he raised Monster-Tamer Skill to Level 3.
Monster-Tamer Enables one to use Mana to cast a brand on a monster to create a special bond. Monster-Tamer Level 3 Mana Points Cost 450 Requirements 3 Summoning Crystal Duration 15 Seconds Cooldown 3 Minutes Proficiency Points 0/100 Notes
* Host is required to directly touch the monsters during the attempt of taming for at least 5 seconds or until the result of the brand is announced by the System.
* The monster being targeted must have a total count of Basic-Five Attributes less than 150 higher than the Host otherwise the brand would certainly fail.
The issue was this notification window which appeared afterwards when he tried to push Monster-Tamer to Level 4.
System : Monster-Tamer Skill met set requirements to Evolve
Afterwards he almost cursed aloud once he saw the following notification.
System : Conditions met to Upgrade Monster-Tamer into Beast-Master
"No!"
The kid shook his head and muttered this answer to dismiss the next notification window.
System : Would the Host allow Monster-Tamer to Evolve in exchange for 90,000 Gold Coins?
'Humph. What a Joke? I only have 103k Gold Coins left on me and I still haven't bought any of my new Equipment yet! Not to mention the cost of consumables which I'm certainly going to require in the days to come, yes I'm no longer at risk with Recovery balancing-out the aftereffects of the Ultimate-Growth Pill now but I still need consumables to refill my MP bar whenever I'm using my Skill for any reason.' Aaron thought before using a Skill Point to raise Hero's-Echo to Level 3 just to see if it's possible to Evolve it as well.
Hero's Echo
Uses Mana to Endow one's voice with rallying-force.
Whoever hears it receives a boost of boundless courage and mighty power.
Enemies lose morale and receive a debuff to both Physical-Attack and Defense.
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Hero's Echo Level 3 Mana Points Cost 300 Physical Attack +10 Allies, -10 Enemies Courage +5 Allies, -5 Enemies Physical Defense +10 Allies, -10 Enemies Constitution +5 Allies. -5 Enemies Attack Speed +10 Allies, -10 Enemies Luck +5 Allies, -5 Enemies Movement Speed +10 Allies, -10 Enemies Stamina +5 Allies, -5 Enemies Duration 6 Minutes Cooldown 10 Minutes Proficiency Points 7/100
Of course the kid was satisfied with the additional advantages his allies are going to receive and the disadvantages his enemies are going to suffer plus the increase in duration, but what he was after wasn't the improvements of the Neutral-Class Skill itself.
System : Hero's-Echo Skill met set requirements to Evolve
His eyes brightened up before instantly falling on the next notification.
System : Conditions met to Upgrade Hero's-Echo into Emphatic-Resonance
'Between Beast-Master and this Emphatic-Resonance Skill, the one which might deliver a bigger impact in the near future is the latter. Especially with a Beast-Wave moving towards us... But the cost is a bit much isn't it? This System is definitely after my money and wants to see me broke at all costs!' Aaron thought to himself while rolling his eyes at the next notification window.
System : Would the Host allow Hero's-Echo to Evolve in exchange for 200,000 Gold Coins?
'Just kiss my ass for now you bloody System... I'm not paying you shit for either of these two because I don't need the first Neutral-Class Skill to be Evolved for now while the second is too damn costly!' The kid ignored the matter for now and decided to save the final Neutral-Class Skill Point for now.
Of course he had this urge to raise the Level of Mystique-Door Skill but there'd be no point to it if he doesn't get to see if it's possible to Evolve it too or not!
'Now it's time to teach this smirking fur-bag a lesson.' Aaron thought while buying 3 Summoning Crystals from the Store before gesturing for Sherry to let go of it once again.
This time the Red Squirrel swaggered slowly towards the kid and intentionally acted like a human by walking on two feet, it even shrugged its shoulders while glancing towards the teenager girl as if to say : "This brat never quits, he should stop being too damn stubborn and just admit that I'm too much for him... he can't play games with me, especially mind games!"
Sherry felt amused by its cocky behavior then shook its head once she saw her young master retrieving 3 of the black material which made this Buffy-Tail Skipper salivate a few minutes earlier when he saw just one, 'Too bad for you little fatty, young master Ron seems like he's getting serious now.' The maid thought while watching the boy stop the Beast from moving before placing his hand on its head once again.
This time the teenager girl noticed a few additional lines and lots of complicated inscriptions in the diagram, when her young master Ron removed his hand from Squirrel's head she saw the tiny mark formed right between its eyes alternating between black and white color.
"You keep the bloody thing, make sure it stays clean and never to make a mess or break anything in my house and garden. Otherwise I'm skinning it alive... I'm not kidding!" Aaron watched the Red Squirrel look at him in shock after the Monster-Tamer Skill successfully branded its very Soul with a mark which left it unable to hate the weak-looking fellow despite knowing full well that he's probably the most annoying brat it ever met in its life!
The kid touched Sherry one the back of her left hand and a brand appeared on her skin which looks exactly the same like the one on the Buff-Tail Skipper's head, afterwards both marks vanished but when the maid and the Beast looked at one another both of them grinned and nodded.
The teenager girl opened her arms and the Squirrel jumped into her embrace then curled into a ball, she smiled before taking it towards the bathtub and started pouring Body Wash and Shower Gel then opened the hot water faucet and began to test the temperature with her hand.
Once the bath was ready she took her clothes off and enjoyed cleaning her new friend, she even spent almost an hour brushing its fur and removing the excessive shed which the Red Squirrel liked very much.
Aaron on the other hand was having a peaceful meal next to the pool and estimating the cost for a new set of Equipment, his consumables for the next two and half weeks, and Evolving his Skills.
'Tomorrow is supposed to be the time for the first shipment of Gold Coins to arrive after the Mice meat was sold in the nearby markets, of course Sen already made sure to attract the attention of all the Wolves in the nearby territories just to confirm something first before deciding whether to side with or against me in the future.
'I really don't care about the sly scholar and his hidden agenda but I have to admit that without him handling the matter of distributing the Mice meat, their bones, and fur... Then I would've been struggling with my day to day expenses while being as frugal as possible.
'He might really think that my arm is twisted but even when the greedy Wolves come to the gates after smelling blood and demand whatever... His house is still responsible for the whole operation of distributing my stuff and I can force them to handle these issues if I feel like it! And his house still owes me 200k of Gold Coins which is more than enough for me to resolve some of my Immediate issues.'
The kid had his meal and decided not to go back to the canyon for the rest of the night, instead he trained on his own while cultivating more Proficiency Points for the three Neutral-Class Skills which he would like to see Evolve in the future.
Recovery, Nimble-Feet, and Identify.
The first two Skills had their Proficiency Points bar almost halfway when dawn arrived, meanwhile Identify was about to top off and rise to Level 2.
Like always, Aaron and his followers started their day with morning exercise which Roger and Manji decided to join.
Next was him having a quick bath followed by a meal with the group before going to the smithy with Mr Smith and Sherry which surprised everyone with the Buff-Tail Skipper which obediently walked next to her and never responded to the provocative gestures and actions from almost every child in the Village.
"Heh," The giant smirked once he noticed the kid looking at the furnace and studying its new details, "Are you surprised little friend? I spent all night fusing some of this refined metal which you gave me to fix the cracks and now it must be at least two-times stronger and sturdier compared to before when the Bones of the Rocky-Primates acted as one of the two main materials for the foundation."
Aaron blushed slightly because last night he was a bit to emotional and almost wronged this kind-hearted man with his unreasonable actions, "Yeah. It looks much better now, about the construction of your smithy. Cassandra, and Tylus would come visit you soon with some of the workers to begin setting things in motion."
Mr Smith scratched his cheek and smiled before saying : "There really is no need to hurry with my smithy, just wait until you finish building your house first."
"No need, some of these workers are left doing nothing once their jobs was completed. It's better if they have something to do with their free time instead of just watching others work and be bored all day, not to mention that they're supposed to getting paid from Chief Peter's house only when they're actually working at my house, your smithy, or when they start working on the Village-Walls."
"I see, it's good then." The blacksmith had nothing more to say on that topic and pointed at the furnace before adding : "Give it 4 or 6 fireballs this time, no need for strong fire today because I'm going to work with Mice bones and extreme heat would melt them to useless soup."
The kid nodded before giving his partner what he asked for then waved goodbye and left with Sherry and her new pet.
Afterwards they had their daily attempt on the trial but the improvement of their records wasn't exaggerated like before, actually Aaron was a bit worse than yesterday since he's wearing normal clothes and the only Equipment he had on were the Lucid Earrings, Brown Bandana, Evolving Ring!
The quality of his Physical-Defense went from [Rare] to [Above-Average] +3.8% even with his Defensive-Skills and Consumables added to the mix.
The only reason his record didn't widen greatly compared to yesterday is because Nimble-Feet is keeping the quality of his Speed at [Rare+3] but the boost is short which forces him to struggle whenever the Neutral-Skill is on Cooldown.
During his sparring with Sherry the Squirrel would intervene and attack him from a blind spot whenever he left himself open for a sneak-attack.
That's why Aaron had to constantly be on guard and keep his awareness at the peak of its heights thanks to Identify.
'Finally it Leveled-UP!'
Identify Uses Mana to improve eyesight which allows one to categorize hidden details. Identify Level 2 Mana Points Cost 30 Vision +10 Awareness +8 Duration 30 Seconds Cooldown 40 Seconds Proficiency Points 0/200