CHAPTER 2 - THE BEAST TAMER
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When Favrielle entered the forest, she decided to be more attentive and watched her surroundings. She began to notice that the leaves on all the trees changed color depending on how far you went.
"You can earn intelligence that way?" Favrielle mused. Could she earn stamina by running? Favrielle stretched her legs and walked a little bit faster. Seeing that she didn't fall on her face, she walked even more faster. Favrielle then began to run through the forest. After two minutes of running, she stopped to catch her breath.
"I - didn't - earn - anything." Favrielle said as she panted. She sneezed and felt something small fall on her head. She froze and slowly moved a hand to her hair. She felt something soft and squishy; it was about the size of her hand. Favrielle put both hands on her hair and slowly pulled the thing off her head. Black beady eyes stared at her and the small red slime squeaked.
Favrielle cautiously placed the slime on the ground and took a step back from it. The last time she thought something was cute it bit her on the hand. The slime squeaked again and Favrielle decided to leave it there. Just as she turned to leave, a bush rustled and a twiggie walked out of the bush. The twiggie slowly walked over the slime and the slime squeaked again.
Favrielle stood there watching as the twiggie began to attack the slime. She began to feel sorry for the slime so she walked over and stepped on the twiggie, instantly killing it.
Favrielle sighed as she put the twiggie in her bag. "That was too easy." Favrielle left the slime as she walked deeper into the forest. Almost as soon as she left she spotted the slime in front of her. It squeaked and hopped on her head.
"A pet?" Favrielle picked the slime off her head . It squeaked and hopped back on her head. She laughed as the slime moved around on her head. "I'm going to name you Juno. She's Jupiter's wife and she's as brave as you." Favrielle said, automatically assuming that the slime was a girl.
"You have a skill?" She asked. The slime- Juno squeaked and Favrielle felt embarrassed talking to something that didn't understand her. "Nevermind," Favrielle sighed as she continued walking on. She continued walking until the sky slowly got dark. The only monster she met this entire time was a twiggie and all she did was step on it. Feeling depressed, Favrielle walked back to the village. She walked into the tavern and took a seat at a small table. Juno hopped off her head and curiously looked around. The slime caught the attention of a few people and Favrielle felt a few stares on her. Eventually an elf who wore mage robes came over to her table and took a seat.
"I like your slime." She said.
"Uh...thanks?" Favrielle wasn't used to talking to strangers so she wasn't sure what she should say.
The elf patted Juno on the head and she squeaked. The elf giggled and turned to Favrielle. "Can I have it? I need a familiar to upgrade my magic. I'll give you 1,000g for it."
Favrielle looked at Juno. She really did like the slime. It was really cute and it had a skill. Favrielle looked back at the elf. "Sorry, but I really like her. So she's not for sale."
"Oh," the elf said disappointingly. "How much did you pay for it?"
"I didn't buy her." Favrielle said. "I earned a taming skill and tamed her."
The elf's eyes widened. "You can tame monsters?"
The elf stood up and grabbed her hand before she could answer. "Can you get me one? I'll pay you."
Favrielle felt nervous as the elf looked at her so excitedly. "Sure, why not."
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"Thank you!" The elf exclaimed. "I'll never forget this!"
Favrielle gave a small smile to the elf as she walked back to her original table. Favrielle walked up to the counter and Randall greeted her.
"Have you completed your quest?" He asked. She
"Not yet.It's really hard to find a decent monster around here." She sighed and pulled out rhe twiggie from earlier.
Randall inspected the twiggie before reaching into his pocket and giving her 10 coins. "I'll take the twiggie for 10g."
Favrielle accepted the coins and put them in her bag. Randall nodded at the bag. "You should probably save up money for armor and a better weapon. You can't kill big monsters with a kitchen knife."
"Good point." Favrielle paused. She hadn't realized until now, but why did all the NPCs act so...real? In all the books she read on virtual worlds, nothing like this had ever happened.
Randall noticed her stare. "What is it?"
"It's nothing," She quickly said. Randall obviously didn't believe her, but he didn't push the subject. Favrielle went back to her table to get Juno before leaving for the forest.
It wasn't long before they spotted a few slimes. Favrielle recalled how she "tamed" Juno and patted all the slimes on the head once.
Favrielle decided to name the blue slime Neptune, the black slime Pluto, and the yellow slime Jupiter to go along with Olympian themed names. All of them were level 1 and had no skills. A thought came to mind and Favrielle placed Juno near Jupiter.
"This is your husband, Juno." Favrielle said. "You have to take good care of him, alright?"
Juno squeaked in reply and Favrielle decided to take that answer as a yes. She put all the slimes in her bag and ran back to the tavern to train her stamina. Along the way she gained 6 more slimes - Hercules, Diana, Apollo, Vulcan, Cupid, and Venus - making her taming skill level up to level 5. With a bag full of slimes, she enter the tavern to see it unusually packed. Someone pointed at her and shouted. "There she is! That's the beast taming girl!"
Suddenly a crowd of people swarmed around Favrielle.
"Can I have a slime?" Someone asked .
"I'll pay 1,000g just for one slime!"
"Ignore them, I'll pay you 2,000g for one!"
People continued to swarm around her until Randall banged a wood on the table. "Keep it down everyone and line up in an orderly fashion."
The crowd dispersed and Favrielle shot a grateful look at Randall. She walked over to the counter. "Why are all these people here?" She asked.
Randall shrugged. "Someone said that you had the ability to tame slimes so a few mages came to see if they could get one."
Favrielle gestured over her shoulder. "That crowd is not a few mages."
Randall gave a half-shrug. "I suggest you have an auction and sell them off to the highest bidder."
Favrielle nodded. "That's a good idea. Do you have any papers and pens?"
He rose an eyebrow. "What do you need them for?"
" For the auction, of course. " She said.
Favrielle walked to the center of the room and stood on the table. "Listen up everyone! If you want to buy a slime, the go to the front and write down your name and how much your willing to pay for one!"
Favrielle jumped down from the table and walked to the counter. A line soon formed and people started to bid. Favrielle nearly snorted in amusement when Randall made people pay an admission fee of 10g. Within an hour, everyone had finished bidding. Favrielle took out all the slimes in her bag except Juno and Jupiter. The slimes glowed instantly and the crowd of mages all moved closer to get a better look at them. Favrielle went through the pile of papers and picked the papers that had most useful items on them. Favrielle sold Pluto for 10,000g, Neptune for level 5 armour, Hercules for level 7 daggers, Diana for 15,000g, Vulcan for 3 attacking skills, Cupid for 3 flasks of enchanted water, Apollo for 13 heath potions, and Venus for a level 9 dual pair of rapiers.
"Look at the time." Said the human mage who bought Apollo. "I've got to log out."
The mage logged out along with a few other players. Soon only a few people were left in the tavern.
"Are you going to join them?" Randall asked as he collected all the money from the admission fees.
Favrielle froze. It had never once crossed her mind about what she would do when a game day ended. She had just gone with the flow that she was in a virtual world instead of a hospital bed. Now the reality of her situation was coming back at an alarming rate.
Randall noticed her hesitation. "You can stay here if you want."
"Really?"
"This is a tavern. A room will cost you 15g."
"What! Your joking, right?"
"Does it look like I'm joking?"
" ... "
***
Bri's dad, Jamal gazed at the body of his daughter that was hooked up to many different machines. His gaze showed no warmth, only indifference like the person he was looking at wasn't his daughter. His bodyguard entered the room.
"It's just like you predicted, sir. She's not logging out."
Jamal turned his icy gaze to his bodyguard , who subconsciously shivered. "Good." He said in an icy tone. "That will make moving her out alot easier."
The bodyguard nodded stiffly. "Doctor Rothwell said that he's ready to begin the tests when she arrives."
"Good, anything else?"
"Mrs. Laurens called, she said Master Gabriel is waiting for you to pick him up from his classes."
Jamal gave a curt nod. "Any news from Caroline?" His eyes showed a bit of warmth as he mentioned the woman's name.
"Miss Caroline is currently waiting for you at Peachwood Manor."
Jamal pinched the bridge of his nose. "Cancel my arrangements with Gabriel and tell Caroline that I'll be right over."
The bodyguard nodded and left the room, leaving Jamal alone with his daughter again. Jamal held her hand and squeezed it. A rare look of determination filled his eyes.
"I'll get you back, Carol. Back to your original state, I promise."