Important A/N: It has come to my attention that my work is being re uploaded to bookdao by someone other than me. If you are reading it there then please read it on RoyalRoad for the official, quicker, better edited chapters and for the ability to give me feedback.
Leon looked at the map for reference and walked into the forest. He walked a fair distance, ignoring the wolves and boars. He couldn’t gain experience anymore and his equipment was fine if he encountered an Elite. Only a Super Elite could interest him but he knows he can’t kill one one-on-one.
As Leon walked deeper into the forest, he pondered what type of Bronze Boss it was. Jack’s map only detailed its location, but not what species it was. Perhaps a Wolf or Boar? Those appear to be the trend here.
He was walking further than he had ever gone in the tutorial. No wonder nobody would find this boss, as it’s quite far away. There wasn’t any reason to wander that far in the forest, well, except for the boss.
A cave soon entered his sights and giving a quick check on the map meant he was in the correct place. Let’s do this. Leon thought as he steeled his nerves and entered the cave.
[You have entered the tutorial boss area. Setting the difficulty to Normal.] A forced difficulty. Leon grew nervous. He gulped a little as he carefully treaded forwards. The cave opened up after walking a few steps. To Leon’s surprise, it was another forest area with massive trees.
Leon scanned around, but found no sign of the boss. Strange, it should be here, right? Gaia wouldn’t make such a mistake. Suddenly he had a thought and looked up and confirmed his thoughts.
[Earth Moving Ferret] (Bronze)
Level 10
HP: 4,000/4,000
It was a massive ferret that was sleeping in the trees. The ferret had brown and white fur and was bigger than Leon. Leon was strangely calm as he read the name. Earth moving? Does this mean it has control over earth elemental magic?
Suddenly, everything seemed to click together. Combine elemental utility and the might of beasts into an Elemental Beast Summoner. Leon grew certain as he continued to think. That’s my path. He decided. With some newfound conviction, he steeled himself and walked slowly closer.
The ferret suddenly awoke and zoned in on Leon. Leon stopped moving and made himself small by crouching on the floor. The ferret hissed as it looked at Leon. Leon waited patiently for the ferret to come.
The ferret stopped hissing briefly and jumped down, still far from Leon. That’s it. He thought as he slowly moved and pulled out a piece of the Elite boar meat. The ferret smelled it and hesitated to come closer.
Leon remained perfectly still. The ferret saw this and grew bold in approaching Leon. The ferret suddenly smacked the ground with its front paws and the piece of earth with the boar meat shot up. It landed a small bit away from the ferret.
So that’s its earth elemental magic? The ferret’s skill surprised Leon. The ferret grew closer to the meat and sniffed it carefully. It seized a bite, then another one, and the meat quickly disappeared after a moment.
It looked back at Leon, almost expecting another piece. Leon smiled. “Hey there buddy, you want more food?” The ferret was still a bit cautious but still nodded, understanding Leon’s words.
Leon pulled out another piece, this time he kept a close hold on it. “Come over if you want it.” He told the ferret in a serious tone. The ferret hissed, a little displeased with Leon, but Leon didn’t budge. The hissing stopped as the ferrets seemed to hesitate.
“It’s fine, I will not hurt you,” Leon told the ferret and even threw his wand to the side as a sign of goodwill. This seemed to win the ferret over as it walked over slowly. Once it was close enough, it bit down on the meat from Leon’s hand and ate it.
“See, I told you, I won’t hurt you.” Leon softly told the ferret as it was eating. Once it finished eating, it looked back at Leon. “Can I pet you a little?” Leon kindly asked the ferret while sticking out his hand.
The ferret looked at the hand, seemingly a little disappointed at the lack of food in there. The ferret thought about it for a second before moving a little closer, allowing Leon to pet it. “That wasn’t that hard now, was it?”
Leon petted the ferret and noted its fur. It’s a lot softer than it looks. The brown and white fur looked spiky from afar, but it was very soft.
He pulled out another piece of meat, this time from the Alpha wolf. The ferret noticed, but it refrained from pouncing on Leon for the meat.
“I have an offer.” Leon said in a serious tone, making the ferret turn to him. “I’m an aspiring Summoner who wants to explore the world and take it by storm. Are you familiar with Summoners?” Determination in his voice.
The ferret nodded at his words, as for how the ferret knew? Probably because it was Gaia’s doing. “I want to make a contract with you, one on equal grounds. I will never make you do something that you don’t want to, but there is a small condition.” Leon laid out the ground rules.
“I am going to fight multiple other creatures and if you agree to the contract, I expect you to help me as much as you can. I cannot do this alone,” He explained to the ferret. The ferret thought about it for a moment before nodding.
“Then I’m going to start the contract. Admittedly, you’re the first one I’ve ever used it on, so bear with me a little.” Leon gave an embarrassed laugh as he activated the spell. He felt a tendril of mana being pulled from his body and extended to the ferret.
The ferret noticed the tendril and extended his own mana tendril to match. Soon the tendrils connected and Leon could feel the connection to the ferret. He could feel the ferret’s emotions as curiosity and eagerness, with some playful hints of affection for Leon.
[Contract Spell successful! Contract on equal grounds established gaining +5 mastery points.] There was no skill check, but Leon gained a massive boost to his mastery. Another message soon popped up.
[Bond formed with Earth Moving Ferret. Rebalancing stats……complete. Gained access to the Familiar status screen.] A status screen. That will be a lot of help. However, before he could check, a change was happening.
The ferret got smaller. Leon watched as the ferret became so small it only reached his feet. I guess I can’t have an actual boss as a familiar.
The stats of the boss were upscaled to an extreme extent, and now it balanced out. Another message came to him. [Would you like to name your familiar? Yes or no?]
This was not something Leon could do alone. “Hey buddy, you want a name? I’m Tempest and a name gives someone individuality.” The ferret jumped up and down as Leon could feel its enthusiasm, giving him an obvious yes.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Leon thought for a few seconds before coming up with a name. “Beans! How does that sound?” Why that name? It sounded really cute to Leon.
The ferret once again jumped up and down, confirming the name Beans. Leon changed his name and before he could do anything, a fourth message popped up.
[Congratulations on being the first player summoner to contract a Bronze monster! Awarding title Pioneer Summoner! Would you like to announce your achievement?]
Leon smiled at the title but a little hesitant about the announcement. He didn’t want the attention, as he could already feel his anxiety rising at the thought of it.
In the end, he didn’t send out the achievement. However, the system wouldn’t stop there. [Congratulations to an anonymous player for being the first player to contract a Bronze monster!]
Despite that, the system sent out the achievement, but Leon’s name remained hidden. That’s fine I guess. He could finally turn his attention to Bean’s status screen.
Name: Beans (Beast)
Affiliation: Tempest
Beast Soul: Earth Moving Ferret (Bronze)
Earth Moving Ferret (Bronze): Gain +5 stats per level up divided automatically to natural growth. Gain access to Earth elemental magic spells. Every 5 levels, select a new spell or skill from a choice of three. Can evolve.
Level: 10
HP: 580/580
Mana: 290/290
Physical Power: 22
Magical Power: 40
Physical Defence: 6%
Magical Defence: 14%
Strength: 11
Agility: 32
Intelligence: 20
Wisdom: 29
Vitality: 29
Skills:
Biting Assault: Active skill. Requirement: Sharp teeth. Lunge at the opponent biting into them, dealing an additional 25 points of damage Cooldown: 10 seconds. Skill Level: 1 (Mastery 0/100)
Earth Snare: Active Spell. Requirement: 15 Intelligence and an Earth elemental soul. Stomp on the ground, erecting a small hill that grabs the opponent’s feet binding them for up to 10 seconds. Cost 20 Mana. Cooldown 30 seconds. Skill Level: 1 (Mastery 0/100)
Fast! Leon almost couldn’t believe his eyes. Beans’s stats were much higher than that of the general player base, but his agility was on another level. He looked a little closer and noted a few things.
Pretty balanced overall, leaning towards agility, wisdom and vitality. He deduced Bean’s natural learning curve. Seems like a support type with a small tanking role. In a party, there were various roles attributed to players to distribute the workload and take down tough bosses.
First off was DPS or Damage Per Second. Leon himself fitted into that role where he was the person with the most damage output. Usually, it was magicians and warriors.
Second, was Tank: Tanks were people who specialised in defence intending to block or dodge a boss’s attacks. Tanks had special abilities to attract aggro, letting the DPS do their work. Beans could also fill that role, but not greatly because of his lack of defence.
Third were Healers: These types of players were usually Clerics and Priests who would cast healing spells on their allies, keeping them healthy. Finally, there were Supports who specialised in abilities to control the enemy. Leon’s Flash wand is an example of such an ability.
There are also scouts in this game who assess the danger from afar and plot out a safe course for the party. Leon added in his mind. Scouts weren’t that common in other games, but this was Souls Online.
As Leon was pondering the stats, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his ankle. “Ow! Beans!” Beans had bitten Leon on his ankle as he looked at the piece of meat in Leon’s hand with a longing look.
Leon understood his intentions. “Oh right! Sorry about that.” He apologised and gave Beans the piece of Alpha wolf meat. Beans dug into the meat with ferocity, not befitting his cute looks.
Leon watched Beans as he petted him. He felt completely serene and at ease. Guess that image wasn’t wrong after all. Leon thought back to the feeling when choosing his class.
He would be lying if he wasn’t a bit sceptical of that instinctual feeling when he chose the class. He found that the novels he had read about never delved into much detail about summoners and always marginalised them.
But now he was glad he had made the choice. Beans finished the meat and gave an enormous yawn. Leon did wake him up in the middle of his sleep. He crawled up Leon’s leg and into his robes as he laid to rest on Leon’s shoulders.
There was a special place where familiars could recover if injured or sleepy. Leon didn’t force Beans off him as he looked around the boss area. Is there more here or is it just the boss? Leon tried to analyse but came up short.
A call from his sister interrupted his thoughts. “Looks like you were successful. Congratulations!” Leon smiled at the praise.
“Thanks sis, quick question. Did you find something like a treasure chest in the boss area, or was it just the boss?”
Rose, on the other end of the call, smiled. “Well, who knows? But I suggest you look very hard around that area.” Leon shook his head at the ‘cryptic’ message.
“Alright I get it, by the way, he’s a ferret I named Beans!” They spoke for a bit before ending the call.
Speaking of calls, I wonder if she’s still in the tutorial? Leon thought as he called Luna. She picked up the call pretty quickly.
“Yes, I’m still here. What’s up? Found another Special Elite?” She asked him with curiosity.
“Nope, something else. You’re going to have to see it,” Leon said mysteriously, as he would not spoil the surprise.
Leon gave Luna a ping, and she went on her way to his location. In the meantime, Leon searched the area. Where could that chest be? He thought as he suddenly had an idea while looking at the tree where Beans was sleeping before he came here.
“Hey Beans, is there a chest up there?” Leon asked Beans, who awoke and nodded at Leon. Great, how am I going to get it?
An idea quickly came to him as he looked at Beans. “Can you get it for me, Beans? I can give you another piece of meat as a reward.”
Beans quickly jumped off his shoulders and scaled up the tree with skill. Leon waited for a few seconds when he noticed a shadow coming down fast. A chest emitting a blue glow fell from the sky with a bang, and it stayed intact.
Beans came down soon after and Leon gave him his rewards. He went back to sleep immediately afterwards. Leon focused his attention on the chest. A blue chest! My very first one. Leon took a moment to take in the chest and build up his anticipation.
He reached out and opened the chest, a blue light escaping from it and filling the entire forest-like cave. I’m glad I did this here and not outside. Leon thought. He did not need another MadSmile situation.
+3 Silver
+ [Arcane Gathering Pendant] (Blue)
+ [Towering Shield] (Green)
[Arcane Gathering Pendant] (Blue)
Equipment Level 10
Intelligence +10, Wisdom +5
Passive Skill: Recover 5 points of mana every second.
Durability 30/30
A pendant meticulously crafted to increase the wielder’s magic focus and gathering abilities.
[Towering Shield] (Green)
Requirement: 12 Strength
Physical Defence: + 25%
Durability 20/20
That pendant is amazing! It would increase his damage by 20 points, add 50 mana and increase his mana regeneration. He quickly put the pendant on his neck and felt it empower him, giving his mana a boost in quality and quantity.
Leon looked at his stats and saw his Intellect going up to 41 and his Wisdom to 21, making his magical power 90 with the wand and his mana 210.
I can sell off the rest of the items, speaking of which, I forgot to sell off the other things. Leon suddenly noticed the Steel Longsword and Tough Shield in his inventory. Luna had given it back after their battle. Luna should be here soon. Leon waited for her first.
Meanwhile, in the forest near the village, A young woman with bunny ears walked past the trees in thought.
He called and invited me, which should mean he feels comfortable around me, right? Luna recalled what she had read up. She learned a lot of things about autism and autistic people.
He probably thought I was annoying in the beginning. She cringed a little as she recalled their first encounters. She found the distance of the ping surprising, but didn’t dwell on it too much.
Sounds of battle suddenly rang out. “A battle? Here?” Luna muttered as she initially thought it was Leon but dismissed that quickly. It wasn’t near the ping. “Well, I can take a little peek.” She was way too curious to see who it was.
Luna moved closer while making as little sound as possible. Soon she noticed a man with short black hair holding a dagger fighting an Elite wolf. The man was expertly dodging and attacking Elite with his knife.
Pretty impressive. Luna mentally praised. It wasn’t easy for someone to dodge the wolf, as it had a skill that would strengthen it. The wolf already seemed to near max gear from what Luna could see.
The wolf went down fairly quickly. Luna was prepared to leave when the man suddenly called out to her. “Here to steal my loot?” He asked as he turned to Luna. Luna immediately got a bad feeling about this man as she noticed the scar and hair.
A scar and black short hair? It couldn’t be him, right? Luna recalled her talk with Leon the previous day and was almost certain of the man’s identity. “Tell me, are you MadSmile?” She had a hint of anger in her voice.
The man felt surprised. “How do you know me?” MadSmile asked, confirming his identity.
Luna smiled dangerously. “You messed with my friend, so now I have to mess with you.”
MadSmile thought for a second before realising and laughing. “Ah! So you’re a friend of Tempest.”
He calmed down and looked at Luna with a vacant expression. “I see. Well then, now I’m curious.”
His sudden change in mannerism and comments confused Luna. “Curious?”
MadSmile gave her a cruel smile. “Curious about how strong you are compared to him.” He said as he suddenly dashed towards her.