“I captured twenty level 4 monsters.” I led Michelle to the various cells that had been prepared. They were like the preparation rooms for the arena. Large doors to large cells, with a large hallway that was patrolled by soldiers.

I reached the first door. I had the key for the level 4 cells. I had to sort through them to find the right one. The door was also quite large. I unlocked the door. I then spent another minute carefully pulling out the Rod of Taming that was placed between the large door and the wall of the building. I could have just ripped it out, but soldiers were patrolling this area quite often. Also my protection detail was in the background as well.

“Keeping the Rods of Taming here but be a bad idea. But it prevents them from being lost. If someone wants to get one out quickly from where it is placed without making a scene it takes about a minute. A clever design,” I said.

“The first monster is my personal favorite. The Implosion.” I opened up the door. There was a gently swirling number of panels in a sphere shape. But there were a lot of gaps between the panels. “It flies quickly around its target, then boom. Capturing this one was quite the headache, here,” I handed Michelle the rod as she gave me a surprised look. “What do you think?” I asked.

“Give me a moment,” she said with confidence while her eyes closed. The monster was moving about the large room. The panels began spinning in odd ways, spreading out, getting closer together, and then lots of small explosions. She opened her eyes.

“It is very versatile. But there is a strict range and orientation of each component of the monster to the other. It would be quite useful against a summoner, since its attack can be used in quick succession and staggered,” Michelle instantly broke down The Implosion’s strengths.

“As for weaknesses, the panels probably can’t take that much damage.” I nodded at this.

“I actually grabbed on and ran away to capture the entire monster. Trying to capture it in combat was too much of a headache,” I replied. “Also, if half the panels are lost, the monster will die.” The monster was locked back up and we moved onto the next one.

“This is the Grasping Ethereal Tentacle. Another headache. Couldn’t really hit it with physical attacks. Subduing the monster to capture the it was a massive hassle. Just one long big tentacle,” I explained and let Michelle have a look.

“The Grasping Ethereal Tentacle anchor point is weird. The monster is just floating along, but the dip is a lot more dexterous than the base. The lack of physicality would require a specialist type response. It isn’t very fast, but has good area denial,” Michelle broke the monster down very quickly.

“Number three, is the Swaying Leaves. Lots of flying leaves all over the place that cut into anything and everything. Very similar to The Implosion, but much more versatile and smaller pieces,” I explained monster number three.

“Overall I would rate it worse than the Implosion. Physical attacks expose the monster to counter attacks. But its more dispersed nature is quite useful,” Michael analyzed.

“The fourth monster, well it is nasty. The Bloated Man is absolutely disgusting. It consumes anything in its path, sucking it up into is mouth. Then expels blasts of energy.” The monster was a large pudgy man, but with folds of fat hiding all the naughty bits. I had checked, there were no naughty bits. Still, it was nasty. It rolled more than walked, using its fat, stumpy legs and arms.

To capture the monster, I had to jump on it and wedge the Rod of Taming into its back fat. The smell was as bad as the monster’s appearance, if not worse. “Its ability to maneuver in place is quite high and once it picks up speed. Its sheer visceral horror and that stupid look on its deformed face will confuse people. With its ability to consume energy and release, a charged attack would be possible.” I nodded at this, Michelle was right on the money.

“The fifth monster is The Cutting Scissors. Just a giant pair of scissors that cuts through anything. It even cut through a Rod of Taming, dusting it. It would be an interesting hand held weapon,” I explained the next monster.

“A single overpowered attack is useful. But it is close range. But with how big it is, you won’t be able to get your hands wide enough to back full use of it. Best used as a surprised attack or held by another monster and used as a weapon,” Michelle instantly broke the monster’s strengths near instantly.

Number sixth was an old classic. The Bulwark Shield had high defense, but was slow while floating. Michelle suggested it would combine well with a humanoid monster. A combination level 4 team might be possible. Also, it would be good defense for a summoner in the event they were attacked.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“The Refraction Cube is hell. It disperses and damages all energy near it. The terrain. Skills. People. I had to lure one out of its zone to a level 3 zone. I had to get a regeneration after that. I managed to resist the curse damage thankfully. But there was carried over physical damage to my arm.”

“It is powerful, but slow. Hmm. We should get a large number of these. I could probably have twenty rods on me at the same time. So, nine of these cubes. They would just block all energy attacks. Their effect can also be directed in a specific orientation and strengthened. They would create a very powerful wall if a large number of them are used at once,” Michelle explained.

“With ranged attackers behind, firing through the gaps?” I asked her.

“Yes. I have been thinking about possible large team combinations. The issue is control. The more monsters I have to manage, the harder it becomes. Five of these, combined with five Bulwark Shields behind them, would create a near impenetrable defense. Their effect can go in front of the Bulwark Shields. While the Bulwark Shields block physical damage. Not as much range for energy disruption, but both monster’s rotational speed is very high.”

“That would actually work better. Rather than trying to defend through the Bulwark Shield against ranged attacks. Just spin them in place as needed. That would make control a lot easier. Then eight ranged monsters of various types, with two high speed flankers and distracters. Um, if that works for you,” she told me.

“Once we go out, we will get five of each type of monster for you and whatever other ones you want. So figure out your dream team and I will capture them for you,” I told her.

“Really?” she asked.

“You are on my team. I am not going to give you sub-par monsters. I want a team of level 4 monsters that can take down level 5 monsters and hordes of other level 4 monsters. Get Samantha to work out an outfit so you can be touching as many Rods of Taming at the same time. If we can get something over twenty, quantity has a quality of its own. Now let’s take a look at the next one, I think you will like it,” I said.

We made our way to the cell with the seventh monster. It was quite small. A human sized hand resting on the floor with four rings of various colors on each of the fingers. I didn’t explain it and handed Michelle the Rod of Taming.

“It can use four types of ray attacks, clustered on the type chart. A lot worse than beam attacks. This one has Life, Force, Light, and Fire. It can heal!”

“Yes it can. Just capturing one was a massive pain. I wanted to get more. But the variety of attacks and their danger meant, I was only able to grab this one and run away with it. With two opposites annihilation attacks would be possible at close range. But their attacks are weak, even if they are versatile,” I explained.

“I understand. It is lacking in power. And type advantage matters less at higher levels. Since the monsters aren’t just one type,” she quickly realized.

“Exactly. It can help, but it isn’t the instant win like the lower levels. But the ability to heal is quite useful. And to light up an area as well,” I explained.

“A utility type monster. Still, having one with the opposite type would be useful. Close range annihilation attacks is never a bad thing. Ideally, one with Flesh, Life, Heat, and Force would be the best combination. Taking energy away from a monster or attack at the right time could be pivotal,” I nodded at that. This kind of monster had a much higher skill ceiling even if it wasn’t as powerful as some of the others.

We moved onto the ninth monster. “The Singing Woman, uses a powerful mental attack to pacify its target. It also can use piercing screams, which can disorient,” I explained.

“Good against people, but probably not much use against monsters of a similar level or higher level. Would be useful against lots of low level monsters or summoners,” she explained.

“Indeed. It is quite useful against summoner type monsters, to subdue their summons. Let’s take a look at the next monster,” I said and we moved onto monster nine.

“Summoner Black Hand, is a skeleton that summons black flying hands that inflict death type damage,” I explained.

“Summoners are quite useful. The flying nature and the fact they are hands, means they can hold equipment. They are decently fast, so they could intercept aerial attacks as well,” Michelle analyzed.

We moved onto the eleventh monster. “The Merging Eye, blends the energy of whatever it is looking at. It is a fairly weak attack, but it builds up and is a type of curse damage,” I explained.

“I would rate this on the lower end of level 4 monsters in direct combat. Unless there is a battle that goes on for over five minutes, it is doubtful it will ever be useful. Possibly for disrupting tethers.”

“It doesn’t,” I replied.

“A shame. Perhaps against one singular powerful monster it would be of use. But it can’t disrupt attacks?”

“Not really. It can focus its gaze, but then it is easier to avoid,” I replied. Not every level 4 monster was a winner. This one had attacked in groups, which had made it much more dangerous, but not that much. The effects didn’t stack fully on top of each other.

The twelfth monster was the Striped Neck Gripper. A large serrated ring that could blink when no one was looking and would appear around a person’s neck. It would then shrink and attempt to decapitate a person. The observation limitation, made it not that useful in my mind.

“It is a great monster, with how it can resize so much. Much better than the last one for dealing with a higher-level monster. It would teleport in and be a distraction,” she explained.

“The issue with that, is that the monster would be killed fairly quickly,” I replied.

“The ability to resize is not to be underestimated. It can get quite small and sneak around the battlefield. Moving in at a key moment. Its attack is a bit less than the Cutting Scissors, right?”

“Yes. It is a very powerful single use attack. But the target has to be inside the ring.”

“A workable limitation to deal with. That combined with its ability to move quickly, allows for great battlefield control. It is also an anti-summoner monster,” she explained. That was a very good insight into the use of the monster.