Not many tamers would grace a mere farmer with their presence or give them the opportunity to make the acquaintance of a tamer. At the sight of the looming fence banded with barbed wire, Tony was tempted to allow this farmer to treat the tamer. Letting the farmer take the reins of his dear Bright Unicorn Fonz was an honor not many were granted. It was a gift far beyond the station of a mere farmer and the prerogative of the tamer to give.
It would also serve as a test to see how well the farmer cared for Tony's new monster. Already, Tony could sense an eloquent presence of something rare at the edge of his monster-taming skill. Far into the fence, there was a forest, a fenced-in chicken coop, and a small cornfield. Instead of a farmhouse, there was a military-grade tent. Stumps dotted half the ground where forest laid before untouched and left to rot in the land like old shrapnel.
He eyed the massive fence surrounding a quarter of the land allotted to the farmer. There were no other humans around than them but somehow he managed to erect such a massive fence. Normally, that was the work of numerous construction monsters. Did the farmer have a woodworking skill?
That wouldn't explain the size and speed of the fence's installation. Tony sensed a viciousness in the land that brought a shiver down his spine. An overbearing weight of anger settled on every blade of grass as if the world held its breath in wait.
Tony chortled to himself and lit a cigarette. He was being all dramatic over a farmer. Farmers didn't receive the highest bonuses per level and had no offensive capabilities to speak of. What was the man going to do, smack Tony with a hoe? He stopped at the gate to the farm and debated releasing another monster to open the gate.
Farmer or not, expecting such a man to act like a servant in his own home was a bit much. Tony smiled and sucked his cig to the filter, and let out a massive breath of smoke. Giving people hard times was what being a government official was all about.
He tossed the cigarette butt on the ground and summoned his second monster. Loki was a rank 2 red Ogre male with a spiked club. The rotund monster had a big frog-like mouth and a single braid of dark hair.
"Smash that gate down," Tony ordered.
With an effortless wave, Loki shattered the gate into bits of scrap wood. The random destruction of property always made the tamer feel good when on the job. He kicked his mount's side and returned Loki.
"Hopefully, you'll have more fun and a new team member soon."
Tony was the picky type; not just anyone could join his team. Loki was his starter. Fonz and June, his poison lizard, were unique finds. The tamer liked to keep an antidote for June's poison whenever he needed to play a little hardball with people. He loved playing the role of giving an offer that couldn't be refused.
On a chicken coop, of all things, the prize he came out here for stood watching him. A white fawn, a rare beauty that most often died in the wild before any tamer could claim it. If allowed to grow, they quickly became pseudo rank 2 while in rank one. With enough skill shards, they could be a force of nature without any trying and Tony's ticket into the conference.
Getting the farmer to give it up would be easy. Tony planned to start easy, telling the farmer the truth he couldn't take care of her how she needed. Farmers were ill-equipped to handle the needs of a powerful monster, and at the end of the day, she would want to leave. All Tony was doing was ripping the band-aid. He would promise to keep in touch and maybe he would for the first month. After a while, it would drop off, and his new monster would forget about the farmer. Or if the farmer wanted to play hardball, Tony was fully willing to play it that way. He would bring out Loki, and they would play until the farmer gave up. A few broken bones would make the message very transparent. Either way, it was for the farmer's own good.
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Tony tore his eyes away from the beautiful monster to see the farmer. He looked bigger than he was tall and too thin covered in sweat with a too prominent chin. Scars covered the man's shoulder, and his clothes were filled with holes. One of his boots looked like it was one bad day from falling apart. Then, there was the sword on the man's side. A rapier, by the looks of it, with a sheath covered in spider webs. If that wasn't a dungeon drop, Tony would eat Fronz's saddle.
How a farmer managed to survive a dungeon seemed fairly obvious. The deer had a little more exercise than expected. That only meant Tony would have to break bad habits. He shook his head, imagining a few sleepless nights teaching the poor thing to follow orders.
At the edge of the gate, the farmer still hadn't given a greeting that was to be expected. Neither of them expected this conversation to be pleasant. Lying about it wasn't going to make anything better.
"My name is Tony Graves of the Rasputin Research Institute. It's not often we have neighbors, but you seem too brave to listen to superstition and rumors." The farmer took the slight in stride with a plastered smile on his face.
"Atom Walker, why should I let you step on my property? Tamers don't have the right to trespass on private land no matter what institute they work for."
Tony's good mood vanished, and he wanted to leap over the fence and strangle the man. Loki would change the peasant's mind quickly. But he held off using force for the time being.
"You have a dungeon on your property, and it's dangerous. We've detected spikes in the local magical density that could mean a dungeon surge. You're fenced in with it; a surge won't kill anyone but you."
"Then it isn't any of your business, so you can leave my property."
He stared at the white fawn and let his Heart Capture and Monster Tamer skills do their job. A few minutes was all the time Tony needed. Already, he could feel the rare find was moments away from choosing to leave with him willingly. The farmer had no idea what was happening. All Tony had to do was wait, and the fawn would leave the farmer, then he would come back, and the farmer would sing a completely different tune.
A sharp pain in his neck alerted him to a blade at his throat.
"Deactivate your skills on my companion, or I will cut your head off." He felt the farmer's dirty hands grip his hair. When had the farmer gotten so close?
"I'm an official." Blood started seeping from the cut on his throat. He gave a command to the dear through their burgeoning bond. A force threw the farmer into the gate. Tony grinned when he heard the thunk sound.
The manic look of betrayal on the man's face was a satisfying sight. Of the farmer's earlier actions, Tony decided to twist the knife. He touched his monster bag and summoned Loki.
Tony wiped the blood on his neck away with a silk handkerchief. "Someone has to pay for spilling my blood, and I would rather it be you than this cute little deer. Loki break the bones in his hands." Tony said.
The man stood up, and Tony had the deer slam him back into the gate. "No, don't get up just yet. I like you on the ground; it's better this way." Tony said.
He saw the man struggle, filled with rage at this encounter. If the man had been a little more courteous and invited Tony back to his home, then this could have been painless. The man had to resist and make Tony put in the work so Tony would treat it like work.
A quick slash from the man's sword did nothing to Loki, who grabbed the man's and crushed it in the ogre's grip. The man screamed in pain as each bone in his hand was broken and mangled from gripping a sword.
Tony felt a struggle against his skills and stared at the white fawn in curiosity. Not many monsters can resist Monster Tamer and Capture skills in the low 30s. The fawn must be something special. This was an excellent find, and the more the fawn resisted, the higher Tony's skills would climb.
He watched the mangled-handed farmer stand up. Loki kicked him in the stomach, knocking him into the gate for a third time. "Give her back." Atom said.
"You can't take care of her like she needs, but I can. This is for the best for both of you." Tony said.
The man didn't know when to quit. He reached forward and stabbed his sword into the ground. While his lungs wheezed, the man stood up despite himself. It was like some force was animating the man, helping him stand when he shouldn't be able to. The freaky sight only grew worse when a harsh wind swept down from the mountain.
Loki gripped his head, and Atom moved deceptively quick. Tony reached to withdraw his monster when Atom's sword stabbed into Loki's chest. A beam of energy connected with his monster, returning it to his bag, wounded but alive. Tony saw red, charged forward, and kicked Atom's mangled hand. The sword fell, and Atom collapsed, cradling his hand in pain. The tamer kicked Atom in the face and kept kicking him until blood flowed on the dirt.
When he was tired and his foot hurt, he spat on the man and turned to leave. He heard the man's lungs still wheezing and thought about turning around and finishing him. Instead, Tony decided his revenge would be leaving him for the monsters to scavenge. Loki would be fine, and Atom would live out his last moments being torn apart.