“Good morning sweety.”
His mother smiled sweetly. This mother of his looked gentle and sweet when she was with them, but he saw a memory of his mother fight. The blood and gore sent shivers down his spine, his mother was a rare Berserker, Berserkers were stronger than normal Warriors but have less defense and stamina. But this mother of his had a unique skill that complemented well with her Profession.
‘My mother is probably one of the reasons my father is being insulted by others, heh jealous bunch!’ he thought, he had already taken them as his real parents, it was easier than he expected. It had something to do with the memories he acquired and the blurred memories of his original family.
“Your father went out early, he probably went to get some spare bow when he saw your pet Richie.”
His mother explained, they had been surprised when they saw how intelligent the Martial Monkey of their son was, it even bowed at them with respect when Aeron introduced it to them. This made his father think that his pet had the potential to wield bows, this was not something possible for other monkeys, after all, aiming took more than just swinging weapons on its enemies.
It was as his mother said, his father got him another bow, he had already been given two spears one which was made from emerald bamboo, and two bows, with 3 arrows each. The number of arrows might be small but they were made from essence materials that wouldn’t break easily. Now his father gave him another arrow, this truly touched him deeply. He had seen other children embark on their journey and yet they would carry at most one weapon, two was already very generous.
Five weapons weren’t easily given, he bowed deeply before hugging them goodbye. His mother cried but his father tried his best, he still saw his eyes redden though. They promised to go with him after their contracts were finished.
“Hyah!”
He urged Spirit, but Spirit only trotted, it seemed to know that galloping was still out of his owner’s ability. This made Aeron redden in embarrassment, he vaguely heard a laugh coming from his parent’s direction which made him smile a bit.
Not even 30 minutes passed and he was already in the Monkey Forest, he went inside the forest but not too deep, then called forth his army of monkeys, but not without instructing them to bring him fruits.
Rustle! Rustle!
Rustling sounds could be heard from the trees, as though shadows leaping from tree to tree the monkeys came, bringing with them all kinds of fruits.
Although he could only store about a dozen for his journey, to the Pioneer City, the City of Una. The journey wasn’t smooth, not that bandits or beasts were hindering him but because he practiced riding Spirit, faster and faster, he even fell a couple of times. Three days it took him, he didn’t know if this was fast already or too slow but this body was truly excellent. Muscle memory became the key to learning, though only for straight lines, difficult maneuvers were still not something he could do without the risk of falling.
He also camped at night, meditating and training in archery, he had memories of archery but the experience wasn’t carried over. It did feel a bit familiar, though only a bit, it must have been the years of training the body had undergone through. All this time he had felt that his brain was reset before he took over, as memories were the only thing carried over his possession. This was to say that he had to train from the very start. He would travel for half a day then train for the remaining time before sleeping, he had two monkeys guard outside the vine tent while having 3 monkeys guard inside, just in case.
He also discovered that other than Richie almost every monkey he had were able to learn archery, they were even able to learn [Mana Arrow] a practical skill, using mana to shape an arrow which was solid enough to be used on bows. Practical skills were skills inferior to Profession skills but are still deemed usable, these skills were not reflected in the Status Plate. There were other skills he knew which he taught to the monkeys like [Ignite] and [Mana Shaping].
All his time of training also gave him an understanding of his Anomalous Skill [Level Up], to be exact its ability was consolidation. This was truly a cheat for him, say a normal person could only meditate one hour per day, he on the other hand could meditate the whole day. This was because a normal person would need one day to consolidate the mana he gathered through meditation. He on the other hand only took minutes because of the skill [Level Up (Anomalous)]. This was also true for his physical body, and he also had a theory about when his soul devoured the original’s soul, Tamers undergo a sublimation when breaking through level 6, but because his soul was already strengthened enough, he had undergone soul sublimation when he arrived.
This allowed him to strengthen his soul enough to make the Golden Monkey acknowledge him, the huge surge in soul power probably scared the Golden Monkey to submission. In normal situations, the soul would enlarge then slowly strengthen. In his case, however, after his soul grew bigger, the strengthening process became fast, which gave an illusion that his soul was much stronger, this was also the reason he fainted, the pain felt by an abrupt rise in soul energy was not something bearable for the current him
He also tried using mana stones to train, and just like meditation, he didn’t have the normal limit of one mana stone per day. Unfortunately, the mana stone did not circulate in his body but was directly absorbed by the pet space with no visible change.
‘If my Profession wasn’t a Tamer, then this skill would’ve been a game-breaker, after all, other Profession didn’t have pet spaces’ he thought while sighing, although he was already gratified by this result.
He had also tried [Bestowal], this was a unique skill from the original, Unique Skills were randomly given upon awakening. His mother had one, his father probably had one too.
He didn’t know what the skill did but the skill name suggests it should be used on others. He tried activating it and saw a soul string connected to him and his pet Golden Monkey, after he chose the Golden Monkey, skills showed up inside his head. There were two skills the [Level Up (Anomalous)] and [Golden Monkey King’s Martial Mastery (Inactive)], though the latter skill was grayed out, probably because the Golden Monkey wasn’t able to learn it again.
He mentally chose the [Level Up] skill, then boom, white lights filled his mind before a signal for success was sent to his mind. He checked the Status Plate to see if he was able to bestow the skill.
Level: 1
Name: Aeron Ironbull
Age: 16
Profession: Tamer
Innate Skill:
[Mana Manipulation]Skill:
[Level Up (Anomalous)] [Bestowal (Unique)] (1/5) [Tame] (1/1) [Heal Pet] [Nurture] [Golden Monkey King’s Martial Mastery (Inactive)]Pets:
[Golden Monkey King (Infant)]Level: 5
Age: 1 year old
Innate Skill:
[Mana Circulation]
[Monkey Kings Might (Inactive)]
Skills:
[Lesser Level Up (Anomalous)(Bestowed)]
[Monkey Kings Authority] (29/40)
[Golden Monkey King’s Martial Mastery (Inactive)]
[Make Staff (Inactive)]
[Metal Domination (Inactive)]
[Golden Armaments (Inactive)]
“I really did it! Although it’s a lesser version, this is already GREAT! hahaha”
“Ki ki ki ki!”
He said to himself, then lifted the Golden Monkey to the air. Feeling its master’s happiness, the Golden Monkey also laughed and smiled while being lifted in the air. The golden monkey was the key to his success right now, with the anomalous skill, it’s growth would further speed up.
“Oh right from now on I’ll call you Arthur!”
He hadn’t let the Golden Monkey out since he started his journey, so he had only named it today.
“Kiiii!”
The Golden Monkey seemed really happy as it danced around the tent.
“hahaha you’re a king you know?” he couldn’t help telling it.
“Ki?” the only response he got was a confused face.
“Anyways I should unsummon you for now since you’re too conspicuous”
“Ki?” he got another confused face.
After traveling for another 2 days, he could finally see his destination. The City of Una was still in its infancy so he didn’t expect much, and as expected, what he saw was more of a settlement than a city. There were barely any earth structures, although the roads were already elevated the whole place was covered with vine tents and unlike his tent, they were much bigger.
Most people he passed by would stare at him for a while, probably curious why a person like him, a 16-year-old kid who’s riding a horse was in a City like this. He quickly made way to the City’s center, there was a taskmaster there, on the board behind him was a list of tasks. There were scouting tasks, hunting tasks, gathering tasks, guarding tasks, escorting task, and some patrolling tasks, and more tasks that he probably missed.
He read through them but he couldn’t decide, there were just too many things to consider.
“Excuse me, Sir? Can you help me find an appropriate task?”
He approached the taskmaster. He hoped the taskmaster would have something appropriate for him.
“New to the city?”
He looked at him with measuring eyes.
“Yes, I just arrived today”
“A newcomer huh, Name and Status?”
He asked again, this time his face looked kinder. Probably pitying him or something.
“Aeron Ironbull, 16 years old, Level 1 Tamer”
“Tamer huh, is that your pet?”
He asked while pointing at Spirit.
“No Sir, my first pet is a level 5 Martial Monkey”
“I’m no sir, kid, just call me Brother Gerard, so that guys a mount then? Untamed too since your level 1, be careful kid, there are many sly people out there, horses are quite rare and could be sold for a hefty price, you better pretend that this guy is your tamed pet or tame him when you can”
Gerard reminded with emphasis on Spirit.
“Thanks Brother Gerard, I’ll make sure to do so when I can”
He answered with a smile, it’s still is a happy experience when you find others willing to help or give reminders.
“Alright then, wait for a bit”
Gerard looked through a memory stone, memory stones were stones that could store memories.
“Listen kid, I have several tasks here that should suit you. The first one is a guarding task, someone has built an orchard in the City, his plants are quite rare, so he would like to hire more people to guard them, he already has 3 people working on shifts and need 1 more, this task also provides you with lodging and food”
He stopped for a bit to clear his throat.
“The second one is a gathering task, there are fruits on top of trees on the fringes of the Endless Forest, you’ll be given an appropriate amount of mana stones for every fruit you bring. This task doesn’t have a limit, as long as you register yourself you’ll be able to bring the fruits here and we’ll handle the exchange, I recommend you register for this since you have an appropriate pet for collecting the fruits, of course, you can decide to collect fruits from deeper within the forest, but that’s not recommended so you better, not unless you become stronger. Also, you’ll have to provide them at least 5 fruit per week, when you fail to do so, then you’ll be banned from this task”
“Okay Brother Gerard, I’ll register for the task if I find another task that doesn’t clash with its requirements”
This task was truly fit for him, Monkey type beasts were very suited for gathering task.
“The third task is a patrolling task; this is a very special task while it is dangerous its rewards are also generous. You’ll be given a fixed area to patrol outside the Endless Forest, every area is about 10 kilometers, for every month you stay you’ll be given 100 merit points, this points could be exchanged for items, lands, and even titles, if you also find anything weird inside the forest then you’ll be awarded more merit points, you’ll be given a house 3 kilometers away from your area, there will be people to deliver your needs, this also means that there will be a taskmaster to visit every week if you have tasks that you need to finish weekly, every two months you’ll be given 2 weapons of your own choosing, for free, if you don’t want to keep the weapons, you could also exchange them for mana stones, and if you persist for 5 years, then the land you patrol will be given to you as a reward”
‘This should be the task the original aimed for’ as he thought for a bit Gerard continued.
“I know you think this is a very dangerous task considering your level, but in fact, this is very suitable for you. You could let your pet patrol the area near the forest, while you stay away, say about a kilometer away from your pet. And have your horse to carry you away when there are signs of danger, truth be told there have actually been no cases of death caused by High-Grade Beasts in this task, I say cases caused by High-Grade Beasts because there had been attacks from Low-Grade Beasts especially jungle wolves and tigers but with that horse of yours you’ll be able to outrun these beasts. This is a notification bird or a twitter, once you see or suspect anything amiss near or inside the forest, you can let this bird go, it will fly to its target Officer, they are level 9-10 Professionals assigned in the City who will rush to your location”
Things really were as Gerard said, and it’s not like he’ll be sacrificing his pets for this task, once the situation becomes too dangerous then he could just unsummon the pet. These were really very suitable, and with a lot of rewards too. This was also the task the original Aeron was aiming for.
“Brother Gerard, why is this task not posted on the Task Board?”
He had to ask because he thought this should be his normal behavior seeing that the task was not posted in the Task Board.
“This task is not posted in the Task Board, we taskmasters need to judge a person or a group’s capability before we give this task out, but the requirements are quite stringent since if there are signs of danger like Beast Tides then you’ll be the first to warn the city, most of the people we give this task to are parties with at least 1 level 6 Professional, or individuals with Levels 7 or higher Professionals, and Tamers with appropriate pets. This is actually an open secret in the city, and also, know that I will be responsible for you, if you were to fail this task or quit without notice then I will be punished, so think carefully before you accept, otherwise, it’s better to just choose other tasks”
Gerard answered, Aeron thought this was the best situation for him, in fact, this was tailor-made for him, he’ll have a territory of his own, and if he chose an area that’s far from the city then he can summon all his pets without worries. With so many monkeys he should have a sizable harvest of fruits even if it was in the Endless Forest. The suggestion Gerard said was the original’s plan after taming a mount.
“I accept Brother Gerard, I would also like to accept the gathering quest.”
