A Friendly Voice & The New Companion

Jonah’s first reaction to being rudely pushed through the portal was not happiness. It was mild nearly severe annoyance. He hadn’t hated what he saw in the portal but he wasn’t ready to go into it and frankly the young human felt that he was entitled to a bit of breather since he had just died. He felt annoyance and after thinking about it for a few moments a bit of righteous indignation at his circumstances and the rude way he was treated by the Taino spirit of death.

The portal had shown him a video-like magically conjured and moving image of a grassy plain filled with wildlife and what were probably low-level monsters idling about and going about their business but the young boxer had never consented to going there. The Zemi of death either decided that that was where Jonah was going or someone else had ahead of time unbeknownst to Jonah. That being said after Guayaba pushed Jonah through the portal the Zemi closed it and Jonah somehow instinctively knew better than to try and reopen it.

Jonah merely stood in silent thought in the middle of the pleasant grassy plain he had been dropped in and was pushing himself closer and closer to accepting his odd situation when the voice introduced itself. It was a soft and feminine voice. A pleasant voice.

“Hello Jonah! Maquetaurie would like me to apologize on his behalf. He knows that you were and are still adjusting to having been killed. If it were up to him he most likely would have waited until you felt ready to move to this world instead of unceremoniously pushing you through a portal and into a world that is largely unlike the world you were just in. You must understand that forces outside of Maquetaurie’s control forced him to do that. I am… well I’m the manifestation of a special ‘skill’ Maquetaurie bestowed upon you for the sake of aiding in your transition from the world you are from, to a new world, this one. You can call me Tutorial since that’s the name of the skill I am the vocal embodiment of. Since I’m a ‘skill’ I am a part of you and I can read your thoughts while offering you advice based off of your current situation. My purpose is to give you bits and pieces of knowledge to help you find your way through this world safely. I’ll do my best to help you out without intruding or making an annoyance out of myself. I am just one of the ‘gifts’ Maquetaurie mentioned would be bestowed upon you to help you out since you aren’t like some of the other otherworlders and didn’t get exposure to this concept in your world of origin.”

In addition to hearing the voice, he could also “see” a blue window in front of him that served as subtitles of sorts for the voice but he also understood without knowing how he understood that even if he could “see” the strange window others might not be able to do so since he felt that it was a window meant for him. He wondered if others had windows unique to themselves. The voice was apparently a sort of gift in the form of a special “skill” by Maquetaurie, who was apparently apologetic about what he did to Jonah.

Jonah was a cynical person so he wasn’t ready to immediately accept what may or may not have actually been an apology but he also accepted the possibility that the voice was being honest and for now accepted that his lack of knowledge prevented him from having both a strong and reasonable opinion right now. He opted to have a reasonable opinion and wait for more evidence before he decided whether or not he could accept this apology.

Jonah was about to be annoyed and overwhelmed by the length of Tutorial’s next message but thankfully he was warned in advance by a small sound in his head that said “Alert, long message incoming”. That gave him time to mentally clear his head before his vision was overwhelmed by a positively massive blue window.

“Don’t worry Jonah, Maquetaurie will undoubtedly convince you of the honesty of his words soon enough. For now I want to focus on giving you the proper knowledge you need to make the most efficient use of your time in this simple plain. ‘Classes’ exist in this world and you like many other talented youngsters here have been given a ‘class’ based off of your abilities and personality. Sadly you never had a chance to train this innate talent of yours in your first life but you are or maybe I should say were gifted when it came to interacting with animals and that has been the key factor in deciding what job to give you. You are a ‘monster tamer’, which means that you have a neat skill that enables you to domesticate monsters.

“Monsters in this world are a lot like monsters in the video games from your world but we also use the term ‘monster’ as a shorthand for any and all creatures that can’t communicate using varied languages like humans and the so-called demi-humans can. Your monster-taming skill can tame most creatures that qualify as monsters, but it can’t tame undead beings or spirits. Some monsters that you’d be comfortable with envisioning as monsters like slimes exist here. As do giant and fierce versions of animals like bears and eagles as well as insects like centipedes and scorpions from your world. Smaller and less bloodthirsty versions of giant animals and insects also exist but generally taming them is a waste of time unless you want to practice the sensations of taming a monster.

“Monster tamers tend to be among the more wily and versatile adventurers because they and their tamed monsters are capable of a wide range of tasks and roles in battle and even outside of battle. By becoming a skilled monster tamer and gaining valuable companions in the form of domesticated monsters you can be someone who excels at a lot of different things and even take on quests meant for parties with just your monstrous companions.

“I’d recommend that you go and fight some of the monsters here barehanded first to get used to fighting in this world but once you truly want to become as strong as possible you should find a monster that you think would make a good companion and use your skill on it. Thankfully this isn’t an anime or anything so you don’t have to shout to use your skill. I'll explain the process once you decide what it is that you want to tame. As you advance your ‘level’ or your experience using the classe's various skills and the skills themselves you’ll be able to gain more monstrous companions and better make use of their skills. For now find someone you feel that you can bond with and make them into a pal of yours. Once you’ve made a pal that way I’ll talk to you more about what you can do next. Until then, good luck and have fun!”

Tutorial had just given Jonah some seriously useful knowledge. He hadn’t been an avid video-game player during his first life but even he was aware of things like classes and skills so it was neat to learn that this world had them and that the beings who ruled over this place somehow made them into a part of reality. That being said, the blue textbox was annoying when it came in massive chunks like that. Jonah hoped that Tutorial would ease up on the length of these messages as he became a more knowledgeable resident of this world but since “she” was giving him this knowledge for his own sake he wasn’t going to complain.

For now the young boxer turned monster-tamer saw no problem with working hard and becoming stronger. There’d be time to mourn what he lost when he was killed in his first life but he knew better than to mourn in the middle of a grassy plain in broad daylight. The best course of action was probably what Tutorial suggested, finding a monster to fight so he could get some practice and then finding one to tame.

Jonah’s newfound goal enabled him to take his first step since he had been placed in this strange and apparently monster-filled world. It wasn’t a big or particularly fast step mind you, but it was still a step and an action that wasn’t breathing, blinking, or mentally chatting with Tutorial.

To the gods watching him, this move was undoubtedly a step in the right direction although perhaps not literally since the city they wanted him to go to was in the other direction but they counted on Tutorial to explain that to him once he’s had some fun in the plains. To the strange creature that had seen Jonah be pushed through a portal this was exciting since it meant its prey was in fact alive and not somehow a corpse that a god or some strange monster decided to throw away in the middle of the plain.

Jonah walked in no specific direction for a while, hoping that he’d come across something to fight. He had no way of knowing that he had been placed in this new world at the crack of dawn and that many of the creatures in this specific area were nocturnal. Luckily for him being nocturnal doesn’t mean that all monsters and animals turn invisible and incorporeal it just meant he’d have to search for a monster or come across one by chance. And luckily for the creature watching Jonah this meant it’d have a chance to truly size up its prey before challenging him itself.

Jonah’s first encounter with a monster in his second life began after what he had intended to be a step turned into an unintentional kick that collided with a small goblin that had been sleeping in a hole it had dug for itself the night before while walking in no meaningful direction. The goblin awoke with a start and was irritated by Jonah’s carefree attitude while roaming around the plain. While it reacted to and awoke thanks to the pain it felt while receiving an accidental kick it was sure to retrieve the tree-branch it used as a weapon and leapt at the boxer as fast as it possibly could hoping that it’s sudden attack would catch the human off-guard.

Jonah had immediately stepped back after accidentally kicking the creature and assumed a stance from which he could easily defend himself. He wasn’t capable of verbally communicating with it but he was more than capable of telling that it was angry. When the creature threw itself at him he was ready.

Jonah was surprised that he kicked the little monster but he wasn’t stunned by the speed of its movements since to him the goblin was moving at a snail’s pace. Jonah was a boxer and it’d take speeds far higher than that to catch him off-guard. When the creature threw itself at him Jonah had taken time to analyze it, and had chuckled silently at how accurate his world’s depiction of goblins appeared to be.

The creature that angrily threw itself at Jonah was a small green vaguely human-like creature. It was perhaps 3 and a half feet tall. It used a sharpened tree branch as its weapon, holding it like a spear aimed at Jonah and the little monster was raring to fight. The small green creature really wasn’t that different from a young human in terms of size but it had a ugly face covered in bumps and acne which it combined with unsightly green skin. To his surprise he was able to honestly say that it behaved almost exactly like a human child but at least it had been kicked. Normally human children are that aggressive without provocation.

The only bit of clothing it wore was a checkered loincloth which was clearly meant to protect its legs and its family jewels just in case it ever fought creatures that didn’t hesitate to do what is needed to win in life or death battles, It was also an easy target. Jonah’s threw a single punch aimed at the creature’s stomach in mid-air at a speed that stunned the goblin as well as the gods who had been watching Jonah’s “adventure” with an apathy that had been starting to turn into boredom until the young boxer finally started to move.

Jonah’s mid-air punch connected cleanly with the goblin. It did a massive amount of damage to the goblin and left it unable to plan its next move thanks to the tremendous pain that overwhelmed its senses and its mind. It also had the effect of slamming the goblin into the ground at a much higher speed than it leaped at Jonah. The goblin was slammed with such force that it created a small crater.

The force of the punch that Jonah threw without any real intent to kill was tremendously painful to the goblin since it was so weak in comparison to the young boxer. What Jonah had intended for the punch to do was merely stop the creature from launching an attack with its tree branch and instead the one punch he threw not only severely damaged the goblin it also completely trampled its will to fight and the goblin that was knocked to the floor had mentally surrendered. It decided to stay in the hole that it’s body slamming into the ground made and whimpered when Jonah’s head came into view.

The boxer was curious if the monster was intended to fight still and once the goblin’s whimpers and tears made it clear that it wasn’t he nodded, satisfied with that outcome. Jonah wasn’t a ruthless person so he had no problem with the fight ending without taking the goblins life provided it wasn’t going to try and attack him any further. Once he was sure that the little green monster wasn’t a threat he once again went on his merry way. It was at this point that he once again heard Tutorial.

“So you didn’t kill it huh? That’s a bit surprising but not a bad thing. You gained some ‘experience’ thanks to that fight and you’ll find that the more fights you’re in and the more you specialize in one form of attack the stronger it’ll become and the stronger you’ll become. This isn’t really different from the world you came from but it’s more concentrated and faster here than on Earth. That being said you won’t see vague and meaningless numbers every time a fight ends.”

Tutorial’s statement was brief, something Jonah was grateful for. He liked not feeling alone but he didn’t want to be overwhelmed by her statement again. He also enjoyed the sensation of his first “fight” but he was aware that the goblin was something he was considerably stronger than and he wanted to find a more challenging opponent. Thankfully he wouldn’t have to wait long to do so. The creature that had been hiding decided it was time to challenge the young boxer to a real fight.

Jonah’s next opponent had observed his fight against the goblin and felt that it could challenge the young unarmed fighter so once Jonah had walked away from where the goblin had been defeated the creature prepared itself to engage the human in combat. Jonah was no fool and could sense killing intent which caused him to smirk and wonder to himself “Is this the sort of creature I’m looking for in a real companion?” He readied himself for some actual combat and took a basic boxing stance with his arms up and his feet evenly spread apart. He waited for his opponent to reveal itself silently and wondered how this fight would go.

The monster that wanted to challenge Jonah was a kobold. Kobolds are aggressive vaguely humanoid lizards that possess rudimentary intelligence but are not smart enough to form independent cultures. Instead when they form groups they rally around a smarter and stronger creature and form something a bit like a protoculture that exists primarily to serve the stronger creature in exchange for scraps of food and a chance to live safe lives due to their master’s strength and a lack of nearby enemies. It is in these protocultures that kobolds mate and form rudimentary families. Sometimes individuals, particularly young individuals strike out on their own either to adventure by themselves or find another set of kobolds to join.

The kobold had been able to observe Jonah fight the goblin by making use of a handy skill it possessed, named “Natural Camouflage” by whatever cosmic force named skill. This skill granted it limited invisibility that could be seen through by a clever or watchful enemy, especially at the low-level of the skill that the kobold had. Even though it could have been detected in theory it wasn’t detected by Jonah until it began to release killing intent aimed at the boxer.

The kobold deactivated its skill in a show of arrogance and pride to no one but itself and in doing so became visible to Jonah. The young boxer wondered what kind of creature it was while he studied it but he also readied himself for whatever tactic it had up its metaphorical sleeve. The creature was about 12 feet away from Jonah and made a show of trying to look large so that it could evoke fear in Jonah. He was unimpressed by that but he didn’t hate the looks of this creature. He waited for it to act so he could better size it up but he studied it while waiting.

Jonah’s enemy was a big lizard that stood on two legs and held a sharp-looking but clearly crudely crafted stone dagger in its thin left-hand. The creature’s skin was hidden underneath shiny blue scales and it had a devious looking face. It’s eyes were snake-like and it gave off the air of a dangerous creature thanks in equal parts to its dagger and its eyes. Unsurprisingly it was hair-less and wore no armor undoubtedly favoring its own natural protection in the form of its scales over artificial armor.

It rose the dagger it had in its scaly left hand and pointed it at Jonah while smirking. When it opened its mouth to let out what was intended to be an intimidating shriek but ended up being heard as loud noise to its opponent it revealed rows of shark-like ivory teeth. The boxer estimated his opponent’s size to be about 4 feet tall and was a bit impressed by it if he were being honest. He made a decision to tame it, and Tutorial quickly explained how he could go about activating his skill, thankfully without a blue screen appearing in the center of Jonah’s consciousness.

Rather than wait for the creature he didn’t yet know was a kobold to act Jonah suddenly lunged forward, moving at a speed he had yet to demonstrate in this world but was known for back on Earth. He closed the distance between the two in an instant and threw a single punch at the creature. He wasn’t putting a lot of force in the punch since he knew his opponent would likely react to it in time and landing the blow cleanly wasn’t the intent of it anyway.

Jonah wasn’t just a boxer. He was also a speedy runner and due to that he had built up explosive power in his legs that didn’t quite rival his fists but was definitely enough to use in a fight, especially if his opponents weren’t prepared for kicks. He bet the kobold wouldn’t have been ready to receive a kick from someone who clearly valued using his fists in combat, an assumption he made due in part to the dagger the kobold used since it meant that the creature valued tools over its own natural weapons.

He was correct in his assessment of his opponent’s ability to narrowly dodge the blow but he immediately threw a single powerful kick at his opponent that it was unable to dodge due to the small distance between them and the explosive speed of the attack. The kobold was lifted off the ground by the force of the kick and landed on its side a few feet away from where it had been just moments ago. It had accidentally let go of its dagger while in mid-air since it was in shock and possibly felt numb from the force of the blow it had received.

Jonah had now fulfilled the requirements needed to activate his skill. While the kobold was trying to lift itself up and get back on its feet to continue fighting Jonah silently activated his monster taming skill and did something he had never tried to do on Earth. He unleashed a wave of “mental energy” at his opponent, something which felt unnatural to him since back on Earth such an action was most commonly considered silly and never did anything. To his surprise the skill successfully activated.

Monster-taming in process. Attempt to mentally communicate with the kobold you’re attempting to tame. This will help in the taming process and increase your likelihood of success.

Jonah attempted to do as the window commanded but was a bit surprised to learn that not all windows had narrators associated with them. He was also surprised to learn that the creature he was attempting to tame was a kobold.

Mentally communicating was also an unnatural action to people from Earth so he hoped he was doing it right and felt a bit worried that he might not have been. He sent out thoughts introducing himself to the kobold who probably out of shock due to these sudden thoughts invading its head had stopped trying to get up and was reacting to the confusing messages it must have gotten. Jonah was pleasantly surprised to hear back from the Kobold after a few seconds awkward silence thanks to the creature’s delayed reaction which came as a result of the creature processing both Jonah's voice in its head and the strange windows it was seeing that weren't like the windows it was used to seeing.

“Hello? Can you hear me? I'm the 'kobold' as your kind call my species. I don’t really have a name since our kind tend to die young and names were seen as pointless in the caves my tribe lived in. I wanted to kill you and eat you earlier but now after having received that kick… I can tell we're not in the same league. Pursuing this further would leave me injured at best.”

The kobold’s mental messages came with a narration that unlike Tutorial’s was male. Jonah realized that this most likely meant that the kobold he was “taming” was a male kobold.

“Well Mr. Kobold, I’m interested in taming you. You have good instincts and I feel like you could become strong one day. As you can tell after having received my kick earlier my strength is the real deal. If you join me you’ll be joining a monster tamer who is intent on becoming stronger and strengthening his companions. If you refuse I won’t kill you but you’ll be losing a chance to gain strength and a chance to live a life that isn’t consumed with worry about food or a constant fear of death at the hands of something stronger than you deciding to make a meal out of you.”

Jonah’s mental message touched on what was being offered and acknowledged the creature’s good points. It had sharp instincts and was in fact a mass of as of yet untrained and unshaped potential. The fact that it apparently hadn’t completely given up after receiving a somewhat real blow of Jonah’s meant it had some endurance and its camouflage skill was neat. Jonah waited for the creature’s reaction to his offer. The kobold got up off the ground and sat down but didn’t yet “send” a response to Jonah’s invitation. After a minute or two of what to Jonah looked like careful contemplation, the creature responded.

“I’ll join you. Your strength is real and you don’t seem to be the sort to lie about something like this. You have some real intent behind your strikes, even that fake out with your punch.

“You’re a monster tamer right? The kobolds in the cave I was born in heard of your kind but having a kobold be ‘tamed’ by one of you wasn’t really something we considered likely even if it were possible. I’m interested in what you can do and what you will do. Consider my strength yours. Let’s grow together.”

Jonah had just gained his first companion, a blue kobold armed with a bone dagger. He could somehow feel his skill growing in strength because of this and he also felt happy that so shortly after coming to this world he could gain a new companion. Tutorial’s voice cut through his moment of quiet happiness but what she said didn’t bring an abrupt end to his mood.

Congratulations Jonah! Your new companion is a level 3 kobold with just one skill so far, ‘Natural Camouflage’. Your new friend will not only grow with you he’ll also grow independently thanks to his own advancement. Tamed monsters are not subservient to their tamers but rather they are trusted friends and valuable allies. Your skill doesn’t erase a monster’s will but rather opens a channel for the two of you to communicate intelligently with each other which is otherwise very difficult to do. I know you’ll become a talented monster-tamer in time. Now that you’ve gained a new friend you should go ahead and go to the nearest city, which is a few miles east of where you are. Just walk back the way you came from where you started and then keep on walking. It’s currently 8 in the morning. I predict you’ll get to your destination in around 2 hours!

After hearing that Jonah happily listened to Tutorial’s wisdom, helped the kobold back onto its feet, and the two companions began walking east towards the mysterious city.

A/N: This is originally published on Royal Road Legends. That site has boxes. Those boxes are what I used for what you are reading as italicized text. If you like this novel so far I recommend following it and checking it out there as well! I want my stories to be as readable as possible so I'll be them here as well as there. Let me know what you think!