Chapter 12: Taming magic practice

The next morning we went to accept the Giant Leafhopper extermination mission and went to the northern forest with Laina, Kalvig and Raven as the rest were investigating the town hall. Giant Leafhoppers are similar to grasshoppers of Earth, except that they are as big as a cat and their color changes depending on the season. The buzzing of their wings was all around us. I sent out one of my most tough slimes, the Golden slime, and had him lure some Leafhoppers to us.

„Good work goldie!“ Lena smiled as she brandished her rapier and used the <Light infuse> spell to coat her blade with light magic. Her slash was extremely effective as it blew away the Leafhopper’s left hinge leg.

„Good work, my lady. Now finish it,“ Raven stood at a safe distance and clapped his hands.

„Right!“ Lena drew in her blade in semi-circular motion and delivered a simple slash that obliterated the hopper’s head.

„That was amazing, Lena!“ Blanche added her part.

„The spell you used, ‘Light Infuse’… I guess it’s some kind of buffing spell?“

„It belongs to the category of Arcane Sword techniques. Ever heard of it?“

„No, I did not,“ I confessed. I had strapped the Black sword of the bandit I defeated to my waist, but I was not sure if I should use it or not.

„Arcane sword techniques are a combination of magic and swordsmanship. As you can see, Lena is using Light magic on top of her own swordsmanship. This technique is especially good against undead monsters more so with Light magic or Fire magic. Also dear, your speed and accuracy could use some polishing,“ Laina spoke to the two of us.

„Doesn’t it have some downside, though?“ I had to ask as the technique interested me a little.

„It does. If you don’t have a sword from material that can withstand your magic, you risk your sword breaking. That’s why Lena’s rapier is made from Angel’s wing bone.“

„Angels are naturally gifted Light magic using monsters you can find on rare occasions in Dimensional Rifts and places where Light magic energy gathers.“

„They are mainly tamed by priests who find themselves lacking in magic power.“

„Though, taming a humanoid angel is highly frowned upon,“ Raven added.

„Some priests used to lose their sense of reason with them which ended up in the angel’s giving birth to a child. Similarly to your Gobinas Arito, these children of man and monster are strongly resented by most people. Some even call them Failed Angels or Fallen Angels. Though, there already are other races called that.“

„And what Monster Appraisal spell calls them?“

„Monster Appraisal calls them two things: Amazoness for females and Empyrs for males,“ Kalvig said and continued with slightly painted smile, „Some Amazoness formed a village in Great Sea of Trees Appaluga and grew their numbers by kidnapping unsuspecting adventurers… we had quite a hard time getting them back back then. Some of those fools didn’t even want to go back…“

„And what about Empyrs?“ Blanche asked.

„Most of them choose the path of celibacy and enter shrines in faraway places with only male priests, or choose vasectomy. Though there was one that became an adventurer some six hundred years ago and later became a royal guard,“ Kalvig answered my question.

„Does it happen a lot that people and monsters breed between each other?“ Blanche asked.

„You don’t usually hear about it in public, but it does happen often. Though, only with humanoid monsters I never heard of someone having a child with a non-humanoid monster,“ Raven had a slightly painted look on his face and I couldn’t blame him, after all this isn’t what you want to discuss with kids.

„Though, such people would be definitely ostracized by the general population,“ Kalvig added.

„Indeed,“ the rest of us said as one.

„Let’s return to the hunt. Blanche, do you want to take the next one?“

„Yes!“ Blanche took out her arrow and tugged it in the special bow I made for the two of us.

„I must say, that’s one weird bow…“

„Right? How did you make it?“

„Oh, Arito made it for me. Do you want to try it out?“ Blanche smiled proudly talking to Laina.

„Arito made it? Why am I not surprised,“ four pairs of eyes stabbed me.

„Yes, I made it. It’s easier to pull and have more strength too. And that is without using physical or magical energy to boost its power.“

At that moment, the golden slime rolled out of the bushes and two Leafhoppers appeared behind it. Blanche shot her arrow and quickly took out another one and shot the second hopper that didn’t even realize what happened to his friend. The arrows pierced through their heads and dug into trees behind the Leafhoppers too.

„Oh wow…“

„That’s some amazing power…“

With that we continued the hunt for quite a while and I collected the wings and their protective shells as they were proof of subjugation to the guild and selling them could cash you quite some money as they were used for blades and protective gear for newbies.

„Alright now. Let’s get to training the taming magic now. And for that… ta-daaaa!“ Laina took out a cage with two lizard monsters. Seeing her cue, Blanche headed out to look for herbs, guarded by Agatha.

„These two are called Bearded Nagas. As you can see, they are six-legged lizard monsters with a lot of spikes on their head and neck. Hence the name.“

„Are they related to Nagas?“ I asked.

„Very distantly, but as they mature, they gain the human-like face the Nagas are known for,“ Henry told me.

„As you are trying to tame Blue-Tailed Lizards, we need to find out if you are compatible with lizard type monsters. Otherwise we would have to look for other monsters that are easy to keep as pets similar to the Slimes,“ Laina said with a gentle smile.

„I will do my best!“ Lena said with determined look in her eyes. Looking at her like this makes me think she really is a little girl her age… she can really act well.

Thus, we formed a contract with the Bearded Nagas. Mine was brownish gold and her was pinkish white. They both were about six weeks old and were about fifty centimeters long, their tail forming most of the body.

Bearded Naga

An adapted monster known for its incredible breeding speed. They have the ability to produce fertile eggs even without any males around just a week after they fully mature. Their maturity can be determined by their head, which usually turns human-like. Their size when fully mature depends on how much they eat, at most their size can be six meters in lenght. Shed skin 4, Bite 3, Roll 3, Paralyzing saliva 2, Play dead 2, Escape 2, Spike shot 1

„Taming successful,“ the two of us said at the same time.

„Great. Now tell me, do you feel any discomfort?“

„I only feel the little one’s curiosity.“

„My little one is a little afraid, but I don’t feel any discomfort at all,“ Lena said.

„Great, that means you are compatible,“ Laina nodded satisfiedly.

„Today you will learn two spells, the first is called [Impersonate] which will give you the aura of your tamed monster. This will make the same kind of monster more willing to make a contract with you, while weaker monsters will run away from you. Also, if you tame an Undead monster, you can walk through hordes of Undead without getting attacked by them with this spell on.“

„Question! If I used this spell with slime in mind, would it make stronger monsters attracted to us?“ Lena asked with her hand raised high.

„Correct. And as we don’t know what kind of monster lives in this forest, we brought in unknown species as it usually makes the locals careful to approach,“ Kalvig said.

„Does this spell work on Goblins and Vampires too?“ I asked.

„It works on all kinds of monsters. Humanoid too, but you need to have it tamed when casting the spell or it won’t work.“

„How will we know it’s a success?“ Lena shot another question.

„A slightly translucent image will show over your face, let me show you <Impersonate>“ Kalvig used the spell and a translucent head of an eagle with two feathers sticking out of its head like horns appeared over his face with a majestic cry. At the same time, I could feel monsters around us in the forest turning their tails and running away. Our Bearded Nagas rolled over on their back and froze. I guess this is the Play dead skill, huh?

„Oh, sorry about scaring the young ones,“ Kalving smiled happily as he canceled his spell, „This spell however will come in play later. To cast it, you will need to first learn how to share senses with your monster. The spell is called [As one]. Summoners use a similar spell called [Unity] which is like the combination of the two, but you don’t need to remember that right now. First try to concentrate on your link with your monster and then cast it.“

„Okay!“ we nodded and looked at our Bearded Nagas. I whispered the name of the spell several times until…

„Oh… this is… weird…“

It felt as if looking at the monitor in the supermarket where you saw yourself, all the while looking at yourself from the other side too.

„You managed it already?“

„This is weird…“ Lena said too, a visible discomfort written all over her face.

„So fast!“ Laina was surprised.

„To think both of them would learn it this quickly…“

„You are going great, try closing your eyes and concentrate only on your monsters' scenes.“

„Hm? I smell something sweet…“ I said as I looked around through the lizard’s eyes. The lizard started walking and I felt the sun heated ground on both my hands and feet. What a bizarre sensation…

My naga started climbing a tree and entered a hole where it found a bee colony. The bees attacked, but due to his tough skin it only felt as if something soft was hitting him. My naga started eating the honey and sweet taste spread in my mouth.

„This is really amazing…“ I ordered the Bearded Naga to come back down and I picked him up from the tree. The bees didn’t follow him as they were still wary of Kalvig. I guess the spell he used before must’ve scared them. How clever these monsters are is fascinating.

„I guess I will call you Hoga,“ I smiled and scratched the Bearded Naga’s chin, which he really enjoyed.

„You are naming him already? Then I guess I will name mine Rose!“

Is it because she is pink?

„You both managed to do it really quickly, now you only need to train and gain experience. You can try an Impersonate spell.“

„Okay! Impersonate! … it didn’t work…“ Lena got a little sad.

„Impersonate… yeah, me too…“

„Well, you can’t do everything perfectly on your first try. The most important thing is to not give up and continue working up your experience,“ Laina said with a soft smile.

„Hmmmm… <Impersonate!>“ Lena shouted and a soft white-ish yellow glow appeared before her face. At the same time, the Bearded Naga on her shoulder wriggled and glow up as well.

„Oh wow… this is a weird feeling… like, when I used As One, I got to see from Rose’s point of view, but now it's like I'm using her eyes myself…“

„That is correct. When using Impersonate, you take on the abilities of the monster.“

„Does that mean we could fly if we channeled a bird?“

„Sadly, no. You can only use abilities your body allows you to. But sometimes you can feel lighter. You see, using this spell makes you take on some characteristics of the monster you are channeling.“

So not flying, but would floating work? I need to tame a monster like that one day…

„That being said, when taming aquatic monsters you can find yourself being able to stay underwater longer, but not breathe the water like they do.“

„Oh! Speaking of aquatic monsters, does the river here have River Sahuagins?“

„No, why?“

„I found around fifteen eggs in the harbor of the sawmill we were working in yesterday. I did report it to the boss of the sawmill and showed him the eggs too, so I guess the info will spread soon.“

„Hmm… but River Sahuagins are extremely dangerous during their mating season, I doubt no one would notice them,“ Kalvig frowned and called one of his messenger birds and sent it towards the town.

While the bird was gone, we continued training, until…

„Huuu… <Impersonate>“ I casted the spell successfully for the first time, „Oh wow, this is great…“

When the spell activated, my vision turned slightly greenish with red standing out a lot. Apparently, the Bearded Nagas were Omnivores who in their place of origin mainly ate red fruits similar to pineapple. I turned around and looked at Kalvig, who for some reason turned darker with more distinctively glowing eyes and marks. Surprised by the change, I looked at my hands and found them the same.

„Interesting, right? Us Ancients tend to be distinctively different when spectrum changes. Through the eyes of some monsters you can even see how much magic power the other person possess'“

„Wow, that’s amazing.“

„I’m back!“ At that moment, Blanche returned to our group with Agatha.

„Pretty…“ that single word escaped my mouth as I looked at Blanche walking up to me. Her skin became as white as snow, the same as her hairs and her eyes glowed red.

„J-Jeez! Arito’s making me blush…“ Blanche casted her eyes down and walked up to me, „it’s okay when it’s just the two of us, but in front of everyone… it’s really embarrassing, you know?“

„Sorry,“ I smiled happily and canceled the spell, returning her to her original look.

„Young miss, you forgot something.“

„Ah! Right! I have something for you, Arito,“ Blanche picked up a small pouch fastened to her waist and showed it to me.

„Is that… a monster?“

„We found it near a small creak going towards the river.“

What she showed me was a small, barely five centimeters long, black snake with tiny blue eyes.

Blue Moon viper

Adapted monster that absorbed power of the Blue Moon. It is said that Moon Viper born during the Blue moon have mystical abilities. Coil 5, Bite 5, Poison creation 4, Poison resistance 4, Poison magic 3, Water magic 3, Glare 3, Lightning magic 1, Paralysis resistance 2

Blue moon is something specific to this world. Every month, all ten moons turn from their original colors to dark blue. During this time, Magic Born monsters rampage unless they are in magically created space. Romi, who is a Magic born monster too, closed herself in her sarcophagus before I learned how to use Dimension home.

During the Blue Moon, Slimes segregate liquid that changes its ability depending on which slime segregates them.

„Ooooh!!! <Tame!> Thanks a bunch Blanche! This is amazing!“

„What is it? A Moon viper?“

„No, this is an extremely rare variant born during the Blue Moon. It’s Blue Moon Viper.“

„Oh my~ Blue Moon Vipers are extremely rare,“ Laina said with an impressed look.

„Indeed. They are as rare as they are dangerous. The Adventurers guild ranks them as A rank monster and even infants like this one are ranked as B rank threat. How did you manage to capture it?“ Kalving turned to Blanche and Agatha.

„The young miss spotted the herbs she was after, were being eaten in large quantities by some unknown monster and trailed it. Once we managed to get to the creek, the monster in question was gone and this little one was lying there hurt. Miss Blanche used healing magic on it and brought it with us,“ Agatha explained.

„I see. Thanks a bunch for going out so much,“ I patted Blanche’s head and she let out a soft laugh.

At that moment, the previously released bird returned with information from Henry. Apparently the root of city problems was found thanks to the River Sahuagins eggs.

„We need to get back to the town,“ Kalvig said with a dark look in his eyes.

What the heck is happening right now?