I wake up the next day as the sun rises over the horizon. Everyone else had woken up and was preparing their equipment, checking and making sure their equipment is still of good quality.
"What's our plan?" - Stellar
Stellar walks over to me after sending Gyumi to the grasslands to bring the night watch back to us, so they get to hear about the next step in our plan.
"I'll tell everyone. Gather round, it's time we move on from here." - Ian
I give everyone a moment to come close, as well as wait for the night watch to come back. Once everyone has gathered in front of me, it was time to tell them my plan.
"We have been gone from HavenFall for a week and a half. We have fought various enemies, both weak and strong. We have won and we have lost. I'm sure everyone here knows, that we are still weak. We can't fight against those big monsters that we saw not too long again, and we can't fight against the Queen of Spider. We are weak.
Because we were weak, Luke has been taken from us. While he isn't dead, what can we do to save him? Nothing, we are weak. Too weak to save someone we care about. We need to get stronger, but before that, we need to recuperate. By now, I'm sure old man Hus, Howard, and Noah have found the new resource and have excavated it from the ground.
We are going back, with the materials we have gathered from the monsters in this place, and we are going to combine them with what they have found. Why? To become stronger. Didn't you notice? Our weapons and our armor don't work on some monsters. They break. So how do we fix that? Simply make them stronger, and what happens when our weapons and our armor are stronger? We become stronger.
It's time to head home, but along the way, we need to still do things. The boar monsters, Xabarils, we are going to capture and breed them at HavenFall as a source of meat. They were difficult to hold down, so capturing them might be difficult as well, but hopefully, we can do it.
Furthermore, I also want to capture and breed the Zivotinjas. I'm unsure if they are able to carry our weight and become mounts, but on the off chance they can, we will be able to use them to traverse greater distances in less time. I noticed during this journey that we were very slow in moving and while everyone tried their best, I feel like we need a faster mode of transportation.
Any objections or anyone that has any suggestions?" - Ian
"Umm… Ian?" - Celine
Celine puts up her hand in the middle of the group, waving it in the air to get attention.
"Yes, Celine?" - Ian
"If we find a way to trap the monsters or a way to immobilize them, I can try to speak to them." - Celine
"Can you elaborate?" - Ian
"Well, during our time fighting the monsters, I picked up on some conversations between the monsters. If your objective is to tame them, then I can at least try to convince them through words." - Celine
Name: Celine
Race: Human
Health Points (HP): 20/20
Mana Points (MP): 6/6
Strength: 6
Vitality: 10
Intelligence: 12
Dexterity: 6
Agility: 8
Luck: 3
Skill: Animal Lover ( Passive ), Monster Tamer (Passive)
Monster Tamer (Passive) - Has the ability to tame a monster via speech, food, or dominance. A tamed monster will listen to the commands of the tamer and may gain stats or skills depending on the interactions between the monster and the tamer. Tamed monsters are also able to breed and create offspring. Offspring will gain stat boosts and skills from parent monsters.
I didn't know Celine had gained a new skill, and what a perfect skill for her, since Animal Lover makes animals of all kinds become more passive around her. However, the skill doesn't explain the chances or the duration Celine needs to interact with the monster in order to tame them.
"Have you tried to tame something before?" - Ian
"Not yet. I haven't had a chance since I was using the time to understand the language between the monsters. However, I feel like I can try to do it now. I know each monster is different even if they are of the same type, which means each method of taming is different. I will try speech first and try to find a common ground before maybe offering the monster food and telling it, that it will never need to go hungry again. Something like that?" - Celine
"Alright, we can give it a shot. Does anyone else want to speak up?" - Ian
I look around and only see the determined faces on everyone. I nod to them and pick up two daggers, twirling them in my hands as I let out a breath.
"Alright then. Goblin scouts spread out, taking into account every monster group as we travel back towards the forest. Our goal is to go back to the place that overlooks the grassland first before entering the forest. When there is a group of Zivotinjas or Xabarils come back, and we will determine the method of taming them. Shield bearers will be in the front, with the goblin archers in the back. Stellar, and Gewari, use the mask to scout further ahead. Everyone else is in the center." - Ian
"YES IAN!" - Everyone
Everyone springs into action, leaving Nina and Lynn a little dumbfounded as they see even Ken and Kaede move with purpose.
"Nina, Lynn, the two of you will be in the center with us." - Ian
"Yes, Ian!" - Nina and Lynn
"No need to be so stiff. For now, the both of you just need to get used to us. You can display your magic at a later date, since we are only going to fight against a few monsters this time." - Ian
"Got it." - Nina
We start our journey back to the forest. It will take another week to get back, since we are thinking of taming monsters as well. The first time we were moving through here, we were killing them, but now we want to tame them. The more tamed monsters the better and since Celine has acquired a new skill I want them even more.
I had thought about acquiring the monsters before, but since the objective was to find the treasure and then move back, I wanted to leave the taming to the return journey. When fighting the Zivotinjas, I notice that some of them were taller than even David, making them taller than 2 meters. With their somewhat bulky builds, they looked to be able to handle an adult wearing armor, but only time will tell.
I had researched online about the plausible aspects of riding zebras, but due to their smaller frame, they weren't used as mounts. However, this zebra is as big as some horses, which makes me positive about the aspects of using them as a mount. Plus they have a barrier skill, which makes me want them more since Solar can only cast Shield so many times before she runs out of MP.
Taming the Xabarils will be good for HavenFall as well, after all, when we killed them, the loot that was dropped was an abundance of cut meat. The meat will become a staple food in HavenFall after we start to breed the Xabarils and with the strongest ones, they can end up becoming mounts for the goblins.
I had thought that the wolves would end up being mounts for the goblins, but that will have to be in the foreseeable future since they spawn after 5 days and take a while before they grow up to become adults. If the goblins can get mounts then I can have a small cavalry force and while they won't be as strong as actual cavalry, they will be able to attack from different fronts in a larger battle.
This still all depends on the success of Celine's taming. Since we are still unsure of the conditions needed to tame a monster, we have to be careful with our approach. Xabarils are aggressive and tend to charge toward us the moment we enter their sights. While, the Zivotinjas are smart enough to think about running away if they encounter an unfavorable situation.
I was deep in my thoughts, walking through the grassland with everyone, when one of the goblin scouts came back from the front along with Stellar and Gewari.
"We have a group of Xabarils roaming in front of us, in the valley between two hills. There are 4 of them and they are currently eating the grass and moving around." - Stellar
"Great job and we haven't been wondering for too long either. Have the shield bearers ready to tank the Xabarils' charge while Celine, tell the wolves to run to the sides and back. Surround the Xabarils but do not engage in the fight we need them to charge towards us." - Ian
"On it." - Celine
"Afterward, have the goblin scouts spread out in a circle to keep watch of any other approaching monsters. Everyone else is on standby. Be ready to attack the monsters if they are going to harm anyone. Solar cast shield on Celine. Celine, I don't know how you are going to tame them, but be careful. If anything happens that might look like you are going to be in danger, we will attack, okay?" - Ian
"Alright, just wait before attacking, okay?" - Celine
"Got it, everyone, get into position. Let's do this." - Ian
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