Chapter 27 - The Beast Tamer

Returning to the city wasn’t particularly dangerous. Sure, a few monsters tried to attack Arthur along the way, some of them even higher level than him, but with his movement speed and Stealth, avoiding them was easy.

Rogues were one of the best classes in the early game for exactly that reason.

When the city gates finally appeared before him, along with the tall walls surrounding Snow Pine and the guards patrolling them, Arthur relaxed.

He was safe.

The guards greeted him as he passed through the gates, and Arthur headed straight toward a secluded part of the city that didn’t receive many visitors.

The area had several cages and a large open space surrounded by simple wooden fences. Inside, Arthur spotted all kinds of beasts, ranging from snow wolves to strange lizard-like creatures.

None of them tried to jump over the fences or attack the people passing nearby.

They were tamed.

That was why.

A muscular man was walking inside the fenced area. He wore simple clothes that left his toned arms completely exposed, which was quite unusual considering how cold Snow Pine was, especially now that snow had slowly begun covering the city.

Arthur walked toward him.

"Hey," he said. "Are you looking for an apprentice?"

If a normal player came here this early in the game, the NPC probably wouldn’t even answer them. There were several reasons for that: low reputation, low level, and most importantly, Beast Taming was still locked for nearly every player.

Arthur only had the low level problem.

His reputation was already quite high, and Beast Taming was unlocked for him. However, the profession was still level 1 and he had no active or passive skills related to it yet, meaning he needed to find the appropriate NPC trainer before he could actually start progressing.

The man tossed several chunks of raw meat toward his beasts before turning around to face Arthur.

"I’ve heard about you. You’re the new guy, right? Someone the mayor likes. But why? Are you some spoiled noble or some shit?"

While talking, the Beast Tamer casually continued cleaning poop off the ground.

"Not a spoiled noble. Just the apprentice of a good friend of the mayor."

"Hmm, right. Why do you want to learn how to tame beasts? It’s not easy, and most people don’t even want the trouble that comes with it."

The NPC said that because Beast Taming wasn’t available to everyone. Players needed to fulfill specific requirements before they could even unlock the profession.

It was basically inaccessible to almost 99% of the player base.

Only players who obtained certain classes or completed specific hidden quests could unlock Beast Taming.

Arthur was already one of them.

"I just really like the idea of having a powerful beast helping me fight," Arthur said honestly. "Isn’t that why you tame beasts too?"

The Beast Tamer laughed loudly.

"You’re funny."

The man seemed to think for a moment before speaking again.

"I actually need some help. The mayor asked me to tame a new beast for him, but I don’t have the time right now. Maybe you could do it for me. Are you up for it?"

[New Quest]

[Mayor’s Pet]

[Description: The Mayor wants you to tame a beast that he plans to give to someone as a pet. This beast isn’t powerful in combat, but it is fast and knows how to hide. Finding it won’t be easy.]

[Quest Rank: B]

[Rewards: Unknown]

Arthur had never heard of this quest before.

It made sense.

He knew a lot about Chronos Online, but not everything, especially when it came to Beast Taming. During his previous life, the profession had never been available to him.

"But I have no idea how to tame beasts," Arthur said. "Can you at least teach me something before I take on this task?"

"Makes sense. I can’t send you out there without knowing shit, or the mayor will fucking annoy me about it later. But you know you can’t fail, right? If you do, things are going to get ugly for both of us. Especially you."

Another notification appeared.

[The Beast Tamer will teach you the basics. However, if you fail this quest, you will lose reputation and he will refuse to accept you as his apprentice.]

[You may decline the quest and search for another way to become his apprentice in the future.]

Arthur studied the notification for a moment.

He didn’t want another opportunity in the future.

He wanted this one now.

Having a beast that could tank monsters for him while also dealing damage would make leveling much easier, especially if he managed to tame a good one. The benefits were simply too good to pass up.

He had to complete the quest no matter what.

"If you teach me well, I won’t fail."

"Let’s see. Jump the fence and come here."

Arthur jumped over it.

The moment his feet touched the ground, the wolves started howling while the lizards hissed in his direction. They clearly didn’t like having someone unfamiliar so close to them. Their tamer was probably the only person they were used to.

The Beast Tamer shouted.

"Stop it!"

The beasts immediately obeyed.

"Sit."

They obeyed again.

"I was giving them food, which is important for every beast. They need to eat, obviously. But you can’t just feed them like you would a normal dog or cat. They need to follow commands and earn the right to eat. You have to make them understand that you’re the one in control, not them."

The man continued teaching Arthur about feeding, cleaning, and taking care of a beast’s basic needs. Those were only a few of the responsibilities a Beast Tamer had to deal with.

The part Arthur was really waiting for, however, involved mana.

Yes, Beast Tamers used mana.

By imbuing their voices with it, they could influence and eventually tame beasts. But they also needed a special item to perform the contract, and the right conditions. Not all beasts were tamed the same way.

After listening to all the lessons and watching the man demonstrate several Beast Taming techniques, Arthur was greeted by a few notifications.

Since he already had the profession unlocked, he finally obtained its first basic skills.

[New Beast Taming Skills Acquired]

[Animal Whispering]

[Beast Contract]

Two new skills.

Both were core abilities of the Beast Taming profession.

Arthur couldn’t hide his smile when he saw the notifications.

’I’m moving in the right direction. Now I just need to complete the quest.’

While Arthur was learning Beast Taming, a group of three players—all of them currently in the top ten of Aldora Kingdom’s leveling rankings—were getting closer to Snow Pine City.

"I think we should find this Cinder guy and kill him. Or at least get some answers," one of them said.

"Kill him? Not now. The PK status would hurt us too much this early, especially since we’ll be using the city constantly. Let’s wait for a better opportunity."