Chapter 18

  The first few days of travel were filled with wonder at the world around me. I spent my days following the path, and checking the map, to ensure I was heading in the proper direction. As I passed by Mons, I’d battle them, working to level up my team to level 15, and collecting Mon crystals along the way. Most of the Mons I ran into those first few days were the variety I’d come to know. Gear Pups, Springers, Calfers, and Gearows. The Calfers continued to be the strongest, though in the wild the highest level I ran into was level 12.

  Needless to say, by the end of the first week, I’d managed to get my main four Mons all to level 15, with Cogberus growing to level 17, putting me dangerously close to the level cap. The only saving grace as I’d been training my Mons was that Cogberus took a lot more experience to level up than the others. Both a blessing and a curse, if I was being honest, because it meant he didn’t benefit from the free healing as often as the others. Still, he was a tanky boy, and as long as I wasn’t careless, he rarely ever even took damage in a battle against the lower leveled Mons we came across.

  On day four I finally reached the base of the mountain range, and found myself walking across a surprisingly open expanse of grasslands. The grass here reminded me of the cliché wheat fields you’d see in some movie about like wanted some special ‘look at this field of tall, unbothered grass as our sole figure wanders through it’ kind of vibes. Either way, it sparked a newfound sense of exploration in me, that had been fading as I’d gotten rather bored with the day to day of mountain traveling.

  Exiting the mountains and entering this grassy expanse also brought with it new Mons, which of course, filled with me even more excitement. I could only beat up Calfer’s so many times before well, it just started to feel like animal cruelty. I mean, to be fair… that was kind of the vibe of like, all of the monster taming games ever. But, seriously, I’d sworn off attacking gear pups because I couldn’t stomach their whimpers anymore, and weirdly enough, well, Calfers could make an equally pitiful sound, even if Cogberus seemed especially proud of bringing them down, given the whole ‘Calfers eat gear pups’ food chain things.

  All that didn’t matter though, as I patrolled the grassy fields, eyes scanning for new and unique Mons. The green and gold stalks of grass, about waist high, made it hard to see anything hiding beneath. Still, I could see grass stalks rustling here and there, as well as larger shapes in the distance. Obviously, in no rush to get to Silver Springs, other than of course to ensure my Cogberus didn’t over level himself, I focused on one of the spots that was moving, indicating some sort of hidden Mon. The magic of my gauntlet aided my detection, confirming there was a Mon there, though annoyingly, not showing me what it was. Apparently, if I’d never seen the creature before, and it was obscured from view, the best the magic would do was tell me, yeah, there was something there. And honestly, that was kind of ‘a no shit, I have eyes,’ kind of moment.

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  “Alright buddy,” I patted the Cogberus on its middle head with my left hand. The right head leaned into my side, and the far left head twisted upwards to lick my gauntleted hand. “Time to put in work.”

  The three-headed dog wagged its tail excitedly and turned its focus to the moving grass. I almost selected auto-battle out of habit, but stopped myself. With the Mon being unknown to me, the percentage of winning was unknown as well. Instead, I summoned my level 15 springer and level 15 Gearow as well, and prepared for battle. Both of those Mon were faster than my Calfer and worked in tandem well with my Cogberus. Usually, every battle started with my Cogberus attacking first, its stats just that much better I figured given its special status, followed by the Gearow, and then Springer, before whatever I was fighting, assuming it hadn’t already been turned into a crystal, got the chance to strike. It was a brutal, tried and true method of destruction.

  “Let’s see what’s behind door number one,” I said to my Mons. Four days of traveling with only a three-headed dog, and other random animals, made you get used to talking out loud to them to battle the otherwise potentially oppressive silence. And to their credit, while the creatures didn’t seem able to speak, they could make plenty of noises, and definitely showed they were much more intelligent than animals back on Earth. Which was saying something, considering I’d grown up with border collies and knew just how wicked smart they could be.

  Mentally I selected Manual Battle, and all three of my Mons, and myself, rushed towards the rustling grass. The magic of the gauntlet, and the world, ensured whatever I was about to battle couldn’t run away. It was kind of funny, actually. In most of the games I played, you’d get jumped by the creatures in random encounters, which could sometimes cause no small amount of headache or anxiety or frustration. But in this world, I was the random encounter, and whatever this poor creature was, was about to have its day rudely interrupted.

  Smiling at the thrill of discovery and the excitement that still filled me over the fact I was getting to live out my monster taming dreams, we reached close enough to finally see just what it was I was battling. I skidded to a stop about six feet from the creature, while my Mons circled it, waiting. My Tamer’s Gauntlet prompted me with Cogberus’s attack options before my vision. I took a moment, before attacking, to simply take in what it was we were fighting. The level left no doubt in my mind that we’d win. Meaning, I’d have a new Mon to add to my team. However, there was something about it… well, okay, there was a lot off about it, but that was just how Muns were, but one thing in particular that told me this was different. Mostly, the fact that for some reason, the Tamer’s Gauntlet was showing a star after the creature’s name.

  Pride Cub*

  Level 15

  “Well, that’s a first,” I said to no one in particular, as I prepared to give the command. After all, I could analyze the Mun even more, once it was mine. And Cogberus, was more than happy to oblige.