8 Chapter Seven: A Stone's Throw

Just as Raidishier knew they would, his resource pools took quite a while to refill. His stamina and mana fully regened within half an hour and his health in over an hour. He'd never gone into the specific calculations of how many of which attribute did what, but he had a general understanding from the explanations of YouTubers who had. Assuming that no buffs or debuffs from skills, consumables, or equipment were involved, everyone was forced to wait an hour to regain 25% of their HP because the HP regeneration and health pool size most often balanced around there. Then, stamina regenerated at about the rate of 100% per half hour for the same reason. Mana refilled with the same rate as stamina, but with the potential of doing so faster if regen was raised a lot but pool size wasn't.

Continuing his trek without his mind being ailed by pain or exhaustion, the boy's thoughts naturally wandered to his stats and how troublesome playing the Monster Tamer Class was. He'd been wrecked by Runn1ng that second round and nearly died fighting the lizard all because of the most efficient stat allocation method for his Class, which left him virtually useless until he tamed a being that could fight for him.

Zero points represented a little bit below what the average healthy human was capable of, and all players began their playthroughs with 0 points in all six attributes of Strength, Vitality, Intelligence, Willpower, Agility, and Dexterity, while every Level gave them 5 points to distribute. Everyone's first task upon entering Aff was deciding where their first free five points would go.

Monster Tamers heavily relied on their Intelligence stat for taming beasts, as well as casting the various monster-related skills they gained access to after having a wild companion. Besides that, their starter weapon was a whip, which required points in Dexterity to be effective. And since a whip's damage output couldn't compare to most others' but still required about the same stamina consumption, everything added up to an allocation plan of 1 point in Dexterity and Agility each with the last 3 being dumped into Intelligence, for 2 of all 3 Levels. On the 3rd Level people had more freedom, but Monster Tamers generally went for 3 in Willpower and 2 in Vitality, keeping their physical stats besides Strength all equal to each other and the mental ones far enough above to make their monster magic devastating.

That all combined to mean that, while a Monster Tamer with a combative bound beast was a force to be reckoned with--especially since monsters had their own resource pools and skills to utilize--the player on their own was forced to rely on their measly prowess with a whip. Granted, most fighters and monsters had little experience against such quick weapons, but a Tamer was usually never their match because they simply didn't have enough Dexterity or Agility to contest against those more suited to melee with vastly more Strength and Vitality… And that was most Tamers, because few people managed to successfully tame companions.

Then, why didn't Monster Tamers spec more into making themselves useful? A lot did. The Tamers who dedicated themselves to exploration were fierce warriors of the whip--or chain, which required points in both Dexterity and Strength--at the cost of their already difficult ability to tame beasts. However, while those players were content with their Class's special trait suited for exploration, most were not. Thousands of players began as Monster Tamers in hopes of fighting alongside beasts but were met with a tough mystery to solve first, causing many to simply give up and create a new character or take a step back from the game until someone else figured it out. The controversy of how difficult it was to play Monster Tamer raised massive waves of discontent, but the developers held their ground, assuring everyone that the Class was balanced.

Raidishier released a tired sigh, reminding himself again why he was sacrificing so much time and energy on the difficult early path of a Monster Tamer: for the sweet taste of triumph when he not only cracked the taming code, but also reaped rewards for venturing down a unique route.

The ground shook suddenly, causing all manner of jungle underbrush around Raidishier to dance, pulling him back down from his thoughts. The boy frantically swiveled his head in search of enemies, fearing the worst. If he was truly unlucky he'd be beset by a troupe of agile monsters, like darkness-aligned birds who melted into the shadows. If he ran into those his only shot at staying alive would be to grovel at their feet and offer them bread, acting their subordinate until they left him alone.

Thankfully what he found wasn't as bad, though still capable of killing him in a single blow. A lichen-covered boulder the size of a car to his right trembled, separating into sections that all connected to form the rough shape of a stone hippopotamus, who roared. Raidishier was fortunately not within range of the skill which would have stunned him, allowing the boy to turn tail and flee in the opposite direction. It was Level 10--a height which nobody in their Continental Server had even reached, yet.

Raidishier maintained his swiftest controlled momentum possible without risking his leg snagging on a tree root or something that would send him tumbling, which equated to an average IRL-person's jog. And though that didn't sound quite fast enough, he knew his speed wasn't too shabby, because the stone hippo shaking the earth with every step behind him had 1 fewer point in Agility than he did, at 0! That monster type, he knew from research, had all their points in the attributes Vitality, Willpower, and Strength, giving them a monumental health pool, mana pool, and damage output. A single of any of its attacks would lay waste to several Raidishiers, much less him alone, but he could outrun it!

However, the beast had two spells to watch out for, making for three attacks total. Obviously it could use any manner of bodily attack, which counted as one method of offense. The second was its roar magic, which caused nearby foes to be rooted to the ground by stone that shot up to wrap around their legs. And...

The Monster Tamer listened carefully for the signs of its only ranged, and third, attack. When the hippo suddenly halted, ceasing the shaking of the ground, he knew it hadn't given up the chase. After a second without hearing its footsteps, Raidishier dove to his left, changing direction so he no longer ran in the same straight line just in time to hear a crash of an explosion land in his previous position.

The mighty stone hippo could launch chunks of the earth at its prey as projectiles.

'But it has to stay still to do so and it takes some preparation, giving me time to put space between us--'

A second earthy projectile exploded into bits less than a meter away from the boy way sooner than he thought was possible, striking him with debris that immediately stole half his health and knocking him to the ground. Dazed by pain and the sudden crash, the Monster Tamer struggled to return to his feet before jumping with all his might to the side once more, correctly guessing the timing of the next assault.

But though he dodged the mass of earth chucked at him, more debris splashed against his body, rocks bruising muscles and sharp stones cutting skin. His HP dropped into the red--below 25%--while he suffered the actual Dazed debuff, which took away some of his motor skills.

'Shit…'

He could barely feel his body through the debilitating waves of agony, signalling the end. The teen cursed his bad luck. His knowledge of the hippo was only based on other players' experiences with the monster, so perhaps nobody lived long enough to be hit by the second or third strike.

He closed his eyes and grudgingly accepted that he'd soon respawn back in Beginnerville. It wasn't all bad, however, because there were no death penalties for people below Level 10, according to the city NPCs. He wouldn't lose items, EXP, or be afflicted by debuffs...just lose the several hours of progress he'd made trekking toward the Beginner Continent's center.

But just as the Monster Tamer thought he'd taken his last breath, the gods above sent the poor sap a savior.

Light flashed so brightly that it passed through Raidishier's eyelids, giving him the Blindness debuff for a few seconds. When it faded, he put his arms beneath himself and twisted his body, painfully turning about to see what had caused the excessive brightness. Several meters away where he knew the hippo to be was instead a now-still pile of bloody, lichen-covered rocks. Above it stood a figure shrouded in light, and at first, Raidishier wondered if an admin had saved him, because no player was yet strong enough to solo a monster like the stone hippo.

Then the blinding light of a halo surrounding the figure began to fade, and he noticed a rope-like thing extending from behind them, waving slowly… A tail.

When the light fully faded, the Monster Tamer was met with the sight of a brilliantly gold and shiny monkey as tall as him, its eyes closed, its body besides its tail completely still, its hands wrapped around what seemed to be the hilt of a sword. A rare Golden Maned Tamarin.

Before Raidishier could even think to check its Level, one thought reverberated through his mind: beautiful. The creature's golden fur shone under the sun as though it were metallic, and its mane rolled gently as though buffeted by a soft wind--which there was none of; the air was still. It gave off an aura of majesty which compelled the teen to stare in awe, forgetting his surroundings.

Eventually, the Golden Maned Tamarin lifted its eyelids to reveal sparkling rings even more golden than its fur...staring right back at him.

Raidishier was jarringly brought back to himself with the realization that he may not have been saved at all, and reached for his inventory pouch in search of bread to offer in exchange for his life, but he couldn't reach it. His arms barely worked, and merely the act of holding himself up strained their muscles.

Then the monkey's sword disappeared in a flash of light--revealing it to be the product of magic--and the beast stepped off the hippo's corpse...toward him. It approached slowly, each step only taking it a tiny bit closer, but the sight seared fear into Raid's brain. Its aura of majesty alone made it domineering enough, but its gait… Watching a strange, furry facsimile of a human walk on two legs when it could have done so faster on all four was serenely terrifying.

Before he knew it the monkey stood directly before him, and...wrapped one arm around his waist, aggravating his injuries as it easily lifted him onto its shoulder, then walked back to the hippo's corpse.

'No fucking way…'

Some monsters spawned with personalities more aggressive than others, but there was also the same chance that the monster would spawn with more kindness...and it just so happened that this Golden Maned Tamarin was one such miracle. Additionally, monsters didn't appreciate when weaker creatures fought in their presence. It was likely a combination of those factors that saved his life.

Raidishier thanked his lucky stars that he wouldn't need to make the same trip through the plains again as the monkey set him down atop the stone hippo, alongside the...grossly bloody hole its magic created in it. The boy gulped, remembering the firsthand accounts he'd read from solo players who were unlucky enough to encounter more malicious versions of tamarin. The Golden Maned Tamarin was suspected to have most of its stats in only Intelligence and Willpower, because the light-affinity creature's offensive magic was what players referred to as having "glass cannon" properties. With just a single attack the monkey could one-shot the stone hippo, but at the cost of a long charge-up time and an even longer period where it had to regain control of its powerful mana. Likely, had Raidishier possessed even a single point in Willpower to allow him to sense magic, he would have been more stunned by the magnitude of energy it radiated than its beauty while it regained itself.

"Oooh," the monster called to Raidishier as it ruffled his hair, then used its fingers to carve out a chunk of gray hippo flesh, which it held to his mouth.

"Ah," the Monster Tamer let out in surprise, realizing that he was being babied. The Golden Maned Tamarin probably saw him as an infant that was bullied by the hippo, given his Level of 1. That...could be used to his advantage.

But before Raidishier could ponder over how to further befriend the powerful...Level 15 monster, it pressed the flesh against his closed lips.

"Oooh," it intoned again.

'For fuck's sake…'

The boy gritted his teeth, weighing his options. On one hand, the monkey had saved his life so it wasn't likely to just turn around and hurt him just because he turned down the flesh it was trying to feed him… But on the other, even if it didn't hurt him in anger, accepting the raw flesh could raise his reputation with it, more easily allowing him to tame the beast or at least forge a bond with it in some way.

Then again, raw flesh…

Upon the monkey's third insistence on him having the meal, Raidishier relented, mentally repeating to himself that it was just a game and he'd be fine...even as warning notifications flashed in the corner of his vision.

'This better pay off.'