Chapter 8 - Requirements to Enter the Portal

Jamie turned off to the right at a road, driving into a large parking lot with a large area of land behind it. In the center of the land, was a large black building with two entrances, with one at the front, and the other at the back. The words 'Warpets Delux' plastered along the top with the images of a tiger looking upwards, growling at an eagle slightly above it, to its right, on a stage. Connected to either side of the building was a gray wall at 3 meters tall, half the height of the building, which connected to either side of the building and surrounded the land, with only one gateway in the wall at the back of the fence, besides the building.

Jamie got out of his van, opening the back, where Eve hopped out of the van, followed by the black dragon poking it's head out cautiously. Jaime reached down, and attached a leash to the collar around it's neck while transmitting to it cautiously "Easy now. Just follow behind me, and stick behind Eve. No one will harm you."

The dragon looked at him and transmitted "scared."

After Jamie attached the leash to the collar, he stayed there, rubbing the baby dragon's neck for two minutes, until it calmed down. He then took a bag out the van and put it on his back, then led the dragon out of the van, closed the door, and started leading the way to the store, while holding on the leash of the dragon. Eve followed behind him, and the dragon closely behind Eve, afraid that it would be left behind. Jamie could not help but notice all the looks he was getting, or more accurately, the dragon was getting, but put it out of his mind.

When he entered, he exchanged a wave with the girl at the checkout serving customers, and headed to towards the door at the back, to the enclosures outside for the bonded pets of the staff to be kept. He entered the enclosure with a small grassy field with a lake in the middle, where there was a White Swirled Crow inside, and a large, black leopard. He transmitted to Eve "keep an eye on the dragon" to which she gave a disdainful huff.

Jamie then took off the leash on the dragon and gave it a light rub on the neck, then transmitted to it "your safe here, and you can play here. Just stick with Eve."

The dragon let out a low growl, then went to Eve, who gave the dragon a lick on the nose, before it sprinted to a beast in the area, a White Swirled Crow, with the dragon hesitating slightly, before slowly following her. Jamie put the leash in his bag, then watched the dragon and Eve interact with the White Swirled Crow. After five minutes, Jamie got up to leave, sure the dragon would not lash out. As he turned, he saw a man at the entrance watching the dragon. The man was wearing glasses, and he looked frail, with a loose brown shirt on. After seeing Jaime turn around he nodded to Jamie and said "Hello Jamie. Is that Dragon yours?"

Jamie paused for a moment, stunned, before quickly replying "Yes Boss."

"Have you given it a name yet?"

"Nope. I just bonded with it before I had to head in today. I didn't have time to think of a good name."

"It's a good beast for a Battlepet Master. If I am not mistaken, it will reach stage two sometime in the next two days. Something you need to keep in mind though, most dragon species are aggressive, and like to fight. You should consider bringing it it to the training building after your shift to work off some aggression."

With that the man turned around and headed out the room, with the black leopard running up to the man and exiting the the enclosure with him. Jamie, meanwhile, smiled as he walked away. With his boss having seen the dragon himself, he didn't believe he would be discounted from the portal expedition that the store would soon embark upon. He then went to the locker room and dumped his bag in a corner.

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Jamie sat at a table in a small room for staff, exhausted. He had spent his time at work following Beastamer Ivan, as he looked after the beasts, mostly feeding them. The problem with this, is that some of the adults were not fully domesticated and had a habit of lashing out at humans. Along with this, he followed Ivan along as he demonstrated some techniques used among young beasts to help get them used to human contact, such as ways to hold and touch them. Along with the physical exhaustion he had to endure while diving out of the way of a random beasts attack, he had to try to memorize the different ways to interact with flying and land beasts to help them get used to a humans presence.

He was not the only one who sat at the the metal table in the small room, which had a gray, concrete floor. Besides him, sat four other people, all trainees like him. They were told to wait as the boss had something to say to them. As Jamie sat slouched in the chair, he heard some footsteps approaching the room, before the door opened, as the boss, Scott, walked in. After entering the room, carrying a folder in his hand, he flashed everyone a smile, before standing at the center of the room. He then started to speak.

"Now, I'm sure everyone here can guess why they are asked to remain behind. With the portal being opened up to the Hunters Association, soon beast stores will be allowed entrance as well. We should be allowed to enter after a week, if anything unexpected doesn't occur. I want to ask if anyone among you want to go."

"Me" "I Do"

Along Jamie, one other occupant in the room, the sole female in the room, Emily, whom had pink hair tied into a ponytail, answered back. Scott paused, waiting if anyone else would answer. When they did not, he continued. "You two need to be aware, it is dangerous. While the area around the portal has been cleaned up by the military, along with the Hunters Association, you can still lose your life. Especially as we will be trying to capture the beasts who have been part of the factions that have attacked humans. Are you sure you two want to go?"

Jamie and Emily both nodded. Scott pulled out two forms from his folder, and handed it to Emily and Jamie. After handing them the forms he said "read these forms over carefully before signing them. I need these forms filled out and returned by Friday. And you need to have bonded a stage 2 beast before you hand it back, at the very least, or be a stage 2 Martial Warrior. Otherwise, you can't go. That's all, everyone can head home now."

With that, Scott walked out of the room. Jamie took a look at the form, and his heart chilled and his hands started shaking. It was a waver form, for any incidents that would happen in the portal. He looked up from the form, to see that he and Emily were the only ones in there. Emily gave Jamie a reassuring smile. "It's really not as bad as they make it out to be. I've been in portals before, and returned back safe."

Jamie gave a tight lipped smile to Emily and said "Good to know. I just need some time to think about it."

"Okay. I'm heading off, see ya."

With that, she got up and left leaving Jamie alone with with his nerves. He never fully appreciated that he could die venturing into the portal until he saw the waiver form. He sat there for a minute, stuck in his fear and nerves, thinking about how he could die, and some of the images of people he had seen dead flashing through his mind. Eventually, he thought of his time in Windia seven years ago, before snapping out of his fear. He thought to himself "This is what I wanted. I can't back out now. I will NOT allow myself to be slaughtered haplessly."

Jamie took a deep breath, before getting up. He decided to finally go to the training room with his beasts. Before, he didn't stay and check it out, because he wanted to get back to Bob's house as quickly as possible to spend time with the dragon to bond it. Now that he had bonded with it, it was imperative he spend as much time as possible learning to fight with his beasts before venturing into the portal, to help increase the chances he could survive.

He walked to the enclosure where his beasts were kept, and upon seeing him enter, they ran up to him. He squatted, and rubbed them both affectionately, then transmitted to them both "Were going to the training room. It's time we learned how to fight."