Tutorial Phase 1

Suddenly, in the black space, appeared a normal-sized wolf with red fur and bloodied eyes. Foam dripped from its jaws, hiding razor-sharp teeth. On top of its head was displayed a small descriptive window.

His Tamer's Eye revealed two data.

[Lv1 Blood Wolf]

Tameability: 10%

Eric grabbed his whip's handle firmly. Only wondering now why the touch of the weapon's leather grip felt so realistic.

Even for a dream, it was too much.

His opponent growled, ready to pounce on its delicious-looking prey. Anticipating its next meals. The chewy taste of human flesh. Juicy blood. Delightful bone marrow.

Soon it would feast.

The sight of the blood wolf slowly advancing towards him triggered adrenaline to spread through his entire body. Even though it was just a dream, he felt the thrill.

No matter, he had faced plenty of strong opponents during underground fights. He was used to the possibility of death. He welcomed it. Thus, he was able to keep his calm.

Halfway to its target, the beast suddenly sped up. Sprinting toward its next meal.

'Not now,' Eric thought, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

A quarter way.

'Not now.'

The beast jumped, ready to tear Eric's throat to shred.

'Now!'

Eric's weapon extended and bashed the beast's head in midair. Lacerating its left eye, clearly showing the whip wasn't only a pleasure tool for masochists, but also a proper weapon.

He rapidly stepped aside to avoid the falling wolf and chained his attacks, while spouting nonsense.

"You naughty wolf…"

BAM!

"…deserves…"

BAM!

"…punishment!"

While bathing its opponent in a rain of pain, Eric soon realized that the blood wolf's tameability had risen to 50%.

Bloodied, but alive, the wolf rapidly got to its feet while getting "punished" and tried to dodge. However, it was slowed down by its injuries, which were stacking up with each passing second.

That's when a primal feeling rose from the deepest part of the wolf's consciousness.

Fear.

Tameability: 95%

Since it was almost the right time for a catch, Eric reduced the distance between them. He grabbed the wolf's throat with his whip, pulled, trapped it under his shoe, and placed his hand on the blood wolf before activating Taming, removing 25 MP from his mana stat.

The iron smell of blood coming from the wolf's injuries entered Eric's nostril as it tried to free itself from his grasp. Shortly after, its futile resistance stopped and its name glowed green.

BING!

_________

[***Class Achievement: Taming a beast***]

Rewards:

*+500 exp

*+2 Skill Point

*New Title acquired: (F) Beast Tamer

_________

Eric looked at the notification window with a satisfied expression. Though, as he felt the beast's blood on his hand, he couldn't help himself but be amazed at how realistic this game was.

'Is this… really a dream?' He thought, still unaware that soon, he would have an answer to his question.

[Congratulations Master on completing the first part of the Tutorial. *Applauding*]

[You've been granted access to your inventory]

Eric ignored the operator since he had a more pressing matter at hand. His first beast pet was in a pitiful state.

Areas of missing red fur here and there. Gaping wounds from which blood poured out. Eric's combat whip had done its job bloody well.

Though it couldn't kill as fast as a sword, spear, or most other weapons, it was practical to inflict severe pain. Something that seemed to help with taming a beast without killing it first.

'Just in case I need to get my hands on another weapon that can kill faster.' Eric thought. The whip was great, but wasn't an efficient killing tool. The one he had, at least. Also, that would certainly change as his stats increase.

Then, he turned back his attention to his beast. The blood wolf was about to die if he did nothing. He placed his hand on the wolf and promptly used his skill First Aid.

His palm emitted a green, soothing light that enveloped the wolf's entire body. Progressively closing its wounds. Eric repeated the same process, each time draining 10 MP.

By the time his mana almost hit rock bottom, the wolf was entirely healed, and its fur had grown back

"There, as handsome as you were when you pounced me," Eric said, petting the wolf that growled in response. It seemingly still held a grudge. Understandable. However, it let itself be petted by its new master.

[+5% Trust]

"Hum? What's that?"

As a Tamer, Eric of course had access to his pet's status. Hoping to find an answer to his question, he opened it.

______

[Blood Wolf Lv1]

____STATS____

HP: 100/100

Mana: 100/100

Trust: 55%

Strength: 10

Agility: 20

Magic: 10

Physical Resist: 10

Magical Resist: 10

Exp: 0/1000

____SKILLS____

Passive: None

Active: (F-) Bite / (F) Howl

______

A few differences with his own status stuck out like sore thumbs.

First, it had no name. He tried to give it one, but no change occurred. The reason? Unknown. No matter, he decided to call it Welf anyway, because it sounded like "wealth" but also wolf at the same time.

Second, Welf had no attribute or skill points. The reason? Still unknown. Third, it had a peculiar stat called Trust. The reason? Guessable.

Eric supposed it was somewhat linked to the trust his new pet had for him. Perhaps the higher it was, the more willing Welf would be to accept Eric as its new master. And since it recently rose to 55%, Eric deduced the standard stat was set to 50%. Probably.

[*Cough* Master, I'd advise you to check out your inventory. The second part of the Tutorial will start soon. As it involves other humans, I cannot delay it.]

With that cough, Eric was reminded of the operator's presence.

Curious about its status, he decided to check that out before the inventory. Unfortunately, it was void. He supposed it made sense since it had no physical form. Or maybe something else prevented him from accessing the status.

He put that matter aside for later—or never—and opened his inventory with a thought. Transparent cubes appeared in his vision. Eric came to realize it was separated in two sections.

Equipment slots were for his pets and equipment, which could be summoned and unsummoned with a thought. There were armor slots for each part of his body. Two weapon slots in which he promptly used one to store his whip.

There were also two pet slots because of his class. To Welf's apparent displeasure, Eric stored it inside a slot, then summoned it with a thought.

"That's practical."

The second section was the storage slots where five transparent cubes were displayed. Which meant he could only store five random items in them.

He closed it and gathered his thoughts.

Eric would like to test out his new pet's skills, but apparently, he had no time for this since another challenge would start soon. Although he instinctively knew what they could do, it was always better to test first.

But like a certain quote goes: "There is no better teacher than adversity."

[Master, the second phase is starting]

As soon the operator said that a portal leading who-knows-where opened in front of Eric.