8 - Meeting New People

Val carefully removed the claws and teeth of the Light Ray Lion's corpse placing them inside his backpack next to the Goblin ear. He then proceeded to the eyes, he paid even more attention and care in removing the eyes as they were far less solid than the other parts, and could be damaged far easier. They were also very valuable and Val wanted to maximize his potential earnings, as he had no money and was completely broke.

Thankfully he removed them without damaging them and was able to safely keep them in his backpack.

After he completed his task, he was very exhausted, he wanted to rest for a bit and eat something. So he took out some more dried meat and started eating.

Usually, when people eat too much dried meat they get sick of it really quickly. The taste and texture are not good, and it is very chewy. It is not a pleasant eating experience. However, Val had grown up in an underfunded orphanage, so he was very used to eating poor-quality food and small servings. It was quite lucky that he had good genes and was not underweight or undersized for his age and maintained a healthy appearance.

As Val was eating his dried food the little Light Ray Lion cub woke up from his nap and looked towards Val. It was clear that there was no hostility towards Val anymore, and if someone looked closely they may notice a look of care and familiarity. The [Tame] had not just created a link for Val, it was the same for the cub.

Val looked back at the cub and noticed its attention was being drawn to the dried meat, so with a sigh, Val handed over the remaining dried meat he had in his hand and then patted the head of the cute cub who quickly scoffed down the dried meat.

Val had been thinking of a good name, and the only name that came to mind, that fit the Light Ray Lion cub was 'Leo'. Leo the Light Ray Lion. He thought it rolled off the tongue nicely and fit well. So he decided this would be his familiar's name.

"From now on, your name will be Leo, what do you think?"

Leo raised his head and gave his best attempt at a roar. It was weak, high-pitched, and very cute. It was not a roar of anger but one of happiness. Leo really liked the name and was happy that he had one now. Leo then moved and sat on Val's lap again, he was not tired anymore and did not need to sleep, but he just liked this place to sit. He had decided that this would be his sitting place from now on.

Once Leo got comfortable Val started to speak,

"Leo we have to figure out the plan from here on, it will start getting dark soon and we need to find a safe place to sleep. I think it will be a good idea to move out of the forest for the night. We should begin to move once I have rested and we have determined a plan."

Leo just meowed in response, but Val could tell he agreed with what had been said.

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After an hour of resting and thinking about what they should do, they concluded that they needed to leave the forest and return to the road. The road would be much safer to sleep, and there would still be dangers, such as bandits or monsters and beasts that had wandered out of the forest looking for food, but they were far less likely than if they camped inside the forest.

If they saw any animals, they planned to kill them and eat them for dinner, the stock of dried meat had decreased significantly now that there were two of them.

Val also decided that he would bury Leo's mother as a sign of respect, she had provided a lot for him through her death, and for Leo's sake, he thought it would be for the best. He did not have a shovel to dig a hole, so he found some rocks and slowly stacked them around the corpse of the Light Ray Lion.

They then decided it was time to head off. As they were making their way out of the forest, towards the road, Leo meowed indicating for Val to stop because he had seen something.

"What is it Leo, can you sense an enemy?"

Leo had very good senses, his hearing and smell were naturally very good, and his Light Talent also improved his eyesight. Leo who had been walking next to Val nodded his head in a direction and then started sprinting towards some shrubs. Val knew he had seen something but did not know why he started running towards the bushes. Val was about to say something but then shut his mouth when he saw that Leo had caught a rabbit and was currently snapping its neck with his jaw, as he carried it in his mouth. There was also another rabbit that started fleeing immediately as its partner was being slaughtered. Val did not miss this opportunity, he quickly used [Port] and moved to the front of the rabbit, stabbing it straight through the stomach, killing it instantly.

Leo wanted to eat his prey straight away, but Val stopped him, they were not far from leaving the forest and it would be better to leave before eating. For Val he would have to drain the blood of the rabbit before eating, so he could not eat immediately regardless.

They continued on their journey to leave the forest for another hour, Leo regularly whined with meows, wanting to eat his first catch, but Val kept telling him to be patient.

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They eventually made it out of the forest and could see the road that connected the towns and villages in the area. They ideally wanted to find a nice spot, where they could set up camp, start a fire and cook. As they were looking around for the right place, they heard some noises and walked toward the sounds. As they got closer a group of approximately 15 people was camping a little away from the road.

Once Val and Leo could see that it was a group of merchants with caravans who had set up camp, they stopped, not wanting to get too close. Unfortunately, as the merchants were visible to Val, Val was also visible to the merchants. The merchants stopped talking and looked at Val, then 3 humans began walking towards Val and Leo, the 3 people did not seem to be worried and were most likely just walking over to talk to Val and make sure he was not here to start any trouble. Two of the people walking over were most likely adventurers. The female adventurer on the left had a long sword on her waist and the male adventurer on the right had a spear on his back. The man in the middle did not have a weapon and the clothes he was wearing were not armor and were of a much nicer quality than what Val was used to.

As they approached, Val became wary, he was not a trusting person, to begin with, and he did not know these people. He placed his hand on his sword which was at his waist, preparing to draw it if these people were a threat. Leo moved behind Val, beasts naturally grow up quickly and are capable of movement from birth but it still takes them time to grow their strength, and Leo who was only born earlier today knew he was no match for these people, and did not want to get in the way of Val fighting if these people turned hostile. He knew he could not fight them head on but he could support Val from afar with his skill [Laser Roar].

The three people stopped a few meters away from Val, they had noticed that he was cautious of them, and they did not want to intimidate or scare him. He was, after all, a 10-year-old boy. It was clear to them, that he was a newbie adventurer, and even though he was young, it was not uncommon for 10-year-olds to become adventurers, especially around these parts, the outer regions of the Kingdom.

The male adventurer took a step forward and asked,

"Hey boy, what's your name? I'm Mark and the female is Becky, we are D-Rank adventurers. This man is Mr. Gregory, a merchant and the head of this caravan."

Val nodded and responded slightly awkwardly,

"Hello, I am Val, F-Rank adventurer, and this is Leo my familiar."

Mark gave a smile and a nod, he then responded,

"It is very impressive to have a Light Ray Lion as a familiar, even if he is just a baby. How'd you tame him?"

Val gave a sheepish smile and stayed quiet. Val was not very comfortable talking to strangers, and he also did not want to share what had happened, incase these people tried to rob him of the loot that he had obtained. It was not uncommon for adventurers to rob and kill if they knew they would not be caught, Val had heard about it many times growing up.

Mark understood immediately that Val did not want to speak about it, so he did not push the matter. Becky was more wary than Mark and was just observing the conversation, not planning to take part, Mark was their party leader and a more social person, she would often leave communication tasks to him. Mr. Gregory had also been observing, he was thinking deeply about Val. To him, this boy was clearly talented. As a merchant he knew a lot of things, he traveled around a lot and talked to many people about many things, and he also had quite an extensive communication network. So he was fully aware that the [Tame] skill was an A-Rank skill, which meant the boy in front of him had to have at least an A-Rank Life talent. He also had a rusty short sword at his waist, which would indicate he had a sword talent as well. Of course, he could not confirm this, because people can still use weapons even if they do not have a Talent but generally people don't because it is far less efficient to train without a Talent.

Mr. Gregory took a step forward and opens his mouth to speak...