Test Pt. 4

The next day, John woke from his meditative trance at 6:30 and got dressed. His father had sent him several growth-type contracts. Most contracts limit a monster to max level or evolution, the lower the max level or evolution, the easier it is for the contracts to work and bind the soul of the monster to yours. Growth contracts are the most difficult to get to work, failing more than 90% of the time with novices, but also keep your monsters bound to you no matter how strong they become. John's dad knew that what he wanted was companions, not slaves, so he bought nearly 20 of the growth-type contracts. Thankfully, they're easy to make, and despite their difficulty they are in high demand because it's impossible to get into the Tamer's Guild without at least 3 growth-type contracted monsters. Which keeps the price fairly low at 100 credits each.

Knowing that they'd be travelling into the forest, John wore boots instead of tennis shoes, and camouflage hunting style clothes instead of his uniform. At the receptionist's desk, he managed to check out a low-level shield artifact that specializes in blocking poison and fire attacks. Normally he'd have to pay academic credits to borrow an artifact, so it took some convincing, but seeing as he was a freshmen taking the Tamer's Club exam they made an exception for him.

At 0650, John stepped out of the building and walked over to where you could leave the barrier and sat down to wait for Sam. To his surprise, the girl from yesterday sat down next to him and said, "I'm Kara, didn't expect you to pass the exam too."

Taking a moment to look her over, he realized that she was actually pretty good looking. About 5'3" with silky brown hair and green eyes. She was wearing camouflage clothing like him, but it couldn't hide the fact that she had curves... It took John a moment to shake himself out of his reverie.

"John," He said, shaking her hand, "and why not?"

"Cause you hadn't even made it past the first level of Tamer's 101."

Snorting in disgust, John looked away from her and said, "Just because I refuse to tame a bunny doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing."

The girl thought for a moment before looking down and blushing a little bit obviously embarrassed at how rude she was being.

"What type of monster did you find yesterday?" John asked, changing the subject.

Kara grinned happily, "Illusion Butterfly, capable of evolution to at least high-lieutenant level."

Taking a moment to find the entry in his memories, John frowned as he said, "Those are hard to tame because they can flit in an out of sight at will. You need place it in an illusion it can't escape, or force it into an evolution and tame it while it can't escape due to the changes it's undergoing."

Kara looked surprised at how much John knew about the Illusion Butterfly off the top of his head, "Yeah, I had to do some research on taming method's last night. I got a flute from the receptionist and some incense that will attract it. I couldn't afford to buy anything that could induce an evolution."

John nodded in understanding, their conversation ending as Sam and a gorgeous young woman walked up to them. "Ready to go?" Sam asked, and they walked through the barrier without another word, using the map app to make sure they went to the same place as yesterday as Kara and her examiner walked off in another direction.

"Today is a little different, since you answered all the questions correctly and choose a monster you want to tame we'll be going over strategies of taming as we make our way over and then I'll stand back as you make the attempt. I won't interfere even if you get injured, if I have to save you then you'll fail the exam and have to wait until next year to try again."

"Got it." John said as he shifted the pack on his back to find a more comfortable position and kept his eyes looking for danger.

"So, what's your plan?" Sam asked.

"Fire Vipers are incredibly dangerous to low-level cultivators even before they evolve or level up, so fighting it for dominance is out." John said, and saw Sam nod from the corner of his eye. "I did some research and reached out through some friends to get several mid-lieutenant fire cores. When a Fire Viper eats a higher-evolution core it goes into a temporary coma as it attempts to evolve, when it goes into the coma I'll use a growth-type contract on it."

Sam nodded, "What happens if it evolves successfully before you mange to tame it?" He asked.

"My contact was kind enough to give me a single high-lieutenant fire core if it evolves to the point that mid-lieutenant fire core's don't work on it then I'll use that. I brought 20 growth-type contracts, and according to my research it takes at least half an hour for a fire-viper to wake after eating a core. It can't eat several in a row so I can try at most twice in a day, depending on how quickly we can get to the fire viper."

"That's good, but what if it attacks you?" Sam asked as they were nearing the spot where they'd seen the Fire Viper the day before.

"I borrowed a shielding artifact from the school that protects against poison and fire attacks, it won't be able to hurt me for at least a minute after activation."

"Good, we're here." Sam said as the two of them walked out of the forest and saw the fire-viper sunbathing, its belly distended from a recent meal.

Frowning, John took a pair of binoculars out of his own bag and frowned in consternation. The Fire Viper had actually grown 6 inches over night and was at least an inch thicker. "I think it evolved last night."

Taking out his own pair, Sam cursed. "Terrible luck, good thing your brought mid and high-level cores."

As the two of them watched, the Fire Vipers distended belly began to shudder, shaking back and forth as if it were crushing whatever it'd eaten to a smaller size as it lazed in the sun. Over the course of a few minutes it went from huge to a barely noticeable bump.

Without saying anything, John pulled his backpack off and took out the box containing the fire cores and a water-proof container with 20 growth-type contracts in them. Opening up the box, he quickly pulled out one of the medium level cores before closing the box as fast as he could so that the energy contained within wouldn't attract more monsters. That small whiff of energy was enough to alert the Fire Viper, going from drowsy contentment to coiled readiness in an instant as it looked directly at John, it's tongue tasting the air. Taking out the shielding artifact, a necklace that he'd been wearing the entire time, John made sure that it was working before he confidently strode towards the Fire Viper with the core in his hand.

Since the viper had seen him, he couldn't just put the core in a spot it was sure to find and wait for it to eat the core. Monsters may not be sentient, but their instincts were honed constantly fighting for survival. If it wasn't earned, the viper wouldn't eat the core no matter how attractive it may be. Taking a deep breath, John sped up. Lifting the hand holding the core up in the air, he slammed through a fire blast and punched down on the vipers head as hard as he could. Opening it's mouth as it hissed, the viper lunged forwards to meet John's hand and bit down on it hard, forcing John's hand to spasm open, dropping the core he held down the throat of the viper. The viper convulsively swallowed the core even as it continued to pump poison into his hand.

Cursing, John shook his hand wildly until the viper let him go and he ran back to his bag to wrap his hand in a bandage before grabbing the contract. Thankfully the artifact had worked perfectly, neutralizing the poison even as it was being pumped into his hand. As he ran back to the now comatose Fire Viper, he missed the smile on Sam's face as he made sure to record the whole thing.

"Planning, preparation, improvisation, and execution." Sam said to himself, "Now all he has to do is contract the Fire Viper and he'll be a shoe in."

As Sam was lost in his own world of thought, John made it back to the Fire Viper and opened the waterproofed container with the contracts inside. Carefully, he took on out and made sure everything was in order. Hands shaking in excitement, he used a small knife to draw blood from the Fire Viper and placed a drop perfectly on the contract before he spoke.

"I, John Caplin, bind this Fire Viper to me. In return for serving me I will protect it to the best of my abilities while ensuring it's continued growth and evolution."

Most Tamer's just wanted loyal slaves they could send to their deaths and so they would promise nothing in return for service. However, John didn't want a loyal servant, he wanted a friend so he changed the wording of the ritual. As he finished speaking the contract unraveled, bursting into smoke and entering both his and the Fire Viper's bodies.

Closing his eyes, John focused on the contract and what he wished for using every trick he'd learned over the years to increase his soul's strength as the contract went to work binding the two together. Just as it was about to complete, the connection snapped and the soul of the Fire Viper tried to attack him in retaliation. Knowing this was a possibility, John had been ready for the backlash and used the final remnants of energy the contract had left behind to bind the attack of the Fire Viper. Allowing it to attack but keeping it from doing any damage, he let it attack over and over again until it ran out of soul energy.

Taking a deep breath, he took out another contract and repeated the process yet again. "I, John Caplin, bind this Fire Viper to me. In return for serving me I will protect it to the best of my ability while ensuring it's continued growth and evolution."

This time, when the contract exploded into smoke it flowed much smoother. The Fire Viper's soul had been exhausted in the attempt to retaliate against John leaving it unable to fight against the contract, binding it to John for the rest of it's life.