New Skill

After a short period of time had elapsed Rein's Venomspike Toad launched itself out of the dark-green essence pool landing on the platform beside Rein. Its whole body seemed to have grown and its green skin color had gotten a few shades darker. 

"Wow, my baby rose a whole sub tier, maybe this journey wasn't so bad after all" shouted Rein happily while grinning ear to ear. 

Taking a glance back at the Purity percentage Lance could tell that it had dropped around 30% since Turt and the Venomspike Toad had entered the pool but realizing now was his chance since Levi and Rein were distracted Lance brought his finger forward to select the "Absorb and Refine" option underneath the purity percentage. 

As soon as Lance clicked the text it began fading away and another notification popped up.

[System Points: 5 -> 0]

Staring intently at the pool, Lance could see a whirlpool begin forming around Turt, and the light green gleam that covered his bones from before began glowing increasingly brighter, glancing over at the purity percentage, Lance could see that it was dropping at an extremely rapid rate and it would only be a matter of seconds before it hit zero. 

By this point Turt had closed his eyes tightly and seemed to be in a trance like state while floating in the middle of the raging whirlpool, Levi and Rein had noticed the phenomenon a few seconds ago as well but were too entranced watching to ask any questions.

The dark green liquid began fading to a grey shade as the whirlpool also began to slow down but Turt remained floating in the middle of the pool with his eyes still tightly shut. Glancing over at the purity percentage one last time Lance could see that it had reached 0% after only a few seconds but Turt still seemed to be processing the essence.

"The text did say it could take awhile to absorb and refine the essence due to its low quality so maybe that's what's going on" thought Lance quickly before overreacting. 

"Wow, I've never heard of something like that happening before but it seems your beast has also absorbed the rest of the essence during the chaos, seeing how the pool is now grey" Levi said to Lance while still stunned from the whirlpool from earlier. 

Suddenly Turt's eyes opened and the green gleam all along his body gathered towards his tranquil eyes and as quickly as it appeared the green glimmer dispersed. Turt slowly swam back to the edge of the pool and pulled himself out, waddling forward, Lance scooped him up to try an view his status. 

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[Beast Attributes] 

-Name: Skeletonshell Turtle

-Tier: 1, low-level

-Grade: Common 

-Type: Undead/Water 

-Hp: 12/12

-Mana: 6/6 -> 10/10 

{Stats}

-Strength: 3

-Agility: 1

-Endurance: 6

-Intelligence: 2

-Soul: 1

-Magic Power: 3 -> 5

-Luck: -1

[Beast Skills]

{Passive}

{Active}

[Skill: Poison Pellet, Rarity: Common, Description: Conjure a pellet of condensed toxins to launch at your foes, Cost: 1 Mana) 

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"Wow, not only did his magic power increase but he even learned a whole skill, using my system points was totally worth it and if Levi or Rein ask any questions I can just play dumb" thought Lance happily. 

"Lance do you know what Turt gained from the essence just then, if this pool is really drained dry then he should've been able to rise at least a sub-tier but Turt looks the same as before to me" questioned Levi. 

Utilizing the covenant between Turt and himself Lance asked Turt to try and utilize his new skill by launching a poison pellet into the pool. Looking towards the pool Turt opened his mouth wide and a green thumb sized pellet began to gather and grow in between his teeth. 

"Woahhhhhhhhhhh" gasped Rein. 

"Looks like Lance lucked out" Levi muttered quietly under his breath. 

A few second after summoning the dark green pellet it propelled itself out of Turts mouth and into the middle of the pool creating a small splash, which also added a touch of color to the gray sludge that now filled the pool. 

[Turt, -1 Mana]

"Is learning a skill rare?" Lance asked.

"Well the majority of skills are gained through a beasts bloodline so gaining a skill outside of those select few their known for, can give them a significant advantage in battle depending on how well the skill suits the beast. Obviously there are some exceptions but they aren't incredibly common" Rein answered in a somewhat passionate tone. 

"Most beasts can only ever learn a few select skills and being able to practice one from a young age can really help with the growth of a beast, it seems like lady lucky was smiling down on you today" spoke Levi with a warm smile on his face.

"We should head back now, it could get dark any second and I'd rather not try and navigate through the forest in the pitch black darkness, and if we stick together we should be able to get back within an hour or so, and we can bring back this Cloudripper corpse or whatever Lance called it to Slurms Arena for a little cash" suggested Rein 

"Yeah I think its best if we head back together and we can split up when we get out of the woodlands, also what's Slurms Arena?" asked Lance with a confused look on his face. 

"Slurms is a place for beast tamers to exchange goods, acquire bounties, buy supplies and get information, while this place may be a little run down, we still need something to keep us tamers and our families safe an alive and the Arena makes that possible" responded Levi fervently, as if it he owed the place his life. 

Walking down the platform back onto ground level, Rein and Levi approached the Cloudripper's deceased furry body and picked it up to place it on Rein's Venomspike Toad. Looking around for the beasts head Lance noticed that Levi's Darkfang Viper had picked it up and had begun chewing on it like a snack. 

Following behind Rein and Levi, they left the abandoned chemical factory through a hidden side door that only Levi's father had known about. Slowly but steadily they made their way back through the forest until they reached the border of the slums just as the sun was nearly about to set. 

"Im surprised we weren't bothered by any beasts on the way back but I guess a group of 3 pets is a pretty good deterrent" spoke Rein aloud while skipping towards what seemed to be a large stone arena. It looked a little beat up but what didn't in the slums. 

"Well guys I guess we should split up here, I'm gonna head back home and get some rest" said Lance once he noticed that they were nearing the Arena.

"Once again thanks for the help Lance, if your pet hadn't assisted me and Rein, I fear we may not have been able to make it back in one piece" responded Levi while reaching out to thank Lance. 

"Yeah man you really saved our asses back there, and if you see us around don't be a stranger, there aren't a lot of beast tamers out here in the slums so we gotta look out for each other" said Rein while slapping Lance on his back encouragingly. 

"It really was no problem, I wasn't going to just leave y'all for beast food, i'll definitely check out the Arena tomorrow but me and Turt are pretty exhausted after today and just want to go lay down" said Lance in response with an exhausted look on his face. 

"Then we'll see you around Lance" responded Levi and Rein simultaneously while walking towards the large arena. 

Turning around Lance started walking back towards his dinky shack that somehow perfectly fit in-between the countless piles of rumble that lined the ground of the slums. Glancing down at Turt, Lance noticed that he was already fast asleep.

"My first day in this new world and so much has already happened, it's almost hard to believe" thought Lance while fumbling around for his house key in his pocket. Once he had it secured he unlocked the door and went inside, swiftly shutting the door behind him. 

Once inside Lance moved over to his mattress and set Turt down beside his pillow, sitting down Lance began to think about all the unbelievable stuff that had happened today. 

"I can't believe my first day in this new world I got put into such dire circumstances, me an Turt need to be far more careful from here on out, we're at the very bottom of the food chain right now and if we don't get stronger then we'll only be stomped on just like earlier" thought Lance while thinking back on the countless strikes that Turt had to endure. 

"If Levi's Darkfang Viper didn't intervene earlier we might have really never made it back to this room, and I don't want to lose my opportunity at a new life so I need to be more thoughtful from here on out" thought Lance as he slowly drifted to sleep while laying alongside Turt.