Speed Is King

"I need to get stronger as fast as I can so that I can protect my sisters when the apocalypse hits us." Elliot said to himself. "I have no time to lose! I have to kill as many beasts as possible and use that Large Beast Lure and tame the Large Beast before tomorrow morning!"

He dashed deeper into the forest, trying to catch up to his nine wolves and hawk. However, it was really slow going for him. He was really unfit and weak. Hawk the AI was definitely not wrong when he made his vicious comments about his strength and endurance.

Strength: 0.6

AI Comment: Weaker than the average human being. Definitely weaker than a monkey.

Endurance: 0.5

AI Comment: Far weaker than the average human being. Slightly stronger than a newborn monkey.

Still, he did not instruct his wolves and hawk to slow down. In fact, his standing imperative for them was to kill as many and as fast as possible.

The two types of animals turned out to be an excellent combination for hunting. The hawk easily killed the smaller ones and quickly called out to the wolves whenever it spied larger ones which it couldn't handle.

It was a highly efficient and deadly combo which hit the forest like a venomous plague.

In merely half a day, Elliot gained almost two thousand XP by hunting and had risen to level seven, leaving behind a gruesome trail of corpses as his hawk and wolves blazed their way deep into the forest.

Soon, the notification he had been waiting for sounded in his mind.

[XP limit gained by killing beasts reached. You will no longer gain XP by killing beasts until you reach level 10.]

"That's it then." Elliot sighed. "The easy parts are done. Now I need to attempt to tame a beast. Hawk, how do I do that?"

[Beast taming requires the formation of a soul contract. Both the Beast Tamer and the Beast must agree to the contract. To initiate the formation of the contract, simply allow your blood to mix with the beast's blood.]

"That's easy enough. How many beasts can I contract with?" Elliot asked.

[At your current level, you can only tame fourteen beasts and store 2 within you.]

"So I'll get two contracts every level? And I assume the storage is based on my Summon Beasts skill level?"

[Affirmative.]

"Perfect. Let's try taming one for starters. Hawk, wolves, bring me any animal, alive AND unharmed please!" Elliot instructed his wolves.

A series of distant howls and a shrill cry from the sky indicated that they had received his instructions. Within a minute, his hawk returned to his side with a squealing small bear cub clutched in its talons!

"Whoa! You're one brave hawk aren't you? You actually went for a bear cub!" Elliot praised the hawk effusively. The hawk screamed in pleasure and dropped the terrified bear cub right in front of me.

It was extremely small and thin, and looked positively wretched for a bear cub. It's ribs could even be seen through it's black, stringy fur. Its brown eyes were open wide and it was trembling in terror.

Elliot quickly slashed his finger with his knife and pressed it on the cut that the hawk had made on the cub's body when it was being gripped tightly in the hawk's talons.

Immediately, a weird sensation descended upon him. It was as if he had entered a mind space that only had him and the bear cub.

The bear cub's stats appeared in his mind.

Beast Type: Black Bear Cub

Beast Name: Ellie

Gender: Female

Beast Level: 1

Beast Power Level: 1

Beast Grade: Rare

Beast Bloodline: Black Bear Emperor (Inactive)

Beast Physical Status: Malnourished, Fatigued

Beast Emotional Status: Terrified

Hobby: Wandering around the forest by herself

Evolution Pathways: 7

AI Comments: A rare black bear cub and a direct offspring of the Black Bear King. If its Black Bear Emperor bloodline can be activated, it would rise in grade to become Epic and gain access to various powerful skills.

And strangely, Elliot could understand everything that the bear cub was feeling and saying!

"Nonononono! Bad birdie! Bad birdie! My momma will kill you! Huhuhuhu!" The bear cub was crying and screaming at the same time.

"Hey there." Elliot called out to it.

"AH! What happening? What you? Huhuhu!!"

"Do you want to form a contract with me? I'll make sure the hawk doesn't harm you."

The moment Elliot said the word contract, an understanding of what it was and what it entailed suddenly appeared in both his and the bear cub's minds.

"Contract'¦ NO! I want momma!! Huhuhuhuhu!!" The bear cub was hysterical and scared, and only wanted its momma.

"You either sign a contract with me or the hawk kills you." Elliot said. "In fact, there are wolves on their way here too'¦"

"WOLF?! WOLF BAD! WOLF BAD!!" The bear cub cried out in horror.

"Quick sign the contract before they arrive! I'll protect you!" Elliot said urgently.

"Ellie sign! Ellie sign!!" The bear cub shouted frantically.

Instantly, after Ellie the bear cub agreed to the contract, a sense of permanence crystallized in their mind space and it shrunk to a small space at the back of his mind.

[Black Bear Cub successfully tamed.]

[100 XP gained.]

"Yes!" Elliot pumped his fist victoriously. "Well done Ellie!"

"Ellie safe? You'¦ Master!" Ellie pounced on Elliot's feet with an unbridled sense of joy which Elliot could sense clearly.

Elliot could feel literal waves of feelings rise up from within him for this cute little bear cub which had so naively thrown in her lot with him.

"Ah Ellie. I'm sorry you had to sign a contract with me under such'¦ made up conditions. But I promise you that you will not regret your decision." Elliot murmured as he bent down and carried Ellie in his arms.

Ellie's heart almost burst for joy when Elliot did that. She nuzzled Elliot's face affectionately and licked him with her cute but very rough tongue.

"Do you want to say goodbye to your momma?" Elliot asked.

"Ellie has no momma. Momma dead long time." Ellie replied as she made herself comfortable in Elliot's arms.

Elliot could feel a lump rise up his throat as he empathized with Ellie.

"Right. I'm your family now. I'll take good care of you, don't you worry about that." Elliot stroked Ellie's fur gently.

Ellie nodded sleepily and then promptly fell asleep. She was extremely tired.

"Now then, Hawk.. What are Beast Grades and Bloodline and Evolution Pathway?" Elliot asked the AI.