72 The Tamer (1/2)
”Did you not see how it challenged me?”
The two burning azure gems sizzled into the old man's brain like heated metal nails. Freezing his body and willpower in place.
'It's one of those weirdos, huh? My luck seems to have run out then..'
The old owner temporarily closed his eyes while softly waving the raised hand. Dispersing the circle of light, and rebalancing himself. Quickly following up by positioning both arms behind his back, and aiming his tired grey eyes at the boy once more.
”Lad, do you want them or not?”
Even with the previous display, the old man eventually managed to easily find peace. However, this appearence suddenly flooded Michael's body with a sense of guilt.
It snapped him out of his trance and made him to rearrange his thoughts. Also allowing the canary, which had hurriedly jumped of his shoulder after he charged, elegantly land back on it.
”Actually.”
He retreated further away from the corpse. Looking at it for a second before getting an idea.
”Do you have samples of their blood? For that would also work in this case. Don't worry, I'll pay for the damage.”
The old man tweaked open his eyes after hearing what Michael said. Proceeding to lift one of his palms back up and brush it against the tough skin covering his jaw.
Michael felt a very awkard by the reaction he got. Mabye just butchering the rest of the animals and leaving would be ideal.... After all, it would grant him stem mass, which he hadn't tried using yet. And it wasn't like anyone here could dare challenge his might.
'I can also just clean house before I set out. Eating everyone here while in my centipede form would make quite the tail...or should I try the Dark Drake?'
An evil smile unconsciously formed over his lips as his mind wandered. It even seemed to slightly distort the atmosphere around his figure, causing the surrounding beasts to quiver in fright.
'Or mabye both at the same time?'
However, while Michael imagined how he should harness some stem mass, the old man interrupted him with an understanding answer. Sending off the shaken animals, and walking back towards the open silver fence where they entered.
”Lad, are you perhaps a [Bloodline Alchemist]? For you fit the script, especially with the strong beatial aura.”
He briefly turned around and gave Michael a quick look. Nodding in agreement with himself while signaling the boy to follow his tracks.
”Lots of them have come by here lately, so I would guess you are looking for ingredients. Got just what you need.”
Seing the old man leave sparked up Michael's interest. But before departing, he went over to the dead wolf and threw it in his storage ring. Only after that did he hurriedly make haste towards the shrinking figure exiting the greenhouse.
But as he caught up, a line of text suddenly appeared before his eyes. Dyeing part of his vision with several trancucent lines of text.
---
.
[Bloodline absorbed]
.
[Skills Activated]
.
[Source Drain Activated!]
[Source Drain: Absorb all usable organic matter and DNA from a creature. This will leave behind a drained husk, as host sucks out the creature's core components.]
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[Recreation Activated!]
[Recreation: Recreate the fading lineage stored within a creature's genetic code. This only works if the specific bloodline is thick enough.]
.
---
Michael hurriedly read through the text. Immediately going over to tilt his eyes down to the hand which had struck down the beast with a gleeful smile.
'How impressive! Andev sure knows his stuff.'
He willed the system to continue after praising the God's work. Wanting to see what kinds of genetic information he had salvaged.
---
.
[Laniary bloodlines]
.
[Lyr Vargr: 1%]
[Frost stalker wolf: 5%]
[Shikari Wolf: 10%]
---
A curious glint flashed past his eyes. Accompanied by the wandering assumptions that consisted of what use these beasts may hold.
'System, do any of these animals possess innate abilities? And if not, will they enhance my body in any possible way?'
.
[All bloodlines are of the [Lower grade], with only the [Lyr vargr] being at the [Middle grade]
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[Host's cells are unable to access [Innate ability] of [Lyr Vargr] due to the genetic code being too poor. Please collect more samples or feed it stem mass.]
.
[All present animals are greatly inferior to the one host is currently fused with; [Czar Beastlord]. Fusing lower ones with higher ones would also not be efficient.]
.
The steady smile weakened after hearing the response. His current layer was most likely tied to the bloodline he had. Or that's al least what he believed. Meaning that the higher grade it was, the quicker he could get more powerful.
'Show me my stem mass.'
---
[Stem Mass: 1%]
---
And so his smile completely faded away. Whiped off the face of this plane by the regret of not having devoured those beasts earlier.
'Just throw it in. As for the lesser ones... All [Lower grade] bloodlines that can't enhance my body or have innate abilities are to be saved up in a separate folder. Call me up after you have enough to pique my interest.'
However, as Michael was absorbed in the display, he failed to notice the old man look in his direction. Having a first class view of his maniacal grin and lusting eyes stare into what seemed like the void.
'What a lad. Did he level up?'
Eventually, they exited the oak corridor and ended up back at in the bird room. Continuing on over to a nearby counter which hid behind a pack of wild barrels. It was as old as most other object within the store, and mabye even prehistoric if considering the claw marks that ran across it's surface.
But while Michael praised the structure's tenacity to survive, the owner quickly got to work as he went behind it. Leaning down over to the side, and retriving six glass vials containing what seemed to be a type of thick red liquid. There were even some small paper slips plastered onto each one. Containing what Michael guessed was the expression date.
”Lad, these will last you three days. Keep them in a heated storage device and you got another twenty.”
He only nodded at the remark. Having more of his attention glued to the vials.
However, as Michael stared at the tiny bottles, a type of curiosity began to flood his brain. Causing him to turn from the small glass containers and back to the shopkeeper.
”Old man, you know a lot about animals, huh?”
The old owner was slightly surprised by the comment. Giving back a tired nod while he gently placed down the vials.
”Well, I should. I am a [Tamer] after all.” His voice sounded a little depressed. Was he perhaps thinking about the animal Michael killed?
But what he contemplated about didn't seem to matter much, as Michael did not stop talking.
”Tamer? As in taming animals?”
”Yes, that's my class. The path I specialize in.”
The shopkeeper kept getting a weird vibe whenever he heard the boy speak. Not able to find the reason why, but only feel that something wasn't quite right with this guy. Why was his vibe so...chaotic?
However, that unresting feeling quickly vanished when he heard Michael's next question. Most likely due to the unexpected surprise.
”Can you tell me a little about beasts then? You see, I don't possess much information in that field.”
He gave the boy another look after mentally adressing his request. Trying to find some reason to refuse, yet left without any options.
”Sure, what do you want to know, lad?”
He hadn't met many people who had shown any interest in his work since long ago, and that might have been the reason he accepted.
”How do beasts evolve?”
Michael's voice was filled with an almost material interest. One only found within a soul which hungered for knowledge. It even seemed to encourage the old man to talk.
”Well, most beasts evolve by killing and leveling up. There's not much else there....”
The shopkeeper only gave a brief and tired response back. However, the moment he saw the young man's face again, he reevaluated his answer, as Michael's usually dangerous blue eyes shone with a saddened light.
'Ai...What happened to that fierce look? Well, whatever then.'
”But there are also beasts who feed off of [Essence Radiation]. Wild reservoirs of toxic magic particles found in the nature. It can cause them to mutate in many different ways...”
He wanted to stop there. But his interest seemed to grow whenever he saw the glimmer of satisfaction make it's way over the young man's face. Making him add more fuel to the fire.
”Sadly, it really isn't that safe to use, as not only will their intelligence will be affected, but it may also cause some horrible side effects... There are, of course, some who are able to properly utilize it. So you end up with some weird monsters here and there. It's like a pack of free experience that comes with several downsides.”
Feeling that he had given a throughout response made the old owner want to ask for the pay and let the kid leave. But just before he could start to talk, Michael interrupted him yet again.
”I see. But what about when they evolve? You said earlier that the [Kruger leopards] awakened different bloodlines?”
He wanted to find a reason to decline answering this time. However, a small fire seemed to have been born within his aged heart. Causing him to unhesitantly ramble on.
”Well, when a beast reaches it's growth limit through radiation exposure or leveling, they gain the ability to evolve. It's like a metamorphic stage in their life where the shell that is the body and spirit becomes unable to contain their power.”
”And when it evolves, it calls upon the strongest possible force which can help expand it's shell. The body and spirit that is. And so, they most often seek out the strongest bloodline within their genes.”
”This is done with the help of the system, and what they will evolve into will vary from time to time. After all, every single creature is born different, and may lean towards distinct genes. Like the beasts I introduced you to.”
Michael attentively followed everything the old man said. Asking more questions only after he made sure the last one was explained.
”So you are saying we are all unique in our own way then?”
The old tamer weakly chuckled at his query. Waving it off with an almost hidden answer.
”No. We are special. Just like everybody else. And that makes us no different.”
And to the reply, he both got an understanding smile and another question. It looked like the boy he had brought in was not like your average man.
”I see. But you said animals tap into their genes, and then evolve through the help of the system. Doesn't that make it easy for them to become powerful?”
The inquiry didn't look like much. However, this particular type of question seemed to nourish a worn down ember which resided within the old man's soul. Birthing a long extinct fascination he had long lost.
”Haha, yes and no.”
Michael heard his answer, but was unable to understand what he meant. Giving him a look of confusion in hopes that he would give a thorough explanation.
The old man's smile become more gleeful when he saw the boy express his desire to learn. Now unable to find a clear enough purpose for why he should stop.
”Yes for the animals of today. No for the animals of the past.”
Both of Michael's blue eyes opened up. Delving deeper into the concealed meaning this old man kept carrying out.
”What do you mean with that...?”
The shopkeeper cheerfully laughed and stretched his back. It looked like talking to this man wasn't as tiring as he thought.
”It's been a while... Truly, it's been a while since I last met such a kindled spirit. Then let me tell you...”
”Before the [System] we all know was put to use, nature had a different way to get strong. Do you want to know what I mean?”
Michael energetically responded. Not wanting to let a valuable piece of information like this slip by.
”Please enlighten me!”
The old man's eyes faintly glimmered in excitement when he heard the reply. Now extremely happy that he had met this boy.
”I like people who show such enthusiasm in my field, so I will let you in on a little something I have studied.”
He then bendt over and stretched his hand towards an open space that resided behind the haggard counter. Quickly gripping onto something, and pulling out what resembled an almost ruined brown book.
”When animals reach a certain [level] they gain the ability to evolve. And when the times come for them to do so, the [system] taps into their genetic code and stimulates it. However...”
The cover then flew up as the old man flickered against it. Having his wrinkled fingers grace upon the ancient wrapper which held together the ancient pages.
”However..?”
Michael leaned over the chipped desk. Feasting his eyes upon the notes of old. Trying to read the inverted lines of text written in what he understood to be the english of his old world, while also listening to the old man's excited voice.
”However, long before the system existed, I have found out through a lot of research that beasts used to be much stronger!”
The curiosity inside Michael's veins started to feverishly burn. Wanting to understand what the aged man meant.
”Really? Why is that then?”
The old owner kept scrolling through the worn down pages. Seemingly giving all his notes some quick peeks to help revitalize his memory.
”It's only a theory for now, lad. But what if I told you that the system 'Fixes' what you can and cannot achieve when evolving?”