I am Just an Average Tamer

A month passed...

Kai kept up his daily training routine and occasionally took on missions from Dante.

And—let's not forget—he still had to deal with the troublemakers.

"Phew..."

Kai exhaled.

"Finally, the penalty's been lifted," he grinned, gripping his adventurer's card between his hands.

Then he strolled over to the huge wooden board, where multiple missions were etched.

Kai scanned through them, and just as he was about to pick one—

"Kai~"

A familiar, almost soothing voice came from behind him.

His eye twitched as he turned around.

There she stood, wearing light leather armor, her caramel-colored hair tied into braids.

Beside her was a green-colored hare.

Even after a month, she hadn't left the town—

and insisted on living with them for the time being.

"What do you want now?" he asked, a mild irritation in his voice.

Lina tilted her head. "What? You got your adventurer's license back. Aren't we going on a mission today?"

"Yes, now I'm a full-fledged adventurer again. And for the record—I'm going alone."

"Too late. I already packed snacks," she said, extending her hand with the bag in front of him.

Kai stared at her blankly.

"You'll slow me down."

"Please, I'm D-rank now. And a damn good Beast Tamer, thank you very much."

Then without waiting for his response, she plucked a mission and turned to him.

"Let's do this one." She said cheerfully.

"I'm not doing anything with yo—"

Before he could finish, she wrapped her arm around his and dragged him towards the counter.

"It'll be fun, trust me. Also it pays well too, hehe!"

Kai gave her a blank look then sighed.

He knows, retorting is not an option.

Though she wasn't much weaker.

She was an Early-Intermediate Core awakener with her Varidian Hare also being at Early-Intermediate Core and let's not forget that it was a rare beast.

And it's not a bad thing to have a meat shield in the times of danger, is it?

So, he let her drag him.

They formed their party of duo and stepped outside the guild.

Kai started walking away. Lina kept pace effortlessly.

---

After completing the hours long mission, they headed back to their home—Inn, where they were staying.

Kai moved through the trees like a ghost, barely rustling a leaf.

Lina's steps—however—were louder, but still decent.

Her hare trotted close, sniffing things.

"You've got no experience outside the walls," Kai said finally. "You're going to break your ankle in some ditch."

"Hey! I've trained. I'm not weak." she huffed.

Kai stopped and looked at her. "You've probably lived a sheltered life. This is different. It's real world."

"All the missions you were doing were just a piece of cake. They were just for formalities. The real ones start at now, when you had upgraded your rank."

He then narrowed his eyes.

"Though you are not weak, you know how to fight. But... you have almost zero survival skills. Just tell me how many times I had saved you from eating those damn poisonous mushrooms? And..."

Kai began bickering about what she did, that she shouldn't have.

"And I still don't understand... why are you still sticking with me?"

Lina put her hands on her hips. "Okay, first of all, about being sheltered? For your kind information, I've been living on the streets for the past month now—"

"In the Inn, precisely." Kai cut her off.

"Aaah, just get the point. Hmph!"

She huffed.

She then pointed accusing finger at him, "Second, you already took all my money. Third, I'm barely eating even normal food now. You owe me."

Kai blinked. "What logic is that?"

"I'm basically your responsibility now." She gave him a smug smile. "Admit it."

"No."

"Too bad, I already decided."

Kai tilted his head, "Why is that?"

"Because you took all my savings, I have nothing on me, even any place to stay."

"And how is that my fault? I basically done my part of deal."

Lina narrowed her eyes.

Leaning closer, she began nudging his chest with her finger, furiously.

"You took advantage of me. A fragile little girl, injured and alone in the forest. You know no one would have saved me, even if I screamed. So you took all my money and barely left with me anything for myself. You beast."

Kai raised a brow, "You should have told be about that."

Lina leaned closer, "Then what? You could have let me walk freely? You were stronger. I didn't even stand a chance. If you'd decided to force me—or take my money by force—I couldn't have stopped you. Now stop complaining, be a man and take care of this poor little girl who have nowhere to go and nothing to eat."

She leaned back and gave a smug smile, "Don't worry, I'll pay you back... one day."

Then she turned around and whistled for her hare, who bounced back happily.

Kai sighed and kept walking.

The sun began to dip in the horizon, casting orage hue on the sky.

Shadows of the trees etched on the shadows, covering the forest area in darkness.

"Looks like we need to came out here tonight." He said and started searching his surroundings.

[<Falcon's Sight activated!>]

After scanning for few minutes, he led Lina to a little deeper parts of the forest.

The forest was eerie silent.

No growls of beasts.

No chirping of birds.

Nothing, except the rustle of the leaves due to the gentle breeze.

And crunching of the woodens barks under their feet.

Lina instinctively tugged to his sleeve.

"Relax, there are no beasts nearby. Even if there are they couldn't sense us unless we let them to."

Lina nodded.

Then quickly let go of his sleeve.

Her cheeks flushed red, witb embarrassment of her act.

Kai had activated two skills, Stealth and Skill-link.

Stealth was the skill he got from Vex, a long time ago, which helped him to conceal his presence.

And for Skill-link, it was awakened by Vex, not a long time ago and he was using it with his another skill—Beast Synchronisation.

Which let him syn with his beasts, their thoughts, senses, etc. And also let him temporarily use one of their skills, which also had their limits, like he can pick only one skill per day.

As for Skill-link, it helps him link his already known skill with others.

He had linked his Stealth skill to Lina and her Hare, whose name was also Hare, to conceal their presence.

Soon—

Shrrrr!

Their ears picked the sound of water, ahead.

Walking out of the dense trees, they found themselves near the tall mountains, with crystal clear water flowing from its cliff, shining with orange hues of the twilight.

"We'll camp here tonight."

Kai said and pulled out a makeshift tent from his storage bracelet.

Then he turned towards Lina and asked, "I'll find some logs, go and catch something..."

He stopped mid-sentence, and sighed.

"Nevermind, just stay here and try not to get lost."

He turned around to leave.

"Wait!"

He halted and turned around.

"What?" He said, barely suppressing his irritation.

"What, what? How can you leave me alone here in the dark." She said puffing her cheeks.

"It's not dark yet."

"But it's scary..." she then moved closer to him, "I'm going with you."

"Suit yourself."

He headed back to the woods, with Lina trailing after him.

After few mintues...

Kai set up a simple fire and skewered some dried meat. Lina helped herself without asking.

She took a piece and sat on a wooden log, across him, beside the campfire.

"You're not going to leave anytime soon, are you?" Kai asked.

"Nope."

Kai sighed. "Fine. But if you fall behind, I'm not carrying you."

"Noted," she said through a mouthful.

Then she brought the stick down and looked in his eyes, half serious and half—vulnerable?

"Look… I might joke around, but being with you is the first time I've felt safe out here."

Kai blinked, caught off guard.

She then glanced down, "So, yeah—I'm sticking with you. Deal with it." And slowly began munching.

Kai just stared at her for a moment, then at the makeshift tent, just for one—or maybe two persons.

"You didn't brought yours did you?"

Kai asked, glancing at her.

"Um... that's," Lina stammered, fidgeting her fingers.

Kai sighed, "Fine, you can sleep in, I'll guard outside."

"Really?"

Lina's eyes lit up.

She stood up and bolted inside the tent, Hare strolling behind her.

"Thank you very much," she said before closing the tent.

"Phew..."

Kai exhaled and stood up.

After stretching for a bit, he dropped on the ground and—

----

"Haaa..."

Kai flapped his wet hairs back and stared at the blue panel hovering infront of him.

{Daily Task}

Push-ups: 100 ✅

Pull-ups: 100 ✅

Running: 10 km ✅

Crunches: 100 ✅

Plank: 10 min ✅

[<Ding!>]

[<You've completed your daily task.>]

[<Here are your rewards: 3 pts>]

{Current Gacha Points: 21/100}

[<You have ×1 unused Gacha cupon, you want to use it?>]

[<You've been holding it for a week. If you're thinking you'll get something good by using more cupons at once... then you're badly mistaken. Rewards are random, and you know me, I'll not give you anything good like that.>]

Kai shook his head.

"Then here it goes."

'Yes.'

[<Ding!>]

[<x1 Gacha Cupon Used!>]

[<Ding!>]

[<You have obtained a rare skill!>]