Is It Wrong to Try to Tame Monsters in a Dungeon? (Written seriously)

(This chapter was uploaded on Friday 23/February/2024 8:00 PM, timezone GMT+3)

(This chapter was edited on Monday 26/February/2024 7:12 AM, timezone GMT+3)

Special thanks to RikuKage for acting as my beta reader for the opening chapters of this fanfiction.

(Line Break)

('1), ('2), ('3), etc. means that there is some explaining for the thing in the notes at the end of the chapter.

"..." small moment of silence

"Talking"

"He-" Someone was interrupted.

'Thinking'

[Skills' names, chanting, spell keys and spells' names]

(PoV)

(Flashback)

Don't shy from commenting on typos and/or inconsistencies. That and/or suggesting a modification to certain things that didn't make sense to you.

I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

(Line Break) (Henryk's PoV)

"Pie! Piiee!" A certain beak continued pecking me until I woke up. 

"Awake! I am awake!" I quickly replied to avoid any further pecking. 

"Huff!" Before I opened my eyes, I felt her huffing at my face. 

Did she just huff? What's she learning? And what's she huffing about? Is she mocking me now? Is she pleased with herself for waking me up? I only hope she doesn't turn into a monster by eating magic stones. 

Before heading to the gate, I conducted some warm-up exercises to relieve the soreness caused by sleeping on a tree branch.

Yesterday, while I was leaving the village, I mentioned to the guards that I would like to stay temporarily in the village while working as a hunter. 

They agreed to ask the village's head if there were any requests he wanted me to complete in exchange for Valis.

Could I trust them, though? I already distanced myself from my world's people for so long after I faced betrayal. Could I be acquainted with better people here? Or are th-

'Henhen! Bad kid! Mommy didn't raise a distrustful kid who judges others by other people's mistakes!' I heard a voice in my head.

Am I that messed up in the head? I think I heard my dear mother's voice just now. I may have already stepped past the point of being considered sane. And why was I imagining her calling herself 'Mommy'? I stopped calling her that for a while now.

But, disregarding that I hallucinated for now, what I heard was right. Mom didn't raise me to doubt others just because of mistakes made by some 3rd party. I should give the villagers of Preblica a chance before judging them.

I walked closer to the gates and headed for one of the two guards currently standing at the gates.

"Good morning, Shane. Have something for me yet?" I greeted the guard who had let me in yesterday. He was a middle-aged man with fading orange hair and cyan eyes. He looked somewhat old, but there weren't many wrinkles on him. The rest was hidden behind full-body leather armour.

"So, you came as promised, Henryk. Good morning" Shane waited for me to come closer before returning the greetings with a polite smile.

"Should we talk somewhere else" Shane looked at the scarce traffic in this early morning. He turned around while also gesturing with his hand to follow him then started walking. He led me some distance away from the gates, around the outer parameter.

While walking behind him, I thought that maybe he was instructed to tell me some details they don't want everyone to know about? I mean, I don't think they were stupid enough to willingly plan to give me privy or dangerous information about their village's circumstances, right? Not to mention, the things I'll hear here might easily be a hidden test to see if I could be entrusted with secrets even if they were trivial. Although it's unlikely, seeing as I'm a newcomer of only a few days, the possibility's still there.

...

Why's Fey quiet? She normally always does something to avoid getting bored. But she was strangely quiet after we approached the gates, and was standing still atop my shoulders especially after I started following Shane to this place.

I tilt my head back to look at her and found her looking back at me.

"Pie!" After a little bit of staring at each other's eyes, she pecked my forehead and pointed her left wing at Shane.

This unusual behaviour again. She pointed at the river last time. And now, she's pointing at Shane. What else'd change within her thought process?

"Your eagle seems to be unusually smart" Shane said with an amazed face. He was cupping his chin and looking at Fey with slight interest. It looked more of a passing thing for now.

"Why thank you. I pride myself in her" I said as I patted her side softly.

At my words, Shane shook his head and looked at me with renewed grim attention.

"Luckily for you, the village head had something he wants you to investigate. He warns you of its dangers but wishes for you to push forward and bring information about it for us. Will you?" Shane told me that with a serious expression.

I should show him that I'm still considering it. When he sees that, it'll paint me as a man who's careful about his safety.

I saw Shane's face twitch a little. It didn't feel like he was scrutinizing me or anything. No. It looked like he prevented himself from smiling at my action.

Maybe being thoughtful of my actions is something they want me to have? I hope I am. Even if it wasn't for them, I still need to be. In a society, your actions affect everyone around you whether you liked it or not.

"Of course, you will be given no less than 8,000 Valis. Depending on what you find, the pay could be increased by another 2,000 Valis, making for a total of 10,000 Valis. And if you could provide a valid solution to us, the pay would be doubled to 20,000 Valis" Shane told me while hiding his reaction to my cautiousness behind a professional attitude.

That much money could help me survive for a week or two. With Fey, that's reduced to a maximum of five days. I may need to continue undertaking these quests at least once every three days to maintain an acceptable emergency fund.

How easy it felt to rely on my parents' money in the early days! But I need to continue on my own, just as I pushed myself to be independent of the inheritance given to me by my family members. 

Maybe I can find this world's equivalent of a philosopher's stone. Perhaps I'll be able to revive Mom and Dad with it? I'll need to return to my home world with the thing in hand before I can even attempt it. One more goal to add to my list. 

"I'll do my best if I could do it. What am I possibly tasked with?" I phrased my words in that trying to convey my intention of first weighing my options before committing to the quest. Depending on the quest's requirement, I may not be able to do it currently.

"Recently, an elderly hunter from our village noticed a strange movement from the silver wolves. They are the closest to our village among the wolf packs in the forest" There it is! A face of genuine worry!

It seems that these wolves might be a concern for them. It is indeed dangerous when an animal does something out of its species' norm.

"The size of their pack has been estimated to be around 25-30 wolves, give or take 5 wolves. They normally stayed closer to the center of their territory. But they started appearing closer to our village than desirable. Investigate why they changed their hunting grounds. You can start by the river, where they are bound to go to drink water at some point" Shane filled me on the quest's details. It may be quite dangerous.

Maybe if I solved it without thinking about the dangers involved. But I shouldn't try it this time. A pack of wolves is no joke. I need to recall all of my knowledge of various animals' behavioural patterns and trails in different terrains.

Wolves are always where their prey is. If I can tail their prey animals, I may stumble upon their tracks by chance. I should also remember the tracks of other canines, just in case I saw the tracks of foxes, coyotes or some other canine species.

"Is there another quest I could do alongside this one?" I asked Shane in an attempt to strike two birds with one stone. Well, I'll be striking them with both hands. That still counts towards the metaphor, right?

"I don't want to pressure you, Henryk. For now, one quest is enough" Shane said with some concern in his eyes. I knew that it wasn't anything deep or personal, and it may have not even been genuine. It may merely be him being concerned about a person who could be a support for his village. And even if the support was small, coming from a loner like me, it still counts in the long run. 

I can work on my interactions with him more later, as I prioritize knowing the details of the other quest for now. I may be able to finish it by accident if I was lucky.

"Say it, Shane. I'll keep it for later if it was too dangerous" I said to put his mind at ease. His village wouldn't lose its temporary manpower now.

"Then swear that you would" Shane's face didn't show much.

Rather than not showing anything, it was devoid of emotions at all. Did he lose someone to overworking?

"Henryk" Shane seems to have read my mind. His tone was as if to berate me. "Too much work can kill a person. and in your line of work, that's amplified many folds" I'm sure now. He lost someone. And from the looks of it, that someone was most probably either a son or a daughter, maybe someone like that.

"Although it may sound cold and distant, but you are currently seen only as potential hunter for Preblica. Losing hunters, even potential ones, is a concern around these parts" Shane says in a tone that conveys some sorrow of his while his eyes look far into the distance. That confirmed my suspicion, partially.

"Monsters roam around the forest grounds almost everywhere, as you probably already know. And it got worse because of the wyvern incident that was resolved yesterday. It may still take some days before things calmed down for some time" Shane said while emphasizing the words 'some days'.

Are you telling me to be careful and wait a few days before starting? No matter how distant you act, what you indirectly tell me makes it seem like you cared about me as if I was an acquaintance for a while.

And while what you may have intended to say was considerably logical, I can't follow with that thought process. I can't wait on this quest because my funds are running low, not that I had any to begin with.

"I prefer you focus on keeping yourself alive and investigate the silver wolves before tackling another quest just because you thought you could" Shane said with some genuine worry in his eyes. He may be a good person to an extent. He at least worried about a stranger, though it was probably because this particular stranger may be a regular face around here if he stayed alive for a while.

'Shane! You are a tsundere from now on!' I kept that thought from showing on my face.

But, really. Are hunters that desired here? Do they not have enough of them in the village? That might've factored into his worry.

"Need a man swear to keep himself safe?" I raised an eyebrow at Shane. I was indirectly telling him that I treasured my life.

Shane sighed and thought about it. He took his sweet time debating whether to give me the details for the other quest. he finally sighed another time with a defeated expression and looked back up at me.

I seriously need to do something about my height. How many sore neck talking to me would make?

"Arnold, our village's head, said that I only give you this quest if you insisted. If you could, without endangering your life, investigate the dwindling numbers of loup garou. They are bipedal wolf monsters that were a stable prey monster for us. Arnold arranged a reward of 20,000 Valis, another 10,000 if you were injured because of the investigation" Shane begrudgingly gave me the quest.

Just that? Another investigation? But if you think deeper, you could see the problem. The first was an animal-related investigation. It doesn't have that much danger because animals don't have superpowers, as I assumed so far. But monsters are different. Assuming fantasy works mostly the same between different worlds, the monsters here could develop abilities that their species shouldn't have.

That could spell my doom if I got lax and assumed that they're gonna be the same difficulty each time I hunted them. That isn't to mention the individual strength difference between monsters of the same species. Their attempts to deter me aren't baseless. They are made with good reason.

And that shrewd village head! Arnold, was it?! According to what Ferdinand told me yesterday, that's a lot of money for one individual, regardless of how significant an investigation request was.

Perhaps this is his way of telling me to stay? Since I'll be generously rewarded for my efforts? If that was his strategy, he made a huge mistake. I value my life more than money. One's renewable, whereas the other isn't. 

"Then I'll go on my way, Shane" I murmured my goodbyes as Shane wished me a safe return then returned to his post at the gate.

Now that I'm going to be a hunter for this community, I'll need to be prepared to avoid monsters as well as hunt them. 

Even though I only dealt with them yesterday and the day before, I know they'll bolt when they smell blood. I need to run with my game to dodge them. It'd be a good idea to start skinning my game only once I'm safe behind the walls. 

Now, the major locations of interest for hunters are those where animals eat or drink. They're vulnerable during those times. The river appeared to be a safe bet because it wasn't entirely within the forest, where monsters roamed. 

Of course, I'm not sure what traces monsters leave behind. I really can't avoid them. But if all I faced were goblins and kobolds in groups of the same size as the previous two days, I'd be OK. 

After announcing my presence and receiving no response, I scaled the river for anything. There were no animals drinking right now. However, after exhaustively searching the riverside, a few signs of hooves were discovered. 

Given the shape, size, and spacing between front and hind legs, this appears to be a deer species. The quantity of hooves, differentiated by size, form, and the distance between the front and hind legs, leads me to believe I have discovered a herd of at least 34 deer... whose traces lead back to the forest. 

Why, world? Why? Why must you do me like this? 

I paused my jesting inner monologue and focused on the hoof tracks. As they approached the river, they maintained order. However, for some reason, they were more chaotic and disorganised upon leaving. 

I got a feeling. I gazed around on the surrounding ground and at the forest's edge. I discovered big canine traces. They were, thankfully, four-legged, judging by their tracks. A huge canine may be another unknown monster, or the silver wolves Shane told me about. 

I investigated the area further to see whether the enormous canines were synchronised. The more coordinated they are, the more cautious I must be within the forest. 

They were very coordinated. That just made everything worse. 

"Fey, sneaky" I whispered, asking Fey to leave my side. We normally went 'sneaky' when we were hunting an agile animal. Fey flies in such a way that reduces her wing's flapping sounds, unheard, while I wander around with extreme caution. 

While tracking an animal, signs to look for include the shape, size, and distance between front and hind foot tracks left by the desired prey's legs (hooves, paws, claws, feet, etc.), claw markings on trees, bent or crushed grass, irregularly overturned or crushed leaves, broken twigs, any loose blood trail that may or may not be reliable on its own ('1), and so on. 

Signs of a dispute are also welcome since they warn you to be ready for either the predator who'll kill you or the weary prey you'll eat for dinner if you could hunt it. 

It was simple to track them because the size of their herd left far too many clues for me. I went deeper into the forest after noticing telltale signs of deer going through the area, possibly escaping something. After chasing them for about a minute farther into the forest, I discovered a shorter variant of the kobolds, a more wolf-like monster that I believe to be the loup garou Shane mentioned. I'm fairly certain it was alone. There were no other monsters eating with it, and there were no odd shadows around. 

*crick* Shit! Why am I falling for this old troupe? Stepping on a stick at the most critical moment, alerting my unsuspecting enemy to my presence. That's some shit right there! 

"Grrrr!" It growled at me. I hope they became arrogant and proud as a result of their high intelligence. That would cause it to delay calling the others over. I hope it'll attempt to take me down on its own. That's my safest possible future. 

"Fey, tackle, throat crush" Before it could howl and call its friends, Fey tackled it to the ground. 

Given the monster's diminutive stature, I suspected Fey's talons could wrap and crush its throat, effectively silencing it. 

"PIE!" "awww!?" Fey tackled the thing to the ground. As the wind was knocked out of its lungs, its howl of surprise was quite low. Even if they were close enough to cause problems, the others were unlikely to hear it. 

"!" "PIE!" I wanted to step in, but Fey appears to be handling it fine on her own. The unfortunate loup's throat had been crushed and perforated. Even if Fey released it, the monster would be unable to call any other loup with its now faded voice. 

"Hgg" I grit my teeth as a set of teeth bites my right leg. 

I turned around only to see another loup. It bit my leg. I'm glad it was naive and bit down on my lower leg bones, the Tibia and the Fibula ('2). It was agonising, but I'm grateful that it wasn't biting off an irreparable portion of my muscles and paralysing me for life. If the two bones were broken, a potion may help heal them. And getting more rest can help with the remainder of the healing process. 

I grabbed it by the head, forcing it to try to bite my hand. It let go of my calves and tried to pry my hand away from its head. 

I instantly sliced its throat and slammed it to the ground. I stomped on its chest with all my power, using my left leg because my right leg had been injured and could only support me while standing on it for the time being. After pinning it down, I stabbed its chest. 

I was aiming for the magical stone. This monster was too dangerous for me to leave alive. If it had been more experienced or lucky, I might've died. I'm simply grateful it chose to bite me in an attempt to beat me. It probably thought it had a decent chance of ambushing me if it didn't warn me with its howling, attempting to call on its other buddies. 

My strike missed the magic stone, but it did cut through the left lung and heart. I left it wheezing for air, blood collecting in its lungs and flowing out of its body, air leaving its chest to make way for the blood. I kept an eye on it for a moment longer to ensure it didn't ambush me again. 

When it stopped struggling for its life, I decapitated it and checked on Fey. Fey was pinning her opponent down, but not killing it. She was waiting for the monster to bleed to death after stabbing and slashing it all over its body. She was also nibbling on its flesh. She crushed its legs, which were twisted in the wrong direction, probably to prevent escape. 

I noticed Fey eating the thing's meat as if it were normal animal meat. 

What? Won't that turn into ashes? No, hold on. I recall seeing that kobold's hand remain intact after being hacked off. Anything removed prior to their death would remain as if it hadn't belonged to them. So, wouldn't hunting monsters be a viable food source for her? Their meat may be a suitable substitute for other forms of meat. 

I observed the loup's arm twitch, probably in an attempt to stab Fey in the side. 

"HELL NA!" I leaped at it, thrusting my knife's entire blade into its chest from the side. 

I instantly abandoned the knife and ran away before a claw gouged through my flesh. That opening gave Fey ample time to ultimately finish it. 

"Ah!" I fell on the ground, releasing a pained sigh. 

The adrenaline rush had just ended, and I felt a panging pain in my calves. They weren't ripped to shreds, but they were somewhat bitten into. 

I uncorked the potion that I used to treat my injuries yesterday. My calves and bones were no longer in agony after utilising half of what remained (3/4 -> 1.5/4 or 3/8). I saw that the bite marks on my calves were more visible than the scar left by the wound on my side. 

It appears that potions treat the wound initially and then work on the scar slightly. Then I need to titrate it down my throat. Once my wound heals, I leave it alone. Well, unless the scar would have hampered my movement. I'll use an entire potion or two on it. 

I pulled the magic stone from one of the two loups and looked at Fey, who had already finished eating the other's flesh. 

She had just pulled out the magic stone and swallowed it. 

I went to hug her and try to get her out of that state. It took a little longer, but she eventually regained her senses. 

We resumed tracking our potential prey immediately after. After a closer glance around, I mourned the loss of tracks due to the struggle and what appeared to be large objects being dragged on the ground. 

Although I was intrigued about where the tracks ended, I opted against it. If they can drag something this large, or enough bodies to have a comparable wide dragging effect on the ground, I'd better avoid them. 

Instead of following the dragging tracks, I focused on my hearing. Now that my life was no longer threatened, I observed faint howls and growls in the distance. 

"Fey, search" Upon hearing this command, I instructed Fey to soar high in the skies and survey the immediate region. After a quick look around, she lands back where I was standing. She then looks in the direction of the prey. 

"Pie!" Fey flew up and vanished above the trees. 

While Fey surveyed the area, I tried to listen for and locate the howling. I can estimate the distance based on the overall volume of a wolf's howl. According to what I am hearing right now, it should be between 1 and 1.2 km (~0.62-0.75 Miles) away. 

But I need to be more realistic. This's a different world, one where magic and monsters exist. I can't expect animals to be perfectly normal. If we factor in the power of the loups in a preliminary approximation, the howls may be even further away. If it is capable of sustaining the oxygen intake needed to fuel the loups' strength, it could be up to 3 km (~1.86 miles) distant. 

I waited for Fey to return and provide a final estimate. The longer she takes, the further they get. Another advantage of using that command is that it allows me to provide a more exact estimate of the prey's location. 

"Pie!" Fey came back. She pointed directly to the depths of the forest, away from where we entered. 

That reminded me. I'd like to know which cardinal direction is which. I need to know before north gets hit. 

They aren't far off the initial estimate based on the time she took. They should be within 2.5-3 km (1.55-1.86 miles). 

I followed the sound, being cautious not to walk on stray sticks or twigs. I also crouched behind the thickets to escape visual detection. I also made certain that the wind carried my scent in the opposite direction, away from the source of all those sounds. If they all noticed me simply hiding, I may face the fury of both sides if I was unlucky enough. 

I followed Fey's directions for around 2.7 km (~1.68 miles) to my destination. It was an unexpected spot where my hubris didn't kill me... this time. 

In the area where the trees were thinner in front of me, I discovered exactly what I was looking for: primarily silver-furred wolves and loup garou bodies lying everywhere. Three loup garou remained standing, beaten, wounded, and breathing heavily, around an injured silver wolf with a tree behind it.

(End of Chapter)

'1:

Blood trails could be hidden within the terrain's color scheme. And even if they did not, they would occasionally only start after the injured prey already crossed a distance from the place it was initially injured in. If you are a hunter, do not rely solely on blood trails.

'2:

The lower half of a human's leg has two bones. The Tibia is the larger one with the Fibula, the smaller bone, supporting it from the outer side of the leg.

(Line Break)

What are your opinions on this chapter?

I tried to read about how to track animals just so I can write it better. Can any hunter among you verify if Henryk's actions were close enough to hunters irl?

1- What do you think of the quests? Do you think the rewards are the right amount of Valis?

2- How do you see today's fight scene? Is it good? Is it bad? How do you think I could improve on it? Please, write your thoughts.

3- What do you think about his current strength? Would he be able to do something if he was in Orario and joined some familia? (A legit familia, not a criminal one)

Have a nice time, ladies and gentlemen.