The Unwanted Tamer

The explanation began with the information they obtained about Gaia's class, a Tamer. The first thing they uncovered was that a Tamer could create bonds, exactly like Gaia did, but could also tame creatures. This was done by subduing them, the only method they found in the journal was to do so personally and by force. A Tamer could receive assistance but they had to contribute the most towards the creature's subjugation. One would have to beat it down until it couldn't resist and then they could subdue it by taming it. This was done by magic and would make the creature view the Tamer as it's master. It also briefly stated that a Tamer could have assistance from bonds, but they still needed to make it view them as the master.

Bonds, like Gaia's creatures, were intrinsically different from tamed creatures. Tamed creatures didn't level up or evolve like a bond did. They were creatures that could only level up, but would do so at a much slower rate than a bond would. A tamed creature would receive less souls when killing something due to it being in what was essentially a servant contract, while bonds were equals. This led to them being viewed and used as replaceable pawns. They would always be weaker than a bond due to the fact they weren't linked to the Tamer's spirit. Therefore, a Tamer should change out tamed creatures for stronger ones as they grew stronger.

Bonds were always linked to a Tamer's spirit from the moment they were bound. A tamed creature could become a bond through the wish of the Tamer, or through a mutual understanding from both sides, if a creature wasn't tamed. Bonds were weaker in the beginning since they always started as a normal creature, but they would always grow to become something more. While bonds are strong, a Tamer could only have a set number of them due to the fact they were bound through the spirit.

Bonds could also be made with freshly hatched or infant creatures. These bonds would usually grow to be stronger than others due to the influence of the Tamer effecting their growth. This did not necessarily mean that they were better than bonds gained in other ways though. A Tamer can only have their limited number of bonds, but if one died, they could bind to another creature to take its place. While bonds had a set limit, tamed creatures did not. The only limit was if you would be able to keep them alive or had the mana to tame them. The stronger a creature, the more mana it took to tame it. There was no creature one couldn't tame based of the information they deciphered so it was possible that anything could be tamed as long as it was viewed as a being.

The only limitations for bonds or tame creatures was that they couldn't be stronger than the Tamer. For example, if a Tamer tried to tame an iron rank creature at bronze rank, it wouldn't work, even if they were able to subdue it. It worked the same if they were a higher level than the tamer. It wouldn't work due to the difference in mana quality or quantity. A Tamer always had to have the stronger side for both in order to tame a creature. This didn't apply to a creature that became a bond through a mutual understanding.

If a creature was stronger than the Tamer and wished to become their bond, it could. The price would be a reduction of their strength to match the Tamer. The bond would lose all of its strength until it matched the strength of the Tamer. The tradeoff was that as they leveled and ranked up from then on, their skills and abilities would be stronger than before. They would be influenced by the Tamer, but that was less important to most creatures as long as they could become stronger and survive. It would also allow them to evolve easier. Unless a creature met a certain criteria, they wouldn't normally evolve.

Just reaching max level in a rank didn't mean a creature could evolve, it just meant they could rank up. Ranking up just caused the creature to be stronger but didn't give any other benefits. Evolving fundamentally changed a creature. This could allow them to gain a new attribute of mana, or even change their race into something better. Like from a basic lizard to a fire salamander, or from a snake to a basilisk to name a couple examples. This would improve their future potential allowing it to rise above most other things.

Thus, a Tamer could have their bonds and an infinite army of tamed creatures if they had the ability and mana to do so. This is what caused many to fear the class. There had never been another Tamer in the world's history outside of the Eternal Lord, and thus he'd had to discover all of this himself. In doing so, he tamed numerous creatures and strengthened his bonds testing the class's capabilities.

There wasn't much more information about the class within the journal. He had discovered that he could make bonds and tame creatures, then he began trying to become stronger. He made a couple bonds and tamed creatures as he leveled and ranked up. As he did so, he lost many tamed creatures but would tame something stronger whenever he did. Eventually, he reached a high rank and came across something he couldn't defeat. He wasn't strong enough, and he lost one of his bonds because of it. This led to him discovering that a bond could be replaced if one was killed. He wouldn't lose anything if one died so he started viewing them as replaceable too.

Griff stopped speaking for a few moments as he took a deep breath.

"Now, everything after this is what made me believe you should know this. It's horrifying to know, but since this being is back in the world, I figured you would know who to tell." Griff stated as he looked at the Baron.

"Very well, continue." The Baron replied before Griff went straight into relaying the other information.

The Eternal Lord, lost his first bond in a fight with a creature he called a Saurian. Based off the description, it seemed to be something similar to what Gaia knew as either a dinosaur or wingless dragon. This bond was the first one he had ever created and so it hurt him deeply. This is what started his path towards power, which would lead him to going insane. This encounter and loss showed him he was weak, and thus his bonds and tamed creatures were too. He began to only focus on taming and bonding with stronger creatures from this point on.

This was also when he discovered he could bond with another creature if one died. He began treating all of his bonds as disposable as well, leading to his madness. He didn't rely on anything except himself, and while he could communicate with his bonds in a way similar to Gaia, he didn't listen to them. They were treated as subordinates and any that didn't listen were treated as useless. This led to him establishing many bonds rather swiftly, when one would die, he would immediately bind to a stronger creature.

He didn't realize that he was losing something when a bond died. It wasn't until years later, after bonding to countless creatures and sending most to their deaths, for him to realize he'd lost something. He'd slowly lost his mind, until he couldn't do anything besides lust for power. It was another couple of years before he decided to try experimenting on his bonds and tamed creatures.

This led to many new species and creatures being created. All of which were created for the purposes of battle and strength. If he got anything else he would immediately dispose of it and the "obviously" defective creatures that were used to create it. His experiments also led to the extinction of a few creatures, but he viewed it as removing unnecessary species from the world. Along with the creation of these new species, came the creation of new monsters.

Monsters were not a natural phenomenon of the world, the ones within the world either came through portals or were created by a dungeon. The Eternal Lord had created these new ones in his maddened pursuit of power. He began focusing on monsters strictly after that point. Whenever he would create a stronger monster, he would dispose of or release the weaker ones and focus his energies on strengthening the new one. He began grafting parts of monsters onto others after more experiments, hoping to strengthen them further. These experiments led to the creation of many monster species the world now had.

These monsters that he released as he had no more use for them, were stronger than most natural creatures in the world and began to spread. They became the dominating creatures of the world as they had no predators. This is why almost everything comes from domesticated monsters, as opposed to natural creatures. Monsters had eradicated most of the natural wildlife, at least everything that wasn't small or quick enough to hide or run away.

With the monsters spreading, they eventually reached a human kingdom, and this led to the first discovery of monsters. The humans deployed their army to defend against the spreading monsters, and were able to drive them back. They began sending scouts out to try and find their source. They did after a year of scouting, finding the Eternal Lord's hideout. They planned and launched an all out assault with their army against the hideout leading to a drawn out battle.

The Eternal Lord had been unaware of the army until a few days before their arrival. He wasn't worried about them but was excited instead. He could finally test out his monsters against strong warriors. He could finally see if he was on the right track. He knew he was, but knew he could improve somehow. He was strong, but not strong enough.

The fight began with his monsters attacking the army in the forest. They fought by attacking from the terrain, while the army grouped up and used formations. The fight continued like this until the army entered the hideout. Then the Eternal Lord ordered his bonds to attack, this led to many deaths within the army but almost all of his monsters were wiped out by the end.

The Eternal Lord realized he couldn't become strong this way. He'd almost lost everything. This was how he came to the delusional conclusion that his bonds wouldn't help him become stronger, so he slaughtered them. Then using his knowledge from the experiments, he began to amalgamate their parts onto him. He would take the best parts for himself, and discard the rest. This was how he began to look less human and more monster.

He began to bond to monsters to strengthen them. Then when they were strong enough, he would slaughter them for their parts and improve himself. He continued to experiment on monsters, and tamed many, to slowly create an army. He eventually reached his limit and stopped experimenting, believing he couldn't improve them unless he found some new monsters. He created a type of monster that could change its shape, it couldn't change size, but could move any part of itself around as it wished. After amalgamating it into his body, he discovered he could cause himself to look like a regular human.

He used this ability to travel the lands, along the way he found eight races of monsters he believed to be the strongest he'd ever encountered. He challenged their rulers to duels and defeated them, then binding them to him. These monsters were intelligent, not all of them could speak verbally, but they were intelligent enough to communicate and some even created villages. He brought them back with him creating a city.

The movement of the monsters didn't go unnoticed though. Many countries noticed them and kept a close watch on them. They were all monsters that were extremely dangerous and now multiple groups of them were moving together. This led to many countries forming alliances in hopes of defending themselves from the threat. This also led to the creation of a system to train people in how to fight monsters. This would allow the army to focus on national defense as opposed to defending every village.

After years of no action, the monsters were believed to have disappeared. This was not the case though. The Eternal Lord had been strengthening them using monsters he created. He would also release monsters regularly to keep the humans busy, but he eventually decided to attack. This was to test his own strength, now that he had much stronger bonds and his own body had been improved greatly, using the new superior parts.

Thus, a war began. It started with the eradication of small villages. While the Eternal Lord was confident in his superiority, he wasn't so conceited as to underestimate the strength of a nation. He gradually increased his targets until he was attacking military bases and destroying them with little effort. Then came the capital of the nation he targeted, Seiren. It was the capital of a nation known as Seirio, which the Eternal Lord wiped from the face of the world.

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He didn't do so alone, though. His bonds were by his side, eight visages of destruction. Eight Demon Kings, following the order of their lord. Each specialized in something different. This is what the few survivors described when they reached the other kingdoms. This news spread quickly as all of the kingdoms relayed the destruction of Seirio.

This wasn't believed by a few, and they met a similar fate to Seirio. When the reports came in that the demons were still marching towards the kingdoms, the alliances took action. They banded together to defend their kingdoms, to some success. The alliances could hold the monsters off, or even deal with the regular ones. This was not the case when one of the Demon Kings appeared. This was what the rulers of each intelligent race of monsters became known as.

The Demons and their rulers marched into the kingdoms until the hunters, the people trained to deal with monsters, took action as well. They began to work together with the army to deal with the demons. This led to them being pushed back as the new fighters were stronger than most soldiers. The demons were slowly driven from the remaining kingdoms lands, but weren't driven away completely. The numbers and strength of the monsters was too much and the humans couldn't keep up with such a large frontline. Leading to a near stagnant war where the frontlines moved in either direction but never very far.

After a few years of this, the Eternal Lord decided he still wasn't strong enough and started researching other ways to gain power. His research led him to a few options; he could either go through a portal to a new world and strengthen himself using that world's path of progression or ascend. He thought about both for a while.

If he went to another world he would likely be starting over from the beginning, or at best lose some power before he could start becoming stronger using its path. This was, of course, assuming there was a progression path like the ranks and levels of his world. He knew some worlds didn't have them from the books he'd read, so he couldn't guarantee there would be one in the world he ended up in. As for ascension, it had its own problems.

If he wanted to ascend he would need immeasurable power or something equivalent in order to fuel it. That wasn't even including the fact that he would have to decide to what height he planned to attempt. He could probably ascend to godhood rather easily, but he didn't want to become a god. Gods weren't strong enough for him. He wanted to be one of the strongest beings in the universe. Thus he decided that if he would ascend he would aim to become an Overseer. He could settle for nothing less than that, for his strength and ego demanded it.

With this information, he decided to attempt ascension. He couldn't wait for centuries, if not millennia, to become strong. He needed to obtain strength as quickly as possible, so he began his preparations. He researched ways to ascend, but found none so he began by making his subjects view him as a god-king. This was when he stopped hiding his true appearance and gained the moniker of "Monster King." The Demon Kings, being rulers themselves, started to refer to him as their lord.

The Monster King began to shut himself away as he was consumed by his research into ascension. He stayed locked away for years at a time, only exiting to procure more books or monsters. Centuries passed in this fashion, causing the Demon Kings to realize something odd. Their lord wasn't aging, he stayed the exact same and so did they. The monsters, noticing this, began to praise him as the Eternal Lord. A being untouchable by time and only growing in strength as time passed.

One day after many centuries had passed, the Eternal Lord had exited his study and called for his bonds, one by one. They each arrived and he had them swear an oath, on their bloodline, that they, their family and their descendants would defend his city to the death. He gave them no way out of the oath, even if he never returned. They swore it immediately, being completely loyal to him and having no doubts.

Not long after having them swear the oath, he recalled most of his troops. Most of the demons returned, outside of a few hundred that remained to hold the line. He began to prepare for the ritual to ascend, when they returned. He sealed the city, and had his bonds focus on defense while he worked.

The humans were able to breach their weakened frontline due to this decision, leading to the alliances combined forces assaulting the city of Xerios. The assault caused a few of the Demon Kings to die while their descendants took over the oath. They reached the Sanctum where the ritual was occurring and saw the Eternal Lord as he attempted his ascension.

This was the worst part of the journal, the actual ascension. The Eternal Lord had never told anyone what the cost for him to attempt ascension was. He had been an Adamantine rank being when he'd attempted. This meant he needed substantially more power than what he had in order to force his ascension. The power he chose to use was the life and spirits of the demons. His bonds couldn't be used since they were bound to him, but the demons, their citizens, weren't. He sacrificed the entirety of eight races outside of the families of his bonds to fuel his ascension. He caused the extinction of his subjects for his own personal power.

The worst part of it was that it was all in vain. His ascension failed for some reason leaving the descendants of his bonds to waste away in the ruins of his city until they'd been uncovered. This was what caused Griff the greatest distress in learning. One could use the spirits of beings in order to attempt ascension, this knowledge could cause immense suffering or destruction if discovered.

Griff ended his explanation with this. There wasn't anymore information after this point, since the ascension failed and the Eternal Lord disappeared. That was until now. With his return, the information was critical in understanding what he knew and could do. The Baron, quickly understanding what all of the information meant, immediately rose and moved towards Griff. He grabbed the journal and papers from him before making a box appear and placing them inside. He then closed and locked the box before saying a word. The word was in a language Gaia didn't know, but she heard a click from the box before it disappeared again.

"You come with me. Actually, everyone come with me. Gaia can you have Malachite grow outside for me? We need to stop by a couple places." The Baron more ordered than asked.

Gaia obliged and hopped on Malachite as he ran towards the front door. The rest of the group followed after her and, when they arrived outside, there was a house-sized Malachite waiting for them. They all boarded their Turbo-Turtle Transport before the Baron told them where to go. They started by heading to the Hunter's League, they stopped for a few moments and the Baron disembarked. After a short wait he came back with someone, only he seemed to be dragging the person. They boarded Malachite, the newcomer a bit hesitant, but he quickly went up before the Baron. Next, they were moving towards the Royal Palace.

The Baron had them moving at a decent speed. Not enough that they were endangering anyone, but fast enough that they were rushing. They arrived at the front gates and Gaia had Malachite slow so they could talk to the gate guard. The Baron told her to just keep moving as he pulled something out from his suit. He handed it to his wife who infused it with mana before throwing it out the window as they ignored the guards shouts.

A few moments later, the shouts were fading away as they moved further away. A similar scene occurred at the front doors, only this time the Baron hopped off Malachite and pulled something else out of his suit. This caused the annoyed and angry guards to pause as they grabbed whatever it was. A few moments later they were let inside and led towards a waiting room. The Baron had a different plan though; he ignored their guide and walked straight passed him heading for a different location.

They walked for a few minutes, still at a rather fast pace, before arriving at what was likely their new destination. Their guide had tried to keep up while asking them to wait in the room, but no one listened to his pleas. Gaia apologized multiple times as they went knowing he was just trying to do his job, but the information they had was just that important. The Baron knocked on the door they'd arrived at but didn't wait for an answer before opening it.

When it opened, Gaia's senses could reach most of the room beyond. There wasn't anyone there, just an empty room. The Baron turned to the butler who was their guide and spoke.

"Where are the King and Queen?" He questioned.

"They are in a meeting. They are meeting with the heads of the Ducal families at the moment." The man replied, still slightly out of breath.

The Baron immediately turned at this information and marched in a different direction. Everyone followed him, Gaia even had Malachite grow so the butler could ride on him to keep up. Malachite was having a bit of trouble keeping up with the Baron, so she knew the butler was too. He declined at first but acquiesced a minute later, since he was panting and trying to run in an attempt to keep up.

The trip this time took about ten or fifteen minutes. The palace was massive, making traversal a time-consuming activity, even with superhuman abilities. The Baron, upon arrival, shoved the doors open and walked into the room, motioning for everyone to follow. Everyone hesitated as they heard shouts of outrage from the room as the Baron entered.

"What is the meaning of this!" A man shouted.

"Who dares interrupt this meeting!" Another yelled.

Other such cries and shouts continued for a few minutes. Then the King clapped his hands calling for silence before speaking.

"Jack? Why are you here?" He asked.

"I have some information you need to to hear. Now. It has to deal with the recent developments." The Baron replied.

There was a span of silence that stretched for a while. It was oppressive, and Gaia was worried they might be tossed out for a moment. This was incorrect as she discovered a bit later.

"Everyone out, Duke Willifred stay. Jack, this had better be some very important information." The King stated.

Some of the Dukes started to protest but cut off for some reason. Gaia guessed it was likely due to a look from the King but couldn't really confirm this. The Dukes quickly left after this, following their King's order. Once they were all outside of the room, the Baron closed the door. He had Griff make the magic circle once again before speaking again.

"Sorry for the trouble, Harald. Griff here was translating and deciphering a journal they discovered in the ruins. They finished doing so earlier today, and what they discovered was enlightening."

"So why the magic circle? I know it's to make sure no one hears this, but is it really necessary to be this secretive?" The Duke asked.

"Yes, because the journal was the Eternal Lord's and has a lot of information about him. Specifically, about his journey up to his attempt at ascension. We figured since he was back in the world, a probable threat, and leader of an organization that's attacked once already you might want to know." The Baron stated.

At this, the King's posture changed. He sat up straighter and looked at the Baron. "Very well. You may begin." He stated.

The Baron in turn motioned for Griff to relay the information as he made the box appear. He quickly opened it and handed the journal to the King as Griff's explanation began. The report took quite a long while. The King would look down at what Gaia assumed was the journal as Griff spoke. He would stop Griff periodically to ask questions as well causing it to take longer. No one begrudged him for this, as anything the King could learn was beneficial for the Kingdom and their safety. The biggest revelation was when the King discovered how the Eternal Lord attempted to ascend.

When he heard the method, he took in a sharp inhale of breath and looked towards the Baron. All of the information that had been relayed to him was important and relevant to the situation. This piece of info was a terrifying revelation. He came to the same conclusion Gaia and everyone else had. If someone discovered this method, it could lead to something terrible, especially depending on who obtained it.

The fact that it had already been used once was already disturbing, but also led them to believe that there were people who wouldn't hesitate to implement it themselves. The King had stiffened as the report continued and now that it was over, he understood exactly why the Baron barged in. He looked at his old friend as he spoke.

"Thank you, Jack. This is extremely important information. I'm glad you brought it to me and even grabbed the Kingdom's Hunter's League Master. We can use this to try and protect everyone." The King stated before turning towards everyone else. "As for all of you, good job. You brought this journal back and not only translated but deciphered it. I thank you as well. I loathe to say these next words, but I must make it abundantly clear. None of what we just discussed, aside from the information of the Tamer class, can be stated outside of this room, understood?"

Everyone nodded their assent. The King seemed pleased by this and relaxed, slumping in his throne-like chair. The Baron visibly relaxed as well, now that the info was in the hands of the people who would be able to use it. Everyone else wasn't sure how to act and were nervously fidgeting as the silence continued.

"For now, we'll end this here. I'll call for everyone to come here tomorrow. We can discuss this more then. Tonight, I need to let this all sink in before trying to decide what to do." The King finished, dismissing everyone.

They all left the room and immediately moved towards the palace's exit. They luckily weren't stopped, even by the front gate guards, and left the palace's estate on Malachite once again. They dropped the League's master back at the League building before returning to the Baron's estate. They entered the mansion and all split up, going to their respective rooms. Fauna converged in one room, though. They all met in Fergus' room, wanting to be together. They were able to relax knowing their friends were there and eventually fell asleep, knowing the next day would be long, and likely starting early.