“You can understand me?” Arthur asked, as he got near the bear and bird place. the gale of wind ability vanished the moment the bird lost its consciousness, but this wasn’t what Arthur was interested in, as an idea popped in his mind once the bear nodded to him.

The bear was sentient being after all, not like what he understood about monsters of this world. it seemed the monsters here followed the same rules of his past world, that what he thought of, and thinking this far, he thought of a crazy, totally new idea, that popped in his mind.

“I have a proposition for you,” Arthur said, as he added, “I can let you live, as my pet, you will live in a place designated for pets, and summoned to fight alongside me. what do you think?”

Ouly, watched this bizarre scene in bewildered widened eyes, stood motionless, without understanding a word said here. He knew Arthur knew things no one ever spoke of, and thus he listened carefully and watched what this unbelievable conversation would yield.

The bear nodded again, like a child who can’t speak yet, and then he moved to be near Arthur, in a sudden move that alerted Ouly.

“It’s ok,” Arthur said, comforting the distressed Ouly, “everything is fine.”

The bear, which reached the place of Arthur, knelt down like a slave, and started to warmly, and passionately, rub its face with his leg. Arthur cressed its head for a moment, before saying:

“After all you are this kind hearted, I like you. I will call you Don, as an old friend’s name of mine.”

The bear showed a happy expression, unbelievable for Ouly, who watched it rub the legs of Arthur with more passion. Arthur just laughed at its reaction, as he rubbed his head while saying:

“Do you like it? tell me, can you eat meat?”

The bear roared, without saying a word, but Arthur felt the approval of the bear. Pets were like humans, could be bred to grow stronger, and this was one of the strongest aspects of having a pet with you. It was like having another companion, loyal and strong, besides one could summon it at any place, to fight side by side with its master.

The technique of creating a pet pack was similar to the way of absorbing the monsters, but it required the agreement of the monster to be pet. Now, with the presence of such a sentient monster here, Arthur was ready to try it out.

The pros of this process related to its simplicity, as he wouldn’t be endangered by the fainting period others were now subjected to, so he moved to prepare things for the process.

He had already some extras from the coupling process he prepared, so he used the branch and drew a circle around himself and the bear, writing the name he just called upon on the ground, and writing the master word as his.

“Do you agree to become my pet?”

Arthur simply asked this, after he threw the runes on the ground, in the same arrangement like before. Ouly stood on the side, watching with keen eyes what was going on, without asking a single question for fear to disturb Arthur.

The bear just nodded, before roaring. Once done, the runes, the blood on the ground all lit up at the same time, after that a glow appeared, covering both of them.

Ouly just took a few steps away, as he wrongly thought the process would take time, and he was thinking how he would protect all of them on his own, to be astonished when the bubble formed was burst open, and Arthur came out unscathed like nothing ever happened.

“Where is the bear?” Ouly asked finally, from his shock, as he couldn’t see any trace of the bear anywhere.

“You want to see it?” Arthur calmly asked, with a beaming smile.

“Sure,” Ouly, hesitantly, replied.

“Come out,” Arthur simply said, as a cloud of fog suddenly appeared from his body to cover an area near him. if Arthur was naked, then Ouly would be astonished to notice the presence of a tattoo over his shoulder, with the same shape of the bear.

In seconds, the fog dispersed, and the bear appeared once again, free of any injured, as it roared violently, very lively, like the first time it attacked them.

Ouly retreated a couple of steps after he was hit by the bear’s aura, and his reaction and shocked paled face amused Arthur, who laughed at him.

“Don’t worry, he is now my pet.”

“Pet?” Ouly asked, as he didn’t fully understand the word.

“Yes, a monster that’s kept within your body, can be summoned to fight with you, heads every order you say, and never betrays you. A pet, don’t you know what pet means?” Arthur, amusingly, said, as he was teaching Ouly slowly about the concept of pets.

“I- I- I never heard of something like that,” Ouly stuttered from shock, before pointing to the bear, “is it docile?”

“Yes, just like a friendly kid.”

Ouly glanced silently at the bear, which sat on the floor without showing any signs of rebellion or violence. “Can I have one like this?” he finally asked, as he thought of the battles he could have with such a violent monster next to him.

“Sure, but we need to capture a few monsters first,” Arthur said, as he rubbed his chin slowly. He intended to make each member of his team obtain a pet, after all this would help him a lot in relieving the huge responsibility he had towards them, besides it would raise the team’s battle prowess to a new height.

Ouly seemed excited by the promise Arthur just gave, as he focused his eyes over the bear, dreaming of the day when he would be able to obtain a pet like it.

As for Arthur, he shifted his gaze towards the bird, as he pointed towards it while giving Don its first command as a pet:

“Guard that bird, if it regained consciousness, just knock it down again.”

Don, the bear pet, roared in approval, before it went, obediently, towards the bird, as it sat there watching it with a serious look on its face.

“Can I have the bird as a pet?” Ouly asked, picturing himself flying in the sky.

“No,” Arthur replied, as the conditions for a monster to be a pet required the monster’s consent to this. Don was exceptional, as it watched Arthur hacking and cooking its friends. Besides, if someone was suited best for this, then Lily would be the luckiest one in the group.

An archer, standing on the back of a mighty monster like this, was a scene to behold. Arthur knew the importance of having a flying pet, as it would save them a lot of trouble, and would help them delve deeply into places they normally couldn’t reach.

Ouly was dejected, but Arthur didn’t mind him for now, as he moved to move the meat over the fire. It had been a while since he last did it, and once he did, with the addition of the combined juice of many fruits, the pieces started to release a thick fog of fantastically tasty scent.

The scent even aroused the interest of Don, which raised its head towards the meat, with an obvious greedy look over its face. One of the reasons it was approved to be Arthur’s pet was the meat it was in front of, as it knew how precious these meat was.

Arthur then tested the meat with his sword, making sure it was properly cooked, till the depth of it. When he made sure every piece was cooked, he took the pieces down, back to the leaves area, with the help of silent Ouly, who was still dejected by Arthur’s refusal.

After all pieces were removed, Arthur then moved the wolf pieces back to the fire, putting them properly in their places with Ouly’s assistance. Just as before, the flavor started to flood the area in minutes, as Arthur was busy cutting the cooked meat into equal small slices.

“Come, taste this and recognize my mastery,” Arthur said, waving a group of carefully sliced meat over to Ouly, who grabbed the wide leaf with meat over it, plus some salty rock powder next to them.

The moment he tasted the meat, he was hit deeply by the great taste of the meat, totally forgetting his previous bitterness, and starting eating the pieces in front of him in great eagerness that aroused Arthur’s laughs.

After finishing cutting the meat, Arthur started to organize them into shares, while Ouly started eating, in strange gluttony, his pieces without stopping.

“Easy, the meat is enough to last us for days,” Arthur said with a chuckle, as he started eating the meat he cooked, feeling greatly content with the result.

“Your… cook…is… superb!”

Ouly’s said, with mouth full of meat, as he didn’t want to stop eating even for a second. Arthur just shook his head, helplessly, before he picked the last two pieces of uncut meat, grabbing them from the piece of wood inserted in the heart of each piece, and giving them to Don.

“Eat, and get stronger buddy.”

Don roared, expressing its happiness, before it jumped over the two pieces, wildly gnashing them with its teeth. The moment it swallowed the few mouths of meat, its body started to glow. Arthur, standing in front of Don, nodded his head in satisfaction, dreaming of the day his pet would rank up in grades, reaching the highest grade possible.

Arthur then returned back to the meat, grabbed some of his share, leaving Ouly to enjoy his feast, as he went to check over the wolf meat, giving these pieces some of his love and care.

After tasting the greatness of Arthur cooking, Ouly started to revise the info he stored in his mind, very seriously. He knew how precious the info he got was, as this alone was enough to make him enjoy legendary life.. After he had his enough from the feast, he moved back, with many layers of meat on his hand, to help Arthur in caring for the meat on fire.