Morning Training knocked the wind out of most of the students, afterward, they were all sent to their regular courses. Jacob was held back so that he could be led to the Stables and then to the Beast Trainer Class instructor.
"Why all the security? I felt sort of robbed by that guard who put the talisman on my arm, exactly what's going on to where people are so .. awful to each other." Jacob asked quietly, he hoped he would not offend the Coach.
"This Kingdom borders the outer regions of our empire's reach, there will always be someone who feels the need to bully others. Don't be that guy." Coach beamed at Jacob and puffed his chest, "The Guards are just being extra careful, I happen to agree with you. I think they were a bit overboard and it did feel like robbery, which, is why I'm doing this now."
Jacob shook his head lightly.
A building soon came into view, it was built like a shopping mall. There were terraces with beasts and small alcoves for them to inhabit. It looked more like a daycare center for pets of an exotic nature.
Shortie sniffed at the air, hiked his leg and pissed outside of the main door.
'Good boy, show them who's boss!' Jacob was rooting for Shortie in his head but in his heart, he knew the Coach didn't look kindly on his actions.
The building was clean on the inside, there were marbled floors that looked like they had been through enchanting and regular polishing. Runes and specialized barriers contained different environments but most of the inside was completely open, save for a few smaller buildings inside.
The interior was deceptive when looking from the outside, in. Jacob's eyes refocused more than a few times as they made their way toward the Beast Trainer Class Instructor. He was still in meditation and no cultivator would dare interrupt another if given any other option.
"We'll have to wait. Read this while we wait, you had better understand it in the future. Your cultivation is, well.. its non-existent. You've got a strong body but you lack any sort of training or physical background, because of that, you don't know how to control yourself in a fight. Read the book." Coach threw a hand bound book, it was covered in a bronze colored fur. "Don't waste my time, get to reading.. or would you rather run laps until Beastmaster Akigen comes out?" Coach leered at Jacob a bit.
Jacob pretended that the book opened by itself and dove his nose into the first page. His first instinct told him it was what he needed to do but his first instinct had also come with a price. The smell of the book was lodged in his sinus. There was no mercy in its scent, his eyes began to water.
"Thank you, Coach." Jacob wiped away the half-tears.
'This kid really gets emotional.. hehe, I'll have to toughen him up.' Coach kicked the chair out from under Jacob and had him get into horse stance. "I didn't tell you to sit down, I told you to read. Now, I'm telling you to horse stance with the book at full reach. Hold it there."
'This guy has a screw loose?' Jacob tried the position, the book was pretty heavy and it kept putting his balance into chaos. Still, Jacob didn't give up.
Shortie yawned and stretched beside him as Jacob was reading. "Meat."
Jacob couldn't be bothered to feed Shortie during the preparations, he said no.
"Meat. Master. Meat." Shortie pounced over a bush and came back with a lizard.
The lizard was struggling, its scales had been chipped and it was pinned between Shortie's teeth.
"Put him down!" A voice came from the other side of the bushes and a young man, no older than 15 came out of the shadows. "I said put him down!" A red light circulated around the boy's fist and then he slammed his opened palm against the ground. The lizard vanished from Shortie's mouth and reappeared in the summoning circle.
"Meat." Shortie immediately rushed toward the Lizard again.
"Shortie, no." Jacob called out but Shortie was so close he could still taste the lizard in his mouth. "Sit."
Shortie skid to a halt and turned back.
Jacob felt bad for the lizard but felt even worse for having yelled at Shortie. Shortie pissed on Jacob's foot and sat down. 'What was that for?' Jacob asked the question in his mind but let it go, the piss didn't get inside his boots. Even if it was clear contempt, he couldn't react without losing face.
Laughter came from nearby.
"Haha.. can't even get your beast to acknowledge you! How pitiful." the voice was laughing and taunting Jacob at the same time.
'So, it isn't just one asshole, its two?' Jacob looked around, when his eyes met on the boy who had spoken, he knew it was going to be a difficult time.
Garren Stoln was the Outpost City Lord's third Son. He was a haughty, narrow minded jerk that enjoyed spreading grief. The Stoln Family was known for their attitudes but it was also what gave City Lord Stoln his power, very few people had the strength or interest enough to argue with him.
As the son of a city lord, rumors would spread quickly from his mouth. Seeing the beast urinating on its owner was bound to make more headway than normal gossip.
"Hey, You.. Ant. I'm talking to you. Piss Ant.. that's a perfect name for you. What a loser!" Garren spit at the ground and looked at the man with the lizard.
Jacob was still trying to find a way to exit the situation, 'Shortie ran off and now this? Today's not a lucky day for me.. I better get back to the hallway.'
"You still have to answer for your beast, How dare you allow him attack." The boy with fiery fists put the lizard back into his clothing and got into a fighting stance, the fire atop his fists got brighter.
"Bitches.." Garren saw the Coach standing next to Jacob with his arms folded over. Four of his friends had shown up but they were no match for Coach.
Shortie was a completely different matter, a beast without a master was just ripe for the capture or kill. Garren was forced to withdraw but not before he insulted Jacob.
"This way." Coach dismissed it out of habit, kids were kids and the world was a wild one. "You're letting yourself get be distracted by Bullies? Hahh. What of it? Bullies exist everywhere, you're going to have to get over it. Right now, you're beast gets a lot more respect than you. It's not because of anything you've done but more about what you represent to them. You're going to piss people off and that might be a burden. It's important to know that most of the time, people like that will have a miserable ending."
Jacob took Coach's advice for what it was worth and they found their way into the Office.
Neither of them thought the outing would take longer than a few minutes to complete but with every distraction going on around them, he still had to manage his attitude.
He couldn't stay in the open and he couldn't leave the city either. The best option had already been decided upon, to meet with the Beastmaster Akigen and learn.
Coach knocked on the door.
"Come in." The Beast Trainer Beastmaster looked at Jacob then saw Shortie standing in the hall. "Leave the beast outside." Waving his hand, the door slammed shut.
"Coach Poae says you want to become a Beast Tamer slash Trainer." Beastmaster Akigen lit a pipe in his hands and leaned back in the chair.
'So that's coach's name? Poae?' Jacob straightened himself and cleared his mind. "Yes. I have one of my own and don't want to fail him. Coach says I need to get stronger and find something I like, I think this is it."
"Nonsense." Tapping the pipe out, the Beastmaster Akigen looked at Jacob and scoffed. "You're not suited."
"What do you mean I'm not suited?" Jacob felt insulted but he did his best to hold back. "Why?"
"Because you're too small, you have zero intimidation factor. I feel like if I breathe on you hard, that you'll fall over and die. No. Simply, No, Never gonna happen. What would people say, taking in a disciple like you would be like rubbing my own face in muck, unable to be shown in public." Akigen wanted to become famous for his strength, not his stupidity. He wholeheartedly denied Jacob outright.
'Jeeze, this guy is a fucking asshole.' Jacob felt mortified, he was being rejected again because of his size. Not that it was uncommon, Jacob was always considered a runt for his age.
Coach Poae frowned.
"Don't get your panties in a twist, I'll talk to the adventurer's guild. Maybe they can help you better than I can. Beast Tamers require special places to train and grow. If you want to peruse this against my advice, it needs to be done the right way, in the wild."
Jacob searched the Coach's body language for answers but Coach Poae knew that he couldn't give any hints as to what Jacob should do, it had to be his own resolve and no one else's. Rejections build character, Jacob would have to build his up before people would acknowledge him.
"Then, that would be for the best." Jacob didn't want to be where he wasn't welcomed, he figured that Beastmaster Akigen would make things difficult. Jacob wanted training, not humiliation or a heavy hand.
'Oh? Looks like this kid is smarter than I thought.' Beastmaster Akigen lit his pipe again and stood up like he had just come up with an answer. "We can go there now." 'I am not about to let them stick with the Academy's rejects, Hell no.'
Coughing gently, Beastmaster Akigen opened the doorway and led them out.