"Ash, we're seriously about to become tamers!! Once I become accomplished, I'll have women killing each other to warm my bed."
"Shut up Kaz. Women freaking despise you. I'll be surprised if you could get a date before you die, plus.... you might've said that too loud."
Ash was looking around as he spoke and noticed that Kaz's words didn't go unnoticed. The fool was always loud when he spoke and this time some people took offense. A group of girls in particular looked peeved as one of the girls stepped forward with a dagger.
Studying her attire, she wore garbs of an apprentice assassin, and her dagger had a particular curve with a flower engravement that only one sect had.
The Demon Lilies, a sect known for being a highly efficient assassin group. They rarely failed and they were known to be far more ruthless towards male targets compared to female targets.
Kaz still had an oblivious look on his face as the girl moved from a steady walk to a blur. Ash moved immediately, his hand flashing and taking out his trusty saber while simultaneously using his other to push Kaz out the way. The saber and the dagger met as sparks flew from the collision.
Everyone in the vicinity had started to pay attention as Ash and the assassin girl exchanged move for move. Ash was pissed because the tamer that would open the realm had long arrived and merely watched. This girl was extremely skilled and was starting to get the better of him.
Kaz pulled out his mace, but the rest of the Lilies had pulled out their weapons as a result. It was a silent way of telling him sit the fuck down.
Kaz was mad and annoyed that they were attacked over seemingly nothing. So what if he wanted a harem, these girls.... had the qualities to be apart of that harem, but....
Kaz's face blushed a bit as he noticed that these girls were developing some nice curves and had some decent looking faces. "Maybe if they would turn around a little, I could tell if..."
Kaz had unfortunately mumbled this out loud and it caused a chain reaction. Some of the surrounding guys agreed, some people shook their heads at his foolishness, and some girls became infuriated at his lustfulness. The worst reaction came from the Lilies themselves as they got into battle formation, causing Ash to curse Kaz's horrible mouth.
The girl fighting Ash grew increasingly angry as she slashed faster and faster. Ash struggled even harder but made sure that he wasn't cut by the assassin as the dagger could be laced with poison. Before the situation could escalate, a group of individuals walked over.
One of the individuals was a girl in black robes with Lilie patterns on it, a clear difference between the green robes of the other Lilies. Her cold purple eyes looking at the fight for a second before calling the girl's name.
The girl turned into a blur before returning to the black robed girl's side. It was apparent that the girl from the demon Lilies was a beauty as her garbs were filled with a budding and curvaceous figure, some of the men finding it hard to look in her direction.
'Six, for what reason are you making a scene, and why do you look flustered?" -Black robed girl
"Leader, these two boys were speaking about women blasphemously. I could not stand by and-" The black robed girl had slapped her before she could finish speaking.
"Even if that is true, I expect you to preserve an assassin's dignity when you act. Don't lose control of your emotions, that goes for all of you. The shadows are our sanctuary, never leave them." Her steely voice and bewitching eyes made her compatriots silent.
However, there was a passion in their eyes even when being chastised. The girl being spoken to, Six, seemed to cool down. Ash paid attention and noticed that the girl who attacked them seemed to lose all emotion in her eyes before returning with the rest of her sisters.
They all looked emotionless unlike before. He had heard that the Demon Lilies worshipped a female deity and regarded women as sacred, but to think it was to this extent. It was only a bad comment.
It was just their luck to provoke a messed-up sect within seconds of arriving at their location. Ash made eye contact with the leader of the Lilies and a shiver went down his spine.
He knew that should they meet inside the realm; he was as good as dead. Ash walked over to Kaz and the two solemnly stood together as the leader of the Lilies kept her stare focused on them. It was as if she were burning their images into her mind.
Ash and Kaz had the feeling that the black robed girl had taken offense to the comment as well, and was only waiting to act upon them. Her face completely covered except for her eyes, the leader of the Lilies showed no emotion. It felt like eternity under her pressuring glare, but in reality it was seconds.
The tamer looked at the sky as to determine the time, he was entertained by the short altercation between the plebian and the Lily. Time was of the essence, however. "Alright, people it is time to enter the realm. You have one month to find your first bond and explore. Be warned that you won't be ejected from the realm automatically, you need to head to the same entrance once time is up."
The realm entrance looked like a massive gate. The gates flung open as energy was gathering at the center. During this time Ash spoke to Kaz.
" Well, that went wonderfully. I can't believe that we are going to be killed because you can't control those blubbering lips of yours."
"Oh, come on twig. This just makes the journey all the more interesting, don't ya think? Thanks for the save, but don't be a tight ass. How would I know they would try to deprive the world of someone as handsome as I, because I stated facts. I will be getting that harem.... some of those girls might be in it."
This time the two whispered to one another as they didn't want a repeat of last time. They stood far away from the Lilies and waited for the realm to open. Ash had seen the looks of the crowd after the fight: some exhibited schadenfreude, others could care less.
That was reality, it wasn't like the fairytale stories where good won and evil lost. Nobody gave a damn, and if Ash was weak then he would've been killed. Ash kept observing the crowd for key figures before the realm completely opened.
Noticeably there were four people that he discretely kept an eye on, whilst keeping his distance. The first being another kid who had pale white skin, red hair, and eyes, his entire demeanor screaming violence. In a sheath to his left side was what seemed to be a chopper like weapon. The second was another kid who was tan in skin tone but completely bald, his forehead had six dots on it. On his back was a staff. The third being a girl who was unnaturally slender but had frigid blue eyes and long brown hair, she held an estoc. The final one being a boy dressed like a wild man. A necklace of teeth adorning his neck and hair a pure spiked black. He stood tall with claw like weapons around his hands. All of these people walked with the leader of the Lilies when she first arrived, likely after they had discussed something.
Others who looked special or had a unique aura around them had not escaped Ashton's radar either. There were three who were like the previous four; a blind boy with a creepy smile, a girl with a comically buff body, and a boy dressed in some increasingly rich armor. Those three were surrounded by followers as well as the previous four.
Ash's mind worked overtime as he started to carefully go over his plan. Once he found the most suitable beast and developed some fighting experience with his bond, it would be time for them to explore the world.
He had a month to determine the beast that would stand by him till death, that may sound like a long time until you look at one ugly fact. You had to find something suitable. All other things were secondary, at least that's what his parents told him.
Your first beast was something that many struggled to find. Whether it was personality, habits, elemental affinity, or goals. They need to align with the trainer. A story was told to him by his parents about a group of brothers.
The first brother tamed the strongest beast in the land but couldn't control him due to the difference in power. The second tamed a beast but the conflict in personalities between the two led to the beast revolting and killing its master. The third brother tamed a beast that was weak but had excellent potential, however he was never able to bring out the potential of the beast because he did not have an elemental affinity with the beast.