I was surprised to find 10 other students already in class as I walked in. As long as the eggs were well cared for they would hatch in a week. At least that was the common time frame. If one or two took a few days more than that it was fine.
Heads turned to look at me. A girl I did not recognize came bounding over. "Oh my gosh! So cute!" I moved without thinking. My body turned to place Aspen out of her reach. His nature had been listed as stand offish but frankly it seemed down right aggressive to most people. He seemed wary of people and refused to take food from Mom or Dad.
The girl glared at me. On her shoulder I recognized a Song Sparrow.
Song Sparrow
Wind
White ☆☆☆☆☆
Silver ☆☆☆
White Monach Sparrow
Pretty strong of non combat class. I had never known Song Sparrows to take part in combat. Instead they delivered messages or small packages... normally. I was sure there were other jobs out there they could do. I just did not know them.
"Hey!" She yelled. I felt Aspen tense in my arms. Oh no. "What's your problem!? Let me hold your beast!" I felt my eye twitch. What was wrong with this girl? Who did she think she was to demand I hand over my beast to her hold. Her own Beast looked annoyed at its master.
"Ginny!" The teacher snapped. The girl flinched before glaring at the teacher.
"He yanked the cute beast away!" She, Ginny, whined. Maybe I should hand Aspen over. If she wanted bit that badly who was I to stop her.
"He is the Beast's tamer. You did not ask if you could touch the beast. Nor did you ask if the beast was friendly. If you had bothered to pay any attention you would be able to tell that beast is of an aggressive nature."
I looked down. Aspen was baring his teeth at the girl clearly waiting for her to try again. I chuckled sadly, "It's listed as Stand Offish, Ma'am."
The teacher looked at me. She was a pretty woman. Her face was youthful, still round and soft. Dispite the Areo Hound beside her she was clearly a non combat. I doubted she had ever seen combat. Even so she was fit. She had wide light brown eyes and long black hair. I caught my eyes dipping down. Bad Aldric! On the smaller side but definitely a good shape. If it wasn't all bra.
"In normal situations he likely would just be aloof but as you were rushed that translates to aggression. You Aqua Vulpe acted accordingly. You did well to protect you nieve classmate."
Aero Hound
Wind
Sliver ☆☆☆☆☆
I felt my eyes widen. Silver five stars... that was nothing to sneeze at. This far out from the capitals it was among the strongest. Anything stronger rarely stayed in the area. Well except the big families. They stayed here just because they liked living at the top.
I gave a bow, "I am Aldric Shepherd." Shepherd, proof that my line had either been cut out or failed to produce any notable Tamers in the past. "This is Aspen," I ran a hand over his back. He flicked his ear but settled.
The teacher moved closer to us, "No doubt. That is an Aqua Vulpe but there's something..."
"Aspen is Mutated. Ice type," I confirmed. Gasps sounded around the room. The teachers eyebrows went up.
"I am Arieta IceFeather. All my beast are Wind, Water, and Ice. I suppose that is why you were assigned to my class. I will be your homeroom teacher. Have a seat." She turned and went back to her desk. I bowed my head and found a seat. I looked around the room. Snow Hare, Wind Stork, Sicklevail, Areo Cub, Areo Pup, Snow Kit, Icechick, Winter Jay, Frost Hawk. So there were a couple duel elements among the others. Even so I was not inclined to reveal that my Aqua Vulpe was a Grass type as well. Water and wind, ice and wind, ice and water were all common enough duel elements. Grass and Ice... tended not to mix well. How did this happen?
My talents could cause mutations. It was in my best interest to get all my beasts from eggs. A Mutated beast was a trump card. Since they differed from the normal it was hard to know what skills they had.
We all looked between eachother. Except Ginny, she sat right beside me and stared at Aspen. He throughly ignored her. Since she was not actively trying to pet him. Although she did look like she was about to cry. Having a cute beast was a problem it seemed.
We focused on the teacher as the bell rang. "Welcome everyone. Some of you have heard this before but we have two new students joining us with their newly hatched beasts. I will be your homeroom teacher. That means you check in with me each morning before I send you to the respective classes each day."
We each went through roll call and then she had me and Ginny fill out a form. Basically what we planned for the future. Or rather what our goals were.
Truns out there are two pathways one needs to select before University. The main one and the secondary. Turns out most Tamers were not always doing their main job. My first choice is breeding and healing.
"Huh?" Arieta said. "A boy who doesn't want to fight on the front lines. That's rare."
"My skill is better suited to raising beasts."
At that she nodded, "It's good of you to be aware of your strengths. We don't have any Ice breeders here in Minsol. I can see if the Water facility could take on another hand. Until then you will have class with Martin HeartLand. He can test your Domain and see if you Aqua Vulpe has any ability to learn healing skills. Take this and go." I bowed, took the paper, and left. I knocked on the door of the classroom the paper indicated.
"What?!" The door slammed open revealing a tall, willowy man. I held out the paper to him and blinked. He snatched it from my hands. He sighed, "You're late but I will allow it this time. Come have a seat. I have to finish my lecture and then we'll see about your Domain." I did as directed. The class was filled with people but only two other guys. I felt the weight over their eyes on me. Oh no. I took my seat and soothed Aspen.
"Now then as I was saying, before our newest student joined us, Elemental types are not the be all end all of the skills a beast can learn. This is most clearly seen in healer types." He gestured to a fish type beast beside him. It was floating on a cloud. Cloud Carp. "Most people limit the skills of their beast to their Elemental type. However, beasts do not do this on their own. They can and will learn skills of other elements. So long as the skill is a match for them. Now around the room are books with healing skills. Start with one that matches your beasts type."
He gestured for me to come forward. So I did. "Sir?" He rolled a device from one of the corners.
"Place your hand on the stone."
I shifted Aspen up onto my shoulder. I tended to hold him since he still wasn't walking too well. Then I moved my hand onto the stone.
27² meters
My Domain had grown. "27 square meters? Not bad for a new Domain. You could get a second egg."
I ducked my head, "We don't have the money for me to get a second egg."
"Hmmm? You have a C rank skill right?"
"Yes," I said. Where is he going with this?
"Have you awakened a talent?" I hesitated to answer. "You don't have to tell me what it is just if you have one." I nodded. "Hmmm. Considering you picked an egg on your own, have a C rank skill, and got a talent. Not to mention your Domain size. The universities will be reaching out soon. All of the ones that actually want you to attend will offer at least two eggs. Anyway get to work. If you wanna be a healer you should work hard." I gave a nod and went to join my fellow classmates in searching the shelves.
They looked at me. Aspen was eye catching since he was Mutated. My eyes scanned the shelves. Grass, Water, Wind, Light... Ice! I pulled the book from the shelf. I flipped through it. Reading as I went. Cold can slow the blood flow to an area, reduce swelling, and help with pain. I looked at Aspen and moved him to my desk. Grass was his first element but I could not risk him learning grass type moves first.
Icing- a starter level skill for ice type beasts. It is used to cool off over heated Tamers and beasts, reduce swelling, and aid in pain management.
"Let's start with this Aspen. It says here you should try and make your paws cool. To start at least."
He chirped. He put a paw over my hand. "Take your time. There is no rush. You have time to grow."
{Beast Detected! Use Growth on Beast Skills? Yes/No}
Yes! I thought.