Roland's eyes felt like they would stab Arin and gut him at any moment. He gulped, feeling Nocturnis grow more wary every passing second without a reply. Nocturnis moved to stand between the two new humans and his Master.
"Uh, yeah, I guess I am." Arin answered.
"Huh?" Rolan raised an eyebrow. He was even more confused now that Arin had spoken.
"Well," Arin chuckled lightly. "I am a Beastlord but I'm so new to this, I'm not used to saying that about myself."
"C'mon, Rolan, he's fine." Tessa tapped the man. She stepped away from Tessa and moved closer towards Nocturnis and Arin. "All's well that ends well. You didn't die to goblins and we managed to lose them from our trail. We'll be safe in here for now."
Rolan sighed and released the tension in his body and made his way over to the chair and planted himself on it. "I can tell you haven't gone this far before, kid. You looked like a lost pup."
"My name's Arin, not kid." Arin turned around. "I needed a way to gain a better understanding of what a Beastlord is so I came to the town to get some practice with Noct, here."
"And how did that go for you?"
"Well, not that great." Arin laughed.
"You're laughing in a situation where you almost died?" Rolan shook his head. "You clearly don't understand what it means to be out here alone with no help. You could've died."
"C'mon, Rolan, be kinder to him. Who could've known the goblins had already made the deserted town their home?" Tessa took a seat in the other chair.
Nocturnis moved and rested next to the dead fire. He had sensed these humans wouldn't hurt Arin and wanted to take this opportunity to rest until they had to move, again.
"Oh, right." Arin turned and knelt besides Nocturnis. "We should remove this from you." He pointed to the arrow.
"Why don't I do that?" Tessa asked. She stood up and made her way over to Arin and Nocturnis. "I'm quite familiar with handling these kinds of wounds. As a way of proving Rolan and I are no harm, I'll help your Beast."
"Are you okay with that, Noct?" Arin asked.
"Whatever you want, Master." Nocturnis lowered his head. Arin nodded and stepped out of the way and let Tessa work. He watched her pull out some vials and mumbled to herself.
"Alright, I'm going to pull it out. It's going to hurt, Noct." Tessa said. She gently wrapped her hand around the arrow and steeled herself. "Three, two, one!" Yank!
Nocturnis roared in pain as Tessa quickly cast the arrow to the side and uncorked one of her potions. She splashed it onto Nocturnis' wound, only making him roar even more before the spot began to heal.
Arin's face twitched as he uncomfortably turned away. He had always been one who was normally okay with wounds and treatment, but feeling it from Nocturnis was another feeling he never thought he'd experience.
"There you go, Noct." Tessa smiled. She corked her used bottle and carefully set her bottles back into her satchel before standing. "You're a good boy for being able to handle that much pain."
"If I couldn't handle that much pain, would I really be a tale humans tell their children?" Nocturnis replied.
"That's why he looks so familiar." Rolan pointed. He looked at Arin, asking, "Your Beast's a Shadow Panther, huh?"
"Yeah." Arin nodded casually.
"A Shadow Panther?!?" Tessa gasped. "I've never seen one this close before. I hear the Shadow Panthers only roam the Verdantwilde Plains! To think one existed around this area."
"All those tales the Elders and crones spoke about were true, then." Rolan bit his lip and set his thumb on his chin. He looked up a moment later at Arin. "How did you manage to snag a contract with one of the most mythical Beasts in all of Ferrowilde?"
"Well…" Arin scratched his cheek. "Y'see, I'm not quite sure myself. It was literally a few days ago this all happened and I haven't really been able to understand much about our new relationship."
"Relationship?" Tessa raised an eyebrow. She returned to her seat, pulling her satchel off and setting it on the table. "Isn't it a contract? Beastlord and Beast? For the duration of your lifespan, you'll work together or something like that?"
"Well, y'see…" Arin glanced at Nocturnis for help.
"I'm not helping you. I don't understand it myself." Nocturnis closed his eyes and set his head on top of his paws.
"It's not like a typical contract." Arin continued his explanation. "It's like…" How could he explain it to Tessa and Rolan?
"Not like a typical contract? What is it then? His own free will?" Rolan pointed at Nocturnis.
"Nothing like that." He shook his head. "It's like a part of myself is with Noct now. We're linked together."
"Hmm, that's not like any Beastlords I've come across." Tessa shook her head.
"I've seen Beastlords make contracts with Beasts and it does not sound anything like that. It isn't something you give yourself away for. It's a deal between two parties." Rolan added.
"I don't know anything about Beastlords so… I couldn't really explain it well." Arin awkwardly laughed.
"You don't know anything about Beastlords?" Tessa asked. Arin shook his head. "I'm pretty sure the entire world knows about Beastlords."
"Well, I know about Beastlords but I don't know anything other than the stories my Mother used to tell me when I was little."
"Listen up! I'll only tell you once since you're new to this." Rolan leaned forward. "Beastlords are a special class in the world of Ferrowilde. When the Forsaken screwed up, they gave Ferrowilde the Heart of Dominion to fix things. Those assholes didn't realize that it only created more in-fighting and Beastlords just became a headache on top of everything that was happening at the time.
"Beastlords aren't a normal thing as they were back then. They're a rare class that can create contracts with Beasts and grow stronger through their Beasts leveling and their bond. I would assume it'd be the same for you. The stronger you get, the stronger your Beast gets."
"And the stronger Noct gets, the more abilities I'll get!" Arin added.
Tessa and Rolan looked at each other in confusion.
"No, that's not how it works. A Beast should give you all of their abilities at your disposal." Tessa delivered the news. "You shouldn't have to level up to get them. Don't tell me you don't have all of Noct's abilities?"
"I don't have much to work with." Arin shrugged. He set his spear on the floor and took a seat. "I got three abilities so far and Noct doesn't have all of his abilities, either."
"Strange." Rolan whispered. He cleared his throat and spoke louder. "Do you have any unique abilities from attaining your Class?"
This was general knowledge to all the inhabitants of Ferrowilde. At some point in their lives, they would gain a Class and their skills and abilities would stem from that. While Goriath and Vee got a Hunter class, Arin was classless up until recently.
"Mmm, lets see." Arin summoned his screen and stared at the screen. He clicked on skills and noticed three skills. "I have three on my own and the rest is Noct's."
"Is there Beast Contract?" Rolan asked.
"Nope. I have—"
"You shouldn't read strangers your skills! They could use it against you!" Rolan shouted.
"Oh, right." Arin smiled. He de-summoned the screen and leaned back on his hands. "I don't have that, but I do have something like that. It allows me to adopt characteristics of my Beasts through our bond."
"A contract skill through bonding." Tessa looked at Rolan. "I know some people are born with rarer skills of certain classes, but that's usually because its a bloodline thing. Is your parents both Beastlords?"
"I'm not sure. Up until recently, I didn't even know my mom had a class. My Father…" Arin stopped as soon as he mentioned his Dad. He cleared his throat and continued. "He's a Hunter. My Mom could be a Beastlord, I'm not entirely sure."
"You don't know your mom's class? I thought this was easily accessible information." Rolan leaned into the chair, cracking his back.
"Well, she's not here anymore. She, uh, passed thirteen years ago." Arin replied. An awkward silence filtered in. Tessa looked away while Rolan froze. Sensing the awkward silence, Arin attempted to move on. "It's nothing serious. It's been thirteen years. I'm actually fine now. I miss her but you learn to live on without them, y'know?"
"Which village are you from?" Rolan asked Arin.
'Why would he want to know where I'm from?' Arin wondered. The strangers he just met were friendly. They allowed him to stay in the mines with them and Rolan even went as far as distracting the goblins and killing some of them.
"Well… I guess since you saved me I'll tell you." Arin licked his lips. He let out a sigh and straightened himself. "I'm from Thornwood. It's probably a day's journey from here at this point to the South."