Tyler leaned against the rough stone wall, arms crossed, the morning sun warming his face. Serena stood before him, her expression a mix of awe and disbelief. "What? So… that was all you?"

"Yeah. Like I said before, that was me. But don't go spreading it around, alright?"

Serena shook her head, her gaze fixed on the golden necklace of growth he wore. "Obviously, I wouldn't. But… you said you're an A-Rank now?

Tyler sighed, the breath misting in the cool morning air. "I already told you, it's because of this necklace." He gestured towards the pendant.

"I know, I know. But it still doesn't make any sense. You're leveling up faster than any hero ever recorded! And you're saying it's because you get more XP when wearing this?" She ran a hand through her red hair.

"Yes," Tyler said patiently, "for the third time, that's correct."

Serena pressed her fingers against her forehead. "This is… really hard to follow. You have no idea how much trouble you're in."

"I know," Tyler said grimly, the memory of the wanted posters flashing in his mind.

Serena looked at him directly. "So, you know about the Pale Reapers?"

Tyler folded his arms, his expression tightening. "The… what now?"

Serena leaned closer, her voice dropping. "The Pale Reapers. There's a rumor that they might be coming to investigate the situation. Some people say they've seen them already."

Tyler frowned. "What are Pale Reapers?"

Serena stared at him, mouth agape. "You don't know about them? But… *everyone* knows about the Pale Reapers!"

Tyler shook his head slowly, a sense of unease creeping over him. "I don't know them."

"In all of the kingdoms, they have a group that is said to be next to the heroes in power. Although the heroes don't like to be compared to them, it is true. These people are the strongest people in the kingdom. There are people trained and refined by the heroes to become the strongest. They are known as the Pale Reapers. They are like hunters who wear white armor except they aren't hunters; they are Pale Reapers."

Tyler then said, "What exactly do they do?"

Serena, her voice hushed, then answered Tyler, saying, "Whenever a disaster happens, if a dragon attacks a village, for example. A Reaper is sent there to deal with it instead of the heroes. The Reapers take care of devastating events. They investigate, hunt, and destroy their targets. They have never once failed."

Tyler then said, "So you're saying these people are coming after me?"

Serena then nodded, the movement sharp and quick. "Yes," she said, the word escaping her a little louder than she intended. "I heard they sent two of them after you."

"Two?" Tyler asked, his voice barely a breath.

She then whispered, "And only one of them is strong enough to take on a red-tailed dragon. Tyler, you need to understand. These people are stronger than any S-rank hunter the world has ever seen. They're heartless. They're brutal. They won't show you any mercy if they discover that it's you."

Tyler felt a chill crawl up his spine from Serena's words. He thought to himself, *One of them is strong enough to kill a dragon and stronger than an S-rank?*

Tyler then said, "What level are they exactly?"

Serena then muttered, "Well, some of them have been rumored to have reached levels of 350."

Tyler then muttered out loud, "350?"

Serena then said, "Shhh, not so loud."

Tyler then said, "I'm sorry, it's just that I'm surprised. Isn't an S-rank 150?"

Serena then said, "Exactly, that's why I told you they're the strongest people around. Stronger than even the strongest S-rank hunter. And the Strongest S-ranked hunter in the kingdom is known to be at levels of 200."

Tyler then said, "Then I need to get out of here."

Serena said, her face now sad and her voice very low, "Yes, yes, you should."

"It's not safe around these parts anymore."

Tyler then cut Serena off, saying, "I'm just kidding."

Serena then said, "What?"

Tyler said, "I'm not leaving… well, at least not yet."

Serena ask, "But why? I told you there's some really dangerous people looking for you; even if you defeated the captain, you stand no chance. You're an A-rank, remember?"

"Yes, I know that," Tyler answered. "But there's something I gotta do before I leave."

Serena then said, "What? What has you risking your life that you have to do first?"

Tyler then said, "It's complicated."

Serena then said, "No, it's not. Do you think it's fun, worrying about you?"

"I know it's not. I'm sorry. But I just can't leave yet. I have nowhere else to go. Plus, I'm running a shop in Viridia. I can't just abandon it."

Serena then said, "You have a shop? I didn't know this."

Tyler then said, "Yeah. *Like I told you before,* I make weapons and armor. That's where I sell them."

Tyler then interrupted Serena, saying, "Listen, they won't find out that it's me, okay? They suspect someone stronger; I'm just an A-rank to them. No one will ever suspect me."

Serena then said, "Well, just please be careful, alright? I don't want you to get caught."

Tyler then said, "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

Serena then sighed and looked at Tyler, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. She put a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "You know, you always get me so worried sometimes. And honestly, it's because you're always so..."

Suddenly, Serena and Tyler were interrupted by a staff member appearing beside the building, saying, "Serena! So you're here, I've been looking for you. You should get back to work." The staff member then went off, disappearing, probably going into the building.

Tyler looked at Serena and said, "You were staying?"

Serena then said, "Uh, no, nothing. Let's go inside."

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Tyler felt a little disappointed, as he felt that Serena was about to tell him something important. He thought to himself, *What was she about to say?*

Serena went, and Tyler followed behind her. They entered the building. Serena walked around the counter and stood behind it. Tyler then stood in front of her and asked, "So what kind of quests do they give out around here?"

Serena then said, "Well, as you can see, they are all C-rank and above. Although there is no S-rank or A-rank quest here."

Tyler looked at the quest board that was behind Serena.

He saw many quest flyers mounted there and said, "Can I see that one?" He pointed to a quest flyer.

Serena turned and took off the quest flyer and said, "Here. It's a C-rank plus quest. Are you sure you don't want any B-rank ones?"

Tyler took the flyer and looked at it, and he said, "Yeah, give me a B-rank quest… a B-rank plus if there's any."

Serena then said, "Alright." She looked for a B-rank quest on the quest board, unmounted one, and put it on the counter before Tyler. Tyler took it and put the C-rank one on the counter. He now focused on the B-plus rank quest. His eyes widened as he saw the promised gold. It was promising 35 gold, and he thought to himself, *Wow, 35 gold? 35 gold, and it's not even a boss monster…*

Tyler looked at the quest description: "Bring six Gashrum heads." He looked up at Serena and asked, "What's a Gashrum?"

Serena answered, "They are plant-type monsters that look like mushrooms. That quest has been there for a while; it seems like none of the hunters want to pick it. Must be because of the monster's attacks."

Tyler then said, "Is it a dangerous monster?"

Serena said, "Yes, just like all the monsters in there. It's just that this one uses an aerial attack that slows its targets."

Tyler then said, "Oh," as he rubbed his chin. Then he said, "I'll take it."

"Right when I tell you how dangerous it is…" Serena sighed, "Okay. But before you go, you should know there is a way to counter the monster's attack."

Tyler asked, "Oh? What is it?"

Serena said, "You should take a cloth and dip it in water. Then press it against your mouth and nose. Cover your nose when they show up so that when they release the gas, it won't affect you."

Tyler said, "Oh, that's informative. Thank you. He then added, "You've been here for a few days, and you already know a lot about these monsters."

Serena answered with a smile, "It's nothing special, really. Each and every one of the staff members has to know about the monsters of the monster zone they're closer to"

Tyler said, "Oh, I didn't know that. Can you give me anything to sign this with?"

Serena then opened a drawer behind the counter and took a pencil from it, giving it to Tyler. Tyler signed the quest flyer, and then he gave it to Serena, who took it and put it back in the drawer.

Tyler then said, "Alright. I'm off."

Serena then said, "Be careful out there. Most of those monsters are poisonous."

Tyler said, "Thanks for the advice. I'll be back."

Serena smiled and said, "I know you will."

Tyler smiled back and turned, walking out of the building. Meanwhile, Serena thought, *He's not going to the monster zones dressed up like that, right? He's going to magically equip his armor, with his skill*

Meanwhile, outside, Tyler frowned. *Damn it. I'm going to have to go into the monster zone dressed like this. I don't want to damage these clothes.* They were, after all, the only ones he had that weren't armor. Then, a spark of an idea lit his eyes. He muttered, "Wait a minute… I have those scales…" A chuckle escaped him as he remembered the scales he'd stored in his inventory, leftover from the night he'd used his skill room to copy a set.

*I'll simply equip them when I get there,* he thought, quickening his pace toward the monster zones.

The trees, he noted, were still a distance away. Futher from base compared the monster zone, at the crossroads base. He started with a light jog, eager to get there. *What kind of monsters will I face? That Gashrum… what will it really look like?* He knew the system would display its name when he spotted it. *And she said it looks like a mushroom…*

His thought was cut short as he arrived at the edge of the forest. He saw a few hunters emerging. The forest before him was filled with towering trees, their branches draped with heavy vines. The strangest thing was the trees themselves: they looked incredibly healthy. Almost… wet. He recalled Grone's words: the monster zone in Lyria was a swamp. This confused Tyler, as he'd always associated swamps with frequent rain. He hadn't seen rain since arriving in this world.

He took a deep breath and stepped into the forest. The trees started to grow denser, the forest darkening as their tall branches blocked the sun. The branches were practically vying for space overhead. *This place is so dense… so many trees, I can barely see anything in front of me.*

Tyler then saw a hunter in leather armor emerge from the distance, carrying a collection of small, oval-shaped, thin, green shells. He had tied them together with a rope, carrying them by hand. The man saw Tyler and shouted, "Hey! You're that B-rank!"

He stood in front of Tyler, who said, "Yeah."

The hunter then said, "You're going inside the monster zones without any armor?"

Tyler said, "Yeah. I lost it."

The man then said, "Well, that's none of my business, but…" He walked around Tyler. "Just know that you're gonna die in there!" he yelled, disappearing back into the forest.

Tyler watched the man disappear, then sighed. *Yeah, I should probably equip the scales right now.*

Suddenly, Tyler's whole body shimmered with a faint blue light. White scales erupted across his skin, from his legs all the way to his collarbone. The scales even appeared *inside* his clothing and between his fingers. They felt just as he remembered: very comfortable, like his own skin, yet simultaneously hard and light.

It was almost like he was wearing white armor. Tyler muttered, "Nice," as he looked at his hands, now covered in white scales. He then muttered, "I wanna test something… I still have a lot of scales in my inventory, and the skill allows me to manipulate them however I want, right? If this is true, then…"

Tyler put his hand forward, opening his palm, and then closing it into a fist, leaving a small gap, a hole in the fist, as if he were holding something invisible. He closed his eyes and concentrated. His wrist shimmered as more scales appeared, but instead of spreading across his skin, they rushed towards his hand and into his fist. They spread between his fingers, on both sides, forming what looked like a staff, purely made of scales.

Tyler stopped. He had created a staff that was two and a half meters long. A grin appeared on his face. *I knew it!* He chuckled, then quickly spun the staff in his hand, passing it swiftly from one hand to the other, continuing to spin it. He rotated while spinning the staff in a martial, artistic way, then brought it down with considerable force, stopping it just before it hit the ground. A gust of wind erupted from the force, as if the air had become water.

Tyler thought to himself, *This weapon mastery skill is kind of overpowered… Always wanted to do this, just like those guys in the movies I used to watch.*

Tyler then continued walking, holding his staff resting on his shoulder. He thought, *Why aren't I seeing any monsters? Well, there are a lot of C-ranks here. I think they're just C-ranks… I haven't seen a D-rank anywhere. Maybe they took care of the ones near the base. Looks like it's kind of similar to the monster zone at the crossroads base.*

Flashes of the images of the pets that the hunters had with them crossed Tyler's mind. The sun, though hidden behind the dense canopy, cast a soft, diffused light upon the forest floor, indicating it was no longer early morning. He started to feel a small concern in his hunting alone since he wasn't hunting with Grone anymore, and from his experience, he couldn't trust other hunters. He couldn't risk suddenly hunting with one, seeing as to what happened. He knew that if he hunted with another hunter, they might betray him and try killing him, probably for his materials or his armor. He also knew that hunting with someone else would just be getting them in trouble. After all, he was a wanted man.

He sighed, looking around. *I have the ability to tame a pet, but I've reached levels of 120 without one. At this point, I might reach S-rank without ever taming a monster.* He remembered, *I had so many chances to use it… I could have used it on that Shadow Walker, on that White Walker. Maybe I could have used it on the Crimson Alpha Wolf as well.* He smirked to himself, thinking of how people would have reacted, seeing him train a wolf as big as a cow. He thought that it probably would have reached the same rank as him, if not higher, had he trained it back then, had he made it his companion. But of course, they needed it's hide.

He pushed the staff further backward on his shoulder, resting it against the back of his neck in a straight line, and rested his hands back against it. He sighed and muttered under his breath, "You know what? The next rare monster I'm going to run into is going to be my pet, no matter what it looks like."

Immediately, Tyler's enhanced sense of hearing—a skill granted by the scales—picked up a sound from above. The rustling of the undergrowth escalated into a violent shaking. He spun, his gaze snapping upwards just as a wooden club, as thick as a man's thigh and shaped like a crude baseball bat, plummeted towards him.

Reacting with instinct born of countless battles, he met the airborne weapon with his staff. The impact reverberated through the air as the staff met the club, deflecting it. The club smashed into a towering tree, splitting it in two with a deafening crack.

But what followed was even more astonishing. A small, green humanoid creature emerged from where the club had originated. It had a bald head and skin the color of sickly moss. A tattered rag was its only garment, clinging to its lower body. In its tiny, clawed hand, it wielded a jagged shard that resembled a crude, oversized claw. It shrieked, a sound that was a jarring blend of a battle cry and a toddler's wail.

Tyler's thought was, *What the hell?!*

He launched himself into a spinning kick, his scaled leg connecting squarely with the creature's face. The force of the blow was immense. The green *being* was sent hurtling through the air, a green blur of pain. It slammed into a tree, which exploded into splinters. The tree groaned in protest, its roots momentarily tearing from the earth. The creature continued its destructive trajectory, colliding with a second tree. It too, shattered. Then a third met the same fate. Finally, with a mournful squeak of wood, it struck a fourth, which shuddered violently before collapsing in a final, echoing crash.

Tyler thought, *Oh, damn, I didn't mean to use that much force… but what the hell *was* that? A humanoid monster? I thought this forest was full of plant and insect types!*

He moved towards the spot where the creature had landed, surveying the path of destruction. Several trees lay broken, casualties of his kick and the monster's flight. "I don't know why," he said aloud, "but I felt like I was holding back a bit there… and I *was*." He considered, *But with the strength of an A-rank… this might be a disadvantage of leveling up so many levels at once.* Images flashed through his mind, reminding him of the time he'd taken down another hunter while trying his best to restrain himself. Even when angered, he'd held back before that final blow.

He found the small, green being slumped on the forest floor. It was breathing slowly, shallowly, each breath a weak, squeaky rasp. Yet, it still clutched the jagged black claw in its tiny hand. Tyler stood over it, and it looked up at him. It clenched its teeth, groaning in pain and frustration.

"What exactly are you?" Tyler asked, his voice a low growl.

*Lv 9 Goblinth [Rare Monster]*

The system panel appeared before him, shimmering in blue. His eyes widened. "Whoa, you're a rare monster?"

Green blood trickled from the little monster's mouth, staining the mossy skin around its lips. It had stopped clenching its teeth, stopped groaning. It looked… defeated.

Tyler sighed, frustration clear in his voice. He held his forehead with his right hand. "Agh… I know I said I'd make the next rare monster my pet… but this is bizarre! How the hell do I *say* that and then immediately run into one… and it has to look like *this*?"

The Goblinth looked up at Tyler and rolled its eyes, as if reacting to his comment. Tyler thought, *What th- Did this thing just roll its eyes?!*

Then, the monster did something completely unexpected. Gripping the black claw tightly, it *drove* the jagged edge through the air, aiming for its own neck. Suicide.

"Wait!" Tyler yelled, his voice sharp. With terrifying speed, he dropped to a crouch, seizing the Goblinth's hand. "You're trying to commit suicide?"

The little monster fought against Tyler's grip, but it was futile. It strained, trying to bring the claw to its neck and end its own life. Tyler was genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected *this*. First the eye roll, now this? *What kind of monster is this?*

He immediately yanked the claw away and threw it aside. He stood back up. The Goblinth looked at Tyler, its face a picture of sorrow. It bit its lower lip, and then, it began to cry, rapidly pounding its fists against the forest floor, its legs flailing in the air like a child throwing a tantrum.

Tyler looked on, astonished. *First, the eye roll… then the suicide attempt… and now a tantrum because I stopped it?* He chuckled, then said aloud, "These thing's acting *human*… Are all humanoid monsters like this?"

He looked at the Goblinth with a grin. *This thing is… interesting.* He thought, *I think I'm going to have to take it. I might never run into a monster like this again. It *is* rare.*

He crouched down again as the… Goblinth continued to throw its tantrum. Tyler muttered, "You're pretty strong. You survived a kick from an A-rank, and you're only level nine…" He chuckled. "I know Grone said you guys are tough, but still… that's impressive."

The Goblinth, lost in its despair, didn't even seem to hear.

Tyler muttered again, "Well, from this day forth, you're no longer just a monster… you're mine now. No more days of dying and respawning again and again. You're going to live by my side."

A grin still plastered across his face, Tyler looked ahead. A thought, he didn't even have to ask and the system panel shimmered into existence before him.

To use the skill: Primal Subjugation, the user must command- activate Primal Subjugation while placing their palm on any body part of the monster they choose.

He placed his palm on the Goblinth's chest, near its collarbone, and *commanded*, "Activate Primal Subjugation."

Suddenly, his palm glowed a faint blue. The Goblinth immediately stopped crying, letting out a confused, questioning sound, and looked at Tyler. The glow faded. Tyler removed his hand. Small, intricate circles now adorned the Goblinth's chest.

The system panel reappeared: *Subjugation successful.*

Tyler muttered, "Good." He stood, but then—

The Goblinth exploded into blue dust. It simply *disintegrated*, vanishing into a cloud of blue powder that quickly dispersed, disappearing into nothingness.

Tyler stared, dumbfounded. "What the… it… it… it died?"

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