"I guess my first step in this new world should be to establish a covenant with a beast and become an official beast tamer"
Lance's thoughts were shifted towards becoming a beast tamer due to the large amounts of money the profession could make.
Since anyone can establish a covenant with a beast, most if not all people had some sort of pet by the time they hit 18 years old.
While someone's soul power would normally awaken during puberty, sometimes it would never awaken, leaving them without the ability to establish a covenant.
The chances of this occurring were extremely rare though with only 1 in every few million people being affected.
Unfortunately the previous owner of this body was one of those unlucky few, leaving him unable to establish a covenant with even the weakest of pets.
"I really feel for him", Lance thought. "But luckily, when I took over I believe I awakened his bodies soul power".
He knew this, due to the singular point he had seen in his soul stat, showing that he did have soul power albeit not a lot.
"While it's gonna be challenging to establish a covenant with a beast due to my low soul power, as long as I can find one weak enough I should be alright" Lance thought to himself.
Lance was currently living in Silvertide, an average sized city bordering a portion of the Dark-Lands.
The Dark-Lands are home to the majority of beasts in Eller. Though humanity has tried to claim more and more of this territory, each attempt has been met with growing resistance, resulting in a stalemate that leaves the Dark-Lands covering over half of Eller.
Luckily for Lance Silvertide has its own branch of the Global-Pet Nexus, a large organization that sells pets all across the world of Eller.
Sadly Lance only had 20 spirit crystals to his name, while even the cheapest of pets could cost somewhere between 50-100 spirit crystals upfront, "What am I gonna do?" Lance thought to himself.
After thinking long and hard about how to best proceed with his limited funds, Lance decided, "While I may not be able to afford a pet, who says I can't browse?" With this thought, he swung the front door open and took the first steps into his new life.
It was currently the first of July and surprisingly it wasn't that hot, only around 80°F, but walking out of his temporary home the sheer poverty surrounding him almost brought a tear to his eye.
While the conditions of his house weren't the best, the surroundings were much worse, pieces of sharp metal stuck out of the ground everywhere with countless piles of garbage stacked up all around the ground, one could only imagine the scent.
Lance was currently staying near the border between the Dark-Lands and the City of Silvertide, which was why the surrounding environment was so poorly maintained. None of the people in the city cared to improve the area due to the high chance of a beast tide ruining it all, which had already happened 2 years prior.
While Lance walked through the slums he only saw a few different types of pets, this was most likely due to the high cost of raising and even buying a young pet beast, and unless someone was a beast tamer a pet would be nothing more than an unnecessary spirit crystal and time sink.
The few pets he did see were very commonly known beasts such as the Flame Rat, which he had seen resting on a rough looking man's shoulder. While the pet may look harmless it could produce a small amount of fire on its tail which could reach 300°F.
Far more intimidating than the fire rat would be the Venomspike Toad, which Lance saw fighting a fierce battle against a young Darkfang Viper.
When Lance looked a little closer he realized that both the Venomspike Toad and Darkfang Viper were being commanded by 2 young men to purposefully spar against each other.
The Venomspike Toad was a little larger than the Darkfang Viper reaching a modest 4ft tall, while the Darkfang Viper's length only roughly reached 3 1/2ft.
The distinctive feature of the Venomspike Toads was the row of sharp poisonous spines that ran along their back, while the Darkfang Viper was known for its immense bite power that could even rip a grown mans arm off.
Both the combat power and the combat experience of the beasts were at a very novice level, due to this fact the battle wasn't exactly spectacular but for someone who had never seen a pet battle before it was incredibly eye catching.
"I wonder if I have some sort of analysis ability, if I can view my attributes then maybe I can see others too"
Lance began to intensely stare at the Venomspike Toad and its fight with the juvenile Darkfang Viper, while imagining an attributes screen similar to his own appearing, in the hopes that his system was equipped with some sort of analysis ability.
[The Analysis Tab has been unlocked]
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[Beast Attributes]
-Name: Venomspike Toad
-Tier: 1, low-level
-Grade: Common
-Type: Poison/Water
-Hp: 12/20
-Mana: 2/3
{Stats}
-Strength: 4
-Agility: 2
-Endurance: 6
-Intelligence: 2
-Soul: 3
-Magic Power: 1
-Luck: 0
*A beasts power is split into tiers, and each tier is separated into 4 levels, low-level, mid-level, high-level, and lastly perfect. Each tier increases a beasts power exponentially, with the levels showcasing the power differences inside of a tier.
*Grades determine the potential and rarity of a beast, the grades are split into 7 rarities with each one increasing more uncommon than the last, Common, Rare, Unique, Legendary, Divine, Mythic, Godly.
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"Wow, I did not expect that to work so easily"
Quickly after the status screen popped up, the Darkfang Viper lunged at the Venomspike Toad gathering all the strength it could inside of its jaw and clamped down on the toads head, causing it to lose consciousness.
Realizing he was staring, Lance quickly looked the other way and continued his journey to the main gate that separated the core area of Silvertide and the slums where he stayed.
Once Lance had reached the gate, the difference between where he stayed and the main city was incredibly obvious, the streets were packed full of people and so many different types of beasts followed alongside them.
The streets were surrounded by modern skyscrapers that reminded Lance of the time he had visited New York City.
Having already walked 2 hours to merely reach the main city, Lance decided to pick up his pace and make a beeline to the most popular and pristine beast pet shop in the whole of Silvertide, the Global Pet Nexus Beast Shop.
Arriving in front of the building Lance was surprised by the sheer size of the pet store alone, craning his head back and looking up he estimated that the place had to have 100 floors minimum.
Pushing open the front door, Lance stepped inside and immediately felt the cool, recycled air of the building. He made his way straight to the secretary seated behind the large, gleaming white front desk, the faint roars of beasts and distant footsteps filling the lobby.
"Ma'am, where can I find juvenile beasts for new beast tamers?" Lance asked, his voice echoing slightly in the spacious room.
"That would be floor three," the secretary replied with a polite smile. "You can take the elevator or the stairs."
With that information in mind, Lance headed toward the elevator, to his surprise the smooth metallic doors swiftly slid open with a soft chime. Stepping inside lance pressed the small button with the number 3 on it among the wall of over a hundred buttons in total.
When the doors opened on the third floor, Lance was immediately struck by the scene before him. Rows of cages stretched along the brightly lit corridor, each holding a different juvenile beast. Some beasts paced restlessly, others huddled quietly in corners, their eyes reflecting a mix of curiosity and caution. The faint sounds of rustling fur, soft growls, and the occasional clink of chains filled the air, blending into a lively symphony of life.
Surprisingly feeling at home among all the beasts, Lance hurriedly headed to the first cage on the left side examining the 3 Somnolopine Bunnies that were all huddled together in the middle of the cage sleeping.
"While having such a cute pet would definitely make me more popular with the ladies, I don't think I would be able to pass the beast tamer qualification quiz with just a cute fluffy bunny.
As Lance was beginning to head to the next cage he saw something out of the corner of his eye, a hidden cage that was past all the other cages in the far back corner.
With his interest piqued Lance walked to the corner cage at a very brisk pace reaching it in just a few seconds. Looking inside the cage, Lance saw something he did not expect at all, an undead beast.
While there are many types of beasts in Eller the most uncommon and disliked among the general population were the undead, this is mostly due to their unusual looks, and very weak soul power. These factors normally deterred most beast tamers, but Lance was not fazed in the slightest if anything he was ecstatic that he had gotten so lucky to find a Skeletonshell Turtle.
Lance inspected the outside of the cage and eventually found the price on the left side of the cage, which read "Skeletonshell Turtle: 20 Spirit Crystals
"The Goddess of Luck has truly smiled upon me today, I have just enough spirit crystals to buy this Skeletonshell Turtle" Lance thought to himself, "Maybe its best if I go back and see if I can afford any of the other pets though".
With this thought Lance started walking back to the main line of beast cages in the hope that some of the more traditional beasts were also affordable, which sadly did not end up being the case.