After the realization that he could only afford the Skeletonshell Turtle, Lance walked back to its cage and decided to analyze its attributes.
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[Beast Attributes]
-Name: Skeletonshell Turtle
-Tier: 1, low-level
-Grade: Common
-Type: Undead/Water
-Hp: 9/12
-Mana: 6/6
{Stats}
-Strength: 3
-Agility: 1
-Endurance: 6
-Intelligence: 2
-Soul: 1
-Magic Power: 3
-Luck: -1
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"Most of it stats aren't unusual but why does he have negative luck" Lance wondered, but he decided to look past the Skeletonshell Turtle's unusual luck stat since it was the only pet he could afford.
While most tamers think that undead beasts are gross, Lance thought the little skeleton turtle sleeping was extremely cute.
The Skeletonshell Turtle had a skeletal appearance characterized by bleached white bones forming an elongated, ribcage-like structure, resembling a turtle's shell. Its jagged, weathered bones give it a menacing and haunting aesthetic, while its empty eye sockets emit an eerie, ethereal glow.
Lance had assumed the beast was asleep but after hovering around the beasts cage for so long the small guy brought its head up to look at Lance with a timid glint in its eyes.
The little turtle began to waddle over to the side of the cage closest to Lance and accidentally bumped his head into the cage and fell over.
"His luck stat was a -1, so I'm not really surprised" Lance thought while laughing.
The little guy rolled back over and got up staring at Lance as if it was waiting for something.
Sticking his hand in between the bars of the cage, reaching out towards the little skeleton beast, quietly he slowly approached Lance's hand and bumped his head against it as a way of testing the waters, in response Lance spread his hand out and caressed the little guys head.
The Skeletonshell Turtle then began to push up against Lance's hand allowing him to pet him.
"I assume his friendliness is due to my beast affinity skill" Lance thought to himself
After petting the Skeletonshell Turtle for a few minutes Lance knew it was going to be his first companion in this world, "Im gonna call you Turt from now on little fella since you need a name if you're gonna explore this crazy world with me" Lance whispered to the little turtle.
"I should go get the clerk so I can bring Turt home with me and research this Growth System of mine", with that thought in mind Lance headed back down to the first floor and spoke to the worker at the front desk.
"Could I buy the Skeletonshell Turtle on the 3rd floor, I have the required spirit crystals on me"
"You really want that nasty thing? We were just about to dispose of it since nobody wants to buy it" the clerk responded.
"Yeah it looked pretty sad up there, I wouldn't mind taking it off your hands" Lance replied taking off his backpack and slinging it up onto the counter between him and the clerk, dumping out all 20 of his spirit crystals, the average of which was about an inch in width and length with a cylindrical shape, and a normally a milky white color.
The clerk slowly counted up his measly pile of spirit crystals, and after confirming it was the right amount, she brought him back up to the 3rd floor with a key in her hand, walking past all the other cages they arrived in the back corner where Lance's new companion was staying.
As he approached the cage he could see Turt sitting patiently waiting for him, the clerk handed Lance the key and said "You can unlock that gross things cage, I don't want to be anywhere near it".
Ignoring the rude lady, Lance unlocked the cage and let Turt out, he slowly waddled towards him, until he stuck his hand out and picked the little guy up, luckily he was only around 20lbs and about a foot in length and half a foot in width, so Lance could easily carry him.
The clerk looked at Lance in shock and muttered "He's never that friendly to any of the workers"
Lance decided to head home as fast as he could so he could have a safe place to establish his first covenant.
Unfortunately he had to walk back to the gate with Turt in his arms because the little guys speed was abysmally low. Once he made it through the gate he weaved through the ruins that was the slums and made it back to his cramped apartment, with Turt staying silent during the whole journey.
Lance already knew the process to establish a covenant so he set Turt down on his mattress and sat down across from him.
Establishing a covenant is surprisingly easy, you merely have to inject soul power into the body of a beast and it can either accept or deny the covenant, if a beast denies the covenant you can continue channeling soul power into their body until it overtakes their own soul power, to overthrow their decision and forcefully establish the covenant. The beast usually forgets its opposition to the covenant if it is successfully established.
Its suggested to only try and establish covenants with younger beasts because they often don't have higher reserves of soul power and are less likely to resist a covenant.
"Well I guess we should hurry up and get this over with, I don't think this little guy is gonna try to resist, and if he does ill just stop and try again later when we get a little closer"
Lance placed his hand on top of Turt's head and whispered "Don't resist"
Lance began summoning the measly amount of soul power in his body and directed it towards his hand and then into Turt's body, so it could slowly integrate with his soul. After a few dozen seconds Lance felt a small mental connection with Turt, which showed that Lance had succeeded in establishing his first covenant.
"The speed at which the covenant was established was most likely due to my Beast Affinity skill, allowing Turt to integrate my soul power faster due to our bond"
[The Covenant Tab has been unlocked]
[The Quest Tab has been unlocked]
[Quest "Tame your first beast" has been completed]
[Quest Reward: 5 System Points]
"Well that's a lot of different notifications, I should check out all the new tabs and see what these System Points are used for"
Pulling his hand away from Turt's head, Lance spoke out "Growth System"
[Growth System]
[System Points: 5]
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[Analysis] [Covenants] [Personal Attributes] [Quests] [Skills]
"I guess I'll start by checking out my new Analysis tab"
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[Analysis: The ability to view the information of organisms and inanimate objects within limitations]
{Upgrades}
[Beast Evolution Viewing: View the next possible evolution paths of a beast, Cost: 50 System Points]
[Favorite Food Viewing: View an organism's favorite food, Cost: 5 System Points]
[Skill Viewing: View an organism's skills, Cost: 20 System Points]
[Affinity Viewing: View how close you are to an organism (affinity is split into ranks for beasts), Cost: 25 System Points]
--------------------------------
"Well that's unexpected, it seems like I can upgrade my analysis ability with system points and even use it to analyze things other than beasts, which is kinda overpowered"
"I should check all the new tabs before I use my system points, next I'll check what the covenants tab has in store"
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[Covenants: 1/1]
[Covenant: Name: Turt, Health: 9/12 Tier: 1 low-level, Grade: Common]
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"Well that's pretty unremarkable, I hope the quest tab isn't as disappointing"
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[Quests]
[Kill A Beast, Reward: Unknown]
[Cultivate a Beast to Tier 2, Reward: Unknown]
[Reach Level 2, Reward: 5 System Points]
{Upgrades}
[5 Quest Max: Increase the max amount of Quests you can have at one time to 5, Cost 20 System Points]
[Quest Removal: Once per month you can remove a quest and replace it, Cost 25 System Points]
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"So to get more system points I have to complete the quests available to me, luckily they don't seem that challenging so I should be able to rack up some system points and upgrade my analysis ability" Lance realized.
"Well I think the next course of action is finding a way to make some money because I'm starving and Turt needs food and spirit crystals so he can cultivate" Lance thought, "Its only 4pm right now, there are still a few hours before the sun sets so I could maybe go to the border of the slums to try and find some weak monsters to fight against"
Leaning towards Turt, Lance asked, "do you wanna go and try to make some money, we need it if you want any food"
Turt somehow understanding the food portion of Lance's question, nodded his tiny head in agreement.
"You're going to have to walk with me and keep up because I can't carry you everywhere, okay Turt?" In response, Turt stood up and waddled towards Lance's legs to demonstrate that he could walk around on his own just fine.
As Lance opened the door to his apartment, he glanced back to make sure Turt was right behind him before stepping out into the street.
With only a few hours left, Lance considered his options, "Maybe I should try to track down some of those young beast tamers", he thought. It'd be a good chance for Turt to get some battle experience, sparring with them.