Elves were famous for two distinct areas of magic: Runesmithing and monster-taming. One example was Toross' bark serpent was not raised and trained by himself; it was done by elven tamers specializing into that particular type of monsters.
These two classes were incredibly respected and sought after. Hence why Vylara tolerated Solana's transgression.
Seeing as monsters start from a variety of levels, these tamer's couldn't just walk into the highest level dungeon and train the children. An elf rushed over to Jack and bowed. Her black hair covered her entire face and neck.
"I'm sorry… he's still not well trained and well he loves challenges."
Jack felt a pinch on his core. Laurel had pinched him because he was the one who started the challenge against Arthion.
"Hey," he said.
Laurel turned to the elf and pointed to Jack, "I apologize too Vestele, for his behavior."
Vestele's attention turnec to the slime.
"Oh are you potty-training him?" She asked Laurel with a smile on her face.
The slime in question, was experiencing a different emotion: shame. This elf actually embarrassed him.
Aria couldn't pass up on this opportunity to further embarrass her companion. She smirked and grabbed Jack.
"Actually I'm the one potty training him. But he seems to enjoy the training a bit too much." His slime turning a shade of red, Jack wanted to throw a slime bob at Aria. He was not drinking piss because he likes it; the system and Jeanne were the one who forced this unusually kinky path onto him.
Vestele beamed, her dimples making her snow-white face even prettier. It was rare to encounter a beast-tamer from another species.
"I thought vampires only tamed bats? Or is it because your half ghost? Or are you branching into a new specialty?"
Being bombarded with questions, caught Aria off-guard. She turned to Laurel for help in calming this rapid-firing elf. But Laurel averted her gaze. There wasn't any stopping Vestele when she got this excited. Finally she turned to Jack. Jack was looking at a small caterpillar crawl on a leaf, a small grin on his face; he wasn't going to help Aria out of this.
"Listen-"
Before Aria could even finish one sentence more questions were shot his way. She had to stay there for 30 minute listening to Vestele. She had even tried to run away but this crazy elf had chased her, the desire to learn even one single new fact was too strong.
While Vestele was checking out Aria, Jack decided to take a peek.
[Name: Vestele Lorian]
[Species: Song Elf]
[Title: Monster Tamer]
[Level: 20]
[Beasts bonded: 2]
[Class: Monster Tamer]
[HP: 200/200]
[Mana: 300/300]
[Skills: Call of the Wild Level 3, Creature Bond Level 3, Soothing Melody Level 4, Nature Magic Level 4, Song Magic Level 6]
[Active Beast: Arthion - Azure Roc of the Western Wind]
Jack's core tingled at the numbers. A single tamer could kill him without batting an eye. Sensing a weird eye on her, Vestele stopped dead in her tracks, scanning the surrounding for whatever was causing that strange feeling.
Her gaze landed on Jack who was playing coy.
"Little guy," her smile returned.
She leaned down to Jack's level. The aura around her was completely different. Vestele rubbed his head, earning her a small tremble from the slime. She was not like Jeanne or Aria; her movements were like water flowing.
With a beautiful smile on her face, she said, "Do you want to be my friend too?"
[Creature Bond Attempt Detected. Vestele is attempting to form a bond. Do you accept? Yes/No]
He didn't know what benefits there were to this.
[Creature Bond offers the host a telepathic link with the master, increased stats growth by 25%, and skill progression speed of 20%.]
A tempting offer, but he would lose his freedom, essentially becoming a pet.
"No thanks," he said and hopped away.
Vestele's face crumpled.
"Oh!" she said sheepishly looking around and blushing beet red, "You're Jack the Slime, husband of Jeanne D'Amain."
Scratching the back of her neck, she bowed.
"I'm so sorry for trying to tame you, I got caught in the excitement. Please don't tell Judge Sylva. She gave me a warning last week for trying to tame a pixie that didn't want to."
She put her hands together in a pleading gesture.
Arthion landed on her arm and nudged her, and Vestele stroked its plumage.
Laurel had seen enough. This conversation was dragging on too long for her liking. Plucking a blue apple, she took a bite and tossed it to the ground.
The trio was entering the portal when Vestele shouted.
"Wait! Can I tag along? I promise I will not get in your way."
Aria narrowed her eyes, and she had one word for the elf.
"No."
The elf was far too chatty for her liking and a tiny part of her thought Jack would actually accept her request just for fun.
Vestele dropped on her knees.
"Pleaseeee I need to get him to level 12 or I'll fail my exam! I can provide you free song support spells and-" She started listing benefits faster than a merchant at closing time.
Jack was wiggling, tempted. Exams that he understood but he didn't think this world had academies.
"What exam?" he asked.
Vestele perked up as a dog that had just been given a treat.
"Aerial Monster Tamer examination, we get graded on the bond and on our beast's level! So please I will do anything!"
A light bulb lit up in Jack's slime brain.
"Teach me Song Magic."
Vestele's face lit up. Laurel on the other hand groaned as did Aria. They knew he had just asked for something akin to a university lecture from a babblemouth.
"A deal is a deal!"
She hopped around ecstatic, causing Arthion to take flight with a screech of delight.
After picking up the stray known as Vestele, Jack finally entered the Level 1 portal. What greeted him wasn't the familiar concept of dungeons from Earth: cracked stone, dripping water, distant echoes of unspeakable things. No. This was different. It perfectly explained why Vestele wanted to tag along with them.