Jessica had never realized just how easy her life on earth was. She used to hate living in a trailer in the middle of nowhere, and despite having a fairly calm home life, she didn’t think very highly of it.

  She used to have very little in the way of responsibilities—go to school, do homework, help keep the house clean, and occasionally help cook.

  Now all of that was replaced with…

  Well…

  She tracked the movements of her opponent from behind her mask, pivoting her spear up under his to try to parry the incoming strike. She wasn’t strong enough. He knocked her spear away, then drove forward with all his might.

  Though the training spears were blunted on the end, having it driven into her gut still managed to disperse the force through her leather armor and knock the wind out of her as she was thrown backwards.

  She hit the dusty ground coughing, while there were soft snickers and chuckles from the surrounding battle students. The one who had just sparred with her walked by her and lowered his voice enough only so she could hear. “So this is the Wyrmscar Legacy. Pathetic.” He then kicked her spear away from her as she was reaching for it, causing a less suppressed wave of laughter to ring out from the other students… or trainees…. Or whatever the hell they were supposed to be called.

  Jessica was sixteen years old when that meteor hit her and sent her mind into the body of thirteen-year-old Elva Wyrmscar, who—among other things that would never happen in Wyoming—was being trained in battle.

  “Hragaar!” the instructor snapped with a booming voice at her sparring partner. “Ten laps around the ridge. Now.”

  Hragaar audibly clicked his teeth from behind his mask and tossed his spear away, letting it clatter on the ground before increasing his speed to a jog and running off.

  “Get up, Elva,” the instructor boomed at her. “You will learn nothing lying in the dirt.”

  Jessica sat up, holding her stomach and trying to find her breath. She wasn’t ready to stand, but reached for her spear and then forced herself up anyway. She turned to find her next sparring partner lined up.

  “Begin!” the instructor commanded.

  ***

  Jessica felt exhausted all the time. It only got worse and worse. She didn’t belong here; she knew that.

  She sighed as she crossed the rope bridge to the plateau where the only family she had in this world waited. They stood side by side, each in full armor and red masks. She’d never get used to the size of Valrok—the man that was supposed to be her father. Arms folded, red mask bearing carved teeth somewhere between a laugh and a threat, he looked like a war-god. Her aunt was intimidating in her own way, but she was still the closest thing to a human connection Jessica had here.

  At the far end, Iris crouched in the back corner of a small pen, her white eyes glowing in the shadows as she watched through the bars.

  Jessica was glad for the mask over her own face; without it, she doubted she could meet Valrok’s gaze. She knew he was unhappy with her progress.

  “Tell me of your training,” Valrok said, his broad voice cutting through the silence.

  In my last life, that would have been ‘how was your day.’

  “I am improving,” she answered, though she was unsure if it was true.

  “Have you learned any skills or gained any levels?”

  “Not today, father,” she answered.

  Then, considering her stats, she glanced to the side, and the blue screen appeared.

  Name: Elva Wyrmscar

  Race: Human

  Classes: Wyrmscar Descendant, Rider, Spear Fighter

  Level: 2

  Vitals

  Health: 35/35

  Mana: 40/40

  Stamina: 38/38

  Attributes

  Strength: 5

  Dexterity: 6

  Vigor: 4

  Attunement: 4

  Luck: 6

  Active Skills

  Thrust lvl 1

  A basic attack with a minor bonus to damage, scaling off of strength.

  Passive Skills

  Basic Riding lvl 2

  Spear Handling lvl 1

  Traits

  Wyrmscar Legacy lvl 1

  The taming of monsters will become easier for you.

  Her ability to ride Direwings had gotten better in the last few weeks, and along with that came a level up to basic riding. She had no idea if the System actually granted more skill and strength, or if that was just an indicator of her natural progress. The people of this world seemed to have little doubt that it was the former.

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  She had also leveled up a single time during her sparring, and had hit “yes” to add the Spear Fighter class when the system had prompted her. With that came the thrust skill and spear-handling passive, which didn’t seem to make much difference.

  This was old news, though, and she knew her father was unhappy she had nothing new to report.

  “You are still level 2?” Valrok asked.

  “Yes.”

  His stoic posture broke as he made a frustrated gesture with his hands and paced around a few steps. “These fools are making you weak! They do not push you!”

  “I train every day.”

  Valrok stopped pacing and turned. “And your time is wasted without growth. When I was your age, I was already slaying beasts. The System rewarded me because I earned it.” He pointed towards the pen Iris was kept in. “Work with the Hell Hound. She needs to grow as well.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Jessica asked.

  “Master her. Earn her respect. Command her and make her listen.”

  Jessica sighed from behind her mask as she let her gaze fall on Iris, who sat stoically behind the bars. Jessica always saw the hate in that pup’s eyes, but it had grown even worse after her remaining two brothers were taken away—sold to another tribe far away.

  Jessica walked towards the cage, and Iris’s white-lit eyes narrowed to slits. Her lips curled back, revealing the sharp points of her fangs, and she growled.

  “Easy…” Jessica whispered. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

  Iris answered with a sudden bark. Jessica flinched despite herself. Another bark followed, and the pup lunged forward, hitting her paws against the bars and snarling.

  Jessica knew this was impossible. Even if she had the desire to follow her legacy, how could she tame a creature that hated her?

  Behind her came the heavy thud of armored boots.

  “Your posture is weak. You kneel as if to beg for cooperation,” said Valrok. “That is not how a tamer greets a monster.”

  Jessica stood, hating these lessons on monster taming far more than her battle or flight training.

  “Watch and understand,” he ordered his daughter, then threw the door open and turned his attention to the pup who now had her ears folded back against her head as she backed away.

  “Iris!” His voice boomed. “Out.”

  The pup let out a low growl.

  Valrok stepped closer and stamped his big foot once. “OUT.”

  Iris stared at him a moment, her growl silenced, then slowly, cautiously, she moved forward.

  He pointed to the flat stretch of rock at the center of the plateau, then swept his other arm with a sharp flick. “Come. Sit. NOW!”

  Iris suddenly bounded out of the cage, head low as she passed Valrok, tail between her legs.

  “Sit!” he ordered, and she skidded to a stop and dropped on her haunches immediately.

  “Good,” he said, kneeling beside the pup who looked terrified, ears folded back as he reached down and patted her back.

  The hollow eyes of his mask then turned to Jessica. “This is presence. The beast obeys the will it respects. You must become that will, or you will never tame her.”

  Jessica looked down at the now shaking pup. She did not think that was respect, that was fear. Jessica knew these animals were intelligent enough to remember what happened that day when the red masks attacked. The giant man barking orders at her had killed this pup's father. Maybe they could subjugate her, but Jessica did not believe that under those conditions, Iris could ever be her ally.

  “Now, show me you can command her,” Valrok said. “You have the Wyrmscar Legacy. For such a low-level monster, Hell Hound or no, she should listen to your commands if you don’t hold back.”

  With those parting words of wisdom, he stepped away to stand beside her aunt once again.

  Jessica wanted to argue the point with him. His dragon and Night Harriers were not like Iris, and Iris was certainly nothing like the Direwings. Jessica could see it in her eyes; there was an individualism in this puppy that those other monsters simply did not possess.

  Still, she tried. Standing several paces away, she pointed at the ground. “Iris, come,” she ordered.

  The pup just stared back at her. One ear unfolded from her head to stand up straight. She at least looked less afraid without Valrok barking orders at her.

  “Iris. Here, girl,” Jessica tried again.

  “With authority!” Valrok barked.

  Jessica huffed in frustration. Not only did this feel pointless, it felt cruel. But… she did her best to obey.

  “Iris, here. Right now!” she said a little louder, pointing harshly at the ground in front of her.

  Iris responded with a growl rumbling in the back of her throat.

  “Elva! If you cannot teach her, you cannot keep her!” Valrok hollered in frustration. “Now get serious!”

  Jessica took a deep breath, meeting the gaze of the white-eyed pup that was now raising its hackles and growling while maintaining its distance.

  “Iris…” Jessica whispered. She clenched a fist, trying to find some resolve in her heart. Pointing down, she stomped forward a step, attempting to mimic how Valrok had done it. “Iris. Come here NOW!”

  A beam of light flashed from Iris’s eyes. Jessica yelped and jumped back as the beam hit the ground by her feet, kicking up dust and scorching the earth. Iris whipped her head back and sat, glaring at Jessica.

  Then, the heavy sound of Valrok’s boots began marching across the plateau and Iris’s ears folded back. Jessica looked over her shoulder to see her father already raising his hand.

  “W-Wait. Um… F-Father—”

  She tried to stop him, but he marched right past her. Iris was now scooting back, looking up fearfully, tail tucked along her side as if trying to make herself look as small as possible.

  Jessica knew what he was going to do; he was going to punish her, and she couldn’t stand back and watch.

  With an amount of strength she rarely managed to bring to her voice, Jessica shouted, “Stop!” and ran in front of him, stretching out her arms and looking up at the giant man.

  “A beast that lashes out must be punished.”

  “She’s just scared! It’s because I stomped towards her.”

  “A beast that fears but does not yield is even more dangerous than one that is stubborn.”

  “She did yield,” Jessica insisted, forcing her voice to stay steady. “She sat when you told her a-and that blast—” Jessica pointed to the scorched mark at her own feet “—it was a warning, not an attack. She could have aimed at me, but she didn’t! She was just scared!”

  “Step aside, Elva,” he said with the same commanding tone he used on his monsters.

  “No! We killed members of her family, put her in a cage, and took her away from her pack! Now you want her to just forget about that and obey?”

  “You speak with softness. That is not how one tames a monster.”

  “You gave her to me!” Jessica yelled. “She’s supposed to be mine, and I have the Wyrmscar Legacy! So I’ll tame her my way! I won’t beat her into submission, because if I do that, she’ll never really be mine! She won’t be my ally, she’ll just be a slave!”

  Valrok scoffed, shaking his head, his voice softening. “Elva, you should have a relationship with your beasts, yes, but you must also be the one in control.”

  “Well, I won’t control her by causing her pain! Look at her, Father; she’s not a Direwing, you can’t just shock her to correct her behavior and make her fall in line. It will never work!”

  Valrok took a step back and folded his arms. He looked Jessica up and down, as if assessing her.

  “Brother,” came her aunt’s voice calmly behind him. “Remember what I said before?”

  Jessica tilted her head, wondering what she meant by that.

  The hollow eyes of Valrok’s mask continued to assess her. Then he finally spoke. “A different kind of strength?”

  Her aunt gestured towards her. “Now you have seen it yourself. It is not weak to stand her ground like this. As I said, she is strong in her own way. Interfering with her at this point will do more harm than good.”

  Valrok huffed behind the mask, his shoulders falling slightly in defeat. “So be it.”

  Then, with a final shake of his head, he began to walk away. Just before stepping onto the rope bridge, he turned back to say, “If your way fails, daughter, it will not be you who pays the price. It will be the beast. Do not forget that.”

  With those parting words, he left.

  Her aunt then walked over and nudged her shoulder with a fist. “Good job, Elva.”

  “Good… job?”

  Her aunt nodded. “For standing up to that hot head. He believes applying force is the solution to everything.”

  Jessica sighed. “I still don’t think I can do this.”

  “I think you’ll surprise everyone, including yourself.”

  She couldn’t see her aunt’s face behind the mask, but thought she was smiling. Her aunt then walked away, finding a pole to lean against and giving Jessica her space.

  Jessica turned towards Iris, who still looked a little shaken but not immediately fearful. As Jessica took a step forward, Iris scooted back and let out another low growl.

  Jessica sighed and reached up to the side of her mask, undid the clasp, and removed it. She crouched to set the mask on the ground and walked towards Iris while showing her hands. “It’s okay, girl. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Iris’s ears perked up curiously, and though her growling stopped, she still regarded Jessica with suspicion.

  Jessica kneeled down in front of her. “I know you don’t want to be here. The truth is, I don’t either. I’m scared too, and I didn’t want any of this.” She looked into the puppy’s white eyes, knowing it probably couldn’t understand her words, but thought maybe it could at least understand her sentiment. “I don’t want to control you… But maybe if we can trust each other, we can also help each other. One day, you can run away and go somewhere else, and I won’t stop you. What do you say?”

  Jessica slowly reached her hand forward until her fingers hovered a few inches short of Iris’s muzzle. The puppy leaned forward slightly, sniffed, and then gave her a small lick.

  [Congratulations! You have formed a bond with level 3 Hell Hound - Iris]

  Wyrmscar Legacy level up!

  Wyrmscar Legacy is now level 2!

  Read next chapter now on Patreon!

  $5 for 5 additional chapters!

  The $10 tier currently has 6 chapters!