Taming the rare wolf had succeeded. If it wasn't for Loki's timely distraction, Anika felt sure that the wolf would have attacked her, and that she would have been dead. She had now completed her quest to tame three rare creatures. Not only would the next tier of her talents be unlocked by Fitch, but he would also teach her the skill that would enable her to ride one of her companions.

Despite the success and the prospect of being able to make her way to Belhaven, Anika saw no reason to celebrate. When she had gone back to check on Hissy and Beth, she had found them both in a terrible state. Hissy could be but brought back to full health with some cooked meat from Anika's bag, but she hadn't got there in time to save Beth. Beth led out her last sigh when Anika approached with her new wolf as a companion. The look in her eyes told Anika that she had given up and that she was sorry. There was nothing Anika could do, there was no way of forcing the food into her mouth. Beth just lay there, still warm and sweaty from the fight. She hugged her companion and cried.

After a few moments, Anika pulled herself together. This was only a game, but she had become so attached to Beth ever since they first bonded in the woods outside Ralph's cabin. There was also something special about Beth, a genuine loyalty and compassion she had never felt from another animal, whether in the game or in real life.

With her three companions in tow, she made her way back to Windfall city. Although it was difficult, she kept reminding herself that this was just a game and that Beth's sacrifice had meant that she was now well on her way to finding her son. That was all that mattered, and she now had three rare beasts under her command, which must be a positive outcome.

When Anika approached the gates to Windfall city, she noticed a couple of odd stares and glances from other players who passed her by. A couple even stopped to stare for a good while which made her feel uncomfortable. Her best guess was that nobody had seen a hunter with three rare beasts in a while, but she couldn't think why it was such a big deal. Surely there were hunters of a much higher level than her who had far more fierce and exotic beasts following them.

As she was making her way to the League of Hunters, the attention she was getting was making her feel very uncomfortable. A couple of players had even followed her, without trying to disguise that they were on her tail. She didn't want a confrontation with anyone, so she picked up the pace and headed for Fitch as fast as she could.

"There you are, young Hunter. I can see you've done well. Let me have a look at these creatures." Fitch had met her on the steps of the main hunter's lodge, and he was now examining Hissy, Loki and her un-named wolf.

"This one needs a name, don't you think?"

She supposed it did, but she hadn't given it much thought on the walk here. Her mind had been occupied with pushing the feelings of grief and sadness out of her mind and trying to focus on her next objective.

"If you have time, I can tell your story of a great wolf from ancient times. A formidable beast they called Fenrir. I have to say, wolves are one of my favourite animals in the wild. They can be very loyal, the fiercest of opponents and they have almost as much endurance and protection as that bear of yours. What happened to her? Didn't she make it?

"I don't want to talk about it. But I suppose you're right, this one needs a name.

She checked its underbelly and didn't see any signs of male genitals, so she assumed it must be female. Then she thought about the name Fenrir. The name didn't quite feel right, but after a few moments, she settled on a variation of it and named her new companion Fenris.

"Fenris! A very nice name for a companion I hope will serve you well in the years ahead. Now, you have proven your worth as a Beastmaster in training, and I will be happy to unlock your next talents and the bonus I promised. Don't take this lightly, I send many young hunters off on the same quest as you. Very few of them return with even one rare creature. Let alone, much fewer return with over one beast at a time. You have shown a lot of skill, but I feel you don't quite understand the full extent of it."

Beastmaster Tier 2 Unlocked

When Anika received the system message that her second level of talents had been unlocked, she checked what the options were. It caused her a lot of sadness to realise that one of the talent options would give her the ability to resurrect a companion that had died in battle provided she was not engaged in combat. If only she had had this before setting off on her quest, Beth would still be with them. Going back and changing what had happened would not be possible, she had seen Beth's corpse disappear when they left her near the wolf den. Beth was no longer available in her companion screen.

Fitch confirmed that she wanted to unlock the talent that would allow her to ride her companions. He offered to talk through the other options, but when asked if there was anything that could get her from Windfall city to Belhaven any quicker, he agreed that this talent was the best choice for her. He then said goodbye and wished her luck on her journey. She then walked off towards the Explorers Guild, she wanted to see if there was any news of the request she had put up about Gliphos.

As she left the courtyard of the League of Explorers, she was met by a group of players who were waiting for her. One of them, some kind of mage, stepped in front of the others, pointed a finger at her and told the others;

"Here she is. See, I wasn't lying. She's got three beasts with her!"

Anika stopped. Not that they were aggressive, but none of them had greeted her or introduced themselves. What was the big deal about having three companions?

At that moment a tall hunter stepped out from the group and introduced himself. He had long limbs and pointed ears, so he stuck out from the rest, although she had seen a few players like him around before.

"Hi, my name is Fricke. You are a Beastmaster, right?

Anika nodded. Wasn't that obvious?

"How are you controlling all of those companions at the same time?"

"What do you mean controlling?" Anika was confused now, was that what the big deal was?

"I'm not controlling them, they follow me around, and I have learnt to tell them what to do when I need them to fight or follow me."

"Are you serious? I've never seen that before."

He summoned a black wolf which appeared by his side and sat on its hind legs while he stroked its mane.

"Did you get a special talent or something that would allow you to summon more than one at a time?"

Anika shook her head, she was still confused and didn't see why this was such a big deal.

Fricke explained that most hunters could only control one of their companions at a time. As soon as they summoned the second companion, the first one would lose its connection with the owner and disappear until called on again. He had read about hunters able to control two at a time, but they experienced a huge loss in fatigue. It was to the point where it wasn't worth it, and the creatures would rarely obey any of the commands they were given.

"I don't know what to tell you, I haven't noticed any difference. I started playing a couple of days ago, my first companion was a bear, and it was only yesterday I tamed my second beast."

Fricke walked around her, inspecting her companions and his friends did the same.

"This is insane. Not only are you able to master more than one companion at a time, but you've also tamed three rare beasts." He shook his head and smiled at her.

"And you say you've only been playing for a couple of days? People spend weeks tracking down the rare ones for Fitch's quest. Most people give up, it's impossible to find those things, and yet somehow you've managed it."

He put both hands in the air in mock surrender. This made her blush as the facts he had told her sank in.

"Thank you for the compliments, I didn't realise it was such a big deal. Maybe I just got lucky." Although she felt proud that she had done something that many others could not do, she was also feeling very uncomfortable standing in front of this group of players.

"It's been nice meeting you, but I have to go somewhere. Take care of yourselves."

None of them said a word, Fricke waved at her, mouth still open, and watched as she wandered off with her companions in tow.

As she made her way to the Explorers Guild, she was getting more stares from a couple of players. At first, she thought she could just ignore it, but after generating more attention, she was worried that somebody might stop her again and she would have to have the same conversation. The best option was to dismiss her companions for the time being and to keep her newfound talent a secret for now.

Even without the companions at her side, Anika felt a warm feeling in her stomach. It was nice to know she was somehow special, and she knew she could call on her companions at a moment's notice when she needed their help with something. Choosing a hunter in the first place and specialising in Beastmastery was a wise choice, now she thought about it. She had a long journey ahead of her and having the company of her animals made her feel confident she would get there.