MY FIRST CONTRACT

I opened to the first page of the brochure and it read ……

[So you want to be an EBT, huh? Well you're not the only one, even if you didn't you are now. Let's first address the most frequently asked question: What's an EBT? Well, you're an EBT now. Does that help?]

I looked at it wanting to tear it up for being a smartass and I continue reading.

[An EBT, or an evolved beast tamer if you wanted to know the full name, is the first and last line of defense and only the smartest, bravest and strongest are able to qualify to be one. They are soldiers that protect the world. There are currently 12 other worlds with EBTs, which makes Earth number 13. We'll talk about more of the details and fundamentals of being an EBT later. Just know that it's like a video game, manga or web novel, if you're into those. You get a status, skills, HP, MP, SP, and the rest. It won't come up now if you try to check it. They'll only activate when you finish reading the entire brochure…….]

Fuck, it read my mind. Anyway let's continue!

[The most important thing about an EBT is their partners, or the official name, their tamed evolved beast. You're probably wondering what an evolved beast is, right? An evolved beast is an animal native to a world that has absorbed some of Gaia’s power. Some of the time this occurs naturally, an example from earth would be Bigfoot, the Lochness monster, or the Wendigo. They were originally normal animals until they absorbed some of Gaia's power. We still don't know why it happened and please don't ask about Gaia yet, that'll be explained later. We're not saying that you have to hunt down legendary creatures and tame them, God no! You'd be killed! Those creatures are impossible to tame. The ordinary species you see around you are what you're going to be contracting. They are going to gain a small part of Gaia's power and evolve and become powerful killing machines. You will fight them but they are not your true enemy. The true enemies are the demons from the underworld. Remember, millions of worlds, one Gaia, one underworld. Because the underworld has decided to invade your world, Gaia has bestowed some power upon your people and creatures. Now that you have your questions answered time to make your first contact!]

What the fuck! This is fucking crazy! Ahhh another screen popped up!

[Time to make your first contract. Begin by first finding a beast, preferably a pet or animal your close too. Do that then wait for next screen. If pet is not available then find a wild animal or someone else's]

I wash my hands and leave the bathroom to find Nessie. I see her on the counter eating strawberries with grandma and grandpa watching her.

“Hey Grandma I need Nessie for a second, I'm going to take a few pictures with her outside.”

“Oh Bishop, let her eat first.”

“Sorry grandma but it's urgent.”

“At least take the strawberries with you”

I take Nessie and the plate of strawberries outside and find a secluded spot under a tree.

[First task completed! Your next step it to draw some of your blood and write your signature on the beast. Your signature can be anything from a shape, to your initials to a meaningless doodle but you have to remember it. You'll use this signature for the rest of your life as an EBT. Warning: Signatures cannot be changed and are bound to you. No two people will have the same signature.]

Hmm sounds important. How will I get the blood? I know! I'll bite my finger like they do in all of those books and shows I watch.

I stick my thumb in my mouth and bite down hard………. Fuck this huuurrrrttss. I take my thumb out

No blood……

I do it again except this time harder Ahhhhhh damn this screen, it hurts.

I come up with a smart idea. I run inside and grab a pair of fingernail clippers and swiftly run back outside. I clip my thumbnail so that it would bleed some. Fuck, that hurt too. It bleeds uncontrollably and glows some. I wonder if it's an effect of the contracting I'm about to do?

I took my blood and drew a star with a circle around it. I thought it looked cool.

Fuck I'm a dumbass, I realized this only after I was finished with it. People are gonna think I'm worshipping Satan. I can't help but laugh.

I finish my 'drawing’ on Nessie’s back. It glows a deep crimson red color. After a few seconds the light disappears and a screen pops up

[You may now view the status of your tamed beast. View it by saying “status” then the name of your beast. If your beast doesn't have a name, name it now.]

I read the screen and then look at Nessie, she's completely unfazed and continues to eat the strawberries.

“Status: Nessie”

STATUS

Hp 60/60

Mp 20/20

Sp 100/100

Exp 0/10

Condition: normal

STATS

Endurance: 10

SKILLS

Lvl 1 Patience

0/100

Lvl 1 Bask

0/100

I was left speechless……..

[Hp: Health points

Mp: Mana points

Sp: Stamina points

Exp: Experience points

Condition: state of condition of beast ex: burned, frightened, poisoned, bleeding, etc

Continue on to next page of brochure]

And another screen popped up explain the status portion. I'm still kinda confused about why there's only one stat and what those skills are.

I grab the brochure and read the next page

[You may be wondering about why there's only one or two stats. There's over a thousand different stats and it would be too much work for Gaia to show them all. You have basic stats like speed, strength, agility, endurance and then you also have specialized stats which only focus on a small area, like leg strength, attack speed and more. We'll go into deeper explanation later. You also have affinities, like fire affinity, which count as stats and then you have personal stats like bravery and vigilance and you even have power stats, which if you acquire one, it'll be like acquiring unbelievable power.

So to pass this threshold, you have to get that stat above 10. By getting it above 10, then the status will acknowledge the stat. For a normal person, a stat 4-8 is around where most stats are. By having an intelligence above 10 means you're a genius, by having strength above 10 means you have the power of a heavy weightlifter. Get a status beyond 12 and you're out of range of what a normal human is able to achieve. Ready to increase your stats? You have to gain and improve your skills. Skills improve your stats. The skill [Strong Punch] increases your strength by a little and your endurance by a little. An increase can range from 0.001 to anything above that. By gaining skills and leveling those skills will you be able to increase your stats. Not only do you have to increase your stats and skills but also your beasts’ stats and skills. When your beast gets a stat increase, so do you. If your beast’s agility stat increases by 1, then so does yours. Now an explanation on the types of stats and skills.

Basic stats: has multiple points it increases. Dexterity for example, increases your reflexes, flexibility, perception, etc.

Specialized stats: increases one point to a stronger degree, the flexibility stat increases your flexibility but none of the other stuff dexterity covers. On the other hand dexterity doesn't strengthen your flexibility as much as the flexibility stat.

Person stat: stat that can affect your personality, bravery, makes you more brave, cunning makes you more cunning, etc

Affinities: Elements that are most compatible with you will become an affinity stat, like fire affinity or darkness affinity. Can have more than one.

Power stats: the unbelievable stats, like healing, can increase your healing rate. Unlimited potential and will lead to unstoppable battle prowess.

Active skills: consumes mp or sp. A specific action will be performed, like [Strong Punch] will make your next punch super strong at the cost of sp.

Passive skills: Skills that don't require activation and will not drain sp or mp. Increases a certain aspect increase, like the passive skill, [Knife Mastery] increases your ability to use knives.

Toggle skills: Skills able to turn off and on. If turned on they consume a set amount of mp or sp and that amount is unable to recover unless you turn the skill off.

You also have three categories that are not skills. They are techniques, spells and fighting styles, respectively. They increase stats, but to a lesser degree.

Techniques: special attacks and moves learned from fighting styles. When used, consumes small amount of sp.

Spells: Uses mp and are learned from skills, such as [Wind Magic]. Requires a chant and in most cases, user needs to have an affinity to the magic to be able to use.

Fighting styles: Styles of fighting, like martial arts. Ex: Kung Fu and Karate are among the most well known.

You can now officially check your status.]

That's a lot of fucking information! I can't wait to see what my status looks like though.

“Status: Me”

STATUS

Hp 100/100

Mp 50/50

Sp 70/70

STATS

SKILLS

…………. This is retarded.