Tales of the Slime Tamer

Chapter 19: Taming the Unicorn

Xandra charged forward and began to give continuous quick stabs to harass the vultures. Flay was in no position to fight as he was still recovering from his current form.

Xandra was furious at the stupidity of Flay, who rushed forward and suddenly decided to bury his face on the sands.

STAB! STAB! STAB!

Xandra’s spear managed to stab the vulture's body, but each stab only produced shallow wounds.

Her attacks were fast and steady, but the defenses of the vulture were much stronger than the damage Xandra was inflicting. The numerous wounds still annoyed the vulture, and it finally screeched and flew up. As the first vultures charge was stopped, it flew up high so its allies would finish the job.

Xandra kept stabbing as the vulture flew up. She was desperate and didn’t know how much damage she incurred but desperately attacked.

But then she saw the two vultures flying to the sides, and their claws were already being revealed.

Flay was so mad at his stupidity and stood up to fight the approaching vultures. But before he could move...

“Look out! They’re coming!” Xandra used her spear to swipe Flay sideways to save him.

WHAM!

In surprise, Flay stumbled to the side and even dropped his sword as Xandra swept her spear on Flay's arm! Kairo began to roll on the sand, and he quickly reformed into slime and hastily returned to Flay.

Xandrabravely took the vanguard and readied her attacks.

With her spear ready to face the incoming two vultures, she concentrated and began to recall the spear attacks that her father taught her. But she did not see that the previous vulture was swooping behind her in her focus.

It was too late for Flay to reach for Kairo, and he had no choice but to use his fist.

He ran forward and gave the bird a powerful punch.

POW!

The punch was aimed at the chest of the vulture and knocked it back.

TING! TING! TING!

Xandra hurriedly made her spear rush. But the two vultures sensed the power Flay exhibited! So the vulture he punched was thrown back, and the Brute Power of Flay smashed into the chest and cracked its chest.

“Screech!” The vulture gave a pained cry, and the other vultures began to retreat as they saw that their enemy was more than the accounted for.

The vulture that Flay punched was weakly trying to fly up. But the damage on its chest caused some bones to be fractured, and it couldn’t fly away but weakly tried to flap its wings but was in great pain. In its struggle, the small stabs of Xandra forced more blood out.

“They’re retreating?” Flay was surprised as he glanced at the two other vultures.

“Naturally. They are scavengers. They only attacked you as they sensed your intention against the Unicorn. It seemed it wasn’t willing to let go of such high-quality prey. But since you could do such damage, it didn’t want to waste their energy to attack you. That’s their nature as scavengers.” Kairo explained.

Flay nodded and turned his attention to the panting Xandra.

“Are you alright?” Flay asked as he quickly approached Xandra to help her.

SMACK!

A strong slap met Flay’s face. He was too close and too worried that he couldn’t evade the cheap shot.

Flay stumbled back in his surprise at the sudden bitch-slap.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Xandra shouted angrily.

“Um... Saving the Unicron?”

“Saving the Unicorn?! Are you sure?! Because in my eyes, you were looking for the Overlord Worm!”

“I-I slipped and fell.”

“Slipped and fell? Are you an idiot, Flay?! You are lucky we’re alive, challenging creatures far above our level! You're lucky that I managed to drive back those two vultures! If these vultures weren’t scavengers and fought us to the deaths, we’d have died!”

“They weren’t that strong! Honest! I’ve already killed three of them! Look! I even killed this one!” Flay pointed at the vulture that was trying to fly. Blood was dripping down from their many wounds.

Xandra saw the vulture and quickly rushed and stabbed it.

STAB!

With the bones in the chest broken, her spear managed to pierce through.

“No! I killed it! My attacks gave it so many wounds that it couldn’t fly! You’re lucky it was wounded so that your punch landed! But Flay! You really need to be serious about this! Our lives are on the line here!”

“But...! But...!” Flay was in tears.

“Master. The more you try to explain, the more it will be detrimental for you. Xandra is a woman of pride. Your accident has put you at a disadvantage. If you wish to pursue this girl, don’t fight with her or try to prove your power now. If you try harder to explain, it would seem rather prideful and arrogant of you. Remember, she may still partially blame you for the death of her friend!” Kairo reminded.

“But it’s not fair! I saved her, and she doesn’t know! The vultures retreated because of me! And I even made a cool speech that introduced the legend of Flay! That was the perfect title for my legendary adventure!”

Flay wept in frustration. Kairo ignored Flay’s ramblings of regret and took the opportunity to jump into the slain vulture’s chest to acquire the monster's core.

“The Unicorn!” Xandra remembered and ran towards the Unicorn.

“Flay! Use your slime! It has that amazing heal, right?”

“...Yeah...” Flay followed as Kairo emerged with the monster core.

The trio rushed towards the Unicorn.

The Unicorn had a mane of pure white. Its eyes of blue gazed at the approaching visitors. It no longer had the strength but was more thankful to see these two rather than the vultures.

“Neigh...” The Unicorn gave a soft growl.

“It’s severely dehydrated! Flay! Use your amazing Slime to heal it!” Xandra called out.

“You heard her, master? She said I’m amazing.” Kairo laughed.

“Shut up and heal the horse.” Flay cursed.

The power of a single water magic charge was being harnessed. A light blue glow appeared, and the power of heal was used on the Unicorn.

The Unicorn’s expression suddenly changed as it felt the power of water enter his body. The water energy had also made the Unicorn quench its thirst. And almost instantly, its expression and eyes changed as it gave thankful looks at the two.

“Are you alright?” Xandra asked as she carefully approached. Her Taming Hand was at the ready.

The Unicorn glanced at the two and suddenly turned to the Taming Hand of Xandra! It had seen from a distance the fight of the two and had recognized Xandra as savior.

“What?!” Xandra and Flay were stunned at the actions of the Unicorn.

“It... want’s to be tamed?!” Flay was amazed.

“The Harass is far smarter than we give them credit for! It knows of our power!” Xandra pointed out another key implication of the Unicorn’s actions.

“This creature is clearly a being of sentience. It not only recognizes Xandra as master since she thinks Xandra saved her, but I feel that it knows that the Pteranodon is too much for the Harass alone.” Kairo explained.

“Wait! But I saved her!”

“I know, Master. I know. And it’s alright. It’s ok. You’ll get 'em next time.” Kairo comforted.

“You want to be my mount? I accept.” Xandra reached out and touched the Unicorn.

The power of the Taming Hand was being activated.

Kairo watched intently. He was curious what the power of the Taming Hand was and wanted to see it.

The power surged as a Green Light began to surround the Unicorn and Xandra.

“This is the Taming Process. Xandra is drawing out the soul of the Unicron and is taking half of the Unicorn’s soul to bind it in the Taming Jewel.” Flay explained.

“Half of the soul?”

“Yes. This is how the Taming Hand tames monsters. It takes half of its soul and binds it with our soul so that it makes them subservient to our will and orders. Normally, monsters would resist this, and the soul of the Tamer and the Monster would be in a state of tug of war. Should the monster win, it would weaken the Tamer. But right now, this is one of the rare occasions when a monster willingly gives its soul to us.”

“How many times has that happened?”

“Never. We’ve never tamed a monster as high-tiered as this—especially a monster with a certain degree of intelligence.

Xandra and the Unicorn continued to go through the Taming process. The soul of the Unicron was being called into the Taming Hand.

And finally, the soul of the Unicorn arrived in the soul realm of the Taming Hand. It saw the large green boulder with energy, and the Unicorn rushed in and leaped at the Taming Jewel.

FLASH!

A bright light began to shine out of Xandra’s hand. But suddenly...

“Ahhh!” Xandra felt great pain.

“Oh no! The Unicron’s soul is larger than we thought! Xandra can’t bear the weight of the soul!” Flay was horrified.

“Master! It’s the curse! Let me fix it!” Kairo leaped towards Xandra’s hand.

Kairo saw the powers moving within Xandra’s hand and used the Monster Core of the Vulture to send power to the hand of Xandra. Kairo used his experience with Flay and broke the curse that limited the Taming Hand's power.

The power of Mars that could empower the strength of a person fought against the seal and finally broke it.

BOOM!

The green light in Xandra’s hand grew brighter and began to change into a bluish color.

“Teal! Amazing!’ Flay shouted. The hand of Xandra moved beyond the range of Green and made Xandra’s Taming Jewel give off a teal glow!

Xandra felt her soul grow stronger, and the weight of the Unicron’s soul was easier to bear.

The Unicorn was rejoicing as it felt the power of Xandra’s soul strengthen. It was happy that it chose a strong Master as the Unicorn could feel the power of Xandra’s soul.

“How insidious! Master! Whoever cursed your tribe has placed boundaries and limits that create a spiritual backlash!” Kairo reported.

Xandra regained consciousness. She looked in amazement at the Unicorn before her.

“I... I tamed you?” Xandra was shocked.

“Xandra. Congratulations.”

“Thank you!” Xandra was in tears and hugged the Unicorn.

“I wasn’t talking about taming a Unicron. I’m talking about reaching the Teal stage of the Taming Jewel.

Xandra was so full of emotion that she couldn’t answer, but then, she saw the color of the jewel in her hand and was frozen stiff in amazement.

“Kairo! You are amazing! The village is saved!” Flay rejoiced.