Small Town Dragon Tamer: A LitRPG monster tamer story Read online

  What if this world had magic? What if I could fix my foot?

  “Does this world have magic?” I squeaked.

  The message remained the same. Okay. Well, the plus side was I wasn’t dealing with a snarky God or system admin gone haywire.

  I cleared my throat. “Information Sheet.”

  Nothing.

  “Profile.”

  Nada.

  “Status?”

  Suddenly a new screen flashed in front of my eyes. I read through it greedily.

  Name: Harmony St. Claire

  Race: Human (Traveler)

  Age: 17

  Level: 1

  Occupation: None

  Craft: None

  Dragons: 0/5

  “Uh, what?” It felt like I was saying that a lot recently. But seriously, what kind of a profile sheet was this? I’d been hoping for something D&D style. I was self-absorbed enough to want to see my own stats.

  Actually, my constitution and strength would be shit. My intelligence would be up there, placing me probably somewhere in a mage class…

  Kind of predictable. Then again… should I really be complaining about magic?

  “Except I have no mana, or empty spell slots…” I picked at my bottom lip. “What the heck is with that dragon slot?”

  As if on cue, I heard a rustle from one of the nearby bushes, followed by a cracking sound.

  Abruptly, the profile disappeared to be replaced by a new message.

  New Quest:

  Enter: New World (Ongoing quest)

  You just arrived, but there is no rest for the wicked (should you decide to be). Defeat the egg-sucker dragon and begin your adventure!

  Reward: 1 Fire Opal Crystal

  “How can a crystal be made of opal?” I was no geologist, but that sounded funky. Also new world theory was confirmed!

  Also-Also… egg-sucker dragon?

  I've said it a lot, but: Um, what?

  A second ominous crack came from the bushes. I hesitated, unconsciously rising to my toes as my body debated whether to fight or flee. I couldn’t face down an angry skater boy in a park without calling for help. How was I supposed to face down a dragon?

  No.

  The Harmony who’d been on Earth had the option of running away. Or better yet, plunking down in a safe spot and dialing emergency services on her cell phone.

  Either I was going nuts, or I had been magically transported to a new world. Either way, whatever was in those bushes couldn’t be worse than what I had waiting for me back home. Where I had to sleep with one eye open in case a crazy roommate decided to set my hair on fire because the voices in their heads told them so. Where my biggest ambition was to scrape up enough money through mobile gaming to afford my own studio apartment before my group home kicked me out when I turned eighteen. Where my future was bleak and the possibility of it getting better was slim to none.

  I would quite literally rather face down a dragon.

  In fact, I was going to do it now.

  Cell phone in hand, I strode forward to the ominous rustling bushes. I peered through a gap in the leaves.

  At first I thought I was looking at a snake. The biggest snake I’d ever seen. Covered in jewel like red scales, it was long and snakey. Easily stretching six feet from its pointed snout to the tip of its tail.

  It was the tail that was rustling the bushes — eagerly flicking back and forth as it used its long fangs to pierce the shells of a clutch of huge eggs.

  And if you’re thinking: Harmony, I used to watch the Discovery Channel before it turned into a modern day freak expo. That is not how snakes eat.

  You would be correct. Because this was not a snake.

  The tiny flappy wings halfway down the long body was the first clue. The second was the ridge of short spines down its back. The third was when it turned its pointy head, unhinged its creepy long jaw, and spit fire at me.

  I screeched and jumped back. Unfortunately, my bum leg failed me again and I landed… on my bum.

  Thankfully, the bush took the damage. Liquid, fiery spit smoldered the green leaves, but the foliage didn’t catch on fire. It probably had some sort of natural fire resistance, which was good because it was in the same forest as actual dragons.

  If this was a hallucination, it was a wild one.

  The egg-sucker dragon, satisfied it had scared me off, turned back to the clutch. I heard another crack as it bit into another shell.

  Furiously, I thought ‘Quest Menu’ and my quest popped up. I read through it again. Yup. Defeat the egg-sucker.

  “This is so unfair!” I whined at the system. “How am I supposed to defeat a dragon longer than I am? Aren’t I supposed to get a cool OP cheat power or something? A magic sword? A ring that makes me invisible but also slowly evil? Hello?”

  Nothing.

  All I had was my cell phone which didn’t work, my wallet which had a debit card, a novelty two dollar bill, and my trusty bottle of pepper spray—

  Wait.

  In a flash, I was on my feet and unclipping the pepper spray from my jeans. I turned the little nozzle and made a test spray because it was like a million years old and I’d never used it before. After a dripping spurt, it misted like a champ.

  Pepper spray wasn’t lethal — especially this Wal-Mart batch, but it was better than nothing.

  I was brought here for a reason. That meant I had the tools and know-how to succeed. Surely, transporting someone across a universe or reality was expensive, magic-wise. I refused to believe I had been set up for failure during my very first challenge.

  Either that or my mind had totally broken and I was about to pepper spray someone’s weiner dog.

  Crack!

  Another egg gone. There weren't that many eggs in the clutch to begin with. I had to act now.

  Bravely using the still smoldering brush as a shield, I grabbed one of the branches and shook it, letting out my fiercest shout.

  “ARRRRR!”

  The egg-sucker dragon had been looming over the last uncracked egg in the clutch like an evil villain. Hearing my shout, it whipped towards me and spat another goblet of liquid fire.

  I ducked, throwing up my hands to protect my face. Again, the bush took the most of the damage, but I felt a tiny sting as a droplet hit my palm.

  “Ow!”

  I rubbed my hand against the leg of my jeans. It had left a red mark.

  The bush I'd been hiding behind was looking worse for wear, but I was able to break off a non-burning branch. Then I stepped forward to swat at the dragon’s snout.

  “Go away! Bad dragon! Shoo!”

  The dragon hissed — a rattle sound that sent a shiver up my spine. It bit at the branch and got a mouth full of leaves for its trouble.

  Rearing back, its throat flexed, and I could see it working up another glob of fire. I swatted it again and saw the first ominous glow at the back of its throat.

  Bringing up my right hand with the pepper spray, I depressed the nozzle.

  A misty reddish stream struck the egg-sucker dragon straight on in the face.

  I hastily backed away.

  The thing sneezed and then coughed out its fire.

  Fun fact: Pepper spray is flammable. And so is the outside of an egg-sucker dragon.

  The end… was pretty grizzly. I don’t know if the egg-sucker was trying the stop, drop, and roll method or if it was just panicking, but all it managed was to light the grass underneath it on fire. Thankfully, the blaze didn’t catch the trees or nearby bushes — the natural fire retardant, probably. But the egg-sucker was done for.

  Ding!

  Quest Alert!

  Part one of Quest: Enter: New World (ongoing) complete!

  You have defeated the egg-sucker dragon and have saved 1 egg.

  Reward: Fire Opal Crystal

  Something materialized in front of me, and I snatched it out of the air right before it fell. It was surprisingly heavy.

  It was a beautiful rainbow crystal a little longer than my point
er finger. When I turned it to the light, the face shimmered in a dozen fiery hues from sunshine yellow to autumn leaf orange and rose red.

  “Wow. I bet you’d be worth a pretty penny in a shady pawn shop.”

  Weird how the mind worked. Thinking of pawn shops made me think of the game auction house. That reminded me of my last duel where I won the lady Gollum. And that reminded me of monster eggs…

  I glanced down at the clutch of eggs I’d just horribly killed a dragon to save.

  It hit me then.

  … Oh my god, I killed a living creature. Shouldn’t I feel bad about it? I felt like I should. Except it had spit fire at me, and it had been eating helpless eggs…

  Okay, I didn’t feel that bad, but I still turned so I didn’t have to see the body as I bent to examine the eggs.

  The egg-sucker had lived up to its name. Four of the five eggs had two puncture marks like a vampire had gone to town on the shell. Three of those were cracked wide open showing hollow shells. One, which the egg sucker just started eating was still full of… um, well, it might have once been yoke? Or maybe a fetus? Now, only brownish liquid goo leaked out.

  My very unscientific guess was that the egg-sucker pumped venom through those long needle teeth to liquify whatever was growing inside before it sucked it out again for dinner.

  So gross. I wished the egg-sucker hadn’t died so painfully, but I was glad it was dead.

  The last egg was completely untouched. As I said before, it was big. Think: Jar of peanut butter. The CostCo size, not the fancy health organic tiny jars.

  … I could go for a peanut butter sandwich.

  Anyway, the egg was a soft creme color with irregular green spots all over. It reminded me of a real life Yoshi egg.

  “Should I call you Yoshi, or is that culturally appropriative?” I asked and then realized I was thinking of actually keeping the thing.

  And why not? Its mother or father wasn’t around to protect it from the egg-sucker. I was its hero.

  On the other hand, I had no idea what was in this egg, where I was, how I was going to feed myself, or even if this world was real.

  Maybe I shouldn't burden myself with a pet.

  On the other-other hand, the mysterious message had talked about dragon taming. This world had dragon-ish egg-suckers, and this looked suspiciously like a dragon egg.

  On a hunch, I pulled out my brand new quest reward fire opal crystal and pressed it gently to the shell.

  Ding!

  Would you like to use this bonding crystal on Fennec Dragon egg?

  Yes/No.

  I grinned. “Yes, please!”

  THREE

  A couple months ago I binged YouTube where I’d watched people buy button quail eggs from their local organic grocery store, incubate them at home, and then see what hatched out. Because quails bred faster than rabbits and organic stores didn’t freeze their eggs, some of the eggs would be fertile. Out popped tiny baby button quail.

  The hatchings were slow and laborious. The chick inside was a weak thing and it would take upwards of a day to peck its way out of the shell. Once it was finally free, it would be a few hours until it dried and became a cute, peeping ball of fluff.

  That's the long way of saying none of that happened here.

  The fire opal flashed and crumbled into dust in my palm. Then, a zig-zag crack split the egg shell from top to bottom.

  Oh geez. I hoped the egg was ready to hatch, or this was going to be messy.

  The crack widened. Then something popped out from the crack and unfurled.

  It was… an ear? A big, triangle shaped ear, somewhere between a rabbit and a corgi. A second ear popped out the other side of the egg. Then the rest of the egg crumbled into a thousand pieces and fell away.

  I had a newly hatched, big eared baby something sitting in my lap and gazing at me with fire opal eyes the same colorations of the crystal.

  Ding!

  You have hatched baby Fennec Dragon! (♂). Would you like to name this creature?

  There was no other way to describe the baby fennec other than adorably cute. In addition to ears which might have been able to pick up radio signals from deep space, it had a round head and a tiny, foxlike snout. It was sandy colored with a creme belly and a short, triangular tail. Although it was clearly a reptile, it had tufts of peachy colored fuzz on its head with a deeper coloration down its spine like the beginnings of a ridge.

  I reached out and touched its head. The scales were as soft as down feathers. In fact… yes, he was covered in thin, baby soft feathery coverings.

  Less reptile… more dinosaur? Or were dragons something else?

  The fennec dragon closed its eyes in bliss, letting out a little purr.

  A name. He needed a name.

  “I just got transported here, so I don’t know what kind of a name would be appropriate.” I searched my mind for inspiration. As usual, my thoughts fell back to Star Trek. “You have too much hair to be Jean-Luc. How about… Tiberius?”

  The little dragon fox gave a coo of happiness.

  Ding!

  You have Tamed “Tiberius” Fennec Dragon.

  Please choose one of three Fennec characteristics for this dragon.

  Extreme Weather Specialist

  As a desert biome creature, Fennec Dragons deal with harsh cold and heat. As his tamer, you may share this bounty. Be completely comfortable in temperatures ranging from -10 degrees C to 40 C. Gain special endurance to persevere in temperatures outside of those ranges.

  Temperature ranges increase at higher tiers and levels.

  I blinked. “Um, what are those in Freedom Units?”

  Ding!

  Really Hot or really Cold.

  Wow. The system or the world… or the gods had some snark to them after all.

  There were two more options.

  Treasure Hunter

  The sands have long held secrets and treasures, and Fennec Dragons have evolved to find and use them. Discover rewards from slain creatures. (Fire Opal) First tier: Two items per creature. (5% percent chance of a third special or rare drop.)

  Item amounts and chances increase at higher tiers and levels.

  Expert Scout

  Put the value of those big ears to your own gain! Fennec Dragons have exquisite hearing. Hear music like you never have before, ease-drop on enemies and locate prey with pin-point accuracy. (Warning: May need ear plugs to sleep.)

  Auditory perception increases at higher levels. High Opal tiers are said to use sound as a second sight.

  I read over the options with a frown. They all seemed pretty good.

  Tiberius, who seemed exhausted by the business of hatching, noticed me looking at him and gave a little peep. He curled up in my lap, small pointed nose touching his tail.

  I stroked the feather-soft ridge down his back, lost in thought.

  They were all good, but one stood out. Hello, loot drop!

  It sounded like this world had different habitats, like Earth. I was in a nice forest now, but for some reason a fennec dragon had laid its eggs in a forest. Was it lost, or was there a big desert nearby? I hoped not. I only wore jeans and a t-shirt.

  Hearing enemies was a big bonus, too. I had no idea where I was or if I could speak the local language. Travelers usually could in Isekai books, but I didn’t see any translation skills in my profile sheet.

  In the end, there was only one decision I could make. Being able to grab loot provided both short and long term benefits.

  “Treasure Hunter,” I said.

  You have selected: Treasure Hunter. Are you certain of this choice?

  “Yes!”

  A pleasant tingle lifted through me, like warm gentle static.

  I wasn't done yet.

  Ding!

  You have used (Fire Opal) bonding crystal. Please choose an attribute to share.

  Strength

  Dexterity

  Constitution

  Intelligence

  Wisdom

  Charisma br />
  Luck

  I sat up straighter. Here was something I understood. Partly. There were no numbers next to these attributes. Also, I still didn't know what Fire Opal meant in context. Maybe I could ask?

  "Help?" I asked.

  The screen stayed put, unwavering.

  "Query: Opal."

  Nothing.

  "Google: Opal."

  Still nothing.

  I frowned at the screen then shrugged. For now, I'd assume that Fire Opal was a rating. Hopefully, a good rating.

  Now, which one to pick?

  I looked down at the snoozing little Tiberius and considered my options.

  "Please choose an Opal attribute to share," I murmured. "Share."

  Okay. Baby fennec dragons were criminally adorable, but they didn't seem that strong. Tiberius's little paws resembled a dog's more than a person's hands. His natural dex likely wasn't high.

  Charisma? Considering how fast I'd fallen for him, it had to be high.

  Constitution? Well, the attribute screens mentioned desert environments, so he likely had a strong constitution.

  But the screen said fennecs found treasure in the sands. That indicated not only high intelligence, but luck.

  I had known which one I wanted to pick from the start. I just had to consider my options first.

  "I choose luck," I said.

  After a quick confirmation, the screen disappeared. It seemed my choices were over.

  I looked again at my character sheet.

  Name: Harmony St. Claire