Dungeon Breaker - 09 - Tricks and Traps
1Previously, in Dungeon Breaker:
Aspiring monster tamer Alec and his childhood friend Tina have traveled to the capital to visit Tina's older sister Karen, an accomplished monster tamer. After Karen's patron, the "forgotten princess" Celsia, suggests they go training in some local ruins that Karen has been investigating, they find a blue sealing stone on an altar guarded by a monster. Duke Bastarche's forces try to steal it, but a mysterious woman appears, takes them down, kisses Alec, and vanishes.
That night, Karen visits Alec in his room, puts him into a deep sleep, alters his memory (not for the first time, it seems), and takes the stone. The next morning, he feels unusually groggy, but suspects nothing.
Meanwhile, Roy, captain of the Nazareth Paladins that report to the king, has arrived to speak with Celsia, who normally only receives visits from merchants of little importance. Eager for even such indirect recognition from her father, she agrees to meet with him.
Roy and the paladins have been sent by the king to assist with exploring the ruins. The meeting goes well enough, and Alec is left with a good impression of him. However, Celsia doesn't like the clergy and is especially offended that Roy sought an audience with the duke before coming to her. She demands that Alec and Tina show him up, and Karen, though less blunt, similarly advises wariness, cautioning them that the paladins also owe allegience to the church hierarchy.
Karen also has another little bonus for Alec. Now that he's figured out how to draw skills from monsters, she teaches him how to pass skills to monsters. This, however, needs to be kept a secret. Monster tamers using sorcery-like powers is tolerated as long they command their monsters for the good of humanity, but if word about this ability got out, it would carry the risk of tamers being seen as siding too closely with monsters and therefore regarded as enemies of humanity.
Meanwhile, new things are happening in town, too. The weapon and item shops have new inventory. Frisia, a woman whose wedding ring was stolen by thieves, has come to Leen for help, and Leen enlists Alec to go get it back. And Doran has come into possession of a monster, the Samurai Master. She's refused to listen to any other monster tamers, but Dolan still offers to let Alec try, for the right price. The implication of what Dolan will do if he can't sell her, given that his usual line of business isn't live monsters, is enough to convince Alec to work on scraping together enough money.
I'm also taking notes to keep a running log of events and characters, though note that there may be spoilers if you haven't watched the most recent video: http://kwhazit.infinityfreeapp.com/trans/breaker/dngBrkr1.html