Chapter 40 - 40: Saddle up...

Immediately after eating and putting away my dishes, I rushed out to the front of the house where my mother was waiting with Bola. Bola for the most part looked rather relaxed, while my mother was busy setting up what looked to be a saddle onto his back.

"I don't think Bola's strong enough to support both of us mother", I joked seeing as Bola was about as large as horse.

"Indeed. That's why I got this made for you", my mother replied before tossing towards me a similar looking saddle, albeit, a bit larger. "Today's lesson is going to be two lessons in one, monster riding and binding a monster in battle", she told me with a smile.

Evidently, I had the gut feeling that this was going to be my favorite lesson so far. The past two weeks had been a mix of cramming knowledge in relation to monsters, binder abilities and potions with getting mine and Rakka's butt whooped with the occasional sudden wild majimonsters thrown into my bedroom. I'm not sure what was worst, the Amphare shocking me awake or the horrible scent emanating from the deceptively adorable Squnck.

"Now then, Silvia summon Rakka and I'll show you how to put on the saddle", my mother instructed me. With my hand on my hunting knife, I focused on Rakka's drajule, summoned the energy tines and willed him out to the field. A summoning circle with lightning, ice and fire markings appeared floating next to me, but instead of one glowing point like when I first had him, three glowing points dotted the outer parts of the summoning circle.

From the circle came my majestic elk monster Rakka. No matter how many times I do this, it's still breathtaking summoning a monster of my own. It's insane how much he had change over the weeks.

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[Name: Rakka

Species: Ragnaceros

Grade/Tier: Bronze 3 Star

Affinities: Ice, Fire, Lightning

Trait: Charger

Health:B

Strike: C

Protection:B

Magic:C

Discipline:B(Originally C)

Speed:D

Brawn:A

Talent:C

Description: Ragnaceros is an ancient monster from the time of the Old Empire. Wielding the power of fire, ice and lightning, Ragnaceros is a walking natural disaster, an apocalypse given form. Legends say it is the ancestor of all modern deer-like majimonsters but scholars still debate this fact.

Voxea's notes: It's part of an apocalypse at most. Raganaceros was created by a maji who called himself, no joke, the Doomsayer. They were obssesed with the idea of the end times and created several monsters designed to emulate what he saw, including Caticlysm, Apocaclops, Fenrir and Garmr. Evidently, irony is a *** ]

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Overall, Rakka had begun to look even tougher and healthier looking as we trained, his eyes even looked brighter than before. Nonetheless, it didn't stop the overgrown deer to trot towards and nuzzle my face.

"Yeah yeah, I love you too buddy", I told Rakka as I patted his head and massaged his neck. I could feel my mother gazing at me while I was pampering Rakka. I guessed it was a mix of amus.e.m.e.nt and nostalgia when I was her age learning how to control monsters.

"Alright you two enough playing around. Silvia, make sure Rakka holds still while we put the saddle on him. After that, I'll teach you how to mount up and how to ride, then we'll be off".

"Alright".

Making use of my mental link with Rakka, I commanded Rakka to hold as still and relaxed as possible while my mother showed me how to mount a saddle onto his bulky frame. She did the task with such ease and swiftness that I had to pay close attention to make sure I didn't miss any subtle movements to the whole process.