Earth's Doom

The Serpent's Lair raid (2)

I and Jeanne arrived at the Vanguard's courtyard right around the time when everyone was gathered to get briefed by the squad leaders, namely Owen and Zhang.

Most of them were wearing armors from head-to-toe with their weapon of choice strapped to their sides or backs. Some of them were busy loading the carts and the donkeys. A few horses were tied to the carts by the soldiers.

"Hey, Jeanne. Are those animals going to be okay out there? They're going to need lots of food, especially the horses. We can't let them graze, can we?" I asked while I took two helmets from the supply box and handed one to Jeanne.

"They're going to be okay. Surprisingly, monsters usually don't attack animals. They only attack those with mana. So, we can let the horses graze when it's time for us to rest. But don't worry, we will also bring some hay just in case we can't find a good plot of land for them to graze." She explained to me and put on her helmet.

"Hmm... I see..." I put my hand on my chin.

"Actually, our ancestors had tried training the animals to fight monsters, but it ended in a horrible manner," she continued, "the monsters can only be injured by magic, so as you can imagine, it turned into a one-way slaughter by the monsters..."

"That's horrible..." I frowned. What are these creatures? Where did they come from, and why did they only target those with mana?

"Heyyy! Little cub! Jean-jean! I've come to pick you up!"

We turned around towards the source of the annoyingly cheerful voice, and found... A tiger?

"What are you waiting for? Come on, hop on!" General Zhang said.

"What the hell are you doing, riding a humongous tiger!?" I stepped back in shock.

There he was, general Zhang, sitting on top of the biggest tiger I've ever seen in my life. It was probably around 2 or 3 times bigger than a normal tiger. How did it get this big? Evolution? Steroids?

"Hey, he has a name, y'know! It's Timmy!" General Zhang replied.

"Oh my god, why did you name it Timmy?" I was shocked, but now I was horrified.

"Doesn't 'Timmy the tiger' sound cute? Tee-hee!" He said.

"No."

"General Zhang likes to bring his... Pet, especially on raids." Jeanne calmly explained to me.

"Why not horses? How will it keep up with us? What about its food? Where did you even get it?" I confusedly bombarded them with questions.

"Eh, I like my ride fast. He's a special boy, he's faster than the other tigers and horses. Don't worry too much, all you need to know is that I'm filthy rich~" He hummed, "now, get on. He doesn't bite."

'ROAR!!'

The tiger bared its fangs towards us.

"...Are you sure it doesn't bite?" I asked.

'Ding!'

[Passive skill: 'Animal's Beloved' is reacting strongly towards the being in front of you]

Thank god I chose that skill.

The tiger inched closer towards me, and took a few sniffs before licking my face a few times, earning a surprised yelp from me. Hey, he was pretty cute when he was not looking for a kill.

"Oh~? It seems like Timmy fancies you!" General Zhang stroked his chin.

"Are you sure it's... Ehm... 'He' is safe for riding?" Now I felt like a douche for calling Timmy, 'it'.