All Class Tamer

The night was quiet—too quiet.

I stirred awake in the darkness, disturbed by muffled voices echoing from my parents' room. My father's deep tone carried a nostalgic warmth as he reminisced with my mother about her early days in Uruste Village.

He mentioned how she arrived after being rescued by him—the first Fae to openly fall for a human. But that same night, an unknown spell overwhelmed them both.

A day after, a knock on fate's door—my mother had been visited by another Nature Fae, a woman who looked nearly identical to her.

That was the day my aunt Testia appeared.

They realized they were long-lost sisters, each believing the other dead. And after my father left on his journey, Aunt Testia stayed by my mother's side, helping raise me in his absence.

My half-sleeping mind registered all of this… until the conversation veered toward something else.

"Husband… it's been far too long," my mother whispered with a playful lilt.

I bolted upright and backed out of the house before things escalated.

---

Outside, the night air was refreshingly cool. Maybe too refreshing. A whole week in Lavela Kingdom—fighting, training, reading—had burned me out more than I'd realized.

A rustle behind me. Hilda emerged from the house, rubbing her eyes.

I smiled and knelt down, lifting her gently. "Can't sleep either?"

She grunted softly and nuzzled me.

I remembered something then—Hilda only had one level left before she could transform like the others. I'd already used the last experience potion from Queen Salija.

Only one way left.

We slipped into the nearby forest and began grinding.

When the final blow was struck and her level ticked up, Hilda's body surged with transformation light. Her silhouette changed—taller, feminine… but round. She was now a thick-bodied boar-kin girl with glowing amber eyes, boar ears, and soft tusks jutting just barely from her lips.

When she saw her reflection in the water… her heart sank.

Without a word, she turned and sprinted into the darkness.

"Hilda—wait!" I shouted, but she was gone.

---

Days passed. Then weeks. A whole month drifted by like a fog.

Even with my father soaring over the region and my own feet scouring every path—I found nothing.

Hilda had vanished.

---

Far from Uruste…

"I feel… disgusting," Hilda muttered, watching her reflection ripple in the river.

She hated what she saw. Not the transformation—but the disappointment she thought I must have felt.

Then came a miracle: a tribe of beast-kin.

They took her in.

Among them was a towering tiger-kin woman, muscles taut and gleaming like stone. Hilda was captivated.

"Can you help me… become like you?" she asked, trembling.

The woman smiled.

"Name's Barbara. Yours?"

"…Hilda."

And so began a month of grueling training. Hunting. Balanced meals. Discipline. Pain.

On the third day, Hilda collapsed in the mud, chest heaving, stomach empty.

"I can't do this," she whispered. Her fingers dug into the dirt. "I'm not… built for this."

Barbara stood over her, arms crossed. "Then stay down. Boars wallow. Warriors rise."

Hilda glared up at her. Her molten eyes flickered weakly.

Then she pushed herself back to her feet. "One more set…"

One night, Barbara caught Hilda staring into a pond again.

"Still hate what you see?" the tiger asked.

Hilda nodded. "I thought I could impress him with this body… but I only ran because I didn't want to see his eyes."

"You're not training to be pretty," Barbara said, tapping her chest. "You're training to believe in what's already strong."

"Even if it's ugly?"

"Even then."

In a sparring match, Barbara knocked Hilda flat with a brutal palm strike.

"You still hold back," she said. "Stop apologizing with your fists."

Hilda groaned. "I'm not…"

But her body glowed—magma flickered across her arms. Her tusks shimmered. She stood up, fire rising from her skin.

"I'm not weak anymore," she said. "Let me show you."

They clashed again. This time, Hilda didn't fall.

When the month ended, Hilda stood tall—no longer soft, but sculpted. Her boar tusks still peeked out, but now she wore them with pride. Her body radiated magma and strength.

"I'm going back," she said one morning, tears welling. "Back to my master."

Barbara embraced her tightly. "Then go. And don't forget us."

After leaving the beast-kin tribe, she wandered into the dense forest—lost and alone—until she was confronted by bandits demanding she submit to them.

Hilda screamed loudly.

---

Back to me.

We were out hunting Wind Lizards for high-grade hides. None were good enough—until a scream echoed from deeper within the forest.

Aisha turned sharply. "That scream…"

We ran.

No hesitation.

Bursting into a clearing, Aisha landed beside a girl surrounded by bandits. But this girl—those tusks, that amber glow—my heart knew her instantly.

"Hilda," I whispered as I landed next to her.

Her eyes widened. "Master…?"

She burst into tears.

"Where have you been!?" Aisha shouted. "Do you know how miserable he's been!?"

"I-I just…" Hilda sobbed. "I didn't want you to see me like that…"

"I'm just glad you're safe," I said softly, patting her head. "But now…"

I looked around. Bandits. Lots of them.

"Well, seems we bagged more than Wind Lizards today."

Aisha cracked her knuckles and swung her Axe of Suzaku to the ground.

Hilda remembered. "We don't change our bodies to be accepted," Barbara once told her. "We train so we can accept ourselves."

One lunged with a dagger. Hilda didn't flinch—her molten skin flashed, and with one smooth motion, she deflected the blade with her forearm and drove her palm into his chest. He flew back, unconscious before he hit the ground.

The bandits were smart enough to start begging.

Hilda stepped forward, molten heat pulsing from her frame. The temperature surged. The bandits collapsed before they could scream.

We handed them off to patrol guards and returned home.

"Hmph," Yuki muttered, as we went back home. "So the Boar Princess comes back… looking like she bench-pressed a bear."

My mother's reaction?

"HILDA!?"

Yep. Still knew her by the marking on her neck.

---

That evening, training resumed in full force.

Aisha, now a Level 356 Rank-B Berserker, lunged with Axe of Suzaku toward Reshia, the Level 355 Rank-B Juggernaut. She blocked it with Shield of Genbu and summoned a Terrabone Wall.

I, Ares Meledric, now Level 405 Rank-B Tamer, followed up with Hellfire Flamethrower aimed at Luna, the Level 354 Rank-A Witch. She calmly nullified it with her Chaos Magic.

Yuki, Level 352 Rank-A Assassin, dashed in using Plasma Step, aiming for Hilda.

But the new Hilda, Level 351 Rank-A Brawler, countered with Magma Guard, shrugging off the blow and knocking Yuki away gently.

Sparks flew. We grinned like idiots. Life felt normal again.

At dinner, my father announced he'd quit adventuring to live with my mother. Aunt Testia continued watching over us from her forest home.

Then my mom stood up, holding her belly.

"I'm three weeks pregnant."

My jaw dropped.

The others? Cheered wildly.

---

Later, I went for a bath alone.

That lasted two minutes.

Hilda slipped in, silently kneeling behind me to wash my back.

Her chest pressed gently into me—still soft, despite her new build.

"...Thanks for coming back," I murmured.

She just smiled.

We stepped out from the bath and went to my room, where everyone was already fast asleep. The bed had no space left.

So Hilda gently pulled me down, wrapping her arms around me from behind. I thought I'd lost her. And maybe… a part of me believed I didn't deserve to find her. But she came back. Stronger. Smiling. Just like I hoped.

I closed my eyes.

---

Far away, far from mortal eyes...

A meeting was held among shadows.

"Dengka, you're late," muttered Amarath.

"I go where I want," Dengka snapped. "Why listen to you?"

"Enough, both of you!" Cynthia barked. "Someone has entered our turf."

"Name?" Byjack asked.

"Ares Meledric," Cynthia replied.

"Ha! That weakling?" Amarath laughed.

"Do not underestimate him," warned Serdeck.

"We'll see with our own eyes soon enough," Hummel added.

"Indeed," said Gaive.

"We were the first gods," Cynthia hissed. "And yet that old prophecy dares speak of his rise." 

"Let him cook," Gaive murmured. "The fire only burns hotter before it snuffs out."

In the distance, the evil gods watched.

Scheming.

Waiting.