Peter leaped from the carriage while summoning Kalista, and began running towards the pack of Frens.

“Kalista to the front, Gaia, support her! I'll keep an eye out for any other primals!”

They both nodded and moved to their respective positions. Kalista drew her sword.

Then stabbed herself with it.

“Price of Life!”

The blood dripping from her sword and body soon evenly coated her weapon.

“Heal!” Gaia healed Kalista's injuries as she began to charge forward. “Living Armor!” Gaia cast a protective coating upon herself.

As the four Fren drew nearer, two of them continued to charge towards Kalista while the other two splintered off around and away from her.

Peter grimaced. He searched around for Bryan but couldn't spot him. “Where is he? Where's Fira?” He muttered to himself. Peter positioned himself a short distance behind Gaia.

The two Fren heading towards Kalista jumped towards her. She spun around in a circle. “Wave!” A wide crescent shot out and hit both of them midair, knocking them backward, a deep cut etched into their upper bodies. Kalista charged forward in pursuit.

The two Fren which had avoided her now began to close in on Gaia and Peter.

“Nature's Beauty!”

While one of the Fren moved to avoid the cloud of dust completely, the other disregarded it and charged through, and soon found itself shaking on the ground. Desperately rubbing at its crotch trying to quell the flames that now stirred within her.

The smarter Fren attacked Gaia, clawing at the roots which covered her body. “Toxic Bloom!” Gaia retaliated with.

At point blank, the poison flower easily latched onto the Fren and spurted out toxic pollen. The Fren began to cough and ripped off the flower, the purple pedals crushed within her palm. Angry, she swung at Gaia again, but the roots had managed to regenerate somewhat and blocked most of the attack before falling off.

Annoyed at her attack being stopped again, the Fren turned and glanced towards Peter and licked her lips. She soon began to run towards him.

“No!” Gaia shouted. “Entangling Roo-” Gaia began to cast before being interrupted by a pounce from behind. The Fren which had been affected by the powder from her earlier skill now seemed to at least somewhat recover her senses.

Peter stood his ground as the Fren chasing Peter soon arrived within a few feet of him. He couldn't let her get to the others. She lunged to grab his wrist with her hand.

Peter sidestepped the motion. For a moment, both he and the Fren looked at each other in surprise. As if neither of them expected him to manage to avoid her.

The Fren smiled. She lunged towards him again, and for a moment, it appeared almost as if they were playing, the Fren trying to grab Peter and him narrowly avoiding each attempt. Peter wasn't sure how long he could keep this up.

“Flamethrower!” The sudden shout caused Peter to turn just in time to jump out of the way of a stream of fire erupting from Fira's mouth. The stream occupied the space where both he and the Fren had just been standing in.

Peter shot Fira an angry glare. He felt a tight grip around his wrist. Peter looked towards the Fren, who had a smug expression.

“Sorry! It's my most accurate move! Flamethrower!” Peter glanced towards the stream of fire heading towards them and jumped towards the Fren, dragging both of them to the ground.

Peter struggled to keep her from pushing him off of her. Soon he felt a surge of heat behind him, the warm air tickling his back for a brief instant. As he let out an angry sigh, he noticed that the Fren had stopped moving underneath and was staring at him, her eyes wide.

She suddenly flipped Peter onto the ground. As he tried to get back up, he felt a sudden weight smother his crotch. In an awkward movement, the Fren was rubbing her rear on Peter as she faced toward Fira, letting out barking noises.

She would let out a few barks and then quickly turn her head towards Peter, before returning her attention to the fiery primal ahead.

“I think she's trying to protect you.” Both Peter and the Fren turned their heads towards Gaia, who was standing nearby healing her injuries as the Fren she had been fighting lay on the ground, badly weakened.

Kalista was walking up towards her, in the backdrop two Fren lay on the ground, a bloody mess. “She's doing a better job than fire nips over there,” Kalista growled.

“Who are you calling fire nips?” Fira angrily replied.

“Whose tamer were you trying to roast alive?”

Sensing her anger, the Fren began to now bark toward Kalista and Gaia as well.

“HER.” Kalista loudly said while pointing towards Fira. “HER.”

The Fren looked towards where Kalista had been pointing and growled at Fira. The Fren's eyes darted back and forth between all the primals surrounding her and Peter, and she suddenly jumped off of Peter and launched herself towards Fira.

“Whose side are you on?! Fire Wall!” Fira shot out a small jet of fire from her hands towards the grass, scorching the ground. Immediately afterward a wall of fire burst from the burned areas.

The Fren quickly dashed around, at the very edge of the wall she swiped her hand through the heat, burning herself in the process.

For some reason. Despite knowing she was a threat, Peter found himself chasing her. “Stop! Stop!”

“Flamethrower!”

Another beam of fire shot out from Fira's mouth. It landed on the ground right where the Fren was about to step.

Had she not turned to look towards Peter who was running towards her.

She grimaced and ran back towards him. The Fren spotted Gaia and Kalista closing in on her, and the Fren abruptly pulled Peter by his collar towards the wagon and placed her body between him and the others.

In every direction her eyes darted around, she let out a bark, her howls nearly causing Peter's ears to ring. Even as her coughs slowly grew more violent, she continued to threaten the others.

“Did you beat them?” Bryan asked as he ran towards the group.

“Where have you been?!” Peter shouted.

“Woah, a Fren! Are you going to capture her? Can I have her?” Bryan pulled out a stone. To Peter's surprise, its color was blue, not the gray of the guild provisioned kind.

“I... I don't know.” Peter was taken aback. He hadn't thought too much about what kind of primal he'd like to get next. Only something powerful, and perhaps rare. Would a Fren fit his current party?

She certainly seemed to be protective of him, and he hadn't even tamed her yet! Should he ask his other primals, maybe they might have an opinion?

“What do you two-”

“Finders, keepers then!” Bryan shouted, raising the summoning stone and running towards the Fren with it.

“Bryan, don't!” Sally shouted.

Upon spotting the summoning stone, the Fren became furious. She leaped towards Bryan.

Kalista thrust her sword in the gap between them, and the Fren knocked her head on the heavy blade and bounced back.

Peter used the opportunity to put some distance between himself and the Fren. She growled at Kalista and turned to notice that Peter was slipping away. She immediately began to run towards him.

“Entangling Roots!” A set of vines tugged on her foot, and her current momentum caused her to fall flat onto the ground with a yelp.

She twisted her head just enough to spot Peter standing between Gaia and Kalista. Despite her cloudy eyes making it hard to understand her expression, Peter thought she looked confused.

“You're mine!” Bryan yelled, pointing the stone towards the Fren.

The Fren's eyes darted back and forth between Bryan and Peter.

Bryan began to wave his hand, the stone rattling in his palm. “Is this thing broken?”

The Fren's gaze landed on Peter, now focused only on him.

Perhaps out of instinct, or nervousness. Peter wasn't sure the reason why. But he found himself lightly shaking his head.

The Fren froze for a moment, its expression along with its head slowly sinking towards the ground.

Bryan's summoning stone began to glow just as he slapped it for the third or fourth time. “Aha! It's working!”

The quickly vanished form of the Fren left behind a small clump of vines, which soon withered away.

“Alright! I caught a Fren! Nice work everyone!” Bryan exclaimed.

Peter looked towards Bryan with disgust.

“Already off to a good start! I knew going to Shantee would pay off!” Bryan surveyed the area, spotting the three dead primals nearby. “And looks like the attack is over. Let's get moving, the sooner we arrive in town the sooner I can finish taming this beauty!” Bryan turned and began walking toward the rear of the caravan and abruptly stopped. “Hey, I think it's my turn to sit, I'll cover the front for a while, you can watch the back!”

Peter frowned as Fira quickly ran by him, avoiding his gaze. “Wait for me!” She shouted.

With a sigh and a shake of his head, he went towards the rear of the caravan.