The Strongest Beast Tamer - 140 Houston

The others faintly chuckled at the sight of the group’s shocked expressions, they were dangling their feet off the wall, looking below them at the ground passing by. The two snipers both laid down, their arms by their side, they had expressions of bliss.

Lachlan turned to the broad man who seemed to be in charge. “So, where exactly are we in America?”

“You’re currently at Freeport, in the state of Texas, USA,” The man said in his deep voice. “This place was fishing grounds, where people came to gather fish for food. However, it seems the large supply of large fish attracted the bear here which lead to the destruction of this town.”

“So how does working for the Explorer’s Guild work? I can see you’ve already formed a party, but what happens from there?” Lachlan asked. He was curious as to how the Explorer’s Guild worked, considering their large size and worldwide fame.

“Right, the guild works in that each party is a sub-guild. When creating a sub-guild you state its purpose, for example, due to the bear problem in the USA I decided to create a sub-guild that primarily focuses on killing and capturing bears,” Burnie explained. Lachlan had analysed everyone in their group, and although much stronger than the average person, they probably wouldn’t last a second against an intelligent beast.

Burnie laid back, his hands behind his head to provide him with a bit of cushioning. “Everyone in this sub-guild has some sort of purpose here, either they’re here for revenge or just want to help others out. Either way, they’re all accepted.”

Burnie then pointed towards one of the snipers. “Like Rosanne over there, she’s just looking to fill her life with something meaningful. Because of her age, she hadn’t finished anything in college, barely even getting out of high school when everything change. But, after taming a couple of beasts and finding out she could fight pretty well she joined the Explorer’s Guild before finding her way to us.”

He then proceeded to point towards every other member in his group, explaining their pasts. All their experiences and the such, it was something Lachlan hadn’t taken much notice of but it seemed like people have managed to find themselves a better standing in the new world with the introduction of beasts.

“Just wondering but where exactly are we going?” Lachlan asked.

“Obviously to Houston, a city that underwent some massive changes when the world changed. They decided to move everyone and everything underground, using the broken buildings as materials to create support pillars and the such,” Burnie explained. “To be honest, I feel as though Houston is the safest city in America due to this move by their government.”

“Indeed, because unlike other cities that’ll have to face constant beast threats, due to the city being underground, it’ll be able to avoid almost all of that. It really was a smart move,” Chloe and Flynn chimed in, they were rather interested in Houston’s council’s decision.

“Yeah, I don’t see why other cities follow along. Although I can obviously see the dangers if one of those earth controlling beast shows up, there’s plenty of those beasts underground as well, protecting the integrity of the city,” Burnie explained. “Of course, having a city in the sky would be even safer, granted, as long as the method of keeping in the sky isn’t compromised.”

They continued their small chats, only taking a few more minutes before they reached the spot. They all looked down, all that was left of Houston was its outskirts, the centre was covered in a thick layer of cement and all through it were small entrances that only a human could fit through.

The group hopped down, bringing along the others with them. When they landed on the ground the sight was rather odd, it was just one large, flat piece of cement, covering the entire ground. But that wasn’t what they were there for.

Moving towards one of the entrances Burnie ran up and opened it up, it worked similar to a submarine entrance, having to twist the handle to open it. Everyone hopped into it, slowly making their way down the metal ladder until they finally reached solid footing.

Although it was high up and very far from the actual bottom the group could see the entire city from where they were, they were currently on the ceiling grids, they stretched across the city, giving the residents multiple places where they could escape or come in from.

“This way, I’ll take you over to this city’s Explorer’s Guild headquarters, my sub-guild needs to submit a small report and evidence of completion of the mission,” Burnie explained as he waved his hand, gesturing for them to follow.

The group nodded and made their way behind him, constantly looking around them at the bright lights attached to the ceiling along with all the massive buildings far below it. From the ground to the ceiling it had to at least be 500 metres.

The tallest building in the city was around 200 metres but there was plenty of other buildings that reached close to its size. A lot of which were apartment buildings; because the outskirts of the city were abandoned they needed more accommodation underground to support everyone living there, at least for now it seems.

“So how did they manage to dig all this up?” Flynn asked in amazement.

“Obviously they used earth control, easy and simple. With those abilities, they managed to dig this entire area out in less than a week and once all the dirt was gone construction was simple, not to mention there were people that could control metal, making it so much easier,” Burnie explained proudly. “I was one such person, helping with construction.”

The group hadn’t thought about it like that, they were still in the past where manual labour was still the beast. Which is why constructing their huts and wooden cabins took so a while, they didn’t think anything of it.

They looked at each other and nodded, they were going to do their next lot of construction with their abilities and also, try to find people with such abilities to speed up the process. Especially metal/iron control.

“Alright, we’re here,” Burnie said as he pointed towards a building by their side, there was an elevator that went straight down into it. The building was large, made of polished marble with plenty of windows. Along the side the group could see a symbol or insignia, it represented the Explorer’s Guild. It was plastered across the side of the building.

Burnie walked across the grid until he reached the elevator, he gestured for the group to follow. They all got inside the elevator, granted it was quite cramped it wasn’t anything too unbearable. Lachlan’s broadsword went from one side of the elevator to the other, which meant he had to stand at the very back against the wall.

Clicking the ground button the elevator shot down, through the building until it reached the ground. When it opened, it opened up to a wide, spacious room; there were couches to the side, a large touch screen tv on the side of the wall and at the back centre was the reception.

Burnie and his group walked up to the receptionist and handed in the bear’s paw, signifying their success and completion of the mission. The receptionist nodded before typing something on the computer, after that she nodded and signalled for them to go.

The group walked over to theirs, Burnie stepped forward. “So, the rest of my group is planning on separating and getting some rest. I’ve decided to take charge and help guide you around the city, show you the ins and outs.”

“Thanks, it’ll be greatly appreciated,” Flynn said.

Burnie nodded before walking off, the group followed behind him, walking through the doors into the busy streets of Houston. They were getting odd stares from everywhere, they weren’t exactly wearing the most casual of clothes.

Looking at them Burnie said, “Yeah, let’s get you some clothes to wear while you’re here.”

“Well. we don’t exactly have any money,” Flynn explained as he shrugged his shoulders. “Granted, I might have some if the government has opened up my bank account.”

Burnie gave them a strange look but Flynn swiftly explained, “We weren’t exactly on the world government’s good side of the list. It’s not an understatement to say we were despised by them, however, things have changed and I suppose we’re on neutral terms now.”

“How about we go to the bank first to have a look, it isn’t too far from here,” Burnie said and the group responded with nods. “Great.”