Tales of the Endless Empire
Chapter 180: A Good Teacher

"No, we cannot advance to the fifth stage right now. Are you insane?" Chloe exclaimed desperately. They had gained the forms of the stronger griffins, but since meeting their former friends, life had become even more dangerous. Jack and Josh were constantly out hunting.

They were still competing against each other to determine who was stronger. Chloe and Eddie didn’t want to hear it anymore. On the other hand, Kargul, Evelyn, and Vorlok couldn’t hear enough about it, so they were constantly out hunting as well. If it were only some level eighty E-grade beasts, that would be one thing, but for those maniacs, that wasn’t good enough. They only took fights against insanely strong beasts or against entire beast tides.

"This stage just feels a bit boring. The last few days, there haven’t even been any vampires to kill, and the beasts aren’t that strong either. Even Josh can kill such weak beasts. How am I supposed to prove that my form is superior?" Jack argued with a sheepish smile.

"What? No, it’s the other way around! I have no problems killing the beasts. I think you’re the one slacking off," Josh shouted back with faint anger.

"I think your forms are equally powerful," Chloe tried to ease the tension and prevent them from advancing to the next stage.

"Equal? Impossible. I am, of course, stronger," both Jack and Josh shouted back in unison.

"By the way, why haven’t you gone for a super powerful form? It’s not good to have so many forms. You need to destroy all your other forms and add their attributes to the one form you want to keep," Jack said, with Josh nodding in support.

"Well, because we don’t want to end up with one form like you two. We already have the powerful griffin," Eddie tried to defend their actions.

"Ah, you mean the griffin that even Josh was able to kill?" Jack said cheekily, while Josh’s face grew a bit redder.

"The griffin is very powerful. What will you do if we have to dive into the ocean again? You can’t take a new form," Chloe tried to make a point.

"You can’t mean me. I’m a squid—I can fly and swim. Josh might have some problems, but I’m good," Jack said innocently.

"Since the integration, we can hold our breath for hours, so I’ll be fine too," Josh tried to explain.

Kargul, Evelyn, and Vorlok were sitting on the sidelines, listening with big smiles on their faces. The whole group was at the edge where the jungle ended and the wide, near-endless savanna began. They had a lot of fun hunting over the last few days. Jack and Josh’s forms were so powerful that none of the beasts could put up much resistance against the group. Only very rare beasts were strong enough to fight back. Vorlok had gotten a lot bigger, and like the rest of them, he hadn’t evolved.

"When we go to the fifth stage, I’m going to evolve now. I don’t want to get killed by one of those vampires," Chloe said reluctantly.

"No, you can’t evolve now! We need to wait until the end of the tutorial for the most gains. If you do it now, your class will suck, and you might be stuck in E-grade," Jack exclaimed in surprise and shock.

"But what can we do? We’re not as powerful as you," Eddie said with a sigh.

"You’re right. We need to teach you how to fight properly with your forms. Come on, attack me," Jack said, motioning to Eddie while jumping off the root he had been sitting on.

"Like in my human form, or what form do you want? I can’t take the griffin form—what if I hurt you?" Eddie answered worriedly, standing up as well.

Jack answered with a telekinetic pulse that threw Eddie into the next tree, where he slowly slid down.

"Ah, what was that for?" Eddie groaned as he slowly stood up again.

"You always need to be prepared for an attack. Never let your guard down. I’m your master now, and I will teach you everything I know," Jack explained wisely, waving his hand again, which smashed Eddie back into the tree.

"Ahh, god, please stop! I don’t want to be trained..." But Eddie couldn’t finish his sentence as another condensed wave of power rolled toward him. He saved himself with a fast leap to the side.

"Ha, did you see that, Josh? I’m a great teacher!" Jack shouted with excitement, turning to his rival.

"You are not a great teacher. You just attacked him without explaining anything," Josh sighed, annoyed.

"Words take time we don’t have, and they’re not necessary, as I’m more reliant on the practical approach," Jack wisely explained while nodding his head, as if agreeing with himself.

"By the way, what do you know about teaching? You don’t even have a pupil like me, so be quiet," Jack added with a smile.

"Oh no, you don’t. I’ll show you how to teach someone. Chloe, get over here! I’ll teach you something," Josh yelled at Chloe, unwilling to step down.

"No, I’m not getting trained by you," Chloe screeched while stumbling back.

"Don’t worry, I’ll train you very well." Josh said, trying to calm her down.

"Okay, but nothing hardcore, okay?" Chloe said while stepping forward.

"Yes, we’ll start with baby steps, but then we’ll speed up and surpass those two with ease," Josh exclaimed while puffing out his chest.

"Wait, I’m not competing against Eddie," Chloe said dismissively.

"Of course you are," Josh said in a fatherly tone.

"We’ll start very easy. Do you see those little dinos over there?" Josh said, pointing at a small green dino about three hundred meters away from them. It was currently munching on something in the high grass.

"This is your first target. Take the griffin form and show it who’s the boss on this stage," Josh said in an important tone.

"Okay, I can do that," Chloe said with renewed confidence and transformed into the griffin, sprinting onto the savanna.

"Did you see that, Jack? Compliments are very important if you’re teaching someone," Josh said with a wide smile.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Compliments are not my style. Not punching the pupil is reward enough," Jack answered, also not backing down in the slightest.

"Yeah, Jack is right. I trained our beasts like that back in the tribe, but I found an even better technique. Have you tried rewarding Eddie or Chloe with vodka or snacks?" Kargul laughed loudly, while Evelyn beside him also couldn’t hold back her laughter.

"What do you even want to teach Chloe by letting her kill those babies?" Evelyn asked Josh.

"It’s just to give her confidence and build trust. It also shows her that my teaching works, that she can trust me, and most importantly, that I’m always there for her and she never has to fear for her life," Josh said proudly.

They all watched as the giant griffin slowly walked up to the small dino, which was currently looking in the other direction. Even the giant Vorlok had turned around to watch what was happening on the field.

"Aha, she needs to go a bit deeper so that no one sees her when she approaches," Josh said triumphantly while taking out a notepad and a pencil and started to write.

Meanwhile, the little dino spotted the approaching griffin, which was the size of a school bus. Chloe had walked over very relaxed. The dino was only two meters long and maybe one meter tall. It was green, like the grass back on Earth, and its eyes seemed happy. When it spotted Chloe, its whole demeanor changed, and it lifted its head to the sky and screeched loudly.

"Oh, do you think there are more hidden in the grass?" Kargul asked Josh.

"That would definitely not be good, but I’ll be there to save her if things get out of hand," Josh said, now a bit uncertain.

"I don’t think you should help her. Look how small the dinos are. I’d feel bad if someone ran over and smashed them before I could," Kargul said seriously.

"Ha, okay, thank you. Then I’ll just give her a few tips if it looks like she’s losing," Josh said after a moment of thought.

"See, that only proves that I’m the better teacher. Kargul didn’t have to give me any advice on how to teach Eddie," Jack laughed triumphantly.

"That’s not fair. I have never asked for any help. You are just using everything you get to your advantage," Josh shot back at Jack.

"There, you see, my dear disciple. Always use everything you can, even when winning an argument," Jack said to Eddie in a now more serious tone, though a cheeky smile was still playing around his lips.

On the field, more and more heads shot up and looked at Chloe, a bit uncertain. The screeches grew louder as more and more beasts appeared.

"Oh, I think she’s in trouble. Just admit that you’re the worse teacher and get her out of there," Jack commented.

"No, no. I believe in Chloe. She can do it," Josh responded reluctantly, watching as the small dinos attacked the far bigger griffin.

The griffin hesitantly walked backward, growling at the small dinos that approached her, until one of them bit her tail. Chloe screeched like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on and turned around, which gave the other dinos time to attack.

"No, don’t turn around! You have wings... Use your fire breath!" Josh shouted from the sideline while making many notes on his notepad.

The green dinos were now starting to climb onto her back and began biting her. The griffin roared in anger and pain while rolling on the ground, trying to get the smaller dinos off her back. The dinos seemed to have a lot of experience in such situations and were jumping off the griffin just before Chloe could roll over them.

"Damn, she’s getting outplayed," Jack commented while snacking on some of the food they had bought from the system shop.

"No, it’s just the beginning. I think she’s just baiting the dinos," Josh stammered while screaming at Chloe. "Chloe, use your damn fire breath! Are you braindead?"

"I think she can’t hear you. The small dinos are still screeching all around her," Evelyn said while drinking from Kargul’s vodka.

On the savanna, the small dinos were happily biting the giant griffin, who was now rolling on the ground, roaring and slashing with her claws. It didn’t work, and only a few dinos got injured while they continued to happily bite the griffin. Her entire fur was already red from the blood running down her body from the many small wounds.

"I think you should help her and finally admit defeat. I’m just better, and you should accept it," Jack said, now sounding a bit worried.

"No, she’s doing fine. It’s all part of the learning curve. It’s just normal that you can’t do everything perfectly at the beginning," Josh stubbornly argued while putting his notepad aside for a moment.

Chloe was now standing back up and started running back toward them, while the small dinos jumped on her back, trying to bring her down again.

"What’s wrong with her wings? She could have just breathed fire on the dinos from the air," Josh murmured while making notes.

"At least she’s running now instead of getting eaten. She really needs some training before advancing to the next stage," Evelyn commented, now sounding a bit worried.

"I think Vorlok should train her," Kargul laughed. "It also took some time for him to understand what to do. He definitely knows the difficulties."

"No, Chloe is already my disciple, and I will teach her how to fight," Josh insisted. "I’ve already written down her training plan, and it will make her an expert fighter."

"Just out of curiosity, how much trust do you think has been built between the two of you in the last few minutes?" Evelyn said with amusement.

"Ahh... she will for sure see the wisdom in my actions," Josh stammered.

The griffin looked terrible, with cuts everywhere and parts of her tail missing where the small dinos had bitten it off.