The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 102

Chapter 102: New Forged Beasts For The Team
Lisa walked a few paces ahead of the group, her face still faintly pink from the earlier misunderstanding with Damien.

Every time she replayed the scene in her head, she felt the urge to bury herself in a hole. And worst of all, the rest of her team heard her trying to clear things up with Damien and they also misunderstood the situation.

“You’re still thinking about it, aren’t you?” Clara’s teasing voice cut through Lisa’s thoughts as she walked alongside her, a mischievous grin on her face.

“I’m not!” Lisa huffed, crossing her arms.

“You’re totally thinking about it,” Clara continued teasing, chuckling as she walked faster to keep up with the embarrassed Lisa. “I mean, You did come out of Reid’s room first thing in the morning.”

Lisa groaned. “For the last time, nothing happened!”

“Nobody said anything happened,” Marcus chimed in, his deep voice amused. “But the way you’re reacting is making it funnier.”

He wasn’t usually known for teasing but he had been with them long enough to act comfortably.

Reid, who had been walking quietly with his hands in his pockets, finally sighed. “Can we not?”

Clara nudged Lisa playfully. “You know, if you two were a thing, it wouldn’t be the worst match.”

Lisa’s face heated up again. “Clara!”

Clara just responded with a mischievous chuckle.

Reid, however, just shook his head. “We’re not a thing. Can we focus? We’re almost at there.”

They were currently headed to Garrick’s shop for their new forged beasts, and the excitement was evident on their faces.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the shop and the same ‘welcoming’ sign greeted them.

“F*ck Off If You Have No Business With Me” it read.

Since he had agreed to take Reid in as an apprentice, Garrick had already registered his information in the lock system.

{Welcome, apprentice Reid} With a tap of his ID on the scanner, the metal door clicked opened and the voice welcomed spoke up, allowing Reid and his team access.

“Good morning Ember” Reid greeted as soon as they entered the shop.

{Good morning, Reid,} Ember answered before adding, {The master is currently in the forge. Shall I inform him of your presence?}

“It’s fine, we’ll just meet him there” Reid answered as he walked towards the door that led to the Forge.

The others followed Reid through the door, and they were immediately greeted by the sheer size of the forge. They had been here the previous day, but that didn’t make the sight any less impressive.

Garrick was hunched over one of the workstations, muttering to himself as he tightened some screws on a metallic frame.

Without looking up, he grumbled, “Took ya long enough, apprentice. Thought you might’ve gotten lost on the way here.”

“We’re right on time sir” Reid said, taking a glance at his watch.

Garrick scoffed. “On time? Bah. In my shop, early is on time, and on time is late.”

He took a short pause before continuing, “And it’s ‘Master’ to you now, not ‘Sir.'”

“Yes Si— Master” Reid answered.

Garrick grunted in approval before finally looking up at the rest of the group.he scoffed and stepped aside, gesturing toward the secured vault-like door. “Alright, brats. Time to pick up your damn pets.”

The moment he approached, Ember’s voice chimed in.

{Authorization required. Please confirm access, Master Garrick.}

“Yeah, yeah, confirm it,” Garrick grumbled.

{Access granted.}

With a hiss of depressurization, the door unlocked and slid open, revealing the rows of metallic cases inside.

He turned back to them, his face taking an annoyed expression at their gawking. “You already made your choices, so don’t waste my time gawking. Get in there and claim ’em.”

The team exchanged excited glances before stepping forward. Lisa was the first to approach her case, fingers brushing over the smooth metal before unlocking it.

The lid popped open with a soft click, revealing the smaller, dormant form of her new Forged-Beast.

Her choice was an orange lizard-like forged beast. The scales on its back were black and it looked peacefully asleep.

On the lid of the metal case lay its description.

{

Species: Plasma Salamander

Rank: Gold tier

Abilities:

Plasma Veil: Surrounds itself with a thin layer of superheated plasma, reducing incoming damage and burning enemies that make physical contact.

Energy resistance: Increases resistance to energy-based attacks, including lightning, fire, and radiation.

Whip: Extends its superheated tail, turning it into a plasma-infused whip.

Plasma Spit: Fires superheated plasma projectiles that explode on impact.

Ion Burst : Accelerates its body using ionized plasma, launching itself at high speeds and upon impact, releases a shockwave of ionized energy, staggering or knocking back enemies.

Starflare Burst: Compresses plasma into an unstable state before releasing it in a blinding explosion.

}

“Wow” was all she could say, seeing the forged beasts through a hologram and directly in front of her was a different experience altogether.

“Thank you Sir” Lisa said with a small bow of appreciation.

Garrick grunted in response. “Hmph. At least you know how to show some manners.”

“Just make sure to handle it with care” He said.

“I will” Lisa answered.

Clara opened her metal case next, revealing the forged beast she chose and her eyes immediately widened in surprise and joy.

Laying in the metal case was a little ferret that was sleeping. The lid also displayed its stats.

{

Species: Shadow Ferret

Rank: Gold tier

Abilities:

Shadow Step – Instantly teleports between shadows, making it nearly impossible to pin down. Clara can also use this ability, allowing her to reposition quickly.

Umbra Clone – Creates a shadowy duplicate that mimics its actions. The clone will only disappear when it is hit by an attack.

Dark Veil – Envelops its Tamer in a cloak of shadows, reducing visibility and making it harder for enemies to target her.

Phantom Shot – coats any weapon or projectiles in shadow essence causing it to phase through physical obstacles before solidifying on impact.

Snare – Sends out shadow tendrils that bind and slow down enemies caught in them.

Shadow Escape: Can instantly merge into any shadow, turning it intangible.

}

Clara carefully picked up the tiny sleeping ferret, feeling its warm, soft fur against her hands. It stirred slightly, letting out a tiny yawn before curling back up.

Her heart practically melted. “You’re so cute,” she whispered, gently cradling it in her hands.

Clara grinned, her excitement barely contained. “I love it.”

She then turned to Garrick and said “thank you sir”.

The old man grunted, waving her off. “Yeah, yeah”.

Marcus was next. His metal case was a bit bigger than the others, it looked heavier too. He carefully opened it, to reveal the forged beast that lay within.

“What’d you ask for?” Clara peeked into the case “why does it look like team 5’s tank’s forged beast”.

Laying in the metal case was what looked like a mini golem, made entirely of stone. The case’s lid also displayed its stats.

{

Species: Earth Golem

Rank: Gold tier

Abilities:

Landslide – Unleashes a torrent of rolling boulders or debris toward enemies, overwhelming them with sheer mass.

Geo-Regeneration – Absorbs minerals from the ground to repair its body, restoring lost durability over time.

Earth control: can manipulate rocks and earth in any form, shaping them into anything the tamer wishes.

Terra Shift – Temporarily merges with the earth, allowing it to travel underground and reappear at a chosen location.

}

“Yours was a pain to forge—had to run wires through a pile of damn rocks,” Garrick grumbled. “But if I couldn’t handle something that simple, I wouldn’t be a Forgemaster.”

His tone showed the confidence he had in his craft.

“Thank you sir” Marcus also said, showing appreciation.

Just like with the others, Garrick just waved his hand in dismissal and said “if you really are thankful, then hurry up and leave my forge.”

Ethan opened his metal case with a skeptical look on his face. The forged beast he wanted wasn’t on the old man’s holographic list, so he had manually specify his need to Ember.

He wasn’t sure if the old man would actually make it or just dismiss it as a waste of time and forge something else instead.

He fully opened the case to reveal what looked.

What lay inside was a transparent, green, jelly-like creature. Even its core was visible and instead of wires, rune like lines run across it which caused Reid to raise a brow, but say nothing.

{ Species: Cyber Slime

Rank: Peak Gold-tier

Abilities:

Override – Hacks into tech-based enemies or objects. If no tech is present, it disrupts energy-based creatures by interfering with their bio-electric signals, causing momentary disorientation.

Form manipulation: can take any form its tamer specifies

Ghost Protocol – Phases through matter and energy attacks for a short time, making it hard to hit.

Neural Sever: releases a pulse capable of severing weak bonds between a tamer and their forged beast.

Pulse Shock – Releases an electromagnetic pulse mixed with bio-energy, capable of at least stunning enemies and at most frying their nervous system.

Augment Mode – Enhances the speed, reflexes, and thinking speed, of its tamer.

Data Assimilation – Analyzes opponent fighting patterns, adjusting its combat style mid-fight to counter them more effectively.

Adaptive slice – Its body restructure at a molecular level, letting it cut through both physical armor and energy-based defenses.

Nanite Swarm – Releases self-replicating nanites that latch onto enemies, corroding armor, weakening flesh, or disrupting energy flow.

}

The jaws of team 7 members dropped when they saw the stats of Ethan’s new forged beast.

“W-What the hell?” Clara blurted out in shock. “With these abilities, isn’t this basically Platinum-tier already?”

“Not quite,” Garrick grunted. “But damn near close.”

He crossed his arms, eyeing Ethan with a mixture of irritation and begrudging respect. “Yours was the biggest pain in the ass to forge—hell, even for me.”

Then, with a sharp glare at Ethan, he scoffed.

“When you picked this thing, did it ever cross your damn mind that there ain’t a single Primal in the world with hacking abilities?” He let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing his temples. “How the hell d’you expect me to get a core for something that doesn’t exist?”

“Lucky for you, I am the one creating your forged beast” his voice took a softer, almost bragging tone “I was able to create an artificial core and tweaked the abilities a bit so you better take care of it.”

“I will Sir” Ethan said, his tone appreciative as can be.

“Good” Garrick nodded before his expression changed “since you’ve all received your pets, anyone that’s not Reid, get out of my shop.”