When Leone arrived at a small clearing, he found a small herd of horses grazing.
Among a little over a dozen of them, a black stallion stood out.
It seemed to be their leader, and it had been looking at Leone since he arrived. It even stood between the young man and his herd, baring its teeth with its ears flat backward against its neck. One of its hind legs was also slightly raised on the ground, ready to charge at any moment.
If Leone were a wolf or any type of predator, the Stallion and his herd might have already made a run for it.
But since the creature before it was a human, it decided to hold its ground and intimidate Leone.
"Mister horse, it's okay!" Leone raised his hands. "I'm not a suspicious person!"
Yuni wanted to facepalm once again. She wondered how the young man developed this odd habit of telling strangers he wasn't a suspicious person, which in her book was something a suspicious person would say.
The horse answered with a snort, keeping its gaze pinned on the stranger who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Clearly, it also didn't believe that Leone was not a suspicious person.
However, who was Leone? He already had a way to deal with the aggressive leader of the pack… probably.
"Look here, Mister Horse. Can I talk to that colt over there?" Leone pointed at a white colt that seemed to be the frailest among the herd.
While it didn't look malnourished, it was simply much slimmer than the rest.
"Maybe he's not a colt of this stallion," Daedalus commented. "Or we might have come at the right time when it's about to be chased away. The leader probably doesn't want competition anyway."
This time, the grimoire wasn't too surprised when it saw that teh ext vassal candidate was a horse. Some of its previous owners also had horses as their first vassals, which was very normal in their current era.
"So, how do we approach it?" Yuni asked. "That Stallion is still glaring at you."
Barbarians often caught wild horses and domesticated them, for they were very useful as mounts and means of transport.
The young lady had her share of catching and caring for them, so she could tell that the stallion meant business.
"Don't worry, I know the trick!" Leone smirked before taking out a carrot from his storage ring. "Here horsey~ Nice Horsey. I got a carrot for you~"
The Stallion looked at Leone in disdain. Since the young man was using the Tongue of Beasts Skill, the horse could understand everything he was saying.
Had Leone come alone, it might have come closer to take a bite of the carrot. But he had companions.
Wild horses in the Borderlands had learned to be very wary of Barbarians, so it made no move.
However, Leone wasn't really calling out to the Stallion. Instead, he was calling out to the colt.
The white colt was at least a year old and big enough for someone to ride on them. Seeing the carrot on Leone's hand, it decided to come closer, like an innocent child being offered candy.
The Stallion watched this coldly and made no move to stop it. The Colt wasn't one of its foals, so the sooner it was out of the herd, the better.
"Good boy," Leone said as the horse ate the carrot in his hand. "Here, take another one."
The colt ate hungrily as if it hadn't eaten for days.
After it finished the two carrots, Leone reached out to scratch the neck of the horse at its base. After that, he reached out to stroke its neck and shoulder, repeating the process over and over again.
The colt finally relaxed, no longer threatened by the stranger who fed it carrots.
"My mother used to say that horses are similar to dogs," Leone said. "They are very affectionate. In fact, my mom loves horses and calls them her spirit companions."
"Is she a Beast Tamer?" Yuni asked. She was curious about Leone's family.
"She's not," Leone replied. "Actually, my mom is a very scary person. She's the real authority in our family. When she gets angry, she picks up her sandal, and my father will run away as if his pants are on fire."
"Is that a trend among nobles in the Kingdom?" Yuni giggled.
"No," Leone smiled, remembering her scary but loving mother. "She's just built differently."
"I can see in your eyes and expression that you really love her."
"Mmm. My mom spoils us a lot."
Daedalus listened quietly on the side before checking the colt's Status Page.
———
[Unnamed Colt]
Race: Horse
Grade: Common
Strength: 10
Agility: 25
Dexterity: 20
Vitality: 15
Intelligence: 30
Description: A common breed of horse in the Borderlands.
Signature Ability: ???
———
The colt's grade, stats, and description were all normal. However, when the grimoire checked its Signature Ability, there were only question marks.
'I wonder…' Daedalus thought for a while. 'Is this a hit or a miss?'
This wasn't the first time it had seen this phenomenon. Some people, monsters, or beasts also display unknown in their signature abilities.
The question marks represented one thing, and one thing only. Their signature abilities had yet to awaken.
And in extremely rare cases, the moment these signature abilities manifest, their owners would also undergo some type of evolution.
The grimoire then checked on the colt's favorability meter and was shocked to find it at a hundred percent.
'What the…' Daedalus could confirm there was no malfunction in the favorability meter. This meant that Leone managed to make the horse loyal to him with just two carrots!
"L-Leone! Come look at this!" Daedalus moved closer to the young man and showed him the Status Page of the horse he was hugging.
The Colt's tail swayed gently from behind, its eyes drooping. Clearly, it felt very comfortable being pampered by the young man currently hugging its neck while stroking it.
When Leone and Yuni saw the blinking favorability meter finally reach a hundred percent, a smug look appeared on the young man's face.
"See, what did I tell you?" Leone said with confidence. "There's nothing I can't do!"
"Then can you give birth to a baby?" Yuni asked in a teasing tone.
"Ahem! I might be the most amazing person in the world, but there are some things simmply impossible for me to do."
"Uh huh."
Leone temporarily ignored Yuni and lightly cupped the side of the horse's face, his thumbs brushing its soft cheek.
The young man's eyes looked soft and happy as he stared at the Colt, who looked back at him in a positive way.
"Do you want to become my vassal?" Leone asked.
The horse lightly pressed its nose on Leone's cheek, which meant that it trusted him. A moment later, Leone heard someone speak directly inside his mind.
———
[Congratulations on recruiting your First Vassal!]
[All of your Vassal's Stats will be increased by 10 Points!]
[Since your Vassal still doesn't have a name, please give them a name!]
———
"A name, huh?" Leone smiled. "What name would you like to have?"
The colt blinked at him slowly, as if saying "I'll leave it in your hands," which made the young man chuckle.
"Arion." Leone smiled. "From now on, your name is Arion."
Suddenly, Arion was enveloped by a golden light. The light was so intense that Leone and Yuni had reflexively shielded their eyes from its radiance.
The herd of horses ran away, spooked by the light. None of them even looked back as they left the scene in haste.
When the light finally receded, the frail looking horse was no more.
A magnificent white colt that looked like it was bred for war, standing tall and proud.
It looked at Leone with an affectionate gaze before it moved closer and licked the young man's cheek, who was still in a daze after the colt underwent a transformation right after it agreed to become his vassal.