Norman continued speaking, he said "Druids are humanoid species that are inclined towards nature so we have many skills based on it. But only a select few can use those skills outside our species."
"You mean like the skill through which you shapeshift into an animal."
"No, to use that technique you need to have the bloodline of the druid flowing through your veins, like me. Even though I'm a human, I can still use that technique as I'm also part Druid. Otherwise, it's not possible for a pure human to shapeshift into an animal form using our technique."
"Let's say, she agrees to follow you as that will be her own decision, but can I know what you will teach her?"
"Are you familiar with the profession of Beast Masters or Beast Tamers."
"Yes, I believe Miss Violette is one of them," Alex said as a Beast Master was already present in their midst.
"Yes, she is a Beast Tamer. The Beast Contracting Technique which she uses was something that I had taught her and her father too."
After saying that Norman was tangled for a moment. Then he decided to share his past with the audience first.
"The only memory that I have of my childhood is living in a cage as a slave. Miss Violette's father at that time was a young master of a small merchant family. I was bought by his family to cultivate me as an aide for their son. At that time no one knew of me having the blood of a druid, heck even I didn't know that. Anyway from that day onwards, I started working for Miss Violette's father as his aide. Luckily, Violette's father had a good at heart and he treated me like a brother rather than just a subordinate."
"As part of the training, it was normal for the young master to be sent for negotiating with dealers and sometimes ship the merchandise to our clients personally. One day, doing the latter work our caravan was attacked by some bandits as we were passing a road through the forest. We were heavily outnumbered, so the mercenaries we hired actually escaped rather than protecting us. The result was that both the young master I got captured and but the bandits did not want to have any prisoners, they wanted to kill us. Just when they were going to behead Violette's father, my bloodline awakened in that time of the need and I transformed into a Demon Beast in the shape of an eagle instinctively."
"Because of that, I was able to save our lives and kill those bandits. Just like how powerful demon beast pass their inheritance to their children, with my bloodline awakening, I also got the inheritance by my ancestors. Though it was not a complete inheritance as I was only a part Druid."
"But what I got was still very valuable, I also shared what I could with the young master as he was my only family. The Beast Contracting Manual was one of them. The other techniques were..."
Norman explained some of the Druid skills that can be used by specific humans that meet its requirements.
Alex was interested in every other skill except the Beast Contracting manual as he had already bought it from the Book. In fact, the manual of his was even one grade higher than that of Norman's.
"Mister Norman, I feel that Anna would really benefit from some of the skills that you have mentioned. Like the one through which a person can communicate with normal animals and even control them without the need for contracting. But I regret to say that your Beast Contracting Technique is one grade lower than what I have with me ."
"One grade...Lower? Wait, what? You also have a Beast Contracting Manual!." Norman was shocked but so were the rest of the people.
"Yes. My men were lucky to salvage a shipwreck that was washed ashore on an island that is under my own other than this one. This manual was found on that ship not long ago and had only reached my hands the last night after we had dinner. " Alex's explanation was specifically for his family as they were not aware of it. They knew that Alex had one more island another his control that is still unknown to the world.
"You have one more island in your control!?" Violette was astounded with his revelation.
"Yeah, but no need to be so surprised. I had sent some of my men on an expedition out in the sea to search for new and unknown islands near this one. They found one during their journey and I had asked them to develop it for future needs. They have been busy building a town there so that humans can also settle in that place... Oh Right, I have named it Greenedge Island because of its shape, just for your knowledge."
"... Then I must congratulate you, Lord Alex. Finding a new island is very rare in the past few years. Even if it's a small Island. Thank you for sharing this news with us." Violette's excitement was lowered quite a bit when she heard about its size.
"Thank you, but all the credit has to go to the men that went on the exploration. If not for them, the Greenedge island would have remained unknown for a few more years."
"Lord Alex, you have my congratulation too but can you please continue what you were saying about the manual you found. Is it truly... a peak grade Blank ranked technique that you had found."
" Why don't you see and read it for yourself? As they say, seeing is believing." Alex waved his hands in the air and a slim book appeared on the table.
"Because the original one was not in good shape, my men first copied it and then sent me the new one."
Norman picked it up and open its first page to read it.
"Yes, it is truly a Peak Grade Beast Contracting Technique. Lord Alex, you are a really lucky man. Even on the Belmont Subcontinent, only three forces have Beast Contracting Techniques with them but even they do have a Peak Grade Black Ranked like yours."
"Is that so? Then it seems I'm truly lucky... Mister Norman, I have no problem if Anna is taught by someone like you. There are so many things that she can learn from your experience. Anna, what do you say?"
"It will be my honor to become a disciple of Master Norman." Anna stood up and bowed her head towards the Druid to pay respect to him and take him as her teacher.
Norman was truly very happy. There were some techniques that he could not pass on to Violette or her father as they both could not meet the necessary requirements to learn them. In fact, even Norman is not able to use many skills in his head because he also does not meet its requirements. Maybe, it was due to him being a part human or maybe it was because of his nature.
Even though Norman was a Druid, he had never met another one of his species and that was one of his regrets but taking care of his brother's daughter was more important for him.
Being able to pass on his knowledge to someone before he dies of old age has also been one of his wishes and seeing that he had finally found a suitable candidate almost brought tears to his eyes.
******
Author's Note:
Recommending a personal favorite: 'The Sinful Life of The Emperor' on .com. An exciting novel where the MC does as he pleases; including seducing married women with wits and charm Slow start but the novel is a great read with lots of humor, face smacking, sex, action... Do give it a try.