My name…. is Damian. I’m what you call a Beastman, a species similar to the humans of this world. Similar but different unfortunately, our bodies may be the same but at the same time we share characteristics very nonhuman. We possess features from the various creatures of the world like cats, wolves, lions, falcons, and even lizards. For me, I’m classified in the black bear category.

  We Beastman may be more physically fit than most humans, but we are outnumbered. Our unusual appearance strikes fear in humans. Even if we are accepted as part of the “civilized” species on the surface, underneath many of them associate us with monsters.

  My appearance alone causes people to keep their distance from me. I’ve been told I have a rather intimidating look on me, scaring not only the other humans but even a lot of my fellow Beastman and creatures. Even as a child many of the creatures of this world would run in fear of me.

  I’ll admit, it was heartbreaking being feared like that. They acted like I was doing this on purpose when all I wanted was to get to know them. The only ones I knew who wasn’t fearful of me were my own parents who themselves had to handle the fear associated with them. It was at least comforting knowing that there were some people who understood how it felt to be judged like this.

  Unfortunately, the feeling didn’t last long. Being adventurers they would always go out on dangerous quests, risking their lives for the people who wouldn’t accept us. One day they never returned, and I was forced to join in an orphanage, surrounded by people who didn’t want me around for years. My only comfort was watching the cute critters from a distance, even if they didn’t like coming to me, I find them enjoyable to watch.

  At a certain point I started to notice I was having a harder time expressing my emotions. But it was fine, it was far easier this way.

  Once I became of age, I was immediately kicked out of the orphanage. It made sense, they didn’t like having me around in the first place so must have been glad to finally get rid of me.

  In order to survive I had decided to become an adventurer myself, just like my parents did. I only focused on completing the quests handed to me, no point trying to connect with any of the others. It went on like this for years right to the present. Eventually, I found my rank had increased to B rank. It was then they started to see me in a new light, they even started to praise me. Calling me an excellent adventurer that many strive to be.

  It was nice at first, I had never been praised like that before and I liked the attention even if I didn’t know what to do with it. Though it wasn’t that long before I began to notice; from the tones of their voice, the expressions on their bodies, and even the way they looked at me. It felt hollow, I could tell they still were fearing me and were keeping their distance.

  …. It was…. Disheartening….

  I decided to just focus on my work from then on, ignoring their comments, their stares. I barely even enjoyed my pastime of admiring the cute critters anymore. It wasn’t like any of them would get close to me anyway.

  …

  Today though was different, I had thought it would just turn out to be another day of work. Just walk in, accept a quest, then get out. Nothing more than that, at least that was the plan.

  Before I entered the guild hall, I thought I had seen a young child enter inside. Sure enough, once I walked inside, I saw him. From what I can gather, despite his best effort to hide his appearance, it was obvious he was a young lizard Beastman who forgot to hide his tail. It was…. Something to be sure.

  It seemed he was registering to be an adventurer, having mulled over the pamphlet new adventurers are given. I’m all for supporting young adventurers but he looked to be a bit too young to join, not like it was any of my business to interfere.

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  It must have distracted me cause as I was walking towards the receptionist desk ready to get in line before I had accidentally bumped into the little guy.

  That got me worried, for sure I was going to scare the poor kid away. I could already hear everyone whisper to themselves, about something ridiculous like how I was going to do something bad to the little one.

  I was bracing myself for the worst when surprisingly, the kid was just staring at me. The most likely reaction was to keep their distance from me, but this one was looking at me in curiosity. It was strange, I didn’t sense any of the fear I’ve come to be used to from everyone. That only piqued my own curiosity, it didn’t even occur to me that I was staring back at myself.

  Once I noticed, I tried to break the silence and spoke first, wanting to make sure he got to the receptionist first. Though it’s been so long since I actually talked to someone outside of business, it took me a bit to even say the words. Even the tone of my voice was just barely coming out enough for the little guy to understand, it was rather embarrassing to say the least.

  Watching him use the chair to reach the desk was…. interesting for some reason. Once he received his adventurer card, he was quick to return the chair back and go to the quest board. I couldn’t help but watch him go do his business that the receptionist had to call me over. Why was I getting distracted so easily today…

  As I approached the receptionist, I asked for any quests to participate in today. Normally the guild receptionists were professionals, always giving the business smile they provide to all adventurers even me. But today she was giving a rather different smile.

  “Hmm you know that young lizard Beastman you were talking to? He just registered and I thought it might be a good idea if you help him out on his first quest. I’ll make it into an official quest so you can get paid.”

  Rather unusual quest, they don’t normally provide a training quest though considering how young that Beastman was it makes sense. But I don’t understand why she was offering me the job. Wouldn’t someone less intimidating be better suited for the job? I thought about it for a bit, there was something about the kid that I wanted to know more about. It felt like something was stirring inside me from long ago that I have no idea about.

  I decided to accept the quest, the pay she offered seemed decent enough anyway so there was no harm there. The only issue is if the kid would accept my help. I approached the little one from behind and was about to speak but strangely no sound came out of my mouth.

  It was only when he asked first that I managed to bring up the quest to supervise his that I managed to reply. I still couldn’t quite speak properly to him for some reason, but he seemed to understand.

  After accepting the quest, I helped him find the best location to find his target hunt. The first thing I noticed was that this wasn’t his first-time hunting. Most newcomers would just blindly go in with no plan in mind, but this little one was actually gathering info he needed to catch his prey. He ended up with a basic but effective trap for small animals.

  As we hid waiting for the horned rabbit to appear, he actually started to have small talk with me, wanting to know more about the town. I noticed my heart was starting to beat faster for some reason and I found myself talking more easily, giving the explanation I knew about the area. It was… nice… being able to socialize like this for once…

  Though we were cut short as the trap was triggered, it was there I got to see the little one in action. He was definitely no stranger to battle, there wasn’t a hint of hesitation from him as he sprang into action. He was beaming with focus and confidence that would put a lot of us adults to shame.

  Even as he was getting attacked by more of the little creatures, even when they gnawed at his limbs, he didn’t lose his composure. I had to remind myself not to interfere in his fight, even if I wanted to help.

  He didn’t need it though, having managed to finish his quest, though I couldn’t help getting this gut feeling he was holding back for some reason. What was strange was that he was trying to keep me from seeing his wounds, like he was trying to hide his scale skin.

  I decided not to pry, it wasn’t my business after all.

  Instead, I needed to focus on keeping him safe as a more dangerous creature was approaching, an owlbear. I decided to end it quickly as the kid was already exhausted and I wanted to help him back to recover as soon as I can.

  Once I was done dealing with the Owlbear, I decided to have us return to town. I would retrieve the beast’s body later; my first priority was returning the kid back safe.

  Overall, I started to get a good grasp over this kid after this quest. He seemed really sure of himself and didn’t lack in confidence. Fully focused on what he wanted and willing to put in the hard work to achieve it. I’m sure he will become a great adventurer in the future.

  And for some reason, I feel like I want to hang with the kid more often. It was nice having someone who wasn’t instantly afraid of me. More so there was just something about him that I can’t quite put my finger on.

  That small stature and the way he holds himself, he just looks so…. So….