Chapter 78 – Aura

While time was stopped, the group approached the powerful being that was following them for a long time. Arriving there, Fen was in for a big surprise. Their pursuer actually was his long-lost companion he thought had died in the past. It was a two-meter tall, grayish-blue and white female wolf, going by the name of Aurora, or Aura.

"Alright..." While they were eating, the newcomer tried to start her story.

"You teleported yourself to a very remote place, I take it?" Fen wanted to help her.

"Yeah... basically to the other side of the planet, actually. I found myself in the middle of the demon continent."

"Oh, is that why it took so long to come back?" Sophia also tried to understand it.

"If only... Crossing the sea was a bit of a pain and took me like a month or two, but... all in all, the entire journey of coming back here was one, maybe two years?"

"What happened, then?"

"I did mention that I almost died, right? I didn't literally teleport myself on the demon continent... To be more precise, I ended up high in the sky above... The teleportation also emptied out my entire magic power. Thanks to that, I took a free-fall dive towards the ground without any chance to dampen my impact with magic..."

"Ouch!" Sophia couldn't help but grimace at the mere thought.

"You have no idea, girl..." Aura had a similar expression, together with everyone else. "I, uhh, I landed in a forest in the middle of nowhere and barely survived. The trees probably dampened my fall a little. If you can call that dampening... I spent the next weeks recovering and healing myself until I was finally able to leave the forest. My magic power was still low, and I never was that good at healing magic in the first place, after all."

"I'm glad you survived that." Fen seemed relieved.

"But," Maya looked confused. "This happened around 200 years ago, right? And it took you two years to come back here? So, what happened in between?"

"A good question..." The female wolf paused for a moment. "Well, probably thanks to the crash, I've lost my memory about almost everything."

"E-Eh? Amnesia?!" The tiger-girl didn't see this twist coming.

"Yes..." Aura nodded to the shocked girl. "Because of that, I had no recollection of this continent... or Fen, and simply didn't know I had somewhere to return. After leaving the forest, I eventually ran into a group of demons and lived in their village for a while. Once I was back to full strength, I spent many years hunting all the monsters I never saw before. Compared to here, everything is incomparably stronger there. It was soo much fun~!"

"Great, another muscle-brain..." Sophia rolled her eyes.

"Is that why you became so insanely powerful?" Now that he was near enough, Fen could also detect the overwhelming power of Aura. "You overdid it!" There was a hint of envy in his voice, too.

"I'm actually not sure about that. Your magic powers increase a little when you use it a lot, but it's usually not at a point where it's worth emptying your magic every day. I think my teleportation used way more power than I had at my disposal and changed something about my capacity or something like that?"

"Is that so? Anyway, it's quite something. Ah, so that's why, the numbers aside, your magic also feels different."

"Ehehe~, were you surprised when you noticed me?"

"Sophia was the one who detected that you were following us. We actually decided to run away because we didn't want to engage such a powerful being."

"A-Ah... Oh, you taught her the magic? Wait, you knew that I was following you, girl?!"

"Y-Yes...? Around two weeks ago, maybe three? When we reached the sea, I detected you on that huge island on the other side."

"Really? How big is your detection range?"

"Right now? About 50 kilometers, I guess? Give or take."

"Wasn't it 40?!" Fen couldn't ignore her claim.

"That was a little while ago. It keeps growing all the time, after all."

"You..."

"That's not bad." Aura was impressed. "Mine's around 60 to 70 kilometers."

"Why is my range, the inventor of the magic, by far the shortest?!"

"Because you lack imagination~." Sophia and Aura were bonding already as they said the same thing together.

"I do not."

"Looks like my plan would've worked, then." The tiger-girl continued. "We wanted to travel while time was stopped so you would lose sight of us."

"Definitely. It was a happy incident when I detected you on the island and found you again after crossing the water. If you had increased the distance, I most likely would've lost you. I'm glad you guys approached me first before running away."

"Fen had gotten curious about this powerful being and wanted to take a look."

"You're still too curious for your own good, huh?" Aura looked at the wolf. "Well, it worked out in my favor in the end, so I'm happy."

"But then-" Fen still seemed confused. "If you've lost your memory about me-, this place... Why did you come back? Actually, why do you even remember now?"

"I lived near the demon capital for the last... 100 years? Awesome place, you should totally visit it one day. Anyway, around two years ago, when I was fighting some huge kind of dragon, it landed a good hit on my head, and I suddenly remembered everything..."

"Demon capital?! How cool!" Sophia liked the sound of that.

"I'm happy you remembered."

"Err..." The cat-girl's reaction was a little different. "S-She said dragon just now, right? Huge dragon, that is."

"They're everywhere on the demon continent. Great fun."

"Ehh...? S-Sophia, we're not going there, okay?!"

"Demon capital~." Her eyes were sparkling.

"Nooo!" Maya knew what this meant.

"Well, once my memories were back..."

"You immediately traveled around the entire world to see our Fenny here again?" The tiger-girl was smiling broadly.

"You're a feisty one, huh?"

"I have my moments."

"You have a lot of them." The wolf and cat sighed again.

"So~?" She concentrated on Aura.

"Wouldn't you want to go back to the place you came from after being transported somewhere far away?"

"Not at all." Sophia answered instantly. She actually was in a very similar situation. Still, she had no desire whatsoever to go back to her old world. "I'm not from here either, but all my loved ones are."

"W-Well... I didn't make any meaningful connections in the demon realm, and I got homesick."

"So, Fen wasn't a reason at all?"

"l-, I wouldn't go... that far."

"Sophia." Fen glared at her.

"Yes~?"

"I'm about to get angry."

"I am very sorry!" She didn't sound like it, though.

"Whatever. Okay... I want some more meat. It's okay if I go and hunt some, right?" Rather than that, it seemed like the male wolf needed a break.

"Have fun."

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After Fen was gone, the three girls were left behind and talked some more.

"Ah, he ran away..." Aura noticed his real intention.

"Well, in his defense... It must be a huge shock for him." Maya sympathized with him. "For the last 200 years, he was convinced you died in that accident."

"I guess that's true... Did he... ever mention me?"

"He actually talked about what happened back then just before we met you."

"He also looked really sad while talking about how you died in that accident..."

"I see..." Even though she felt bad, Aura seemed ever so slightly happy.

"So you did come back for him?" Sophia couldn't let go of it.

"It's not... unrelated. Well, it's been a little while since then, I don't know..."

"Interesting." Dealing with this topic as a third person was much easier for the tiger.

"Sophia." Aura looked at her.

"Hmm?"

"You and Fen seem quite close. Are the two of you...?"

"Haha, no way. He's special to me because he's the first friend I made here, but we're just friends!"

"Is that really all there is...?"

"Absolutely! Fen's a cool guy... but he is a guy. Not interested in that. Also, while nice and fluffy, he's way too furry for me. I'm into humanoid girls. Also, most importantly-"

"She's mine!" Maya finished her sentence.

"Y-Yes, that."

"Ohh, so that's how it is." Aura was relieved. "You two look cute together. Good for you."

"T-Thanks..." Sophia's gotten bashful. "So, Fen's free~."

"G-Good to know..."

"Now go after him already!" The cat-girl had something to say, as well. "Any feelings aside, you two were companions, friends, whatever... I bet you have a lot of catching up to do. Without the two of us meddling."

"Thank you, I will." Afterward, Aura turned around and went after the wolf, leaving the couple behind.

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"She sure is cute."

"She is." Maya agreed.

"I wonder what there really was between the two. They definitely had, uhh, have some kind of feelings for each other. Were they a couple before the accident?"

"Hmm... I'm not sure? I would say, almost?"

"Almost?" The tiger-girl tilted her head.

"It feels like they were close to it, but the accident... interrupted whatever was going on between them."

"Ah, yeah... that might be it?" She agreed. "Fight, Aura! Well, if that's what you want, of course."

"Haha."

"Ah, but if the two are... Is Fen going to leave us?"

"How about we ask Aura if she wants to join us?"

"That's a brilliant idea!" Sophia liked the plan. "I would love for the super fluffy yet silky-smooth wolf to travel with us!"

"You only want a new pillow, don't you?"

"l-, I won't... deny that. No, I think I'm going to like her. She seems like a fun person, err, wolf."

"That's true." The cat-girl agreed.

"She lived for 200 years on the demon continent. I bet she has a ton of interesting stories. It sounds like a great place. Really makes me want to visit it."

"Y-You did hear her saying that there are tons of dragons, right?! Dragons!"

"Yeah, great, isn't it?"

"It's not!"

"I think that sounds very exciting!" Sophia's eyes were sparkling again. "Maybe not fighting one, but I definitely would like to see one!"

"I strongly disagree, though!"

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While the two were bickering about various things, Aura arrived near Fen's position but hesitated to approach him. She thought about what to say for a while but came to no conclusion. Giving up on it, she then simply greeted him.

"Hey there..."

"Aura..."

"How are you feeling?"

"Confused... Overwhelmed... I was sure you're dead. But... just as quick as you disappeared, you suddenly popped up again."

"I'm really sorry about that..."

"No, I'm just glad you're okay."

"Thanks."

"Can you tell me what happened in those 200 years? Besides what you said earlier already."

"Of course."

The two then sat down and talked about these last 200 years and what happened when they were apart from each other.