Chapter 106/107: A Black Cat

Chapter 106/107: A Black Cat

Mid Morning - Late Spring : HomeFiind updated novels at novelhall.com

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“Uwahhh...” *crackle* I let out a long, refreshing yawn as I woke up and broke apart the ice that crystallized over my body while I slept. -Wow, what a comfortable temperature...-

It had been a few days since I returned from Kaelallan at that point, but a majority of that time was spent sleeping in the cave alongside Mother since, not long after I showed her my aura, her sleepiness caught up to her. -She looks like she’s sleeping soundly though...-

Slowly standing up, I quietly stretched and glanced at Ilios, who laid next to me. “Hey, Ilios.” I made sure to keep my voice as hushed as possible. “Stay here and guard them while I go get some breakfast for us, alright?”

He gave a lethargic nod as he repositioned himself and closed his eyes again.

It was really adorable, but I kept myself from bothering him more and made my way outside.

*clunk-fwooosh* A wave of warm air blasted across my body as I hastily got through the door and closed it once again. “Haah...”

It was the middle of the morning, with clear skies and a steady, warm breeze blowing through the field outside the cave. -What a beautiful day...-

Then, after taking a moment to finally shake off my lingering drowsiness, I spread my wings and took to the skies. -Let's see if I can find a bison for Ilios and I...-

But the next several minutes were simply spent looking.

*fwoosh* *fwoosh* *fwoosh* It was a calm day, with a slow, steady breeze and clear skies, but oddly enough, there was still a low fog covering the ground in the forest.

This sight was nothing too unusual for that time of the season, but it meant that my job of finding a bison would get a little troublesome. -Hopefully, the fog makes them more confident to come out into some of the clearings...-

Quickly heading to the fields routinely known to have bison or deer grazing in them, I dove toward the ground and flapped my wings just above the top of the fog. *FWOOOSH*

The fog in the clearing got blasted away as if there was an explosion, immediately revealing a few deer grazing along the treeline and a huge bison in the middle.

My mouth started to water immediately.

*Thump* Promptly landing next to it, I nudged it with my wing and tipped it over.

*snort* It tried to kick me as it went to stand back up and run off, but it was too late. *Shink*

With a quick slash of a claw and a bit of help from earth magic, I went to cut through the bison's spinal cord but instead cut off its entire head. *Thud*

My eyes went wide as its headless body fell limply to the ground. -W..what...-

“Yeah, she looked like she was sleeping really well when I woke up...” Idly shaving the last bit of the bison, I thought back to the night we got home. “She was really tired when we got here, so I hope she can get some good sleep.”

Father’s expression slowly turned a bit guilty. “Y..yeah... She’s still.. paranoid after what happened with Fengari... She didn’t let herself sleep much at all while we were gone...”

“...” I could only stare at Father blankly for a moment as I paused what I was doing. -So.. she didn’t actually get over losing him...-

“She’s just scared to lose you or Krystallo as well, and.. well.. my attempt to reassure her sort of backfired...”

-Ah.. that’s why she was upset with him...- Not wanting the conversation to get any darker, I tried to give some advice. “Well, maybe you can treat her to something nice and get back on her good side when she wakes up.” -I should probably do the same...-

“R..right. Sorry for getting all gloomy.” Trying to quickly change the subject, he put on a forced smile and stood up. “Do you mind if I go get a bison myself so we can eat together?”

It was an odd request, but it was nice to hear. “Sure! I can help you clean it when you get back.”

His smile slowly warmed up as I spoke. “A..alright! I won't be too long!” Finally mustering some enthusiasm, his smile turned genuine, and he took to the skies.

-I wonder what we’ll talk about...- But as I looked forward to having some Father-Son time, I looked back at the bison sitting on the metal spike and noticed it looked a bit pale. -Ah hell, did I bleed it too much?-

Quickly making a pan at the bottom of the spike, I tried my best to save what I could before eventually accepting fate. -I guess I'll have to take some of the blood from Father’s bison and just use it like a dipping sauce...-

Finally finishing up the shaving and skinning of the bison, I reached down and cut off a decent-sized chunk and brought it to the cave.

*clunk-fwoosh* As the warm air around me rushed into the cave, I poked my head in and set down the chunk of meat, motioning to Ilios as I did.

*tap-tap-tap-tap* Seeing him quietly trot over and pick it up, I lightly patted his head and closed the door again to keep the temperature from changing much. *clunk*

“Haah...” I let out a breath of relief as I gently repositioned the 'lock'. -It's good to see Mother is still sleeping well...- Walking back out into the field, I took a moment to enjoy the warmth of the sun.

But that was when I suddenly felt the edge of an unusual aura. -What the...-

Immediately looking toward it, I met eyes with a small black, panther-like creature no bigger than a large house cat.

But unlike its feeble-looking body, it had a massive aura, easily comparable to an A or B-rank monster. -It’s controlled too...- Something about the cat gave me an odd feeling, but I simply couldn’t recognize what the feeling was. -Was it.. drawn by the smell?-

But the instant I even questioned it being anything other than a monster, it darted into the forest, and I lost sight of it.

-Why did its eyes feel so.. human...-