Chapter 59: Titus

I let magic pour from my body and fill the air around me. The ground at my feet rumbles, and the crater’s surface cracks and splits. Magic reaches the outer edge of the crater, and I direct more of it into the air until I’m at the bottom center of a glowing column that feels like a nuclear reactor in meltdown.

I take a breath in, and it feels thick like smoke, but it doesn’t hurt my lungs. It feels invigorating. My vision sharpens, and my heart leaps. Colors saturate, then my whole body vibrates. I collapse the magic around me into an impenetrable, thick shell and hold my breath. My magic spins and swirls all around. It’s held so densely in the air that it takes significant effort to stop it from spilling further away from me. But I hold it tight.

I light the crater's surface with a dark red flame. It doesn’t flicker; it just glows as the magic above it smashes the flames into the ground. I run electricity over its surface, creating golden arcs that fight their way into the air, then I activate wind magic. Gusts of wind burst forth. The flames and lightning feed off it and rise into the sky. The world around me turns into a violent mix of orange flames and golden lightning. As the chaos climbs into the sky, it feeds on more wind and changes.

My surroundings turn bluer than the ocean, then purple lightning gouges the ground. The shell around me starts to glow redder from the heat, and arcs of electricity shoot down to me like I’m the center of tesla coil. I look up, but can’t see the end of my creation. Streaks of purple lightning and swirls of blue flame extend into the sky. The clouds above are swallowed as my magic climbs towards the heavens, but my feet start to cool.

My shell stops glowing, and I’m able to see the ground below. It’s red like lava with deep gashes from the lightning, but there are no remains of Spike or the dragons. I look up and see my magic fanning out into the sky before going so far that I can’t keep track of it.

I might’ve just punched a hole in the ozone layer.. whatever, it’ll heal.

I fly up above the crater and scan my surroundings. The land at this latitude is lush and green, but the mountains to the south are snowy. From what Spike said, the church hasn’t made it much further south than this, so I wonder what’s there. But I told myself I’d leave the exploration for the summer..

I’ll compromise and spend a night staked out near the crater. Monsters seem to like magic, so I bet the show I put on will draw some attention. I’d also like to see a few more creatures before I head back to the academy.

I fly down to the ground one hundred meters from the crater and make a hole in the ground to hide in. I meld and mold the dirt to the contours of my body until the hole feels like a reclining chair.

“Yawwwwnnnn..” I guess my sleep last night was interrupted, and I did throw some godly magic around just now. I’ll nap until something shows up for a fight.

***
“Mmrrrrg..”

Is that purring? I haven’t heard that since my last life. I had a cat named Luna, she was the anti-Christ, but she was also a love.

Wait – why do I feel so warm?

My eyes snap open as I notice the weight of something significant on top of me. It’s a cat. A really big cat. Maybe a snow leopard? It’s fluffy with a greyish coat and black spots. And its belly is sorta tan. I know it’s a murder cat, but it's sprawled over me with its belly in the air. I have to pet it.

I reach down and rub my hand over the creature's chest. It stretches a bit and reaches to the sky with its paws, then purrs louder.

“Oho, you’re a friendly little guy..” I say and start rubbing its belly in earnest. Its eyes are closed, and its purrs continue grumbling forth.

“Lotta magic you have for a big cat.. if you’re a monster, you’re a pretty friendly one,” I say and continue petting.

“I’ll call you spot – I wonder if the academy would let me keep a cat? Especially one this big,” I think out loud, but am interrupted by something outside. Something’s running towards me from the south, something with a lot of magic. My new magic detection struggles with exact shapes, but I think it’s human.

I lift my head from my hidey-hole and look south.

“TITUSSSSS! WHERE ARE YOU?” I hear a girl yelling and look down at my fluffy friend.

“Is your real name Titus?” I ask, and the animal’s eyes open. It stops purring and looks up at me.

Balls. Is it going to attack?

It stands up and jumps out of the hole, then lies down again. A cat is a cat after all.

I jump out of the hole as well and stand next to it.

“Over here!” I yell and wave towards the girl. She stops, and I see a wave of magic come off of her.

Is she scanning the way I do?

She resumes her approach when I see it. She has the same color of fluffy ears and tail that Titus has. My jaw is stuck open as she runs up to me.

“Titus, come!” she commands, and the leopard listens. He leaves my side and flops onto his back at her feet, making the girl click her teeth.

“Titus is pretty friendly,” I say with a warm smile, but the girl looks uneasy. She’s maybe 20 years old and wearing a leopard print tube top and matching tight pants over medium curves. She has bright orange hair tied up into two buns and golden eyes. But I can’t help staring at her fluffy ears.

“You look human..” she mumbles and tosses a knife from behind her back at my face.

I catch it between my fingers and squint my eyes at her.

“I’d normally kill someone for trying something like that..” I mumble and drop the knife to the ground beside me, “but for Titus, I’ll give you a chance to apologize.”

The girl’s eyes widen, and her hands freeze with a knife in each of them.

“No?” I ask, “I guess I’ll kill you and take Titus with me,” I say, then crouch down to look at the fluff, “what do you think, little buddy? I have lots of meat.”

Titus looks up at me and purrs, making a smile break out on my face. Hopefully, she’ll crack and put the bloodlust away. I could use some more info on the church, and from the looks of it, she’s been experimented on.

I unsheathe the sword at my hip and stand up slowly.

“Stop! If I die, so will Titus!” she yells and throws her hands out in front of her.

“Huh? How would your dying hurt the fluff ball?” I ask, genuinely confused.

“He’s bonded to me.. but, you should know that..” she says and tilts her head, “you are human, aren’t you?” she asks.

“I am, just like you,” I reply matter-of-factly.

“Aha, right..” she mutters and sharpens her gaze at me, “what are you doing here?” she asks, and I hum.

“Hmm, sort of an investigation? And I wanted to fight monsters too – I had a run-in with a dragon - that was pretty cool,” I reply, and the girl’s face tightens.

“You fought her? And you’re alive?” the girl asks in disbelief, then turns to look at the crater and the destroyed ground all around it. She takes off towards it. Titus follows, and I run at his side.

We reach the rim of the crater and stop.

“She’s..” the girl mumbles and turns to me. She looks panicked, and sweat rolls down her forehead. “You.. what are you..” she mumbles and backs away from me.

“Oh.. did you want to be the one to fight the dragon?” I ask. Maybe I kill stole.

“You.. you’re hiding it,” the girl spits, “quit suppressing your magic and show me what you really are.”

“Oh, um, it’d probably send you flying if I did it this close. But I can throw some around,” I reply, and release a dense wave of magic. Titus rubs up against me, and I notice he’s absorbing some of the magic that comes off of me.

“Whoa, so the little guy absorbs magic. That’s pretty cool,” I say, then look back up at the girl. Her face is crumpled in shock, her eyes look painfully wide, and they’re bloodshot. She stumbles backwards onto her butt and starts crawling away. I scatter the magic I released and tilt my head at her.

“Do you not like magic?” I ask.

“H-how.. no ears.. but so much magic,” she mutters to herself.

I walk up to her and crouch. Her body is trembling.

“Listen, if you’re sorry about throwing the knife at me, then I won’t hurt you,” I say calmly, and the girl nods aggressively.

“Y-yes, I’m sorry,” she stutters, but continues looking at me with horror.

“Cool, I’m guessing you were abducted for church experiments – do they have a base around here?” I ask, “I’d like to get some information and blow it up.”

But the girl’s expression moves from terrified to puzzled.

“The human church.. you aren’t part of it?” she asks, making me frown.

“I’m not,” I reply curtly, “I’m helping someone like you get revenge on the church.. so if you can point me in the right direction..”

The girl jumps to her feet.

“I, um, I’m sorry,” she says with her head down.

“Water under the bridge, but if we could get to the part about where the church base is..” I reply, but the girl is just smiling at me now.

“You should come to the village; they’ll be a little upset about the dragon, but they’ll want to meet you,” she says.

“Village?” I ask suspiciously

I’m confused.

“There are a lot of people with fluffy ears there..” she says while bringing her hand up and caressing one of hers.

Balls. She noticed me staring.

“Ahem – I could accompany you.. but I don’t understand how there’s a village on the monster continent.. unless it’s a big church experimentation facility..” I mumble and ponder, but the girl shakes her head.

“My village has nothing to do with the human church,” she says adamantly, “and my name is Mira, what’s yours?” she asks.

“It’s Sio,” I answer, “but I’m really confused. I thought the only people who came here were from the church. And I thought fluffy ears and tails were results of church experiments..”

“Experiments, huh..” Mira mutters to herself with a hand at her chin, then focuses on me, “We can chat once we get there. Follow me, please,” she says.

A village of people with animal traits that isn’t related to the church – maybe Victoria has some long lost cousins?