Chapter 60: Today's Special

Mira, Titus, and I walk through the lush flatlands until nightfall.

“Mira – are we going to make camp?” I ask, but she doesn’t turn to reply.

“Mmm, it’s that or walk in the dark for a while,” she answers, then looks down at Titus, “can you keep watch for us?” she asks, and I swear the leopard nods.

I look around, but the vegetation is grassy, and there aren’t any trees with which to make a structure. I really miss sleeping in the portable house, but Jen was right that I need to be careful with stuff like that.

“I’ll dig us a little camp,” I say and start pouring my magic into the earth. I compress a 3x3 meter area down to a depth of one meter, then create a trench in the middle that goes another half meter. I pull blankets and food from storage and start laying them over the two bed areas. Titus jumps onto the first animal hide I put down and rolls onto his back across from me.

“Is it cozy, little buddy?” I ask, and Titus yawns.

“You always keep things in storage?” Mira asks from behind me.

“I had a bag when I was traveling with others, but they became monster food.. and I melted the bag when I killed the dragon,” I reply while forming a little firepit in the trench I just made. I fill it with wood pellets from storage and light it.

There’s silence for a moment while I take out pans and steaks. But Titus breaks this with a grumble when his nose catches on to what I’m doing.

“Do you feed him raw meat?” I ask while smiling at the floof.

“Titus hunts for himself a lot, but he’d eat anything you offered.. he likes you,” Mira replies with a pout. I take a paddle horn steak and toss it straight into Titus’s mouth. He chews twice, then swallows it whole and moves next to me. He purrs, then places his head in my lap.

“He’s a cute little guy,” I say, and start scratching his head. Mira sighs and moves to the bed area Titus just left.

“He’s supposed to keep watch,” she says with a scowl.

“I’m sorry, but he’s now my sous chef – I’ll keep watch with magic until after we eat,” I say, causing Mira to lift her eyebrows.

“If you’re not with the human church, then how did you learn such advanced magic?” she asks.

“I’ve just played around with magic ever since I was a kid,” I answer with a shrug, but she doesn’t seem convinced.

“You need to have a lot of magic to keep watch, and you also keep storage activated,” Mira says seriously, “you were just born with that much magic?” she asks.

“Not exactly..” I reply.

She wasn’t willing to talk much on the walk here; maybe an exchange of information will loosen her lips.

“How about this – I’ll explain my magic if you explain this bonded situation between you and Titus,” I propose while motioning between the two. Mira scowls at me for a second before nodding.

“I noticed magic when I was young, and the latent energy that’s in the air,” I say while placing steaks and potatoes into sizzling pans, “I started running it through my body every night before bed, until I totally exhausted my supply, and within a few years, the amount of magic coming from my body exploded.”

I look up from the food, and Mira’s jaw hangs open.

“You made a core..” she mutters, “but where did you focus it?” she asks loudly.

“Focus it?” I ask and tilt my head to think, “Nowhere really, I did it to my entire body.”

“You what?!” Mira yells.

“Why are we yelling??” I ask with a grimace, “I didn’t know what I was doing, I was a baby.”

“A baby – wait, how old were you exactly when you started?” Mira asks with a suspicious expression.

“I think around two weeks old,” I answer with a hand to my chin. I thought I was in hell for a little bit, so I didn’t start right away.

“Two- what?! Babies aren’t aware enough to do something like that!” Mira yelps, and I shrug.

“Yea.. I must just be lucky then,” I reply awkwardly. The whole second life thing probably shouldn’t be shared.

Mira’s shocked expression turns to a grimace, then to something sadder.

“Your whole body.. you don’t know how dangerous that was,” she says.

“When I got a little older and read that magic can make things explode, I realized that, but my control is pretty good,” I say, “anyway, that’s my end of the bargain, it’s your turn.”

Mira sighs, then looks at Titus lovingly.

“Magical beasts normally die when they exhaust their supply of magic,” she says, “but if they accept magic from someone or something else at the moment they run out, they form a bond with whoever or whatever supplied that magic.”

“Wait, so if I made the dragon from before run out of magic, I could’ve made it my pet?” I ask excitedly, but Mira shakes her head.

“The creature has to accept the magic, or have their magic core removed forcefully,” she answers, “but there’s no way to know where a beast’s magic core is, so most bonds are formed when creatures are young.”

“What exactly is a magic core?” I ask curiously, but Mira sighs.

“If I get into that, you’ll have one hundred more questions,” Mira says, “wait until we get to the village, smarter people will answer your questions.”

I got some information, but it’s hard not to frown.

“Will you tell me about how you bonded with Titus then?” I ask and start running my hand over his fluffy coat.

“Some of us were clearing monsters that got too close to our village, Titus’s pack was among them,” Mira says while watching me pet Titus, “when the fighting was over, I noticed a single cub lying on the ground, completely exhausted, and surrounded him with my magic. He accepted it and has been by my side ever since.”

“Is it a problem that he’s absorbing some of my magic?” I ask.

“No, the bond only forms when a beast has exhausted their own supply. There’s more that goes into it, but it’s not that important,” Mira says.

I pull the food from the flames and make the three of us plates. Mira doesn’t make a single food noise, but Titus makes up for it. He purrs and curls up in my lap for a nap until Mira and I go to bed, then he takes watch.

***

The next morning, we walk up the mountain face in the south. The wind is chilling, but our pace lets us reach the summit by midday. I expected a range of mountains past the first, but it’s exactly the opposite. The mountain range looks like it's been hollowed out. Hundreds of meters below us are farmlands and a sprawling village built around mammoth trees.

“Fuck.. the line’s down,” Mira groans.

“What line?” I ask and look all around.

“There’s normally a cable here that lets us zip down to the village, but there must’ve been bad weather..” she answers and puts her hands on her hips, “we’ll just have to climb down.”

I peek down over the edge. The cliff has jagged parts all over, and it’s a further drop than the one I jumped down with Spike.

“Can you condense magic and use it to move your body?” I ask.

“It would explode..” Mira answers with a sigh, “Don’t tell me you try to do that..” she says while palming her forehead.

I make a little platform of condensed magic in front of us and step onto it. Titus follows, and Mira looks at me like I’m the devil.

“That’s not safe! Titus, come!” she yells. Titus follows her command, but I’d like to think he did it begrudgingly.

“I get around like this all the time, and the only other person I know with fluffy ears learned to do this in a day,” I protest.

“And what happens if there’s a spike in magic instability?!” Mira shouts.

“And what the fuck is that??” I shout back.

“UGH, how do you not know anything!” she shouts again.

“Fine! How about I use wind?” I ask and create a gust of wind that lifts me off my feet.

“Wha- how many elements can you use?” she asks with a shocked expression, then puffs up her cheeks, “And why didn’t you offer to fly us here!”

Her tail is whipping around erratically, and her ears are pointed straight back. She’s an angry cat.

“You’re a random animal girl with a monster as a pet that I met on a continent that’s not supposed to have any people on it – sue me for being cautious,” I reply, exasperated.

“I’m not an animal girl! I am a proud Terran!” Mira yells.

“I don’t even know what the fuck that is!” I shout, then close my eyes, “Can we just go?” I ask.

Mira’s face is nearing the color of her orange hair from frustration, but she nods.

“I’ll carry Titus, you can hold onto my back,” I say while crouching next to Titus.

“Tch.. beast lover..” she mutters as I pick up Titus and cradle him like a baby.

“Uh oh, Titus, your mom is jealous..” I say as Titus starts to purr.

“Am not!” she shouts and jumps onto my back, “Grr, just make this quick.”

I leap from the cliff and feel Mira tighten her hold around me, but Titus looks content as ever. We descend at the edge of the farmland, but the scene is.. odd.

People with various animal traits are working in the fields alongside monsters. A missile lizard is darting around and eating every bug that comes near the plants, and a piecer is pulling a cart like a horse. My head swings from side to side as we walk a path between the fields, and I see beasts that I haven’t encountered before.

The density of Terrans increases as we near the village, and the looks I’m getting aren’t the best. Waves come to Mira, but everyone seems to freeze when they see me behind her.

“Mira.. I’m getting the sense that I shouldn’t be here..” I whisper.

“You’re the first human to come here in anyone’s lifetime,” she replies, “but it’ll be fine.. probably..”

At the edge of the village, we’re stopped by a young man and woman wielding spears and wearing light armor. They’re both platinum blonde and have matching cat ears – they actually look like siblings.

“Mira – what is that?” the man asks and gestures to me with his spear.

“He goes by Sio, and I don’t recommend picking a fight with him,” Mira answers calmly.

“Is Sio human?” he asks seriously, and the girl next to him grimaces.

“He is, and I’ve brought him here to meet with our elders,” Mira says.

Terrans start forming a circle around us, each brandishing some sort of weapon.

“Mira, come, it’s clear you were coerced,” the woman in front says, but Mira shakes her head.

“I wasn’t, and he’s pretty friendly so long as you don’t attack him,” Mira says, then pans her head around and settles her eyes on me, “please don’t kill anyone,” she whispers.

I crouch down and start petting Titus. He flops over and shows me his belly.

“I’m quite friendly, but anyone who attacks me loses the hand brandishing their weapon,” I say and release a dense wave of magic. Titus purrs and absorbs some, but the circle around me shudders.

“Mira, what the fuck did you bring here?!” the man shouts, but Mira just palms her head.

“Sio, I didn’t mean you should scare them even more..” she says.

“You calmed down after I released magic in front of you. I figured it would work the same way here,” I say while standing up and looking around, but everyone still looks like they want to fight, “I killed a dragon yesterday, you-“

“Sio no!” Mira shouts and interrupts me.

“Dragon..” the man and woman interrogating us repeat the words, then fury explodes from each. They release powerful waves of magic, prompting the other Terrans to do the same.

“KILL HIM!” someone behind me shouts.

The Terrans create ice spears overhead and charge from every direction. I pick up Titus by the nape and Mira by her arm and toss them over everyone’s heads into the fields behind us. The man who shouted and two others are approaching behind me with swords. The interrogators from the front with spears, and one on each side with axes.

This first impression has gone tits up, but I’m a man of my word.

I pull my small, curved butchering knife from storage and place a layer of condensed magic just above my skin. I create balls of light overhead and match each of them to a falling ice spear, then turn and face the swords coming for my ass. The first sword is swinging at my left side horizontally. I duck and place my short knife in the path of my attacker’s wrist. It cleaves off, letting the sword and detached hand fly to my right.

The other two sword wielders are swinging down from overhead. I lift my right leg and kick the flying sword, redirecting it into the wrists of the men aiming to cleave me in two. Their charge continues forward, but their hands and swords float in the air above them.

The spears near my back and the axes at my sides are soon to follow them. But the bloodlust in the air is really pissing me off.

The axe wielders are both teen girls who are holding their weapons low and to their right sides. I make earth pedestals shoot from the ground under their weapons that mangle their hands, and knock their axes into the air.

I turn to face the spears, and they’re both aimed at my heart. I drop the curved blade from my hand and let it fall back into storage, then step into the spear thrusts. I grab one in each hand just past their blades and hold them tight.

“You two will be getting the worst of it.” I spit those words at the siblings, but their fury still hasn’t turned into fear. Ice shoots from my hands and covers their weapons, then their hands. I add layers of ice over the spears and their hands, then rip the spears towards me. They come with little resistance as the siblings' hands separate at their wrists.

“SIO!” Mira calls from behind me. I start to turn, then sense powerful magic in the sky over the village. A middle-aged man with pointy ears flies over with wind magic and stops in front of me. He’s glowing the way Victoria does.

He scans the area. Three swordsman leak blood from their stumps behind me. Two girls are holding their smashed hands and crying to my sides, and the siblings in front have frozen stumps where their hands were.

This isn’t going so well, but I’m committed to the bit at this point.

“I normally behead the people who try to kill me, but today’s special, I’ll just take your hands if you try anything,” I say, but the man doesn’t flinch.

“Elder! Elder, please listen!” Mira shouts and jumps in front of me, “I brought Sio here to meet with you. Michael and the others attacked unprovoked!”

Titus walks up and rubs against me. I can’t help myself from crouching down to pet him.

“Who’s the fluffiest little guy..” I baby-talk to Titus, “Sorry about throwing you, little buddy.”

“SIO!” Mira yells, “Apologize!”

I turn my head up, but disgust is covering my face.

“For what? Only hurting the people who tried to kill me?” I ask, “You’re lucky I haven’t burned this place to the fucking ground..” I murmur and resume petting Titus.

“AH, Sio, please..” Mira pleads.

“I’m not apologizing,” I say adamantly, “but if everyone apologizes for attacking me, I’ll heal their hands.”

This finally catches the older man’s attention.

“You can heal a hand that’s been detached?” he asks seriously, and I nod. “Everyone is to apologize,” he says in a booming voice. I think he amplified it with wind magic.

“ARGH, Elder!” Michael shouts from the ground, “He’s the one who killed Lady Priscilla’s bonded!” But the elder just sighs.

“And in your infinite wisdom, you drew his ire upon the entire village..” the man says, making Michael gulp hard. “If you wish to be treated, then apologize. Mira, bring him when you’re finished here,” he says and lifts into the sky with more wind magic.

The swordsmen behind are at the greatest risk of death since they’ve lost so much blood. I turn and walk over to them.

“Apologize,” I say.

“”We’re sorry,”” they reply in unison, and I crouch down next to them. One by one, I weave my magic into the air and direct it into their stumps. Hands grow back layer by layer, and I feel Mira’s presence over my shoulder.

“You’re making whole new ones..” she murmurs.

I stand and turn around, the axe girls have puffy red eyes and are kneeling down in front of me.

“We’re.. hik.. very sorry..” the first one says.

“I’m.. sorry..” the second pants.

“This is going to hurt.. a lot..” I say as I crouch down to them. I condense magic and start realigning their shattered bones.

“AHHHG.. HAAA..”

“UURGHHHH HAHH..”

The girls groan as their bones move and then re-fuse. Finally, I stand and walk over to Michael and his sister. I stand before them silently and cross my arms. I kinda hope they don’t apologize.

Michael looks up at me with hatred burning in the back of his eyes. His sister has tears slowly running down her face as she looks between Michael and me. But neither of them says anything.

“Alright, Mira, we’re done here,” I say and look to her. Mira frowns at me and hangs her head, then starts leading me further into the village.