Chapter 126

The Family Pet

Whoosh!

“What the heck is that?” Gwen asks, as the spell construct, she was working on just fizzles out entirely from lack of concentration.

One second nothing is around us, and I am sharing more spell formulas, insights into both Spell Theory, and Magical Theory alike with Gwen. Then the next second the stray dog that I’ve been feeding, well he’s been feeding himself; I just make sure he eats healthily comes.

“Oh, that’s Kujo.” I say, somewhat excitedly.

Kujo of course is likely the first friend I made out here in the boonies. See at first, I needed help trying to get more cleansed animals and Kujo was a perfect helper in that. He would occasionally come by with a caught Blighted creature that I would cure and create a perfect clone of. Then he would take away the original, while we allowed the newly created copy to roam around on our cleansed lands.

Now that we have a deluge of cured animals on our lands, the need for this process is not as needed. But it is still good to know that Kujo is doing well.

“You, you named that thing Kujo?” Gwen asked, suddenly stunned, and backing away from the beast, inadvertently putting me in the way of her and it.

The dog is huge, well he started off large, but is only getting bigger and bigger. Though I am short, as my body is still growing, I can’t help but have a hard time looking up to the creature. Fortunately, we do have a pact of sorts.

It comes in through the Spirit realm, or a realm that seems to mirror the Spirit realm, before sneaking into the middle of our base and visiting me.

Growl.

At the sight of Gwen backing away, the killer instincts in the creature come to life, causing him to growl. Not because he is angry, but because he understands the thrill of the hunt.

“Stop moving.” I say, then reaching behind me, I grab Gwen by the arm and hold.

Gwen of course, tries to pull away, but soon finds that my Strength that is finally over 300 is not just for show.

“Wha?” Is all she gets to, before she focuses back on me and not on the massive creature that has now invaded our space with a giant cow? In its mouth.

“Stop that, you are making him anxious.” I say, pulsing a bit of Healing magic into Gwen to get her to focus on something other than the instinct to run. The spell I cast does little other than release calming emotions, while breaking up the adrenaline that was just pumped into her body.

“Making him anxious?” Gwen snaps at me.

“Yeah, can’t you see, he’s just a poor puppy.” I say, then letting go of Gwen’s wrist, I walk forward.

Plop.

The giant cow-like creature that was in Kujo’s mouth drops, and causes the ground around us to vibrate.

“Good boy,” I say, going up to the disabled creature. “Gwenny, come up here and Cure this creature.”

“What?” Gwen asks, a note of fear in her voice.

“Come up hear and cure this creature of the Blight.” I say again calmly, as I begin getting myself between the wolf, and its prey that it captured for us.

“Cure that?” Gwen asks, and points towards the cow, well a cow in the sense that it has four legs and what appear to be utters but they seem to be mana infused utters to feed some type of mana beast. It is certainly odd, and likely a creature I would have loved to investigate directly, but right now I am doing an introduction.

This is that odd moment where you try to introduce the stray pet that you have been feeding and tending to for the better part of the last few months, to the family. Always awkward, especially when your daughter, the one you thought liked dogs would be thrilled by the discovery.

In the background, I can see a bunch of people running and moving about. Warriors and snipers are already being called into position around us, but I hope that my actions will make it so nothing stupid happens.

Realizing that Gwen’s training as an Ethereal Healer is taking over, and she is moving to begin curing the creature of the Blight, I start on Kujo.

“Look at you.” I say happily to the dog, and he seems to sit up a little straighter as if preening from the compliment. That’s when I go up to him and place my hand on his front leg. I am just reaching straight out, and I end up reaching halfway up his forearm.

Healing Cleansing Supplement.

For Kujo I use a mixture of Healing, Spirit, and Nature Magic to heal his body, cleanse him from any signs of the Blight, and to help make sure he is healthy and getting the supplements and minerals that his body needs.

Then with the spell flowing freely through his body, I begin petting him.

“So have you been good?” I ask.

“What?” Gwen asks, sounding distracted and stopping the flow of mana into her Cleansing spell.

“Not you, Kujo. You need to focus on your casting anyways.” I state, while turning my head back to face Gwen.

Huff.

Gwen just does that thing where she breathes out annoyedly at me and then continues her spell.

“Kids.” I say, then turn back to Kujo who seems to understand me and lets out a slight muzzle shake. I’ve noticed that he has gotten smarter recently. That or maybe I am just noticing more of his personality coming about.

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Then I remember the growl he had earlier for Gwen.

“Oh, yes. I should introduce you. Kujo, this is Gwen, Gwen this is Kujo.” I say to the two. Gwen just keeps her head down but does raise up one hand over the top of the mana cow she is healing to wave.

“Gwen is my pack, so I will be very annoyed if anything happens to her.” I state, letting a serious tone come to my voice, as I then point to Gwen.

Kujo nods.

I’m not quite sure he fully understands, but by now he has smelled the two of us and can clearly realize that we are both part of the same magical lineage, at least that is what I hope.

“Oh, and that lurker in the corner over there is Mallory. She is my boss?” I state, while pointing out Mallory, who was also hiding off in the distance.

Hearing me call her out though, she emerges from behind the tree that she had been using for cover. I say tree, as I am pretty sure it is just a giant bush that has grown to be as tall as a tree, but I might have gone a little overboard with the nourishing rains to it, causing it to grow disproportionally.

Mallory looks clearly flustered. Well, maybe I am one of the few who can see that she is in fact flustered, having spent so much time with her. But she is walking with forced, but measured movements, and all her actions seem like she is tense and ready for a fight.

“So, this is the legendary Kujo that I’ve heard so much about?” Mallory asks, getting next to me. Her body is ramrod straight as if she is trying to look taller, but even at her full height Kujo more than doubles her size.

“Calm down.” I say, tapping Mallory on the arm. I am at that awkward height where I must be careful where I end up touching Mallory.

Soothing Cleanse.

“Did you just do the magical equivalent of a roofie to me?” Mallory asks.

I want to argue, but then realize, “maybe? Though this has nothing to do with raising endorphins.” I clarify.

“I know, just a little humor to liven the mood.” Mallory offers, a bit of nervous energy fills her words at first, but that soon fades as the moment takes her.

“No, I think we want the mood to remain nice and calm.” Gwen calls out from her hiding spot behind the giant bovine creature she is cleansing.

“I agree, maybe next time. But for now, let’s just let Kujo get used to you all. Though I am sure he has smelled you all on me by now.” I state.

All the while I am watching how Gwen is doing with her spell. Finally, after a long time Gwen does manage to completely cure the Blighted creature.

With that, I go into the next phase of the operation. Her normal glow, which is normally bright and warm like a mini sun is now dim and fading like embers. Seeing that, I know that Gwen is exhausted, having used up all of her magical reserves from that one cleansing.

With that, I begin casting the Perfect Replica of this cow.

Though I make sure to make a younger and thereby smaller version of the creature. Normally I would say that we have enough exotic animals, but this magical mana cow seems to be unique and one that we should at the very least test.

Within moments a smaller child-like version of the cow appears. The horns on its head are not as pronounced, though I think a male version would have horns regardless of age. The female’s seem to be a genetic response to birthing children and needing to protect said children from danger.

“Interesting.” I say, realizing that trait, but I am not done as I see that these creatures have an abnormally large mana core to begin with, one that they seem to cultivate from birth to give the mana they cultivate an essence. “Mana cows?” I find myself muttering, as I create not just one but four different versions of this cow.

I end up creating a Life, Nature, Light, and Spirit Magic versions of the cow. Though these are minor in comparison to the original, I can’t help but feel that I have taken advantage of this exchange. Seeing that this was a better random exchange than I had expected, I decided to reward Kujo for his find.

With that, I create a second large, but disabled version of the cleansed cow.

“These two are yours.” I say, pointing to the larger two.

“Gwen, Mallory, will you escort our herd to a special pen?” I ask.

The two looked confused at first, as herding mana beasts was not likely what they thought they would be doing when they first woke up today, but the day was just starting. Of course, Mallory was the first to recover.

“Yeah, we can do that.” She said, first trying to push two of the cows, but then just reaching under and grabbing the creatures that were the size of large pigs.

Gwen looked first towards Mallory and then at the two mana cows she had, before a look of shock filled her face. Then finally she decided to lure the creatures with Spirit and Life magic. That seemed to do the trick, as the creatures were instantly drawn to sources of their own mana.

With them gone it was just Kujo and me.

“You can bring her out.” I said, pointing to where his mate had been resting within the Spirit realm nearby. I used to have to cast a spell to do this, but ever since I gained the two Tiers to my Angel’s Sight, I have found that I am able to see into the nearby realms. Or rather, I have been able to see when other creatures enter the nearby realms.

Arooo!

Kujo lets out a piercing banshee wail that can easily cross through the veil of the mortal realm to the spirit realm. Seeing that, I realize that the frequency used to traverse sounds across realms like that is very unique, but most importantly it can be repeated.

In my mind I am mentally going over how to do this to my own voice, when the silent stalker that has been watching over this whole transaction comes to our realm.

Whoosh.

Kujo’s female partner has gotten larger as well.

“Look at you.” I say, going over to her and instantly Healing her as well. At first the female wolf looks shocked that I would act so openly towards her, but she soon relaxes seeing that it is me.

“How have you been?” I ask, remembering how Kujo brought her here for me to heal within the first few weeks of being here.

Chuff.

The female lets out an indignant huff, almost as if trying to say that she doesn’t need the attention. But I can tell she is hurting.

“You need to stop using your right paw for everything.” I say, pointing towards her right paw that clearly has more wear and tear on it at the joints. “Right now, you can likely overpower most monsters, which makes you complicit in this, but eventually someone is going to be able to get past that. Or worse, they might be able to injure your dominant paw, and then what?”

Chuff, snuffle.

At that the female wolf lowers her head and nuzzles her giant wet nose against my head.

“Yeah, you can always come here to be healed, but what happens when you can’t make it? Kind of hard to run away with only three paws.” I say, thoroughly flooding her body with my magic, making sure that she is fine.

I pause as there is a slight drop in her vitamin levels, in particular her potassium levels. I try to realize why, when…

“Oh my gosh, you are pregnant?” I blurt out, not even realizing I am doing that talking out loud thing.

Roo?

Both animals seem to be confused by the statement, but then I turn to Kujo and say, “congratulations!”

There is a moment of awkward tension as both wolves search each other’s gazes.

“Uh-oh.” I whisper, as I quickly do a paternity test on the little pups. They are small, likely within the first few days of inception, but now that I know what to look for, they are easy to find.

Life Detection Pulse.

There is a pulse of Life magic and soon my concern about a random father are dismissed, as I am certain that this is in fact Kujo’s litter.

“Don’t look at her like that, this is your pack.” I state, turning on Kujo.

Kujo looks shocked at first, and looks like he wants to do something, but then is stopped when his partner just stares at him, her head looming over me and staring daggers right at Kujo.

“This is where you state you are happy.” I clarify.

Ruu!

With that Kujo begins nuzzling both mana cows towards his mate, then lowers his head as a sign of submission.

It is at this point that I wonder if what they had was more of a one-night stand type of thing, that Kujo is now trying to make into a more permanent position.

There is an awkward moment of silence, as the female gets close and then playfully nips at Kujo’s ear. Kujo looks shocked at first, but the female is already moving. Taking one of the massive mana cows in her mouth, she picks it up and then saunters forward into a rift she created, then goes.

Kujo looks utterly lost by this exchange.

“Go, after her, you dolt.” I shout.

With that Kujo shakes himself and then immediately begins to sprint away.

“Not without your food.” I state.

Hearing that Kujo turns back, and then sees me pointing towards the remaining mana cow. There is a look of something on his face, before he nods and then picks up the second mana cow, and opens his own exit tunnel, only to find that his mate while having walked ahead, had gone at a much slower pace to make sure Kujo saw her.

Then once she heard him arrive, she immediately picked up her pace and began sauntering at a normal speed. Having seen it all, I couldn’t help but laugh, “poor Kujo, you have no idea what you are in for.”

I pause, then finally call out.

“You can come out now.” I state.

With that the Captain Reigns, the man who was chosen as my personal bodyguard appears from stealth nearby.

“Did I just hear that correctly?” Captain Reigns asks.

“I don’t know, what do you think you heard?”

“I think I heard you say that those Level 941 Dire Phase Wolves were pregnant?” He asks.

“Oh, they are level 941?” I ask, then pause. “Well, assuming that is true, then yes. Those Dire Phase Wolves are in fact pregnant.”

Silence.

“You okay?” I find myself asking the captain who is clearly at a loss for words.

“Have I ever told you how glad I am that you are with us?”

“You know you all are also at least Neutral with Kujo and his pack thanks to the Guild Title, right?” That is another great thing about being part of the Midnight Hunters, my personal Title of Nature’s Friend, and the Midnight Hunters’ Guild version of the same title stack, making it really easy to communicate with most animals.

“Yes, I am aware, but you really have a gift when it comes to dealing with animals.” He says.

I am about to argue that I am terrible when it comes to dealing with, or at least permanently caring for animals when I get a new system message.

Guild Quest Completed (Upgradable): Reintroducing Lost Species: The Midnight Hunters Guild has found their first lost species of the world and managed to bring them back from extinction. Rewards will increase the more species you manage to reintegrate into the world. Current status (1 /???). Do you wish to turn in your quest now?

Seeing the quest, I pause, not quite understanding what happened. Then I realize that the mana cows must finally be in a stable of some kind and thus make it so they counted towards this quest, which appears to be similar to the plant quest. Realizing this, I finally think I understand the criteria. I have been finding plants that I thought were rare or unique and growing them, but so far I only got credit for growing grass, which goes everywhere. Now that I created four distinct mana cows, I realize that part of my problem might be the numbers involved. I need to make it so there isn’t just a single point of failure for the whole species. At least that is my thought.

Realizing this, I let a smile cross my lips as I intend to fully take advantage of this, now that I know what is meant to happen.

“You okay?” Captain Reigns asks.

“Yeah, why?”

“You just have that look like you are about to do something…” He pauses, clearly looking for the right word to say, and failing.

“Fun?”

“Reckless.”