After finishing up at the smithy, Owari walked back towards his house. The sun was getting close to setting at this point so he figured it was time to go home and eat. The day after tomorrow he would be leaving so tomorrow he would be spending the day with his mother. In fact he would have left tomorrow night, unfortunately he was taking the train so he needed to fit his schedule with the trains. Since no train was running to his destination tomorrow, he had no choice. So he didn't worry over it and just accepted the situation. Once he got home he went to his room and started to work out using a variety of exercises for the next two hours. Once he was properly exhausted he went and ate dinner quietly with his mother. It might seem as though they were a bit distant if one only saw this, but they were both just naturally quiet people. They both simply enjoyed the other's presence and exchanged some light talk over the day's events. After that Owari went out behind the house and pulled out his new sword and gave it a few swings. He decided it would be best to get used to his sword before he had to use it. Plus he needed to practice anyway since this was what he usually did around this time of day.
He first placed both hands on the grip and held the sword in front of him. Owari hadn't learned swordsmanship from anyone, at best his father could be considered his teacher. Even before Owari had been aware of his surroundings and as far back as he could remember, his father had him swing a sword. His father never told him what moves to make, or what stances to take, and he would just make him swing the sword. Ever since his father died he had continued this training without worrying about whether it worked or not, he had little choice anyway. He started his training today by doing a two-handed swing overhead to get used to the sword balance. Once he got used to the balance Owari started to swing his sword alternating between one and two hands. His movements didn't follow a set pattern and instead he would swing it one way and follow it up as smoothly as possible by making use of the position his sword landed in.
Although it seemed a bit jerky and hard to predict, the movements were very fluid as each swing would allow him to make a new swing. Owari made ample use of his flexibility and tough body to mitigate the repercussions of such forceful movements. Despite his sickly weak looking body, Owari was actually in excellent shape. His appearance was only so frail-looking because his muscles were dense and lithe, specifically, he had avoided building large muscles since all it did was get in the way and hamper movement. His current musculature was much more fitting for his way of fighting. Pretty much every part of his body had been trained and enhanced in some way over the years as he experimented with different types of training.
After finishing some movements and trying to make the movements less jerky, Owari began his secondary training. One lesson his father had instilled on him before dying was that the most important thing was your breathing. The whole body required oxygen to work properly, and so to ensure you could make the best use of the body it was important to master your breathing. Owari had taken this to an extreme of sorts and had created a number of variant breathing methods for various situations.
For one he practiced a method of breathing that would maximize his oxygen intake and clean out his lungs of unnecessary gasses at the same time. This allowed him to keep his oxygen inflow at maximum and enhanced his overall stamina greatly over long periods of time. After a lot of effort this became his default breathing rhythm so he even does it while unconscious. However this was far from his only method of breathing to enhance himself. Unfortunately he didn't really have a chance to test their limits due to the fact that he didn't have anything to fight. After practicing, Owari went back inside even more exhausted than before and passed out in a few breaths time.
Owari woke up the next moment without a single dream coming to him. It wasn't all that rare to have a dreamless night when he was so exhausted, he just rarely works himself that hard. He knew he'd be taking the day easy and tomorrow he'd be sleeping in before catching the train so he pushed himself quite hard. After getting out of bed and getting dressed in his usual clothing Owari went around the house doing some light cleaning before going back to his room. Normally his mother woke up a bit later, and the only reason she woke up so early the day before was for his graduation. Because of that, he would have to wait a bit for her to get out of bed to spend the day together.
This was kind of a good thing though as Owari had one final thing to take care of before he went out today. He quickly made his way over to his nightstand by his bed and looked at the cloth-covered cage that had been there for a few years at this point. He slowly lifted the cloth up and looked inside. Inside was a moth resting on a small perch in the center of the cage. On the ground at the bottom of the cage were dozens of caterpillar eggs showing signs of hatching. Owari ignored the moth and watched as the eggs seemed to come to life under the light and soon they started to break open and caterpillars started to crawl out. Owari carefully eyed each one and after a single glance his eyes flashed with surprise and relief as he opened the cage and reached in to grab a caterpillar that was finishing up eating its shell.
These caterpillars were actually a type of low-level magical beast, and Owari had been raising them for a long time. The reason he had done this was simple, he was slowly using selective breeding to increase their potential and inherent strength. This was only possible because moth type magical beasts have many children each generation since in the wild they die in droves. This specific species is known as the ghost eye moth, and they are known for having the ability to read auras and see mana. As for what Owari had been hoping for by selectively breeding them was to induce a mutation.
When a magic beast is born it has a certain chance of being mutant and having greater strength than their peers. However the chance is fairly low, not to mention you can't be sure what kind of mutation it will have. The reason he chose this species was specifically because of it's ability to see the aura of living beings and mana would be immensely helpful to Owari who was going to become a hunter. It would make sneaking up on him difficult not to mention how helpful it would be as a scout to find targets worth hunting.
Owari looked over the caterpillar in his hand as it crawled across his fingers. It was greyish brown in color and had numerous hairs covering it, and on it's back was a pair of eye-shaped patterns of white fur. Owari carefully checked the caterpillar to make sure it was what he thought it was. After checking for a good 10 minutes he confirmed it was indeed a mutant. It wasn't the first mutant he had found actually, they were decently common among clutches of insect type beasts. However, they usually died before maturity or didn't pass on their genes properly to the next generation for one reason or another. As for this specific mutant, Owari was hopeful for it. It was smaller than the other caterpillars by almost half, but it's fur was much thicker and denser, and the eye patterns on it's back was much more clear.
Since this would be his last batch before he moved away he decided to take a chance on this little mutant and quickly started to move the mana in his body in accordance to the magical beast taming art he had learned. He carefully placed his fingertip onto the caterpillar's head and used his mana to brand it with his mark. The mark a person uses is determined when they use the technique and has no real effect on the taming. Owari quickly set his mark as a generic katana and branded the caterpillar with it. The mark appeared on its head and quickly melted into it. Normally a magical beast would fight back and require time and effort to subdue because magical beast taming arts all require the beast to be willing. However, insect type magical beasts like the ghost eye moth tend to have a weak sense of self, not to mention its age. It didn't resist at all and soon Owari was connected with the caterpillar on a spiritual level.
He could feel it's presence, and he quickly closed his eyes and used the brand mark to communicate with it. The caterpillar was even less self-aware then he thought. It seemed to have no sense of self nor a developing consciousness at all. It was basically an empty shell that could only feel and act on instinct. However, Owari wasn't sure if this was due to age or something else so he simply ignored it.
The connection between the two of them was quite interesting, and Owari found himself experimenting with it. If he wanted he could communicate directly with the caterpillar and could understand what it communicated back as though it was spoken in his own language. On top of that, he could even send over images and receive images back, this extended with sounds and every other sense really. Though the extent of what either could send was very minimal, this was mostly due to their lacking experience and weaker connection. Owari had heard that the closer you were to your magical beast the stronger the connection you feel through the taming art.
Before he got too engrossed in the feeling of this new connection, Owari snapped himself out of it and went to the living room to wait for his mother. He left the newly hatched caterpillar in a new cage he had prepared with ample food for it to eat. Another reason he was willing to wait until the last moment to select one to bond with is a trait pretty much all caterpillar type magical beasts share. So long as they have enough food they can pupate immediately after reaching their limits, after all this trait was pivotal in the event that the moth species lived in an especially hostile environment such as the one this species was known for living in.
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So he simply needed to wait until tomorrow and it would already begin its transformation. By the time he arrived at the city, he would call home his caterpillar should have finished its transformation. Until then it would be pretty much unharmable in its pupa form due to the cocoon covering it. At least this way Owari wouldn't have to fear it dying from some mishap. The only real unfortunate situation was that the ghost eye moth has no affinity. Affinity is an important aspect of magical beasts, specifically tamed ones. When you tame a magical beast you gain some of its affinities which allow you to use certain mystical arts that have affinity requirements. Mystic arts are like martial arts styles but they use mana to enhance their effects to magical levels. Things such as creating blades of wind and raising a wall of earth. However without an affinity, you are more limited in your choice, not that this mattered for Owari who had no mystic arts or money to purchase any.
Soon enough Owari's mother came out from her room and the two left the house and started to walk around town. They were fairly quiet and didn't talk much, only enjoying the reminiscence that came from walking the streets of their home. Each had their own thoughts but neither bothered voicing them. They only had each other for the last decade or so, and so this was enough for them to understand one another. Owari rarely relaxed and took time off for himself, so this was a nice change of pace. His mother had always been a grounding factor in his life since he tended to do his best to avoid having attachments. He had a feeling he was like that because of how he lost his father so suddenly when he was young, but he was fine with it.
His mother on the other hand had no intention of remarrying despite the many offers that came due to the fact that she was a rather pretty and charming young lady. She had deeply loved Owari's father and after she lost him she decided to dedicate herself to her role as Owari's mother and to impress on him that one should remain faithful no matter what. In the end, they just walked around and took in the various places around town such as the park Owari used to play at when he was young, and the restaurant that Owari's father proposed to his mother at. There were a number of similar locations, and at each one Owari took a moment to cut ties with the place and increase his resolve to make a life for himself that his father would be proud of while making enough money to help his mother retire in peace.
The two continued their outing all the way until evening where they decided to eat out for dinner. They went to the best restaurant in town and got a private booth. Normally they would never be so extravagant, but it was a special occasion and Owari's mother had saved up for it. They each ordered their favorite meals, his mother got lasagna while Owari ordered a burger with a slew of condiments on it. The two started to eat and both were quite happy with the meal. Owari had never had such a juicy burger let alone the quality of all the condiments was equally as good. As the two approached the end of their meals and ordered a few desserts, Owari's mother spoke up with a casual tone. "I heard you and those two kids had gotten in a fight recently."
"Calling it a fight is exaggerating." Owari looked at his mother with amusement, despite her tone this was likely something she had been wanting to talk about all day but couldn't find a good moment to do so.
"What else do you consider something that tears a lifelong friendship apart?" His mother seemed a bit startled by how unbothered he was with the subject. She had been trying to think of a sensitive way to bring it up since way back when it happened.
"We just drifted apart, although some stuff happened at the end all it did was speed up the separation. It's best this way. After all, I'd rather keep some happy memories then drag things out until I grew bitter and angry." Though he was already a bit bitter and angry, it would hopefully fade in time.
"I guess that makes sense. Still, that Milly is so ungrateful. Every time she was sick it was you who stayed by her bed and took care of her. Not to mention how much you helped her with school work and even all the birthday parties you helped to plan so she would always feel special. Sometimes kids are too blind to see what is right in front of them." His mother shook her head and smiled bitterly.
"It's fine, I'm not entitled to her love just because I put in that effort. All that did was give me a better chance. There's no point in thinking about it now. Effort spent can't be refunded, so why worry over it? I'll just be more careful in the future." Owari did his best not to dwell on it, after all, thinking about it wasn't pleasant in the slightest.
"I guess you're right. No need to dwell on the past after all." His mother seemed to catch onto his feelings and moved on. The two finished their meals and went home quietly. Overall the two had a pleasant day and the talk over their meal was quickly forgotten.
The two went home and got some sleep, even Owari turned in early. He had a strange dream but nothing too crazy. He would have preferred a nice dream just to put him in a good mood before he left, but you don't always get what you want. Owari shrugged it off and looked at his clock to check the time, it was close to noon. He had purposefully slept late to give himself some extra rest before he left. He'd be spending the next few days on trains and in unfamiliar locations so of course he wouldn't be getting as good of sleep as he would from sleeping in the place he had lived at his whole life.
Once he confirmed the time he took a deep breath and got ready, he also made sure to secure his new sword to his hip unlike his outing yesterday when he left it behind. Then he picked up his suitcase and a cloth-covered cage containing the cocoon of his ghost eye moth, and made his way to the train station. His mother joined him and nagged the whole way about whether he really had everything and whether he had forgotten this or that. Owari was annoyed but he knew it was just her way of keeping herself occupied so he let her nag on. Of course, he hadn't actually forgotten anything since he had little to pack anyway.
Soon enough they were standing at the station platform, Owari and his mother found a bench and sat down. There were a few security officers around to make sure nobody would try and sneak on without tickets and to keep the peace, but considering there were only a handful of potential passengers on the platform it was mostly just for show. Owari patiently waited for about 10 or so minutes before the sound of rhythmic thumping could be heard. Looking down the tracks one could see a sleek metal train followed by a number of different carts all rapidly closing in on the platform. It slowed once it got close and came to a stop soon after. The doors opened, but to the surprise of no one, nobody got off. After all, this was just some small town and was mostly a pick-up point and not a drop-off point. People only came here on foot or to visit family, though sometimes they'd get hunters when some magical beasts in the area would get rowdy or when a mutant was found.
Owari walked over towards the back of the train and showed his ticket to one of the guards who simply nodded at him to show he understood. Owari waved to his mother as he left, she had also quieted down and only waved with a smile as she saw him leaving. She was sad that he was leaving, but she knew that once Owari set his mind on something she wouldn't be able to dissuade him. His father had been the same, and she had long found it was better to be supportive than to fight against them tooth and nail. Since he had put so much thought into this plan of his, she decided to trust his judgment. She didn't know the specifics, but she did know that this was what Owari wanted to do with his life. In a way it could be seen as his dream, so what kind of mother would she be to deny her son his dream?
So she simply smiled and waved to show her support. Owari also knew that what he was doing was dangerous and he also knew that for every success story for a hunter there were countless failures. However he had a strong urge to try it anyway, maybe it was because his father was a hunter, or maybe it was the northern blood he inherited from his mother who was said to be battle crazed maniacs long ago, but he wanted this more than he wanted anything. He also knew with his average school results and lack of skills in any field besides this that his best bet was to be a hunter. His fallback would be joining a smithy as an apprentice in the hopes of taking over one day, but honestly, he didn't want to spend his life in a hot room smacking metal with a hammer. He has a lot of respect for smiths and their crafts, but it wasn't the life for him.
Owari made his way into a train car towards the back of the train. Inside were a number of seats in various states of disarray, this was clearly the lowest of low class. Owari walked down the aisle and sat in the seat his ticket indicated. Looking around there were a few other people in there with him, a mother with two kids, an elderly couple, a man in rugged clothing who looked hungover, and a few others. Owari didn't bother paying attention to them, he simply stuck to himself like most of the others here. To be honest with his savings he could afford to go first class, but Owari knew the importance of frugality, he didn't need to show off nor did he need some cushy seat. It was pointless to go beyond your means just to look impressive.
He didn't bother thinking about such things and instead pulled up the cage his moth was in and peeked under the cloth. Looking at the cocoon he went over what he knew about the ghost eye moth and magical beasts in general. Magical beasts are all given a rank based on their strength, with each rank being named after a metal. For his ghost eye moth who is considered among the weakest and which has little more strength than a regular animal, he would be an iron ranked magical beast which is the lowest. The ranks after that would be; copper, silver, gold, platinum, electrum, orichalcum, and mithral. The reason they are named like this, at least in Owari's opinion, is to satisfy a tamer's vanity. After all, it was far more impressive to say you have a gold level magical beast than to say you have a fourth rank magical beast. As for what electrum, orichalcum, and mithral are, they are mana charged metals with special properties. All Owari knew is that electrum is mana infused silver, orichalcum is mana infused gold, and mithral is mana infused platinum. How they get that way or what properties they have is something he isn't as clear on.
As for his moth, since ranks are determined by strength and their threat towards humans, his would-be iron at best. However all magical beasts had the potential to grow and evolve. In theory, even a small moth could become an apex existence like a dragon. Of course, doing so is easier said than done, in order to evolve a magical beast needs to eat mana charged material. Of course this includes other magical beasts, as well as humans, magical ores and gems, and so on. Unfortunately the stronger you get the harder it is to evolve, dragons for instance have no real chance of evolving further and took millennia over many generations to reach their current level.
What mattered is the potential of the magical beast, some are simply born with better mana digestion and could get more for less out of what they ate. As for Owari's moth he had a special advantage. Owari had purposefully bred many generations of moth and only allowed the ones with the best potential to pass on their genes. Of course, he couldn't confirm the potential of his current moth yet, but it would definitely be at least twice or even three times as good as most iron level magical beasts. Plus all magical beasts that are tamed have a boost to their potential for some reason, it's one of the few major benefits that they get from the taming process. Because of this Owari had high hopes for this little guy, he had put a lot of effort into getting him after all.