“Hey!” a voice cried.

Ferraina looked around, curious where the voice was coming from.

“Up here, you bitch”, well the voice had gone straight up rude.

The girl with the brunette hair looked around, but alas! She couldn’t find the source.

“Damn, is your brain size inversely proportional to your tits, because it must be small as fuck”, the voice scoffed.

Okay, who and where was this rude man.

“On the tree, dammit, I am stuck up here”, the voice beckoned.

“Excuse me! But there’s only a cat up there”, Ferraina protested.

“That’s because I am the cat, now just stay still, I am going to jump on you”, the “Cat” announced.

Ferraina was completely baffled and dazed, and just put out her hands, so the cat could land on them. That was a quite a futile gesture as the cat landed square on her face anyways.

“Ha, get out of here with your dirty hands! I am not landing on that, who knows what you’ve touched with that”, the cat said mockingly as he got off.

The “Cat” in question was a black cat with amber eyes. One distinct feature that struck Ferraina odd was that the cat was huge. Not as big as a common dog, but quite close. The cat had a rugged appearance, he was wearing a dark blue shroud of some sorts, with a hood. Although, currently the hood wasn’t on.

Analyzing the cat made Ferraina a bit calmer.

“I have so many things I have to say to you, but first and foremost, how can you speak?” she asked.

“Woah, woah, slow down. Are we asking questions now? I didn’t ask you how your tits got so big did I? Don’t you have any manners? Please, have some class”, the cat brushed her off, while being unnecessarily curt.

The nerve! She had had enough.

“You rude asshole! If you weren’t a cat, I would have reported you. I don’t care about your stupid voice anymore. Goodbye! And a good day to you!” Ferraina was genuinely outraged, and started walking towards the town entrance.

“Hey, look on the other side. I can say this shit exactly because I am a cat”, he said with a smug smile. “Didn’t expect you to curse though, I pegged you for a rich, sheltered girl who was raised in some countryside”, the cat said while following her.

“Why are you still following me? I saved you from the tree already, didn’t I?” she lashed out.

“What? No, you didn’t ‘save’ me, for the record. All you did was act as a placeholder for an inanimate object”, the cat arrogantly said. “I am following you because you have a nice scent, solely because of that”, the cat added, trotting along her happily, not a care in the world.

“And why is there a scent on me? I am not wearing any perfume”, she said in a huff.

“I have no idea, it’s the same scent female cats have when they- ah, now I see”, the cat said with a smug smile. “ATTENTION EVERYONE! THIS WOMAN IS OVULA-” his yelling was cut off due to the pain surging in his tail.

He turned around and saw Ferraina gripping his tail with her hands tightly, her face flushed beet red, on the epitome of embarrassment.

“Wait! Ma’am please, not the tail!” he pleaded. “I have made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgement, and I don’t expect to be forgiven. I simply want to apologize”, he talked as if he was reading a script.

“No, I have heard enough of your bullshit, grit your teeth, you bastard”, she said as she twisted the tail. Good thing there was no one near them.

And so, the cat screamed away in perpetual agony.

-------------------------------------

The trading hub town of the province, Centuria.

It was the best place for a beginner fresh out of training school. Quick cash, luxurious life, status, Centuria had it all. Especially for a green horn like Ferraina, this was an opportunity she could not pass on.

And here she was, starting her exploration of the continent, taking the first steps, walking in the busy streets of the town. The only odd thing was the cat riding on her backpack.

“Damn, it still hurts like a motherfucker”, the cat complained.

“Oh stop your whining, I didn’t twist it that hard”, Ferraina rolled her eyes. “And don’t talk so loudly, we’re in the middle of the town”, she instructed him. “Why are you still following me anyways?”

“Oh please. Don’t be delusional, I am not following you, I’m just terribly bored and have nothing better to do”, he brushed her off.

“Either ways, zip it. I am going to talk to some important people, and the last thing I need is your smartass comments”, she motioned him to stay quiet by making a gesture on her lips.

The building they were about to enter had the following written on it:

“ROYAL BUREAU OF CARTOGRAPHERS”

“You’re a cartographer?” The cat said, surprised.

“Yes, why are you surprised?” she asked him incredulously.

“I am just surprised, it is not a profession most women choose”, he said in a serious tone. “It is a profession filled with unnecessary danger, with little to no reward. You seem to be from a small noble family, women of your social stature usually do not choose this kind of life”.

“And how would a cat know about dangers of the world?” she asked in disbelief.

“I know enough”, he snorted.

 “Okay, be quiet now. I have important things to discuss”, she said, entering the building.

The building was huge, with a large number of floors with big halls. There was a man sitting at the reception area, wearing glasses, busy with sorting out some paperwork. He looked up to see Ferraina, who had just arrived.

“How may I help you?” he said with his best business smile.

 “Hi, my name is Ferraina of Rizav. I have an appointment with Lord Ruthenford of the general affairs department”, she said with a polite smile.

The man checked around for his register for information, and after leafing through the hefty book, he faced her again.

“Certainly, you do. Head to the third floor and take a right, it’s the second room”, he explained.

“Thank you for the help”, Ferraina said.

“You’re most welcome”, he kept his smile. “By the way, that is a very cute cat you have there. Does it know any tricks?” he looked at them expectedly.

“Uhh yeah he does, don’t you wittle kwitty”, she stared daggers at him to do something.

“This bitch”, he thought.

Was this payback for what he did before?

He placed his paw on the clerk’s hand and meowed. There was no other way to get this over with.

“Oh, he’s a very obedient kitty”, the man seemed delighted.

“Thanks again”, she thanked the clerk again and left the desk.

She headed for the stairs, all the while staring at the marvelous construction of the building.

“You know, you could learn some manners from the nice man from before”, she pondered.

“Tell that fucker, I’ll gut him in his sleep”, he hissed. “And he was far from nice, if you weren’t standing there like a dumb broad, you’d notice that all he did was stare at your tits”, he scoffed.

She squeezed his tail a bit.

“Language”, she glared at him.

“Ow ow ow, okay sorry, sorry”, he poked out his tongue when she faced away, to mock her.

She took a right after climbing the stairs and soon after came upon lord Ruthenford’s office.

“Alright now stay here, I am going to do some formal discussions with him”, she placed him on the ground.

“Hey, careful with the fur”, he passed a snide comment as he landed on his feet.

She entered the room and the cat waited outside.

After a few minutes, he could hear some sort of muffled argument going on in there.

Soon after, she stormed out of the room, very agitated.

“What happened?” he asked.

“This old bag of bones just told me that I was too old for the scholarship fund program, I am 22 only 22!” she sure was infuriated. “He had the audacity of telling me the scholarship ends for applicants from my birthplace at 21!” she was huffing in anger.

“And was that a big deal?” he cocked his head to the side, not sure how to respond.

“Damn right it was! The bureau was going to cover my living expenditures during my first year as a cartographer”, she seemed to be disappointed.

“You got any other way of income? Maybe sell your maps or some shit?” he proposed.

“I need resources to even start cartography!” she hissed.

“What about any other skills?” he asked.

“My family made a living selling potions and concoctions, that sort of thing. I know a thing or two about cauldrons, but the ingredients are very expensive”, she sighed.

“Oh a sorceress family, is it? Speaking of your family why don’t you ask them to aid you?” he gave another idea,

“Oh please, why do you think I am in this situation in the first place? She said dejectedly.

That seemed to be a sensitive subject so he stopped inquiring about it and followed her silently.

--------------------------------------

“So, I get that you’re somehow a magical cat and all and you don’t wish to talk about that, but really, how old are you?” she asked intrigued by the situation.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

They were walking back to the inn she seemed to be staying at when she brought up the topic. At least, she was in a better mood now.

“How old do I sound?” he said lazily, resting on her backpack.

“Hmm, I dunno, if I had to guess maybe mid-twenties?” She guessed.

“Close” he said mysteriously.

“Really!?” she seemed happy.

“Maybe”, he decided to make her keep guessing.

“Aw, come on, don’t be such a tease”, she said while nudging him on his nose.

She was treating him like a normal cat. Heh, that didn’t feel so bad actually.

“Hey, I’m a bit hungry, you mind if I grab something to eat?” she asked a rhetoric question.

“Yeah, me too actually”, he added.

She looked at him, eyes wide.

“What?” he asked with a grumpy tone.

“You eat food too?” she asked baffled.

“The fuck does it looks like? Do I strike you as some bastard who absorbs sunlight for nourishment? Bitch get your photosynthetic looking ass out of here”, he said curtly.

“Woah, didn’t mean to offend, I just thought you lived off magical energy or something”, she said in her defense.

They decided to sit in an open air café, it was turning dark so all the gas lamps turning on in the cobblestone streets made quite a sight to behold.

She had ordered a medium rare steak. He was sitting on her lap, she passed him small chunks of meat during her meal.

There was a huge statue of a knight in the town’s center. The epitaph read:

“IN THE MEMORY OF THE ABYSSAL KNIGHT.

DUE TO HIS EFFORTS, CENTURIA STILL PROSPERS”

“Kinda looks cool, doesn’t it”, she said when she caught him staring at the statue.

“I dunno, kid looks sketchy”, he said munching on the meat.

“Kid? What you knew him or something?” she asked as she took a bite.

“I was his companion actually”, he said smugly.

“Yeah, right”, she rolled her eyes.

“What? You don’t expect that from a millennia old cat”, he said lazily.

“You said you were twenty five”, she said in disbelief.

“I said maybe”, he said happily licking his paws.

He was looking around thoughtlessly, when he caught sight of a poster pinned on the street wall.

“INCUBUS INFESTATION!

EXTERMINATOR NEEDED URGENTLY!

INTERESTED PARTIES MAY CONTACT THE HUNTING BUREAU”

“Hey, found a way to make some quick cash”, he said with a devious smile.

“No way, I have no experience in hunting malicious entities”, she rejected his proposal.

“Relaxxxx, just tell them you’re a sorceress or some shit, and adlib the rest. Besides weak entities like the incubus can be purged by almost anyone. They’re a cowardly lot you see”, he said scratching his belly.

“Hmm”, she seemed to be in deep thought. “You know, you would make for a good con-artist. I’m in”, she passed him a smile.

“Right, so that’s the first thing we do tomorrow?” he asked.

“Actually, I don’t have enough money to rent the room at my inn for another night, haha”, she tried to play dumb.

He gave her a judgmental look as he jumped off her lap.

“Fine, the night is still young”, he stretched his back. “The hunt is on Miss Ferraina, the hunt is on”.

-------------------------------------------

They had decided that the best course of action was to visit the hunting bureau and then interview the victims for information.

The clerk at the bureau looked amused and told them how this was an unsolved case for months. Although, in the end, he did give them an official hunting permit anyways.

“It’s kind of like as if a load was placed on your chest, it’s kind of suffocating, I thought I was going to die”, the terrified victim they were interviewing tried her best to explain her experience.

This was the tenth or so victim they had talked to so far and all their stories seemed to match up. The question was that where could they find this little deviant creature that had been terrorizing the townsfolk.

“You’re going to take care of it, right?” the woman looked at her expectantly.

“That is correct, please have trust in me, this problem should be solved before tomorrow’s sunrise,” she assured the victim gently. “I will contact you for more information if it is required, have a goodnight”, she said her goodbye to the woman and came out of the house.

“Please have trust in me, my ass. You have no idea how to solve this, do you?” the cat mocked her.

“And you do? Please enlighten me, millennia old cat”, she said with a monotonous voice.

“As a matter of fact, I actually do”, he sounded offended. “Nocturnal creatures like these usually make their abode in the wilderness, not too far from their hunting grounds, my guess is we’ll find something of interest in about one km perimeter from the outside of town”.

“Wow, you’re awfully well informed for a cat”, she seemed surprised,

“Aglovale”, he said.

“What?” she asked.

“Aglovale. That is my name. You keep calling me “cat” and it is starting to irritate me”, he seemed to be annoyed.

“Not a cute name by cat standards”, she said. “Alright Aglovale, shall we be off?” she said placing her hands on her hips.

-----------------------------------------------

The guards appointed at the gates had given her strange looks, when she exited the town. After all, she was a lone woman going out into the wilderness at this late hour, with nothing but a cat in tow.

They were searching all sorts of places and caverns where a nocturnal creature such as the incubus may reside.

“How far are we going to search, my dress is getting all ruined because of all the wild bushes”, she complained.

“Wear something more practical next time, instead of a fancy dress and jewelry”, Aglovale scoffed.

“Hey, I like jewelry. Although, I really would’ve worn something more practical if I had the time”, she seemed to agree. “Hey, that cavern seems really out of place”, she pointed to an almost hidden cavern. “I don’t think anyone ventures this deep, seems to be an ideal place for an incubus”, she suggested.

“No harm in checking it out I guess”, he responded.

They were heading deep inside the cavern, the cat trotting along, occasionally wagging his tail.

“God, what is this smell”, for a while now there had been a faint pungent smell. “Almost smells like-”, she stopped mid-sentence when she saw Aglovale come to a complete halt.

“Blood”, she finished her sentence.

“Ferraina. Listen to me very carefully. Stay still and don’t turn around, try to stay calm as much as you can”, his tone was grim.

Whether it was the tone of his voice and complete change of demeanor or her own danger senses telling her, she stood still and nodded.

“Now, do you have any sort self-defense potion?”

“I h-have a flash potion for emergency situations”, she stammered.

“Good, now when I give you the signal use it” he said. “Now get ready, they’re coming”.

He had barely completed his sentence when she saw something crawling out from the depths. There were three of them. They looked like monstrosities yet at the same time felt different.

“Dark scaly skin and almost a humane appearance. Creatures of the void”, Aglovale said.

“Oh, so you know of us?” a voice rang out. “Most of you humans never see us in your entire lifespan”.

The thing had a pseudo appreciative tone in its voice.

“Listen, creature. I don’t care what bloody rituals you have been up to here. We made a mistake coming here and will leave immediately”, Aglovale growled.

 “Oh you know all too well I cannot do that”, the one that seemed to be the leader scoffed. “I would be a fool to let you go. Besides”, he said while eyeing Ferraina, “Human blood is most useful to us”.

“I don’t want any bloodshed”, Aglovale said quietly.

“What, a mere cat like you thinks it can deal any significant damage to us? I do concur that you are most peculiar. I would like to thoroughly study your corpse”, the creature seemed amused.

“Don’t regret it later creature, remember that it was your choice that led to this outcome”, Aglovale warned.

“I think I have had enough of your empty threats, you are idiotic if you think you can take on us alone”, the creature hissed.

“No. Not alone”, Aglovale replied.

As soon as those words left his mouth, Ferraina smashed the flash potion on the ground, creating a torrent of blinding light.

“Impeccable timing, now give me a few moments”, Aglovale said in a rush.

He started to chant in some language Ferraina had never heard before. But with each new of line of the chant, his voice sounded deeper, distorted and reverberating. The effect of the potion was almost over.

The creature motioned his subordinates to attack them.

“Be gone”

A large bestial claw came out of the light and smashed the skull of one creature straight into the wall.

As the light diminished, it became clear where the claw came from.

What stood before them was a shadowy beast, over two meters tall with two tails. Its teeth jagged and long, and its claws razor sharp. The other creature started to scream at the beast looming over him.

“Silence!”

The beast pounced on him in a blink of an eye, and slashed its claw downwards, slicing the creature in half.

“What are you?” The leader asked him, no longer amused but still maintaining his composure.

“Oh you like this? I call this, the Goliath”

The distorted and reverberating voice said in a cheery tone.

Without sparing a moment, the beast charged at the leader. However, the leader managed to avoid a fatal blow, dodging in time. But the beast still managed to slice his arm clean off.

The creature looked at its severed arm and then at the beast. Even though he was clearly grimacing in pain, he hadn’t lost his composure.

“Ah, I see you for what you are now”, the creature smiled. “It seems we have made a fatal error”, he said as he traced the air with his finger.

“Casting rune magic now, creature? You intend to run away?”

The beast mocked him.

“Farewell, cat. I wish not to meet you again soon”, the creature said as he disappeared into thin air.

“Finally”

The beast said as it collapsed. Slowly reverting to a cat’s appearance.

“Are you alright? I have so many questions, don’t die on me you dumb cat”, she said shaking him.

“I am alright you daft dumbo. I am just paralyzed due to the side effects”, the cat said while grimacing. “Not exhausted, not passed out and definitely not dead”.

 “That’s a relief”, she said, relieved. “Was it just me or were you having fun? You seemed to be very cheery”.

“It isn’t every day I get to kill people in self-defense, besides I warned them”, he said drowsily.

She just gave him a puzzled look.

“And thank you”, Aglovale said. “If I was alone, I would have been dead right now. You were a huge help back there”.

“Those should be honestly my lines”, Ferraina said as she wrapped her arms around him and picked him up.

“No, if it wasn’t for my suggestion, you likely wouldn’t have been in this place”, he said. “Also your huge tits are suffocating me, be careful with them”.

“Don’t be so dramatic”, she dismissed him. “We should check out the end of the cavern, might find something valuable”.

“I wouldn’t really recommend that”, he said lazily.

She ignored him and closed her eyes to concentrate and opened them again.

"Lumen"

As she said the word, a small orb of light formed in air. It was a basic sorcery spell, used for illumination.

-------------------------------------------

Heaps and heaps of dead bodies, mostly women and children, that’s all they had found. That and a big carriage with two horses tied to it. It clearly belonged to some traveler before he was ambushed and killed by the creatures. He was surprised that the blood and gore didn’t seem to bother her. When he asked, she vaguely replied something along the lines of how this wasn’t anything uncommon in this world.

The monstrosities roamed free. Only the bigger cities had barricades of walls around them and a proper security system. Most countryside towns didn’t have those kind of luxuries, and death wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to someone.

“You were brave back there, but also very reckless and irresponsible”, she said while walking back to town, the cat in her arms. “You could have been gravely injured, I don’t want you doing that sort of thing again. Understood?”

“Bitch what makes you think I’ll listen to you”, he said cockily.

She squeezed his tail and glared daggers at him. “Understood?”

“Fine! Just stop with the tail! You have some crazy grip strength!” he said, admitting defeat.

“Also the notion of you being the companion of the abyssal knight isn’t completely implausible now”, she said wondering about the cat.

“Abyssal knight? Ah you mean Percival”, he said as if he remembered something old. You believe me now? I’m cool aren’t I?” he seemed to be smug.

“Yes, just a little”, she sighed.

“What? Falling for me now?” he said jokingly.

“Oh please, you’re a cat”, she dismissed him. “Well, we didn’t find any incubus at the end, and this was a waste of time. Even if you’re not exhausted, I am. I’m going to hit the sack for now, I will worry about the money problem tomorrow”.

-----------------------------------------

It was almost morning when she noticed a burden on her chest, suffocating her.

“The incubus!” she thought.

She got up abruptly and to her surprise it was just the cat sleeping on her chest, not a care in the world.

“Get off, you’re suffocating me”, She said tiredly. “For a moment I thought you were the incubus”.

Wait.

Hold on.

“Hey, incidentally, where have you been sleeping for the past few months”, she asked him.

“I dunno, I just sneak into people’s bedrooms and sleep there”, he said half-awake.

“And is it your habit to sleep on women’s chests?” she said, continuing her questioning.

“What is with all these questions? And I don’t know. Maybe? I like to sleep on soft and warm surfaces”, he said groggily. “Wait”, he said completely waking up. “You’re not saying”, he could see the anger in her eyes.

And he dodged just in time to avoid the shoe she threw at him, he rolled a couple of time for dramatic effect.

“Ha! Missed m-”, just on cue another shoe slammed into his face.

“If you had just told me about your antics, we wouldn’t have gotten in danger last night. Not to mention, it was easy money and we would have saved a lot of time”, she seemed infuriated.

“I didn’t exactly know it was me? Am I really that heavy?” he said in his defense.

“Are you kidding me? You are huge for a cat”, she huffed. “Anyways, I am going to submit my claim at the hunter’s bureau, that I have solved the problem. They’ll most probably take a few days to verify my claim, and see if there are still incidents occurring. Which they shouldn’t, because it was you all along”, she said still annoyed. “Anyways, I should change into my dress”.

She was about to take off the top of her sleeping pajamas, when she noticed the cat staring at her.

“On second thoughts, get out”.

------------------------------------------

The look on the clerk’s face had been priceless as she told him she had solved the incubus infestation. He probably deemed her claim incredulous, and just said it will take some days for verification. She would have to take a minor loan from the bank until then.

Meanwhile, they went back to the cavern and took out the carriage, it was quite luxurious after all.

Few days later, she received her payment. Quite a generous amount at that.

“I have decided to travel the continent, do cartography, and solve people’s problems for easy money. And maybe practice my potion making and sorcery skills”. She told the cat.

“So, you’re leaving town?” he asked her.

“Yes, I suppose you want to tag along too”, she asked happily.

“Actually no, I cannot accompany you. I prefer not to travel and I like this town”, he said curtly.

“Oh”, she said dejectedly. “I see”. She seemed genuinely hurt.

“She’s gonna get her killed out there”, a thought popped up in his mind.

“Are you really okay with leaving her all alone?” another thought popped up.

“She doesn’t seem to have anyone that cares about her”, the thoughts continued.

“Ah fuck, what the hell. Fine, okay. I suppose it might be nice to travel for a change”, he said, giving up.

“Really!? Thanks Aglovale!” she said as she hugged him.

“Hey careful with the fur”, he passed a snarky comment.

“So what are you going to name this carriage?” he asked.

“The Cat charmer’s Cauldron”.

“I would like to say that’s a shitty name, but that’s not bad actually”, Aglovale said.

Yes, not bad at all.