Later that night

“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.” I purred, doing my best to not think of how ridiculous the entire scene looked. “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.”

When, miraculously, a magical plant, cat, monster, thing didn’t instantly throw itself into my arms, I sighed, standing up as I leaned against the wall of a house I was slinking around.

“Course, it wouldn’t be that easy,” I mumbled.

I’d been searching for the culprit of the pet disappearances, the shadow blossom, for only ten minutes, waiting around all day until it turned dark enough where the shadow blossom might be active.

Turns out, finding a ritually created monster cat was probably more of a task than I had really considered.

“It’s one thing being told it was spotted in an area.” I stuck my hands in my pants pockets, a billowy pair matching the more desert-style getup I was wearing. “It’s another to actually find the damn thing.”

I had basically only a single night to locate the creature; the appearance of the regent-to-be would mean that the academy grounds would be locked down tighter than a bank vault, tight enough to keep the likes of a human out but not so tightly that a shadow blossom couldn’t slink around.

“And that’s all we need.” I sighed, making my way down the alley, searching the premise around the academy before I moved onto the academy itself. “A shadow blossom to make a school filled with the children of the country’s most important people its hunting ground.”

“Honestly,” I continued ranting to myself, probably looking like either a drunkard or a crazed man to anyone who might happen to spot me. “I still think the best option would have been to simply alert the authorities, but nooo, can’t have them questioning how a shadow blossom ended up in the area or any prevalent information revolving around the topic.”

“Stupid,” I muttered, kicking a loose pebble as I rounded a corner out from the alley, now heading down a surprisingly still street. “I’m not an adventurer anymore. So why am I hunting monsters?”

Money. Because you need money.

“Right.” I sighed, looking directly overhead at the stars. “Money.”

Which, of course, was when I noticed a pair of strikingly vibrant pair of violet eyes staring down from the roof of the house I had just walked past.

“Well, that’s a bit convenient,” I said softly, watching as the eyes vanished, the creature to which they belonged scramming the moment it realized it had been spotted. “Explains why it’s been so elusive.”

Perhaps it should have been obvious, but the shadow blossom was traversing the rooftops, only to come down on occasions such as when it needed to feed.

“Well, then.” I scratched my chin as I stared up at the rooftops. “How am I s’posed to get up there?”

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“Stupid,” I mumbled to myself. “Stupid idea.”

I was currently shimmying up a drainage pipe, making my best impression of a slug crawling up a tree, when from directly above me, a pair of violet eyes appeared looking down the side of the roof that I was currently in the process of trying to climb atop.

“Huh, aren’t you strangely friendly,” I grunted, watching the monster cat.

It was, well… cat-like. Had it not been for the striking violet eyes, its face could have been mistaken for any other black cat. If it opened its mouth, I knew there would be row after row of not pearly white chompers but thorns like a rose.

And in each one of those thorn teeth would be a flesh-rotting sap.

“Which means I shouldn’t be taking this so lightly,” I muttered, just in time for the shadow blossom to suddenly vanish once more.

“What is this, a game?” I frowned as I continued my slow shimmy up the drainage pipe.

Look, even as a kid, I was never a great climber. It wasn’t a matter of strength; just for whatever reason, as soon as I was expected to watch where and how I was placing my hands to do a vertical climb, I became as graceful as a toddler with two left feet.

Finally reaching the apex of my climb and avoiding being spotted by anyone, I pulled myself onto the rooftop. Unlike the rooftops of the north, which were often slanted so that snow wouldn’t pile, the roofs of the central and southern regions were much flatter, making for a far easier time when it came to nighttime traversal methods.

Not that I would suggest traveling from rooftop to rooftop, but sometimes life doesn’t give you the luxury of making that decision yourself.

“What is your deal?” I whispered as the shadow blossom stood across the roof from me, licking at its paw, eyeing me as it watched for sudden movements.

It was unusual, to say the least. Shadow blossoms were anything but social creatures; from what I’d heard, this shadow blossom wasn’t any different.

So why was it suddenly taking such an interest in me? If it wanted to have run away by now, it would have.

So why?

I wracked my brain for anything I knew about shadow blossoms. Even during my time as an adventurer, I’d never dealt with one, but I’d heard others talk about them and even read a few textbooks on monsters and magical beasts.

“Nocturnal, obviously,” I muttered, slowly inching my way toward the shadow blossom without spooking it. “Carnivorous, but what feline isn’t. Skittish but will attack when cornered. Flesh rotting sap in the teeth that helps to digest its food. Non-magical, so there is no chance of any elevated shadow blossoms appearing. Prefer small prey, but if desperate, will bite larger prey and stalk them until the flesh rot kills them or wears off. If killed, it can disperse spores to asexually reproduce. No, I don’t think I’m missing anything.”

The shadow blossom was still watching me, no longer licking its paw. As far as cats went, it was roughly three times the size of an ordinary house cat, but it was a far shot from the size of a wolf, as I’d heard from Scyla.

“Sounds to me like someone got spooked, then because they were embarrassed, they didn’t want to admit they got spooked by something no bigger than a dog.” I was speaking directly to the shadow blossom, still creeping closer. “Maybe you’re frightened, aren’t you? Dragged from your home, wherever that was, before getting lost in a scary human city like this.”

I could harken a guess that I wasn’t far off. While many monsters were classified as ‘monsters,’ in truth, they were little more than wild animals, albeit generally more dangerous or aloof wildlife.

Hell, if it weren’t for the somewhat ritualistic means needed to create a shadow blossom, I could guess that in another world, a shadow blossom would be seen as nothing more out-of-the-norm than a bear or a wolf.

Well, not the point for now.

Taking one step closer to the shadow blossom, it was as if something set it off, the creature tailing it, running away at full speed.

Directly toward the nearby academy.

Damnit.

Drawing a hint of mana from my rings, I felt my body lighten as I gave chase. I didn’t want to draw on too much mana. Late at night, a mana signature sprinting across the rooftops would raise questions, so I kept it lowkey, only enhancing myself enough to keep the feline in sight as I chased it.

Quickly reaching the academy, the feline simply leaped from the second-story roof we were upon, landing upon the ground as if it were nothing more than a short drop before sprinting across a road and vanishing into academy grounds.

Without thinking about it, I tossed myself from the roof just as the cat had, drawing more heavily upon my mana reserves as I neared the ground, using it to sharpen my reflexes and enhance my perception as I quickly threw my body into a roll, springing back up before continuing to give chase.

Which was all said and good until I noticed a child staring out from the window of a nearby home along the road, eyes wide.

Whoops.

Nothing to be done about it; I gave the kid a quick wave before continuing my pursuit of the monster.

Now, where did you go?

If it were a magical beast, it would have been a simple matter of opening my mana sight, tracking down the concentration of mana within the creature, and following it. Still, things would be more difficult because it wasn’t a magical beast. I would have to diligently check every nook and cranny, doubling back in case I missed anything or-

Never mind.

Rounding a corner within the academy courtyard, thankfully obscured by the walls surrounding it, I skirted to a stop, the shadow blossom sitting down, once more licking at its paw.

“You really are a strange one.” I sighed as I carefully neared the monster. “Again, why are you acting so friendly?”

Well, friendly by the standards of a shadow blossom.

Rather than approach the shadow blossom, I crouched down, my hand outstretched, curious as to what the feline would do.

Since it doesn’t seem to like me approaching it, let’s see what it does now.

Waiting patiently, I kept my hand outstretched.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

By the gods, this is taking a while.

The shadow blossom seemed fully content to continue remaining where it was, grooming itself as I sat there like a moron with his hand outstretched toward a dangerous monster.

Well, it’s either that or continuing chasing the thing.

Finally, after what must have been an hour, the damned cat stopped licking itself, watching me with its violet eyes as if just noticing my presence.

Took you long enough.

“C’mere, you little scamp,” I muttered before more loudly projecting my voice toward the feline. “Come here, kitty.”

The shadow blossom stared at me, eyes widening for a moment, before it gave one long stretch, arching its back as if grooming itself had been exhausting.

Don’t run away. Please don’t run away.

Perhaps the gods were looking down on me, and the shadow blossom, rather than run, began to softly pad its way toward me.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Yes, yes!

The shadow blossom was all but in arms reach. I could imagine feeling its black fur, the coils of vines around it only a minor inconvenience to petting the damned thing.

So, of course, as was the general trajectory of my life, that was when everything went south.

From around the corner, a woman suddenly appeared, wearing a uniform and carrying a lamp. She held the light aloft, squinting her eyes as she noticed the shadow blossom and me.

“Who's there?” She shouted, reaching to her side before pulling out a heavy metal rod.

No, no!

As if sensing the hostility in the woman’s voice and reaction, the hackles of the shadow blossom rose instantly, the feline hissing as it displayed its viciously dangerous thorn teeth.

Not good!

The guard, or at least I assumed the woman was a guard, raised her metal baton in response, an involuntary response; I was sure, but involuntary or not mattered little to the shadow blossom. The feline, already spooked, was now being threatened. In between myself and the guard, it must have felt cornered. Fight or flight response kicking off, cornered and unable to quickly flee, the monster cat chose the former.

Fast, far faster than an ordinary cat could ever hope to mimic, the shadow blossom was lunging at the woman. While it wasn’t nearly as large as some of the reports I’d heard from Scyla, the shadow blossom was still large enough to dangerous, as large as a dog of medium build and far, far, faster, and stronger.

And, of course, not to mention the most dangerous aspect of all, its bite.

Perhaps luck was on the woman’s side, as raising the baton just in time, she fended off the shadow blossom’s snapping jaw.

Instead, the worst she suffered was a set of rather painful-looking scratches down her arms. Even a simple scratch had shredded her arms like she’d been assaulted by a knife-wielding assailant.

Damnit.

The woman had gotten lucky, but luck, much like lightning, didn’t often strike twice. Her arms were already shredded from the shadow blossom’s claws. Its second attack wouldn’t be as easily defended.

Which meant it was my job to save the guard who was just trying to do her job.

As the shadow blossom landed back upon the ground, it instantly lunged back toward her face, and this time it was clear the guard would be far too slow to defend herself.

“Flow,” I whispered, and like a streaking light, suddenly I was in front of the guard, shoving her out of the way as I caught the cat before flinging it away where it landed with cat-like grace.

Cat-like because, you know, it was a cat?

Whatever, puns aside.

“You!” I hissed at the guard.

“M-me?”

“Leave, now!” I yelled at her.

“Who are you?”

“Is that important right now?” I questioned.

“I, uh, but my job-”

She’s in shock. She needs something to ground her.

“I’m an advanced bodyguard of the regent-to-be. I was sent to make sure school grounds were safe. Now, unless you want to take it up with the regent-to-be, I suggest you leave.”

Having pulled rank on her, the woman nodded rapidly before turning tail and running away.

Thankfully, all without asking for proper verification.

The shadow blossom wasn’t simply going to let her leave, though. Seeing the woman turn her back on it, its predatory instincts kicked in, and the feline was again lunging toward the woman.

“Not today,” I said, dashing once more in the way as I tossed the shadow blossom away.

With the guard out of sight, fleeing for her life, the shadow blossom had no one else to turn its attention to but myself.

“Easy now.” I held a hand toward the feline, but all its earlier friendliness was gone, the creature hissing at me, the sound shifting into an ugly-sounding yowl.

Oh great.

I’d been hoping to resolve the problem peacefully, the strangely friendly shadow blossom had been a rather interesting curiosity, but the monster wasn’t about to back down, and trying to force something that wouldn’t happen could cost me my life if I weren’t careful.

“Fine.” I reached under my shirt, pulling free the dagger Scyla had given me. “I didn’t want to, but we can’t have you running amuck.”

The violet eyes of the shadow blossom flicked to the blade, a short, curved dagger with a handle of polished white wood, a weariness that I could read in its body language.

But, if there were anything felines were famous for, it was being stubborn. Now that it was in attack mode, the shadow blossom wasn’t going to back down from a fight.

The next strike would be the last; I had zero intentions of dragging the little fight out longer than it had to be. Doing what was usually considered… unwise to do during a fight, I turned away from the shadow blossom while purposely exposing my neck further.

At the same time, I reached my sense as far out as possible, sensing the flow of mana around me. Almost as soon as I had turned away from the shadow blossom and exposed my neck further, I felt the mana shift, the feline overtaken by its primal instincts to attack now that my back was turned toward it.

Sorry.

Faster than even the shadow blossom could react, mid-pounce as it was, I whirled back around, thrusting my dagger upward, directly beneath the skull of the poor creature.

And just like that, it was over, the shadow blossom going still as my dagger pierced its brain.

Well, not quite over.

There was another reason why I had chosen to wear the billowy desert-style clothing tonight. Reaching into the extra-large pocket, I pulled free an entire bag from my pocket, dumping the feline inside it before running two fingers along the top of the pack, muttering under my breath as I magically sealed it shut.

“And… done.” I relaxed after giving the bag a light tug, confirming it was airtight.

A shadow blossom on death would often disperse spores, which could, in some cases, lead to the asexual reproductions of more shadow blossoms or, in unfortunate circumstances, cause a festering rash that would lead to a rather severe plague to begin running rampage in an area. By sealing the body within the bag, I would ensure the spores had nowhere to disperse, rendered inert after only a few hours.

“All things considered, a job well done.” I sighed. “Just wish I didn’t have to kill the thing.”

As much as I may have wanted to spare the creature, the option was thrown out the window once it turned hostile.

“Still…” I absent-mindedly scratched at my arm, lost in thought of how I could have gone about things in a less violent matter.

It wasn’t until I realized I was still scratching my arm, the itch growing worse by the second, that I took a moment to examine my arm.

“Well, shit.” I groaned.

In the middle of my forearm, two tiny dots were pierced through my skin, a red hue spreading from them, the skin around the holes already beginning to pucker and yellow, a notable smell wafting from them.

“Damned thing really bit me.”

When?

I was confident I managed to keep my arms out of its mouth. The only chance it could have had-

“Was when I looked away for a moment.” I sighed. Mid-toss of the shadow blossom, I’d told the guard to scram, and in that split second, with my adrenaline pumping and flow dulling my sense of pain, the damned cat had managed to nip me in the brief moment I wouldn’t have noticed.

“This is going to suck,” I said, staring down at the yellowing wound.

I couldn’t go seek medical treatment. There was nothing they would be able to do for me in the first place; it would only create more questions than I was willing to deal with.

Plus, I currently had on me a bag containing what may as well have been a biological weapon.

That would certainly raise questions.

“Think,” I muttered. “There must be something.”

Except, there wasn’t. Only amputation could counter the sap of a shadow blossom. Without amputation, which I had no desire to undergo, you either overcame it or died.

I felt confident in my chances to survive the ordeal. The enhanced regenerative abilities of my sage physique meant the bite would likely lead to nothing more than a rather shitty night of feverish dreams and the stench of rotting flesh.

My best option, therefore, would be to simply hunker down for the night and wait it out.

Grimacing, I held my arm close to my chest, turning toward where the lodge was.

“At the very least, it’s a good thing it’s close by.”

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

“Hello, Si- are you alright, Sir?”

“Perfect.” I did my best to hold back my grimace, forcing a fake smile as I forcibly slurred my words. “Just ‘ad an ‘ood ‘ight.”

“Oh, I see, Sir.” The front desk worker visibly relaxed as I ‘sauntered’ in, obviously intoxicated. “Do you need any assistance reaching your room?”

“No,” I said, perhaps too quickly. “I’m ‘ood.”

“If you insist, Sir.”

I nodded toward the woman on shift before staggering past.

The great thing about pretending to be drunk was that it was easy to pass off the horrible pain as nothing more than a drunken stupor.

Shambling past, I quickly, or as quickly as I could manage given my current state, made my way toward the lift, ringing for it as I impatiently waited for the mechanized metal box to reach me.

Gotta love electricity.

I tried to distract myself with thoughts of what went into making the system work, but I could only hold onto the thoughts for a few brief moments before the pain took over.

I should have killed the damn thing from the start and been done with it.

The lift finally reached the ground floor. Waiting impatiently, the doors opened at a glacier pace, painfully slow.

Or maybe that was just the, you know, pain, talking.

Stepping inside the lift, I jabbed the close button, jabbing it with the pressing need of a dying man.

Which, in most cases, I may as well have been.

C’mon, a little faster, please.

Slowly the lift rose, and with nothing to do, I leaned against the rail inside the metal box, clenching my bad arm tightly to my chest as I grit my teeth, the airtight bag slung over my shoulder.

Just a little pain, nothing you haven’t dealt with before.

True, but I hadn’t dealt with intense pain like this since I’d been an adventurer. My pain tolerance clearly had waned.

Please, for the love of the gods above and below, faster!

For a moment, I considered praying, but I’d never really been the religious sort. Up north, where I was from, the only gods prayed to were the gods of the harvest Edyard, the gods of winter, Losk, and the gods of the forest, Amashin.

There were also the rare few like my mother who kept small idols of other gods, in her case, the gods of mischief, Hakhoa, given as an illusion mage that only made sense.

In the desert, I knew there were the famously prayed to gods of the solar cycle, Agrahmenmotto, gods of the fertile rains, Hacayu, and their sibling god of the raging rains, Yucahac.

Finally, in the south, arguably the least religious region of Haerasong, the gods that were worshiped were gods of the pleasant winds, Uyva, gods of law, Bishanu, and chief amongst all the gods, the gods of the first song, Haera.

“And for all those gods-” I forced the words out between clenched teeth. “-no gods of ‘idiots suffering from flesh rot’ now, is there?”

Suffering the rest of the lift in silence, I bolted out when the doors finally opened, making my way to my room as fast as physically possible. My suite, atop the top floor, overlooked the ocean, a beautiful room that, had it not been for the inconvenience I’d ‘suffered’ when first booking my room, would have probably cost twice what it did.

Which was all said and good, but shoving the door open, I took no time to admire my luxurious suite. Instead, I dropped the bag off on a counter before stumbling over toward a nearby couch, dropping in it without a care in the world, the pain too intense for my mind to sensibly think; I just knew not to drag the scent of rotting flesh into my bed.

“Fuckin’…. Sucks.” I groaned, curling up tightly into a ball on my couch as I continued cradling my arm.

I was in for a night of suffering, but since the sap currently rotting my flesh wasn’t magically induced, I could do nothing but grit my teeth and bear with it.

I’m doubling my fee. I scowled, thinking of how I had brushed off the price of my fee when discussing it with Scyla.

Yet even those thoughts vanished as my mind plunged into agony.

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“Uck.” I groaned, eyes fluttering open painfully slow.

And just painfully, in general.

Looks like I lived.

Groggily, I looked to the side of the couch. A pile of cooled bile was puddled next to the sofa. Unfortunately, some of it hadn’t entirely made it to the floor, pooling underneath me.

Wonderful.

Attention turning away from my vomit, I focused on what was lying in chunks within the already nasty puddle. Yellow pieces of fleshy-

Well, flesh. Squinting my eyes, there was no mistaking it. Entire chunks of rotten meat had fallen free from my arm at some point during my pained trashing last night.

Wanting to shield my eyes from what I was about to look at, I forced them open anyway as my eyes slowly dragged away from the floor to my arm, where the flesh had rotted off from.

Only to be pleasantly surprised.

“That’s a relief.” I sighed.

My arm was fine. Other than some minor tenderness and redness, my arm had gone from rotting away to healthy in a single night.

“Got to love sages.” I shook my head. I could only imagine the consequences of the bite from the shadow blossom had I not had the crazy regenerative abilities I did.

Sure, it wouldn’t be enough to regrow a lopped off arm, but anything short of that was fair game.

Or at least I don’t think I could regrow an arm?

I shook my head, dismissing the thought, an experiment I felt no need to test.

Standing up, I peeled away my shirt, soaked in sweat and bile, flinging it onto the vomit. Even if I could save the shirt, I felt no desire to. I’d instead use it to help clean the mess up.

“Now then, I should probably wipe this up before I call the cleaning services, don’t need them wondering why there is rotten flesh in a bunch of vomit. Also, it might be wise to…what’s that?”

I stopped midway through, speaking aloud, a strange sound piercing the usual soft atmosphere of distant crashing waves.

“Seriously, what is that?”

Craning my head, I closed my eyes, enhancing my senses with mana as I listened more keenly.

It was faint, but I could barely hear an almost… mewling sound coming from nearby.

My counter, to be exact.

Curious and apprehensive, I slowly walked toward the counter where I’d discarded the bag last night.

I’m sure I killed it.

After all, a dagger through the head should have been fatal, it may have been classified as a monster, but it wasn’t some alien monstrosity with some abstract physiology, unlike anything we understood.

It was a cat. A dangerous cat, but still, basically a cat.

“Here goes nothing,” I whispered, hands grasping the bag before, with one quick yank, I ripped the bag open, undoing my seal.

“Huh.” I exhaled, staring in confusion, uncertain of what I was looking at. “Of all the things, wasn’t expecting that.”

Inside the bag, nestled against the body of the much larger shadow blossom, was a tiny, mewling… thing.

No. Not a ‘thing.’

It was a kitten. There was no getting around it. A tiny, mewling kitten no larger than the palm of my hand.

“Oh. Ohhhh.” I muttered as realization hit me.

The odd behavior of the shadow blossom suddenly made sense.

It was pregnant. Typically it would have avoided people, but something about me must have come off as different or welcoming to the monster, perhaps due to my sage physique.

“Shit,” I whispered, the kitten still mewling.

Killing the mother shadow blossom had somehow caused the birthing process to kick in, maybe some sort of desperate evolutionary method of ensuring its babe was born.

“Damnit. Damnit. Damnit.” I groaned. “Now what?”

Several other things clicked into place at once. The reason the shadow blossom had been shipped off in the first place, whoever was shipping it was likely a monster breeder, an explicitly illegal activity, a crime of nearly the highest degree.

Meaning I couldn’t offload the kitten. If it were traced back to me, I would be the one assumed to be the monster breeder.

Damnit.

The kitten still mewling, I scooped the thing up, gently rocking it.

Damnit.

Unlike shadow blossoms produced through ritual or post-mortem spore dispersal, a natural-born shadow blossom wouldn’t develop flesh-rotting sap for an entire year. Otherwise, a young kitten would likely kill itself; without the developed instincts of unnaturally born shadow blossoms, they needed to mature to gain the sense to not release their cytotoxin into their own body.

“So now what?” I stared at the kitten, admittedly a rather adorable would-be ball of death.

Well, at least one thing is sure.

I’d suddenly found myself a pet owner.