Bo felt like a new hare. He had another [Kin] title under his belt, which made him even more cooler.

The title [Toad Kin] had given him +3 Dexterity, Perception, and Constitution, another [Affinity] for Earth Mana, as well as the Proficiencies [Strong Legs I], [Amphibious I], [Tongue Shot], [Super Jump], and [Loud Croak]. He took one [Feature] from the toad and that was the long tongue.

He loved it! As he and Twigs walked back to the burrow, he kept flicking his elongated tongue at her, messing with her walking practice. Eventually, she got fed up and started hitting him with her beak, rewarding her with a skill [Peck].

'Why didn't you have the skill already?' Bo questioned, rubbing a sore spot on his side where Twigs had been particularly vicious.

She shrugged and said: 'I-I g-guess it's n-not a Falcon b-base p-proficiency.'

'But don't all birds peck things?'

'I-I don't know. W-why d-don't you f-find others a-and a-ask t-them?'

Bo frowned at her. 'Where would I find other birds, though? There are only falcons and-'

He cut himself off when he heard something. Twigs stopped, too and opened her beak to ask something, but stopped when Bo stood up on his hind legs, ears twitching.

There was that sound again. That familiar woosh. Fear crept into his heart as he remembered the last time he'd heard it. He ended up gravely injured and Lima Bean lost an arm and most of her sight.

He dropped onto his stomach to hide in the tall grass and cast his first-ever spell, one he'd never thought to use before; [Avoid Danger]. It masked his presence from any entity with a Perception lower than 10. That number would go up with higher proficiency, but Bo had never shied away from a fight, so he'd never had to use it.

Now, though, he wanted to avoid any contact with a griffin. The last fight had been brutal and he'd just barely won, even with Lima Bean helping him. He only had Twigs with him and she was only level One. She couldn't do much. With that in my mind, he grabbed her wing and pulled her close, masking her with his spell as well.

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'B-Bo?' she chirped fearfully.

'Shh!'

His ears strained to hear the tell-tale sign of a griffin sneaking up on them. Nothing. But he wasn't stupid enough to believe it was gone, so he stayed still and waited. After what felt like an eternity, he was forced to release the spell when his mana got low. He released Twigs and stood up, still wary.

Twigs looked at him carefully while preening the wing he grabbed: 'W-what was i-it?'

'A griffin,' he said.

Her eyes widened and her beak dropped. He could see her tremble ever so slightly so he reached out with a comforting paw and said: 'Don't worry; I'll protect you. I won't let anything hurt us, okay?'

She took a deep breath and then nodded. 'W-we sh-should g-get home n-now.'

Bo rubbed his chin and contemplated like he'd seen Michi do sometimes. Going home would be the safest option but...he was restless. That feeling of weakness that came to him when he heard the griffin didn't feel right. He was strong! He should be able to fight! That was the cool thing to do!

But...he had to protect Twigs. Fighting would put her in danger and he couldn't let that happened. So he decided; he would take Twigs home and then look for Branut to begin his training. He could walk pretty well, now; she would accept him.

He would become a real fighter.

******

Branut had a plan.

She'd had one ever since she'd been a babe. Becoming a Squirrelkin was her dream ever since she'd learned of them. She'd be more than just a beast, more than just some animal struggling to survive in the Falcon Plains. She would leave this place, go find civilization. Get stronger.

And then she'd be one step closer to overthrowing Michi and his tyrannical ways.

She'd figured out most of the requirements, which included learning how to walk, write, and gaining an uncanny level of paranoia. Now, all that was left was to eat the Metanut; the consumer would go through a metamorphosis into their respective beast folk.

Unfortunately for her, the only known Metanut in the Falcon Plains was in Michi's possession. This was the only reason she agreed to train the leveret, who was also under that dreadful kitsune's thumb. She would free him, eventually. No one deserved to be under that flea-bitten dojin.

'Braaaanuuuut! I'm heeeeere! I walked the whole way, too!'

She frowned and walked over to the entrance to her burrow. There stood the leveret. Bo, she remembered.

He was standing on his hind legs, looking proud of himself. Good, she thought. He's already moving forward in my plans without even knowing it.

'Come, then, little hare,' she purred. 'It's time to begin your training.'