I trembled upon tasting his blood… It reminded me of the olden days. It was sweet, oh, so sweet, and the energy it gave was even more potent than the best cattle we had right now.
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Not far away from the town, hidden well inside a hill, behind tall trees, bushes, and grass, was a cave. Within, shadows danced on the empty walls, created from a crackling, hearty fire. A water pot, filled with meat and vegetables, boiled atop the fire, steam escaping through the small opening in the cave. Inside it was a man with a head full of white hair, a shaven face, and a ragged attire. A sword rested beside him, and the opposite was a white wolf. Next to the wolf was a boy, a head full of dark, burnt hair, naked from the waist up, and bandaged on his right side.
He coughed lightly as his eyes blinked open, gazing upon the unfamiliar ceiling. The boy groaned as he got up, alarming both the wolf and man, who turned toward him. He looked around, his eyes slowly getting accustomed to the faint light of the crackling fire.
“Took you some time.” The man said, his expression neutral and voice monotonous. However, he quickly took out a piece of boiling meat from the pot and put it on a plate. “Eat, you need the energy.”
“Mhm…” The boy nodded and glanced at the plain, barely cooked piece of meat. Steam escaped its surface as it cooled down, and it looked in no way appetizing. He frowned slightly at the sight but sighed and reached for it.
“Thank you, Mister Hideyoshi,” Kai said, then grabbed the piece of meat with both hands and bit down on it. His bandages got dirty, and his burnt hand started to hurt under the heat of the meat, however, he took a couple of bites before putting it back on the plate.
“Kid, you have a knack for getting wounded, you know that? I had to change you out of old bandages.” The man said with a slight smirk, unable to keep his stoic appearance up.
“Well, that was because-”
“Yeah, I know. I already reported that to Raymond.”
Hearing that, Kai locked eyes with the man whose old age told as many words as a picture. “Why didn’t you help me?” He asked, his voice trembling. “You clearly had the power to.”
Hideyoshi sighed and poked the fire with a stick, riling it up so it burned for longer. “There are some things I can get involved in, and some things I better stay out of.” His tone said that there was no room for negotiation, and, even as Kai’s lips parted trying to say something, he quickly shut him up with a glare. “Such is the world we live in. Some things are better left unsaid.”
“What about the safety of the people?” Kai’s anger flared as he raised his voice and stood up, his shadow dancing wildly. “Wasn’t that the reason Raymond kidnapped me? I-”
“You’re a special case. We don’t usually kidnap suspicious individuals… however, you must understand your own situation better than we do. As for the people…” A frustrated sigh escaped his lips, his eyes never once gazing away from the fire. “It’s already been taken care of.”
“What do you mean, taken care of?” Kai’s voice echoed in the cave once again. “Had I not been there-”
“A lot of civilians would have died.” The man cut him off with a stern tone, lifting his eyes and locking them with Kai’s crimson pupils. “It was a mistake on our part, and we are grateful for your assistance. What happened should not have happened, and we will get to the root of this matter.”
“We, as in who, you and Raymond?”
“Kid!” Hideyoshi’s voice clashed against the cave’s walls, his imposing tone sending a shiver down Kai’s spine. “Enough with the questions. You should be grateful.”
Hearing that, Kai’s anger seemed to have quelled slightly, not because he was reassured, but because he feared that he was pushing his luck.
“It’s not as simple as you think. And such matters are not for someone like you to worry about.”
Someone like me… Kai repeated in his head, his hand clenching into a fist. Right.
“Don’t look so depressed. I’m telling you, kid, ignorance is bliss.” Hideyoshi said as he scooped up another piece of meat from the boiling pot, which he tossed toward Onyx. The Obborik opened his mouth and ate the entire thing without hesitation, bones included.
“There is a storm coming…” The man said, picking up a piece for himself, and quickly took a few big bites, then said after he swallowed. “And such storms shouldn’t involve a kid, vampire or not. Yet, somehow you did get involved.”
“What do you mean?” Kai asked with a bewildered expression.
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However, even though Hideyoshi looked like he wanted to say something, he held his tongue and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, it’ll probably pass.”
Kai nodded, and finished eating whatever meat was left on the bone, then tossed it to Onyx, who happily began biting it.
“Peculiar beast.” Hideyoshi commented as he watched the Obborik. “I’ve never seen one so obedient.”
“One, what do you mean?”
“An Obborik, I mean. Usually, they’re unruly, ferocious… terrifying. The kin of your friend are ruthless, even to their own.” He said as if it was a matter of fact, like common knowledge.
Kai’s eyes widened upon hearing the man talk about Onyx’s race in such great detail. After all, not even the ancient book he had talked about nearly as much as Hideyoshi just had.
“You…”
“Why do you look so surprised, child? Do you think a simple low-rank transformation spell could fool my eyes? I’ve lived longer than you, and have more experience. Although…” He elongated his sentence, his deadpan eyes seemingly filling with an intrigued glimmer. “To think that such a young one could be so smart as to use the spell in the first place… Kid, he’s definitely special. I can tell you that much. You’ve chosen yourself a good Mana Companion.”
Kai’s mind reeled in shock upon hearing the words, in fact, it felt like today, Kai has been more shocked than throughout his entire life. Mana Companion? I’ve never heard of that.
Sensing the boy’s invisible reaction, Hideyoshi sighed and leaned back, supporting himself against the cave walls. “You really don’t know anything, do you?” He asked, pulling out a wooden pipe and filling it with a mixture of herbs. “Let me tell you, then, as another favor.” The man wrapped a cloth around a stick, and leaned forwards lightly, lighting it on fire. After using the fire to light up his pipe, he took a puff and then looked at the ceiling.
“I guess they’re not as common nowadays. Back when I was young they were more common, and back in my grandfather’s days, they were everywhere. Mana Companions…” He seemed to be reminiscing about the past, his eyelids closing slightly in relaxation as he delved into his memories. “When a bond between a mage and a beast becomes deep, a Mana Bond is formed. Whether they know it or not, their lives become linked… That’s what the legends said anyway.”
“Back when I was your age, I saw people, older people, spending the last of their days alongside their Mana Companions, and when they died, so did the beast, only a couple of days later. As for how strong they were, or what purpose they served… I do not know.”
Kai listened attentively and furrowed his eyebrow. After glancing at Obborik for a second, he turned back to the man. “Then why did you make such a big fuss about it when I didn’t know.”
“Haha… Well usually people know when their life becomes intertwined with someone else’s, so I assumed you at least knew that much.”
Kai shook his head and scooted closer to Onyx, patting his fluffy head with a gentle tenderness. “Onyx has been my friend, ever since…” He paused, struggling to think of what to say. After all, the Obborik had been with him for a long time now, but the beginning of their relationship wasn’t exactly sweet. I wonder how Kana is doing… I just left them behind huh…
Hideyoshi sighed and took another puff. “I get it kid… if I remember correctly the Magic Academy still has someone that knows about Mana Companions…” Hearing that, Kai’s face lit up, a smile almost creasing his lips. “But last I heard of them was fifty years ago.”
The boy’s face quickly returned to normal, and he buried it in his companion’s fluff. “Mister, you know, you really like to keep people on their toes.”
“Haha… I suppose that's true.” The old man chuckled and took another puff, his eyes fixated on the ceiling still.
Silence then descended upon the two. The crackling of the fire occupied it, just as it filled the cave with warmth. Outside, the thundering clouds began covering the sun which barely showed its fangs. The sky darkened and flashed with quick arcs of lighting which seemingly split the sky.
It rained.
Small droplets of water crashed against the canopies, the ground, and anyone unlucky to be out at the time. The furred animals ran toward a hiding spot, and the feathered beasts flew to take cover in their nests. In contrast, the critters that loved the rain left their hiding spots and began nourishing themselves.
Inside the cave, the muffled sound of the rain sang together with the dancing flame, performing a soothing show that brought a cold breeze, causing the flame to flicker wildly. Kai shivered, and took out his wand, then waved it toward the small entrance, closing it completely.
None of the two said anything.
Onyx snuggled closer to the fire and closed his eyes as he fell asleep on his paws. Kai patted him gently, making sure not to disturb his rest.
He smacked his lips, which hung open for a while before he finally said, “Why did you save me? Why… all this?”
Hideyoshi averted his gaze from the ceiling for the first time in a long while and brought the pipe to his lips, kissing it as he took another puff. “Unlike the others, I don’t discriminate against your race. They did some messed up shit, however, you have no fault in them. As for why… you, the son of Violet Night and Evergreen, intrigue me. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“Intrigue you? How?”
Hideyoshi leaned forward, bending his spine, his face illuminated by the fire. “It’s like you don’t know the meaning of death, or fear… The first thing you do upon hearing someone is watching you is go into a cave and advance to the next rank, then challenge that person to a fight. What if I wanted to kill you?”
“You wouldn’t have.”
“How are you so sure?”
“Raymond didn’t kill me, he… he allowed me to live,” Kai said, disgusted by the phrasing. “So therefore even if you wanted to, there’d be a price to pay.”
“And what if I were willing to pay? What then? You’d be a cold corpse in the forest.”
“Well, I sort of gambled that you wouldn’t, and it paid off, didn’t it?”
Hearing Kai’s words, Ro Nin’s lips blew out into a hearty laughter, pulling his head back as his stomach heaved up and down. “Yes, yes it did. Kid, from where do you have such a gal?”
Upon hearing the question, Kai’s forming smile froze on his face, and memories of all the times he almost died resurfaced in his mind. That time when I left the kingdom walls… when I met Onyx. Then I fought a bandit group to save Orphelia, and took on several magical beasts I had no business trying to kill. And the other times when I forcefully injected mana into my system to advance… and now, less than a week ago I challenged a man that could kill me with a slap to a fight.
His pupils widened, and he broke out into a light chuckle. “I must be insane…”