Ashara flew ahead of me through the trees, her wings tucking and rolling to avoid the branches. Behind her, I smiled softly, following her maneuvers. Finally, there were no more teachers around. No more lectures, or introductions to special cards and combinations. Now, we were out on our own.

It took us six months to get to this point. Over half of our training time already gone. And if not for one of my tests, we would likely still be on the compound. However, as a monster tamer, I was naturally eventually required to actually tame a monster. Go figure, right?

Typically, I would have to undergo this test alone. Thankfully, Ashara had managed to convince her instructor to allow her to accompany me. With her abilities as a cleric, she could best ensure my safe return if things got dangerous.

Of course, we weren’t hunting the dangerous monsters of the third world, and were still safely on Deckan. Even so, this was our first real hunt. “You’re falling behind, Karn!” Ashara called back to me, turning her head back to grin towards me.

It seemed like so long since we flew in the darkness, and I was able to admire her shining green eyes almost glowing ahead of me. We still had our sunglasses, of course, but there was no need to wear them, now. We had prepared ourselves for this, adjusted our sleep cycle back to normal so we could hunt naturally.

In order to stand a chance at this test, I had been loaned two cards. Both cards of the second rank, there was a fusion and a summon card. According to Enta’s words, only a monster tamer could bring out the full power of these cards.

Normally, creatures summoned in this way would have their strength stagnant at the point when they died. Yet, from my interpretation, a monster tamer could share experience with a monster that they were linked to. This was something that only became possible after the classes appeared, so the information was still lacking.

Ashara spread her wings, catching the air to slow her down for just long enough that I caught up to her. “Something on your mind, Karn?” She asked, glancing over at me while making sure to weave through the trees. The forest here was huge, as were the trees themselves. Although we could fly over them, doing so would mean losing any potential targets.

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking what kind of partner I’d like to have.” I answered as I looked to her, before scanning the ground below. “There!” I muttered quietly.

Without saying anything else, I stretched out my wings to slow myself, my feet catching on a branch to stop me. There was a light yelp from ahead as Ashara had to make a quick circle to return to me. “Little warning next time, sheesh.” She complained, before glancing down towards the ground. The two of us were well over a hundred meters up, and it didn’t seem like the creature below had noticed us.

Even at a glance, this was clearly a monster. With a feline body, pitch black fur, and a long tail, it soaked in the starlight that swept across its sleeping frame. The effect seemed to give it a faint glow, but hidden beneath that glow was a layer of darkness. Are you ready? I asked, sending my words directly into Ashara’s ear with my mana so as not to alert the monster.

Ashara gave a small nod before clasping her hands in prayer. I waited for the prayer to end before moving, a thin golden film covering my body. This would shield me against normal attacks, so long as Ashara was able to keep focused. And… I had to admit, I trusted her completely.

Closing my eyes, I leaned forward, keeping my wings tucked in to dive down towards the ground. The soft whistling of my wings cutting through the air seemed to alert the black jungle cat, as it perked its head up to look at me. As it jumped back, I reached my hands forward to begin casting a spell.

Body like a perfect stone. Immovable like the mountain. Unyielding as the great flood. I recited the mnemonic chant in my head to help my visualize the spell, my body gaining a second layer of protection. To top it all off, I let my ki flow through my body.

With the three layers of defense, the hundred meter fall felt like a light tumble, dust kicking up around me while the ground cracked. Predictably, the cat had jumped away, lowering itself on its front paws to prepare to pounce at me. I could see its claws glowing with a silver sheen, a small grin forming on my lips.

With all of the various enhancements placed on my body from both myself and Ashara, I couldn’t feel afraid. When the beast lunged, I spun, my wings expanding to slap it out of the air. Normally, I would never do this for fear of my wing getting cut, but right now that was one thing I did not fear.

Chains like dripping ice. Melting within the harsh sun. Leashed by six bands. Another mnemonic chant, and chains of ice shot from my hands, typing up the feet of the beast with the other end attaching to the ground.

A harsh growl sounding from the creature’s throat as it struggled against the chains, reaching down to bite at them. Taking the brief moment while it was restrained, I lunged forward again. My hands straightened out like blades as I prepared another spell. Crossed swords above a shallow pond. Burning ring of flames. Crescent moon’s grin.

I felt a brief interference between my spell and Ashara’s shield, but she quickly adjusted it to let my power through. Blue blades of light extended from my fingers, piercing into the head of the captured beast. It let out a pain-filled scream as it died, the light and darkness surrounding its fur fading away.

I heard the whoosh of air behind me as Ashara descended, landing against the ground. “You sure this is the one you want? You only have one shot at this, and they’re not going to let you have another set of cards to try again.”

I smiled slightly towards her. Placing my hand down on the beast’s corpse, I sent the command to store it. “Not the creature… something else.” As soon as I saw the shimmering light along its fur, I knew that this creature had a card I wanted. I could only hope that it came out.

I closed my eyes and prayed, not bothering to watch the light show that enveloped the creature’s corpse. I felt a card slip into my hand, causing my heart to briefly sink… before another one silently emerged from the back of it. Although it wasn’t guaranteed to get a magic card whenever you kill a monster, the chances are higher the more pronounced its ability.

When I opened my eyes, I saw two cards in my hand. One was listed Moonlight Panther, and clearly had the image of the creature that I had just killed. The other was a magic card, with the image and title of the moon.

“Really?” Ashara asked with a raised eyebrow as she saw the two cards in my hands. “You went through all of that to gamble on an extra card? How much mana do you even have left?” Now that she mentioned it, I was beginning to feel light-headed from the three successive spells that I cast…

I hadn’t even noticed my health bar appearing over my head, though I glanced up to see it vanish as another golden light washed over me. “You’re lucky I came with you.” Ashara said with a grumble. “So, your mana?”

“I’m down to about a third left.” I admitted. “I’ll need to rest for a little bit before I’m ready for the real deal.”

“Uh huh…” She eyed me sceptically. “And just what is the real deal? Since it’s apparently not that big cat…”

I offered an apologetic smile at that. “Sorry, I really just wanted the card, but it was important. And I want a bird monster to be my companion. Something that can fly with me, and doesn’t just have to be carried around all the time.”

Ashley gave a small sight at that, shaking her head. “Alright… but aren’t birds supposed to be a lot harder to find? Unless you mean one of the really big ones, in which case I will say no to that right now.”

“Ah, no, not one of the super monsters.” I shook my head quickly. I might have leveled up a few times, but nowhere near enough to take on anything that strong. “I asked my teacher before we left. There’s a nesting ground for steelfeather swallows in a mountain ahead. They always migrate back there this time of year, so it will be easy to catch one.

Ashara’s face relaxed instantly when she heard my target. Although their name was a bit deadly, the bird was actually quite harmless. Its one dangerous trait were its small, bladelike wings. “Then why is this card so important?” She asked with another groan, though I simply smiled and lifted off from the ground. “Hey! Come back here!” She called, chasing after me.

I didn’t get far, just to the same branch that we had spotted the panther from before. “I’ll show you when we get there!” I told her, mimicking her typical mischievous smile. “Right now, I need to rest up a bit. They may not be that bad, but the last thing I want is getting my wings cut for this.”

Ashara shook her head, a low bitter laugh coming from her. “Fine, fine.” She said, moving towards the base of the branch. Turning around to face me, she sat down on the branch, her tail reaching out below her to secure her in place. Seeing her arms opening up to me, I moved closer, leaning against her.

We had been living together for six months now. Although she mostly wanted me to scare away the other guys to stop them from bothering her… We still became close. And with my smaller body being embraced by her like this, her wings wrapping around me, I couldn’t help but feel happy.

Of course, this rest couldn’t last forever, and we had to get moving soon. Like us, the swallows were a nocturnal bird, otherwise I wouldn’t have chosen one. But this also meant that the only chance to get one would be at night, when they weren’t all sleeping in their cave nest. So, once I felt my head clear enough to cast spells, I tapped Ashara on the waist to let her know I was ready to move on.

She gave a low grumble at that, reluctantly opening her wings up for me to stand, her tail straightening out again. I stretched an arm out to help her up, which she took with a soft smile. “Alright, come on Karn. We’re losing night.”

Saying that, she kicked off the branch, and began flying towards the direction that we had originally been traveling. As she launched herself, her tail lightly flicked against my leg, and I saw her turn to glance at me with her typical grin.

I rolled my eyes and chased after her, knowing that we wouldn’t be too far from the mountains now. It might be easier to see if we moved above the trees, but there was always the chance that we could spot another creature likely to drop a good card.