The girl walked out through a metal door that led to a cave. It was a completely different view from the laboratory. On either sides of the cave were lit torches. Not the modern kind of torches. No. I'm talking about sticks lit with fire.

The black dragon ran up her arms and rested on shoulder, leaving me on one of her palms. The girl then grabbed one of the torches, and she began walking through the cave. This led me to think to myself for a bit.

'Was it some sort of secret laboratory? Maybe I was some kind of secret project in the works. Yeah, right. Why give a secret project to a little girl? As if anyone is that dumb.'

As we walked through the cave we came to a massive area. There was a large underground lake with a hole in the ceiling which was letting in the moonlight. The lake was reflecting the moonlight, causing it to glow with a beautiful blue hue and shimmer like a gem. It was a very beautiful place but the most stunning feature was the massive crystal that was directly underneath the ceiling hole, right in the middle of the lake.

The crystal absorbed the moonlight and then dispersed it like a star, illuminating and bathing the cave in serene lunar light. The girl dropped the torch, and as soon as it made contact with the ground, the flames were extinguished.

‘Weird.’

She then proceeded to move towards the lake.                                             

‘Is she going for a swim? Ou, maybe this is my chance to get a sneak peek at a naked girl’s body.’

I waited for her to remove her kimono, but she didn’t. She just kept on walking towards the water body. Maybe she preferred to swim with her Kimono on. Surprisingly enough, her feet didn't touch the water. I looked at the water and it didn't even ripple as she walked over it. It was like she was walking over an invisible platform. What was going on?

<<Answer. Probability of her using the skill [Air Plates] is 100%>>

‘[Air Plates]? Skill? Ok, now everything is starting to sound like an RPG. Please explain what you mean by skill.’

<<Answer. A skill is an ability that allows an individual to perform a certain action. Skills are to be learnt after hard training, and are sometimes automatically obtained due to a person’s class. There are various kinds of skills. Regular skills, Learnt skills, Unique Skills, Advanced Skills and Ultimate Skills>>

‘Huh? I’m guessing regular skills are what a person or race is born with?’

<<Affirmative>>                                                                                                    

‘In that case learnt skills mean they can be learnt from other means. Unique skills are blessings from higher beings. Now it’s left with these two. Advanced and Ultimate skills. What are those?"

<<Advanced skills are formed when regular, learnt and unique skills undergo a sort of evolution, to become more powerful>>

‘I see. So it’s basically a rank up for skills.’

<<Ultimate skills are the pinnacle of the skill tree. The final and most effective form of any skill>>

‘Can’t say I expected more for it. Wait… you mentioned some other unique skill earlier right? Evolve or something like that.’

<< [Unique skill]: Evolver>>

‘Yeah! That. What does it do?’

<<This skill has the ability cause its user to adapt to its environment endlessly. User may also acquire the abilities of creatures it consumes>>

‘Woah. The unique skill [Evolver] sounds good. I wonder which higher being thought to give me something like that. Ah well, I guess I’ll just wreak a tiny bit of havoc once I become powerful enough like every other Isekai protagonist. Ok. Now that I think about it, this is starting to sound like some cliché Isekai anime. But, why the heck am I chicken. This is the worst of the worst. I did get unique skills. But still, what the heck?!’

<<Would you like to see your status panel?>>

‘Status panel? Like a video game?’

<<Yes>>

‘Um... Ok’

Suddenly, a clear screen popped up in front of me. It had my information like a character status screen.

 

STATUS

[Name: Hinotori

[Species: Golden Chick   Level 1/15            

[Status: -

[Age: 30 minutes                         

[Rank: F

[Titles: [Newborn in a New World], [Rare Species]

[Blessings: Ancient goddess' blessings, [UNKOWN], [UNKOWN]

[Level: 1      Exp: 0/20  

[Health: 20/20       Stamina: 25        Strength: 5      Speed: 40     Defense: 7      Dexterity: 6     Intelligence: 10        Luck: 40

[Skills: [Evolver], [Analyst], [God's voice] [Adorable Wink], [Imprint], [Baby Chick Cry]

 

 

‘It's just like a video game. I guess poultry is too low for even Rank E, huh. Wait, how’s my name Hinotori now?’

<<Target was designated the name Hinotori by a being stronger than it>>

‘A being stronger than me? So Hinotori is now my name forever?’

<<Negative. Target’s name will change if given a name by a being stronger than it and target accepts>>

‘A being stronger than me, huh? Like this girl?’

I looked at the girl once again. She had pale skin with cute red lips. Her white hair was tied into a bun, with two bangs reaching right down to her sufficiently sized chest. She wore a kimono with fire patterns all over it, as well as a silver bracelet on her left arm. I just realized that she looked sort of Asian, like a half-cast.

<<Affirmative>>

‘Interesting. And what's with the blessings? I get that I have unique skills because of my blessing from the ancient goddess, but what's with that [UNKOWN] blessing?’

<<Note. A high ranking being can grant only one Unique Skill>>

‘Oh. Ok. Which explains why I have been blessed by three higher beings. So I’m guessing I got my [God's voice] skill from the Ancient goddess' blessings.’

<<Affirmative>>

‘Then what about [Analyst] and [Evolver]?’

<<…>>

I let out a depressed sigh when the agent didn’t respond.

‘Oh? Anyway, let’s test out this [Analyst] Skill again. Hopefully I don’t get blocked like the last time.’

I looked at her with the intention of using the unique skill [Analyst]. Apparently it's as easy as wishing to use it, because I saw a status panel for her too.

 

STATUS

[Name: Shiro Tatsumaki            

[Species: Human        

[Class: Summoner Lvl 10

[Status: Excited                                                   

[Age: 14 years

[Rank: C+

[Race rank: Tier 3

[Titles: [Magic Prodigy], [Heir of the Tatsumaki Clan], [Summoner], [Troubled Child], [Loved by fairies], [Loved by Spirits], [Spawn of Cursed Blood]

[Blessings: [Ancestor spirits' Blessings], [The fairy god of Light's blessing], [The god of Fire's blessing], [The fairy god of wind's blessings], [The Fallen Dragon God Fafnir's blessings], [Ascension Dragon’s blessing], [The fairy god of Water’s blessings]

[Level:  45    Exp: 3/789,034

[Health: 2,720/2,720   Stamina: 459/700    Mana: 990/1020    Strength: 340   Speed: 560   Defense: 220    Dexterity: 410     Intelligence: 1,995    Luck: 430   Magic: 560

[Skills: -

 

‘Oi! Oi! What's with the number of blessings she's got?! Isn't there supposed to be like only one blessing? Also, her titles are so weird and those numbers she has for her stats. Scary.'

I looked at her face once again and that confident grin of hers was now starting to give me chills. If those numbers meant what I was thinking that meant this girl was a very scary existence. And the title [Magic Prodigy] alone was reaffirming that for me.

<<It seems that the target has incurred the favor of several high ranking beings. The likelihood of target being a [Hero Candidate] is calculated to be 70%>>

‘Huh? Hero Candidate? What's that?’

<< Hero Candidates are beings that possess the ability to become heroes. To become a Hero Candidate one must first receive the blessings of several high ranking beings>>

‘Oh. So this girl could become a [Hero]? Cool.’

That started to put my heart at rest. Hopefully she wasn’t a horrible [Hero]. I wanted to check out more, but then I realized that I couldn’t see her stats.

‘Hey, Agent of God. Where's her skill menu? Didn't you say [Analyst] can see all information about my target?’

<<Yes. The unique skill [Analyst] can observe all information about your target. Except if said target has acquired a unique skill themselves or can intentionally block access>>

My mind went back to the man from before and I got a chill. That observant gaze of his still burnt brightly in my head. That feel of death. I could feel my heart about to pop from hyperventilation, but then a wave of calm hit me and I let out a sigh.

‘Let’s not get as much attention as last time, eh?’

<<....>>

There was no response, so I would take it as an ok. Then I changed my gaze to the black dragon who was resting on her shoulder. It seemed Karma had no interest in me as it spared no more than a second to look at me.

 

STATUS

[Name: Karma                                    

[Species: Black Dragon Baby                            

[Status: Bored

[Age: 5 days                                          

[Rank: E-

[Race Rank: Tier 0

[Title: -

[Blessings: [Dragon god's blessings]

[Level: 1    Exp: 0/50

[Health: 100/100    Mana: 70/70    Strength: 15   Speed: 100   Defense: 50    Dexterity: 45    Intelligence:  240    Luck: 240

[Skills: [Baby dragon squeal], [Baby dragon breath], [Baby dragon claws], [Flight]

 

‘I’m guessing Shiro named her already. Why doesn't she have any unique skills though? She was blessed by the [Fallen Dragon God] as well.’

<<Answer. Not all High Ranking Beings are capable of granting Unique Skills>>

‘For real? And a simple baby chick like me got 3 unique skills? I’m starting to feel like something bad is going to happen down the line.’

The girl, Shiro said something.

I looked at her face and his had a bluish shade over it. That's when I realized that the entire time I had been checking our status panels, we had reached the giant jewel. She looked at me then at Karma. There was a very adorable smile on her face. Like she was unsure of something or nervous. 

She stretched out her hand to touch the gem. I looked at it and [Analyst] activated.

‘Looks like it works on objects too.’

 

[Item name]: Gemstone of the Ancients

[Item rank]: Legendary

[Description]: A gemstone left by a tribe of Ancients.

[Effect: 1. Power Scanning

2. Contract Formation
3. Universal Law Alteration
4. It kills anyone with |Of World| title

[Value]: 400,000 gold pieces.

 

‘Oi, oi. This isn’t something I’m supposed to be seeing so early on in my adventures. This is too scary. What is that |Of World| title effect 4 talks off?’

A screen popped up to answer me.

[|Of World|: A title given to those born of the [World]]

‘Eh? D-Does that mean those who come from this world?’

<<Affirmative>>

‘D-Doesn’t that mean it's basically a useless piece of rock for someone from this world? Wait! Shiro no! Don’t touch it!’

I tried to warn the girl by jumping on her palm, but it didn’t work. She wasn’t listening to me and her palm was literally inches away from the rock. There was nothing I could do for her and I wasn’t going to stress myself over it. I didn’t really know her either way. She placed her hand on the rock.

"Oi! Oi. Do you want to die!?"

I tried screaming, but as expected, only chirps came out.

The Gemstone glowed a brilliant blue light, and we were consumed by the light. It was so bright I had to close my eyes and even then I could see through my shut eye lids. After it calmed down I opened my eyes and there was a status panel in front of me.

 

ALERT

Shiro Tatsumaki is requesting a soul bond with you. Will you accept?

[YES] / [NO]

 

‘Soul bond? With me? She wants to get married? Huh? What’s happening?!’

I looked around, confused. I thought she would have died by making contact with the rock, but she didn’t. In fact, she looked like nothing had happened at all. Was [Analyst] wrong then?

I heard a weird squeak, so I looked up, only to see Karma glaring at me. I didn’t know what she was trying to say so I looked back at the screen in front of me.

<<Note. It might be best to refuse>>

‘Refuse a chance to get married to a hotty? No way. I mean what could go wrong?’

Ignoring the agent, I accepted it and the screen disappeared. I looked around for a bit and nothing happened.

‘You see, nothing bad happened and I can hear the wedding bells already. Mister Hinotori and Mrs. Shiro. That has a nice ring to it.’

Suddenly, another status screen popped up.

 

[ALERT]

[You have accepted the soul bond request from Shiro Tatsumaki. Congratulations. You are now her slave]

 

‘Huh!? Slave? What's that supposed to mean.’

<<You became her slave because weaker creatures cannot have an equal’s soul bond with creatures of higher strength. It automatically transforms into a slave contract>>

‘Wait! For real!? I just got here and now I'm a slave!?’

 

[ALERT]

[You have received new titles and have joined Shiro's familia]

 

‘Huh?

I immediately opened my status panel and was shocked at the same time horrified and brought to tears.

 

STATUS

[Name: Hinotori

[Species: Golden Chick   Level 1/15            

[Status: -

[Age: 30 minutes                          

[Rank: F

[Race Rank: Tier 1

[Titles: [Newborn in a New World], [Rare Species], [Familiar], [Familiar of the Tatsumaki Heiress]

[Blessings: Ancient goddess' blessings, [UNKOWN], [UNKOWN]

[Level: 1      Exp: 0/20  

[Health: 20/20       Stamina: 25        Strength: 5      Speed: 40     Defense: 7      Dexterity: 6     Intelligence: 10        Luck: 40

[Skills: [Evolver], [Analyst], [God's voice] [Adorable Wink], [Imprint], [Baby Chick Cry]

[Familia: Captain: Tora

                Grunts: Kame, Karma, Hinotori

 

‘What the hell am I seeing!? Don't people who usually get reincarnated in another world just set out to become an overpowered freak there? But I'm a slave? Why me?!’

I screamed in a rage.

‘You are too loud.’

I heard a raspy female voice say which made me think that I was starting to hear one too many voices in my head. And I was starting to get the feeling that it wasn’t normal to have two in a person’s head.

‘Huh? Who said that?’

I asked, hopefully it wouldn’t be another super powerful being trapped in my head.

‘I'm on the master's shoulder.’

The voice said.

‘The master's shoulder?’ I instinctively looked towards the girl's shoulder where Karma rested. The black dragon was looking down at me with its royal gaze, as if watching a noble watching a pitiful peon. That sort of ticked me off.

‘Were you the voice I heard?’ I asked

‘I suppose so. Unless there is another?’

I jumped up in shock.

‘You can talk!?’

Karma stuck her tongue out like how a lizard would then looked away.

<<Answer. Both targets Karma and you are incapable of talking for the moment. The only reason why you can hear her voice is because you share a soul bond, so all your thoughts are shared between each other>>

God's agent explained the situation to me in the most unsettling of ways. I didn’t like the fact that all our thoughts were being shared between ourselves. I didn’t like anyone knowing what I thought to myself.

‘Oh. So that's how it is.’

As I was thinking to myself, I could feel eyes looking at me. It felt so awkward I stopped all movement and faced the huge crimson red eyes. I gulped as I stared at those beautiful eyes that seemed to swallow me whole.

‘W-what is it?’

I forced the words out of my beak. This time, I knew that she could understand me because of the soul bond.

"Hinotori-chan. Can you understand me?"

She asked with a nervous smile on her face. I didn’t understand why she was nervous though. I was the guy who was now a frail chick.

‘Y-yes?’

Her pupils dilated instantly, then she jumped in the air, forgetting that I stood on her palm. I was flung into the air and was headed for the lake. All I could hear was, "Yes! Yes! Yes! I managed to get a familiar! And it's a cute one too!"

While she was yelling that, I was also screaming for help.

‘Aaaaagggghhhhh!!!!!’

Suddenly, this wave of calmness spread over me. It was just like before, when I was hyperventilating. That thing was starting to get annoying. It was almost like it wouldn’t allow me to lose control of my emotions for a weird reason.

‘What is that?’

<<Answer. An effect of the skill [Evolver]. It allows you to stay calm in all situations>>

It would seem that [Evolver] makes me unable to get excited. That’s good because it enables me to think rationally at times like this. But it’s in times like this that I don’t want to think rationally because if I wasn’t able to think it through, I wouldn’t have known that my chances of survival were practically zero.

I looked at the lake then I looked at the girl who was still jumping. She hadn't realized that I was about to fall into the water.

‘She isn’t falling into the water, huh? Yo, agent. Didn’t you say something about her using a skill to do that?’

<<Affirmative>>

‘Can you explain it to me? How it works I mean. Quickly!’

<< [Air Plate] is a common magic spell that requires intense concentration to keep up for long periods of time>>

God's agent confirmed my suspicions. It was magic, which meant

‘Does that mean I can also do the same?’

<<Affirmative. But not as of yet>>

‘What the hell do you mean by not as of yet!? I’m about to die!’

<<Your mana circuits and control are too weak. If you attempted to utilize mana now, your mana circuits would break and this might lead to spontaneous combustion>>

‘Eh!? What the hell!? You're telling me that I can't use magic else I'll die!? What kind of shitty body is this?’

<<Affirmative. After a period of 62 days. Your mana circuits will be properly developed and you will be able to utilize mana. Any use of mana before this deadline will result in your death>>

‘Ok, then what about the skill [Evolver]. It allows to me live comfortably right? So if I channel mana right now, it’ll let me avoid death, right?’

<<Negative. The unique skill [Evolver] works on the principle of equal but opposite reaction. To do this there will be a price that you will not be able to pay>>

‘Eeeeeehhh!!!??? Too dangerous! Too dangerous!! What am I going to do now? Will I just fall into the lake and die? Again!?’

As soon as I thought that, I submerged into the lake. I could feel the water rushing into all available holes on my body. With all my strength I tried to swim up but I couldn't. The water was too dense and I had the body a newly hatched chick. I was doomed to die unless Shiro decided to save me.

As the water rushed into my ear holes, I couldn't think straight. I wanted to swim up, but my body was too heavy. I couldn't move it again. The more I cried for a help, the more water that entered my body. Soon, I gave up and begun to sink, slowly giving into the deep cold. Strangely though, it felt nice. Like I was being welcomed.

‘So I am going to die again? On the very day I reincarnated? That's shitty. Heh, maybe in my next life I'll be a badass powerhouse. Hopefully as something more than a chicken. A slime seems fun.’

As I began giving up on life, I heard God's agent mumble some annoying stuff.

<<Activating Unique Skill [Evolver]. Target is currently in a Lake with no oxygen. Target is losing oxygen. In 5 seconds target will cease to live. Creating respiratory organs for underwater....3...2...1... Organs created. Target is sinking. Creating necessary organ for floating...3...2...1... Organ created.  Target is unable to freely move in current environment. Creating necessary limbs for movement....3...2...1... Limbs created. Target is too conspicuous in the designated environment.  Creating camouflage....3...2...1... Camouflage, created>>

Suddenly, I could breathe. I began coughing as I had been deprived of oxygen for some time. And I realized I had stopped drowning. In fact I was floating towards the surface.

‘W-what happened?’

<<The unique skill [Evolver] activated. Target is now amphibious>>

‘Amphibious? [Evolver], huh? That's one pretty useful skill. I am so happy I had that skill on me. If not, I'm sure I would have died.’

<<Negative. Your master, Shiro Tatsumaki would have saved you>>

‘Could you refrain from calling her my master? I refuse to accept being a slave.’

I requested. I did not like the idea of being a slave to some body. I did not like my current situation at all.

I instinctively knew how to swim now, so I swam around in the lake for a while. It was pretty cool how I managed to go against the water with little resistance. I was enjoying myself to the extent that I forgot about those 2 above the water.

"Tori-chan!! Are you ok?"

I could hear Shiro-san's voice. No, I could feel her voice ringing loudly in my head. I could get a serious headache if this happens every day now. Looks like she was using the soul bond to check up on me, then I had an idea.

‘Hey, God's agent. What would happen if I pretend to have died?’

<<You cannot deceive someone who you share a soul bond with. If you were to die, they would feel the disappearance>>

It answered like that. I was disappointed but shrugged it off. For now I just had to respond to her. Then another problem came up. How was I supposed to tell her I was busily swimming in the lake as if I were a fish, even though I was simply a chick?

‘Hinotori, I can feel you in the lake. I don’t know what’s happening but I’ve sent Kame to help you,

‘Kame? Who is Kame?’

Just as I asked that question, a shadow loomed over me. I looked up and saw a massive turtle swimming in my way. It had black skin with jagged rocks for its shell. Its golden eyes stared intently at me. I was guessing that was Kame.

The turtle came over to me and playfully hit me with its head. I wanted to complain, but I was starting to feel dizzy. I could hear a weird ringing sound in my head and the whole world was turning dim.

‘What? What is happening to me?’

<<Answer. Master is experiencing the side effects of the Unique Skill [Evolver]. The skill speeds up reactions in the body in order to evolve very quickly to adapt to the environment. Seeing as the current body didn’t have enough energy, the body will enter a state of auto rest to recover the energy. Time till recovery of missing energy. 72 hours>>

The only thing I heard him say was "rest".

‘Yeah, I think I'll just sleep for a while.’

 

***

Kame swam up towards the surface and carried the little chick on its back towards the dry ground. It dropped the little bird immediately and looked at it in silence for a bit. It was confused as to what this creature was. It had been taking a nap in its cave when the human it contracted with had called it. It didn’t expect for such a reason.

It heard the girl coming closer then it looked at her.

‘A new member, huh? Interesting. Looks like she will have her wish fulfilled then.’

He said this because the creature somewhat resembled a bird, although it swam in water.

***

Shiro ran to her little familiar that had collapsed before her very eyes. It was different now. Instead of yellow feathers, it now had beautiful blue scales covering its body, with fins on its sides instead of wings, alongside webbed feet. It even had gills on its neck.

She would've mistaken it for an Elwedristsche. Those creatures looked very similar to Hinotori's current form, except they had antlers and the new-borns were easily 3 times Hinotori's current size.

Another reason why she knew it was him was because of the soul bond they now shared. Although it was now more like a slave contract. She hadn’t noticed it at the moment, since it was her first time attempting such a thing.

She looked at its collapsed form with pity in her eyes, then crouched to the ground. She then picked it up with both of her palms and tried to use healing magic.

"[Sacred Arts: Hand of light]"

She casted the light magic on him. The small familiar then began to glow with a bright light as her magic began to work. This was a common spell which could heal open wounds and cure status effects. Unfortunately, it did not have the ability to recover a person's energy, so it was pointless.

Realizing that it was having no effect, she decided to stop. She noticed that it was just sleeping. If so, then there was no need for her to do anything. She just needed to carry it back home. First, she needed to ask about why its form had changed. It was an unprecedented development that it would transform as soon as it entered the lake.

She had come to the conclusion that it was some sort of passive skill that it possessed.

Suddenly, the chick's scales started to morph back into golden feathers, and it soon regained its original form, which further confirmed her suspicions.

‘It has a unique skill’, she thought

This made her very excited. Not just any creature could acquire a unique skill. Only those blessed by the gods were given this opportunity, which was why she didn’t want to use the mana converter to acquire a familiar. Those familiars weren't actually alive according to Sotomura’s explanation. They were like machines that could only listen to the will of their master without objection. Such a creature was too boring to acquire the attention of the gods. The only reason why Karma had any sort of blessing was due to the fact that the mana of the Tatsumaki Clan was blessed by the Dragon god.

Even with all these reasons her mother wouldn't understand no matter what. If it wasn’t a dragon species from the converter, she wouldn’t let Shiro keep it. She was hell-bent on keeping up with her scientific exploration, using Shiro as an experiment.

Kame rubbed its head on her shin when she sighed. She patted it on the head and let it disappear to wherever it came from.

“Thanks.”

“Ojou-san, the clan head summons you.” A cold voice came through the shadows. Shiro gulped and was frozen solid. Not because of the presence that manifested itself directly from the shadows, but because of what it said.

‘T-the Clan Head? Mother? W-What could she possibly want with me?’

Suzuki Tatsumaki. The ruthless head of the Tatsumaki clan. A vicious strategic genius and chief priestess of the Dragon God Fafnir.

Shiro turned around quickly, hiding Hinotori behind her, shaking a little bit.

The owner of the voice was a man completely dressed in black robes. He knelt on one knee. This man, known as Kai, was Shiro's personal bodyguard. He usually completely erased his presence and moved around through the shadows, always monitoring her without interfering unless he believed she absolutely needed it.

Kai was a young man with midnight black hair tied into a ponytail that reached his waist. He wore a face mask, concealing most of his facial features and his eyes were closed as he faced down. He looked to be in his mid-twenties.

"I believe you already know."

He opened his eyes and stared right at her. His eyes glowed a violent purple in the cave and she felt like he was looking right at her soul. Sometimes she felt that he could read her mind, especially after he says things like that. Still, she wanted to continue feigning ignorance.

"I-I have no idea what you are implying."

"That familiar you got without your mother's permission. It won’t be like the other times were she ignored."

She had forgotten that he was always watching her so he knew exactly what she was doing when she was doing it. He had been monitoring her every action and had been showing a video feed to her mother through the use of magic.

The current head of the Tatsumaki clan was angry at the scene of Shiro choosing the chick even though there was a dragon available.

"Can't we forget about it this one time?"

She pleaded, but Kai was a by-the-rules, no-nonsense character. He wouldn’t listen to her no matter what. So he closed the distance between the two of them with the blink of an eye and used the skill [Shadow Travel], to send both of them away.

 

 

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

 

For a moment, Shiro could only see black and couldn't breathe. Then suddenly she was thrown out of the darkness and back into light. She instantly knew that Kai had used [Shadow Travel] to get them both out of the [Cave of Ancients]. As for where they were now, she had a fairly good guess.

She was in a dimly lit room, with orbs of blue flames floating around, making vision very difficult. In front of her was a closed sliding door, showing the silhouette of a woman smoking. The woman's eyes shone a bright red through the door as she looked at the new expected guest.

Shiro promptly stood up and dusted herself.

"H-hello, mother."

“Is that how to greet the clan head?” the one sitting behind the door asked and puffed out a bit of smoke, her voice elegant and powerful.

“S-sorry clan head!” The girl immediately bowed down, a cold sweat ran down her face.

“Sit.” Shiro sat in a traditional Japanese style and faced the silhouette. Ever since she had been born she had never seen the face of her mother. As the family head and the shrine priestess she was always too busy to leave this shrine – at least that is what Shiro told herself. If she left, it would be for the compulsory "Elder Clans Summit", where the 4 other great clans would meet. Even then, she would leave in a palanquin, so Shiro could never see her face.

"First, I would like to congratulate you on getting your familiar. Could you introduce it to me?” she asked and Shiro beamed with joy. If she could just explain the fact that Hinotori possessed a unique skill to her mother, surely she would have to reconsider.

"Its name is Hinotori-chan, and it's got-"

"That's a strange name to give to a dragon." The clan head interrupted. Shiro began to feel uncomfortable.

"Uh... what? Hinotori-chan is a chick." She said.

"Chick? There are no chicks present in this room. Get serious."

That was when Shiro realized that Hinotori hadn't appeared with her. She searched around and couldn't spot it out. She also couldn't sense the bird’s presence in the premises. Due to her soul bond she knew it wasn’t remotely close to them.

Then it hit her. Her mother wouldn't allow for a chick to be her familiar. Professor Sotomura had warned her about it, but she thought at most her mother would just ignore its presence. Kai had already taken Hinotori-chan away with his [Shadow Travel] skill.

Just then, she felt a sharp strike in her soul. It was almost as if someone were ripping her soul apart and it was unbearable. She instantly understood that her soul bond with Hinotori was being cut off. Which meant that Hinotori was dying.

"W-what?"

Her vision became blurry and she could hear ringing in her ears. Her heartbeat felt faster and she felt really dizzy, swooning from side to side.

"What's happening?"

She asked, absolutely confused.

"What must be done."

The clan head responded as she took a smoke. Her voice was a calm and composed as it always was.

"W-WHAT DID YOU DO!!!"

She screamed with bloodshot eyes and bulging veins. The pain sent her into a state of cardiac arrest, instantly knocking her out. Last thing she remembered were those crimson red eyes glowing brightly as they looked down on her.

 

***

The man emerged from the shadows of a thick tree in front of a lake. It was midnight and the full moon shone brightly. He could hear a timber wolf howl in a distance, but that didn’t faze him in the slightest. C rank monsters such as timber wolves were nothing to him.

In his hand he held an unconscious Hinotori and he walked to a riverside. He went on his knees and lifted the bird up with reverence and respect. He begun to look at it with a gaze of awe and excitement.

“Oh yes! After so long. We have recovered the [Divine]!”, he screamed happily. “Oh paragons! We need wait no longer. We don’t need the empire or the Elder Clans anymore. We can proceed.”

“Are you retarded? Shouting in a place like this.”

Another voice sounded from behind Kai. He tilted his head back to get a look at the person. Once he identified the person, he cleared his throats then looked back at the chick.

“Sorry for my outburst. It’s just that… the [Divine]. After so long. The elders will be happy now.”

The new member grinned, then got closer to Kai. He got a closer look at the chick and had an ecstatic look on his face. His leafy green eyes glowed with a faint light of excitement.

“Glorious. We must hurry and inform the others, although I would want to have it a bit more to myself. How greedy of me.”

His expression then turned into one of disgust and confusion.

“What the hell is this?” he asked in a low voice.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I mean the pathetic soul that is joined to the [Divine]’s. It is interrupting the glorious display.”

Kai then remembered exactly what happened earlier on.

“The Tatsumaki girl. She forged a Master-servant contract with it.”

“WHAT?! She dare?! The Tatsumaki clan have gone too far with their insults. I will go cut her down, right now.” The paragon flew into a rage.

“Relax, oh Cardinal. I have an idea.” Kai begged and the paragon looked at him with a curious glare.

“Hmm?”

The young assassin began to recite some words. His hands and eyes glowed dark purple and three complex magic circles appeared above the chick.

“[Forbidden Arts: Degenerate]”

Cardinal watched on with intrigue at his action. He immediately understood what Kai was attempting to do. [Degenerate] was a magic spell that allowed a person to breakdown a magic spell to its very fundamental roots. It was an extremely difficult spell to learn, that most people never were able to learn especially since it meant reading the practically innumerable threads that went into a spell and tearing them apart piece by piece in mere seconds. And what Kai was attempting was even more difficult.

“I see. I will be preparing a teleport gate then.”

He said, walking behind Kai. He begun the spell for the teleport gate. Kai would have been too exhausted to [Shadow Travel] by the time he was done, so Cardinal took it upon himself to carry both of them back.

He stretched out his hands to begin. A white magic circle, 5m round opened up, but then the circle broke apart.

'Hmmm? Did I make a mistake in the circle formation? Let me try again.'

He tried again, and it didn’t work. As a skilled veteran, he immediately recognized this as the work of [Spatial magic] user. Obviously he had considered the possibility of Kai being the source, so he glanced at him, but the young man was still busy with his spell. Which left his first suspicion. Someone else had intentionally trapped him here, still he couldn't sense a presence.

His ears perked up when he heard some sounds coming from the bushes, then a shite slash that came faster than he could react, cutting a gaping hole in his chest. Confused, he looked down when the warm blood begun to escape his body. Then he heard clanking sounds.

He looked up again and saw someone in black armor approaching.

"Hey. I was taking a nap over there when that blonde guy over there came. I found it a bit odd that there was a human here, but decided to ignore it. Strangely enough another human appeared. I couldn’t allow you to tarnish this place’s image any further. This forest used to be completely anti-human. I guess this forest isn’t what it used to be, huh? Then again, nothing is what it used to be some centuries back."