Chapter 31: Demons, Elves and Griffins

"....A Griffin"

The giant Griffin laughed out loud, her eyes focused on Arsh's stoic expression. Like he just had died from the shock of seeing her.

"...I don't like that name much. But, I think that is how other species refer to us."

Arsh went silent from the reply of Griffin, his expression of utter confusion. He didn't know what to say now.

'....A real mythical beast.'

The Griffin smirked, her eyes gleaming with amusement. She looked at Arsh from the corner of her eyes, signaling him to follow her.

Arsh silently nodded and followed the Griffin back to the entrance of the cave.

The Griffin took a seat down on the ground. Following her example Arsh did the same, his eyes plastered on the Griffin.

"What are you called, Child? It will be pretty rude to call you, human this and human that"

"...I am Arsh."

Hearing Arsh's low-toned reply, Griffin nodded silently, her expression thoughtful.

"I am Gelina. You can call me Gelina, Arsh."

Arsh looked at the giant Griffin named Gelina in front of him and gulped a mouthful of saliva.

'She won't kill me for manners, right? Right?'

Arsh thought for a few seconds about how he should address her. To ask the question, that was almost stuck in the back of his mind, ever since he opened his eyes inside the cave.

"Miss Gelina….Are you the one who saved me?"

She smiled a little with her giant eagle-like mouth, before closing her eyes and nodding proudly.

"Yes. I saw you falling from the cliff with that giant monster. I caught you in between your fall and fetched you here."

"You were very wounded and worn out. So much so that you passed out in mid-air. The blood clots and wounds were everywhere on your body. Even though my affinity isn't suited for healing, I did everything in my power to keep you alive. You better thank me for all that"

Arsh looked at the giant Griffin in front of him and started to gather the situation around him. It all started to make sense little by little.

'So… She was the one who saved me. Not that rude voice in my head.'

Arsh had several questions he wanted answers to. But, it all enamored away upon the sight of the mythical creature in front of him. A Griffin was that kind of entity.

He had only heard about Griffins in fairy tales and stories. He had already seen several of their representations in picture books, his mother brought for him in his childhood.

But, seeing the real thing in front of him was too astounding and terrifying in itself. It was not remotely close to how the books depicted her.

"Miss Gelina, if you don't mind can I ask you a question?"

Fearfully averting his eyes, Arsh spoke up lightly. He still was very much afraid of the mythical being, even though she was trying to be friendly with him.

"Why? Of Course, Arsh. You can ask me anything you want."

Arsh again gulped. He knew what he was about to ask, maybe striking her as rude. But he still went ahead, asking in a low tone.

"What are you?"

He was reluctant to ask for it. But, he was still very curious, as to how something from folk tales can exist in real life.

It was the same as seeing dinosaurs outside. The only difference was, the beast in front of him was almost a thousand times more dangerous than any dinosaur could ever hope to be.

Gelina's expression changed to a scowl, her face giving away the irritation she felt. But, she held back on whatever she was feeling.

Taking a deep breath trying to fix her expression, she responded.

"...I feel very offended by the way you just referred to my species. But I will forgive you for it. To answer your stupid question, we are also a type of living form just like Demons, Elves, and humans..."

'Ehh? What elves? Demons?'

Arsh's eyes went wide at the revelation, dropping on him like a bomb. He also only had heard about them in folktales and stories.

The thousands of stories centered around nature-loving elves and inherently evil demons. The stories were mostly about evil demon kings and heroes that defeat them to save the world with the help of elves and other species.

Even though many of the villagers told him they were true stories, he used to just brush them off as stupid lies. But, it seemed they held an inkling of truth too.

But, before Arsh could finish his thoughts, Miss Gelina spoke again.

"Humans like you call us calamities. Most likely because your species is not aware of our existence yet... Human standards for danger are pretty weird if you ask me. Like they seriously compare our species to brain-dead monsters.'

Gelina sounded sullen by being regarded as one of the monsters. But, looking at her Arsh couldn't really say she didn't look the part of it.

Ignoring the gibberish talk, he let the main topic sink in a little. It was not a lot of information, instead, it was the kind of information that can only be described as absurd.

"Where are you from then?"

Even if he had never left his village before. He had a basic understanding of the geography of the planet and the species which resided in it. In which the only intelligent ones were dwarves and humans.

The dwarves occupied the Eastern continent completely while the humans populated the southern and western continents. It had never once changed in the course of history.

He never saw any mention in the history book of even having a possibility of any other species on the planet, other than humans and dwarves.

The Griffin looked startled by the sudden question, her eyes trembling slightly as she took a deep breath to compose herself before replying evenly.

"....I can't tell you that. Believe me, Arsh, It is for your own good. I know you have several questions for me. But you won't be able to handle the responsibility which comes with the answers."

"....Sometimes it is better to leave the dangerous truth unattended."

Arsh immediately understood what she was pointing out to him. There was surely a dire reason behind it all. Possibly more severe than he could ever have imagined.

She sighed, standing up from the ground, a bright light emanating around her. As her form started to change in the cloak of the bright light.

The fearsome Griffin's legs and wings suddenly shrunk down exponentially. Followed by her head then the same with her every body part. It reduced until she was slightly bigger than the size of a cat.

'...What kind of magic is that? I never heard about any magic that can bypass the nature of things.'

Arsh looked at her wonder-eyed. Alan had drilled the basics of magic inside of him, and it was all based on a single fact. That magic can never change nature.

"I think this form will be more comfortable for you, right?"

Miss Gelina spoke to Arsh, licking her paws slowly. Arsh went speechless at the bizarre sight in front of him and shut his mouth completely.

'....I don't even know what is going on anymore.'

He didn't know how many surprises she still had in store for him. But, before any of that, he needed nutrition to be alive. His stomach was almost killing him from the inside, begging him for even a grain of food.

Arsh tried to stop the inevitable, but he failed to do so. The loud growl of his stomach rang all around inside the cave.

Hearing it Gelina quirked up a brow, a slight smile on her white cat-like features.

"You must be hungry by now, right? Wait here, I will bring some food for us"

'....You should have done that earlier.'

Miss Gelina disappeared from her spot in the next moment, while Arsh's eyes were barely able to keep track of her.

"....So, this is her normal speed. Huh? …..Now I know what that creepy ominous feeling was all about."

Even though he never saw her fight. He was pretty sure that she was at least at the same level as Alan. The aura emanating around her was suffocating to bear with until she transformed into her cat form.

Now the next problem to address was leaving the valley somehow, and he had a shaky plan for that. Not a reliable one, but a plan nonetheless.

In less than a few minutes, the cat had already returned to the front of the cave.

Arsh had seen plenty of surprising things after meeting her. But, looking at her now it all felt like nothing.

Her little cat-like paws were dragging two bull-like beasts, both at least twice as large as Arsh like it was nothing. Arsh again reminded himself, to not do something stupid to offend her.

Miss Gelina threw the monster's body in front of him, grinning with her cat face.

"This should be enough to sustain us for the night."

" Oh! Also, I don't know how to cook. So you are in charge of all the cooking. And please try to keep the size of meat minimal, small enough for a baby to eat it. Otherwise, she is going to be very angry."

Arsh's eyes were plastered to two primate-level monsters on the corpse. But, it immediately shot away, focused on the white cat.

"Baby!?"