Chương 7: That Cat Life
In a dark and dry cave filled with dusty bones and blood-stained pelts of prey, at the side of a steep mountain range where the [Greater Ashblood Tiger] lives.
The feline in question was lying down at the corner, the very edge of the cave. Awake yet still as a stone, it didn't dare to move.
During its escape attempt from little Junko, she 'accidentally' tore off a small chunk of the feline's flesh, fur included.
The ease in which Junko did this simply frightened the tiger. When it reached its home, with Junko still clutching onto its back, it just simply gave up.
It had enough intelligence to now know that it couldn't escape the wild little Junko if she was grabbing onto its back since Junko's grip strength was unnaturally high.
Thus it simply sat there, with Junko using it like a bed. Each time it tried to make a sudden move and run, even after she fell asleep, it felt her grip instinctually tighten by a few folds after every minute movement.
After a while, it gave up even thinking of escaping and embraced its role as a bed.
Junko simply slept on the tiger without a care in the world. Her fatigue had only escalated with every action she did after being born.
And just like this, a few hours passed.
The tiger had long gone without a meal, and Junko could use a snack. After a few minutes of rolling around, she awoke hungry.
Finding interest in the difficulty she now had with blinking, she rubbed her eyes a little with open palms before attempting to stand up.
Getting caught up in her own long hair, she tripped and fell back down onto the tiger.
She even hit her side on the crystallized spear that she was hugging while sleeping.
Rolling over on the large tiger bed with a muffled "Ughmmgh" as she held her side for a moment, she fell straight onto the stone floor as she rolled a bit too far.
She fell between the legs of the tiger as her spear stayed on top of it.
Standing up for a second time and not failing, she looked at the tiger she had used as a bed.
She couldn't quite tell what emotions it was feeling.
Touching her own stomach, she felt it slightly rumble as she looked at the tiger.
"Agrgrgr. Aha!"
She copied the noise her stomach made with a small smile and giggle as she poked it a little.
Grabbing onto the tiger and climbing up a little, she reached her spear and started to carefully descend.
Doing so with surprisingly few falls, she turned to the tiger before looking around the cave. The tiger didn't seem to plan on making any moves.
So, Junko decided to explore the place to her heart's content. Starting with the pile of bones nearby.
Walking over, she leaned in to get a better look. Some of the bones looked similar to what she had crunched on before, others were new.
Some were bigger, others smaller. It was much like the crystal weapons near the lake that she had found. A lot of them were extremely different from one another.
Grabbing a large bone piece from the ground, she studied it closer.
She didn't really have anything to think about it except for the large size that the rib bone boasted.
Crunching and breaking the bone with a small bite, she started to despise the flavour. Who could fault her, it was an old rib from a long-dead animal that had been gathering dust for who knows how long.
Nevertheless, Junko swallowed the bone fragments. At least she was happy that her blood tasted better than the large bone.
Letting the bone drop to the ground, she looked around the cave but saw nothing of interest except for more bones and some old beast hide that didn't seem soft at all.
So, with her short exploration session ending, she turned back towards the tiger.
... She was a little hungry...
But she chose not to eat the tiger as she still didn't know how to get soft fur just like it.
Walking back to the tiger with her spear dragging on the ground behind her, she was readying to jump back on the tiger's back and see if she could make it run some more. She wanted to go eat more boar organs or whatever else lay in her path.
Nearing the tiger, she raised her spear above her head, attempting to throw it onto the back of the tiger.
*grrrr*
She was met with a low growl from the tiger before she could throw it, since to the tiger it more so seemed like she was about to attack with her spear.
As Junko heard this, she lowered her spear unconsciously while looking at the tiger. A moment after the 'growl' she attempted to copy it.
"Grrrrrgg!"
She sounded with a short laugh following behind.
Raising her spear again, she heard another growl. Same noise, same beast.
Lowering her spear again, she looked at the tiger.
'?'
The beast had its own thoughts on the matter.
Both parties were at a stalemate.
Each time Junko raised her spear, the growling stopped her. This 'exchange' happened a total of four times.
After the fourth, Junko was over it and simply tossed the spear onto the tiger's back before climbing on herself.
The tiger didn't attempt anything. How could it?
It simply growled in response to what it felt was a threat.
With Junko climbing on top of the tiger with her spear now back in her hands, she pat the tiger on its back before making some indistinguishable noises.
The tiger moved slightly, still laying down as it had no idea what Junko wanted from it.
Junko pat the tiger on the back again.
*pat* *pat*
"Auunn!"
Trying to make the tiger run.
The tiger, after a few more moments of hesitation and Junko's 'encouragement' slowly stood up before lightly stretching.
Standing there for a moment, it felt Junko slowly crawl closer to its neck and head.
Turning its head towards Junko, it could see her carefully moving and patting its back like it was a delicate sofa she could easily break, like a cat with curtains.
When Junko noticed the tiger looking at her and making eye contact with her, she sidely smiled as she reached her empty right hand towards the entrance of the cave.
Grasping her hand at the entrance like she was trying to grab something while she pat the tiger on its side with her spear, her message got across to it as the tiger slowly started making its way towards the entrance of the cave after hearing little Junko go:
"Am! Am!"
Reaching outside after a short while, the tiger could now clearly hear little Junko's stomach grumbling just as well as it felt its own stomach rumbling.
Thanks to the good sleep it got and with its skills and level taken into account, the tiger had healed most of its injuries overnight and could move without hindrance.
The duo started to make their way to the dense forest where they had met to try and hunt for some food.
After a short while, the tiger started to increase its pace, much to the delight of Junko who just giggled at the speed increase.
Little Junko and the female Ashblood Tiger began their hunt.
...
On a rocking ship that was carrying Adventurers, Mages, Knights and Royalty of the Central Laslands Empire, in the middle of the ocean.
"... Is it still ongoing?"
The prince muttered his question to the white-haired fairy laying down on his shoulder.
The fairy glanced at the visible continent that sat on the wide expanse of ocean, her vision only limited by the horizon.
The white-haired fairy nodded before closing her eyes again.
"Damn. Father really picked the worst of times for this."
The prince muttered to himself only to make quick eye contact with the fairy attempting to sleep on his shoulder.
"I know I chose to come myself. But considering that an all-out war between the Apex is being fought across the continent's centre that might now even involve the Ancient Rank Apex and the Old One Rank Apex, I believe I am Justified to blame the old man who hatched this stupid plan."
The prince said with a pout as his fairy companion shifted in her spot and attempted to again go to sleep.
"Yeah yeah... but don't sleep for too long. Your blessing might be the only thing that genuinely lessens the amount of losses we might suffer."
The prince said while poking the side of his fairy companion before moving away from the ledge of the ship with a light stretch.
"We'll reach the shore by midnight, much thanks to our work speeding up the ship... Yes, the wind element users did a fine job too... No, I am not."
The prince spoke to his fairy companion while walking around the main deck of the ship, moving out of the way of the workers who were running from one point to another and checking every working part.
The white-haired fairy suddenly started floating as she did a quick circle around the ship before returning back to the prince's side.
"... No. I don't feel that. The mana in the air is stable and the weather is clear, no? We would see an Apex coming if they were..."
*RUMBLE*
The ship suddenly stopped in its tracks and started violently shaking much like the water all around it.
"Oh goodness."
A light and clear voice came from next to the prince.
"... You could have warned us beforehand. No, it wasn't a good time for a practical lesson. You Know I can't sense Everything inside water at my level. No, No. It isn't 'fine' just because you placed a precautionary barrier. Oh, shut it."
The prince spoke with irritation in his voice, a troubled look on his face, shaking hands and quickly working legs.
Running to the captain's quarters, the prince yelled out "Apex Attack from Underneath!" as he smashed the door open while his fairy companion and water magic teacher completed a spell, yet the quarters were empty.
Panic and dread filled the entire ship. An Apex attack in open waters could spell their end depending on the Apex's element and rank.
The captain sprinted out of the kitchen with a large cleaver in hand and one of his three eyepatches placed over his eye.
"Raise half the sails! Turn wheel portside! We circle the area and attempt to fend the beast off! It's a Juvenile Rank!"
The captain's voice echoed across the ship and alerted everyone on board as he dashed to the bow of the ship and stared directly into the abyssal waters below with furrowed brows and a worried look.
"Shit."
He said to himself as he smashed his fist down into the railing.
"Mages! Prepare Counter Magic! The Juvenile has the Water Element! We Drive it Off Fast With a Discharge and Pray to the Gods No Adult is Nearby!"
Running past all the mages along with the prince and his fairy who were all preparing counter spells, the captain jumped over a crouched-down man who was grabbing cannon balls from below deck and ran straight into his quarters.
Jumping behind his deck, a few sheets of paper, some pens and an alcohol bottle fell to the ground as he opened a drawer and took out a locked bottle.
*Shatter*
Muttering something in an unknown language, the bottle shattered in a small explosion and a strange crest, which had all its details obscured, now floated in the air.
Grabbing it without a second thought, the captain ran straight back outside.
It was now raining.
"Damn Apex. Making me use such a treasure."
The captain muttered to himself as a dragon thrice the size of a horse jumped out of the water.
*SPLASH*
"Starboard Side!"
*THUD*
An adventurer shouted as all heads turned towards the dragon. The dragon juvenile attempted to attack the ship only to be pushed away by a barrier and the magic spells that the standby magicians immediately shot on sight.
Falling back into the water with a roar filled with aggression, the mages started preparing another volley of magic as the captain climbed up towards the crow's nest.
Climbing as fast as he could while clutching the crest near his chest, he heard another shout and another loud thud against the barrier along with a few cracking sounds, indicating that the barrier was breaking.
Reaching the crow's nest, the captain held the crest above his head, pointing up towards the rain clouds that appeared in response to the crest being unsealed.
"Oh, Great Goddess of Open Seas and Pirate Lives! I beseech thee! Bring upon my crew protection from the vile creatures of the sea!"
And with that chant, the crest turned to salt water as the rain clouds disappeared with an immense wave of thick mana.
The wave of mana easily scared away the juvenile dragon and all other living beings around the area of the ship.
The mana now veiled the ship in a dense fog, protecting it from all outside attacks and perception.
"Gods. All that for one Juvenile Rank Apex."
The captain whined to himself, his loss of a precious one-of-a-kind treasure shaking him deeply.
Returning back to the main deck, he received an apology from the prince, who said that they believed for the Apex to use more magical attacks and less physical ones which is why the barrier was taking as much damage as it did.
Simply telling the prince to pay him back for the Goddess' blessed treasure when they get back, the captain walked back over to the kitchen where he had been preparing a snack for himself to enjoy with a good drink. That good drink now sat on the floor behind his desk, spilt.
Muttering to himself in annoyance and relief as there was no strong Apex around, the captain just chose to go get some shut-eye.
"Goddess of Open Seas and Pirate Lives, do me a solid and bless our journey just in case."
He said a prayer as one of his hands held the eyepatches that rested around his neck.
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