Snake

We were walking the path in the forest. The school used the forest to train survival and also train to fight against monsters and find ingredients. So it did have monsters in it. They were mostly yellow and orange rank but there were still some red ranks. Those however were hiding and didn't show their faces often. The school had many powerful mages and even swordsmen so they would be killed quickly.

It was already getting late. Here the night and day changed in almost minutes. When you go and get water from the house at the evening and get back, it's already pitch black. We had no time anymore, so I used some lightning magic to create some light.

-How long are we going to spend here?

-Not too long. If we can't find nothing in an hour, we will return.

-Alright.

Olivia was playing with Lukas the whole time. Well it was fire element so it gave some light. While watching those two play I suddenly heard and saw something.

There were birds flying from one direction and I could hear fighting from there.

-Come, let's go there.

-Okay

We ran towards the place. We arrived in only five minutes and could see what was happening there. It was a fight among monsters. It was a shadow bear against a snake.

Shadow bear was usually an orange ranked monster that fired shadow balls and used it claws to kill it's opponents. They ate almost anything and that's why they were also fighting almost all the time.

The snake however, I didn't recognize it was white and looked like a python, seven meters long, and half a meter wide. Like I said it was white and had yellow eyes. It was smaller than the bear but was managing to survive with its water magic.

We were observing the fight between these two but it didn't look good for the snake, it was already injured and would die anyway. It still didn't run away, I wonder why.

-Let's kill the bear.

-What?

-I shoot a lightning at it and then the snake can kill it.

-What if you miss, and what if the snake then attacks us.

-It's too weak... Here we go.

I spent lightning spears towards it, the bear noticed them but didn't have time to dodge. It took them with its hands and afterwards was staring right at us but because of that, the snake bit the bear and shot water blades at it. The bear died instantly.

After that, the snake collapsed and was now just lying on the ground. After staring at it for some time, I walked over to it. It raised its head enough to see me. Then it moved its body to reveal something. It was a baby snake.

There were no other ones, just this. So, it's the only baby, or the rest ran away or in the worst case the bear ate all the rest. The big snake pushed the sleeping baby towards me, does it want me to take it. Does it think that I'm a good person... It truly knows nothing about my past.

It looked so small, less than an average sized ruler. It was thinner than my fingers. It had yellow eyes like its parent. I think that this is good beast for me.

I bowed to the snake, after that it fell down lifelessly, I burned the body and took a gem from the bear.

-What did you get?

-A beast.

I showed her the snake. However, the bird was looking at it with hungry eyes.

-If your pet dares to touch it, I will cook it alive.

The bird seemed to understand my words, because it instantly turned away. Good for it.

-What did you name it.

-...Sophia

After that we walked back to the school grounds, said good byes and walked in different directions. I had put Sophia in my pocket and walked faster than normal to my room. I didn't want to waste any time and didn't want to get caught.

The reason why Olivia didn't want me telling teachers about Lukas was because, you couldn't have a supporting magical before you are eighteen. That is the age that you become an adult in this world, the same as on Earth.

I still had three months till I was eighteen and could visit mom. For those three months, I had to raise Sophia alone, without anyone noticing.

-What's that?

-AAACKH

I jumped in the air but didn't have a hard landing, because I was sitting on my bed. It was Ben, did he see it. He did ask me what it was, should I tell him.

-I found her and decided to take it.

-You're till seventeen.

-It's just three months, I can manage it.

He sighed in frustration of my sudden decisions. I had done those a lot, when master was away and me and Ben were in the town, I did a lot of things without thinking first and Ben had to follow.

-Relax Ben, this will save me a lot of time in the future. I can already start raising mine when others don't have their own.

-True, but they can still train them because they could have asked their parents to take care of them.

-I can't do that.

-Why can't I?

-Someone would steal it.

Ben was a commoner like me but he was also not that strong, so if some noble sent their guards to get Sophia, they would get it easily. I however were an A rank adventurer and a student at the capitals most known magic school. No one less known that the duke would try to get Sophia from me.

So, it will be safer for me and Sophia to raise her in secret and even if we were discovered, I could get the contract paper for Ben and Sophia in less than a day.

I glanced at Sophia, she was still sleeping. I think that I stay awake till she wakes up so I see if she attacks me or something else.

Sophia didn't wake up for hours but around 2am she finally woke up. She opened her eyes and started to look around. During that time I was reading and strengthening my core but noticed her moving.

I got up from the floor and picked her up. She was on my palm and looking at me, I didn't know what to do. Lukas seemed to understand me speaking, what about her.

-Your parent died to a shadow bear, so she gave you to me.

Sophia put her head down and if she was a normal mammal, she would have been crying. After a while she raised her head again, like she was asking me something.

-Your name is Sophia, if you're a girl?

She nodded, I just guessed, but seems like I was correct.

-Do you want to sleep a little bit more?

She took that as a permission and piled up on my palm. I took fell on my bed with Sophia still on my hand and fell asleep.

(*(

Rest of the week went quickly. I sneaked food from the school cafeteria and gave her some of my mana from time to time. The school's mana wasn't as rich as the forests and as a baby, monsters need a lot of mana. This is however only for monsters who have a chance to evolve to higher levels.

Sophia right now is only middle green level. She could die to a normal horse but with time and mana she will evolve and can reach ranks higher than red even. Goblins that are usually yellow, don't need mana when they are born, because their chances of evolving are slim.

Of course, there are some that can evolve to goblin kings or magicians but those are rare and happen once in a hundred thousand.

I hope that my mana is good enough to feed the necessary nutrients for Sophia. She needs it to form a core and if my mana is good enough, she can form it in a few weeks.

Today however was Saturday and the first day to choose clubs to join. Like classes you can have max two clubs each year but you can leave and join them however you want during the year but you still need to be in one.

I'm not very social, so I probably just join one. I don't know anything about the clubs here because they weren't mentioned in any books. Anyone can form a club if they have an idea that isn't active at the moment and five members. A leader, vice-leader and three members.

I've heard that there is clubs for war tactics, magicians, adventurers, chefs and noble tea parties. I wonder what I should join. They gave us a map on Friday, it has the route to explore the school and the clubs. They've made stalls or shows for their clubs to show us and other seniors what they are like.

My class mates on fighting class talked how adventurers club will fight an orange ranked monster near the forest, I don't want to go, because I'm already A-rank and the only reason I'm in this school is because of master and books. And now artifacts and alchemy.

There is a club for magic beast owners but it's r-18 because that's the minimum age you're supposed to have it. So I can't join it yet, only at second year.

School has like a break on summer when you can return home or even stay in school. I have my birthday just day after school ends so I have to wait for next year to switch my club.

I let Sophia to stay under my pillow when I was attending classes. My room was the safest place for her, no one expect me and Ben could enter this room or I don't know about principal but even he needs a good reason to enter my room without permission.

And I fear that someone in school could notice Sophia, of course I will take her our when I have the contract for it but for now, she needs to hide. Sophia doesn't seem to mind and currently when she doesn't need to hunt, she just eats and sleeps.

I wonder how I should train her magic? I read that magic beasts will naturally learn how to use magic but because she cannot copy it from her parents and doesn't need it to hunt. I hope that she still learns it naturally but I should prepare a plan B just in case. Should I show her magic? Is that too dangerous? What if doesn't work because I don't use water magic?

Now let' calm down, I got other worries now and the chances that Sophia doesn't learn magic naturally are small.

Now it was my turn to go and decide a club to spend my months in here.