11 Preparations

As the young man stood at the bottom of the edge , he looked at the leopard on his shoulder and said. "Hold on tight." The little leopard wrapped his fore legs around the young man neck as he jumped 40 feet into the air and smoothly landed on the mountain edge. "Wow boss , you can jump so high!" Shishi climbed from his back and laid his stomach on top of the young man's head while a pair of paws was beside his cheeks , it looked like he was wearing a furry winter hat. "Mhmm." With a slight nodded , the young man enter's the forest in the middle of the night and while the leopard was staring at the sky he asked. "Will mom be alright?" Nodus nodded again with a simple explanation. " Don't worry , if something happened to her , the armor I gave her will alert me and beside , she can escape through the air."

With his words , Shishi felt a peace of mind and cheered up quickly as he slowly looked around the forest. Noticing the little leopard twisting his neck , Nodus said. " Don't worry , we are close to the place , when we get there , you can sleep in the room." After 20 minutes of walking , they arrived at an open area , free of trees and with a wooden hut at the center. In front of the fixed door , Nodus stared at it once again and then held the leopard in front of it. "Shishi , your first mission is to quietly open this door." Said Nodus as he did not want to break it again. The leopard looked at him with a confused look and his head around." With 2 paws on the wooden handle , the leopard slowly turned it and gently pushed the door inward. "Oh." With a surprised expression , he put back the leopard on his shoulder and went through the door frame.

As he arrived at the main room and he noticed the two little girls sleeping together on the pile of fur beds. "Everyone in this place is with us , don't worry I'll introduce them to you when the sun rises." Nodus quietly whispered to Shishi and before he could walk up the stairs."You are back!" Hearing a quiet shout , he turned around and saw Ali sitting on the fur while half of her body was covered with a blanket. "Mhmm , I just came back." Nodus replied fluently as he turns around. "Wa! So cute!" Screamed Ali as she saw the little white leopard with pink nose who was standing on the young man's shoulder. Shishi jumped off the shoulder and with a front flip , he landed on top of the little girl's lap. "Hello sister , my name is Shishi , I am boss's follower!" Said the leopard while sitting on her lap. "Oooh , you are so cute! My name is Ali." Ali squeezed the dog sized leopard tightly in her arms as she grind her face on him.

With all the commotion beside her , Luru finally woke up as he sleep was interrupted. "Ugh.. Ali , what's the matter.." As she opened her eyes , she saw a young man sitting on the side of her pillow."Ah! M-..Mister Nodus!" Luru sat up quickly as she was suddenly startled by Nodus. " Mhmm , sorry to wake you up and you can just call me Nodus." Luru was in daze , not knowing what to say as she amazed that the young man who just learned the language spoke fluently."Yes.. I mean please don't worry , I slept early but Ali went to bed even earlier than me.." As she spoke , Luru turned around to check on her friend and her vision landed on the white leopard in Ali's arm.

"So cute.." As she spoke with sparkly eyes , Shishi lifted his paw to wave at her. "My name is Shishi , please help me sister or else I will drown soon." Luru was shocked as she warn her friend not to suffocate the leopard. Slipping through Ali's embrace , Shishi sat on Luru's laps instead this times. "Thank you sister! you saved me so you will be big sister from now!" Luru giggled and pat the head of the little leopard. "Amazing.. You can already communicate through the essence of mind.. Shishi must be a rare beast!" Nodus who sat beside got slightly curious and asked. " Is it not common to find talking beast? " Luru looked around and shook her head. "It's not.. Normally , only a rank 4 can speak through essence while a rank 6 , the ultimate rank can speak with their voice like a normal human." Switching down her vision at the white leopard , Luru looked at Shishi with a caring expression. "Shishi could you tell me what is your rank and how old are you?" With Shishi's reply , Luru nodded and looked back at Nodus. "I can explain more but..-." Knowing what Luru would say , Nodus stood up and walked toward the kitchen. "Mhmm let's go sit down" Not wanting to feel left out , Ali went toward the kitchen with Nodus as Luru followed behind while carrying the leopard in her arms.

"You do not need anymore rest?" Asked Nodus as he sat on the opposite side of the table."Mhmm , I feel fully rested and beside.. We will be leaving soon." Ali also said she was fine and sat beside Luru as she played around with Shishi who was rolling on the table."Ahem.. As I was saying .. Shishi is only a year old but he is already at the pinnacle rank 1 magic beast when it would normally take 2 to 5 years to reach that rank , unless it's a imperial or ancient type magic beast." With the broad knowledge from her family and school , Luru told him that Shishi was probably an Primal beast because most of them advanced into a rank 1 beast in less than a year while the highest type known to mankind is a Primordial beast , they were comparable to a ultimate ranked being at birth and would advance to the pinnacle tier just within 3 month after being born! Her father who was steps away from the ultimate tier warrior was bestowed with a genius title when he became the youngest advance warrior of the kingdom was now 36 years old!

Hmm.. Interesting , If I can find these rare type of beast , I can surely make something stronger than the Emerald Fall Turtle Star and conquer this universe...But first , one step at a times."As Luru finished her long education , she felt her throat being dry already. Nodus stopped Luru from standing up as he grabbed a cup of water and handed to her. "Thank you." Said Luru as she drank the water with her face slightly red. Nodus nodded and sat back down in front of her. "Could you tell me about the city?" Assuming the young man was talking about the city they were about to visit , Luru explained that the city was the biggest place around here and it was situated on the edge of the northern land with the central continent underneath it.

As the children were talking around the table , the couple upstairs opened their eyes and stared at each other with a smile. "What will be our excuse?" Said the husband as he held the wife by the hip. " I will just tell her the truth , she is smart enough to understand.. Is just.. I don't want her to wait for-"Before the wife could finish her sentence , the husband leaned forward and kissed her."Don't worry..It won't take long , 3 to 4 month at most." The wife nodded happily and sat on the edge of the bed. " I will prepare our lunch , you go talk to Ali's parents and maybe we can bring them along .." The blue haired woman flicked her hand and a pair of clothes appeared. After wearing something else than the furry clothes , the woman looked like a beautiful goddess with her tall white dress , long sleeves and a white ribbon tied around her waist. "Wearing your magic clothes armor already?" Said the husband as he admire his wife's beauty. " No need to hide anymore , you should do the same... Ali is the only friend Luru made in this place.." The blue haired woman left the room as she hinted to her husband that he should get serious too and dress up before he go meet Ali's parents.

As Lati walked down the stairs , she saw the children talking to each other around the table and couldn't help to notice the white leopard cub that was jumping around Ali. "Good morning mom!" Luru said as she stood up and ran to her mom with a smile. "Good morning dear , what is happening and why are you already awake?" Luru smiled as she acted mysterious while pulling her mom toward the kitchen table. "Good morning aunty ! Meet Shishi!" Ali who happily held up the white cub with her hands toward Lati's face. The little cub stared at her with his big green eyes and he lifted his paw as a greeting. Lati could not resist and held the fuzzy cub in her arms as she was being introduced. Knowing that Nodus found the little leopard , she was quite surprise and from her point of view , the little boy became even more mysterious.

She put Shishi on the table and moved onto the kitchen , with a wave of her hand , she stack up ingredients onto the counter top as she started preparing lunch for the trip while listening to the children conversation. "Ali , when does your parents wake up? " Said Naire who snuck up behind him , as Ali turned around to respond , she noticed that the uncle was wearing a silver plated armors that was polished and design with fierce details. " Uncle you look so much cooler than before !!! And my parents should be awake now.. they usually wake up before sun rise to feed the sheep." Glancing at the manly uncle and Ali left the hut to go to the villages as he still need to ask for her parents permission for the trip that might take months , if not , years.

"And not only she will be going to school she might also become a good magician or warrior ! Who knows , the Ournsi academy is the most prestigious school in the entire city!" After being convinced , the parents who sat infront of him thanked him kindly and gave him some fresh meat they had and packed Ali's clothes for her. Who wouldn't want their children to have a good education ? And to become a magician or warrior , that would be a wish come true. The adults stood up from the floor rug and shook each other hands. " Please take good care of Ali! and Thank you so much for this opportunity , Ali you are a good girl , be kind and listen to Mr.Naire alright?"

While the parents shed tears of happiness as they held Ali , Naire stood infront of the door , looking at the first ray of sunlight rising from the horizon. "Don't worry mom ... dad.. I will become a good magician or even a warlock and I will come back to make this village better!" With a desire to make her village prosper , Ali believed in herself more than anyone. With her pack clothes in her furry bag , Ali and Naire left the house and after being out of the village , he put the pack of clothes in his storage ring and patted the little girl who was still crying. " Don't worry sweetheart , you can always come back to see your parents during new years and give them a good surprise ! I am sure you will become a great warlock." Said Naire as he comforted the little girl with a rub on her head. "Mhmm I definitely will!" She rubbed her tears away and looked at the rise of the sun with a resolute expression.