Entrenched Once More

"Say, uh..." Katherine called out to me, drawing me out of my possibly unfounded worries. "I know I might be making yet another rookie mistake," I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, "I mean, I haven't done a lick of research to prepare for this… but, do you think you could use any of these resources to get stronger?"

As she finished speaking, she pulled out a bag that reminded me of the one Darius—

"What the hell?!" She simply turned over the bag to empty its contents on the floor and a veritable wave of mostly Ice-type herbs, Monster Cores, and ores started piling up into a small mound.

"You have space-warping technology?!" I mean, I could believe it because, you know, magic… But still, this was one of the coolest things I'd seen thus far in this life.

"It's more like the bag was forged to house a separate isolated dimension," Katherine said. She shrugged and added, "I don't really understand the process of creating them, but Cosmic Bags could almost be called a commodity. There are different levels to them, but practically anyone rated as E Rank or higher can afford even the most basic one."

"...I guess I can live with that," I muttered, not knowing my thoughts were being brought out to light as I said, "Though, our advantages seem kind of lackluster on paper. I have a body that can process pretty much everything below B Rank, and you, who probably can't eat just about everything you come across, have a personal pocket dimension to store away your spoils."

Yeah, that was total bullshit!

"Does that mean you can eat all of this stuff? Like, even the metals?" Katherine asked.

I shot her a look and then at the pile of dimly glowing resources in front of me. Just being near it cooled my body down pleasantly; a marvel considering my earlier ascent to over ten kilometers into the atmosphere failed to so much as register a change in my body.

I mean, I probably shouldn't… Fire Magic had already been established as my primary focus, as the most offensive of all the basic elements I had access to as an Eaglet. Logic would dictate that eating a bunch of Water or Ice-type resources would probably wreak havoc in my body.

But who cares about what logic has to say when you've personally experienced turning into an eagle and successfully managed to split a fully-grown alligator into ribbons of flesh with just the swipe of your claws?

Forget caution, there was a pile of magically dense Greater C Rank and below rated resources right in front of me! The worst that could happen is a bit of internal frostbite or something, right? What was a bit of pain in the face of potentially increasing my Magic Reserves or Magic Potency by a significant margin?

I already had the Self Heal Spell mastered to Tier 3. Plus, it's not like I would just shovel all the resources down as fast as I possibly could.

No, I'll just test the waters and eat them one by one.

I'll just start with the lowest-rated E Rank resources and move on up.

"I should be fine," I told Katherine before picking up a cluster of ice-blue berries.

They tasted fine, but even after consuming them all, nothing happened. So, I moved on to the next E Rank resource and the one after that, and the one after that, and so on and so forth until eventually, I lost my patience and decided to ignore my own precaution and ended up eating all the E Rank resources as if I was being timed.

[Magic Reserves: 221/250 → 253/253]

[Magic Potency: 175 → 177]

Welp, at least what was left of my still recovering reserves instantly filled back up to full capacity and my Monster Core expanded somewhat. Upon further reflection, I was actually content with a meek one percent increase. I mean, the boost came from E Rank materials, after all, and I didn't even need to suffer a cold to get it!

So far, this has been a success by my books so I decided to eat all the D Rank and C Rank resources, too. Of course, what would my life be if not for a series of unexpected events as just when I was about to finish the last couple morsels from the nearly depleted pile of resources, I stopped after getting a prompt from the Akashic Decrees.

[Worldly Resonance Triggered!]

All at once, I felt my Monster Core go berserk, threatening to burst if I did not release a large portion of all the Magic I'd just ingested that had yet to be processed by my body.

Was this the potential backlash I'd imagined before accepting the gambit of eating all these resources?

Apparently, the answer was a resounding, "No!" Because the moment I let the Magic escape from my body, I was reminded that there were a bunch of new perks my new form as an Arcane Eagle possessed which I had totally forgotten about reviewing.

[Condition Fulfilled: New Skills "Foundational Ice Magic Lvl 1," "Intermediate Ice Magic Lvl 1," "Understanding of Ice Lvl 1," and "Ice Augment Lvl 1" Created!]

[Titles Earned: Ice Magic Novice and Ice Magic Adept]

[Worldly Resonance Lvl 1 → Lvl 2]

As I realized what had just happened, I couldn't help but think, 'And to think that just a couple minutes ago I was actually worried about how I was going to compete with some stupid summoned heroes...'

"Ha! Good luck trying to compete with me, you idiots! I'm approaching levels of bullshit you can't even imagine!"

Uh oh, I think I might have said that last bit out loud, seeing as Katherine took a step away from me. Or maybe it was the fact that I was now covered in strikingly dangerous Iced Armor?

I didn't care.

Nothing could take away from the exhilaration I felt as I quickly checked my Status and went over the key missing details of what it was all my new Skills did.

[Skills:

Name: Understanding of Ice Lvl 1

Description: Mastery of the Ice element has approached the point where you may call upon the energies of the world around you to aid in your use of Ice Spells and Skills and to bolster your resistance against Ice-imbued attacks. As Lvl increases, your resistance to ice, the cost of Ice Spells and Skills, and their potency all exponentially rise.

Name: Ice Augment Lvl 1

Description: An Adept-level Spell that covers a target in magically-strengthened Ice, imbuing into the properties of sharpness and frigid coldness. The higher the Lvl, the more potent the effects of the Ice.

Name: Instant Cast Lvl 1

Description: A rare skill privy only to those with an extreme affinity for magic and spellcasting. It allows you to instantly cast a spell for double its usual cost. Lvl 1 makes this skill applicable to Tier 0 and Tier 1 spells.

Name: Wordly Resonance Lvl 2

Description: A special skill specific to only Arcane Eagles in the Eagle Family of Avian-Type Magical Beasts that defies the laws of natural progression. The skill is passively inactive, requiring a catalyst before it can take what you've experienced and manifest as a sudden jump in growth. The higher the Lvl, the more likely the Skill is to activate.

Name: Arcane Eagle Bloodline Lvl 1

Description: Gained as a result of evolving into an Arcane Eagle. To purify and unlock new memories from it, you will not only have to grow with twice as many resources as expected of an Eagle Soldier, but you'll also need to make proportional increases to your mastery and understanding of at least one type of Magic.

Pending Learnable Skills: Foundational and Intermediate level Magic (Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Sonic, Strengthening, Healing, Ice, Lightning, Light, Darkness)]

This.

Was.

Awesome!

Now, I just needed to find a volcano or something to eat a bunch of Fire-type resources while practicing my Fire Spells and all would be right with me again! I mean, it was a real shame that these new Ice Skills would probably never see the light of day, but at least the passive Ice Resistance I got from my Understanding of Ice would probably help me out one day.

Really, nothing could have put a damper on my mood.

Boom!

'I just had to jinx myself, didn't I...' I thought as I looked over towards the summit of the mountain. It sounded like a bomb had been dropped within a couple hundred meters from where I stood, which was nothing like the previous pitter-patter-like sounds of a distant war.

"They must have really gone all out," Katherine muttered to herself as she nervously said, "Just the collateral shockwave cleared out all the clouds around the mountain."

"Uh, Katherine?" I called out to her.

"What is it?" She asked back.

"Why is it that the sky has started turning red?"

"The sky?" She squinted her eyes and gasped, "Is that… Oh no!"

"It looks to me like those are a couple hundred Fire Spell Circles," I commented.

"They must really be pushed to their limits if they're actually willing to use scorched earth tactics to deal with whatever is up there. To think that Uncle Tebolt would need to fire a full barrage of artillery against a single fortress… The last time I heard him mention needing to do that was when he was in a Lesser A Rank Dungeon Core!"

A couple seconds later, the amalgam of Fire Spells above the Devil Orc Fortress all lit up at once, shining like a beacon of death, before a bombing unlike any I'd ever even heard of before played out right before my eyes.

Streaks of red, orange and yellow rained down from the sky with the fierceness of lightning. But they were more than just flames, there was a force and mass to the fires which impacted on the mountain as if every spell held the potential of a several kiloton explosive; all of which managed to accurately land within the open summit.

B-B-Boom!

The devastation was immediately evident as massive chunks of the fortress and the excavated summit walls were blown out in all directions. Some of it heading in our direction and with enough force to actually land around and even farther away from the mountain than us. While back at the top of the mountain, a massive mushroom cloud was just starting to form.

"That was all 'just' your uncle's doing?!" I nearly suffered a heart attack as I flicked away any of the debris — some of which were massive hundred-kilogram rocks — which would have landed on Katherine away with one of my still-iced wings.

"He is Greater B Rank for a reason," she simply said.

A second later, a Communication Seal appeared right next to Katherine. From it, Tebolt's weak and panting voice struggled to say, "It's no good. The barrage barely even charred the Centurion's skin. Katherine, you have to get as far away from this place as you possibly can."

Before she could form a response, he added, "Hurry!" He choked, "Armond can just barely keep up with it even after it took those two massive hits. We won't be able to hold him back for more than a couple minutes!"

And with that, the Communication Seal vanished.

For a second, I thought, 'This is fine. At most I'll just have to spend a couple days escorting Katherine out of… wherever the hell we are.' But, then I turned to look at Katherine and she had crashed down onto her knees with this look of utter defeat spelled out on her face.

"Hey, hey!" I yelled out to her.

What the hell was she doing?!

"Come on, we have to get you out of here!" Whatever Tebolt was dealing with was stronger than him! Hell, it was stronger than the three in that man's party from what I could tell.

"It's no use..." Katherine looked like she was going to cry, but it seemed that whatever she was feeling was beyond tragic as she couldn't even muster the strength to do that as she said, "From here back to my home, there are probably dozens of places I wouldn't dare cross without the safety of my party. And, even with them… There are a couple of territories for B Rank Monsters and other Humanoid tribes."

"Without Uncle… I'm as good as dead. If not by whatever monster he's going up against, then surely along my journey back home… I'll probably die a dozen times over by myself."

"But you're not by yourself," I really wanted to slap some sense into her. "You've got me! Together, we could probably get you back home, uh… eventually, I mean."

And really, what else was this but just the start of my next adventure? I'd already gotten a practice run done by babysitting Darius. How much worse could it be now that I've grown into a Lesser C Rank Monster and I have a competent Mage by my side? If we really fought our way through all the danger zones, who knows how much stronger we'll get by the end of it?

Alas, Katherine didn't share my perspective as she pulled a move I didn't expect.

[Summoner's Return pending on activation. Accept? Yes/No.]

"What," As impassive as my expression, I didn't even bother to use the proper intonation and phrase it like a question.

Instead of immediately answering, Katherine picked me up into a hug and actually started gently stroking the feathers on my head as she said, "Whenever you're ready, I want you to accept it."

She paused for a second and in that time I felt a wetness start to form on the spot where her chin met the top of my head, before she said, "I… I'll make sure to end our Contract right after you leave, to spare you of the experience of our connection being forcefully cut."

"What the fuck?! No!" I pushed her away along with that damned prompt. "Don't give up yet! We can get out of this alive! 'Both' of us!" If not for the fact that she was technically my master, I would have smacked her for being so stupid.

But she just shook her head and—

[Alert!]

[Your Beast Contract has been nullified!]

This…

She…

She fucking doubled down!

And she had the gall to smile sweetly at me too, as she said, "Go on now, you're free to leave me behind. I wouldn't want your life to end just because mine has to..."

Bonk!

I smacked her with my wing — after I released the Ice Augment, of course — I was so mad.

"Wow, it's just my luck that the moment I ended my first Tamed Beast Contract, my former summon would turn on me."

Oh, for the love of…

Bonk!

I smacked her again and said, "Stop it with that 'woe is me' bullshit! You really are going to die if you don't take your uncle's advice and start running!"

"But, I—"

Bonk!

"No! Stop arguing for the likelihood of your own death and use all of your power to avoid it instead! You've got me to out for you and I have eyes that can tell how strong or dangerous things are; which work for very well within a range of fifty fucking kilometers!"

"You don't have to any—"

Bonk!

"You're god damn I right I don't! But I don't care about what's pragmatic or what's most beneficial to me right now."

Really, I didn't. And the fact that she just nullified our contract like that… To put it bluntly, it made me feel like I owed her; like, a lot. I mean she could have been a shitty master and used me as bait like I once thought.

But instead, she had treated me with respect, care, and just now, it felt like there was a bit of love in there with how she held me and cried after thinking I'd have to leave her. She had given me a "fuck-load" of resources which had increased my Magic-related Stats and triggered Worldly Resonance into giving me a bunch of Skills.

She had even been the reason I had been able to meet with Darius and her Uncle — Darius, because without her symbol he wouldn't have been able to recognize me as a Tamed Beast — and they had both taught me useful Communication Magic.

Now, I couldn't remember much about myself in my former life, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't an ungrateful son of a bitch. I probably wasn't a saint, but I know for a fact that there just exists this influence inside me that urges me to pay back the debts I've accrued.

I did so with Darius and now I'm compelled to do so with Katherine.

If anything, her ending our contract just entrenched me deeper into the responsibility of ensuring she made it back home in one piece.