Chapter Fourteen[XIV]: Training, That's the Plan (V)

Xenos Waters furrows his brow at the cryptic answer. Does Felix have a really strong familiar? Maybe one that's super rare? He trots after Mr. Balanius, Inari looking around excitedly, happy to just be outside the cage. His questions are answered when he sees Felix sitting on the ground with his familiars, plural, as in two.

Quite the surprise, indeed. Felix notices Xenos and waves him over, a dopey looking smile on his face that Xenos didn't know he was capable of making. "Hey, Xenos! Meet my man Igneel," he points at the familiar curled around his neck, "and my girl Faeryn," Felix points at the familiar laying by his side. Inari quickly jumps down from Xenos' shoulders, giving two yips and making Felix's familiars get off of him. They immediately begin to play with each other.

Xenos laughs. "Well, this is Inari."

He looks at Felix's familiars. Igneel appears to be a serpent with wings, pretty much looking like a dragon without limbs and a longer body. His scales are red like rubies, the tips of Igneel's wings and nose a reddish-orange, while his eyes are snake-like and yellow. He has curved spikes on his head that he can move up and down, and his tail ends in a pointy triangle. Igneel is about the length of Xenos' arm, his wingspan about half of Igneel's body.

Faeryn, on the other hand, seems to be something similar to a cheetah, except white with soft grey spots, pure gold eyes, and. . . light grey tree bark covering her legs. Also, are those golden leaves growing from her neck like a lion's mane? Xenos can only stare in disbelief, what the hell? Is Faeryn a divine nature spirit or something? Talk about extraordinary. Faeryn is bigger than Igneel, about the size of a full-grown German shepherd.

"Cute, aren't they?" Felix asks from beside Xenos, making Xenos clutch his heart from surprise.

Xenos composes himself, glaring half-heartedly at Felix. "You really need to stop doing that, one of these days I'm going to hit you."

Felix feigns a look of hurt, dramatically clutching his chest as Xenos did. "Oh, you wound me so deeply, Xenos? How could you say such a thing?

Xenos rolls his eyes but plays along. "I wounded you? Such an accusation, is slander also on your list of crimes?"

They look at each other for a moment before laughing, Felix patting Xenos on the shoulder with a grin. "Along with larceny."

Xenos snorts, shaking his head. "Whatever you say." He turns his attention back to their familiars. It appears that at some point, Inari managed to jump on Faeryn's back, Igneel gently wrapped around Inari's torso. "What kind of mana beast are your familiars anyway?"

"Igneel is an amphiptere," the name sounds familiar, "a fire type to be more specific, which is basically just a type of high dragon. You've probably heard of it before since they appear in movies sometimes." Xenos nods, makes sense. A high dragon, huh? "Faeryn is a cortile, a kind of mana beast that is considered to be a type of high nature spirit."

"Seems you really hit the jackpot," Xenos says, not jealous in the slightest. He's extremely happy with Inari, someone could offer him an actual unicorn or something and he would still choose Inari. She may not be powerful or extraordinary, but to Xenos, Inari's perfect in every way. He's sure Felix feels the same way by the soft smile on his face.

"I really did." Felix looks at Xenos. "What about you?"

Xenos raises a brow. "Pretty sure you'd be the one to tell me what Inari is, but I'll humour you." Felix rolls his eyes, not denying the claim. "Inari's a regular fox from our realm, she was found in Gehénnam Cavern."

Felix blinks a couple of times, processing. "That's. . . weird? Like, haven't you seen a fox before?"

That makes Xenos take pause, because yes, he has. Does this mean Inari isn't actually a normal fox? Or does his magic have to be activated for the bond to form? Maybe he has to be in Vaedreola or it can't happen? Xenos' head spins, it seems that he hasn't actually thought about the true implications of Inari being from their realm. This situation is odder than he originally anticipated.

"You make a fair point," comes Mr. Balanius' voice from behind them, making Felix and Xenos turn. "There hasn't been anything like this before, so this situation is completely unknown to everyone else as well."

"Will I get in trouble?" Xenos asks worriedly, glancing at Inari who's just pounced onto Faeryn's face. "Will Inari get in trouble?"

Mr. Balanius shakes his head. "For now, say she's a type of lesser kitsune if anyone asks. There's only so much my influence can do, and if you do slip up, I'll take most of the backlash for you."

"Backlash?" Felix questions, making Xenos a bit anxious.

Mr. Balanius sucks in a breath through his teeth before letting out a sigh. "Don't worry about that right now, I can only explain once you two become official citizens."

Xenos grimaces. "There's sure a lot of things we can't know."

To his credit, Mr. Balanius doesn't look like he's enjoying this anymore than Xenos and Felix. "If it's any consolation, most people from Okebu don't even know this much." Before Xenos can respond, Mr. Balanius changes the topic. "Anyway, now that you two got your familiars, you two know what mana feels like, right?"

"It was very surreal," Felix says, Xenos giving an agreeing nod.

"Good, then it's going to be easy to tap into your reserves." Mr. Balanius walks toward that door, Felix and Xenos following along. Xenos calls Inari's name and she wiggles out from Faeryn's paw to scurry up Xenos' body, securing her position on his neck as though she were a scarf. Xenos smiles, scratching her chin.

Faeryn and Igneel soon follow. Felix reaches his hand down to let Igneel slither up his arm to his neck while he pets Faeryn on the head, Faeryn swishing her tail in delight as she trots beside him. Xenos reaches over and gently pets the head of Igneel, Igneel pushing his head into Xenos' fingers and making him laugh.

"Such a good amphiptere," Xenos coos, making Igneel hiss quietly in what looks to be contentment. Inari barks and Xenos gives Igneel one last pat on the head before turning his full attention to Inari, who's pouting through the bond. "And you're such a good lesser kitsune," Xenos says, rubbing his thumb by her ears. He can feel Inari's tail thumping against his back, pleased.

Felix chuckles. "Are you trying to steal away Igneel?"

Xenos looks at him. "Maybe you just need to give Igneel some head pats and this wouldn't be a problem."

Felix snorts. "You're right, he does seem to enjoy head pats, maybe even more than Faeryn." Faeryn growls, looking up at Felix with narrowed eyes. "Okay, okay, you like head pats better." She huffs as if to say "of course".

Xenos smiles, continuing to pet Inari as Mr. Balanius leads them behind the barn and into the forest. Aside from the many weeping trees, there are brightly coloured wildflowers sprinkled around on the forest floor, small rocks and tall grass growing where they please. He occasionally sees glimpses of other mana beasts, nothing major, just flashes of fur or scales here and there.

After around five minutes, they arrive in a large open area that has clearly been artificially made. There are some benches in front of a small log cabin that seems much too tiny to be a living space for someone, the clearing is outlined by circular rocks with odd symbols carved onto them, some just a few lines while others are impossibly complex.

"What is this place?" Felix asks, looking around curiously.

Mr. Balanius simply rolls up his sleeves and takes off his hat, letting his mid-length golden hair fall down to his shoulders, then tossing it onto one of the benches. He takes his hair and pulls it into a high pony-tail, a few stray strands falling into his face. Mr. Balanius smiles, this one somehow seeming very vicious all of a sudden. Xenos can feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and shiver shoot down his spine.

"This place is where you two are about to train." Somehow, it sounds almost like a threat.