Vol 7 Chapter 58

[ It might be better to take it easier from now on. Are you very tired? ]

He wanted to say "Very tired? You try being in my position," but even opening his mouth was difficult as moving his body was such a struggle. When he finally managed to raise his body that had been barely squirming in place, sweat poured down like rain as if he had just finished a marathon.

"Whew."

[ Training is good, but we both need to know moderation. Let's be careful. Your body isn't just yours alone, you know? I can't move without you either. ]

"Be quiet."

When Kapros responded coldly to those unfunny words, Superior laughed.

[ Still, please bear with this much since you might not be able to enter the mental world for a while. ]

'Ah...'

Right. Today Superior had said he would test whether there was a way he could leave this place or something.

[ Can you stand up properly now? ]

"Hmm..."

When he pushed against the bed he had been lying on to raise his body, though his legs were a bit shaky, he could stand up without much trouble.

[ Good. Shall we begin? First, will you give me permission for your left arm too? ]

"...I permit it."

Whoosh!

As soon as he spoke those words lightly, some hot energy surged up, bursting through as if something blocked was moving from inside his chest to the end of his left arm.

"Ugh..."

While Kapros frowned, his left arm moved around freely several times against his will, repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fist before going limp again.

[ That went well so far. Now go to that window over there and open it. ]

Following Superior's words, Kapros approached the nearby window and opened it. Surprisingly, the scenery outside this window showed exactly the same cold and shabby streets of Bala Monyak he had seen before entering Skaga's temple.

'A house that looks small from outside becomes a huge temple when you enter, and then when you open a window inside you see the scenery outside the small-looking house again... what an amazing structure this is.'

[ Now I need to cast a spell using your mouth, and it will need a lot of magical power. Drink some potions to fill up. ]

Kapros silently took out potions stored in the Ring of Ancient Storage and drank several bottles. Since both his stamina and magical power were almost bottomed out, it was only after bottles piled up on the table that he could barely fill them up properly.

As soon as his body was filled with strength, his lips opened on their own and began calmly reciting words like a song.

"Other masters of nature, my friends. I know that neither the vast sky nor the gentle earth can hide from your eyes. Those who hear my call, please respond to my summons."

How long did they wait after the words ended? As Kapros was confused about whether what he had just recited was a spell or not, Superior spoke to him.

[ Look at the sky over there. ]

When he raised his head, he could see something like a black dot gradually growing larger between the clouds in the sky.

'What is that?'

[ I was quite worried whether this would work, but fortunately there's been a response. It will come down soon, so step away from the window. ]

"Huh?"

Step away from the window? Before he could ask why, the gradually growing dot suddenly transformed into something huge.

'Is that... a hawk?'

A brown raptor that looked almost as big as his upper body was flying toward them with flashing yellow eyes. Just as Kapros hurriedly stepped away from the window, the hawk swooped down at high speed as if it had been waiting and perched, gripping the window he had been leaning on tightly with sharp talons.

Flap!

As the powerful wings fluttered and scattered wind, Kapros's eyes widened in surprise watching the empty potion bottles on the table beside the window roll around and fall over.

"...Thank you for responding, my friend. Sharp sword of the sky."

As if understanding Superior's greeting spoken through Kapros's mouth, the hawk opened its beak once to make a strange cry before closing it again. From its piercing yellow eyes and strong feathers to talons that looked like they could break an arm if they gripped it - the creature didn't seem like an ordinary hawk at all.

"I wish to take you as a familiar who shares will with me. If you permit, give your answer; if you do not wish it, you may leave."

The hawk that had been hesitating and tilting its head this way and that let out another long, sharp, low cry.

'Is that permission?'

"I too sincerely consider it an honor to be able to be with one who possesses such noble will."

Superior answered as if understanding the meaning contained in the hawk's cry.

[ This has gone well so far. Now I'll use magic. ]

When Kapros nodded at Superior's words, both his right and left arms moved to draw two small circles simultaneously.

Flash!

As soon as bright light burst forth through the circles drawn by the trajectories of light leaking from his fingertips, Kapros felt the magical power he had just filled up starting to drop rapidly again.

'Ugh...'

"Like two bodies becoming one being, bear the eternal fruit of complete trust. Unite Familiar!"

When the spell ended, light that burst from the circles in both hands flew in opposite trajectories. The light from the right flew toward his heart, and the light from the left seeped into the hawk's heart as if piercing it, and at that moment a huge heartbeat began resounding loud enough to burst his eardrums.

Thump...!

Thump, thump, thumpthumpthumpthumpthump!

"Hah, hah..."

As the sound grew louder and hot heat seemed to leak from his heart, Kapros clutched his chest and gasped for breath, while Superior offered completely unhelpful words of comfort.

[ Just endure a bit more. Then it will be over. ]

If he could have shot back a retort, he might have felt a bit better, but unfortunately there was no chance. Soon after, just when his heart felt like it would burst from heating up so much, for a moment he couldn't hear anything and his vision flickered black.

"Anyway, now that Style 2 has opened up too, don't you have some sense of Ma-Rakian now?"

Sense? What nonsense. He didn't have even an inkling, let alone a sense.

"..."

When he regained consciousness again, he was sitting collapsed on the floor. Seeing the hawk watching his state with yellow eyes, he felt somewhat humiliated that he, a human, couldn't endure what the hawk seemed to have endured.

"Is it over...?"