Chapter 436 – Follow Me

The Shadow Cat, seeing a blue-haired human move towards it but not sensing a magical force from it, did not flee. Instead, the Demonic Beast hunkered down on its perch in the tree and watched as the figure approached. Despite not feeling magic from the human, the Shadow Cat did feel a sense of longing, as if some part of this small figure shared something with itself.

When the human continued to move directly at it, the Shadow Cat began to feel slightly worried. A normal human should not be able to see the Shadow Cat, let alone have the will to walk straight at a B Rank Demonic Beast. This told it that this was not a normal human, despite not being able to sense any power from him.

As this realization dawned on the Shadow Cat, its survival instincts flared to life. Fight or flight? Flight was obviously the better choice. There were only two ways the human could avoid detection, either it was so strong that the Shadow Cat could not comprehend its strength, or the human could hide its strength. The human heading right at the Demonic Beast and this told the creature that it did not matter which was true as it would appear the human was confident enough to come directly at it.

However, despite instinctually wanting to flee, another instinct told the Shadow Cat to wait. That the human was more than just an ordinary human. Something called to the Shadow Cat through magic that, even though his magic aura was hidden, still resonated with the Demonic Beast.

The Shadow Cat ended up deciding on a compromise. Despite the danger, it was sure that if it decided to flee the human would not be able to stop it, so it decided to test this human. As the biped continued to approach, the Shadow Cat waited for the moment he walked into the range.

As soon as the human crossed the range for Shadow Step, the Shadow Cat vanished from its perch and reappeared in the human’s shadow. The Demonic Beast expected the human to be startled, to jump or at least show some sign of fear when it vanished. However, the human simply slowly turned around and looked at the meter-tall dark grey furred cat with a smile.

Seeing the human completely unafraid, the Shadow Cat immediately tried to use Shadow Step again. Unfortunately, it could not. The realization that it was trapped was terrifying and it was only after another split second that it sensed the magic around it.

The human had done something. Created an intense field of Shadow affinity magic. But despite the Shadow Cat’s affinity for the mana that filled the air, it could not call upon it. All the magic in the area seemed to belong to the human.

Feeling suffocated, the Shadow Cat turned to try and flee, but before it could, the devil of a human was there, smiling at it. The Shadow Cat tried to leap away, but before it could land, the human was already ahead of it as if he could move through the shadows just like it could.

“There is no need to run,” the human said. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

The Shadow Cat did not believe the human. All humans killed Demonic Beasts. Thankfully, most humans that passed through this area did not stay long, but that did not lessen the Shadow Cat’s distrust of the species. Since it could not flee, it could only fight. The Shadow Cat crouched low, waiting for the opportune moment to pounce at the human.

“I want to offer you a way to leave this place and grow stronger,” the human said.

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The biped then reached out a hand. In the palm of its extended hand a magic seal flared to life. The Shadow Cat was not sure what the magic seal was for, but it had a nearly irresistible desire to accept the magic seal.

“With this spell I can form a link between us. You will better understand me, and I will be able to understand you. If you accept it, you will be able to leave here and travel with me. Growing stronger. Perhaps one day, becoming the strongest Shadow Cat ever.”

The Shadow Cat paused for a moment to consider the human’s words. The human had not attacked. He had not even moved threateningly, unless you counted blocking the Shadow Cat’s attempt to escape. However, the Shadow Cat did not relax, it was possible that this human was crafty and only waiting for an opening.

“I can see you are still a bit fearful of me. I had hoped that by not attacking I would have gained a little bit of trust. Let me show you that if I had wanted to fight, you would have stood no chance.”

Just as the Shadow Cat was wondering what the human meant a magic aura erupted from around the human. The aura was oppressive. Filling up the area and the Shadow Cat, already deprived of the mana in the area, felt like it was suffocating. Just as the desire to submit was overwhelming it, the aura vanished. The Shadow Cat looked up to the human in fear and saw him calmly smiling before reaching out his hand with the magic seal.

“If you agree to become my bound familiar, I promise that you will become strong. Just like me.”

Having the human offer to make the Shadow Cat stronger just after displaying an overwhelming strength was enough to tell it that this was the choice to make. Besides, what if the human decided that if he could not form this bond with it, then it would just kill it and move on to another Demonic Beast and try again.

Slowly, the Shadow Cat moved forward and touched its nose to the magic seal. In an instant the magic seal vanished and became a part of the Shadow Cat’s being. In a moment of clarity of the last few minutes, the human’s words and actions all made sense. And then the Shadow Cat could hear the human’s words, not out loud, but inside its mind.

‘My name is Damion. Thank you for accepting the bond. As promised, we will grow stronger together.’

‘Damion.’

‘Yes, that is my name, do you have a name?’

‘Name? Shadow Cat.’

‘That is the name of your species. How about I give you a name.’

The human went silent for a moment and briefly walked around the Shadow Cat, looking it over. The Demonic Beast felt very nervous, but when Damion stroked its head, the nervousness faded and the Shadow Cat let out a slight purr.

‘Since you are a girl, I’ll name you Nyx. She was the goddess of night on my old world.’

‘Nyx,’ the Shadow Cat mentally repeated. ‘Me, Nyx.’

‘Glad that you like it. Now, I need to figure out what you can do aside from Shadow Step. Can you hide in shadows like this?’

As Damion mentally spoke to the Shadow Cat he vanished. Nyx, now being his bound familiar, could still sense the human, but could not see him. The One With Shadows spell had allowed him to wrap himself in shadows and vanish from the naked eye.

Seeing and instinctually knowing what Damion had done, Nyx followed suit. This was not a skill it used often, but the ability was useful as a means to hide and wait for unsuspecting prey.

“Excellent,” Damion said aloud when Nyx vanished into the shadows. He had released his Shadow Domain and Shadow Mastery spells to make it easier for Nyx to use its abilities, but even if he had kept them active, the Shadow Cat, now being his familiar, would be exempt from the restraints of those spells.

A moment later, both Damion and Nyx released One With Shadows and looked at each other. The bond between them was not as strong as it was between him and Phil, but Damion remembered how the early days were with the, then, Snow Hawk and had no doubt the Shadow Cat would grow just as fast, perhaps faster.

“Well, let’s get going down to the deeper floors,” Damion told Nyx. “Just let me know if the ambient mana becomes too strong for you. If you don’t get overwhelmed, I want to go all the way to the S Rank floors to train.”

Nyx did not respond to Damion. The Shadow Cat simply fell in step with him and followed behind him as he went through the passageway to the next floor.