Chapter 31: Catoblepas

Aranea narrowed her eyes at Leonel. She did not expect that his attitude would change once he holds his spear.

Now that their spar and resonation training had ended, Aranea stared at Leonel as he felt uneasy with the stare that he was getting.

"Erm, is something wrong, Aranea?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you would become a different person once you hold your spear?"

Hearing this from his Summoner, Leonel embarrassingly scratched the back of his head, shyly chuckling as he felt guilty about showing her his other side when spars happen.

"I'm sorry. When I get too caught up with what's happening, I tend to be rough," Leonel said, Aranea, narrowing her eyes at him more.

"Yeah, you don't say."

Elenea started healing their bruises from their training. She started humming as she put her hand on them, her hand emanating gold light as she mumbled her spell.

"I am the light; I sing for healing. I am the light; let my voice heal you..."

Soon after, all of the bruises on their bodies disappeared. Elenea panted as she felt herself weakening.

It was her first time using too much of her powers, so she immediately felt tired.

"Hey..." Aranea worriedly held Elenea's shoulders as she panted, "Go and take a rest. You haven't tried healing more than one person."

Leonel also looked at Aranea's twin sister with worry, "If that's the case, then your sister is right. If you're not used to it yet, then healing more than one person might deplete your mana faster."

Elenea gave them a small smile. She felt weak to have been told this way by two people, but she had to admit that they were right.

Then again, if she did not improve herself, then she would find it problematic to heal more than one person. She would have to continue training with them if they were to have more training sessions.

"I'm okay," she said, "I would want to join in your training soon. If I don't try my best in improving myself, I would just be a drag even though I could heal people," she added, the two, Aranea and Leonel, smiling at her perseverance.

"Then it is fine," Leonel said, "Take a breather, and once we train in the following days, we'll make sure to help you," he said, Aranea nodding in agreement with what her familiar had said.

"Alright." Now Elenea's smile was more attractive than before. "I'll go inside then. I have to prepare for our snacks. You two stay here. You two are more tired from the training."

With that, Elenea stood up. She then briskly walked to enter their home to make way towards their kitchen so she could prepare some snacks for them.

With Aranea being alone with her familiar, she narrowed her eyes at Leonel once more as the water fighter scratched his cheek, conscious.

"I said I'm sorry, didn't I?"

"It is our first spar! How could you summon a water dragon!?" Aranea threw both of her hands up in the air, "It is my first time witnessing such magic right before my eyes! You think I could handle that well!?"

Leonel chuckled, "I'm sorry!" He kept apologizing over and over again, but he had to admit that he enjoyed Aranea's reaction. "I told you, I am a different person when I'm enjoying the moment!"

Aranea rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah... next time, if you kill your Summoner, I don't know what will happen to you."

"Hey..." Leonel slightly pouted his lips, "I have no intention of killing you, alright? Honestly, I was just amazed at how good you are with your attacks. I felt threatened a bit."

Hearing this from him, Aranea actually liked what she heard. She slightly coughed as she squinted her eyes, feigning ignorance as she quite felt good about his compliment.

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Leonel widened his eyes, "For a girl who thought she doesn't have magic, it is amazing that you have improved your physical prowess up to this point, no kidding!"

Now there was a smug grin on Aranea's face. She crossed both of her arms in front of her chest as she rocked left and right, feeling proud and giddy.

"Aw, shucks... thank you, Leonel! With what you said, it made me think that I may not be such a hassle, after all!"

Leonel patted the top of her head like he was her big brother. Aranea didn't mind it as she enjoyed it, a soft blush appearing on her face as she felt like she got a compliment from a family member.

"Now, what is our goal for the ordeal?" Leonel asked.

With the question, Aranea told him the written ordeal on the paper.

Even though the rules said not to tell anyone, Aranea can tell Leonel because he is her familiar and his main purpose is to protect her. Without knowing her objective, Leonel won't do his job well as her familiar.

"We are to hunt a Catoblepas."

"What?" Leonel's eyes widened, "That is such a big task for a newbie fighter like you--even for me," he mumbled, but it was enough for Aranea to hear.

"Catoblepas?"

With that, Aranea got the bag at the side of their table and got the bestiary book. She opened the C part of the book and saw the image of the Catoblepas.

When her eyes landed on the picture, her eyes widened in surprise as well.

"W-we're going to beat this monster!?"

Its long neck was seen as a way for it to grasp things underwater, using its tusks to rustle plants. It seemed like the beast came from giraffes, elephants, and rhinoceroses.

To support its long neck while searching for food, Catoblepas uses its front leg muscles, long backbone, and low center of gravity to balance its neck like a suspension bridge while walking, and it has several large ears it can flap to control its body temperature.

In desert regions, Catoblepas has a sandy color, while cold regions use bluer hues.

Aranea looked at Leonel with an incredulous look, "You think the two of us could beat a dinosaur-looking beast like this!?"

Leonel shrugged his shoulders, also an uncertain expression plastered on his face.

"I don't know... maybe we could. We'll just have to work together."

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
MysticAmy

And here is the 2nd chapter as promised! For your information about the Catoblepas, I had the idea when I remembered beating one when I played Final Fantasy XV. ^^ If you are familiar, you’d know the beasty well! If you are not, you can search in YouTube how great of a beast they are. ;)

comment 16 comment

Vote

SEND GIFT

Load failed, please RETRY