Chapter 6 - One Week

"Now then, little kitten. Do you have a name?"

In response to Jonathan's question, the little kitten responded by shaking her petite head. She had been given some names in her past life from the many people she had met and befriended for food. But she didn't really like those names; considering some of those names were Ginger, Fluffy and even Furball. So she was quick to decide to just say she didn't have a name.

"In that case, we'll let my little sister bestow a name upon you if you become her beast. Is that okay?"

The little kitten nods in response. She is really curious about this little sister of her savior, especially considering that they may be partners in the future. If she's as nice as these two fools say she is... Then it might not be too bad. Cat's are creatures of solitude due to their primal instincts and she was like all the other cats in the past. But with her new found intelligence came traits found in humans. With her near photographic memory of her old world, she could remember the many people playing with each other in her old world and couldn't help but feel jealous at this moment. It looked like such good fun. Maybe... This little sister could be her first friend.

★★★

One week has passed since the little kitten has joined up with the Wilderwolf family. Through her time with them, she has learned some things about why these people are in this hellish forest. It mainly had to do with the young master of the Wilderwolf family, Jonathan. In their family, when someone reaches 16 years of age, they will be sent out with the task of adventuring for a full year, not to return until the year has passed. The Wilderwolf family are famous for their powerful magicians; especially in the fields of adventurers and military men. The head of the family, Jonathan's father and Kil's brother is the Left hand man of the King; this gave him the control of the Main army of the Kingdom. The Wilderwolf family also have their own private army as well, of which the six soldiers in this party hail from.

It has been a little more than half a year since Jonathan's departure and they have been in this forest for a few weeks now. Each day they will move forward and camp the night. In the morning, they will hunt Magical Beasts for training and then travel, fighting any Magical Beasts they encounter on the way. During this time, due to the danger involved the little kitten has spent most of her time at the encampments they set up. Most of these beasts could kill her in a matter of seconds, so she hasn't had the chance to see many beasts. But she has seen beasts attack the encampment during the night.

The night before, a group of six wolf like creatures had attacked. Each one of them was the height of an adult male and their eyes glowed a menacing red in the night. Their white fur glistened in the moonlight and their speed transcended most of the soldiers, forcing Jonathan and Kil to take up most of the fighting as the two strongest figures in the party.

In this world, Magicians and Magical Beasts will make breakthroughs in their magic to become stronger. Which each new stage they transcend gaining them more access to what is called Aura. This Aura is the mysterious energy the little kitten has been feeling when she ran faster than a cheetah and leaped two stories in the air. All magic consumes this energy, so the more you have the stronger the spells you can use are. However, to make a breakthrough in your magic needs a lot of talent and a lot of time. Jonathan is a genius magician apparently, though the little kitten finds it hard to believe giving his carefree attitude. He is at a rank called Inner Haven Rank, and at the peak of it, all he needs is a little more time and he'll transcend that ranking. Meanwhile Uncle Kil is at the rank above that, the Spirit Rank.

The little kitten found it hard to digest all this information that Jonathan would spout at her whenever he was bored. Oh, and by the way, if you were wondering, those wolves were easily beaten by the powerful duo, amazing the little kitten at how swiftly they dealt with the wolves. The two seemed to chant in foreign tongue in unison and when they finished, the two had summoned icicles in the air that then shot out and pierced the wolves. The icicles pierced them in critical areas and there souls quickly left this mortal coil. This reminded the kitten of how the 'Hell Monkey' had died and realised that this was probably the same spell Jonathan had used at that time. It was truly a deadly move.

After having one week pass, she had been told that they are nearing the northern edge of what is called the Red Winter Forest. When the group reaches the end, they will find rest in the closest city of Evergale and sell off their winnings. They'll stay for a while and make plans for the future. It seems that they've still got to adventure for another few months before Jonathan can return home, so the little kitten will be joining them in that time.

With nothing else to do for the last week, the little kitten chose to study her own body and her new found powers. On the first night, the first thing she did was test her improved sight. She wanted to test if it also improved her night vision. And to her amazement it did. Then, in between eating, drinking and getting lectures about the Winterwolf family from Jonathan she began to test the limits of her strength.

She began this little study of hers by gathering aura in her little claws and slashing at the nearby trees. She found that she was able to cut halfway through the trees, enough for one of them to snap and collapse. And to her horror the tree had fell in her direction and the poor little kitten nearly saw her life flash before her eyes at that moment.

Fortunately, Jonathan was nearby to catch the tree with ease with his magically improved muscular arm. Unfortunately, Jonathan wouldn't stop teasing the little kitten the rest of the day for her stupidity afterwords... Which, she could only clench her teeth and try to ignore. She had to admit that she had been a little empty headed.

Every day, the little kitten would use her powers and strike boulders, causing them to crack and break. She leaped to her furthest height and found herself just slightly above these several story high trees. And it was on the seventh day, when this week was coming to an end that Jonathan had came over and begun a conversation.

"Little lass, I've been watching you test out your magic. Now that you've tested it, it is time for me teach you on how to improve your magic... Actually, first things first, we should have you find out what elements you align to."

The little kitten's ears perked up at this... Elements? Does that mean things like fire and water... Ah! Were those icicles apart of these elements?....

"You ready to begin?"

The little Kitten furiously nods. She has to improve her power. She remembers how Uncle Kil had said she was at the Middle Stage of Minor Magical Beast Ranking and how she was too weak to be Jonathan's Tamed Beast. How insulting! She had to get strong and show this childish duo how talented and powerful she can be! She also remembered the incident with the Hell Monkey. She never wanted to feel that useless and weak ever again.

'Hmpth! Let's do this.' She meows aloud. Once again forgetting her inability to speak. Hearing her eagerness, Jonathan let out a laugh.

"That's the spirit, if you improve you're strength enough, maybe one day you can return the favour on that Hell Monkey... Well, it would have to be another Hell Monkey as that one is dead... But you get the point!"

"Meow!"