Leon's body froze for a second as soon as he saw the huge creature standing behind him.
"Human..." The monster spoke in a deep voice, its bloodlust instantly overwhelming Leon's body.
"A-Adrenaline Rush…" As soon as those words left his mouth, Leon's eyes turned completely black. Incredible strength surged through him, and he regained the control over his body.
'I am not fighting this thing… I am running.' Leon thought, immediately turning around to flee.
But before he could move, a loud thud echoed behind him as if something big has fallen down.
Leon slowly turned his head. The massive cat-like monster had collapsed on the ground. Blood poured from its stomach and it's mouth.
"What the fuck?" Leon deactivated [Adrenaline Rush] and pulled the blade from his back pocket.
He tightly grabbed the blade in his hand while keeping his distance from it.
[Race: Shadow Velmora]
[Description: Shadow Velmoras are highly intelligent and playful monsters. These creatures possess a rare ability to manipulate mana freely.
They do not harm humans unless provoked or if their territory is invaded. Their soft fur and charm-controlling eyes make them rare and hunted.
They usually appear at night or during early morning to hunt prey.]
[Debuff: Poisoned, Bleeding.]
'Poison and Bleeding... Looks like he is the monster those stupid fucks were looking for.' Leon thought with a neutral expression.
"I can't believe how those guys fucked you up… It says you're intelligent and still got injured by such a dumbass party," Leon said, his expression flat as he stared at the Velmora.
"H-Humans… Caught me…" the Velmora muttered weakly.
"What ?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"They caught me… off guard… after my fight with an Arachne. I was poisoned and weak… that's when they spotted me and started attacking." Its voice grew fainter.
"Wait… Arachne? Isn't that the half-spider, half-girl thing ?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"We've met before… Leon Luster," the Velmora said, turning its eye toward him and smiling faintly.
"I don't remember meeting a creature this big. I mean, my memory's bad, but I'd remember a giant cat—"
"I was not in my original form back then. Remember the day at the Velthorne academy's gate…" The Velmora spoke.
"Outside the gate? But I only met—oh wait. Were you that black cat that rubbed against my leg?" Leon blinked as he remembered immediately.
"That day, I was using an invisibility spell. You were the only one who saw me and started patting my head. I was surprised to see that."
"Wait… what do you mean 'invisible' ?" Leon asked again.
"I followed you around for quite some time, but I still don't understand why you could see me."
"That professor… when he came up to me. Could he see you ?" Leon asked with a confused expression as his brows furrowed.
"No," the Velmora replied simply.
"…Now I understand why that guy looked at me like I was a mental guy. To him, I was petting the air. Even I'd call myself dumb after doing something like that." Leon said with a deadpan look.
"Can you… hel—*cough cough*…"
Blood splattered on the ground from both, his mouth and his stomach.
"What?" Leon asked, walking closer.
"Can you… h-help me?" The Velmora asked with a serious expression.
"Help you? I'm not a healer and—"
"I don't need a healer. My natural regeneration is enough to counter the poison and close the wounds. But I need mana to activate it. You have so much around you and I've sensed it.
The amount of mana your body releases after every skill cast—it's insane. Not even the strongest monster in this forest has that kind of mana release." The Velmora spoke with a neutral expression.
"How do you know?" Leon asked.
"I'm a mana-sensitive creature, Leon Luster. And I'm not asking for your mercy. I'll offer you something of equal value in trade for saving my life."
"Equal trade?" Leon tilted his head.
'I mean, I have infinite mana. Maybe he can give me something useful.' Leon made up his mind quickly.
"Fine. How much do you need, and how do I give it to you?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"Do that thing," the Velmora said.
"The thing you did to the elf's arrow and that rock two days ago." The Velmora replied with a smile.
"Wait—you were watching me the whole time?" Leon said, shocked.
"Your awareness is not that—*cough*—great…" The Velmora spoke as it wheezed out more blood.
"You probably shouldn't say that to someone who's about to save your life." Leon spoke with a neutral expression.
"I-I'm sorry… Now do it before I die or you won't get the reward." The Velmora pushed itself up off the blood-covered ground and stood directly in front of Leon.
"You'll die if I shoot pure mana at you. You have already seen what it can do, right ?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"I'm a Shadow Velmora. If I can't take it, then I might as well die now." The Velmora spoke with a confident expression.
"Well… I don't care if you die. If you do, I get a level-up. If you live, I get a reward. Win-win for me." Leon spoke in a low voice as he raised his hand and pointed a finger at the Velmora, focusing his mana in it.
"Too late." Leon spoke with a smile as the drop of pure mana fell down from his finger.
A sharp beam of mana fired from his finger, striking the Velmora directly in the head.
Instead of dying, its body began to absorb the energy. Its fur glowed bright blue and all of it's wounds started healing.
"T-That's enough! That's enough!" the Velmora shouted and leapt out of the beam's path.
Leon stopped it and looked down at his finger with a serious expression.
It was glowing blue, swollen, and throbbing with pain.
"Fucking hell… Heal." He casted a healing spell instantly trying to loose the pain a bit.
"No need for that…" the Velmora said and walked over to him.
It licked his finger gently and suddenly a notification popped up in front of Leon.
[Hostile monster is trying to cast a friendly skill on you. Accept? Yes/No]
'Accept it.' Leon thought.
The swelling vanished and the pain disappeared immediately.
"How did you—?!" Leon stared at Velmora.
"Humans aren't the only ones who understand skills. Monsters can learn too. And if a monster gains enough knowledge… we can surpass you." It spoke with a proud expression.
"Yeah? Then why didn't you heal yourself?"
"Well, I said if. I don't know how to read your language. That's why I stopped sneaking into academies after that day." The Velmora grinned and began following Leon.
Leon started heading back toward the dungeon.
"Why come to me? I'm also a human, just like the rest of the. What if I had killed you ?" Leon asked with a neutral expression.
"Well… First, you chopped off that dumb archer's fingers. Then you made them drop their weapons with one threat. And you protected your honor.
I like that. And the fact that you could see through my invisibility spell—even now as I have casted it on myself." The Velmora spoke with a neutral expression. Thıs content belongs to 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽
"You're invisible?" Leon raised an eyebrow as he looked at him and noticed that he can look at him clearly.
"Yes. How are you doing that?" the Velmora asked with a confused expression.
"I don't know… I can still see you clear as day." Leon replied with a neutral expression.
"Are you using a skill?" The Velmora asked.
"No, I am not using- … Wait." Leon opened his notification panel and noticed that one skill was active.
He turned it off and suddenly the Velmora vanished from it's eyes.
"What the fuck—!?" Leon gasped, staring at empty air.
'How is that possible ? Why is glitch point cancelling it's invisibility spell ?' Leon thought with a confused expression
"You can't see me now, can you?" The Velmora asked.
"I can," Leon lied, turning toward the voice.
"I'm not there. So it was a skill?" Velmora said.
Leon reactivated the skill and the Velmora reappeared instantly— but in the opposite direction of its voice.
"Velmoras can redirect our voices. One of nature's survival tools."
"Fuck it... Where is my reward ?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"Your reward... Right. Here." The Velmora spoke as it extended it's palm in front of Leon.
"What ?" Leon asked with a confused expression.
"Place your hand over it." The Velmora spoke.
"Okay..." Leon spoke as he placed his hand over it's paw.
[The Shadow Velmora has submitted to you as your familiar.]
[Choose a Name for the familiar.]
"Umm... What the fuck !?"