Unsurprisingly, this new spell cost Greyson a lot of mana. Quickly detecting the exponential drain of mana from his storage, he checked their surroundings to check they escaped their pursuers. All he observed was clear sky for miles around, so he instructed Zephyr to land. Unwilling to go back, Zephyr reduced his size and winded himself around Greyson"s waist like a silver belt. Snow pranced around in the open fields beneath while happily chasing bugs. Looking around, Greyson knew he was heading in the correct direction. The Wind Altar was located in the Ventus Plateau. It was a boundless expanse of gra.s.sland filled with all sorts of different magic beasts. The plateau"s weather was relatively mild leaning towards hot, so most of the magic beasts here were either wind element or fire element magic beasts. Some of the random tribes controlled elements that the weather did not necessarily affect."Noooo! Mercy, please! Someone help! Murder!"
Sudden screams broke Greyson"s concentration as he looked over at the scene. Snow apparently detected a target for hunting and pounced on it. Faintly perceiving some movement beneath her paw, Greyson called out to her.
"Hey Snow, just let it go. We can catch other things." Typically, some small prey like a mouse would not capture Greyson"s attention. However, seeing as this magic beast can talk, it must have a pretty high-level bloodline. Small rodent magic beast tribes with high-level bloodlines were the scariest. They were powerful AND had the high reproduction rates. A select few of the tribe are actually born with the powerful bloodline, however, all the rest gather strength in numbers. Stories were recounted of whole towns and cities completely wiped out by one tribe. Shuddering a little, Greyson decided to stop thinking about it and warned Snow to stop.
Pouting, Snow reluctantly lifted her paw to allow the small creature to scurry out. Instead of running away, the mouse surprisingly ran over in front of Greyson. Lowering itself into a tiny bow, he actually thanked him.
"Kind sir, thank you for rescuing me." Speaking extremely wholeheartedly, the mouse looked up at Greyson with such a pure gaze of admiration. Stabbed by his conscience, Greyson scratched his nose awkwardly. He definitely did not consider any heroic intentions, if this mouse was any other normal magic beast he probably would have roasted it on the fire to eat himself. Getting a proper look at the creature, Greyson instantly recognized its ident.i.ty. It was actually a Jade Mouse. Confused, he went through all his knowledge of the race. Their fur was jade-colored, and they had beautiful gold eyes to match. Weak and cowardly. Known for entering into contracts with young ladies of affluent households due to their adorable nature and beauty. Low-level magic beast. Furrowing his brows, Greyson saw that this outer appearance description matched perfectly, however, their was a clear high intelligence level. This kind of trait only occurs with high-level bloodline magic beasts.
Not seeing Greyson respond, but instead growing more and more puzzled, the mouse tilted its head cutely. Was it not speaking the language correctly? Thinking harder, his eyes lit up.
A bunch of indecipherable nonsense spilled out of its mouth as it looked over to Greyson. Now genuinely shocked, Greyson did not expect to hear the ancient elven language to leave a small mouse"s mouth. Sweetbow taught him a little about the language just so he would appreciate the culture, but he was far from fluent. The bits and pieces that he caught were "thank you" and "benefactor." Deep in his own thoughts, Greyson could not tell a large misunderstanding was growing. All sorts of bizarre sounds left the mouse"s mouth. Some sounding like grunt and growls, some like roars, some like a cat"s meow. It took him a long moment to realize that the mouse was actually fluent in so many magic beast languages. A common misconception of humans is that magic beasts can all understand each other. However, they can only faintly interpret or feel what other tribe beasts are saying unless they can all speak with the human tongue. Low-level magic beasts with insufficient intelligence can normally only understand the leader of their tribe and others of their tribe. Other magic beasts remain a complete mystery to them.
"Daddy, is this mouse okay? Is it going crazy?" Snow climbed up onto his shoulder once again and looked at the small creature with worry. Pulling himself together, Greyson realized the mouse was still going through the various languages.
"Stop! Stop, I understood you the first time. I was just a little shocked. I have never seen a Jade Mouse that was able to speak so fluently."
"Oh! Wonderful! I was worried we would not be able to communicate, and you would leave without giving me a chance to thank you."
"That"s unnecessary. It really did not require any effort on my part to help you. Plus, my reasons were not as n.o.ble as you seem to think." Greyson promptly rejected any form of thanks since he did not deserve it. The Jade Mouse merely serenely smiled in response.
"The fact that you so readily admit it and do not push for reward demonstrates to me that you are a good person."
"Well..." What was he supposed to say to that? "No, I am a bad person"? Real convincing.
"Anyways, just a verbal thanks is enough for me. There is no need for anything else."
"Just come!" Rapidly making his way over, the Jade Mouse chomped down on Greyson"s pants and yanked him along.
"Whoa!" Slamming down on his b.u.t.t, Greyson was pulled along in through the dirt and gra.s.s like a rag doll. Snow just giggled at his state while following along with ease.
"Wait! Wait! You can let go, I will just follow you!" No matter how much he pleads, the mouse just shook his head and continued to pull. In next to no time, the arrived a small burrow that led deep into the ground. The opening was only about the size of his foot.
"Hey. Hey! I can"t fit through there. h.e.l.lo? I am much larger than you!" Seeing the mouse just charging straight through Greyson rolled his eyes wearily. Not listening, the mouse pulled Greyson"s foot into the opening. Expecting this to be where he gets stuck, Greyson was unprepared for the large suction that whisked him inside. Opening his eyes, he looked around to see a s.p.a.cious cavern that was clearly dug out. Thousands of tunnels leading in different direction surrounded him. Recognizing right away that this was the work of the s.p.a.ce element, Greyson pondered who in the world set up such a vast array. Moving to stand up, he was knocked right back down into the dirt by Snow who followed after him. Her snowy fur was now covered in dirt from tumbling in. In response, he twisted his head around to glare a little while spitting out the dirt from his mouth. Snow blocked his eyes in embarra.s.sment.
"Sorry, Daddy..."
"It"s fine, so can you get off me now." At this time, he was lying on the ground while she was sitting on top of his back. Standing up and dusting himself off, he realized the mouse was looking at him oddly.
"Are you a Snow Leopard in human form? Strange, I don"t sense that kind of aura at all from you."
"Huh? No, I am not."
"Then, why does this small cub call you Daddy?"
"That"s..." Greyson paused grasping for the right words. "Complicated."
"Is this your home? I"m impressed by the s.p.a.ce element change in here. Clearly the tunnels are your size, yet I am able to straighten my legs out and stay my normal size ratio to you." He also imagined if something larger than him came, the tunnels would stretch to accommodate that guest as well. Really quite an exquisite use of s.p.a.ce.
"Well, even we receive the occasional guest that wants to trade with us. Surely, we can"t only invite small magic beasts who would fit through the tunnels. All the lucrative business is enjoyed by the larger and more powerful tribes."
"Who set it up?"
"My mother!"
"Is she also a Jade Mouse? I thought the Jade Mice were wind element beasts."
"Well, I"m unsure. I think we are both supposed to be some sort of random mutation."
"Oh, then can you also use the s.p.a.ce element?"
"No..." Ears drooping, the mouse looked dispirited. "I can use the lightning and wind elements. I was hoping to be more like mother."
"Eh?" Two distinct kinds of mutations in one tribe? Somehow it sounded dubious, barely within the range of acceptable. Variation magic beasts from mixed beast mating were common, however, those that became stronger than their parents were extremely rare. Most of the time, the mixed offspring leaned one way or the other instead of inheriting the strong points from both races. Random mutations from the same magic beast parents almost never happened. They were akin to miracles. For two mutations to happen to a parent and child was unlikely, bordering on impossible. Plus, those mutations did not even lead to the same result. Going off the mouse"s expression, though, Greyson was certain he did not know anything about these kinds of statistics.
"Lightning and wind are still great! They complement each other, so it would make you stronger in battle. You even possess remarkable talent with beast languages. Did your mother teach you that, too?"
"Oh, that? No, I was born with those memories. Ever since I was young, that knowledge was part of my bloodline heritage."
Now Greyson was certain things were not as simple as mutation with this mouse. He might not even be a Jade Mouse, but from a completely separate tribe that is just similar looking. Bloodline heritage came from ancestors of the tribe. The Jade Mice were such simple creatures, how could they possibly allow this mouse to inherit such extensive knowledge? It must be a rare tribe like the Sun Moon Leopards since Greyson did not have any understanding towards a similar magic beast with traits like this mouse.