Chapter 202 – Rebran's Story

“What in the heavens is that?”

“It’s huge!”

“I think it’s a diseased cat…”

Numerous pedestrians whispered amongst themselves as Roran and Rebran passed by them in the streets.

“I’m a Griffin, not a cat!”

Rebran shouted at the man who called him a sick cat. The image of a two-meter white lion roaring at someone was a truly menacing sight to behold.

“Hush, don’t upset the cat.”

The woman walking next to the man pulled him away in case Rebran decided to attack.

“Pft.”

Roran snickered at Rebran being addressed as ‘diseased cat’ due to his abnormal white coloring.

“Humans are stupid. Brother, how long until we reach Boss’ place?”

Rebran ignored the stares of others and glanced down at Roran while continuing to walk.

After seeing the size of the large lion, Roran sent a message to Calron saying it would be impossible to sneak Rebran inside the inn, so it was better to take the beast to the Raizel clan where fewer people will find his presence suspicious. Calron had already taken Ellie to the mansion and was currently waiting for Roran to bring their guest.

Avor was busy managing the shop due to their absence, hence he did not come with them and remained back.

“We’re almost there.”

Roran answered, seeing that they were closing near the location of the Raizel clan’s mansion.

He still felt awkward with Rebran, but after experiencing the young lion’s naivety and honesty, he couldn’t find it in himself to hold a grudge against the beast. Besides, Calron passing the Blood Legacy onto Rebran wasn’t the young beast’s fault.

It was simply Roran’s refusal to accept a stranger as his martial brother.

“Great! I haven’t seen Boss in a while, and I’m excited to show him my progress in the legacy arts.”

Rebran enthusiastically bounced ahead, almost like a cat dancing around.

He’s going to be a pain.

Roran sighed as he could already foresee the troubles this overly-excited cat would bring to their group.

“We’re here.”

After several minutes, the duo finally arrived in front of the mansion’s gates.

Observing the serious expressions on the guards’ faces, Rebran quieted down and silently followed behind Roran. The young beast had an instinctual feeling that these guards were fully capable of exterminating him right there if he made a wrong move.

Roran gave an impressed glance to the large lion noticing his change in behavior. Only a warrior or talented individual would be able to sense the dangerous aura surrounding the Raizel clan’s guards.

“Rebran!”

A strong and youthful voice sounded out once the duo appeared in front of a small hut.

It was Calron.

“Boss!”

Rebran’s eyes lit up as he pounced on Calron’s smaller body and rubbed his head against the latter’s chest. The young lion’s tail was wagging akin to a puppy.

“Hahaha, it’s been so long. You’ve grown more than three times your previous size!”

Calron exclaimed with surprise, stretching his neck to inspect the length of the white lion.

“Yup! I’ve been training hard by myself since last year.”

Rebran eagerly nodded his head.

“Oh, it’s a large kitty-cat!”

Ellie suddenly popped out of the hut and yelled after seeing Rebran standing there.

“I’m a Griffin, not a cat!”

Rebran protested miserably, his tail slumping down.

“So soft…”

Ellie hugged Rebran’s furry paw and brushed her cheeks against it to feel the softness of the fur. Ellie was like a small gnome in size compared to the giant lion.

“Well, I do take care of my fur.”

Rebran complimented himself, nodding at Ellie’s appreciation.

“Wait, who is this midget, Boss?”

As if recalling that he didn’t know the identity of the little girl, Rebran turned to Calron in confusion.

“She’s in my care, don’t worry about her. Rebran, you still haven’t told me what you’re doing here? I never said I would be in Selior city, so how did you find me?”

Calron asked, curious about the young beast’s circumstances in coming here.

“I went back to the Beast city to search for you, but the old raccoon told me that you left for Selior city, so I came here as quickly as I could after playing with Avi for a while. By the way, she’s really angry and upset that you left her there without saying anything. I tried explaining to her that Boss must have had a reason, but she wouldn’t listen to me. I even gave her one of my toys I brought with me from home, but she didn’t like it. So rude…”

Rebran babbled on non-stop while Ellie continued to pet his fur.

Meanwhile, Calron and Roran patiently waited for the young beast to get to his main point.

“….. father said I was not ready, but you see, I knew I had to travel the world and fight with real enemies to be truly ready. I remembered Boss’ words, and I began training in martial arts since then. It was hard to use the Blood Legacy’s arts with a beast’s body, but I eventually found a way around it. Once I was sure I learned as much as I could on my own, I decided to find Boss so you could continue my training. We can start whenever you want to!”

Rebran finished without taking a single break and looked expectedly at Calron.

He managed to learn the legacy arts with a beast’s body?

Calron inwardly thought, his curiosity piqued as he wondered if he could use this to find a way to utilize Blood Legacy whilst in his beast form.

“You’ve certainly trained hard as it’s not easy to reach Vajra stage in such a short amount of time.”

Calron smiled at the young lion. Rebran had just arrived at the city, so Calron wanted him well-rested before asking any more questions.

“I might not be able to defeat Boss, but I’m sure you’ll have a hard time beating me as well.”

Rebran boasted smugly.

“Let’s have a spar tomorrow morning then.”

Calron laughed with mirth and patted Rebran on the back.

“I’d love to see that!”

Roran chuckled, already imagining the large lion fainted on his back on the ground.

“Now, we need to find you a place to stay for the night. You’re too big to fit into my hut, so I’ll ask Grandpa if there are any empty rooms.”

Calron said, about to take out his communication crystal.

“Ah, no need for that.”

Rebran abruptly replied, as his large began to rapidly shrink until he was the size of an ordinary cat.

“Kitty!”

Ellie squealed in delight and picked Rebran up.

“What…”

Both Roran and Calron had their jaws open, taken completely unaware by the sudden change.

This punk could’ve been in that size all along? Stupid lion made me walk all the way here when we could’ve easily sneaked him inside the inn.

Roran grumbled inwardly.

“Put me down, midget! I don’t like being this small, but I can’t inconvenience Boss in order to find me a bigger room.”

Rebran protested Ellie’s hold on him and tried to struggle out of her grasp. If it wasn’t for Calron, he would have already smacked the little girl with his tail and made his escape.

“Put him down, Ellie. You need to respect Rebran’s wishes, so you can only pet him if he gives you permission.”

Calron chided the little girl, but he was secretly laughing inside at the miniature Rebran’s appearance.

“Alright…”

Ellie sulked at relinquishing the cute cat, but still let go of Rebran.

“Hmm.”

Rebran hummed in satisfaction and peeked inside the hut.

“Big brother, I have somewhere to go, so I’ll take my leave for now. I’ll come by early tomorrow morning for the God Tiles.”

Roran scratched his head and left quickly before Calron could inquire any further. He did not yet want Calron to know about his underground fighting.

“Eh?”

Calron muttered in confusion, sensing something strange in Roran’s action.

“Oi Rebran, get some rest.”

Pushing aside Roran’s unusual behavior, Calron addressed the young lion who was currently exploring the insides of his hut while Ellie stared longingly at his fur.

“I’m not that tired, Boss!”

Rebran stuck his head out of the hut.

“No, I need you to be well rested for tomorrow.”

“Why?”

Rebran tilted his cute head to the side in response to Calron’s answer.

“We’re going to be having that spar you wanted tomorrow.”

Calron grinned, flashes of lightning crackling around his fingertips.

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