The ball of light immediately took off, flying through the trees with insane speed.

I really wanted to take a look at a real magical creature, so I chased after it without much thought.

Maybe eating it would boost my magic?

I was so fixated on catching it, I didn't notice the group of stinger beasts ahead. There were more than ten, surrounding a tree where a small feline creature was, hanging down from one of the tree branches, while the stinger beasts were jumping up to try and catch it.

Why does this scene feel so familiar?

The tiny ball of light hovered above the tree for a second more, before blinking out of existence.

It was gone!

Like it was just my imagination, leaving me alone with a group of angry stinger beasts that turned their attention to their new prey.

I snapped out of my thoughts and quickly generated my poison blades, firing at the attacking creatures one after another.

As I shot down five of the stinger beasts, the others were more wary with their attacks and began backing away from me.

I wasn't exactly sure what had just happened.

Did the light ball lead me here to rescue the feline creature? Or just to get me off its pursuit?

This wasn't how I remember fairies to behave…

Then I noticed the stinger creatures seemed to be staring up at the mist with fear. And then I felt it.

The forest had suddenly become quiet and the droplets of water that fell on my scales seemed to have paused.

I stared up at the mist, equally curious and cautious.

The rain had stopped.

The area around me grew silent like a graveyard, as if all signs of life had been wiped out. The water that covered the ground, receded into the soil right under my eyes and the ground became dry again.

As I watched in shock and awe, the stinger beasts all collectively let out panicked squeals. And those that survived my attacks, immediately scattered in different directions like they were fleeing from something terrible.

Their actions made me alarmed and I retreated away from them.

They seemed to be searching for a source of water but couldn't find any. Soon, their pale skin became powdery and dry as red cracks and open sores began to appear over their skin before they shrivelled up.

They then crumbled to the ground one after the other and stopped moving, as their movements became stiff, and their limbs brittle like stone.

I stared at them in horror, finding them twice as repulsive as I did before.

Wha… What was happening to them? How creepy!

"Are they…alright?" I asked Sensei.

As one of the stinger beasts stopped wiggling and fell nearby, I poked it with my tail, to see if it was alive but its skin crumbled like ash, causing me to leap back in fear.

«A lack of moisture is fatal to them. They need to be around water all the time or their skin will break down in a matter of seconds. They usually live inside bodies of water, but the rain removed that restraint.»

So water was their strength as well as weakness, it was their home and prison.

What a nice piece of knowledge he was imparting so late. I was glad I didn't gain [Water Regeneration] from them.

My ominous tail hissed as I stared at it, and for once I was glad for it.

Well, good riddance! I didn't care if they died, even though they were now also a part of me. Without them, the labyrinth was a great deal safer.

But then again, where was that fairy?

I stared up into the trees, trying to find some traces of it.

Come back, I won't eat you! I promise.

What bad luck, running into those stinger beasts.

From the general lack of noise, it seemed the absence of rain had affected those things everywhere and I sighed with relief. My nestlings could now come out to train...in minimal danger.

But there was still the problem of keeping track of their movements. I wanted to be able to find them if they were to be separated or lost.

The sound of a low whimper from the trees interrupted my thoughts, and I made out the small face of a feline with light purple eyes staring at me.

Its midnight blue fur was thick like fluff and the light blue streaks on its body were rather vivid. It was small for a monster, and not intimidating at all. In fact I thought it looked like a house cat, only it was the size of a large dog.

But what was it staring at me for?

"It's because of you, I'd lost track of my light ball" I grumbled in annoyance and appraised it anyway.

--------------

LV6 Ivenium Vegara

Specie: Ailith Felinae

HP: 16/56 Defence: 45

MP: 22/40 Intellect: 36

SP: 14/72 Magic: 38

Attack: 78 Agility: 80

Skills:

[Auditory Enhancement: LV7] [Claw: LV10]

[Pounce: LV7] [Scent:LV6] [Purr: LV10]

[Sprint: LV9] [Silence: LV6] [Bite: LV5]

[Stealth: LV2] [Night Vision: LV10]

Resistances:

[Pain Resistance: LV3]

[Fatigue Resistance: LV7]

--------------

Yeah, you're cute, but you're too weak. There's no point in eating you at all.

Since there was no point staying there any further, I turned around to get back to my cave.

But I heard the creature purr loudly, as it climbed down the tree to follow me, its fluffy tail wagging excitedly. It was quite fast, and caught up to me, although the short sprint left it out of breath.

I glared at it with my fangs out, and releasing shadowy tendrils around my body, trying to look as scary as possible. The feline monster let out a sharp squeal and jumped behind a low shrub with its hackles raised.

Heh, much better…I didn't want it getting any ideas.

I didn't want any feline pet following me around. The only feline I was interested in was that Aavrox creature, just so I could get its fire skill. I had no need for this decorative ball of fluff.

However, when I turned my back, I heard more pitiful whimpers and more purring. And when I looked back, the tiny feline hid behind the shrubs again.

The heck? You are a monster, stop behaving like a cute cat.

I was beginning to feel bad. Its HP was so low. What if, after I left it was attacked by something else and died? But that was normal here, why should I feel bad for it?

However, before I left, I threw some [HP Recovery Potion] into its mouth until its HP recovered to halfway point.

That should do it.

«Pathetic…» Sensei commented unnecessarily, as always.

"Be quiet!" I snapped but he didn't want to let it go.

«It's a predator, just like everything else here. How can you be fooled by its cute face?» He seemed to be disappointed that I didn't kill it instead, but I think it was worth it

And as if trying to disprove him, the feline creature mewled and stretched before laying on its back to expose its belly.

"You call this a predator?" I asked mockingly. "Look at it, it's just begging to be killed." A single stab to its exposed belly would finish it off instantly.

«Don't you see its claws? It's only acting defenceless to lure you in.» Sensei continued to 'warn' me.

"What? You're way too paranoid. Sensei, are you by any chance, afraid of cats?"

Haha, that sounded absurd even to me but surprisingly, Sensei did not respond.

"Hah! Don't tell me..."

«Their paws are creepy…» he answered in a low voice.

"BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" I couldn't hold back my laughter.

What was he saying? Of all the scary things we'd seen in the Labyrinth so far, how could he be afraid of cats?

«Are you done?» he asked in a rather annoyed and grumpy tone and I was pleased about it.

And he dared to complain about my fear of spiders.

I continued laughing until I had tears in my eyes. The cat monster stared up at me, its purple eyes blinking in confusion. I imagined It must look quite scary to see a laughing snake, but I didn't care. It had been a while since I heard something so amusing.

Sensei was completely silent, and I imagined he must be feeling quite mortified.

Anyway, feeding the kitten had given me an idea of how to track the nestling's whereabouts and perhaps how to unlock more places on the Labyrinth's atlas.

Since the atlas only responds to my presence...feeding them something of mine would let it count them as me.

If I feed them with something that contained my magical essence. I could, in a sense, create multiple duplicates of myself and follow their progress on the atlas to keep track of them.

If the nestlings explored much further, it would also cheat the atlas by being in more than one place at the same time, completely uncovering its unlocked areas for free.

Hah…it was worth a shot. If it was successful I would be killing two birds with one stone.

"Sensei! Do the potions from the system contain my essence?" I was impatient to hear what he had to say. I had to be right, right? And he better not lie either!

Sensei remained quiet. Was he on to me?

"If you don't answer I'll take the cat with me." I threatened.

«I don't care what you do with the creature.» Sensei shot back.

I smiled evilly; he was clearly bothered. "Answer the question then."

«Potions from the system do not contain your essence.» He replied with a sigh. «That would only be possible if they were created with your magic.»

Well…that was a little troubling. If the potions don't contain my essence, there was no point feeding it to them.

It had to be something created with my magic, huh?

So far, I have my shadows, but they don't last long when extended far away from me.

Which left my poison.

If I bit something, I could trace their location with [Mark] so the same should be possible if I simply fed It to them, right?

It was a crazy idea, but it might just work. Of course, I couldn't just feed them my venom, that would be bad, and they would most likely die. But if I mixed a fraction of it with some recovery potion, they wouldn't notice a difference.

«Why are you smiling like that? You look scary.»

"Was I? Oh, it's nothing." I smiled even wider. Call me scary all you like, I don't care. This system didn't even realise he was about to get swindled by me!

I stared down distractedly at the cat creature that kept jumping around trying to catch my hissing tail.

Why was it still here?

I nudged it away from me with my tail and it bounced across the ground on its back.

Once it was far away, I proceeded to run.

The cat monster didn't give up and began to sprint, in an effort to follow me. It managed to keep up for a while, but when I started moving at my full speed, it quickly fell behind.

I didn't look back. I couldn't wait to get home and try out my insane idea!