Chapter 24 – A Legendary Magical Beast

Lynett

Why do this always happen to me?

Currently, my hands are tied together and there is a cloth over my head, covering my face. Yep, there is no mistake, I am being abducted.

A few moments ago, I was still talking to Aoban and Lukas. I tried to get more information about the demi-human who escaped, but none of them were willing to talk so I let it go. They won’t be able to hide it forever anyway. This is school and people talk –a lot. It’s almost as bad as a neighborhood full of housewives.

Attempting to divert my attention, the two of them changed the subject. It’s not like I didn’t see what they were trying to do, but at this point, it didn’t really care anymore.

Aoban asked me a lot of questions, mostly about mother. He seemed to be worried about her, so I told him about Yoko and Harri, leaving out the details. Obviously, I omitted to mention anything about their true origins or their personalities. Brother only needed to know that mother was safe. Those two were weirdoes, but they were trustworthy and that’s all I needed.

Lukas was much more silent. He merely listened, seemingly enjoying hearing stories about home.

In the end, the three of us talked until the sun dipped lower in the sky, announcing the end of the day and the beginning of the evening.

Aoban was the first to leave. He had to go somewhere; something related to the student council, I didn’t really catch it. Lukas proposed to escort me back to my room, but I turned down the offer, not wanting to bother him any longer. Besides, I wanted some time alone. However, I clearly not expected to be attacked on my way back to the dormitory.

Before I knew it, someone sneaked behind me and put his hand over my mouth, preventing me from screaming. To be honest, at that time, I was so confused that the idea didn’t even cross my mind. Then, I heard him casting a spell on me. I’m pretty sure it was supposed to make me fall asleep, but obviously, the magic didn’t work on me. Once he estimated that the spell had become effective, my captor put a bag over my head and placed me on his shoulder, carrying me like a bag of potatoes.

Which lead us to the current situation.

When I finally came to understand what was happening, I realized it was too late to warn my abductor that I was still conscious, so I decided to play dead. I was curious as to why I was being kidnapped. Besides, it’s been a long time that I stopped being conscious of the dangers around me.

My captor seemed pretty strong. While it’s true that I was shorter, and thus lighter than the other kids of my age, no one is supposed to lift a fourteen year old that easily. However, he didn’t emit a lot of mana.

First, I thought that I was being abducted because of my status. Noble kids being snatched away for a ransom were something that occurred pretty often. If that is the case, then my captor is going to be very disappointed. I highly doubt my uncle would pay anything for me.

However, thinking about it, this scenario was very unlikely. What kind of idiot would abduct a kid at their own school? Besides, it wasn’t any school. It was the Arcane Academy. It was protected by a barrier, and the only way to get in was this special ring given to the students and the staff members. Moreover, if I’m guessing right, those rings are all unique. Once they are given an owner, they will only react to their mana, making it impossible to steal them. Which means that my captor belonged to the school.

So, guess number 2: someone hired an insider to get rid of me, blaming it on the school. Oh, and when I say someone, I already have a good idea of who it is. My uncle wouldn’t do something as reckless as this, so who else but my aunt? She is totally the kind of person to stab you in the back when you’re not watching. Besides, I had already noticed that she started to become rebellious, my warning of twelve years ago slowly losing its effect.

And then, guess number 3: someone is pulling a massive prank on me. This hypothesis seems a little far-fetched, but why not after all? Kids are kids. Left on their own, with almost no adult to supervise them, not a lot of kids would resist the temptation to prank the new student –me.

Besides, I’m not sure if it was because of the spell my captor casted on me or because my head was upside down, but I was starting to feel dizzy and it was hard to think rationally.

At last, after a few minute, my captor finally let me down. I could feel that we were still outdoors, except that this time, we were no longer alone. I detected four people, including two mages. But their mana seemed instable, so I’m guessing they were only beginners.

I was carefully seated on the ground and tied up against a tree.

“Is it her?”

“No mistakes, I followed her until she was alone.”

Hearing their voice, my captors were much younger than I expected. Adding the fact that their mana core didn’t seem fully mature yet, I understood that they were probably students, eliminating my first and second guess as to why I was being abducted. Who would hire kids to kidnap another kid? Certainly not my aunt.

“What do we do now? She’s not reacting at all.”

“You didn’t kill her, did you? Maybe I should’ve gone instead of you…”

“O-Of course not! She’s just sleeping! Besides, do you really think you would’ve been able to carry her over here by yourself?”

“Well, at least, I would’ve casted the spell properly!”

“Uhm… Excuse me but I’m awake,” I finally said, tired of listening them arguing.

As I spoke, my captors fell silent. I heard them whispering something to each other, but with my ears covered, I couldn’t understand what they were saying. After a short moment, someone approached me and took off the bag over my head.

The first thing I saw was a rabbit. To be more precise, it was a rabbit mask. A boy was leaning over me, wearing some kind of carnival mask. Looking around, I noticed that his friends were all wearing a similar mask. It was so unexpected, if I hadn’t had some self-control, I would have definitely burst out laughing.

“Stay calm, if you panic, you’ll only make things worse,” the boy explained in an abnormally deep tone, probably trying to mask his real voice.

“I am calm,” I replied.

“You don’t have to pretend.”

“I’m not.”

I couldn’t see his expression, but I’m pretty sure he was getting flustered. Oh well…

My eyes no longer covered, I was very curious to find out about my captors’ identity. Their masks prevented me to see their face, but it’s not like I needed to see them to find out who they were, right?

[Status].

[Status]

Name :

Hevos Kache

Race :

Human

Class :

Apprentice Mage

Gender :

Male

Age :

16

Level :

11

Vitality :

255

Defense :

76

Strength :

67

Mana :

321

Intellect :

278

Agility :

65

Yup, I knew it. Definitely a student.

I also checked the status of the others. As I thought, they were all pretty young, between fifteen and eighteen years old. Two mages, one rogue and one ranger. Two humans and two demi-humans. Quite an unusual combination. However, I was now sure about one thing: I don’t know them. I’m pretty good at remembering people and their name didn’t seem familiar at all. So what do they want with me?

“Hey, are you listening?” The one named Hevos asked.

“Ah, sorry. I was checking something. You were saying?”

“You… Do you even understand the situation you’re in? You better start taking us seriously, or else, we’ll make you regret it!”

… Huh? Is he trying to intimidate me? With this cute rabbit mask? Seriously? Ufufu… Amateur. I kind of feel like trolling him a bit, now.

I gave him a half smile as I infused a small amount of mana in the ropes tying me up. I made sure the fire would not spread and then I burned them. Now free of any kind of ties, I stood up to be on the same eye-level than my captors –well, more or less, since I’m shorter than them.

My captors didn’t try to stop me. I think they got too confused to do anything, as they just froze in place. Seriously, guys…Had you not considered the possibility that you weren’t the only ones able to use magic? Especially here.

“A mage?”

I cleared my throat.

“Um, excuse-me, Hevos? I’m pretty sure you and I don’t know each other, and I don’t think I had the time to do anything to piss you off yet. So, what do you want from me?”

“… My name isn’t Hevos.”

“Yes it is.”

“No it isn’t.”

He didn’t seem willing to admit it. Unfortunately for him, even if he covers his face and masks his voice, he can’t hide his status from me. I tilted my head, a small smile drawing on my face.

“Hevos Kache, isn’t it? And this is Teka, Frost and Ansin,” I said, designating each one of them.

My captors didn’t react immediately. They silently exchanged inquiring glances, probably trying to figure out if someone understood what was going on, until Hevos suddenly grabbed the collar of the demi-human who brought me here.

“You! Did you betray us? We asked you to bring her here, who the hell asked you to tell her everything?!”

“What? Are you crazy? Why would I tell her anything, it wouldn’t bring me much good either! Besides, I’m telling you she was unconscious!”

“Then how the hell does she know about us?”

“I don’t know! Why don’t you ask her instead!”

“Look, guys, I don’t really care about your identity,” I explained, trying to calm them down. “I just want to know why you brought me here.”

Once again, my captors didn’t answer anything. I waited for a while, thinking that maybe one of them would eventually say something, but they just stared at me without uttering a word.

“Oh well… Whatever,” I sighed.”In that case excuse-me, but since you won’t say anything, I’m returning to my room.”

As I took a step forward, Hevos immediately blocked my way.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Didn’t I just say it? To my room.”

I heard him click his tongue in annoyance, as he started to gather mana in his hands.

“And do you really think we’ll let you leave?” He threatened.

I sighed. “Don’t waste your mana. This level of magic won’t have any effects on me.”

“Oh, really? Then how about this?”

Hevos clenched his fists. His mana suddenly became stronger and the wind started to howl as the air pressure dropped all around him. He was about to use medium magic. For someone of his age, I guess it was something impressive. Still, it was far from being enough to harm me. However, before he could start his chant, he was interrupted by one of his friends; the other mage, I think his name was Frost.

“Hevos! Stop it. She’s provoking you,” he said. “She wants you to use a strong spell. By using this much mana at once, you’re basically sending an alert to the teachers!”

No, I didn’t think that far ahead. I meant what I said. Still, I learned something good. I’ll refrain to use high-level magic from now on.

Frost shifted his attention on me. He brought his hand to his face and took his mask off, revealing his juvenile, yet stern face.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t leave,” he said.

As the others understood that it was no longer needed for them to hide their face, they followed the example of Frost and took their mask off.

“Ah!”

I immediately recognized a familiar face. The quiet boy over there, who still hasn’t said anything. It’s him, there is no mistake. The demi-human boy from earlier, the one who dumped into me, the goat-boy. I felt a wry smile drawing on my face as this whole situation began to make sense.

“Is this about my brother?” I inquired, letting out a loud sigh.

“So you do know after all,” Frost replied, confirming my guess. “It makes things easier. Don’t take it personal, we have nothing against you.”

“Alright, time~! I just transferred, so I’m not sure what’s going on between you and my brother. Would you mind to explain?”

“This doesn’t concern you. This is something only between us and your brother.”

… Dude, really? Didn’t you guys just get me involved by kidnapping me? I think I have the right to know, don’t I?

Frost willed mana into his entire body. I could almost see it swirling around him like dancing flames. Although not as much as Hevos in amount, his mana was much purer, unrefined.

“We have a message for your brother,” he said. “Next time, tell him to mind his own business.”

“Eh? You’re going to attack me?” I asked, unsure of his intentions.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you too badly. It’s just a warning.”

Right… So I’m supposed to just sit there and wait for him to attack me. And once he’s done, I’ll just have to return to my brother and beg him to leave them alone, or else they will bully me again. Is this what they’re expecting? Haha… I was told that I was simpleminded, but those guys are actually worse than me!

“Tisdus, guardian and executioner, in these mortal plains I invoke you,” Frost started to chant. “Come around and feel free, deliver your wrath and destroy my enemy. I summon you hear my plea, I summon you to this spot, so mote it be!”

A magic circle appeared in front of him and all the mana he had gathered vanished in an instant, aspirated by the new light emitted by the circle. From the light, a white silhouette became apparent, gradually becoming larger until it reached the size of a bike. After a few seconds, as the glow finally subsided, I saw it: a magical beast.

“You…You’re a summoner?”

Frost smiled proudly in front of me. “This is Tisdus, a C-ranked magical beast, and my most loyal companion!”

The beast was barely bigger than a large dog but its body was massive and finely muscled. However, its most distinctive feature was its heads. Yes, plurals. The beast had three heads, all baring their sharp teeth at me. I know it was supposed to be intimidating, but in my eyes, it was just grotesque. It looked like a cheap version of Cerberus. Still, I couldn’t help but smile. I had heard about summoners and invocations before, but it was my first time witnessing one. To be honest, one of the things that I was the most excited about when I joined this school was this: learning how to get your own fantasy pet.

“What’s so funny?” Frost asked as he saw my expression, his previous smile now completely gone.

I didn’t reply but I could feel my grin stretching larger. On the other hand, Frost’s expression became sterner. His beast probably reacted to his emotions as it started to growl at me.

Ufufu… Finally something interesting!

I never summoned anything –I never really had the occasion to try it, but as far as I know, it should be pretty easy. In brief, to summon a magical beast, only two things were required.

First, you needed mana. Unlike other creatures, magical beasts didn’t feed themselves on fresh flesh or plants. They only needed mana to survive. In exchange of their absolute obedience, they consumed their contractor’s mana. I heard that magical beasts were picky about mana, but since I managed to attract two Mid gods with a simple mana leak, I shouldn’t have any problem with this.

Secondly, you needed a magical beast –or to be more precise, a bounded magical beast. It’s obvious, but if there is nothing to summon, then a summoning can’t possibly succeed. There are several ways to bound with a magical beast, but to be honest, I don’t know much about them.

It was a bit more complicated than this, but basically, as long as you fulfilled those two conditions, then you could summon a magical beast.

So… I have the mana, but I don’t have the magical beast. Is it really a problem though? I mean… If I don’t have the magical beast, can’t I just create one? I am the Goddess of All Creations after all.

Yep. Let’s try it. I wanted to wait for classes before trying something like this, but my patience reached its critical point. Excitement prevailed over reason. Besides, with a fellow summoner, nothing should go wrong, right?

Imitating Frost, I willed mana into my body. I think he understood what I was trying to do, as he suddenly furrowed his eyebrows.

Now then… What should I summon?

If I don’t settle this right now, those guys will bother me again. They seemed pretty simpleminded. Instead of going after my brother, they went after me. I know that brother is strong -from what I’ve heard, he is probably one of the top students of the school. So, since he’s high likely too strong for them, those guys decided to attack me instead, the presumably weak little sister. Basically, they’re just like my aunt. They’re going after people weaker than them, but once they meet someone stronger, they lower their head and keep a low profile.

So I need something strong. A magical beast strong enough to beat them, but not too impressive either. I wouldn’t want to traumatize those poor boys for the rest of their life. They’re just kids after all. But in that case, I guess a dragon is a no go –a shame really, I love dragons. So… Something small, maybe? Yes, small is good. This way, I’ll be able to carry it wherever I go. Oh! And it needs to be cute. For cuddle times.

Yep. Strong, small, cute. Strong, small, cute. Strong, small, cute.

Now the chant. I shouldn’t need it, but since it’s my first time, I prefer using a chant. What was it again? Oh, right…

I cleared my throat.

“To you, my future cuddle partner, strong, small and cute, in these mortal plains I invoke you. Come around and feel free, deliver your wrath and destroy my enemy. I summon you hear my plea, I summon you to this spot, so mote it be!”

Immediately reacting to my words and my thoughts, in a blinding light, a magic circle appeared in front of me. Ufufufu… It worked. It really worked. I’m a genius.

“W-What?! That’s MY chant!” Frost exclaimed, furious that I stole his chant.

“Wait, wait, wait! More importantly, isn’t it a summoning circle? She’s also a summoner? What the hell is going on?”

My captors all went into panic mode, as no one had expected me to use summoning magic. They looked at each others, exchanging worried looks and waiting for someone to say something, but they were all in the same confused state. In the end, it seems that they agreed to join their force to fight whatever was going to appear as they all took a stance.

I was just as nervous as them, but not in the same way. I was excited, impatient to meet my new friend. There was a broad smile on my face, stretching from ear to ear, and a slight tingling sensation in my heart. Yep, it was this feeling you had has a child whenever opening a Christmas present.

Finally, the light started to die down as a small figure appeared.

And my smile disappeared.

…

Oh no. No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening…

I blinked several times, making sure my eyes didn’t play tricks on me, but no matter how much I tried to convince myself that I saw it wrong, the figure before me did not change.

This has to be a joke…

The small creature turned its head in my direction, looking at me with its beady black eyes. And it spoke.

“Pika?”

N… Noooooooo!! It’s Pikachu!! WHY?! Why, why, why, whyyyyy?! Why is it always a damn Pokémon?! To begin with, I don’t even like Pokémon THAT much! I may have liked it before at some point in my life, but it’s all in the past! Besides, of all Pokémons, why Pikachu?! I HATE Pikachu! He has always been my least favorite Pokémon! I never understood his insane popularity and I quickly got tired of seeing him everywhere. I couldn’t stand his voice and although he might be cute, his temper…Ah, that temper! If I had to give a gender to Pokémons, then Pikachu would be female. A female always on her periods!!

Ugh… I want to cry… If I had known, then I would have asked for Vulpix instead. At least, Vulpix is fluffy.

Uhm? Wait a second… Thinking about it, didn’t I ask for something strong? Since when is Pikachu considered strong? This is a scam! I demand a refund!

“HAHAHAHAHA!! What is this thing? A yellow rabbit? It looks so stupid! Hahaha!”

“A-Actually it’s a mouse…” I muttered, too ashamed to say it out loud.

My captors burst out laughing. Seeing my confidence, they had probably been expecting something more intimidating, but instead, they saw a flashy yellow rabbit. Holding their sides, they were unable to contain their laughers. Except for Frost. Unlike his friends, he was not amused by the situation. On the contrary, I think he was even angry.

“You…” He grumbled with his clenched teeth. “Are you making fun of me? Are you seriously planning to use this stupid rabbit to fight my Tisdus?”

Oh… He thought that I was underestimating him. Well, he’s not entirely wrong. While Pikachu wasn’t planned, it’s true that I never really took him seriously.

“Tisdus! Eat him!” He ordered.

The beast immediately obeyed. Its teeth bared in a snarl, it let out something that sounded like a bark before pouncing furiously on my Pikachu. It sank its fangs into its prey’s flesh, not giving him a chance to react. Pikachu was still looking at me when it got attacked. The attack wasn’t fatal, but it looked extremely painful. Yet, Pikachu didn’t move an inch. As if nothing happened, it kept staring at me with his round eyes, except that there was now a head biting his skull, another one biting his right arm and another one biting his left ear.

Not really sure of what was going on, I looked up at Frost. He was as confused as me. What the hell is wrong with this Pikachu? Does he not feel pain?

And then I saw them. The small sparks forming on his cheeks.

Oh crap.

When I finally understood what Pikachu had in mind, it was already too late to warn the others. In an instant, Pikachu released all the energy he had stored in his cheeks in a burst, electrocuting everything within a radius of twenty meters –including me, but fortunately, the attack had no effect. However, as for everything else, it was a complete different story. The trees were burnt, the magical beast Frost summoned vanished, and the boys? They all collapsed on the ground.

… Pikachu used Thunder, it was super effective!

No, more seriously, that’s it? It’s already over, just like that? Oh wait, thinking about it, Harri did mention something about Lightning being a hybrid attribute, something supposedly rare and hazardous. In that case, wouldn’t that make Pikachu, an electric type, super dangerous? No wonder he’s considered ‘strong’ here. Still ridiculous to me, though.

But now what? What am I supposed to do with this scene? That previous attack surely didn’t go unnoticed. It’s only a matter of time before someone comes here.

“Hello? Is somebody here? Is everything okay?” I heard a voice calling from afar.

Yep, as expected, someone is coming over here. But… ALREADY?!

Crap, crap, crap. W-What do I do? There is no way I can explain this.

Should I run away? No, not a good idea. If I get caught running away, people will automatically assume that I’m responsible of this. And with this crappy endurance of mine, I will get caught. Besides, why should I run away in the first place? Aren’t I the victim here? I’m the one who got abducted and who got attacked first.

… Nah. Who cares about the truth? Seeing me, completely fine, surrounding with unconscious bodies, there is no way anyone is going to believe me.

So there is no other choices…

I turned my attention to Pikachu.

“Pikachu!” I called out.

The Pokémon twitched his ears happily upon hearing his name.

“Shh! Shh! Leave! Disappear! Get away from here! I don’t want to see you anymore!”

I tried to chase it away, but Pikachu clearly didn’t understand what I wanted as he simply tilted his head. God damn it. How do I cancel a summoning? The only one who could show me is there, laying unconscious on the ground.

As I heard the heavy footsteps slowly getting closer, I frankly started to panic, and since Pikachu didn’t show any signs of leaving soon, I kicked him. Don’t judge. I wasn’t thinking straight. Besides, it’s Pikachu we’re talking about. Not only he has a bad temper, but he’s also known for his stubbornness. If I hadn’t done this much, I’m pretty sure he would’ve never left.

At least, the trick worked. Pissed off, the Pokémon immediately retaliated by releasing an electric discharge at me. Once again, it had no effect and I had what I wanted. Upset, Pikachu walked away, sulking.

With the main culprit now gone, I laid down next to the unconscious boys, I closed my eyes and I played dead. Only a few moments later, I heard a strident scream.

“AAAAAAH! S-Someone… Students were attacked!!”

◊◊◊◊◊◊

“I didn’t expect to see you again in my office so soon, Lynett,” the headmaster sighed heavily.

After the incident, the four boys and I were transported to the infirmary, where we received the greatest possible care. Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as it looked, and the boys recovered without sequelae. Once we all regained consciousness, we were immediately summoned in the headmaster’s office.

“So, does anyone mind to tell me what exactly happened?” The headmaster asked with a serious tone, his fingers intertwined on his desk.

“We already did!” Hevos exclaimed, losing patience after telling the same story again and again. “She did it!” He said as he pointed at me.

The headmaster slowly shifted his gaze on me, seemingly unconvinced.

“Lynett? I’ve already heard the boys’ version several time, I would like to hear yours now.”

I stayed silent for a few seconds before lowering my gaze, adopting a victim’s look.

“I-I don’t know…” I mumbled with a wavering voice as I started to tear up. “I was returning to my room when I suddenly got attacked and dragged in an unknown place… The boys they… They surrounded me and threatened me. And then everything went blank…”

The headmaster listened to my story in silent, but there was a hint of pity in his eyes.

“She’s lying!” The boys suddenly yelled in frustration. “She is the one who summoned it! That yellow rabbit which attacked us!”

“Mind your manners young man!” Mrs. Kelly immediately cautioned. “You are in the presence of the Headmaster!”

Ufufu… Too bad for you, guys! Your word against mine. Even though it was a 4 versus 1, I had a huge advantage. Thanks to my title [The Liar], people believed in my lies much easily. Obviously, it wasn’t going to make them believe that a dog was a unicorn if I said so, but they were more prone to take my side in this kind of dispute.

Besides, even without this title, I’m pretty sure the headmaster would have still believed in me rather than the boys. Too focused on trying to convince him that I summoned Pikachu, the boys made a fatal mistake. They forgot to deny the fact that they did isolate me and try to intimidate me, basically giving away the fact that I was the victim.

After staying silent for a while, the headmaster sighed heavily as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Well, it’s true that we found traces of a magical beast, and it’s true that Lightning magic was used,” he muttered. “But if there is really a magical beast capable of using such a dangerous attribute out there, then this is a very serious matter…”

The headmaster marked a pause, before he returned his attention on me.

“Alright, you may go Lynett. You have my deepest apologizes. For you to experience such a frightening experience on your first day… I am deeply ashamed.”

“I’m alright, thank you for your concern,” I said, wiping my fake tears.

Mrs. Kelly escorted me to the door as the boys watched me leave, powerless.

“As for you, boys,” the headmaster added, “I think we need to discuss a little about your behavior.”

With a satisfied grin on my face, I exited the room.

That night, the rumor spread quickly within the school. No one knew how or why, but a legendary magical beast capable of using Lightning magic appeared in the campus and attacked students, before suddenly vanishing in the wild.

After that, the students were warned to stay cautious whenever leaving the buildings and the teachers stayed on the alert, continuously patrolling the Academy’s grounds. However, the magical beast remained untraceable.

Still, Pikachu, legendary? Best joke ever.