Ajax was extremely pleased with how today had gone, it was the final day of their solo trapping and he had managed to not alert the camp of his movements in the area. That is not to say that he didn’t trip any of the traps, he knew he wasn’t good enough for that, so instead he worked his way through by not letting them fire off a signal.

In the end the combined efforts of the three even had the lead hunter trip a signal back, something they hadn’t managed before so all of them were pleased with their traps and they replaced them after the exercise. Not only that they also shared all the locations with each other before adding some more damaging components to them.

With that out of the way and them still having a few hours thanks to them being some of the first to awake in the camp they decided to go on a small scouting expedition into the forest to check the spots for some more boars deers and bears. This all came to a head when Ajax and the two veteran hunters felt the use of mana nearby, the young hunter still hadn’t achieved his [Detect Mana].

The mana had come from a big puma-like creature that could teleport short distances or make use of the shadows for some longer jumps. Ajax was its first target but it hadn’t managed to land a single blow since its mana signature gave it away and was quickly put down by the group.

“That’s impressive.” Said the leader “ You’re too young to have [Detect Mana], how did you know it was coming?”

“I didn’t” Said Ajax “But I knew something was, I have [Danger Sense].”

Ajax decided that it was fine to share that much, he was also slightly distracted as he was sensing a second source of mana very similar to the cats only much weaker. As they were taking a break following the fight with a mana creature he broke off and decided to investigate only to find a small cub hidden in a burrow.

A stealthy ambusher is a great partner to have for an adventurer, one acute senses even more so, so he decided to collect the cub and try for a companion. As he returned to their resting spot with the struggling cub in his arms all three of the hunters turned to look at him.

“What do you have there?” asked one of them.

“Found this little guy nearby. I think I’ll take it with me, who knows maybe it’ll make for a good companion.”

With that their little expedition was over and they headed toward the main camp, hopefully they would make it before lunch was over and afternoon training continued. The entire way back they had not seen a single creature, though of course that could be because of the loud hairball that its displeasure was known far and wide the entire way back.

They did in fact make it back before lunch, where most of the unit, with the exception of Spencer and his lackeys, got in on both congratulating him and the ribbing about the cat's dislike for him. It was then that Tom arrived and the cat settled down before jumping on to him.

The entire area fell into silence. Tom was dumbstruck at the screen, Ajax by the cat’s reaction to his brother, the rest of the people by the display of mana. Even monsters would give birth to normal beast versions of themselves that would need to grow and level before gaining access to power. That the cat was already capable of teleporting meant that this was a true magical creature and not a monster.

The cat then curled around Tom’s neck and began purring as a shit eating grin split Tom’s face. This didn’t last for more than a second however as he gave Ajax a very guilty look.

“Did it just form a bond with you?” Ajax asked as he put two and two together.

“She” his brother corrected almost instinctively “But, yes she offered me a bond and I took it. Sorry, I was so -.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Ajax waved off the apology. Sure he would have preferred to gain the companion himself but considering just how much his brother had done for him this was also a good outcome. Especially considering how much the pup seemed to dislike him. “Didn’t seem to like me much anyway.

With the new development, Tom knew he would have to go report this to the commander so he pulled Ajax aside so he could get the magic thing over with as well. Ajax silently cursed as he heard how the girl had picked him out because he was too quick to suppress his mana.

“I guess we can let him in on my ability to use mana, but we are not telling him about my stats.” Ajax finally decided after a few minutes of thinking.

With that decision made they first went to talk to Kate before heading over to the commander. Kate had also just finished up on her last patient as they arrived. She gave Ajax a quick hug as she didn’t see him this morning before turning to Tom. She was a bit shorter than Tom, and as he was standing behind Ajax when she turned to him she was staring into a pair of feline eyes, similar to her own.

“Tom” she said after a few seconds of just staring at the new addition. “What is that?”

“Who is that?” Tom corrected, he found himself feeling instinctively protective of his bond, must be a result of their connection. “I haven given her a name yet, Ajax found her in the forest and she offered to bond with me.”

“And you took it?” She was slightly upset at the fact. “Even a normal bound feline would be worth quite a bit but this is a true magical creature.”

“It’s fine.” Ajax cut her off before she could ramp up. “You both have done a lot for me both last time I was in the city and this time, not to mention before bonding with Tom the little thing seemed to enjoy using me as a scratch post rather than a possible bond.”

This seemed to calm her as she also healed up the scratch marks on Ajax arms. They also discussed their upcoming talk with the commander and agreed that just letting him know Ajax could use mana but didn’t have any formal training and didn’t want it as a result of what that attention could bring him with the current situation of the nobles.

“Before we go let's head over to the cooks.” Ajax said.

“Still hungry?” Tom asked suspiciously after having seen Ajax polish off two plates of food no more than ten minutes ago.

“No, but now that they finished preparing lunch they might be butchering our future dinner. I didn’t feed the little monster when we got back and thought it might be a good idea to pick up some of the things they discard since I think she will need a meat rich diet.” Ajax said as he petted the cat, happy that it wasn’t trying to bite and claw him as he did it.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Kate said as they changed the course to the cooking tent.

When they arrived the cooks were surprised to see Ajax there as they knew the hunters shouldn’t be bringing back anything today. It was by their request since they had quite a bit stocked up and didn’t want it to go bad.

Once they explained the situation and the cooks each got a few mandatory pets of what seemed to be the future mascot of the entire unit by the people’s reaction to her, they headed down into the small hole dug to make a makeshift cellar. It was rather dark there and for this time they would just have to wait a few minutes for the cat to eat some of its fill. The cooks assured them they will have a portion ready for her at meals from now on..

“Wow.” Tom exclaimed after a minute looking deeper into the dark cellar.

“What?” Both Ajax and Kate reacted.

“I just got the [Night Vision] skill.” Tom said excitedly as he went over and started to affectionately pet his eating bond.

“I’ve read that bonds can influence skill gain.” Said Kate. “Though I am surprised that this happened so fast, usually it takes a while. I was going to discuss with you later about spending some points in your mental stats as the bond might allow you to develop mana skills.”

“That certainly is interesting, but I doubt I will.” Said Tom. “Splitting my focus will make me weaker and that's not something I can do on just a chance that it will happen.”

With the cat fed they headed to look for the commander. They found him rather quickly in his guest quarters in the main camp. Outside were two guards who both gave odd looks to the cat that acted as Tom's new scarf but to their credit ignored it and soon they were entering the tent.

“I appreciate that you decided to handle this quickly and not wait until mor…” The commander started as they entered the tent but he drifted off as he looked at the cat around Tom’s neck. “Oh what is it now, we’ve been here less then a week. For someone looking to pass through this unnoticed you sure attract a lot of attention.” He rubbed his forehead as he shot Ajax, a look that said he all but knew he was somehow involved with the creature.

“I have gained a companion, Sir.” Tom saluted as he reported. “I haven’t had a chance to think of a name yet but she is a shadow cat. She is young but already able to teleport short distances.”

As if to illustrate this point the cat teleported from around Tom's neck to the table where the remains of the commander's lunch were and started to eat again.

“Well now, this is interesting” he waved Tom off as he was about to apologize and grab the cat. Instead he examined it while it ate.