[Hajime POV]
I ended up waiting for twenty minutes before Blue started to stir.
As she woke up, she spotted me, before trying to attack again, causing me to knock her out again.
Waiting some more, she woke up, hesitantly looking at me.
"Can you understand me?" I asked, transferring my intentions through the familiar bond.
It seems she understands, transferring feelings of confusion, curiosity, and anger.
The familiar book described that the feeling would grow with time, eventually allowing a telepathic communication between us, but that was a long way away.
Speaking again, I tried to get some information from her.
"Nod if you understand me."
She didn't immediately do anything, so I did it again. "Nod," I said while nodding, hoping she'd connect the word to the action.
Blue looked at me strangely before slowly nodding. That meant she understood what I was saying, or at least the bond was transferring my intentions, though the exact extent was unknown.
"Do you want to hurt me?"
Strangely, she responded using the bond herself.
It was a weird feeling. It felt like a picture was transferred into my mind, but I didn't see it or hear a description.
She gave me a feeling of wanting to eat me, thinking about meat and hunger.
There were some other feelings, too, namely cautiousness after I knocked her out twice without her knowing what happened.
Right now, though, I needed to make her understand her situation.
"You're my familiar now. After defeating you, I connected the two of us, creating that invisible feeling you're getting." I paused, letting her take time to understand what she was sensing.
"Now that you're my familiar, I'll be taking care of you. You're connected to my magic, meaning you'll grow stronger the longer you're connected, possibly being able to use magic yourself."
As I said this, I felt a pang of curiosity come from her and saw a slight change in her face, though I couldn't tell what that meant.
"In exchange, you'll be doing what I say. More specifically, you'll help me fight when I ask you. Other than that, I'll make sure you can defend yourself from major threats," I said, transferring thoughts of Sirzechs and Great Red.
My thoughts about their danger had an effect, as I felt fear coming from her. Not surprisingly, since, as a semi-normal animal, she is the equivalent of an ant to them.
"There are a few rules you must follow so you won't get hunted down by others, but that's it."
She conveyed desire and curiosity, wanting to see magic.
Obliging her, I showcased my lightning dragon slayer magic, which affected her greatly.
Seeing something she considered prey, mimicking a natural phenomenon that even she would stay away from, was concerning.
Not only did I show my lightning, but my enhanced abilities.
Using my speed, I ran around her, fast enough to the point where she couldn't follow me with her eyes.
To show my strength, I knocked a tree over with one punch, something only larger dinosaurs could do.
By the time I finished showing off, Blue was terrified of my abilities and excited since I said she could possibly do the same.
Though she only felt like following me for the power right now, that was fine. Many people were like that, even if she wasn't a person.
If I wanted her to be loyal, I would need to make an effort to have her care beyond the benefits of my powers.
While I have the option to use my Geass, I wouldn't.
I only planned on using it if it was necessary. This situation isn't a dangerous one. It was my familiar using me for her gain, but I was technically doing the same. I did attack her, even if she tried attacking me first. As an instinctual being, she believes me to be a danger to her, so I will have to gain her trust so she feels safe around me.
Using the Geass would speed it up, but I don't want to abuse it. I planned for Blue to be an ally. Not only would it show that I'm not deserving of trust since I chose to brainwash before befriending, but it would set a dangerous precedent that anyone who doesn't immediately work with me should be brainwashed into cooperation.
It may sound like Batman's no-killing rule, adding a weak argument for why I'm not doing things the easy way when it would be efficient, but it's because it's the easy way that I refuse to do it.
If my first allies are those I had to brainwash to trust, any of my relationships with them would be artificial.
Take Tsubaki, for example. She chose to join me, believing she would get along with me in the future.
Had I brainwashed her, then she'd likely be far less expressive toward me depending on the orders I gave her.
Also, my Geass instructions could be misinterpreted if I am unclear.
I couldn't be careless with such a valuable power.
"It's getting late, so we should return to where I'm staying."
As I took Blue back toward the hotel, I cast a cloaking spell on her.
It was a spell that some supernatural beings used to hide their forms. Yasaka, for example, felt uncomfortable hiding her tails, so she would use this spell to cover her body with magic, making people ignore any strangeness.
While not all beings used it, those who were more inhuman, like yokai, used it to look human.
Even those with human forms would use it because transforming would weaken their magic since they were suppressing their true selves.
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The next morning, I got up from the floor.
I would've slept in the bed, but Blue took up all the space. The bed was the first place she investigated when she entered the room, having never been inside a human building.
Once she realized how soft it was, she immediately turned it into a nest, tearing up the sheets.
I paid for the damage but knew I would have to find a place for her to rest when she wasn't doing anything.
Since Blue had taken the bed, and I didn't want to risk her accidentally killing me in my sleep, I chose to sleep on the floor.
Returning to the training area, I summoned her. I did my morning training routine while explaining its benefits to Blue, who didn't seem enthusiastic about wasting energy.
On the way there, I bought lots of meat from the nearby grocery store, and I planned to contact Yasaka later to get some meat shipments in bulk. I might have been able to afford to feed Blue, but I didn't have any connections right now to get the food I needed.
While I don't think Blue would be exercising any time soon, judging by her attitude, I hoped she would soon since physical training was one of the best ways to grow stronger.
Humans were the perfect example of physical training being important to becoming stronger.
All supernatural beings naturally had enhanced physical abilities, which would grow stronger as they aged and used their magic since their magic was a part of them.
Humans, however, didn't naturally have magic. For humans, growing stronger magically took more effort, and to reach ultimate-class, it was almost always required to have a strong enough body to hold the magic.
Vasco Strada was one of the best examples. As the strongest human alive, he reached peak ultimate-class thanks to all his physical training.
Most mages can reach high-class with enough effort, but they usually neglect their physical training and can never break through to ultimate-class.
Some humans could reach ultimate-class and beyond, but they relied on sacred gears, almost always Longinus. Vasco was an example of a human who reached ultimate-class with his own efforts.
I might have had a sacred gear that strengthened me, but I understood the benefits of training, so I didn't plan on neglecting my physical abilities.
While I trained, Blue was sitting on the side, watching me.
Minutes later, Tsubaki and Kimiko arrived and were shocked to see a dinosaur, Tsubaki more than Kimiko.
"Is that a dinosaur?"
"Yeah. I summoned Blue last night."
"That's..."
"Awesome?" She nodded, with a look of shock on her face.
"Try not to mind, Blue; she needs to get used to civilization."
"Right. Are we going to do anything besides training?"
"No. I've already finished my physical exercises, so I'll return the sword the stray stole for the extra reward."
"Alright."
Tsubaki moved toward Kimiko and Blue before starting her daily exercise.
Meanwhile, I went far away from them before creating a barrier around me. It wouldn't give any protection but would disconnect the magic inside the barrier from the magic outside, preventing the devil from sensing anything outside it.
Taking the sword and the flyer out, I performed the instructions that the flyer had on it.
The flyer glowed before a magic circle appeared. The circle grew to the size of a human before a figure emerged.
"It seems a child has summoned me. I wonder what for?" The devil said.
The devil looked as normal as an anime character.
He had dark blue hair reaching below his shoulders and pink eyes, creating a strange contrast.
He wore a red suit, reminiscent of Thomas Edison. Over his left eye was a monocle with a golden rim and a silver chain connected to one of his pockets. Surprisingly, his boots were hiker boots caked in mud on the bottoms, something unexpected of a high-class devil.
"My team defeated the stray who took your sword. I summoned you to trade it for the extra reward you promised."
"Ah, yes. I remember when I first brought Kingsley into my peerage. He seemed friendly initially, but I could tell he was always slightly unhappy. By the time I realized his true feelings, he was already in the middle of fleeing.
Ignore an old man's rambling; you wanted your payment."
He stuck his hand out, and a magic circle appeared on it before a pile of cash emerged from it.
Handing him his sword, he gave me the cash and a flyer. The flyer was like the one I previously had, containing a detailed magic circle and the name Andronicus. This was likely a personal flyer to contact him specifically.
"Should you ever wish to make a deal, just summon me with the flyer."
Nodding at him, he summoned another magic circle before disappearing back to wherever he came from.
Dispelling the barrier, I returned to Tsubaki after putting everything in my inventory.
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Omake: Excalibur Thief 11
[Francisco POV]
The expedition I was on arrived at the jungle, which was more chaotic than I had imagined.
Think of a regular jungle, dense with trees, the only color you see is green, and with a few animals.
This jungle was completely different from that.
There was more space than I imagined, and it looked like a temperate forest than a rainforest.
The trees and plants were of all different colors. Though mostly green, I could easily see colors like red, orange, purple, and even blue!
The place was also, literally, crawling with life. Everywhere I looked, there seemed to be a different creature.
A toad the size of a large dog shot its tongue at a similarly sized bug, which was instantly crushed in the toad's mouth.
Several colorful birds were flying about, a few feasting on the flowers.
A thunderbird running away from human poachers.
Wait!
Looking back, I saw the thunderbird, with an injured wing, running from the poachers.
They were mages, around mid-class, with a special cage that restricted magic.
The people in the expedition leapt into action, throwing spells at the poachers. When the thunderbird saw them, it knew they were protecting it, so it ran toward us.
Deciding to help, I partially activated my transformations, increasing my physical abilities.
Charging at the poachers, I equipped Steel Maw to drain their life force, and minutes later, all the poachers were dealt with.
Returning to the group, I saw them getting medicine out to help heal the thunderbird, but I knew it would still take time.
Activating the shroud, I placed it on the thunderbird's injured wing. Soon enough, the wing was fully healed, excitedly causing the thunderbird to fly.
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Author's Note:
Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!