Chapter 35: Honey, I Summoned a Monster

"Is she... a mutant?"

Mutants were a subcategory of Beast-type Patron Spirit users.

Unlike regular Beast-types, they permanently had the physical traits of beasts. Traits like horns, tails, unusual eyes, scales, feathers, claws and many more. These usually manifested during their awakening.

The cause of that was not clear, but regardless of it, mutants were undeniably human, just a little different. They were neither separate from humanity nor entirely accepted by it.

Because of that, many hid their considered abnormalities while some proudly displayed them. They were not easy to come by, though Rhos had seen a few during his Academy days. He was sure one of the Keepers had an animalistic appearance.

But none of them looked like this. The unconscious little girl was unlike anything he had ever seen before. She looked breathtaking, majestic and almost otherworldly in a strange way.

"Neth, what exactly am I looking at?"

Rhos asked the tiny creature without taking his eyes off the child.

[Your Spirit]

[She requires a name]

"Eh, a name? My Spirit?"

Wait, did that mean this child belongs to him? While Rhos was still processing all of this, Neth circled above the sleeping child.

[Names possess meaning. Identity. Recognition. The bond between species begins with one]

It looked directly at Rhos with its vertical hollow eye.

[Consider it carefully]

[Name her as though she were your own offspring]

The words struck him like lightning. Rhos’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he took them off the girl and pierced them at the tiny creature.

"H-Hold on now... offspring? As in like my own child?"

[Correct]

[The first name bestowed upon a newly born Spirit shapes the earliest layers of its identity]

Rhos stared blankly at Neth, it clearly was oblivious to the weight of those words. But seriously, what kind of ridiculous situation was this?!

Even though he had no luck with women, was he really being asked to raise a child?

Speaking of, the girl’s fingers twitched and her expression changed immediately. This change alone was enough to get Rhos highly on guard, he couldn’t explain it but he felt really on edge suddenly.

Her eyes snapped open. They were shining a bright ruby red and seemed to lack the slightest trace of human understanding inside them.

The instant those eyes landed on Rhos, the wooden boards cracked beneath her as she launched herself on all fours directly toward him with unexpected speed.

"Grrrraaah!!!"

Her mouth opened into a feral snarl, revealing perfectly normal human teeth, but her fingernails were sharpened like claws. They sliced through the air with unmistakable killing intent.

Fortunately, what looked like frightening speed to an ordinary person appeared almost sluggish within Rhos’s enhanced perception. That was one reason, the other was...

’That posture’

The sight of her movement reminded him of someone. For the briefest moment, he saw Leopard Cat Nimra’s visage in this little girl. From when her instincts took over, crawling forward with her body lowered and her limbs ready to tear apart anything unfortunate enough to stand before her.

The memory irritated him enough to click his tongue. That was when his expression darkened.

’Damn it’

Why couldn’t he get that woman out of his head?

Rhos quickly pushed the thought aside before it could interfere with his judgment. The little girl’s claws were already approaching his face.

In response, he stepped sideways to allow her claws to sweep through the space where his face had been a moment earlier, missing his cheek by barely an inch. His hand shot out, caught the back of her head before driving her downward.

At the last moment Rhos controlled the force of her forehead striking the wooden floor. Reason being he wasn’t particularly fond of hurting women, children especially. But that preference only extended as far as they weren’t trying to rip his face apart.

If something posed a genuine threat to his survival, sympathy had to take a back seat.

He planted one knee beside her and pressed his palm against the back of her head, keeping her pinned without hurting her. She was making that hard though, because she kept squirming.

"Calm down... I’m not trying to hurt you, so stop struggling before you actually get yourself injured"

She wasn’t listening as she continued to growl furiously while trying to rip herself free. Despite her tiny body, she fought with surprising strength.

Rhos frowned.

"Can you understand me? Do you even understand what I’m saying?"

"Grrrrrrah!"

Her fingers scraped grooves into the floor and her legs kicked against it with enough strength to make the boards creak. At her current state of mind, she seemed no different from a rabid animal.

Still, this girl was supposed to be his Spirit... whatever that meant, so he couldn’t exactly beat some sense into her like he did with Nimra.

"Hey, Neth, what’s wrong with her?! Is this normal cause I think you forgot to mention that she was going to try ripping my face off the moment she woke up!"

Rhos called to the tiny creature floating beside him, but it said nothing. Only observed with its single vertical eye with an almost clinical lack of concern.

’Tch, useless!’

He wanted to voice his thoughts out loud but before he could do so, something brushed against his cheek. Something was moving strangely beneath his hand... when he turned to look he saw the girl’s hair.

Each strand of her long white hair had lifted from the floor as though it possessed a will of its own. The crimson tips swayed gently behind her head before beginning to stiffen. Rhos released her immediately and threw himself back.

A split second later... shnk! The place where his head had been pierced by hair spikes.

Rhos landed several meters away and rolled across the floor before springing back onto his feet.

"What the hell?!"

The girl picked herself up. Her hands touched the floor as she lowered herself onto all fours again. Around her head, the long strands of white and crimson hair continued floating in the air.

One, two, five... ten. More and more thick strands separated themselves from the rest, each one resembling spears. They hovered behind her like an enormous, grotesque mane.

Rhos’s expression hardened. He didn’t know what was happening but if he didn’t keep his guard up, he’d die for sure.

The little girl didn’t look like a frightened child. It was the opposite. She looked like an animal preparing to tear apart something that had wandered into its territory.

Her ruby eyes locked onto him with burning hatred.

"If that’s how it is, then come on"

He lowered his center of gravity and raised his hands. Rhos was prepared to act. He wasn’t going to stand there and get ripped apart.

"Grrrrr...!"

The girl’s lips peeled back as crimson spiritual energy began to surge from her body. The pressure she emitted caused cracks to spread beneath her hands and feet. The more intense it got, those cracks expanded to the wall behind her.

"You’re kidding me..."

Rhos’s pupils contracted as he felt a violent gust tear through the apartment. Something had smashed through the window behind him. And in front... The girl was gone.