Chapter 199: Bonds and Memories

Kellar gently stroked the white cat’s back as they gazed at the clouds from the giant bird’s spine.

"Is the massive reptile we call a dragon much stronger than you?" asked Kellar.

"A little," said Freyja. "It won’t attack me if it sees me, but I couldn’t kill it. Do you want to kill it, Kellar?"

"I want to hunt it, actually," replied Kellar. "Not just it, but all the creatures in the surrounding area. We need to expand... Hey, Green."

"Green?" squawked the beast, turning its head slightly.

"Yes, that is what I will call you from now on, my little Green," said Kellar.

"Very well, master," said the eagle.

"How do you become stronger?" asked Kellar.

"I only need to be near wind elemental rocks and devour prey," said the eagle.

"Then you are just like Ignis," noted Kellar. "That’s good. Now that we know how your growth works, we will do everything possible to help you."

Kellar patted the bird’s feathered back to indicate a new direction.

"Let’s take a lap. I want to see how fast we can get there," said Kellar.

Green beat its wings with a force that broke the sound barrier. It took them barely five minutes to reach the Red Forest; the eagle displayed supersonic speed. From the Red Forest to the mountain fortress, the trip took seven minutes, and from there it was ten more minutes until they reached the wind mountain. With this speed, transporting supplies between bases would be easy.

"How much weight can you carry?" asked Kellar.

"I don’t know, master, but we wind eagles are very strong," said the eagle.

"I’m sorry to have to treat you as a beast of burden, but we need to move supplies and people more efficiently," said Kellar.

"Master, if that is what you want, why don’t you use the scrolls the merchants gave you?" asked Freyja, licking a paw.

"That’s true, I almost forgot. How are they used?" asked Kellar.

"You just have to tear them," explained Freyja. "They will open a portal and a beast will come out of it. Whether or not you can subdue it depends on your luck; however, with us here, it shouldn’t be a problem. Ignis can easily immobilize it. Those scrolls only summon low-level beings, so you don’t have to worry."

"And when opening the portal, can we step through to choose?" asked Kellar.

"There is a way, but not with those scrolls," said Freyja. "Those scrolls are like a fishing hook; when activated, they will attract a beast and it will appear here. You can place some bait to attract them, but I don’t know where you will be summoning from or what is nearby—it is far too random."

Kellar looked at the small cat on his shoulder in astonishment.

"How do you know that?" asked Kellar.

"When I evolved this last time, I unlocked part of my inherited memories," said Freyja.

"How impressive. What else do you remember?" asked Kellar.

"I don’t know, master," said Freyja. "Everything is confusing. When you asked, I remembered, but it’s not something I do voluntarily; it just comes to me."

"Don’t force it," said Kellar. "If you remember anything important, you can tell me later."

Freyja rubbed her head against Kellar’s cheek, purring on his shoulder.

"Thank you, master," said Freyja. "I will try to search for things that are helpful to you."

Kellar stroked the cat’s head affectionately and gave the bird’s neck a gentle pat.

"Little Green, take us back," ordered Kellar. "I’ve seen enough for today. Also, make sure you don’t enter the Ash Valley area; there’s a massive dragon there that is far too dangerous and could wipe you out."

"Are you referring to the Great Guardian?" asked Green.

"Great Guardian?" asked Kellar, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, just now as you were speaking, I suspected you meant him," said the eagle.

"Do you know him?" asked Kellar.

"Not really, but upon devouring the core, I absorbed part of the former eagle king’s memories, and once the Great Guardian visited him," said the eagle.

"And? What happened? What did he say to him?" asked Kellar.

"The Great Guardian assigns the guardians for each territory and commands them to protect those places until death," said the eagle. "If anything happens in their territories, they are held responsible, and the Great Guardian will execute them on the spot."

"The eagle king was a guardian..." reflected Kellar, pointing toward the crimson foliage in the distance. "Do you know if a giant red ape that lived in that place was one as well?"

"Yes, him too," said the eagle. "They are lesser guardians. The guardians of the Great Forest are divided into the Great Guardian, who is the dragon, and the territory guardians, who are like the great Leviathan."

Green turned its massive head mid-flight and pointed its beak down toward the water’s surface.

"And looking there..." said the eagle, halting its words. "Hey, wait... where is the Leviathan?"

Kellar looked down to where the eagle was pointing with its beak, immediately recognizing the exact spot where they had seen the giant kraken-headed beast destroyed.

"Are you referring to a monster with a head full of tentacles like a giant squid that looks like a floating mountain?" asked Kellar.

"Indeed, master, that is correct," said the eagle. "Its name is Leviathan, and it is the guardian of this river, defending the passage to the distant sea."

Kellar stared at the calm river waters and frowned as he recalled the scene.

"We saw how the Great Dragon killed it," said Kellar. "Do you know why?"

"I couldn’t say, master," said the eagle. "There are three territory guardians in the forest: the Leviathan, the Behemoth, and the Great Roc. Each rules their territory and they have ruled for a long time. If the Great Dragon killed it, it must have been something very bad."

"And what rank does the eagle king hold? Or the ape king?" asked Kellar.

"The eagle king is a major guardian; he was under the command of the Great Roc, while the ape king is a minor guardian. I don’t know who the major guardian he reported to was, but they were under the Leviathan’s command," said the eagle.

Upon hearing that, Kellar realized that he had attacked two vassals—one under the Leviathan and another under the Great Roc—without knowing it. With three of the creatures eliminated—the giant ape, the eagle king, and the Leviathan itself—the territory’s balance was entirely shattered. The repercussions of having crushed the guardians’ hierarchy would not take long to show, and the true storm was only just beginning to brew.

"Pick up the pace, Green," said Kellar, tightening his grip on his mount’s feathers. "We have a lot to prepare before those beasts or the dragon decide to seek vengeance."