Yuriko's Anima took the brunt of the attack. She grunted as she felt her condensed aura crack, but that was it. The attacker was stopped cold on its feet, and while it may have surprised her by moving so fast, it was only because she had most of her Anima on restriction mode that allowed it to approach so closely. Otherwise, her Animakinesis would have been enough to hold it back from a hundred paces away.
Now, when she unfurled her Anima completely, in a fit of pique, she grabbed the thing and brought it in front of her. Vision proved a better medium for figuring out what it was since her perception had only registered it as a blur and, even with her Animakinesis pressing down on it, only a vague oblique outline was visible.
"A wolf?" Yuriko muttered.
It had an aura much like her own, consisting of its own Anima. Its reach was a measly pace from its fur, and compressed, it remained an inch away. The wolf's Anima pressed against Yuriko's and it succeeded in pushing out another inch's worth. But the act seemed to exhaust the beast and it stopped soon after, tongue lolling and panting heavily.
The fact that an Elemental beast had an active Anima was so shocking to her that Yuriko could only stare at it numbly. It was a wolf, though it didn't have an elementally aspected fur or hide, nor was it gigantic in comparison to the goat. Its shoulders would only reach up to her waist though it was probably longer than she was tall, especially with its long, luxuriously fluffy tail. It had tawny fur, with white socks, belly, and mask markings. The wolf's eyes were pale brown and staring up at her with desperation. She could see its ribs, too.
"Hungry?" she asked it and the wolf tilted its head, looking much like a large puppy. It sniffed at the blood-spattered ground, pointed its nose at her and…whined.
She stared at it for a long time, while the puppy wolf stared back.
She held out a hand and released the wolf from her kinetic grip. The wolf moved its muzzle towards her knuckles, sniffed carefully, and licked.
"Oh."
Yuriko looked around the area. Didn't wolves normally run in packs? Her perception, coupled with her sight, didn't show any other elemental beast nearby. The closest one was another elemental goat that was just a bit less than a longstride away. The puppy wolf sat on its haunches and stared up at her, tail held still. Then it twitched. Stilled. Twitch.
"What?" Yuriko asked sourly. The stench of the goat's offal was getting to her again.
The wolf simply stared. Then its tail wagged.
Yuriko's Mien had shifted from Tranquility to Charm, and she felt the puppy's thread trying to connect with her Anima.
Fluffy tail.
Alright, fine.
Yuriko reached down and rubbed its head. The wolf flinched but then leaned into her palm. She swallowed and nibbled her lips. The wolf had an active Anima and this was the first time she'd seen anyone other than her squires who had that. Yes, she should study the puppy and find out how it managed that. It didn't look like an elemental beast, come to think of it. The puppy's fur and hide were normal, though she felt elemental energies swirling around it.
"Do you want to come with me?" she asked the wolf puppy.
It stared up at her for a long moment, and she could swear she actually saw it go through the Mishala Mien hierarchy. Aspirant to Supplicant, for sure. Was that even possible with non-humanoids? The proof was right in front of her and she could feel the connection now.
Arf!
A soft bark, head tilt, and puppy dog eyes.
Yuriko nodded, smiled, patted its head, and said, "I name you…Duke Fluffington, Paragon of Fluffiness, and first of his…" She grabbed the wolf with her kinesis and flipped it belly side up, then pried its tail off from between its…his…legs. "First of his name!"
The threads connecting them thickened and Fluffington barked happily as soon as she set him down. Now, his tail was wagging up a storm.
Guruguruguru!
And his tummy grumbled fiercely.
Yuriko fetched a ration bar from her pack, peeled off the casing and offered it to him. Fluffington sniffed it, made an absolutely disgusted expression, but nonetheless took the bar into his mouth and ate it. He gagged for a moment, but convulsively swallowed, then stared up at her with begging eyes.
Sighing, Yuriko presented another ration bar and the wolf ate it up. "You're very friendly, aren't you?" she muttered to herself. Fluffington nodded sagely.
"Well, come on. Let's go back to base."
Yuriko sighed. Her testing was pretty much done. The elemental goats were strong against one-circle spells, could resist two-circle spells for a while, and were vulnerable to three-circle spells. All provided that they used the correct element, Wind, or Earth, it looked like. Well, Water too, but definitely not Fire. It looked like Sofia would have trouble here. Hmmm, she knew the student was able to cast other elemental spells, though not particularly well. This was why Yuriko advised them to diversify their elemental masteries. Hmmm, but then again, they may not have time to excel in multiple elements. Oh well. That just meant they'd have to rely on their teammates. It wasn't as if they would be forced to face an enemy beast one-on-one.
Or would they? Yuriko pursed her lips and thought furiously. The Dean had not given too many directives to this rather hasty undertaking, just that it was a preparation for a contest next school year, which would be in half a year since the Season of Fire was an academic break and the transition between school years. That also probably meant that the sixth-year students wouldn't be all that critical to the endeavour and the fifth-years would be the linchpin to the dean's plans for the contest. Were they going to host a tournament for this or something else? Yuriko wasn't sure.
Gwendith and Heron spoke of Agaza Academy's curriculum before and Yuriko knew that higher school year kids would eventually be examined with military manoeuvres and war games. Was the same going to happen here? Hmm, maybe not. The Republic seemed focused on delving Chaos Founts and Elemental Confluxes rather than conquest.
The map of the republic had been quite enlightening, and though the area of Bresia was quite large, much of it was taken up by natural barriers, Elemental Confluxes, and other dangerous yet rewarding regions. The borders of each country were naturally created by these natural formations too, including the Golden Fields. If she read the map right, directly north of the fields was the territory of the Ishodir Empire, though that area also had its own conflux and Chaos Founts that made travel more inconvenient.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
Fluffington followed a pace behind Yuriko's left heel as she strolled back towards base camp. She moved away from the exploded goats while she kept an eye out for more of the elemental beasts.
They skirted towards the valley entrance, and soon enough were out of the wheat field. The hillsides weren't barren, by any means, but were covered by a species of weeds that were similarly coloured as the wheat, save for the fact that the gold content within each one was significantly less than the grain. There were smaller elemental goats chewing the grass a few hundred paces away, and they were about a quarter the size of the big ones. Fluffington turned his head towards the goatlings and was visibly salivating.
"I guess you're still hungry," Yuriko said. "But if those things explode, how will you eat them?"
Fluffington looked up at her and tilted his head sideways, as though saying, I'll show you.
Hmmm, alright. "Get going."
Fluffington shot out, faster than the eye could see. His Anima condensed around his fur and took on an aerodynamic shape even as it created powerful grips to propel him forward. A moment later, he had his jaws around the smaller goat's neck, and he adroitly twisted his jaws to snap his victim's neck.
Crack!
The fur and hide began to redden, but Fluffington's aura encapsulated the goat, seeped inside, and did something to the innards that Yuriko couldn't perceive due to his Anima interference. The red receded from the skin, only for a burst of flames to emerge from the creature's backside. The plume extended for dozens of paces and effectively diffused the build-up of elemental energy within the innards. A minute later, the plume dissipated and Fluffington trotted towards Yuriko with the goat hanging by its neck. He plopped the carcass by her feet, sat on his haunches and stared up at her with tongue lolling out and tail wagging. His Anima retracted from the goat by then.
Yuriko moved her perception inside its body. A quick inspection showed her a largish cavity near its heart, and the beast core was at least three times larger than what she scavenged from the exploded goats. She dressed the wolf puppy's kill, disposed of the innards and offal, then lightly seared the flesh using her Anima and Radiant energy. Fluffington happily waited, his tail wagging up a storm. He ate quickly, and soon, with his belly distended, the two of them were back on their way.
The return trip took no more than a couple of hours. It would have been less if she flew, but she didn't want to leave the puppy behind. She could have picked him up with her Anima, but he looked so determined to keep up with her pace that she couldn't bring herself to do that.
His burst of speed while attacking did not last more than the initial rush, Yuriko noted. She had sped up, and he tried to run, but after half a minute, he had to stop and whine. His expanded Anima fluctuated at that point and nearly collapsed back into his body. The atmospheric Elemental energy pressed down against Fluffington, and his countenance grew more than a bit desperate. It wasn't until she enfolded him with her Anima that his anxiety receded.
Yes, she could feel Duke Fluffington's emotions through her Mien. He had connected deeply with her and was only able to do so because she let him. Well, honestly, she'd been too taken in by his cute fluffiness to react, so, oh well.
Base camp had changed from a flat plateau into a built-up fortress. She could see Earth elemental Magi casting Move Earth and Shape Stone when she approached. A few of the staffers pointed towards her and Fluffington,
"Stay near me and don't attack anyone," Yuriko said to the wolf.
Fluffington, for his part, simply tilted his head in confusion, which practically said that he wasn't about to do anything at all. Hmmm.
"Y…mistress!" Ryoko called out. The handmaiden emerged out of a stone building just off the camp's entrance. "New pet?"
"Hmmm. Yeah," Yuriko said as she rubbed Fluffington's ears.
"I'll bring you to the administration building."
That turned out to be in the exact middle of the camp and was still unfinished. She found Professor Andrea Mondez and another professor drawing up a map of the conflux.
"Professor Davar," Andrea said as Yuriko approached, then she looked at Fluffington. "I see you've bonded with a tamed beast. Or is that a familiar?"
Yuriko shrugged. "He followed me and is quite friendly."
"I see. Make sure you register his presence and add a tamed beast collar. Anyway, anything to report?"
"Of course," Yuriko said. "Northwest on the wheat field I encountered carriage-sized elemental beasts, goats, that explode when killed. Their hide is resistant to one and two-circle spells though the latter can eventually penetrate…"
Yuriko gave out a bit more of her observations and when she was done, Andrea asked, "Are you going to continue scouting? The first batch of students will arrive in a week."
"Yes." Yuriko said, "The conflux is a bit more dangerous than I expected."
"It will temper our students. Good fortune," Andrea said and waved goodbye, her posture and countenance stiff.
Yuriko simply shrugged and returned to her new dwelling. "Ryoko, we need lots of food!"
Her handmaiden only sighed.