"Ah, it's you. Come in," said Cassandra, welcoming them into her house.
"You aren't working today?" asked Arya noticing the absence of the usual crowd that was often lined up in front of Cassandra's house at this time.
"I need to rest these old bones of mine once in a while. But it seems I can't even do that without you brats bothering me," she snorted before walking back into her living room.
"So what do you need? I doubt that the village boys attacked you again with Gray and Armin around," she said before slumping onto a chair.
"About that, I need to ask you for a favor," mumbled Arya.
"Come on, out with it."
"I need to talk to your magical beast, It will be fast, I promise."
Gray turned to Armin as if asking 'is that possible' to which Armin shook his head in response.
"Arya, did you perhaps learn a spell to talk to magical beasts?" asked Armin, confused by Arya's request.
"Hmm, so that's what this is about, huh? Very well then," replied Cassandra before standing up.
{I've been wanting to speak to Errol about what happened that day. I might as well confirm my suspicions right now,} she thought before using her teeth to nip a small cut on her thumb, drawing blood. She then began drawing a hexagram on the ground -about the same size as a small table- before chanting "Vocate Noctua."
A split second later, the hexagram began glowing a black color before exuding a thick black mist. Once the mist had settled down, an owl-like creature with black scales instead of feathers stood on top of the hexagram. It stood at 1 meter tall and had a crimson red beak and eyes of the same color.
{This is the most frequent you've ever summoned me human. Even back in your days of service you never called me this much.}
{Sorry about that Errol. There's someone I want you to talk to,} replied Cassandra before turning to look at Arya.
{Ahh, the nestling that you took in.} Errol turned to face Arya as well, before walking towards him, his talons making a clacking sound with every stride.
Both Armin and Gray stood in shock as they stared at the creature. This was the first time they had ever seen a magical beast, and its appearance wasn't exactly friendly. So it was the best they could do not to show any signs of aggression.
*"So what is it nestling? What is it you wish to ask?"* asked Errol, staring Arya in the eyes.
Arya turned to Armin, then to Gray, to see if they had heard anything. But based on their frozen expressions it seemed that it wasn't the case.
*"What do you mean... nestling? Do I look like a magical beast to you?"* replied Arya.
"Whe-"
"Shh!" Armin had tried asking what was going on, but Cassandra quickly silenced him, not wanting him to disturb her concentration.
*"What else could I mean, you are a magical beast, aren't you? You may choose to appear in this form, but you can not fool my senses."*
*"Appear in this form? I'm human."*
*"Then how can you speak to me?"* asked Errol, as if talking to a confused child who didn't know what they were talking about.
Arya once again turned to look at Gray and Armin, but this time they were staring at him in confusion. They seemed even more shocked than when they had first seen Errol.
*"Why do you seem so confused, nestling? Has Cassandra not told you of your origins? Perhaps she took you in when you were too young to remember your parents?"* he asked, apparently just as confused as Gray and Armin were.
*"What, no. I remember being born to human parents, and Cassandra didn't take me in, I live with my parents,"* replied Arya, a hint of doubt in his voice as he tried to remember the day he was reincarnated.
*"Then how come you have a nodal mana core, instead of a singular one like humans? How is it possible for your eyes to interact with mana the way they do? Or for you to be able to speak to me like this if you were a mere human?"*
"My mana core fractured when I was a kid, t-that's the only reason it looks this way?"* Arya said it as if it were a question, after all, what Errol was saying made sense. Arya had always played off all his 'unique' traits as a side effect of his incident as a child, but what if there was another reason?
*"Fractured? There's no way -magical beast or not- that a living creature can survive with a fractured mana core. But now that you mention it, your nodal system does seem incomplete,"* mumbled Errol, moving closer to Arya in order to get a better look at his mana core.
Armin and Gray instinctively moved forward to protect their brother, Gray with his hand gripped tightly around the hilt of his blade, and Armin with mana already coursing through his veins.
*"It seems your humans are quite fond of you,"* commented Errol once he noticed the aggression being directed towards him.
*"They aren't my humans, they're my brothers."* Although Arya said this, it was as if there was some part of him that doubted his words, some part of him that believed what Errol was telling him.
*"And what about me? What did you mean when you called me a parasite?"* It was Esla's voice.
*"Hmm, it speaks,"* replied Errol with a hardened gaze.
{How?} asked Arya in confusion.
{I-I don't know. I just felt like I could,} replied Esla.
*"You cling to his mana system and have a different mana signature from his. In fact, there are small traces of your mana in his body, so much so that you've altered his fundamental structure. I don't know how else to phrase you without using the word parasite,"* replied Errol.
*"Different mana signature? Altered his fundamental structure?"* It was a lot for Esla to take in. She had hoped that perhaps she was a real part of Arya, perhaps a side effect from his incident as a child. But the way Errol had described her made it seem as if she had invaded his body, and changed him so that she could live there.
*"Wait, you said I have a nodal core, does that mean magical beasts have it as well?"* asked Arya, not wanting to waste any more time. They would have a lot of free time to think about what they were, but now what was more important was learning magic.
*"The structure of cores differ between species, but all magical beasts have a nodal core. Ahh, I see, perhaps because you grew around these humans you weren't able to see the mana cores of your kind,"* said Errol before closing his eyes.
*"Have a look nestling, at the mana core of your kindred."*