Kai breathed in the smell of fish with a curious expression on his face. They had only just entered the city when the smell had wrapped around his nose. There were other smells and aromas, but the smell of fish was what hit him the hardest. He quickly connected the smell of the fish to the ocean, as he already knew where the fish came from.
The horse that carried Roland and him trotted through the streets, heading deeper into the city, before stopping at a small, but still decent house that was not too far from the walls. The house was located in a less busy area, which was also a lot more quiet.
"Here we are, home." Roland said with a sigh, hopping down from the horse, and helping Kai down to his feet too. There was a small shack beside the house where the horse instantly trotted into the shack where a bucket of hay was already prepared.
The door to the house suddenly opened up before Roland could get to it, and a fair, young lady with the prettiest eyes walked out with a surprised look on her face.
"Uncle Roland! Welcome home, father told me you would be returning today!" The lady smiled at Roland. She looked around seventeen in age, and had very prominent dimples in her cheeks when she smiled.
"Oh, that old boar sent you, huh?" Roland laughed, patting the girl's head casually. "Estelle, please meet my son, Kai." He introduced Kai.
Estelle's eyes went wide immediately, and she bent down to pinch Kai's smooth cheeks. "Oh! You're so cute!" She gushed, making Kai frown. But he did not say anything. He was not in the mood for relating with strangers at all. He was more interested in going sight seeing. Especially to the sea.
After a bit of introduction, Estelle turned back to Roland and curtseyed. "I will tell father that you are back." She said and turned to hurry off away from the house, leaving only father and son.
"Come in, let me make something for you to drink. You must feel a bit dizzy." Roland put his hand on Kai's back and guided him into the neat house. In his absence, Estella had taken care of the place really well, and there was not a speck of dust in sight.
Estella's father was a merchant who worked down at the dock. He handled the sales of various products that were unique to the ocean and other continents of the world. Although he was not the top dog merchant at the dock, he had quite a bit of sway.
Roland had initially met him when some night time bandits had tried robbing the man. After apprehending the bandits, and trying but failing to extort the wealthy man for his services, the two of them had become good friends ever since.
Roland showed Kai the bedrooms and everything else that was important before leaving him to settle in. He did not want to hover over his shoulder too much.
After some time had passed and the sun was at its peak, Roland came to look for Kai so they could head to the harbor to meet Estella's father, but what he saw left him in shock.
Kai sat cross legged on his bed, his palms facing upwards over his legs, with his eyes rolled back into his skull. A magic rune glowed under him, and mana roiled all around him. But the most shoking part were the two blue crystal horns that framed his face.
His lips moved in some sort of gibberish, and Roland's eyes widened even further. His trained body instantly leapt into action, and he was beside Kai in a second, but before he could slap Kai out of his daze, it was too late!
A dazzling show of red and gold light washed over the room, and a powerful force pushed Roland into the wall, knocking the breath out of his lungs.
"Ugh..." Roland groaned and got to his feet when the light had vanished. His eyes were teary and unclear, but they soon became clear enough for him to take in his son's room. "...Kai?" He called out and looked to the bed. He recognized his son's figure, but the smaller figure beside him was unfamiliar. His mind instantly cooked up the worst scenario.
'Did he summon a Dark Spirit?!' His sight cleared and he was shocked to find a small, red lupine figure sitting on the bed, cozying up to Kai and rubbing its head against his open palm.
"Dad? What are you doing here?" Kai looked up and tilted his head, looking completely innocent, as if he had not just summoned something form another dimensional plane.
"Kai... What did you do?" Roland asked, pausing by the end of the bed as he fixed his gaze on the red fox. Its crimson gaze moved to his face, and it let out a cute sound. With a poof of red smoke, it vanished, and reappeared on his shoulder, tail curled around his neck, and its head rubbing against his own.
Roland froze, scared that any sudden movement might set the creature off. But he was surprised when Kai easily called the creature to his side, as if he had already tamed it.
"Come here, boy." Kai clapped his hands and the fox's ears stood at attention. It jumped off Roland's shoulder and turned into a puff of smoke in the air, before reappearing beside Leon in the next moment. "I've been thinking of a name for you for a while now. Let's name you Ryu." He said and patted the fox's head, eliciting a happy growl from it.
Ryu leapt into the air, and with a cloud of red smoke, he turned into a small, red winged reptile that cozied up to Kai.
Roland watched in a numb haze as his son bonded with this other worldly beast. He did not expect this in the least. If he did not know better, then he would say that the creature currently resembled a dragon hatchling. But how?