When I awoke, I felt a warmth on my chest. The baby Nyuru was curled up and purring as it slept, looking for all the world like a little black void. I smiled again at the adorable sight in front of me, feeling for the first time in this world a sense of peace and warmth.
"Nn...you're so cute, little one."
As if it heard me, the kitten opened its deep green eyes and stared at me, then yawned and stretched out its paws.
"Did you get enough sleep, little one?" I murmured softly, stroking its soft furry head with one finger.
"Nya~"
It seemed that the little Nyuru had taken a liking to me after I had healed and fed it. I wondered if I should bring it with me though...
I picked up the kitten and set it down on the ground, then asked, "little one, would you like to follow me? Or are you staying here?"
It cocked its head, seemingly unable to understand my question. I then made a motion to leave, and the kitten immediately ran after me, attempting to prevent me from leaving.
"Ah...you want to follow me, huh?"
"Nya, nya, nya~"
It looked almost sad as it meowed desperately.
My heart squeezed painfully. I couldn't bear to hurt this little one. In the next instant, I had decided.
"Alright. Since you wanna come, I'll bring you. But. You're not getting away from me, ever, understood?"
"Nya?"
Sigh...as expected, it didn't understand. Well, it's fine. Whether or not it understood, we were both mutually attached to each other already.
"Hey, kitten, I'm gonna [Name] you, alright?"
When I said [Name], the Nyuru kitten instantly sat back on its hind paws, placed both front legs straight and looked regally up at me.
"Ah, you understand that, huh."
"[Rea Kino]."
-Conditions have been met.
A purple glow surrounded the kitten, and a torrent of mana drained out of my body. I staggered slightly, confused as to why it was taking so much mana to [Name] this kitten. When the purple glow faded, though, I got my answer.
A large black winged panther with purple spots, almost like a jaguar, now stood in front of me. Its whiskers were long and sharp like needlepoint blades, and its claws were the size of daggers. Its tail had elongated greatly and split into six, looking like long black whips with blades on the end. Its head bore a crown of sharp bone, and long saber teeth protruded from its upper jaw.
I cast [Appraisal].
[HP: 23000/23000]
[MP: 2500/2500]
[PWR: 550]
[DEF: 320]
[MAG: 240]
[RES: 120]
[AGI: 400]
[WIS: 150]
[WPR: 120]
[Family of the Voidfall True Ancestor (A)] [Guardian Beast (B)]
[Voidfall Lv.1] [Protection Lv.1]
[Multilayer Barrier Lv.1]
[Limit Break Lv.1] [Form Change Lv.1]
[Detection Lv.1] [Whiplash Lv.1] [Blade Dance Lv.1] [Thought Super-Acceleration Lv.1]
[Vicegrip Lv.1] [Slash Lv.1] [Acceleration Lv.1]
[Flight Lv.1] [Void Magic Lv.1] [HP Super-Regeneration Lv.1] [MP Super-Regeneration Lv.1] [Devastating Roar Lv.1] [Presence Suppression]
-Conditions have been met.
Before looking at the title I just received, I stared in shock at the information I was looking at, then again at Rea.
"Rea, you..."
"You wanted to protect me this much?"
A silvery stream flowed down my face. Rea gently headbutted my stomach, and I held her large head in my arms and stroked her cheeks.
"Uuuu...thank you, Rea. I...I think I was so lonely in this world that I wanted to make you my family, so I gave you my last name, but it was you who wanted to protect me so much that you evolved this far, huh..."
A swirling purple light answered me. Kneeling down in front of me was a young woman who looked slightly younger than me, her dark cascading hair with streaks of purple the same colour as my skin. Her own skin was a dark purple, with a red gem set in a circlet around her forehead, and bright gold eyes. Freckles dotted her nose and cheekbones, and she was wrapped in a dark fur coat the same colour as her panther form, with black wings on her back.
"Master, Rea thanks you for saving me. I owe you my life. This is how I intend to repay it. My deepest apologies for taking so much of your mana, but I wanted to be a strong as possible to serve as Master's shield."
"Iya iya iya, wait first of all, how are you in a human form? Also, just where did you learn how to speak so politely??" I tsukkomied violently.
"Master, Rea is a [Guardian Beast]. Upon evolving to this form, we receive the knowledge necessary to serve our masters. Also, one of the
"Uuuu...Rea...where did the cute kitten go? Ah, actually, please don't call me 'Master'. Just 'Ava' is fine. We're family after all, right? Yours and my title says so."
"Then, Ava-sama."
"Ava."
"Ava-sama."
"A.VA."
"A-Ava...sama."
I glared at her, and her firm and earnest gaze stared back.
"Maa, it's fine. If you're gonna call me 'Ava-sama', drop the rest of the polite language, okay? Act like a girl your age. I don't want you to be so serious after all."
"Yes, Ava-sama!" Her eyes glittered and shone, and the smile on her face was brighter than the sun.
I sighed, holding my head.
Since when did I get a subordinate? I thought I was just getting a pet?
Anyway, now wasn't the time to dwell upon that. I checked the
{Title Description: Awarded to the First Progenitor of a race.
Title Prerequisites: Obtain a family member while being the only member of a race.
Title Rewards:
{Skill Description: Create kin.
Skill Prerequisites:
Skill Effects: Designate members of your kin by [Naming] them with your last name.]
{Skill Description: Manage kin.
Skill Prerequisites:
Skill Effects: User may give orders which cannot be defied to designated kin.}
{Skill Description: Share skills with kin and vice versa.
Skill Prerequisites:
Skill Effects: User and kin may allow access to each other's skills.}
Having understood its effects, I found myself staggering slightly. Is this...the vampire development?? Where I wake up in another world and find myself as the [True Ancestor] of the vampires?? Except my race would probably end up as something like [Voidfall], given Rea's
That wasn't scary at all, nope, not at all. See, I knew it. [Naming] was definitely a terrifying thing in this world.
"Ne, Rea."
"Yes, Ava-sama," Rea replied with her sparkling eyes.
"We're gonna get out of this [Labyrinth] right now, okay? Let's go at full speed, and kill any monsters in our path, yeah?"
"Understood, Ava-sama! This Rea will show no mercy!"
Ahhh...she's still like a small child despite her mature look, huh. I guess this is what happens when you try to forcefully evolve to an adult stage despite just being a kitten minutes ago.
With Rea's childlike excitement that felt extremely refreshing, I patted her head and took off, with Rea following close behind.