Amon's body glowed in a white light. Amon stomped on the ground, leaving a small impact crater.
Jeanne watched this process; she watched him use the light step to stomp on the ground and push forward. Then he switched to the shadow step and moved like a master assassin. It took Jeanne a while to realize that she had to follow him as quickly as possible. If she waited any longer, she would have no chance to catch up with him.
The bubble pushed her forward with enormous speed and made it possible for her to chase Amon.
---
Jeanne had already used up a lot of her Mana; her manalake was never very big by nature. If it were to run out during the journey, it would be terrible.
But Amon got better from hour to hour; he used the light step only to build up more speed, and that worked. Amon was way ahead of her. She only knew where he was thanks to the flash of light he emitted every 500 meters. Everything between these 500 meters was unrecognizable to her.
They continued like this for hours; Amon just kept moving forward without ever looking back or even questioning where he was or where he was going. He knew exactly. Jeanne, meanwhile, managed to catch up with Amon. But she was still far away from him, and then finally, after hours, Amon stopped.
Jeanne also arrived and saw an old stone hut overgrown with moss. The stone hut stood in a place that was surrounded by several trees; it seemed to Jeanne as if the hut would stand in a small forest.
She saw Amon approach the hut without saying a word about why they were here. He walked with slow steps towards the stone hut. She noticed that the only thing in this hut was not made of stone. The door was made from a few tree trunks.
Amon approached the door and knocked three times on the wooden door with the knuckle of his left middle finger. Then he opened the door with his right hand without even waiting for an answer that would tell him he could come in, and when Jeanne entered the hut with Amon, she immediately realized why.
The hut was empty, without a single indication of who once lived here. The fireplace was already extinguished, but the three beds that were distributed throughout the hut have been made with care and dedication.
Two of the beds were in a back room, and the last one was in the living room.
Amon went to the bed in the living room, lay down on the floor, and took a torch, several logs, and tinder from under the bed.
The logs were already old, as was the often-used torch. The tinder was simple: dry grass and tree bark.
Amon took everything and went to the fireplace, piled up the logs in a tent shape, and added some tinder. After the construction was finished, Amon took the torch in his right hand and held it in front of his face.
Amon looked at his left hand, in which there was nothing. Amon blew pure flames from his mouth directly onto his hand. However, the hand had not suffered any damage from it; the flame only burned peacefully on his hand. Then the flame on his hand began to change its color and dipped the small stone cave, which had previously been dipped in a warm orange, now in a colder blue.
Amon took his left hand in the blue standing flames and reached for the torch. The torch ignited and now burned the same beautiful blue as his hand.
Amon walked with the torch to the campfire that stood in the middle of the room and lit the tinder. The blue flame spread in no time, so that the entire campfire shone in the shortest time.
The torch and Amon's hand were no longer burning. The only thing that lit the hut was the campfire.
Amon looked Jeanne in the eyes and said with a light smile, "Sit down at the fire; we are now waiting here for an old acquaintance of mine and Leon. I'm sure you'll be tipped over as soon as you see him."
Jeanne did not know what it was all about. But if Amon said it was so, someone special had to come by soon, and somehow she was looking forward to it.
"Well, how long are we going to wait?" Jeanne asked with her head tilted to one side.
"Probably an hour."
That was all. Amon said nothing more after sitting around the blue campfire for the time being. He said nothing more; he just went into the lotus position and began to meditate.
One hour later.
Knock, knock, knock.
Jeanne heard how someone knocked three times on the door. Amon stopped meditating, walked to the door, and opened it.
When he opened it, a tiger dyed deep blue stood in front of the door. The tiger jumped into Amon's arms, and Amon hugged him with care.
After both were finished, the tiger walked inside of the stone hut and turned from a tiger to a mixture of a human and a tiger.
The tiger straightened up and stood there like a human; he had the hands and feet of a human. The only difference was that he had blue fur and still had the head of a tiger on his tail. His flames stopped glowing when he bumped his head against the ceiling.
"I keep forgetting how small this place is." Said the creature.
"You also keep forgetting that you're 3.1 meters long. Of course, when you straighten up, you're this tall. There aren't many rooms you could fit in." Amon answered casually.
The creature realized its mistake and shrank; it was now about 180 cm tall. Its appearance did not change, however. It was still a mixture of a tiger with deep blue fur and a human.
"Jeanne, I want you to meet someone. This is Tigran, a very good friend of mine, and Leon." Amon introduced Tigran, who bowed his head slightly and said, "Pleased to meet you, lady Jeanne."
"Amon, you owe me an answer. From where do you know this mana beast, and why do you get along so well with him?"
It was unimaginable; mana beasts were proud creatures that normally would not allow a human to speak to them so easily. Amon showed no hesitation in speaking to him in any way. On the contrary, it seemed as if he would just say what he was thinking about.
"Back then, when I and Leon were still alone and had no home, we lived here together, and one day we both got into serious trouble, and this guy right next to me helped us back then."
Amon pointed with his thump at Tigran and talked with a smile on his face.
"What he said is right. But that is not the full story. I also had trouble once; I got a disease called Ghilliutien. It is a disease that is able to even kill a mana beast like me. Both of them saved me back then; they collected a god fruit for me, an item capable of reviving an entire kingdom if used correctly, and since I once saved them, they did not hesitate for a second."
"Back then, I was a simple blue-furred tiger; after eating this fruit, I reached the strength of a mana beast."
Not all monsters were evil and had the goal of killing everything that passed their way. Monsters like dragons and many others had intelligence, personalities, and more. Back then, the creature who would later become known as Tigran was a simple monster who could not harm many beings. But it was powerful enough to help Amon and Leon out of pity from a few magicans.
"We helped each other, and so we became friends." This is the short version of the story. Amon did not tell Jeanne how he and Leon searched for a whole month for the godfruit. He also remembers the time when the three of them sat around the campfire and talked about things. Tigran was also one of the few who knew that Amon was a Qibander.
"And what are we going to do now? Do you plan to use your friend as a weapon and destroy the Verdan kingdom with him?" Jeanne could not think of a different reason why someone would ask a mana beast they were friends with to do something. She was smart enough to understand that Amon wanted to ask his old friend for a favor.
"No, first of all, I once promised to never use his power for my advantage, and second, it is doubtful that he would do it."
Amon looked at Tigran as he said that.
"He is right. Lady Jeanne, we mana beasts once made an agreement not to interfere in the affairs of others. We used to do that, and it caused havoc and damage. I cannot and will not be used as a living weapon in a war. I'm just willing to do you a small favor." Tigran said it with crossed arms.
"Could we make two favors out of this one favor?" Amon asked his old friend.
"Of course, what do you mean? I just ask you favors, and then you get a yes or no as an answer. Nothing can go wrong."
Jeanne was relieved that the worst thing they would get was a no.
So she said she asked the others if they would like to sit down and talk. Tigran and Amon agreed, and Amon asked for his two favors. Amon asked if he could tell him where a power feather was and if he could bring the two of them to the Syldran woods.
"Well, in regard to the power feather, it is indeed on in the Syldran woods. But I can't give it to you. The one who loses them is a good friend of mine, and he once asked me to never tell someone the exact possession of one. But if you give me a map, I will mark the territory where it is. You then just need to search for them in the area I marked for you. The second thing is no problem; you just have to get on my back and I will bring you there."
After hearing this, Jeanne picked a map out of her pocket and handed it to Tigran, who marked the territory. He made a circle around the deep center of the woods with a piece of coal.
Good, if this is essential, get out and make yourself ready; the ride is not going to be pleasant."
Everyone went out, and Tigran got back on all four again and grew bigger. He was now big enough for Amon and Jeanne to both sit on him with ease.
"Hold on tight; if one falls, I won't stop."
Tigran smiled widely and sprinded forward.