Zion stared at the little fairy girl, who still seemed rooted to the spot in surprise after hearing his voice in her head.
He sat down and mentally cleared his throat, '"Ehem, I'm behind you."'
The fairy turned around in surprise, allowing him to see her completely. Unlike Sarah, who still had typical chubbiness from being a 5-year-old, this fairy child was very slim and petite, looking almost like a life-sized doll. Her skin was slightly tanned, giving her a sun-kissed look, and she had sizeable oval-shaped hazel eyes. She wore a knee-high pale green dress with leggings underneath it with no shoes.
She played with her fingers nervously as her wings twitched, "Y... you won't tell anyone I was here... r-right? I-I shouldn't be this close to humans, but... w-when I heard the little girl scream and saw your injuries... I-I couldn't just stand back." She seemed very nervous and kept picking at her fingers.
Zion tilted his head as his tail curled around his feet, '"If you don't want me to tell, I won't tell anyone. I just wanted to thank you. If you hadn't stepped in and helped me, I probably would have died, and who knows what would have happened to Sarah, the little girl I serve."'
The fairy sighed, relieved, her wings lowering slightly, "Oh, that's good. Thank you, little fox." She smiled.
'"Zion. My name is Zion."'
"Oh, uh, Zion then. My name is Aala Eir. I am a fairy." She knelt before him, "You're a very odd fox, are you not? You're only a Rank D and have no magic affinity, yet you can use a spell, Mind Talk, and fight with multiple C-ranked beasts. Plus, you've got a lot of intelligence to speak clearly to me."
'"Is it really that odd to speak as a D rank?"' He tilted his head.
"Hmm, well, it's not unheard of. But, like... there's a 1 in 30 chance of a D rank unlocking enough intelligence to speak. Usually, only those with strong bloodlines will likely unlock it early." She gently rubbed his head between his ears.
His left ear twitched, but he let her do what she wanted. B-but only because he didn't want to scare her off! It's not like he enjoyed the head pats at all!
He internally cleared his thoughts before speaking, '"W-well, maybe I have a rare bloodline. Anyway, I should get back before they go looking for me. Thank you again."' He stood up and began to walk away.
"U-um... Z-Zion?" He heard her voice and paused his movement, turning to face her, '"Yes?"'
"I-If it's okay... could we meet again? I don't have a lot of friends my age in my home..." She looked nervous and had a tinge of red on her cheeks.
He smiled at her, '"I wouldn't mind that. Just send me any sort of signal, I'll probably be able to get out at night."'
Her face lit up, and her wings raised again, "Alright! See you again then!" She rose into the air and flew off in a flash, leaving only little blue sparkles that faded in a second.
He shook his head with a chuckle and trotted back to the house.
Abraham was sitting with Sarah, crying loudly beside him, "F-foxy! Where did my foxy go!"
Zion internally cringed, 'Oops... I better help the poor man out.' He ran over with a couple of yips.
Sarah and Abraham turned to look at him, and Sarah instantly brightened and ran to him, "Foxy!" She said happily, picking him up. While Sarah squeezed Zion happily, Zion turned his focus to the smiling Abraham and used Mind Talk, '"We should speak later. Once she's asleep."'
Abraham's eyes widened in surprise hearing the voice in his head, but once he realised it was coming from Sarah's pet fox, he relaxed and nodded.
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That night, after Sarah fell asleep, Zion slipped out of the room and went to the office, where Abraham was doing some paperwork while waiting for him.
Zion jumped up onto the desk and sat to the side of him as Abraham looked at him, putting aside the paperwork, "Alright. So you can suddenly speak?" He asked.
'"I recently learned a spell that allows it. As long as I have mana, I can use it. First things first, my name is Zion."'
Abraham raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing about that, "Then Zion, I'll ask something straightforward. What's your plan for the future with my daughter?"
'"That's the same answer I gave you before. I'll continue to protect her. Even if I reach B rank and the contract breaks, I'll form a party with her instead. I've done my reading, and it isn't unheard of for beasts who reach a certain stage to evolve to have a humanoid form."'
Abraham frowned slightly, "While that's true, reaching the demi-human form, which is when beasts take human form, you have to be a minimum of a Rank C. I can somewhat sense your strength... you should be a rather new rank D. Probably even only gone through one or two evolutions."
'"One. This is my first evolution after being born."' Zion clarified for him.
Abraham sighed, "Zion, it takes a minimum of 4 D rank evolutions to reach a C rank. At least that's what research on beasts has shown." He frowned at Zion.
Zion just smiled, showing off all his teeth as his tail thumped lightly on the desk, '"I guess that's where you help me then. The more I fight, the stronger I get, the more I evolve, and the better I protect Sarah. That's what we both want."
Abraham frowned slightly at what Zion said. Why did it feel like he was dealing with a shrewd merchant trying to haggle a price.