"I-I apologize for my rudeness. My name is Elise Frös, and I will be taking care of you during your stay here."
Seeing the panicked expression on the cute girl's face and hearing her stutter, Aurora chuckled inwardly and nodded in response. Actually, she didn't think Elise was rude at all before, but that was probably because of how adorable the elf was.
An idea appeared in Aurora's mind, so she decided to test something out. She looked at the still-bowing Elise and used her telepathic skill.
"Don't worry, Elise, you didn't offend me at all." Suddenly, Elise heard an incredibly soft and cute voice inside her mind. At first, she was confused, but once she realized what was happening, she quickly stood back up straight.
"L-Lady Aurora, you can use Telepathy!?" She exclaimed in surprise. After all, she herself owned the skill and knew that while the requirements to learn it weren't too difficult, that was only the case for those who had already evolved past the first rank.
However, even if she could feel that the fox in front of her was much more powerful than normal rank 1 beasts and monsters, she was still a beast in the first rank. A rank 1 beast having two stats above 250? Absolutely impossible!
That was what Elise sincerely believed. It wasn't that she was underestimating Aurora, but it was simply absurd for a rank 1 beast like her to have such high stats.
It was not like her thoughts were wrong; at least they wouldn't be with any other beast. However, Aurora is a unique-grade beast who also has a title that boosts the gain of her natural stats by 20%. If there was one thing she had plenty of, it was stats. There are hardly any first-rank beings who could compare to her in that regard.
"Calm down, Elise; you might make little Aurora think you're underestimating her. She was indeed able to learn how to use Telepathy." Elaine interjected suddenly, making Elise immediately recoil when she noticed her earlier outburst.
"Lady Aurora, I'm so sorry. I-" Just as she was about to bow deeply once again and apologize, Aurora raised her paw cutely to stop her and said,.
"No worries, Elise. I understand your reaction. Just know that I'm a bit special compared to other beasts you might be used to." Hearing Aurora's words inside her head as well as seeing that small smile on her face, Elise let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you for your kindness." She raised her head back up, feeling much calmer than before.
"I'm the one who should be thanking you all for letting us stay here." Aurora merely shook her head in response and turned back around towards Elaine.
"However, I must ask, will the other elves be okay with two magical beasts staying in their village?" She asked curiously but also with a bit of worry.
Hearing her words and her tone, Elaine chuckled and waved her hand dismissively.
"Trust me, little Aurora. You two definitely don't need to worry about something like that. You are the daughter of Lady Shinara, and from the looks of it, this black wolf is your travel companion, right?" She asked with a faint smile, her eyes falling on Rejoke, who remained completely silent this entire time. He had some obvious reasons to do so after all.
"Mhm, he is. His name is Rejoke, and the two of us have been traveling and fighting together for quite some time now." Aurora replied with a similar small smile; however, her words caused the elven chief to frown.
"Name? He has a name? By that I mean like a real name?" Elaine's tone was filled with seriousness, confusion, and... surprise?
The last emotion really confused Aurora. Why was she surprised? Wasn't it normal for companions to have names? After all, she needs to call him somehow, and the system even accepted the name, so what was the problem?
"Based on your confused look, it's not hard to guess that you have no idea what you actually did, do you?" Elaine's sudden question brought Aurora out of her reverie.
"Look, naming isn't as simple as it sounds. While humans get a name right after their birth, magical beasts are different. When someone names a beast, they convey their intentions and feelings into the name. This usually results in the beast getting stronger; for example, they can obtain a special skill. However, naming someone isn't as simple as it sounds." Elaine explained with a bitter smile, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"You can call a beast by a name, but getting that name accepted by the system is almost impossible. That's why beasts with names are incredibly rare." Only after hearing her words did Aurora realize that maybe naming Rejoke wasn't nearly as simple as it may have seemed.
'Now that I think about it, Rejoke did seem to get a bit stronger after joining me. He even had that strength-boosting skill... wait a second! He got that from the name!?' Aurora thought.
"It seems highly possible, sis. If what this woman said is true, then it is highly likely that Rejoke got that skill of his after we named him; it would make sense after all." Yuki pointed out and voiced her thoughts on the matter.
Actually, this was something Aurora had thought about before already. During her fight with Rejoke, the wolf never used that skill that boosts his strength by a really huge amount. But why didn't he activate when he was clearly losing? It made no sense; after all, he didn't hesitate to use it against the Great Earth Eater right after.
But now, an explanation presented itself. If he only received the skill after Aurora had named him, it would all make sense. After all, he couldn't use a skill he didn't have.
"Might I ask why naming someone through the system is difficult? You mentioned that it's almost impossible to do so, but why?" Aurora asked using her skill, her question directed at Elaine.
"Do you remember how I talked about spiritual power? Well, this is related to that matter. For someone to be able to name a beast, their soul needs to be made for it. That means that they need some sort of skill to do so. That's why only beast tamer-type classes can do that." Elaine explained before leaning slightly forward on the throne.
"But it is quite obvious that you aren't a beast tamer of any sort. You don't even have classes since you are a magical beast. So just how did you name this wolf? Truly a mystery. Saying that, Elaine leaned back onto the throne.
She didn't really care about the matter. Yes, she was curious how Aurora had managed to name that wolf, but it wasn't something very important.
On the other hand, Aurora was deep in thought trying to figure out why she was in fact able to give a name to Rejoke.
'Is it because he's my subordinate? No, I doubt that's the case. Hmmm... any ideas, Yuki?' Not finding a good explanation, Aurora turned to Yuki for advice.
"Unfortunately, I'm as clueless as you are in this matter. The only thing I can think of is that maybe it's somehow related to our mother, but I find that highly unlikely." Even Yuki shook her head in response.
It seemed that there was no answer waiting for her currently. In the end, Aurora chose to not mind the whole naming thing much. It wasn't even important in the first place.
Seeing Aurora nod to herself and say nothing, Elaine figured she was done thinking. So, with a smile, she looked at her daughter and spoke to her.
"Elise, take little Aurora to an empty room here in the main tree. I'm sure she is already tired and probably hungry as well. Oh, and make sure to find a room for Rejoke as well." Elaine gave some quick orders to her daughter before getting from her throne.
Just as Elise was about to nod, both her and Elaine heard Aurora's voice inside their heads.
"There is no need to get a room for Rejoke. I doubt he would want to use it since he likes to stay around me to protect me." Aurora shook her head very softly.
Hearing her words, Elaine merely smiled in response and left the throne room. Her answer was quite obvious. Do as you please. That was her answer.
Seeing that the matter was quickly resolved, Elise proceeded to do what she was about to do before. She crouched down and picked Aurora up into her arms.
With the little fox in her arms, the beautiful elf made her way around the interior of the large tree. Rejoke followed closely behind them, even if he had no idea what was happening.
Soon, the group of three arrived at a simple wooden door. With one hand still holding Aurora's small body, Elise used her other hand to open the door. Pushing the door open, she entered the room, let Rejoke in, and then she closed the door once again.
"This will be the room you can stay at, Lady Aurora. Also, if you ever need anything, just tell me." Elise smiled gently, walking over to the large bed in the room.
She then gently placed down the white fox she was holding, letting her body lie on the soft mattress. Just as she was about to cover Aurora in some quilt sheets, the fox began to move around the bed.
Aurora only stopped when she reached the pillow, on which she lay down and closed her eyes immediately. The bed was so soft, and the pillow was twice as much! This was truly heaven. She thought.
Seeing the fox already fall asleep, Elise smiled gently and reached out to cover the fluffy beast's tiny body with the soft yet thin quilt.
Elise then picked up some large pillows from a simple couch inside the room and placed them down on the ground in front of the bed. Then, with a smile, she looked at Rejoke and pointed her hand at the pillows.
At first, Rejoke looked at her strangely. He had no idea what to think of this strange creature very similar to those two he and his alpha had fought. However, in the end he complied and slowly walked over to the pillows, lying down on them.
Immediately, he was taken aback by how soft those strange objects were; however, he didn't pay it too much mind. He merely looked up at Elise, gave her a light nod, and laid his head down on the pillows as well. Soon enough, he fell asleep.
Seeing both of the magical beasts sleeping so comfortably, Elise's smile widened as she softly petted Rejoke on the head. She then returned to the bed, gave a few light pets to Aurora before she walked over to the door.
Soon enough, she left the room, letting the two sleep away all the exhaustion that had already accumulated over time.