I had thoroughly searched the ocelot’s den. I knew now where it lived and I knew it knew about me. Now what? There I stood, a metre or two below ground in a cave carved patiently out of the rock on had no idea how to proceed. Should I confront it? See if we could get along? Was it keeping an eye on me because I had my roost in its territory? Was it trying to find a way to kill me? The easiest thing to do would be to simply fly away and never look back. I had my wings to bring me to the next place. But that did not sit right with me. I did not want to just leave when I had finally found another sapient animal. Even if it was not a reincarnator like me, there was some sort of kinship. And judging from the markings on the wall, the ocelot had not met other sapients before. I expected some kind of curiosity from it as well.

I scanned the map once again. It did not reach the lake and was bordered on one end by what I suspected to be the dwarven road. The town had to be a little further still. From the lines marking hills, cliffs and caves I surmised my current roost was outside its territory as well. And this node was almost right in the middle. All the marked spots appeared to be places to avoid rather than places of interest. All but my old roost. Should I go there and see if the cat was checking on it? That was definitely a better plan than sitting in its lair. If it ran into me there was a good chance it would come to a fight.

So I left. The sticks still stood out but I could not do much about that. My knowledge of traps was basically non-existent and this seemed to be entirely reliant on trap mana of which I had none to access easily. Without usurping the node. A great idea to force a confrontation I was not sure I could win. The ocelot was just way too sneaky.

After getting past the sticks I had to use [Eldritch Shift] to teleport up onto the pond’s ground. From there it was simply walking a few steps before I reached the shore and could take off. Once I was back in the air I released a breath I was not aware of holding. Tension left my body and the metal shifted as if muscles were relaxing. Which they were definitely not. I knew I was solid iron with a few parts brass in between. It still felt great.

I definitely had to be careful to approach the cat. There was a good chance we could not get along but I felt it was worth a try. My old roost seemed like the best place. I made my way there and looked around. Nothing gave a clue if a visitor had shown up since I was last here. This also meant no trap had been placed, which was at least a bit relieving. I decided to turn off [Sneak] for a moment and rub myself on the tree before I realized I was still in my metal form as my feathers clinked together. Any smell I normally gave off might be very different right now.

As I got ready to turn back to normal a familiar feeling washed over me. I turned my head in the offending direction and locked eyes with a familiar feline. The ocelot was here and it was looking right at me. Its legs were posed carefully, ready to move at any moment. Its ears were pointed straight up and directed at me and the tail swished slowly back and forth. I saw caution in its eyes but not wariness. It was not scared for its life, but it was ready for a possible confrontation. Though the relaxed sniffing that was followed by a questioning head tilt released a lot of tension.

I eyed it for another moment before letting out a hoot. The metallic sound rang through the night and the ocelot took half a step back. Slowly, I turned around my body. Now fully facing the cat, I was ready for anything it might try. I spread my wings a little and bobbed my head slowly.

‘What do you want?’

The cat rightened itself and stepped forward. The branch it stood on dipped a bit and with a flowing step that eluded the details of my eyesight, it reached the edge of my old roost. I took half a step back. The cat was a little taller than I was, even with the added height of my evolution. I jumped up on the edge of my roost as well, making us stand even. The cat tilted its head and let out a questioning mew. It was high pitched and kind of cute. I wanted to cuddle and pet it. Was I biased towards animals? I had no trouble immediately dismissing people, no matter how interesting, because they might betray me but this ocelot, even though it was the same size and possibly more powerful, I wanted to pet. There was maybe something wrong with me. However, if it really had never interacted with people, it might not think about betrayal. It was worth a try. I was definitely not infatuated by the soft fur.

I carefully took half a step forward, keeping balance on the burned-out trunk with slightly spread wings. The ocelot stiffened and looked ready to bolt. I did not know if it was ready to attack or flee. So I stopped and activated my Skill.

[Identify]

Species: Ocelot (Adult)

Age: 12

Name: -

Gender: female

Level: 44

That was a high level! I made sure to use the Skill normally. It had activated with my usual intentions of stealthiness at first but I wanted to signal my sapience and understanding of the ocelot’s sapience first and foremost. It seemed to help. The cat relaxed slightly and I took another step forward. This time I was copied and soon the feline was sniffing my face. It had to be weird with me still being made of metal and steel but I remembered the carving in its den. It could see my Status row and knew I had several status conditions. It probably could also [Identify] those in more detail. I confirmed by trying to learn more about its species.

Ocelot: A feline predator of smaller size. This animal prefers dense woodlands and wet climates. It avoids people and larger animals by hunting in the late evening or nightly hours. Territories often overlap with larger diurnal felines.

So it did work. Good to know when I would finally be able to see Status with [Identify]. That reminded me I had not checked on my new species nor my Beast Core. I gave a quiet hoot, careful not to startle my company, and pointed at a nearby branch. The roost was too small to be comfortable for two animals our size. The cat nodded and I jumped over with a few flaps of my wings to follow its own leap. Those were some strong legs! Did it have a [Jumping] Skill, or what?

Finding a more comfortable position, I settled down for a moment to check on myself.

Sgiathan Dorcha Owl: This unique animal is an evolution of the Great Eagle Owl. It has strong alignment with darkness and related aspects. Its primary purpose is exploration and learning, especially magic. It is lonely.

Okay. Ouch. That last line hurt. But I was in the process of fixing that! Wait. Did that mean, I would hinder my levelling when making a friend? Or was it the other way around? Only one way to find out! Time for the next part.

Beast Core (unique): You have formed a unique Beast Core after reaching adulthood and accumulating major mana enrichment. Your evolution was the first of its kind removing your lifespan limit. The prevalence of Alienis has maximized your lifespan. Any offspring will be of your original or your partner's race. Further development requires superior mana sources.

Now, that sounded a lot better. The part about offspring did not matter to me right now. I did not think I could ever mate with a non-sapient which severely reduced my options. I was not into bestiality either, even though I was the beast. It had to be another owl, preferably of my original race. Maybe in a few years, maybe in a century. My lifespan was maximized which most likely meant I would not age anymore. In human terms, I had turned eighteen and stopped growing older. Physically. I could still get smarter and accrue wisdom. And see the world and discover its secrets. There was a plan. For now, I had met a possible ally, if not a friend. And if I could figure out what had made this ocelot sapient, I could maybe ‘raise’ my own partner at some point. My parents at least had shown considerable intelligence even though they were not fully sapient. There was a definite chance there somewhere.

I looked back to my company. The ocelot had settled on its hind legs and was watching me. I felt scrutinized but not really offended. I was just as curious, I just had to check some things first. Now, we could maybe get to communication. I carefully let out some shadowy tendrils making sure not to point them at the cat or make any sudden movements. Its eyes followed my magic with careful consideration and I felt it try to make sense of what I was doing. Then I had a pointy end of it on the branch and dug it in. With some careful movements and a bit of effort, I was able to draw an approximation of a cat face and an owl face. Then I circled them with a squiggly line. Looking back up, I let out a metallic hoot and extended my wing. The cat eyed me, then my primitive carving. It let out something akin to an amused chuckle before nuzzling the inside of my feathers. Getting a few metal points stuck in its fur quickly stopped the attempt but we had reached an understanding. We would be friendly and maybe, after some time, friends.