Okay, first off let me say I'm sorry. I lied.

This chapter will not be the time skip, but the next one will! This chapter was actually meant to only be a part of the chapter, but as I was writing it, it was taking up more and more space as it went on, but it felt right to write it like this. I hope you guys will still like this chapter even though I know you guys are all excited to see an older Nova, but don't worry, the level ups are coming...

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V1: Wild Child

C6: Quality Bonding Time

The next day Leilatha, Amber, and Anna took Nova to a tailor’s shop to select a new outfit for him. However, Nova was just too cute of a kid for things to go smoothly.

The shop-owner, the girls, and a dozen or so other adventurer girls erupted into a massive argument about what would look the best on Nova.

The next four hours were filled with Nova being man-handled left and right by random women as they dressed and undressed him repeatedly. Even when it was Leilatha who had her hands on him trying to dress him he still struggled to run away for his life.

In the meantime, Bahina was sulking outside the shop, as she was too big to fit through the doorway.

In time, Nova walked out of the tailor’s shop.. but he was immediately dragged away to the barber’s shop without even getting to the chance to take a breath.

By lunchtime Nova was sitting at a table at the inn while getting looks from a lot of women passing by their table.

Nova’s hair was changed from it’s long, unruly look to a medium length. His bangs were pushed off to the side, while his hair had a fluff too it making it incredibly pleasing to run your hands through it. The striped pattern was straightened out, so it was easier to see, and with his bangs out of the way you could easily see his beautiful golden irises and his smooth white face.

He was dressed in a red short-sleeved shirt that matched the stripes in his hair along with a black vest. For his legs he wore black shorts that went to his knees, and were held up by a red-leather belt. For his feet… he didn’t wear shoes. Even when they tried to buy him shoes, and put them on him he just immediately took them off complaining they made his feet hurt.

In the end, maybe because his mother was an elf, he was incredibly handsome for a four year old.

The rest of the day was spent with Leilatha, while she taught Bahina and Nova how to create a Hunter’s Bond. Nova acted as the translator now, since he could understand most of what Leilatha said as long as she explained it simply.

The Hunter’s Bond was known as a magical bond between monster and human, by using the Hunter’s mana to create a seal on the mana crystal of the monster. However, because Nova was not yet of age, he could not control his mana to make the bond.

Therefore a Bond Scroll was needed to act as the medium between them.

Scrolls are created from the bark of magic trees and are used by people who scribe magic runes to hold spells so other people can also use them. The Bond Scroll was a common scroll to be found, as there were quite a few hunters that didn’t have very good control over mana.

So Leilatha began instructing Nova and Bahina to make a small cut on their hands (paw) and place their wound on the individual portions of the rune on the scroll. One side was for the master while the other was for the companion. The rune would then use the mana in their blood to create the seal on Bahina’s mana crystal.

(Wait.. If I put my paw on the master’s side.. does that mean I’ll get to own Nova?!)

Immediately, Bahina tried to turn the scroll around while Leilatha and Nova were talking, as soon as she turned it however, Leilatha was glaring at her.

Leilatha then explained that, since Nova does not have a mana crystal inside of him, trying to put a servant seal on him would cause the mana in his body to become chaotic and potentially killing him.

Bahina instantly regretted her thought at trying to enslave Nova, to think that she had almost killed her little brother…

Nova, however, understood his sisters thoughts so he thought he should try to cheer her up.

“Don’t worry Big Sis, I wouldn’t have minded being the servant, but we’ll still be connected through the bond either way. With this we’ll be able to communicate with our thoughts and be able to sense each others locations. It’ll still be good, right?”

“Guu.. Little Nova wants to be my servant.. what a waste of an opportunity..”

“Come on Bahina, quit being so sad. Let’s make the bond okay?”

“Alright..”

Nova uses a small knife to kick a cut on his palm while Bahina uses a claw from her left hand to make a cut on her right paw. Then together, they place their hands on the portions of the Bond Scroll.

Slowly, a faint white light begins to glow from the rune on the scroll, slowly travelling from where there hands were to the center of the rune. Then a thin stream of their blood, rolls along the lines of the rune from their open wounds, and travels to towards the center..

Then, as soon as both of their blood meets in the center, a surge of mana permeates the room. Leilatha’s face is horrified, knowing that something has gone wrong with the bond, but she can do nothing as there is a powerful barrier erected around both of them.

Both Bahina’s and Nova’s eyes are shut tightly because the light coming from the rune on the scroll is blinding them. Beads of sweat are rolling down Nova’s face, and they’re both breathing heavily as their mana is being forcefully pulled out of them in large amounts.

Then.. as the intensity of the pull reaches a certain threshold, they both lose control of their consciousness, being dragged away from their bodies..

Nova finds himself in a forest of pink bamboo. Bamboo with thick trunks, and leaves of bright blue flame that create an azure colored atmosphere around him. Although he can sense that he currently doesn’t have any eyes, he can still see everything around him..

Next to him he see’s a floating blue sphere, like a wisp of blue light that floats in the air. He doesn’t know what tells him so, but he knows that this wisp of light is Bahina. He wonders if he is also a wisp..

Then he looks behind him.. There, standing in front of a house constructed of pink bamboo, is a massive tiger. However this tiger is not like Bahina, nor even his mother.

The tiger is sitting on its hind legs, rising to about fourteen feet in height, but the colors of this tiger are what make it truly astonishing to see. The tiger white colored fur, but its stripes are emitting solid, lively flames. Flames that seem to be radiating light, mana, and every kind of elemental energy there is.

Sometimes they radiate blue light..then yellow light..then purple light..then black light, white light, red light, green light, there are simply so many colors that it completely hypnotizes those who see it.

Even though Nova knows he’s been staring at the flames, he simply can’t bring himself to look away.. he can’t seem to control his own desire to watch the flames..

Before he knows it, he’s already standing inside the flames, completely surrounded by them. He’s no longer in the forest of pink bamboo, but is now floating in a space filled with nothing but the ever-changing flame that’s filling him with vast amounts of energy.

He feels a pull on himself, like a piece of him is being pulled out like a string. The same string is coming from the wisp nearby that he knows to be Bahina.. Their strings slowly reach each other, then slowly wrap around each other. He feels like his whole being is suddenly being scorched as the strings slowing fuse together, creating a long solid string between his and Bahina’s wisp.

Then, as the burning feeling reaches an unimaginable pain, an image flashes through his consciousness for no longer than a fraction of second.. An image of a two tigers, laying in a circle creating a loop. One tiger is a solid red flame, the other a solid blue, but their flames seem to flow with each other, dancing inside of each other despite their difference in color.

Then he feels like he’s being dragged through vast amounts of space, traveling at a speed unimaginable to him, and then he no longer feels anything.. sinking deep into unconsciousness.

….

Leilatha, who can do nothing but watch from outside the barrier while she cries in protest, can only see that Nova and Bahina are in extreme pain as they’re breathing roughly and sweating heavily.

After several seconds, she can suddenly see through the light on the rune, that the rune is slowly changing shape. It’s being rewritten… something is rewriting it..

Then the rune stops changing. It’s light thickens, and both Nova and Bahina scream slightly in pain. Leilatha’s heart pounds against her chest, as if it wants to leap out of her to Nova since she herself can’t get close. But all she can do is watch Nova’s face twist from the pain, and cry for her own lack of ability to do anything.

The light dims slowly until it’s completely gone, and both Bahina and Nova are lying unconscious on the floor. The wound on their hands are gone, but they’re still breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

Leilatha immediately runs to Nova’s side..

….

For the next four days and nights, Nova and Bahina stayed unconscious. A terrible fever overcame both of them, and Muiredon was constantly on standby to help them settle the fever down if it ever got too high.

According to him, neither Nova and Bahina were sick. They simply had overwhelming fevers that wouldn’t quiet down. He had to repeatedly give them medicine that was capable of pacifying fevers, but in the face of this, all it could do was blunt the effects. Even when he tried healing them with light magic, nothing happened.

Leilatha stayed in the room the entire time. She would always wash Nova, change the bedding, and help him and Bahina drink some water to keep them from dehydrating.

One day she even had to wash Bahina which she had put off since she was too large to fit in any bath, however, the smell became too much of a problem. So she laid down a lot of towels and had Amber help her move Bahina on top of them, then she used a brush to run the water through Bahina’s fur and clean her.

Anna and Amber would often come to try taking over looking over them, but Leilatha would always refuse to leave. Even though she knew she wasn’t directly responsible for what happened to them, she was still the one who put them in that situation, the one who had given them the Bond Scroll that was rewritten, putting them in such a dire state.

For all four days and nights, she stayed like that until finally.. at the morning of the fifth day.. Nova and Bahina opened their eyes at the same time.

….

In the morning of the fifth day, Leilatha was laying against the side of Nova’s bed fast asleep.

Her breathe was quietly going in and out through her nose; her eyes were blackened from the lack of sleep from worrying; and her skin was more of a sickly pale than the beautiful white color it had earlier. Her thin blonde hair covered the side of her face and her back. Her head rested on her arms that were propped up on Nova’s bedside.

Nova and Bahina’s eyes jolted open. The fever that had plagued them was now gone, and they were greeted by an extremely odd sensation.

Nova could feel his own senses just fine, and move his body normally. Everything about him seemed normal, however.. there was something else. Like he could also sense something more that what he should be able to. He could.. sense everything that Bahina was sensing..

He could sense everything that was behind him, as he looked at Bahina and Bahina looked at him. Even though he wasn’t looking behind him, he could sense what was behind him. And just the same, Bahina could sense everything that was behind her even though it was only Nova who was looking behind her.

It was as if… they were sharing each other’s senses… They could feel each other’s existence as if they were sharing the same body with two souls. They understood, that in someway, they were now bonded together.

Nova looked down to his bedside, seeing Leilatha sleeping there. He brought his hand up to her face, pushing her hair aside, “Liela.. Liela wake up..”

“Hmmnn, Nova would look better in a suit.. we should get him a suit..”

“Liela, wake up..”

“Nnn, maybe sweep his bangs to the right.. it might look better..”

“Liela.. Liela, wake up..” He began shaking her by shoulder, causing her to slightly open her eyes..

“Hmm? Nova? What do you want..”

“Liela.. hungry..”

“Hmm? I’m not that hungry..”

“No, me hungry..”

“Oh.. go find Amber, she’ll make you something..”

“...” Nova gives a slightly disappointed look that Leilatha won’t join him, but he decides to let her sleep since she looks so tired.

He pulls the blanket off the bed and drapes it over Leilatha before he and Bahina head for the door. He shuts the door behind him as he leaves, heading over to Amber’s room in the inn.

Inside the room he just left, Leilatha is breathing softly, slowly falling asleep… (Nova.. please wake up..) …. Her eyes shoot open. “NOVA!” She immediately shoots out of the room, knocking over chairs and a table, throwing open the door. Down the hallway, Nova is standing with Bahina outside of Amber’s door and he turns around giving Leilatha a surprised look at her sudden charge.

“NOOOVAAA!!!!” She crashes into him, squeezing him tightly as if she’s afraid if her hold is too weak he won’t be there. She begins crying and sobbing heavily, while Nova is simply too shocked to do anything, completely unaware that he was unconscious with a fever for four days.

To him, it’s like he only just woke up the next day, and neither he nor Bahina can recall the events that happened when they formed the Hunter’s Bond.

The door in front of him opens and both Amber and Anna immediately begin hugging Nova too while crying, although not as heavily as Leilatha. Once again, Nova is slowly suffocating in the bosoms of these women...

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