I am Just an Average Tamer

"Are you stalking me now?" Lina snapped, pausing halfway up the stairs, crossing her arms under her chest.

Kai gave her a blank stare. "You're not that interesting," he said flatly, walking past.

He reached the door to the right and unlocked it with his own key. "I'm staying here too."

He pushed the door open and vanished into his room, leaving her blinking at the door.

"Today wasn't that bad though," he muttered, closing the door behind him.

Yawn!

"Huh—?"

He stopped mid-stretch as he looked at the bed.

Empty.

There was no sign of Elina or Vex.

Then he checked the bathroom.

And.

It was Empty too.

"Just where did they go?" he grumbled, furrowing his brows.

[<Worried?>]

The blue panel hovered in front of him again.

'No, I'm not.'

[Then why are you becoming so restless?]

"Shut up!" he snapped.

[<Beast Synchronization activated!>]

'Vex!'

[Meow!]

'Where are you?'

[Meow....]

———×Earlier×———

'Hmmm...'

Elina hummed, gently stroking Vex's head as she slept on her lap.

Knock! Knock!

The sudden knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts.

Knock! Knock!

Elina flinched.

Since it was Kai's room, he wouldn't need to knock.

So, it was someone else?

She tensed.

Grrr!

Vex stood up, growling toward the door.

Knock!

"Hey, it's me—Ethan."

Ethan's voice rang out from the other side.

"Ethan?" Elina exclaimed.

Her earlier worry vanished.

She quickly stood up and opened the door.

"Hey!"

Ethan grinned as he stepped inside.

"How are you doing?" he asked, smiling.

"Umm... Good," she replied, bit nervously.

"You're not causing any problem to big brother, are you?" he began ruffling her hairs.

"Hmph! Why you think?" she said before yanking his hand away.

"Because I know, you're quite a troublemaker."

Elina puffed her cheeks, "No, I'm not."

Then she lowered her gaze, her shoulders slumped as she said, "Besides, he is very... scary!"

"Hahaha! I get it what you mean. But trust me, he is the coolest person I had ever met."

"But he doesn't seemed to me like one."

"When I said coolest, means he's even cooler than that guy we saw in the festival. And do you know what he did the other day?"

Elina shook her head.

"When we were going back, he..." Ethan explained animatedly, like a real obsessed fan.

Elina listened his overly exaggerated story with interest.

"Really?" Her eyes sparkled with awe.

"Yeah!" Ethan nodded.

"You must had been bored here," he asked, looking at her.

"N-No, not real—"

"Com 'on, let's go. I'll show you the new secret hideout I found." he grinned and grabbed her hand, tugging her along.

"B-But he told me—"

"Don't worry we'll be fine."

He tugged her along.

They both left the Inn and began walking on the streets.

Ethan walking ahead, Elina just a step behind him, grabbing his hand.

Vex trailed after them at the end.

After walking for few minutes, taking turns on the streets and alleys.

Ethan turned his head towards Elina and flashed a wide grin.

"We're close, it's not far from here."

Elina nodded.

Then, just after few minute—

"Ethan!" Elina whispered, clinging to his arm.

"What?" He raised a brow.

"S-Something's wrong. I don't feel right," she stammered, her voice shaking.

"Don't worry, Vex's with us."

"Meow!"

As if knowing they were talking about her, she let out cheerful cry.

Ethan squeezed Elina's hand, reassuring her.

But—

"Look what we got here!"

A voice resonated from behind.

———

Kai stormed out of his room and hurried down the stairs.

From behind the counter, Garth raised an eyebrow.

"You're back already?" he asked with a grin, wiping a mug with a suspiciously dirty cloth.

"That was... fast."

Kai halted, raising a brow.

"What?"

Garth chuckled. "You're young. You should take care of yourself. Though I never had the chance when I was your age, but I'm pretty sure I would've lasted longer."

Kai furrowed his brows.

"I don't know what you're talking about, old man. I'm in a hurry, so stop wasting my time."

He said and stormed out of the Inn.

Garth sighed, shaking his head.

"Let him be," a middle-aged woman said, grabbing his shoulder. "he's just mad about not lasting longer."

Garth nodded and continued doing his own work.

Meanwhile Kai strolled along the cobblestone streets.

He activated his soul space.

And a sleek, sliver colored Windsight Falcon materialized from the glowing magic behind Kai.

'Go!'

Kai gave it a mental command.

Kyreeaah!

It flapped its blue feathered wings and flew high in the sky.

[<Falcon's Sight!>]

Its golden eyes started glowing, as it scanned every part of the surroundings.

Kreee!

It let out a sharp cry and sent a mental image to Kai.

Kai took a deep breath and.

Whoosh!

He vanished.

He darted through the alleyways.

His blurry form passed from the roof to roof. It only took him few seconds to reach there.

He climbed onto a low roof and leapt over to a stable's awning, landing without a sound.

With one more jump, he crouched near the edge, peering down into a narrow backstreet.

There they were.

Ethan was cornered against a wall, one arm held protectively in front of Elina, who clung to him tightly.

Vex crouched low in front of them, her fur bristling and eyes glowing faintly.

Three older—probably young adults stood in a half-circle.

One had a knife, flipping it lazily between his fingers.

Another had covered his eye with his hand, blood drooling from it, probably Vex's doing.

The third, with dark green hairs and a leather armor was clearly just there to laugh.

"She's not your sister, brat," he sneered, jerking a thumb at Elina. "Just hand her over. Bet someone's already out there looking to pay for her."

"Don't make this harder," the one with the knife added. "We'll be nice if you cooperate."

Kai's fingers twitched toward his belt.

'Mid-Intermediate Core! All of them!'

The one with knife stepped forward, but—

"Meow!"

Vex lunged at him.

He thrust his knife forward, in a vertical flash.

Vex twisted mid-air.

Landing at other side, she lunged at him again, her body started to blur, but—

The third man snapped his fingers.

And—

"Meaaa—"

Vex dropped on the ground, struggling to get up.

The green-haired man laughed. "Cute pet. Wonder how much it'll sell for."

The first man raised his knife and spoke. "Let's just grab the kids. We already wasted so much time."

Kai unsheathed his dagger.

[<Essence Coating activated!>]

But before he moved, Vex shifted—ready to pounce again.

The man with the knife smirked and slashed his knife.

The moment the blade swung down—

A sharp cry echoed from above.

SKREEEE!

A silver blur plunged from the sky.

[<Sonic Dive!>]

It sent a pressure wave that staggered the man with knife for a moment, then he quickly slashed his blade at the upcoming Windsight Falcon, but the latter changed its directory and headed towards the second one.

The green-haired man narrowed his eyes.

But, before he could react, Kai landed silently behind him, arching his hand back—then swung his arm in a deadly arc.

Also, Vex, who had managed to recover had already lunged at the man who was holding knife with its sharp claws.

Dark energy began to engulf both Kai's dagger and Vex's claws.

Then—

[<Phantom Slash activated!>]

[<Phantom Slash!>]

Vex slashed across the knife-wielding man's torso.

Kai's dagger arced through the air, nearly beheading the green-haired man.

"AAAH!"

"Argh!"

Thud!

The green-haired man collapsed, blood gushing from the deep wound.

The man with the knife staggered back, clutching his torso, groaning in pain.

The second man, the one struck by the Windsight Falcon, was still—though blood trailed from a deep cut on his shoulder.

His breath was ragged, the falcon attacking him relentlessly, giving him no time to recover.

Kai turned to the man with the knife and smirked.

"Now it's your turn!"

"Huh—?"

Before he could process what was happening—

Kai appeared behind him, swinging his dagger, aiming for his neck.

And—

Vex slashed from the front, her claws slicing toward his throat.

Then—

[<Phantom Slash activated!>]

[<Phantom Slash!>]

Thud!

His head hit the ground, followed by his lifeless body.

Whoosh!

Without wasting a moment, Kai appeared behind the second man, who was now visibly panting for breath.

The hairs on the man's neck stood on end as he sensed the looming danger behind him.

But—

It was too late.

Kai stabbed him from behind.

"Argh!"

Then twisted the blade.

Thud!

The light dimmed from his eyes as his body collapsed to the ground.

Kai turned around.

He dusted his hands and walked past them, barely sparing them a glance. His eyes landed on Elina and Ethan, both looking terrified.

Ethan's eyes were wide open, his face pale—like he'd seen a ghost.

Elina was still clinging to his arm, her head buried against his back, eyes shut tight.

Vex bolted toward her, gently stroking her legs with its head.

But it was the Falcon that made Kai pause.

It didn't land on his shoulder like usual.

Instead, it hovered above Elina for a moment, circling tightly… then backed off, wings twitching—uneasy.

Kai narrowed his eyes.

But he chose to ignore it for now and began walking toward the duo.

He tapped Ethan's shoulder and said in a calm tone, "You've done well protecting her."

Then ruffled his hair.

[<Hmm... Acting so mature now?>]

'It wasn't a good show for someone his age.'

"But what happened?" he asked politely.

Ethan hesitated at first, then spoke.

"I just… we were walking. Then they came, and..." His voice was shaky.

Kai then turned toward Elina and saw—

Vex flicking her tail at her... nervously.

The Falcon let out a short cry again.

Not at Kai.

But at her.

She was trembling, muffling her sobs behind Ethan's back.

For a moment, something twisted inside Kai. Without wasting a second, he wrapped his arms around her—

Pulling her into a warm embrace.

"Don't worry... everything's fine," he said in a gentle, soothing tone, rubbing her back.

Then—

The warmth in his eyes vanished.

His brows furrowed.

'What happened to me just now?'