Morpho threateningly fluttered her wings. This wasn't over yet! They were only about done warming up!
Able to feel her dissatisfaction, Cyril shook his head.
"Wait for a moment, you can resume after we've made sense of Atheris's ability."
He placated the wounded butterfly and glanced at Rhamn nearby.
So what is it? He thought as he pet the tiger cub in his arms.
Rhamn closed her eyes and took a breath, creating a dramatic pause.
"Atheris has the power to see the future!"
The hand petting the kitten froze as he turned to look at the snake on the ground in surprise. Atheris flickered her tongue in triumph, arrogantly looking down on other magic creatures present.
Really?
"Yes! She can see a second or so into the future. This was how she dodged Morpho's attacks despite being an amateur."
"Your visions were simply what she saw, transferred because of our special connection."
That's... a very powerful ability.
He had his suspicions back in the demonology auditorium, but he didn't fully believe it until the end. It just seemed too ridiculous.
Cyril stared at the snake on the ground in shock.
Atheris enjoyed the attention, flicking her forked tongue with narrowed eyes.
Rhamn's words announcing the snake's might were heard by the others as well.
Tigris didn't really care that much, only swaying his tail in response.
Morpho, however, weakly landed on Cyril's shoulder. After that she remained completely unresponsive, not a single wing of hers moving.
A particularly strong sense of unwillingness and jealousy radiated from her. Despite obviously being so interested in fighting, the ability she received had nothing to add to her combat power. And she only had one innate ability!
Cyril could feel her mood, but there was nothing he could do about it, other than offer a few consoling words.
It was obvious she didn't want to continue the fight, so Cyril grabbed the snake, about to leave.
However, as soon as he touched her scaly body, Tigris in his other hand began meowing loudly.
Cyril froze for a moment, not understanding his intentions.
The cub meowed and pawed towards the fountain, erupting in complaints.
Before Cyril could ask Rhamn about it, the snake moved, escaping his hand.
Atheris's eyes narrowed further, and she slithered towards the fountain. In one smooth and quick action she dropped herself into it, water splashing as she did so.
"..."
He silently walked up to the fountain and fished out Atheris from there.
Tigris stared at the wet snake for a second, then nodded with satisfaction. Any complaints within him died out immediately.
"There! Perfectly solved."
As Cyril held the serpent, speechless, Atheris stared down at the water, at the reflection within.
Once the waves calmed down, a peculiar picture could be seen there. A young man with blue eyes stood holding a lime snake. On his shoulder was a red butterfly, and curled in his other hand was a white cat with black stripes.
Atheris stared at the young man, flicking her tongue out in thought.
"That's us, and that's how you look. What a good picture, isn't it?"
As she observed the lime snake in the reflection, her golden eyes narrowed, dissatisfaction showing through. Something didn't sit right with her.
Suddenly, just as that feeling appeared, a change happened. The greenish-yellow scales of the snake all slowly transformed into blue ones.
In a blink of an eye, Cyril was now holding a beautiful blue snake.
Atheris nodded with satisfaction and looked into his blue eyes, flicking her forked tongue in excitement. Now it was much better.
...She can also change her coloring?
"Seems like it."
Huh.
Tigris opened his mouth in wonder. Then he excitedly pawed in the air, his gaze turning infinitely more friendly. She changed the color of her scales to fit his eye color! He got it all wrong, she is a good snake!
...
Atheris widely opened her mouth for a few seconds, as if stretching her jaw.
She was currently lazily coiled around Cyril, having been testing her color-changing ability for some time now. She can easily transform into any color possible, even multiple ones at the same time.
They also discovered she can become shorter or longer at will. Not too much at the moment, as it did cost a certain amount of mana to do.
So her last ability is something closer to shapeshifting…
"Must've inherited it from us~"
Tigris calmly hung off Cyril's shoulder, his face no longer scared of the scaly serpent nearby. Morpho sat on the other. Her wings drooped somewhat lower.
Their differences were sorted, if maybe only temporarily.
At this moment someone came over from a distance, casually observing the three creatures on and around Cyril's body.
"You are really getting more and more of them..." Myra said as she walked closer, somewhat speechless. It was about time for them to meet.
"How many magic creatures are you going to get in the end?"
Cyril greeted her with a nod and was about to reply when he froze.
That is a good question.
He glanced towards Rhamn standing nearby.
Is Atheris the last one? There are five of us now, with her here.
His dorm became livelier than ever, as did his life. However, if there were any more mouths to feed, he wouldn't be sure he could handle it.
As such thoughts entered his head, he immediately noticed a certain glint in Rhamn's red eyes as well as a smirk soon emerge on her face. It brought him an ominous feeling.
Rhamn dramatically brushed her hair and looked towards the sky, her eyes burning brighter and brighter.
"Personally, I don't feel like we should stop at five, or ten. The more the merrier, it would be great to reach a hundred for starters."
Hundred?!
Cyril froze completely, his eyes widening. Starting from the center of his chest, a certain chill went through his whole body, making him shiver.
"..."
"Cyril?" Myra tilted her head, sending him a look full of confusion.
"...Yes. I was thinking about something." He shook his head and met her gaze, his face growing calm once more.
"We'll see how many, I am not sure yet."
"You might get more?" Myra briefly widened her eyes, then nodded in understanding.
"I see... Where can we find Selene?"
"She'll meet us at an abandoned park not too far from here. Let's go now."
"Okay."
With that he immediately set off, Myra silently following after.
On the way Cyril pretended to turn towards Tigris on his shoulder.
"Meow?"
While actually his questioning gaze pierced Rhamn walking by his side.
There is no way we can take care of that many.
Her face didn't show any signs of backing down, only pure excitement in her eyes.
"We don't need to. They do grow up fast after all. I am sure Morpho or Tigris will welcome taking care of someone themselves... Tigris definitely will."
They are obviously not ready for something like that.
"They will be. Just relax, don't think of the bad stuff. Think of how amazing it would be to have such a big family!"
Rhamn walked with a certain relaxed stride, her voice turning into a sweet whisper.
"Together we can build a home fit for us all. Nothing in this world would be able to destroy it."
There was not a drop of malice in her red eyes.
Cyril could only tiredly sigh in response.