Back in the dorm, Cyril lay on his bed, turning the Black Tulip over in his fingers as he pondered the technique.
"Is there a name for it? It's too uncool to keep calling it just a technique," Rhamn complained.
Selene didn't tell me, nor is it written anywhere. Not a big deal; Cyril didn't care if there was no name.
But Rhamn was different. "There must be a proper name! I will think of one..." She sat up from the bed and made a thinking pose.
No need... really. Cyril got a bad feeling about this.
"How about Heavenly Dragon's Judgment!" Rhamn said in an excited voice and looked at Cyril.
His face didn't carry the same energy. Why is there a dragon, judgement, or heaven in the name?
"I just thought it sounded powerful... You agree with me, right, Morpho?" Rhamn asked for some support.
Morpho, of course, started flapping her wings in complete agreement.
"There! It's two against one," she declared with a smug look.
I am not using this name in public. Cyril didn't linger on the subject for too long.
Not that mages usually shouted spell names during battle; that'd be ridiculous.
I was thinking we should give away this Black Tulip to others already. He thought while spinning what remained of the stone.
Cyril felt like it was becoming smaller lately. He didn't feel too good about taking it all for himself.
"Are you sure? These things are rare..." Rhamn was very reluctant to part with it.
We'll find more in the future, don't worry."Alright..." Feeling that he was adamant, Rhamn gave way.
After sulking for a second, her expression changed to a seductive smile, and she approached Cyril with a spark in her eyes.
"What about that thing? You postponed it for long enough already, wouldn't you say?" She came close and started Cyril straight in the eyes.
He sat up on the bed, meeting her gaze head-on.
I suppose now is a good time...
Cyril did say he will do it after the duel. He already recovered enough thanks to the Black Tulip.
Rham's smile grew wider. "A cat, right? Something sneaky?"Let's go with that, yeah.
With this, Cyril got up from the bed, removed his shirt, and went towards the bathroom.
How long will it take?
"I don't know; we'll find out."
Cyril came before a sink and started waiting patiently.
Morpho nervously flew in after him and landed on the opened door to get a better view.
After a bit of time, Cyril began feeling something coming from his chest
Sooner than I thought...
A good chunk of mana disappeared from him as well, thankfully not too much.
The feeling in his chest started to become more and more pronounced, and he braced himself for what would come next.
He leaned his upper body in front of the sink, and soon something burst out from his chest.
The pain didn't come as he expected; instead, Cyril felt nothing. He quickly realized Rhamn had disabled his sense of pain for this.
With curiosity he observed the hole in his upper body through the mirror. It looked quite grotesque, but no blood was flowing after the initial burst.
Soon the hole started to slowly mend itself as he felt a further drain on his mana.
He brought in the Black Tulip and absorbed it to sustain his mana consumption.
You can even heal wounds? Cyril thought in pleasant surprise.
"With some effort, yeah. It's quite demanding on the mana, though. Better do it only when you have a mana potion or something similar."
After this Cyril switched his attention towards the culprit behind his wound.
In the pile of flesh lay a cute, small kitten. It had white fur with black stripes.
It softly tried to wriggle itself free.
Cyril carefully grabbed it and raised it high to take a better look.
The kitten didn't struggle and hung in air, staying peaceful.
It's quite cute. But doesn't it look a bit different from a cat I know? Cyril thought while observing.
The kitten's face was broader than the one he met back home; its ears were also more round.
"Yeah... I might've made a little mistake." Rhamn replied with guilt. "The process requires some focus, but my mind wandered off during it. I think I made a tiger instead..."
Well, it's not too different from a cat, so it doesn't matter. Cyril thought a tiger was fine too.
Isn't it a bit small then? It is similar to a regular kitten in size...
"It will grow up, don't worry. Or maybe you wanted a bigger hole in your chest?"
Fair enough...
At this moment the kitten opened its eyes. It had round, red pupils full of innocence.
Red?"It is your favorite color, isn't it?"
The tiger cub tried to reach Cyril with it's paws. Despite being just born, it looked quite agile already.
Cyril brought it closer, and the cub energetically licked his face.
Morpho landed on Cyril's shoulder at this moment, successfully capturing the baby tiger's attention.
It playfully tried to reach it with a paw, but Morpho, with skillful movements, dodged all of it.
"We need to think of a name! Do you have any suggestions?" While the two played, Rhamn asked Cyril.
No, it's all yours. Cyril wasn't that good with names.
"Alright... Then his name is Tigris!" Rhamn said with a smile.
Hearing this, the tiger tried to roar with might, but all that came out was a cute kitten's meow.
With a barely perceptible smile, Cyril lowered the mighty beast in front of the sink and turned on the water.
The invincible momentum of the tiger was quickly replaced by the feeling of wet fur, and the tiger let out a few meows of discontent.
But Cyril continued to mercilessly clean it. He didn't want it to dirty the room.
Cyril spent quite some time back then cleaning after Morpho, and he didn't want to repeat the process.
When the cub was finally spotless, Cyril dried his fur with a convenient spell and finally lowered it on the ground.
The tyrannical beast walked a few steps before turning around and meowing at Cyril.
"This one has some pride, haha," Rhamn observed it with a warm smile.
Cyril petted the cub on the head, and while he tried to dodge, Tigris was helpless in front of Cyril's strength.
Tigris dropped to the stomach in defeat and let Cyril pet him until satisfied.
The fur feels quite nice to touch, Cyril thought with satisfaction and turned around to clean whatever blood was left in the sink or dropped on the ground during the wash.
In the meantime, Morpho approached Tigris to properly greet this new addition to the family.
With Rhamn's help, the two communicated in their own way.
Morpho fully embraced the role of an elder sister trying to introduce Tigris to this world.
They started touring Cyril's dorm.
Morpho provided explanation whenever they approached something of note.
Tigris followed along with no issue, exploring everything with eagerness.
When Cyril was done, he found the two siblings conquering the fridge.
He watched helplessly as Morpho excitedly carried snack after snack to Tigris, who devoured everything in quick, small bites.
When she noticed Cyril staring at them, Morpho immediately flew to her terrarium while leaving afterimages.
This confused Tigris a great deal. He stared at Cyril while tilting his head in a cute way, as if asking, 'What's wrong?'"
"Hahaha! It's becoming so lively here!" Rhamn enjoyed such a scene.
Feeling her caretakers light emotions, Morpho cautiously climbed out of her house and twitched her antennae with joy.
"There will be extra lessons tomorrow, young lady." Rhamn's smile turned wicked in a moment, scaring Morpho back. "Those snacks were supposed to be mine..."
Cyril closed the fridge and then crouched in front of the tiger, observing it with interest.
He should have some special ability, like Morpho, right? Cyril asked Rhamn.
He was looking forward to whatever it would be.
Rhamn stayed silent for a few moments, communicating with Tigris.
After a bit of time, Tigris suddenly walked towards a shadowed part of the room and suddenly melted into it, becoming invisible.
"He can blend with the shadows, quite useful." Rhamn started relaying her findings.
"There is also something with his fangs and claws, but we are not sure. We should try it out when we get the chance."
No matter how hard Cyril looked, he couldn't find Tigris in the shadow. Impressive.
Suddenly the tiger jumped out and playfully bit Cyril on his leg.
Tigris himself looked quite pleased with the ability. He kept going in and out of shadows until getting tired.
With a yawn he went closer to the bed and lay down on the ground, falling asleep instantly.
"Let's go buy some things for Orion tomorrow; what do you think?" Rhamn proposed an idea.
It's true that the dorm now required a bit of renovating if they wanted to accommodate one more tenant, so Cyril readily agreed.
Cyril was getting tired too. He was training the whole day, and then Tigris came out.
After wishing everyone a good night, Cyril lay down on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly while looking forward to tomorrow.