Bear School Astartes

Winter has passed, or rather, it has been over four months since the South-North war, recorded in the history books of various nations, ended.

It is now early summer.

The coldness over Vizima Lake has completely dissipated, turning into a refreshing clarity. The scent of lotus flowers and leaves fills the air under the scorching sun.

With a soft sound of ”whoosh~bang,” the airflow moved rapidly over the lake near Black Seagull Island due to the air pressure difference, eventually reaching equilibrium again.

A crack appeared on the lake’s surface, as if glass had shattered.

The first to emerge was a little cat tumbling like a gourd.

Yarn Ball was extremely nervous, having no experience in crossing worlds, so it charged through the celestial rift headlong.

And Lann, at the time, mischievously withheld any warning.

The little cat wore a set of acorn cat armor, with the body made from the shell of a giant acorn from a monster world, and on its head was a miniature version of a Face-covering Knight’s Helmet.

Yarn Ball rolled several times on the marble of Da Gun Temple with its small bundle, finally being picked up by the scruff of the neck by a lake-green hand.

”Ah-ha?” The serene and gentle voice first expressed slight surprise, then joyfully laughed. ”Hello there, cute little fellow.”

Yarn Ball, dangling from the nape, blinked a few times, meeting the Lady of the Lake’s gaze before letting out a soft ’meow.’

Meanwhile, more voices came from inside the celestial rift.

”No, I mean: first, put away the electricity! Completely away! It’s a layer of water on the other side, you know?”

Lann’s voice sounded exasperated, as if explaining to a stubborn mule.

And indeed, from the other side, there was the snorting sound of a horse, sounding quite annoyed.

A boot covered with plate armor was the first to splash into the water.

Lann brushed through his slightly disheveled hair, looking a bit disheveled.

And next emerged a feline head with broken horns and blue-white fur.

It peeked its head first, curiously glancing around, its damp nose twitching occasionally as if adapting to the environment.

Then, following the feline-like head came an equine body, fully emerging after exiting the celestial rift.

Once it fully stepped out of the rift, the elegant and noble creature seemed to relax, with a flash of azure electricity passing over it.

With a ’snap,’ Lann, standing nearby, shuddered, and his hair stuck out more.

But seeing the Demon Hunter’s expressionless face, he seemed resigned to this.

Lann didn’t even fix his own hair; instead, he grasped the broken stump of the horn on the kirin’s head and made it face him.

”You said you wanted to come over and learn to fight, then go back and beat up the Gold Lion, not that I begged you to come! Can’t you have a bit of common sense when asking for a favor?!”

Lann spoke harshly.

This kirin, just days before Lann left, suddenly ran from the Land Coral Plateau to the Ancient Tree Forest, causing a small-scale unusual thunderstorm, disrupting the forest’s ecology.

Later, when he came out to communicate with the kirin, he learned that the Gold Lion had somehow become fiercer, having already beaten the kirin again in those days.

If it hadn’t been for battling several times with Lann and the Hunters, gaining some valuable experience and in-the-moment composure, it nearly couldn’t unleash [Lightning Flash] and would have succumbed to the Gold Lion.

But the Gold Lion’s rabid behavior thoroughly infuriated the kirin.

It desperately wanted to stab that Gold Lion to death now.

Yet, with the wisdom of an Elder Dragon, it clearly realized: it truly couldn’t win.

Considering that after battling with Lann a few times, it had progressed from ’unable to escape from an ordinary Gold Lion’ to ’escaping from this golden-maned state Gold Lion.’

The kirin itself felt it improved quickly.

Thus, to vent its anger in the future, the kirin somehow decided to run to Lann to learn more.

There was no other choice, for this kirin.

After all, Lann was the only creature it could communicate with effortlessly.

Back then, when the kirin’s mother gave birth to it, the young kirin had to be kicked by its mother to understand it had made her mad, then remain clueless about its error.

But Lann was different—he truly understood it even better than its mother.

The New World had many combat-skilled Elder Dragons, like the pit-brawling maniac, the Extinct Dragon.

Though [Elder Dragon] sounded like a species, it’s merely a human-imposed categorization for these apocalyptic creatures.

Among Elder Dragons, just passing by each other with a nod and uplifted heads was considered a good relationship.

For most, meeting meant:

”Roar!” (This is my territory! What are you? Get out, or I’ll skin you!)

”Roar!” (Your territory? I don’t believe it! I’m standing right here! What will you do about it?)

And they start fighting.

So this young kirin, if it were sane, only had Lann as its choice.

Seeing the Demon Hunter’s fierce gaze, the kirin felt no malice.

Its large head tilted, looking at Lann with its ruby-like eyes, utterly perplexed.

Displaying an expression of ’I am just a naïve, barely-over-ten-years-old young kirin. You tell me these things, and I cannot understand them at all.’

But when Lann let go, the kirin turned its butt toward him, kicking the water like a scamp.

Drenching most of Lann’s pants and causing the Demon Hunter’s mouth to twitch.

”Seems like you’ve found quite a few new friends?”

The Lady of the Lake floated over to Lann on the waves’ throne.

She gently placed the little cat down, and Yarn Ball immediately skittered behind Lann, clutching his leg with only half its head peeking out.

Faced with the lady’s teasing, Lann took a deep breath, smoothing over his sunlight-reflective, molten-silver-like mid-length hair.

He stepped forward, slightly bowing, lifting the Lady of the Lake’s extended slender fingers.

”Good afternoon, my lady.”

”Good afternoon, Lann.”

The two exchanged greetings, and this was part of the ritual welcoming Lann back.

After gently releasing the lady’s hand, the Lady of the Lake curiously watched the kirin swishing its hooves in the water.

”A unicorn with a broken horn? No... unicorns don’t look like this, nor do they possess its thunder.”

The Lady of the Lake pondered briefly, then dismissed her earlier guess.

”Indeed, it’s not a unicorn; it’s a kirin.”

Lann nodded before inquisitively asking the lady.

”But... unicorns truly exist?”