Becoming Legend

"Well?" Katolin asked above Ned. Her hands covered her chest and below her waist. "What did ICE said about me?"

Ned sighed. But smiled eventually. Of course, the three of us now.

[Ned.]

[You must find a way to control her.]

"Don't worry, Ned."

Katolin's limbs behind her back moved and she slowly approached Ned. After her human-like feet touched the ground. The limbs behind her back retracted back inside her body.

And after her transformation from her beast form to her human form she continued.

"I know what ICE is so worried about."

Ned sat with his back against the wall of the cave. He nodded and let Katolin continued.

"She's worried that your secrets will leak and me being the culprit. Don't worry. Our bond is more than me being Tamed or connected with a Pact. We're more."

Ned wanted to respond, but looking at her with only a cloak as her cover, and legs so long Ned was now defined as a kid. Still, his eyes were curious under the cloak. Yet, shaking his head he said, "After we leave here. Assure me that you won't tell anyone about this."

Katolin shook her head.

"Nobody's telling anyone Ned. And… after you made me like this. You fulfilled my wish. So, I'll be leaving the Hive and go with you two."

Ned smiled and thought Good grief. At first, I thought I will force her to come with me. But now, she declared it herself. Ned's burdens were relieved realizing that he doesn't need to worry about Katolin anymore.

"But."

Katolin frowned and spun with her back facing Ned.

"I'm not sure if Kon Sas Koron will agree. In the Hive. No one—no one left the Hive. As far as I know, I'm still a beast Ned."

"No," Ned retorted. "You are you. You're only a beast if you think you are one."

Contrary to her looks: imposing, piercing, and beautifully deadly, Katolin was actually soft from the inside. Hearing those words from Ned, tears filled her eyes once more.

"Thank you, Ned."

She ran and hugged Ned. Leather against leather made a squicky sound but this doesn't bother Katolin.

Realizing that she pressed Ned too hard between her new body, Katolin dropped Ned and smiled.

"Thank you is not enough. Starting today, you are not allowed to take your life. That is all I'm asking, for now. Dying is easy. Yes, death might be the only solution to everything, and you won't feel anything from dying. But, imagine the people you left behind, they're the ones to miss you and suffer. So, taking your life was passing the burden to your loved ones."

Ned walked closer to Katolin and flicked a finger on her forehead.

Then Katolin burst to cry for the third time.

After she composed herself, Ned had to reserved his questions for later since they were still trapped inside the cave.

"We'll talk about what you can do later. For now, wait here. I'll have to find a way to make it through the underwater current."

Katolin's mouth opened as though wanting to say something but felt reserved seeing that Ned was looking confused.

Ned frowned.

Now that Katolin was saved, Ned remembered something about his sword.

Then his eyes laid at the broken Butterfly with the surface still emitting a faint green light. Not far from them, to the very edge, Ned saw on the wall a bright green light emitted by a crystal.

Ned walked closer to the wall with the broken Butterfly he held. The closer he moved to the crystal, the brighter the broken Butterfly emits light.

Katolin remained at the edge of the blue lake with lips pouting.

The crystal was the size of Ned's fist, triangular, and was cut at a perfect angle.

Ned touched the crystal, curious and confused he activated his innate skill Inspect.

To his disappointment. Everything about the crystal was tagged unknown. But why would the broken Butterfly radiated light even though it was broken, or dead and without Ned holding it?

Ned remembered before, that he threw the Butterfly to his side but still emits green light.

Confused and curious, Ned tried to pluck the crystal from its base. The crystal was like a mushroom at the side of the wall, only waiting to be harvested.

But it was stuck at the wall. Perhaps Ned was weakened that he couldn't lift or pull the crystal. Instead, he used the broken Butterfly to cut the base of the crystal. To his surprise, the crystal clink and snapped as the tip of the sword went deeper at its base.

Without much information, Ned added the pure green crystal to his spatial inventory.

As Ned returned to Katolin with the Butterfly withdrawn back to his ring, Katolin began.

"Uhmmm, Ned?" She said. Ned must find a way to fully cover her. "About the current. Before, when you were still resting, I already checked it. And there was a way where the current exits."

Ned was relieved by the information.

"But how?"

Ned had to use Overclock to leave the current, but Katolin already found a way out.

Well, how about that ICE? He thought. If we left her to die surely, we wouldn't find a way to leave this place.

[We can always find a way even without her, Ned.]

[But since she already found the exit. We might as well use it.]

"How did you do it? The current is stronger at the bottom. So how?"

"Well," she said, with a smile. White teeth gleaming under the lights. "About that."

She lifted both her arms to Ned and focused her mana.

Then lighting cracked and coiled around her left arm while a ball of fire rotates over her right.

But she wasn't finished yet. She took a long breath and then mana enveloped her legs.

"Ned!" She cried that almost jumping. "I can make this! Look! This is magic! I can use mana to make magic, Ned! Look!"

Ned took a step back. How could she conjure both fire and lighting? Two elements?

"No wait," Ned muttered. Lighting? She combined wind and fire to create lightning. "That's three elements."

"I just copied how you made Fireball and I also saw you had a mythical pet named Coco that can use mana to conjure lighting. So I copied him and you. And now, I can use magic as you do."

Wow, Ned had always wanted to conjure another element. But since he's got Primary Evolution stopping him, all he could do was to stare at Katolin with awe.

Ned nodded, no time to be feeling down.

"Then," he said. "Please guide the way, Katolin."