A Simple Idea

As the crown prince watched Vorbuk eat away at freshly cooked food in front of him he could not understand what had happened. It was not impossible for people to adapt and grow their abilities over time. Even the crown prince held a connection to fire magic that he rarely exposed. It was his own trump card for dire situations. Though knowing the rate that Vorbuk was growing, having started out as a mere beast originally, made him feel a sense of emotion that he could not understand himself.

Prince Leo could not determine what he felt at the moment. Gritting his teeth as he contemplated his words carefully before pushing further. Was it a sense of fear? He was not sure what he had to fear when it came to the wolf in front of him. Vorbuk could be considered dangerous but Leo knew the beast would never direct hostility at him.

"I wont pry into when or how you got this ability.." Prince Leo started to speak slowly.

In fact there were some companions who could use morphing abilities... It is not unusual.. Why do I feel bothered by this? Prince Leo thought to himself before continuing.

"What are you planning to do now? Are you going to leave the group?" Prince Leo's voice gave of the feeling that he was uncomfortable to Vorbuk. His gaze was pinned on Vorbuk so stiffly that it gave the wolf a feeling he would burn holes through him if he did not respond.

"Has the crown prince gone crazy?" Vorbuk responded after swallowing a bite of food. "When did I tell you I was leaving the group?"

"Vorbuk... the second we saw you.. you jumped out a window." Leo felt his brow twitch as he tried to understand the actions.

"I wanted.. to enjoy my new ability before the others found out about it. I guess I got a bit over excited since.." Vorbuk's mind wandered as he tried to recall how long it had been since he could experience life in the form of a human. Without realizing it he had to halt his words in the middle of his response.

The prince knew nothing about him being reincarnated and he was not comfortable sharing such a private fact about himself to others in this world. There was no guarantee how he would be looked at if such a detail was discovered by others. He could hear the sound of the crown prince sighing exhausted.

"What is that form exactly?" Leo asked when he realized Vorbuk was not going to continue on with his answer.

"Eh? It's not something I can use endlessly. It slowly drains away at my mana to be in this form. If I was to use my other abilities in this form it would become difficult. Using magic in this form would probably just cause me to fall unconscious in battle." Vorbuk pondered over how badly he desired to raise his mana pool as quickly as possible. If he wanted to live comfortably with his form and still be able to use magic he would have to increase it. As he sat there eating and talking to the prince he could feel his mana draining slowly. It was like a heavy fatigue was slowly suffocating him. Yet he had no desire to let go of something he had so desperately missed.

"Ain't that easy to fix?" Prince Leo felt confused that Vorbuk could become so excited over a new ability that he could not see such a simple solution in front of him.

"What do you mean?" Vorbuk's bright red eyes stared straight into the prince's.

"Use a sword? If you don't like those there are other options. Does a human need to rely on magic alone to survive in battle? How often have you seen me use it?" Leo smirked as he tried to imagine how difficult it could be for a wolf to learn human skills. The thought of helping him learn it later on was something that he could only expect to bring about a lot of enjoyment. In the sense that he imagined Vorbuk would probably fail... badly.

"Yes. That does sound perfect.. If I knew how to do such a thing." Vorbuk's face twitched as he felt like the prince was suddenly toying with him. He knew he could not learn something so complicated right away. Though for the sake of his life he knew he would need to. Life in this world was determined by how well you could protect yourself was numerous threats on your life regardless of how calm a life you lived. Everything from wild monsters, bandits, demons, even a mad god could be found in this world.

"I will help you. We can go to the guild now. I'm sure there is probably a quest available you and I can handle together for you to try it." Leo stood up and waited for Vorbuk's response.

Hesitating over the idea was pointless for him. Vorbuk slowly stood up as his gaze never left the prince. No matter how hard it was for him to become stronger or how long it took, it was something he had to achieve. If he refused to learn something important to his life now it would only endanger him more later.

"Great. We will pick you up a sword to use along the way. I'm sure things will work out just fine. I got you on this." Prince Leo's smile was warm but at the same time it was obvious that he was laughing at Vorbuk on the inside. The prince was blatantly enjoying the embarrassment Vorbuk felt in the situation he was in.

"Maybe.. I should just ask someone else for help." Vorbuk's voice was empty as he felt embarrassed.

"Nonsense! Let's go." Prince Leo turned and began walking away before he could object any further.

I should've just asked Daryl about it.. Vorbuk thought to himself as he watched the crown prince walking away stubbornly. Regardless of his thoughts, however, he still felt happy to know that someone cared about him enough to help him. In his past life Vorbuk could not recall being close to anyone and yet in this world he'd been slowly gaining people who did.

"Let's go!" Leo's voice could be heard once again calling out to him from in front as he continued walking without looking back at the beast.

No matter how much Vorbuk protested inside due to his embarrassment there was still a slight excitement in his heart. His fate in the world was growing as the days passed by but no matter the direction he was heading there was still something inside of him that made him feel at peace. Fate was something nobody could outrun. He was glad at that moment that his fate was connected to the crown prince Leo as well as the others. Whatever the future held in store for him he only hoped that things would be able to stay calm a bit longer, so that he could bask in the days like this when a simple idea could make them feel even a bit closer. He desired to protect what was important to him.