15. Learning About the World

The next afternoon, when Lauren took Sarah to bathe, Zion slipped downstairs and headed towards the office. Thankfully, it was open a crack so he could slip in.

He trotted over to the bookshelves and looked at them. From his low angle, he couldn't quite make them out, so he grabbed one from the lowest shelf with his teeth and pulled it out.

He then dropped it to the ground and looked at it, seeing its title was 'Map of Terlo Continent.'

'Perfect, I needed to learn about this place. So it's called the Terlo continent?' He mused as he sat and opened the cover, beginning to read.

------------

The Terlo continent held a total of 5 Kingdoms. To the north in the snowlands was the Neim Kingdom, the east was home to swamplands and the Efrore Kingdom, the south was desert country that housed the Sonio Kingdom, and finally, the western part of the continent was filled with forests and was home to the Wogas Kingdom.

At the very centre of the continent was plains, where the 5th kingdom resided on a floating island. This island was called Agleigh the Floating Kingdom, which housed the only academy to teach magic and fighting. Children aged 10 to 20 from every Kingdom dream about attending this academy.

In each of the kingdoms of Terlo, they held a total of 12 locations where humans lived. 3 cities, 4 towns and 5 villages. The capital city of each Kingdom was named after their kingdom's name, so for the West, their capital city was Wogas City.

Each area also had some areas marked as dangerous due to having beasts gathered there. Scarlin Woods, where Zion originated from, was to the northwest. Part of the woods entered the northern kingdom but considering the north is all snowland, Zion figured he had been on the west side of the forest.

The Wogas Kingdom also held the Hollow Forest, Alna Wood and a little bit of Earthy Thicket on their lands, although, Earthy Thicket was mostly on the southern kingdoms borders.

The Sonio Kingdom had Clearwater Oasis and Redsand Dunes with the rest of Earthy Thicket on their land.

The Efrore Kingdom had in their swamps, Windy Marsh, Brownisle Glades and Carnival Bog.

The Neim Kingdom had Frostwood Grove, Broken Covert and the remainder of Scarlin Woods on their land.

------------

Zion closed the book and sat back, thinking through what he just read. It seemed like each location has very different combat and exploration experiences due to the various different terrains and people weren't even done exploring the lands fully.

Zion just realised how small his Scarlin Woods home was compared to some of the other beast locations. But instead of feeling scared or nervous, he felt excited and wanted to go explore.

Zion hadn't realised that he had been reading the information of the continent and the kingdoms for hours now and since he was lost in thought he still didn't notice the presence watching him.

He picked up the book in his mouth, placed it back then turned to leave however he froze in place and his pupils constricted into suits as he stared at the man in front of him.

Abraham stared at the fox who was laying on his office floor reading a book. He would have thought it was just being silly if it wasn't for the fact it turned the page then stopped for a while then would change the page again, it's eyes darting across the pages as if it was actually reading.

'This Fox... it's reading is only a Rank D beast yet, it's intelligence is a strong as a Rank B or higher. I wonder... if it actually understands us?' He narrowed his eyes as the fox closed the book then used its teeth to place it back before turning around to face the door and froze seeing he was standing there.

The human and beast pair stared at eachother foe what seemed like hours but was only about 10 seconds when Abraham shut the door, "Alright fox. That's enough playing around. Let's get straight to the point... can you understand what I'm saying?" Abraham asked as he walked to his desk and sat down.

Zion was frozen as he heard the question and saw Abraham sit down. He hesitated for a moment but realised it was too late now he had been caught however he didn't let his guard down.

He turned to face Abraham fully and gave a small nod.

"Alright, could you always understand us?" He asked.

Zion shook his head to the sides very slowly.

"So... you learned from reading? I know Sarah is always reading you something." He said.

Zion again nodded slowly, body still tense and ready to run at a moment.

Abraham continued to stare at him before asking another thing, "Do you plan on running away from my daughter?"

Zion was actually caught off guard at this question. He expected something more like trying him up and experimenting or something.

Zion shook his head no, not even hesitating then frowned softly before walking over to Abraham and lightly tapped his hand with his amazingly soft fur.

Abraham looked down at Zion who sat down and used his paw to write against the floor, "'Sarah and this family are very kind. I don't plan on leaving anytime soon and will continue to stay even after this pet contract runs out.'"

Abraham paused for a moment after following along and made sure he read it properly then he chuckled, "Sarah really does know how to pick them. Go on, she's finished her bath." He waved his hand and Zion ran out like his tail was on fire.

Abraham just chuckled as he watched then began writing something, planning on asking for something that would come in handy for the girl and fox pair.