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Scavengers they may be, but horse-sized cats were still cats, natural predators one and all.
I heard the sound of sudden movement from behind me and spun out of the way while ducking at the last moment as a huge paw with vicious claws cut the air above me.
I could have taken the chance to kill the big cat right there, but that would have ruined the fur. Before I could take advantage of the first attacking feline, I had to jump out of the way again as another big cat pounced.
The moment I dodged that second attack, a third big cat lunged at me while the rest circled closer.
Not wanting to let this fetch quest stretch any further than it needed to, my aura turned violet as I kicked my aura up a notch to Primal Aura. Just as the third cat was about to swat me, I kicked off the ground and flickered from sight, and before they could react, I already had my dagger drawn and buried to the hilt in the eye of the first cat that attacked me. It was dead before it could even register it.
It was only when I pulled my dagger out with a sharp tug and saw the big cat crumple to the ground that the rest of the big cats realized my new location, and it clearly spooked them as I watched their feet prepare to bolt at a moment's notice.
Now that they saw me as a real threat, they all had their hackles raised, their tails swaying from side to side, and were instinctively calculating whether taking me down was an acceptable risk. I figured if I took one more down, they would scatter for sure, but now that I wanted their fur, I could not have that.
[Gravity] I chanted in Dragon Tounge and reality twisted to my will, forming a gravity field just wide enough to encompass all the big cats.
Before they knew something was wrong, everything except me was flattened: the grass, the small branches I had cut from the felled trees, and even some unfortunate bug flying past me without a care in the world was grounded. As for the big cats, they were all prone on the ground, struggling to lift their heads and even breathe due to the pressure on their lungs.
When I looked at them, all I saw was confusion and fear, as they didn't even have the strength to let out a warning growl.
I walked up to the nearest struggling big cat and said, "Sorry it had to be this way. But you know the law of the jungle, and you picked the wrong target."
A quick stab into its skull through the ear hole, and it was done. Soon, the rest of the big cats followed before I released my hold on the increased gravity. Immediately after that, I conjured a simple air dome that kept the air isolated within the dome so that the scent of fresh blood would not get out and attract more predators, and I got to skinning the big cats.
***
Throughout the day, I made seven round-trips up and down O'zet's back to complete my fetch quest. T'Makka, the elderly tortoise kin mage and leader of the tortoise kin village, was gracious enough to instruct his people to draw me a bath to wash away the grime I had accumulated during the day, but since their individual baths were too small for my human size, they had one of the communal baths filled and heated just for me.
With the amount of material I had collected for the tortoise kin, they had more than enough to rebuild their village if they wanted, but considering what I would be getting in return, it was still a cheap price to pay.
By the time I had gotten back to the village, it was already dark, so T'Makka opened his home to us. Since the tortoise kin didn't have many visitors, they lacked spare homes for guests and much less many rooms. So, Professor Sageira, Spot, and I were crammed together in a small room in T'Makka's burrow.
I could have easily used magic to manipulate some earth into a much more spacious temporary shelter, but it would be rude not to accept our host's hospitality.
As I covered myself with a blanket that was way too small for me and hugged Spot, who had snuggled under my arm, I thought to myself how much easier today's fetch quest would have been if I had a dimensional storage like Professor Sageira.
When I turned to her and saw her reading a book she probably took out of her dimensional storage under the glow of a magically conjured light, I asked her, "How do I get a dimensional storage like yours?"
She looked at me, her eyes glowed for a few seconds, before saying, "You can't." and went back to her book.
Did she just look at me with some kind of magical sight? "What do you mean, can't? Do I need some kind of rare material that can no longer be found? Or is it some kind of thing that only dragons can do?"
"Nothing like that," she said as she flipped a page, "your soul is simply not strong or vast enough for you to have a dimensional storage like mine."
That surprised me. "My soul? Your dimensional storage is linked to your soul? If so, how do I strengthen my soul?"
"Yes, my dimensional storage is tied to my soul. As for how to strengthen your soul, there are ways to do it, but those fall under soul magic or necromancy, and trust me, strengthening your soul is not a fun experience. I have seen a number of mages over the centuries who died in excruciating pain when they pushed their soul more than their soul could withstand." she replied.
"How long did it take you to train your soul to the point that you could maintain a dimensional storage?" I asked.
She just chuckled as she replied, "I did not train at all. The perks of being a dragon, we innately have strong souls. All I needed to do was to have the knowledge and mastery over soul and dimensional magic."
Well, that sucks. Those are two types of magic that are heavily restricted and controlled. That means that my dimensional storage is a dream I would most likely never achieve.
Professor Sageira must have sensed my sulking and closed her book as she looked at me. "When we get back to my lab, we will see how much strengthening your soul would have to go through. But from what I can see, your soul is strong… for a human. It may have to do with your reincarnation, but that is just a theory."
I gave her a thankful smile, "Thank you."
After some more small talk, I tucked in for the night while dreaming of the possibilities I could do with a dimensional storage of my own.