Chapter 23 - 23: Thrown into the fires of battle

In an instant, the Karatsune had changed forms from a small golden fox to an elegant predator as big as a wolf that rushed at Rakka faster than a lightning strike. Aura's claws soon glowed with a golden light as she slashed down at Rakka. I was so shocked at her speed that I almost failed to notice that she was aiming for Rakka's neck.

She managed to land a clean hit and if Rakka was a mundane elk, his head would've been severed clean off with nary a drop of blood on the snow. Thankfully that didn't happen. Instead, lightning sparked off of Rakka as Aura's claw landed on it.

As the fox monster bounced back after landing the hit, it became clear that all she managed to do was leave a light scratch on his neck and an slightly shocked paw for her troubles. Evidently, Rakka's hide was much tougher than expected. Either way, he didn't look happy about almost losing his head.

The Karatsune made a sound that reminded me of how my mother clicked her tongue when something didn't go her way. It must've been annoyed that it couldn't defeat my Ragnaceros in one hit. However, it didn't remained annoyed for long. Aura began to release this haze of energy around it, and the dirt around its feet began to coat its claws and form into armor. This was not good.

I had to somehow stop Aura from using whatever weird magical ability it had by using Rakka, but I had no idea what to do. I knew that my soul was connected to Rakka via the "battle bond", but I had no idea what that really meant.

I needed to fight back but I didn't know how to fight back ...until about five seconds after thinking that. As I thought about fighting back, time seemed to slow down to a crawl and knowledge flooded into my mind. I guessed this was that "battle bond" my mother mentioned,at least I hoped it was.

It felt similar to my connection to Voxea, but more intense. Maybe because I was the one actively connecting to him? Magic is complicated. Regardless, I learned that Rakka knew at least three techniques, the reality defying abilities that all majimonsters used to fight.

Rakka knew 'Electrify', 'Freezing Horn' and 'Fire Stride'. Of the three techniques I just learned he had, only the second could be of use right now. The first one was a defensive technique he used to counter Aura when she scratched him earlier, while the third technique could only leave points of fire on the ground. I couldn't see much point to that technique right now, if Rakka tried to disengage with Aura, she might stop doing whatever my mother was planning to do and just go for an attack of opportunity. Either way, I just had to hope I knew what I was doing.

Time sped back up to normal as I decided my next course of action. Namely trying to command Rakka to use 'Freezing Horns' and smack my mother's Karatsune in the face.