CHAPTER 313: QUESTIONS AND QUESTIONS [3]

"Monsters around the main city are not as dangerous as the monsters around Yogusho Village because the magic here is not as pure as the ones from the border."

"Pure?" Coco echoed, blinking.

"Mhmm." Sinclair hummed, "Yogusho Village is near the waters and waters usually have resources, and if you follow the trail of those waters, they will lead you to a magic stone— just like the ocean where it has tons of magic stones by the ocean floor."

"Oh.. The magic stones produce their own element out of thin air.. Is that what you’re saying?" Coco mumbled, leaning closer to Sinclair.

"Precisely, master." Sinclair chuckled and raised a hand to pat Coco on the head, "The magic stones themselves can’t function without a source of mana though. That’s why the ocean and forest are full of them."

"How about the magic stones for the monsters? What do you call them again?" Coco tilted her head, letting the hybrid pat her.

"A spawn stone." Sinclair answered, shooting a lopsided smile towards her, "The spawn stones are all over this world. An ocean, desert, or a forest? Every location outside of the main city walls has spawn stones."

Coco nodded her head slowly, letting the information sink in. "You said that every location outside of the city’s walls has them.. Then how come there are villages out there that are free of monsters? Like Yogusho Village or Yolo Village?"

Coco’s question was nothing, but asked out of curiosity, and the raven hybrid found that awfully endearing.

"Those places free of monsters have their spawn stones removed, master." Sinclair answered, his voice dripping with a matter-of-fact tone.

"Removed?" Once again, Coco repeated a certain word.

"Yes." The hybrid hummed out, smiling and looking away, "For spawn stones to be removed, a hybrid has to be involved."

"Oh.." Coco didn’t know what to say after that so she slowly got quiet.

"When Yogusho Village was in need of a village chief, Chief Salamandara was appointed as one because she has been around ever since the village was built and to be honest? She was the one who helped build the village from scratch."

Coco’s throat tightened a little, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Someone respectable like that wanted to be my friend?" Coco voiced her confusion towards the village chief’s desire to befriend her, the feeling resurfacing.

"She’s an owl hybrid." Sinclair said, as if the words themselves hold the answer, "The owls tend to see more into a person more than other hybrids.. It was also one of the reasons why I made you my master."

"Because she told you that I came from a different world or..?"

"No, no, it’s nothing like that. I was not aware that you were a different soul." Sinclair disagreed with a breathy laugh, "She told me that you were a kind and thoughtful soul, someone who is much different than the humans we had met so far."

A look of reminiscing crossed Sinclair’s face, his expression softening slightly. "Then the memory of you saving me flashed in my mind at that moment so I asked my husband to let me meet my savior and thank her in person— which he did."

".. Before I knew it, you marked me." Coco sighed, shaking her head as she also got reminded of what happened that morning.

Sinclair only laughed again. "Yes, yes, about that— please forgive me. I don’t know what came over me."

"Yeah, right." Coco rolled her eyes.

"No, really." The hybrid insisted, his laughter slowly dying down, "I just had the desire to be owned by you, then before I knew it, my body moved on its own."

"And told me to give you a nickname?" Coco raised an eyebrow, not believing what he was saying.

"Uh, no.." Sinclair trailed off as he laughed nervously, "I decided that on my own. I only felt the need to have you as my master, not to actually make you one."

"Well.. Whatever." Coco wanted to argue more and bark back, but she found no point in doing so. "What happened had already happened so we can’t change it now, right? Might as well embrace what lies ahead."

Sinclair’s lips twitched. "I’m really happy to have someone as sensible as you as my master."

"Mhmm, I heard that already." Coco brushed him off and leaned back to the backrest of the couch, "I heard that the second stage is hands-on, that they caught the monster themselves.. What kind of monster do they have?"

"I have no idea." Sinclair stated bluntly, shrugging.

"Seriously? You and Alithe had been around before the hunter guild was established, right?" Coco turned her head to look at the hybrid, an incredulous look on her face, "Why don’t you know?"

Sinclair shot her an incredulous look as well, "You’re literally the first master I had, Coco. Besides, I have no interest in hunters so I didn’t see the point of watching the soon-to-be-hunters pass their licensing?"

Once again, Coco could only stare.

"I mean.. You have a point." Coco mumbled, looking away from Sinclair, "But they don’t have any restrictions when it comes to weapons, right..? I only use my hands and my trustworthy hoe."

Sinclair couldn’t help, but blink in surprise at Coco’ words, then all of a sudden, he let out a hearty laugh, the sound rich and hearty, his expression tinged with amusement and disbelief.

The hybrid’s body shook from the force of his amusement, his eyes bright with happiness as he looked at Coco.

Coco, on the other hand, looked confused by Sinclair’s sudden burst of laughter, her brow furrowing slightly as she tried to understand the reason behind his unexpected reaction.

She tilted her head slightly, her eyes searching his face, trying to decipher the cause of his amusement.

"What’s so funny?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

Sinclair shook his head, his laughter subsidering slightly, but his amusement still clearly evident.

"I wasn’t expecting you to say that your weapon is a hoe!" He wheezed out, still laughing.