Ivy, The Legendary Essua

WIntermere, Athanor

Years 566

Alan opened his eyes, seeing a house different from what he had imagined. The roof was made of wood, the fireplace for cooking still used firewood, and all the furniture in this house looked old-fashioned.

"Good morning, Arryn," said one of the women. She was beautiful and looked pretty young.

She came over to Arryn –Alan's name in this world– and began to hold him gently. The woman's smile spread wide, looking charming in Arryn's eyes.

Arryn just found out the identity of the woman. She was Selena, Arryn's mother. This fairly large house was not as crowded as a typical family. Arryn didn't find out where his father was.

Selena raised Arryn with love, hoping her child would grow healthy and strong. She had no trouble caring for Arryn alone, and Arryn realized that he shouldn't cause Selena any trouble.

Alan's thoughts were still embedded in Arryn's head, so Arryn had no trouble doing his daily life. Selena was amazed. She didn't expect Arryn to be such a quick learner.

Since he was one year old, Arryn has been able to eat by himself using a spoon; Since he was two years old, Arryn could say words fluently to communicate, and since he was four years old, Arryn could recognize letters and read magic spells.

Selena was impressed by Arryn's amazing development. She noticed Arryn's potential in magic, so she decided to teach him the basics of magic.

In the fifth year after Arryn was born, the child could summon water elemental magic in the form of a water ball. Selena, who trained Arryn, was happy to see her son's progress.

She thought that if Arryn could successfully cast the water ball magic spell, Arryn could also try other basic magic.

"But remember one thing, Arryn. You must use magic wisely," Selena replied. Arryn nodded. He knew the meaning of Selena's words which asked him to use magic as needed.

The day continued to pass. Arryn can use three types of elemental magic; water, fire, and earth. He continued to practice either in the front yard of his house or on a hill behind his house.

That afternoon, Arryn practised alone on the hill with a basic elemental magic book. He used a wooden statue as a training object, especially attack-type magic.

[Summoning System: Fire Ball]

Arryn's right hand's fingertips created a medium-sized ball following the chanted spell. The fireball shot at a medium speed until it hit the wooden statue.

Right after Arryn cast the spell, he accidentally heard a sound coming from the small forest below the hill. It sounded like an animal asking for help with a soft squeak.

Arryn was curious as to what the animal was. He immediately put down the book as he started to walk down the hill, looking at the small forest that seemed to have been burned on several sides.

The boy continued to follow the sound. Arryn guessed that the sound came from a pile of large tree branches.

He was right! Arryn found three small birds about the size of his palm, and only one survived. Arryn had to crawl under the branches to reach them.

"What's going on here?" asked Arryn, as if talking to the bird.

Since the situation in that place was quite dangerous, Arryn quickly took the three birds away from the forest and backed up the hill.

Arryn buried the two dead birds right behind the tree on the hill. Now, only one bird remained and seemed to continue to perch on the boy's shoulder.

"Should I give you a name?" asked Arryn.

Surprisingly, the bird nodded and agreed with Arryn. Arryn felt strange about this bird-like it fully understood what humans were saying.

"Ivy. I was thinking about that name," Arryn replied.

"What a nice name," said Ivy, the bird.

Arryn widened his eyes as he jumped back. He pointed at Ivy, who was flying in front of him with a scared expression because he didn't expect Ivy could talk.

"Why can you talk?" asked Arryn.

"Because I'm not an ordinary bird. I'm a legendary bird," Ivy replied. Arryn squinted his eyes, confused.

"Legendary bird? I think Mom told me about that once," said Arryn.

"I owe you a favour. What's your name?" asked Ivy as Arryn introduced himself.

"Arryn. From now until the end of time, I swear to help you and be your loyal friend," said Ivy. Arryn nodded his head and smiled, not really understanding.

Ivy flew up and hit Arryn on the forehead, causing him to bleed. Arryn was surprised as he shielded his forehead. He also questioned Ivy's reason for hitting him.

"To create a contract between you and me. Contracts with the legendary animals must use blood from both sides," Ivy explained.

"Contract? What contract are you referring to?" asked Arryn.

"A pet contract. In this world, there are animals that you can turn into pets; you can use them as your vehicles, companions, or battle partners," Ivy explained.

"I can offer my strength and accompany you," said Ivy.

The clueless Arryn nodded obediently. He accepted Ivy as his pet through the contract. Ivy perched on Arryn's shoulder again and began to show her Invisible ability.

"Where are you?" asked Arryn.

"I'm near you. I'm using my disappearing ability," Ivy replied.

Arryn was impressed with Ivy's ability. He immediately took the book and ran down the hill to show the pet to his mother, Selena. Arryn predicted that Selena would be surprised about Ivy.

"Mom ... Mom," Arryn called out.

Selena, who was sun-drying clothes, immediately focused her eyes on her beloved child. She stopped the activity and began crouching to look at Arryn with special affection.

"What is it, My dear Arryn?" asked Selena, gently rubbing Arryn's head.

"Mom, look what I just found," Arryn replied, showing his right shoulder, where Ivy was perched.

"I don't see anything," Selena replied.

"Huh?" Arryn turned his face and looked towards the right shoulder. Arryn asked Ivy to reveal himself, but to his surprise, the bird revealed itself perched on Arryn's head.

"I'm here, Arryn," said Ivy.

Selena's attention was suddenly drawn to the presence of a blue bird with white patterns perched on her son's head. Selena was surprised while trying to grab Ivy; the woman knew very well what kind of bird Ivy was.

Ivy was flying in the sky, not too far from Arryn. Selena smiled with widened eyes. She asked Arryn how he got the legendary animal.

"I saved her from the burning forest. What kind of bird is it, Mom?" asked Arryn, curious.

"It is Essua, one of the legendary birds with magical abilities. It is said that its arrival is always linked to changes," Selena replied.

"She's right, Arryn. I'm a type of Essua bird. There are many legendary birds, but I don't know where they are," Ivy replied, starting to fly low towards Arryn.

Selena walked up to Ivy while asking permission to touch her. Ivy gave permission while telling Selena she had made a lifetime contract with Arryn.

"Contract? Isn't it too early to do it with Arryn, who isn't 17 yet?" Selena asked.

"A contract with a legendary animal doesn't need to wait for 17 years; it only needs the blood of two parties to be approved," Ivy replied.

Selena quickly looked at Arryn as her hands began to hold her son's shoulders, "We'll talk about this inside. You need to know about pets, contracts, and other things."