The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

The area around the southern gate of Eddo, the capital of T’oued, was a gathering place for many warriors and mages.

Some were testing their skills, some were demonstrating the invocation of Ultimate Limit that they had learned from Asley, and some others were providing guidance.

Further south, in the grasslands, sat a wolf-dog. She was none other than Pochi, the Familiar of the Eternal Fool, Asley.

Perhaps as a result of overexertion, her body bore numerous injuries, and she panted heavily with her head hung low. A Heavenly Beast approached her.

“Miss Pochi! Are you all right!?”

Appearing before Pochi was Haiko, one of the five true Heavenly Beasts. 

His voice was filled with concern. Pochi, however, only cast a sharp gaze at Haiko.

“Hah hah… I’m fine. I can still do this… W-we’re just getting… started!”

Pochi, despite her trembling body, forced herself to stand with a determined expression.

“–You’re… wide open!”

“Ngh–!?”

Pochi charged straight at Haiko, who deftly evaded her jaws, moving his body to the side and launching an Air Claw attack as he retreated.

“KAHHHHHH!!”

Pochi unleashed a breath attack for a brief moment and dodged Haiko’s Air Claw, but her back was wide open for another Heavenly to strike with a powerful tail whip from above.

“Gyah–!?”

Pochi, slammed into the ground by Kohryu, bounced up and flipped over in the area as a result of the sheer magnitude of the impact.

“Carelessness is a great enemy,” Kohryu, floating above Pochi, coldly remarked.

As Pochi prepared to land, a flash of black and purple lunged towards her. Approaching at supersonic speed with a sharp beak aimed at Pochi, another Heavenly Beast made its move.

“Now, see if you can dodge this…!”

Shi’shichou headed straight for Pochi. In the split second before the anticipated impact, Pochi read the Violet Phoenix’s movements with great precision.

“What!?”

In that instant, Pochi extended her front legs towards the head of the Violet Phoenix and ran across its back.

“Right back at you!”

The one she was running towards was Kohryu, the Yellow Dragon who had previously struck her with his tail.

Pochi attacked with Air Claw, the sharpness and speed of which surpassed what Haiko had unleashed earlier.

“Not happening.”

Descending like a meteorite before Kohryu’s eyes was another Heavenly Beast, one known for its exceptional toughness. Kokki the Black Tortoise appeared and intercepted Pochi’s Air Claw with its durable shell.

“Now, red one.”

As Pochi finally touched the ground, the Black Tortoise signaled the last Heavenly Beast.

Kokki, with his shell boring through the ground, was sent forward by a powerful force from behind — Weldhun the Crimson King Ox.

“MOOOOOO!!”

A tremendous shockwave and thunderous roar resounded throughout the area as Kokki began rolling toward Pochi. Accelerating this force was Weldhun, lending his tail to Weldhun’s rush.

A massive mass of black approached, shattering solid rocks in its path — indeed, that was an immense threat coming straight at Pochi.

Pochi opened her mouth wide and unleashed a Zenith Breath.

The breath attack landed a direct hit on the Black Tortoise’s body, causing its roll to suddenly come to a halt.

“”WHAT IN THE–!?””

“OWOWOW–!!”

Both Kohryu and Weldhun were astonished by Pochi’s unexpected action, and Kokki clearly disliked what the impact had done to him.

“I’m not done yet!”

Indeed, Pochi’s body was propelled backward due to the recoil from the Zenith Breath.

In her path of flight was the Shi’shichou, who had reversed his course to intercept Pochi.

This unpredictable movement by Pochi caught the Violet Phoenix completely off guard, freezing its expression.

“H-HOW!?”

Long-ranged breath attacks, mid-ranged Air Claws, and close-ranged fangs and claws — all of these options were at Pochi’s disposal, while Shi’shichou had not prepared a countermeasure for any of them. 

That was why the Haiko, positioned behind Shi’shichou, closely observed Pochi’s movements and aimed carefully.

“There!”

He unleashed a massive breath attack, the size of which was comparable to the Zenith Breath that Pochi had unleashed against Kokki.

Pochi could not evade it — or so everyone present thought.

However, Pochi’s movements did not conform to that expectation.

“Rise! Whirlwind!”

Right before Haiko’s attack could hit its mark, Pochi used magic to create an updraft — something that might seem trivial, but the perfect timing of this trivial thing was what saved Pochi from the Ashen Tiger’s Zenith Breath.

By the time the Ashen Tiger adjusted his aim, it was too late.

Pochi struck Shi’shichou with an intense blow from above.

“Pochi Stamp!”

“Nwoh–!?”

The Violet Phoenix descended toward the ground.

Although Haiko tried to change the trajectory of its Zenith Breath to intercept Pochi, it could not react in time — because Pochi had used the falling Shi’shichou as a stepping platform, landing on the ground faster than the Violet Phoenix.

Pochi proceeded to dash on all fours, swiftly making her way towards the Ashen Tiger. In the meantime, Weldhun approached from behind, and Kohryu prepared for an additional tail whip.

Unable to grasp Pochi’s movements in time, Haiko hesitated in its attack for a moment — and in that instant, Pochi jumped backward and unleashed an Air Claw.

“Wha–!?”

Haiko, despite knowing that the attack was coming at him, could not quite dodge the Air Claw in his state of unpreparedness, sustaining injuries to his body. This surprise was mirrored by Weldhun, who was closing in from behind.

“Hmph! I’ll trample all over you!”

Pochi leaped again, but the height she achieved was not enough to get herself away from Weldhun’s approach.

…Or so Kohryu and Weldhun thought. Kokki, however, noticed something critical that suggested otherwise.

“Hmm!? Wait…!”

In an instant, Pochi changed her course.

“Oh no!”

She had chosen a location where the earlier updraft lingered, allowing her to adjust her trajectory slightly and use Weldhun as a stepping platform.

Pochi landed forcefully on Weldhun and avoided Kohryu’s tail strike by a hair’s breadth. Then, she dug her fangs into the Yellow Dragon’s throat.

After Kohryu fell head first to the ground, all that remained in active combat was the most elder of the Heavenly Beasts, who could not keep up with Pochi’s movements.

“I… win…”

The Black Tortoise, facing the claws of the panting Pochi, quietly averted his eyes.

“Apparently so. You DID manage to land a blow on the red one…”

Kokki was impressed. Pochi moved her foreleg away from the Black Tortoise and descended from the Yellow Dragon’s head to the ground.

“You actually won against us with that feeble little body! Hahaha! You’ve done well!”

“It was just a handicapped challenge. I only landed one hit on each of you, after all!”

“But you WERE up against the five true Heavenly Beasts.”

“Still a handicapped challenge!”

Pochi refused to acknowledge his victory unless it was a life-or-death battle.

Seeing this, Kohryu muttered,

“You really can’t reward yourself for your achievements…”

He had been bitten by Pochi, but it was just a graze. The Yellow Dragon, his body writhing, gazed worriedly at Pochi’s back.

In response to his gentle voice, Pochi reflexively averted her line of sight.

“W-what are you worried about me for!? I’m fine! Perfectly fine!”

“Yeah, right, you’re pretty beaten up for someone who’s ‘perfectly fine,’ you know.”

Weldhun approached, shaking his head, and came close to Pochi.

“Does your back still hurt?”

“If you’re gonna ask ME that, go ask Shi’shichou instead. He’s the one who took the heaviest hit.”

“Wha–!? I almost forgot!”

Pochi rushed over to where the Violet Phoenix had crashed, worried about his condition.

However, to her surprise, within the hole created by the crash, the Violet Phoenix had his eyes wide open.

“Hmm, maybe I should have used Arcane Drain at that moment. Or maybe a more unconventional move would have given me an advantage? Hmm… I’ve gained some new insights…”

“Oh, you seem fine! That’s great!”

“What, did someone else get hurt? Is Haiko bleeding or something?”

In response to the Violet Phoenix’s comments from the hole, Pochi turned towards the Ashen Tiger.

There, she saw the Ashen Tiger licking the wound on his chest — the one that had been caused by Pochi’s Air Claw.

“Hehehe, this is a testament to the love between Pochi and me. There is no need for recovery magic. Hehehe… hehehe…”

“A-are you all right?”

Pochi tilted her head in concern, but the other Heavenly Beasts were not as worried.

Kohryu, Kokki, Weldhun, and even Shi’shichou, emerging from the hole, all responded in unison,

“”No, he is NOT all right.””

“Huh?”

Pochi’s puzzled voice was met with another unified response from the Heavenly Beasts,

“”His head is in the clouds…””

The Fool’s Familiar, bewildered once more, tilted her head at the exasperated Heavenly Beasts’ words.

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