The Goddess Granted Me the [Hatching] Skill and Somehow I Became the Strongest Tamer, Commanding Mythical and Divine Beasts - Chapter 107: Koku’s Special Skill

Chapter 107: Koku’s Special Skill

Koku was sitting down, and Riko was coiled up.

“Do both of them like staying on Klaus’ head?”

“They’re both sleeping together now, but at first, it seemed like one of them was always awake.”

When I first tamed Koku and Riko, I was curious about them and checked on them every few hours at night. Even when I didn’t make a sound, one of them would always open an eye and watch me.

When I told the caretaker about this, they said,

“Could it be some kind of wild instinct?”

“Wild instinct?”

“Cockatrices are slow runners, right? If a predator finds them, escaping would be difficult. Maybe their survival instinct tells them that one has to stay on watch.”

“I see, that makes sense.”

In other words, back then, I still hadn’t gained Koku and Riko’s full trust.

“Even so…”

“What is it?”

The caretaker looked at the sleeping Koku and Riko with a smile.

‘…Koku…Zzz…’

‘…Zzz…’

“They’re completely sound asleep, so they must really trust you, Klaus.”

I was taken aback by those words.

“If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be sleeping so peacefully like this.”

I had always wondered why they climbed onto my head, but the caretaker said it must be because that was the safest place for them.

“I have to live up to their trust.”

I decided to keep my head as still as possible to let them sleep peacefully.

The next day, once Koku and Riko woke up, we began a full investigation.

Under the caretaker’s guidance, we compared their eating habits, excretion, and other behaviors to regular cockatrices.

Since Crystal Cockatrices were a subspecies of cockatrices, their habits were quite similar.

“Phew, that was tiring.”

Even though it was just an investigation, we had to let Koku and Riko act naturally. Since we had to follow them everywhere, keeping up with them was exhausting.

“Even so…”

I looked at Koku and Riko, thinking.

Fully grown Crystal Cockatrices were said to move quickly, but Koku and Riko were as slow as regular cockatrices. The caretaker also said their movement speed was the same as cockatrices, so what was that agility I had seen before?

Could there be some hidden secret?

“Good work.”

As I was thinking about that, the caretaker brought over two cups of water.

The water looked warm.

“It’s really hot today, isn’t it?”

The experiment was taking place outdoors on land owned by the Tamer Guild.

Since the weather was clear and the temperature was high, sweat was starting to form. Even the caretaker was sweating and drinking water.

But since the water was warm, it didn’t really quench my thirst.

“I know it’s a luxury, but I really want some cold water.”

When I complained, the caretaker gave a wry smile.

“Agreed. I want to get back inside and drink some cold water soon.”

As we were having this conversation…

‘…Koku-Koku?’

Koku tapped me with his beak to get my attention.

“What is Koku saying?”

“He’s saying, ‘Do you want me to do something about it?'”

When you make a contract with a familiar, you gain the ability to communicate with them.

It wasn’t as advanced as Scarlet’s telepathy, but I could generally understand what they wanted to say.

“Please do.”

I was curious to see what he would do.

‘Koku!’

Koku braced himself and approached the bottle of water.

‘…Kokokoko!!’

“What?!”

Koku released magic power, activating a spell.

The next moment, the water in the bottle froze solid.

“Is this… ice magic? It’s completely frozen.”

The caretaker touched the bottle through a thick cloth. The coldness made them squint, and they quickly pulled their fingers away.

“It’s really… cold. This isn’t just ordinary ice.”

Even though the bottle was small, freezing it in an instant showed incredible power.

‘Koku!’

I looked at Koku in surprise, wondering if this was part of a Crystal Cockatrice’s abilities.

Koku looked up at me with big, round eyes, as if wanting praise.

“Thanks, Koku.”

‘Kokuu♪’

When I petted him, he let out a pleased cry and lifted his chin. He was clearly asking for more pets.

“That means Crystal Cockatrices can use water magic. That’s something cockatrices don’t have. There was a report about them moving quickly in battle, but maybe they create ice beneath their feet to glide forward? Since they’re a cockatrice subspecies, they might have even more unknown abilities. This is fascinating… I need to research more!”

Suddenly speaking faster, the caretaker started writing furiously in their report. Koku’s actions seemed to have ignited their curiosity.

Since talking to them now seemed pointless, I crushed the ice in the bottle and poured it into my cup.

“Yeah, this is really refreshing.”

Since the water was much colder than usual, it tasted even better.

At home, Celia usually made ice using magic, but now, if she wasn’t around, I could ask Koku instead.