Miranda turned to the school building closest to her while talking to Max.
Some of Max's classmates were watching her and Max sitting together on a park bench.
Miranda put on her best smile to greet Max's friends from a distance, and it managed to mesmerize Max's classmates.
"Come on, how long do you want to joke around? Aren't you tired of dealing with my meddling friends?"
"That's because teenagers your age are so innocent. If it weren't for Lord Kenrich's kindness, I would have left you in ignorance and fallen victim to another mythical creature!"
"Oh yeah, why isn't Lord Kenrich with you? Where is he?"
Miranda stopped laughing. "Lord Ken, of course at his residence."
"Where is it? Is it in the forest?"
Miranda shrugged her shoulders. "You think Lord Kenrich is a cat? I don't know for sure though he did invite me to his place once."
"I'm really curious..."
TUUUT!!! TUUUT!!! The sound of the entrance bell finally rang interrupting the conversation.
"You should go to class immediately and don't forget your assignment to find out other mythical creatures yourself. Don't just sleep at home!" Miranda ordered.
"Okay. But when will you start training me?"
"I'll come when it's time."
Max nodded and stood up.
"Happy learning." Miranda waved her left hand at Max.
Max smiled and started walking. "If I look away, she must have disappeared." Max muttered after walking a few meters, Max turned around and it was true that Miranda was no longer on the park bench.
***
Evening.
In the backyard of Max's friend's house, a bonfire party was going on. Energetic music is playing loudly even though there are only six people gathered.
On the garden table were two pizza pans, even though the teenagers were actually having a barbecue.
Max sat on a picnic mat holding a cell phone in his left hand and a pizza in his right.
[Did I really inherit the half-tiger ability from my grandpa who gave up the power that was passed down to him?]
Max started googling mythical creatures like Miranda had told him at school.
The first thing Max looked up was of course the origin of the half-tiger itself. [Half-tigers are ordinary humans who are believed to have magical powers, not black magic or witchcraft, but powers passed down from generation to generation by ancestors. Half tigers have a good relationship with nature, especially to keep the balance of the relationship between humans and tigers well maintained. Being a mediator so that humans do not destroy the forest where tigers live and guiding tigers who have already entered the village when hunting so that they can return to the forest. Hum... so no black magic and sorcery. That's good. I would also reject without a second thought if I were to inherit magic!"]
Max finds out about other mythical creatures from his cell phone. [Garuda. An eagle-headed mythical creature with a warrior's body, it has large wings on its back with a very wide span and eagle-like feet. Wow... if this Garuda really is a real mythical creature, I can't imagine it. A knight's body, it must be a tall body!"]
"What are you reading?" Alya, who had just arrived with a plate of barbecue meat and two cans of cola, sat down next to Max.
"Thank you." Max placed his phone first on the mat, took a sip of the cola Alya had brought him and then answered Alya's question.
"Just looking at the game characters." Max said, showing a picture of Garuda on his phone.
Alya nodded after looking at Max's phone screen.
"Ah, here, let's eat first." Alya handed Max a plate of barbecue meat that she cooked with another friend.
"Okay."
As the night wore on, the teenagers grew tired and fell asleep on the grass on picnic mats.
The music was playing softly and the campfire was still burning, keeping the cold spring night warm.
Max was still awake, sitting facing the campfire, continuing his search for mythical creatures on his cell phone.
The sound of a truck could be heard approaching, followed by the honking of a horn.
"Max, it's a garbage truck. Please take the trash we collected earlier out. My eyes are so heavy!" said Max's friend.
"Okay. Leave it to me!" Max moved quickly because he was the one still awake.
Max hurriedly ran to the front of the house through the side yard while carrying a trash bag.
The janitor who was waiting outside the fence immediately accepted the bag of garbage Max brought.
"Thank you sir."
The janitor smiled at Max's friendly greeting.
Max was just about to turn around, when a shadow briefly covered Max who was right under the illumination of a street lamp post near the fence of the house.
Max looked at the street lamp post. Max was shocked, his eyes rounded when he saw someone standing on the street lamp post.
The light from the lamp created a glare so that the face of the figure standing on the lamppost could not be seen clearly. Only a grin was visible.
Max slowly took a few steps back as he realized the danger. Just as he was about to run back inside the fence, the figure jumped down quickly and landed right in front of Max. Blocking the entrance.
"Who are you?!"
The grin returned to the face of the tall man who was only a few meters in front of Max. "You called me not long ago."
"Ha?!"
"I'm from a sensitive race! We can come if someone with the 'ability' to call out our race name!"
Max paused, thinking quickly and he immediately remembered that he had previously randomly read an article on Google.
"N-no, I never called you! I was just reading something from a blog!"
"Still, a sensitive race like me feels summoned! And I don't like it when people call out without a purpose! For that..." the big tall man paused when he realized Max had run away.
[I have to get away from him! I have no business with him!]
Max ran as hard as he could even though he was running away from home. Max looked back and found the man approaching him not by running, but by flying very low from the ground.
[Ow shit! Is that Garuda?!]
Wide-stretched wings could be seen on the man's back who quickly grabbed Max's body with both hands.
"HUAAAA!!!" Max screamed as he was carried high and fast by the mythical creature he had recently read about.
"Your screams won't be heard at my lightning-fast speed!"
"What do you want? I didn't call you on purpose. I really don't know anything!"
"I'll teach you a little lesson!"
"What? A lesson?!" exclaimed Max.
"Yes." Said the man who had flown so high that he was beyond the clouds. The man smiled and then released his grip on Max who immediately fell down.
"HUAAAA!!!" Max shouted as he fell from a great height. "What did I do wrong? Why do I suddenly have to deal with that thing?!"
The man appeared next to Max in a relaxed style, as if lying on a soft mattress, crossing his legs and using both arms as pillows.
"Relax and enjoy your free fall! Land is still far away. Hehehe..."
"This is crazy!" shouted Max when he saw how relaxed the man was when he was so scared. His bones would be crushed if he fell thousands of meters.
"Ah..." the man was heard complaining. "Busted!"
"Busted!" Max glanced at the winged man who was still lounging beside him and then looked back down.
The lights of every house and street looked like stars to Max from thousands of meters above the ground.