Poro

"Poro? Is that its name? What a cute sound!" Mira seemed to really like the fluffy little Poro.

Rhode also thought Poro was cute, but... what good was cuteness alone? He wanted a hero who could fight!

Rhode brought Poro up to his face, looking at its big, dark eyes. Could this thing fight?

Poro's big tongue licked out, and Rhode instinctively leaned back, successfully dodging a face-washing service.

Makarov inquired, "Do you know this creature? Does it have any special abilities?"

"He's called Poro, he lives in a very cold place, and his abilities are..." Rhode thought carefully.

"He can eat, he can grow when he eats, he'll explode if he eats too much, and besides that, he can... be cute?"

Mira praised, "What interesting abilities! It looks like a great contract creature."

Rhode said listlessly, "Ah, thanks for the encouragement."

"I see, so it's an ornamental creature. Don't be discouraged, there are ornamental Celestial Spirits too, like Little Dog Constellation Nicola," Makarov said. "Isn't it great to have such a cute creature for company?"

Poro seemed to sense Rhode's disappointment. The small horns on its head drooped, and its tongue, which had been sticking out, retracted. It looked pitiful, like an abandoned puppy.

Rhode scratched its chin, "Let's just treat it like a pet."

"Purrrr~" Poro nuzzled Rhode's palm, making a comfortable sound, and its little horns perked up again.

Rhode squeezed Poro's little horns, stroked its head, and rubbed its heart-shaped belly, gradually growing fond of the fluffy, soft feel.

Poro seemed to enjoy it too, lying on the counter with its tongue lolling to the side.

"It looks like a little sheep, but its personality is more like a puppy," Mira said, picking up a slice of chopped apple. "Want some?"

Poro flipped over, escaping Rhode's massage service, and made a beeline for Mira's offering. Its agility was beyond imagination.

Does this thing have a setting where it recognizes food but not people? Rhode fell into thought.

Makarov cleared his throat to get Rhode's attention and said to him:

"Setting aside Poro's strength for now, when you opened the door just now, did you feel a power drain from your body? That was magic power."

Rhode thought for a moment, "Come to think of it, I think I did..."

"Normally, Celestial Spirit Mages consume magic power to maintain the existence of Celestial Spirits after opening the gate, and you are no exception."

Makarov said, "Now, meditate as I instructed, feel the slowly draining magic power, find its source, and then, see your own power."

"Yes!"

Rhode sat down on the spot and, following the guild master's instruction, closed his eyes, concentrating on feeling the power slowly draining from his body.

The noise of the tavern gradually faded, the sounds of Poro and Mira playing grew distant, and the world became quiet.

In the darkness, Rhode saw himself sitting cross-legged, with tiny blue light points like mist.

Outside of 'his' body, there was a faint, winding thin line made of blue light points, drifting to his side. That should be the connection with Poro.

Rhode's focus was on his own body. Among the mist-like blue magic power light points, there was a conspicuous small vortex, slowly rotating in the center of his body, like a miniature galaxy.

It seemed that all the magic power in his body was dissipating from there, and at the same time, sparse light points were infiltrating from outside his body, converging towards the vortex.

Magic power was being consumed, and at the same time, it was recovering.

Rhode easily felt this.

He could even feel the rate at which magic power was consumed to maintain Poro's existence compared to the rate of magic power recovery.

To express it in a way common in online games:

MP-1

MP+99

The excess beyond consumption was likely used to replenish the magic power consumed when opening the gate.

Upon realizing how low Poro's magic power consumption was, Rhode completely gave up hope for its combat ability.

Putting Poro aside, Rhode focused on observing 'himself,' trying to command the light points within his body.

Although it was a bit clumsy, he could indeed simply control the flow direction of those light points, which was magic power.

In the real world, as Rhode channeled his magic power, his hair gently swayed as if blown by the wind, moving left and right.

The tavern was quieter than usual today because the guild master was keeping an eye on things.

If anyone was about to start a fight and might affect Rhode, the guild master's palm would come down on their head.

When Rhode opened his eyes, Makarov showed a satisfied smile. This child had good talent.

"That's enough for today's magic power training. You should pay attention to Poro now."

Makarov reminded him, "Celestial Spirit Mages generally need to form contracts with their Celestial Spirits and maintain a good relationship. As for you, you'll have to figure it out yourself."

"Okay, thank you, Guild Master." Rhode stood up and looked at Mira, only to find that Poro was no longer with her.

"Over there." Mira smiled and pointed to the little guy frolicking in the tavern.

Rhode followed her finger and then realized... his social skills were worse than a dog's.

Rhode had only been meditating for less than an hour, and Poro had already made friends with many people in the tavern.

It stuck out its tongue, constantly weaving between tables, occasionally rubbing its furry body against people's calves.

When picked up by someone who liked cute things, it would act spoiled, its big eyes staring intently at the food on the table.

It was practically begging to be fed.

The most impressive part was that after tricking someone into giving it food, the little guy would immediately run off, heading straight for the next target, showing a remarkable lack of sentimentality.

In a very short time, everyone in the tavern remembered this cute creature, but only a few remembered its owner's name after Mira and Laki introduced them.

Rhode waved his hand.

Poro trotted over on its short legs, but accidentally tripped and rolled to Rhode's feet like a ball of yarn.

The creature simply refused to get up, lying on its back and exposing its belly, its act becoming more practiced.

Rhode couldn't help but rub its heart-shaped belly again before placing Poro on the counter. "Can you understand me?"

"Uru-ru~" Poro made a great effort to nod.

Rhode asked, "Do we need to sign a contract or anything?"

Poro shook its head vigorously, almost falling over.

"Then if you go back, will it still be you that I summon next time? I remember there are many Poros in the Howling Abyss, right?"

Little Poro nodded, then shook its head, a pleading look on its face.

Rhode guessed, "It will be you, but you don't want to go back?"

Poro showed a happy expression.

Rhode looked at the Guild Master with a troubled expression.

Makarov said, "As long as your magic allows and neither party objects, it can stay as long as it wants."

"However, if it affects your ability to open the next door, then you'll have to send it back."

Rhode nodded. "Since you like it here, you can stay for now."

Little Poro happily spun around.

Mira suggested, "Should we give it a name?"

Rhode said, "It's called Poro."

"But Poro is a general term, right? Like 'dog' or 'cat' as a species. I mean its own name."

Poro looked at Rhode expectantly.

"Hmm... I'm bad at naming things..." Rhode looked at Poro and thought for a moment. "How about Little White? Dumpling? Furball?"

Poro's small horns drooped slightly, feeling the suggestions were very perfunctory.

Rhode was troubled. "Guild Master, Mira, do you have any suggestions?"

"How about Warm?"