Chasing the plump owl all the way to an unfamiliar neighborhood, Finn benefited greatly from his Animal Affinity. Even though he had crossed into the territory of other cat groups, none of them attacked him, nor did they show excessive friendliness. They simply ignored the little tabby cat's presence.
In any case, Finn had no interest in seizing anyone's territory. He had only followed the bird because he wanted to taste the fat owl.
The marked owl, clutching an envelope in its beak, flew into a house that looked perfectly ordinary.
Hiding behind a large flower pot, the tabby cat tilted his head in confusion. Didn't humans usually send letters using those bright red postboxes and the loud, rumbling things they called cars?
Moreover, the house the fat owl had entered gave Finn a strange, uneasy feeling.
For some reason, he simply didn't want to get close to it.
After pondering for a moment, Finn decided to stay outside. He changed his ambush spot to the roof of the building directly opposite the window the owl had flown through.
Before long, the plump owl emerged from the same window. This time it wasn't carrying an envelope in its beak; instead, something was tied to one of its legs.
The owl flew straight over Finn's head.
Having waited patiently for this exact moment, Finn leaped upward, one paw swiping at the owl's wing while his jaws clamped down hard on its leg, trying to drag the bird straight out of the sky.
As if!
The owl staggered in mid-air, but after a single powerful flap of its wings, it regained altitude. To an owl accustomed to delivering messages for wizards, Finn's small weight was barely noticeable.
Even so, the owl kicked its legs frantically.
Because the bite force of the tabby cat that had ambushed it was terrifying!
Even through two layers of thick parchment, the owl felt as though its talons were about to snap.
Finn, still latched onto the owl's leg, wasn't having an easy time either. The fat bird was far stronger than he had expected, and his own tiny body wasn't well-suited for dragging something this large down from the sky.
*If only I could be a little bigger…*
Finn struggled to claw at the owl's legs, unable to stop the thought from crossing his mind.
While a small body had its advantages, when it came to fighting, bigger was definitely better.
Then—
A familiar sensation surged through him.
[Morphological Change]
Change one's form to a certain extent.
The moment the ability awakened, Finn instantly understood how to use it.
"Meow—roar!"
Finn let out an excited growl, sank his claws deep into the owl's thigh, and yanked hard, using the momentum to fling himself upward.
The owl plummeted again under the sudden pull, while Finn now found himself positioned above it.
In the next instant, Finn's body expanded like a balloon. His short silver tabby fur grew rapidly, transforming into a long, luxurious coat of black-and-white stripes. Even his face changed, becoming broader and more majestic.
This was the largest cat Finn had ever seen—a magnificent Maine Coon that had moved to Christchurch Road with its owner some time ago.
Now in the form of a Maine Coon, Finn's body measured roughly half a meter in length. In terms of pure size, he was already slightly bigger than the owl beneath him.
Using the force of gravity, Finn slammed both hind paws down onto the owl's back and opened his jaws wide, sinking his teeth into the fat bird's neck.
"Gaaah!!!"
The owl let out a piercing shriek. Dragged down by the suddenly massive cat, it tumbled from the sky and crashed heavily onto the ground. Bones snapped and tendons tore. Within moments, it breathed its last.
Finn, who had also fallen from a considerable height, rolled twice across the pavement, shook his head, and stood up completely unharmed.
His body, strengthened by the mysterious bead, had long become exceptionally tough. Cats were naturally gifted at landing from great heights anyway, and Finn had already awakened abilities called Gliding and Cat's Agility. A fall from this height couldn't hurt him at all.
With elegant, light steps, he approached the dead owl, picked up the carcass in his mouth, and slipped into the nearby bushes.
He needed to find a safe, quiet place to properly enjoy his prey.
...
*I've been had!*
Finn spat out a mouthful of feathers, feeling deeply disappointed.
The bird had looked so plump, but most of that bulk was just feathers. There was barely any meat on its body at all!
It wasn't even as filling as the pigeons in the square!
Still, the meat that *was* there tasted far better than pigeon.
And even if the taste had been average, Finn would still hunt these birds whenever he encountered them in the future.
After all, cats were born hunters, and his instincts would always drive him to attack anything that flew.
Sticking out his tongue to groom his fur, Finn nimbly jumped onto a nearby wall and followed it toward the source of the noisy traffic sounds.
*Where… is this?*
Finn sat atop the wall, tilting his small head from side to side as he observed his surroundings. His triangular ears stood upright, twitching constantly.
It seemed the fat owl had carried him to a completely unfamiliar part of the city. The buildings here were taller than those near his old home, and there were far more of those loud, rumbling four-wheeled machines.
After staring for a while at the endless stream of vehicles and hurrying two-legged humans below, Finn quickly accepted his new reality.
He wasn't particularly worried about survival. As long as there were humans, food would never be a problem. Other cats couldn't threaten him either, so living anywhere was more or less the same. It was just a shame about the territory he had claimed before.
Finn leaped down from the wall and began patrolling what would become his new domain.
Thanks to Animal Affinity, the humans in the neighborhood reacted exactly like the ones from his previous area—every one of them tried their best to approach him.
Just as before, Finn only cared about the food they offered. As for petting and cuddling? Not a chance.
After exploring the area, Finn had a decent understanding of the neighborhood. He was about to head back to a tall tree he had spotted earlier for a nap when something in a nearby shop window caught his eye.
It was a square wooden box with a slightly curved piece of glass on the front.
A television.
At that moment, the television was playing a popular science documentary about animal ecology.
Today's episode happened to be about tigers.
(Note: The largest domestic cat breed in the world is the Maine Coon. An adult can reach a body length of 1.23 meters excluding the tail, though half a meter is more typical. Owls are famously fluffy—sometimes even more so than long-haired cats. Their legs are surprisingly long, and their heads are asymmetrical, with the left and right ear openings at different heights.)