ArcAngelStories98
patreon
Humans Don't Make Good Familiars- Part 66
🕑 Added 2022-01-02 09:00:03 +0000 UTCSuma’s POV
“Impressive,” the instructor called out to Lauric and his familiar as they approached and rejoined the group. “Now who would like to go next?”
“Jake, do you want to go next?” I asked him privately. He remained quiet for a moment, in thought.
“No, let’s let someone else go next and see what strategies work best against that thing.” He suggested. I agreed, and we decided to wait.
“No takers?” The instructor called out. “Well then I guess-“ he started to say, but just as he did, a recruit flew up and landed with the rest of the recruits. “Recruit! Why are you late?!” The instructor yelled.
“Apologies sir,” The Neame replied, “I overslept and-“ the poor recruit tried to explain, but as soon as he said overslept… the instructor had heard enough.
“OH! WERE YOU TIRED? Well… let’s help wake you up! Summon your familiar recruit, your next in today’s battle exercises.” The instructor ordered.
“Yes sir,” the Neame said meekly. With that, he raised his wings, and activated his summoning spell. It was an odd spell, as the magic circle didn’t form on the ground, but in the air, and we all soon saw why. His familiar flew out of the magic circle, which was floating sideways in the air, with surprising speed. However, its appearance was the real shock.
“Is that a flying fish?!” Jake asked stunned.
“It.. appears so,” I acknowledged, equally amazed.
“How is it floating like that?” He wondered. “It’s just… hanging in the air.”
“I have no idea; it doesn’t make sense.” I stated.
“What is it called?” Jake wondered.
“I don’t know,” I said, “I didn’t hear him call a name. He probably didn’t give it one.”
“No, I mean what is its species name?” He wondered.
“I don’t know, I have never seen a creature like that before, at least not in the air.” I told him.
“Get to the field recruit,” the instructor ordered. The Neame and his familiar flew over to the training area and took a position together far away from the dummy. “BEGIN!” The instructor yelled. With that, the dummy began spinning and started to close in on the pair. This is where I realized something I hadn’t before, I realized just how widely varied a battle against an enemy could be. Where Lauric and his Black Serpent immediately began charging in and attacking the dummy, this Neame and his familiar chose to attack from a distance. The “fish”, as Jake called it, took a position between the dummy and its master, then immediately began attacking the dummy from a distance. It shot bolts of lightning from its mouth, which crashed into the dummy with frightening force. One… two… three times the creature shot its attacks and each time it hit with unyielding precision.
“A flying fish… that shoots lighting.” Jake mumbled, probably as enthralled by the spectacle as I was.
“Now he only needs to land three attacks himself,” I noted. It was then I noticed something interesting, the Neame was preparing to use combo magic. “Jake, do you remember when I told you about combo magic?” I asked.
“Um, yes… why?” He wondered.
“I think your about to get a demonstration.” I said. I could tell what was going on, combo magic is a technique all mages learn if they plan on getting, or already have, a familiar. We learn it at the academy, and it has two telltale signs. First, a magic circle is cast around both the master and the familiar. Second, a wave of mana travels down the circles connection points from the familiar to the master. Both were occurring between the pair as we watched. The dummy was beaten down, parts were falling off, and it was only inches above the ground now. I could only imagine how much damage it must have sustained between this fight and Lauric’s.
“Oh forest, grow and spread at my command, head my call and ensnare my enemies,” the Neame began to chant.
“It must be a complex spell if he needs to chant,” Jake theorized. In truth, it probably wasn’t nearly as complex as some of the spells I had seen him do, but I doubt he realizes that.
“Lightning, flow and penetrate this forest, become whole and roar!” As soon as he finished his chant, vines erupted from the ground and entangled the broken remains of the dummy. Once it was immobilized, the vines began to explode. One-by-one they detonated and released bolts of energy in every direction. In moments, the fight was over, and the dummy was defeated.
“Now that was cool,” Jake smiled.
“Indeed, Combination Magic is a powerful tool.” I replied.
“Good job recruit,” the instructor complimented. “Now, who is next?”
“Suma, I think we should go next.” Jake stated.
“But I thought you wanted to wait and watch?” I questioned.
“I did, but now I want to give it a go.”
“Jake… remember… we can’t use magic like that. Our combination would-“ I said, but he cut me off.
“I know… I remember what happened. But I don’t want to do that. I just think we can handle it.” He said confidently. I thought about it for a moment, and relented. If Jake thought it was a good idea, I would trust him.
“Sir, my familiar and I would like to go next.” I announced.
