ã€ŠEternal Spiritã€‹


 Ch. 1

    While spirits themselves are greatly studied, the spirit realm from where they come lacks a similar academic focus. We do not know where it is, how it behaves, how to travel there, or anything, really. At first scholars assumed that spirits are formed when they are summoned, but this theory was quickly refuted once the spirits themselves were questioned. And yet, quite peculiarly, that is all that they seem willing to communicate to us. Sometimes one says one or two sentences about their home realm, yet these rarely make any sense and even more rarely are coherent at all.

    - Intro to ¡°Spirits and their variations 101¡±

    <hr>

    A great pulse, a lurch, and I am.

    It is the first time I am, and yet it feels so very familiar. Wait, no. I already was, once. I cannot remember what, or who, but I know that I already were. Weird. Isn¡¯t the end of being, death, supposed to be the end? Oh well, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll figure it our eventually.

    Where am I? I open my eyes and see¡­ mist? No, not mist. Hmm, and not clouds either. Strange, very strange indeed. Moving forward a bit, the strange mist swirls as I pass through it. I reach out to grab at it and nothing happens.

    Huh? Looking down at myself I come upon another peculiarity of my new circumstances. I don¡¯t have arms. Nor do I seem to have legs. Or anything for that matter. I¡¯m just an orb. Faintly, very faintly, glowing and somewhat reminiscent of the mist around me. Huh, what am I? And how did I move without legs?

    Well, I just did, that¡¯s obvious. Why would I even need legs to move? I start moving forwards again as I ponder, the mist swirling all around me.

    Maybe that¡¯s what I was before, something with legs. But that seems like such a silly method of transportation when you can just will yourself to move. Whatever I was, it must have been a silly thing that¡¯s certain.

    As I am slowly, or quickly, I can¡¯t tell, moving through the mist a shadow appears through it, heading my way. It gets bigger and bigger until it¡¯s towering over me and then, a creature emerges from the mist.

    First, a head. Vaguely triangular and covered in deep green scales. Golden eyes gaze out into the world and above them a set of short stubby horns. Following the head, a long body dives out of the mist, revealing more scales. And more and more. It continues revealing more scales until its ridiculously long body finally ends in a sharp spike.

    Its gaze focuses on me and I stop, my pondering temporarily forgotten. I too gaze at its magnificent form, though if my lack of arms and legs is anything to go by, I don¡¯t have any eyes to indicate as such too.

    ¡°Lesson one, youngling, keep your thoughts to yourself.¡± Huh? I hear a voice in my mind. I look around to see if anyone else arrived other than the serpent, yet see no one. Did the big snake say that? But it didn¡¯t open its mouth?

    ¡°Yes, I said that. And lesson two, while using knowledge from your life before is good, learn to distance yourself from it.¡± I hear the voice again.

    Whoa, that¡¯s so cool! Of course, it makes sense that you don¡¯t have to open your mouth to speak. Probably another silly thing from the before. Oh, and it can hear me too! That¡¯s nice. And since I don¡¯t have a mouth that reinforces the idea that you don¡¯t need one even more. Cool!

    ¡°Focus! Remember lesson one, youngling. I do not have to do this favour to you.¡±

    Oh, right, lesson one. What was that again? Yes, keep my thoughts to myself. Wait, does that mean that they¡¯ve been hearing everything this whole time. Oh no, no no no. Stop that, thoughts! Don¡¯t go everywhere! You¡¯re supposed to stay in my head!

    ¡°Good, now listen carefully. You are a spirit. I am a spirit too, and this is the spirit realm. Like every spirit, there¡¯s something unique about you. Focus inwards and find it, it¡¯ll help you realize who you are and what you want to do. Lastly, very soon you¡¯ll hear a call. It probably won¡¯t be a call specifically for you, but your being will realize that you can be the one it¡¯s for. Answer it, make a contract, and what follows should help you with orienting yourself fully. Goodluck.¡± And with that it floats of again. Maybe in search of its own call, whatever that is.

    Goodbye big snake, I¡¯ll miss you!

    Well, the serpent¡¯s gone, but what it left me behind will stay with me. I already mastered lesson one, if I do say so myself, so let¡¯s get to lesson two. My life before, huh? Well, I know that I was something silly that had legs and used a mouth to talk. I wonder what that could be? Eh, probably doesn¡¯t matter, I¡¯ll just have to make sure to distance myself from it.

    Onto lesson three, even if the big snake didn¡¯t call it that. I am a spirit. That¡¯s cool! Don¡¯t know what a spirit is, but at least I know what I wasn¡¯t in the before. The serpent is a spirit too. Hmm, that doesn¡¯t seem right. We don¡¯t look anything alike! Oh, oh does that mean that I will become a large snake too one day? They did call me a youngling after all. But such a long body has to be cumbersome. Hopefully not.

    This is the spirit world apparently. Well yeah, duh! I¡¯m a spirit, snake¡¯s a spirit, then obviously this is a world for spirits. Or was it realm? Who cares! That still doesn¡¯t explain what this mist is, but again, who cares!

    Ooh, this one¡¯s interesting! I¡¯m unique! Ha-ha, I¡¯m unique! So unique, like¡­ every¡­ one¡­ else. Okay, maybe not that interesting. But the big snake did say that I can figure out what makes me special if focus inward, so let¡¯s try that.

    Focus¡­ focus¡­ focus¡­ FOCUS! Aha, got you! Not sure how this is supposed to help me figure myself out, but apparently I¡¯m¡­ shit, I can¡¯t find a succinct way to put it. Okay, let me see.

    I am, cut off from the world? No, that¡¯s not it. I can only grow from stuff that comes from myself? Closer, but also not quite it. Aha! Yes, I can only accept outside growth a single time, after that it¡¯s all me. Well, I¡¯m not even sure what all this growth business is all about, so whatever. Let¡¯s continues.

    Okay, then another part is that¡­ Long? Will I become long like big snake? No, not that kind of long. Hmm, a very long stretch of time? Yes, that seems like it, though¡­ it doesn¡¯t seem to actually have an end? Cool, not sure what that means, but cool.

    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    And this third part, this seems to be connected to the first? Yeah, there¡¯s some kind of generation of something, though I¡¯m not sure what. Eh, since it¡¯s connected to the whole growth shtick, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll figure it out later.

    Ok, so that¡¯s all about my uniqueness. What was next? I¡¯m sure there was just one last thing the serpent said, but I can¡¯t seem to remember. Oh well, it¡¯ll come to me soon, I¡¯m sure.

    As I continue to float along the spirit realm, thinking about all sorts of thing, a sudden feeling assaults me. It¡¯s not quite weird, although it¡¯s close, more like something I had forgotten about, some lost instinct awakening. It almost feels like someone¡¯s calling out to me Oh! Oh, I know! That was the thing snake said. That I should expect a call or something! Ok, now how to accept it? Eh, it¡¯s probably like most things here, just will it and¡­

    In that moment, I feel myself suddenly be enveloped by the ever-present mist and the next moment I am transported towards whatever produced the call.

    Which, apparently is inside of a cave. I find myself in a dimly lit cavern. Other than stalagmites and stalactites it''s barren. Well, except for where I am and my direct vicinity. I¡¯m floating above a complex circle drawn in some sort of red liquid, blood. My instincts whisper to me that it is a summoning circle, which on second thought makes sense, considering the circumstances. Around the summoning circle are some half burnt-out candles, the source of the weak illumination. Though I suppose now that I¡¯m here I also contribute to the light.

    And in front of the circle, in front of me is young, malnourished boy of a pale complexion. He looks exhausted, as if he just ran a marathon. After a little while he looks up and notices me. The faintest of smiles crosses his face before it¡¯s replaced by a look of intense concentration.

    ¡°Devil that I summoned, the summoned devil, I¡¯m here to make a deal. Give me power, give me strength and I¡¯ll give you, my soul.¡± He speaks loudly and confidently. It almost sounds like a chant or something. Also, he thinks I¡¯m a devil? No sir, I am a noble spirit, but I suppose his poor state has confused him somewhat. Whatever, I¡¯m sure doesn¡¯t matter. Wait, is this the contract thing Big Snake talked about? Well alright then, I suppose that is what I should do.

    ¡°Sure, sure, if a contract you want a contract you shall have.¡± As soon as I finish, the remaining energy from my transportation, that I hadn¡¯t noticed until now, jumps into motion and forms a bond between us.

    The bloody summoning circle beneath me disintegrates and I feel myself get pulled towards the boy. Eh, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s fine. My friend serpent wouldn¡¯t have told me to do this contract thing if it was going to hurt me.

    As soon as I touch him my perspective suddenly shifts and my perception is locked into just one point. Oh, the tragedy! How could this have happened to me? It only takes me a couple seconds to realize that it is the perspective of the boy, who now seems to be confusedly looking at where I just was. Maybe he expected something else to happen? Whatever, Big Snake said that what happens now should help me somehow, so I¡¯ll just observe for now.

    ¡°That¡¯s weird,¡± he murmurs to himself, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that wasn¡¯t supposed to happen. Then again, the book is quite old, maybe the author was wrong about some stuff. No matter, it accepted my deal and now with its strength I can finally exact my revenge.¡±

    He continues murmuring to himself while packing the few things he had stashed nearby. Apparently, some group of people killed his group of people over some different ideals. Those different ideals did include the summoning of devils though, so who am I to judge.

    Honestly though, he seems to be a bit unhinged. He keeps talking about how ¡°with this power¡± he can finally get his revenge. Which is just confusing because I have no idea what power he¡¯s talking about! Of course, I''m no idiot. He seems to think that I granted him some sort of power, but that¡¯s just not true! Sigh, I really hope I won¡¯t be stuck with this crazy dude too long.

    It doesn¡¯t take long and soon we¡¯re outside the cave, in some kind of forest. The next few days are spent going through it, stopping at night and then continuing on the next day. It vaguely reminds me of my previous life, though I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s the lifestyle or just the various tasks in general. It¡¯s honestly not too different from just wondering in the spirit realm. I meant wandering in the spirit realm. Actually, both. The changing scenery is a nice change of pace though.

    Speaking of scenery, after a couple of days it began to really change. At first the trees just became sparser and sparser, but then they completely disappeared! Can you believe that! That would never happen in the spirit realm. At least I think it wouldn¡¯t, I¡¯ve only been there for a short time.

    Anyway, scenery, yeah. Now there was only a field and off in the distance I could spot a village. I¡¯m not sure if my intrepid summoner also noticed it, but judging from the fact that he¡¯s heading that way I suppose it¡¯s safe to say that he did.

    And as we got closer and closer to it, his face became more and more grim and determined.

    Eventually he reached it¡¯s gates and without stopping shouted out: ¡°Anais you piece of shit! I told you I¡¯d be back! I told you I¡¯d get my revenge! I¡¯ll avenge my family you murderer!¡±

    Barely a moment passes and a big man rushes out of the gate. When he notices the boy, his face goes through a couple of different expressions until it finally settles on anger.

    ¡°Look, I told you this a thousand time already Samuel, they were cultists. They summoned devils, sacrificing people to them in exchange for power. I couldn¡¯t just let them be!¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, then I suppose you¡¯ll have to murder me too then. That is, if you can.¡± An insane grin forms on my summoners face as he rushes at the older, bigger and undoubtedly more powerful man.

    He just grimaces, closing his eyes in what vaguely resembles sadness and then punches out. Which is just ridiculous since we¡¯re still a couple meter in front of him, and yet the boy is suddenly falling over, his life spent. I feel myself be released from his body and the last thing I see is the man standing over the body and shaking his head.

    After a short moment of transportation, I once again find myself in the misty lands of the spirit realm. Though this time with a little something extra. Apparently the contract truly did give me the boy¡¯s soul, even though I didn¡¯t give him anything. What actually even is a soul? Hmm, I don¡¯t know why but that feels like a very existential question, even though I have one right here.

    Oh well, let¡¯s inspect it. Turning to where I have to soul stored, which seems to be somewhere inside me, I try to identify what it is and what it¡¯s used for, because it surely has to have a use since the boy wanted to trade it to a devil.

    I try to see if one of my spirit instincts knows anything, when one that I really didn¡¯t expect rears it¡¯s head. Aha, it seems that this qualifies as a source of outside growth or whatever it was called? Ok, but I still don¡¯t know what that whole growth thing is, at least in relation to a spirit.

    I continue to inspect the little soul, even smaller than me, until I notice that its outside layer seems to be slowly drifting away. As I peer even closer, I notice that the mist of my body seems to be consuming these wisps. And as I look even more closer, I notice that my mist, my body is slowly getting denser as I eat this. And that, that makes me¡­ happy? Yes, happy.

    Before I know what, I¡¯m doing, I actively devour the soul shell until only a small bit is left, barely a fraction of the original. By now my body is no longer misty and is instead a solid marble of light. At the centre of which is the remainder of the soul. This time, I don¡¯t have to prod my instincts and they readily supply me what it is, or at least its name. A soul spark.

    I¡¯m sure it¡¯s important, my instincts told me what it is, so it has to be, but I once again do not know why! I¡¯m begging to suspect that my first summoning shouldn¡¯t have been so brief.

    As I continue drifting there, wandering and pondering, I soon feel another call, another summon. Distaste fills me, but still, I consider it. If the previous summon truly was unorthodox, then I should follow the big snake¡¯s advice, at least a couple of times until I can make out my own mind on whether or not it¡¯s worth it.

    I¡¯m still hesitant though, so I try to see if I can tell anything about who is summoning me. As I focus on the feeling of the call, slowly another deeper layer of it emerges. It¡¯s a sense of hope, some innocence, some kind of adventure or what, but most importantly I don¡¯t sense any desire for revenge. Let¡¯s just hope that those were actually the words of the summoner. And with those thoughts I am once again whisked away to a new land.

 Ch. 2

    I feel the mist once again envelop me. The journey is instant, or near enough that I can hardly notice the difference.

    The next moment I appear in a small, dilapidated room, or maybe shack. A broken window is covered up by a couple planks of wood and the rest of the room isn¡¯t in a much better state. Old and dusty, half filled with broken bits of what I presume used to be furniture, it is quite a wonder that it still stands.

    Beneath me is a familiar image of a summoning circle, even if the details aren¡¯t exactly identical. Fortunately, this one isn¡¯t drawn in blood and instead in what appears to be plain charcoal, confirmed by the nearby presence of a small bit it. No candles this time too, which is a bit of a shame, but what can you do.

    And there, in front of the circle, is an eerily familiar scene. A young boy, malnourished and weak, stands there. And while he too has determination in his eyes, it is of a different kind, accompanied by hope.

    Suddenly, we are interrupted by loud banging on the door, which I now notice is barricaded by some of the scrap in the room. It continues for a moment or too, before a gravelly voice interrupts it.

    ¡°We know you¡¯re in there! Open up and you may yet get off lightly!¡± Shouts an old man from behind the door.

    The boy, upon hearing this, collects himself, as if realizing for the first time what kind of situation he is in. He begins to speak, yet the people outside trying to break in interrupt him once more.

    ¡°Please, please, please form a contract with me!¡± He manages to shout out over the noise before the door shatters.

    ¡°Sure¡± is all I say in reply, and once again begin to be pulled towards my summoner.

    In that exact moment the, who now that I can see them, guards or soldiers rush into the room, intent on tackling the boy. And yet, the same voice as before stops them. It is an older guard, presumably their captain or something, and he¡¯s intense gaze is focused on me. Or more accurately, my movement towards the boy.

    Sorry mate, but I can¡¯t stop this. It¡¯s all automatic. And then I¡¯m gone. Well, not gone, just locked to the point of view of my summoner once again.

    The captain sighs and gestures to the guards. Hmm, is that a secret sign language? I¡¯ll have to learn that later, if I get the chance. Or should I make up my own? Wait, why would I even need a secret sign language, I don¡¯t have arm! Or any appendage for that matter! I¡¯ll have to somehow fix that. After all, the serpent was a spirit too, and they weren¡¯t a ball of solid light.

    My musings are interrupted as I realize that while I was distracted, we¡¯ve begun to move. The guard captain, who I¡¯m going to call that until proven otherwise, is leading us, or rather the boy, towards somewhere in the city.

    Speaking of which, I¡¯ve never seen anything like it before! Admittedly, my life has been extremely short so far, but still! House after house, all along the cobblestone street. They¡¯re all made of mostly wood, at least I think, but as we continue there are more and more stone ones. There aren¡¯t many people on the streets, butt hose that are out and about are paying quite a lot of attention to us. Maybe the captain is famous? Who cares!

    Sadly, my exploration of this new environment is cut short by the captain. It seems we¡¯ve arrived at our destination. It¡¯s a two-story stone building, similar to the neighbouring ones, yet it is more¡­ fancy, I guess. It has decorations, unlike most other houses, and is also cleaner, even if not exactly clean.

    Inside we, I and the boy, are left inside of an empty room. We¡¯ll there are two chairs and a table, but other that it¡¯s empty.

    Some time passes, however I¡¯m very patient. Then again, this is a new situation for me, so I¡¯m still taking everything in. Not that I¡¯m in shock or anything!

    After a while, when it seems that we will be left alone for a while, the boy finally speaks.

    ¡°He-hello? Are you there?¡± He asks hesitantly, as if afraid something will happen just because he asked a question.

    Wait, is he talking to me? I mean, there¡¯s no one else here, so probably? Most likely? Ah whatever, might as well try to answer.

    ¡°Yep, yep. Still here, alive and hale. At least, I think I¡¯m alive. Are spirits considered alive? Who knows!¡± I stop keeping my thought contained for a second. Ok, I need more practice with that, let a bit more than I meant to slip.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m not sure?¡± comes out of him after another moment of silence. Huh, must have shocked him somehow. Oh well, he¡¯ll adapt.

    ¡°Oh well, doesn¡¯t really matter. Hey, do you know what¡¯s happening here? You¡¯re obviously in some trouble. Also, why were all the houses wooden first, and then stone? Is the guards captain famous?¡± Ups, let a bit more than I wanted slip again. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s gonna be fine.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    Or maybe not. My little summoner appears to be, once again, stunned for some reason. Maybe I really should learn to contain my thought better. Ok, let¡¯s give it a try. Focus, and¡­

    ¡°Oh, yeah! What your name? I seem to remember that¡¯s what you humans were about, right?¡± Well, I¡¯d say that that¡¯s progress! Obviously, there was some slippage again, but better than last time.

    ¡°Aiden¡± he whispers.

    Huh? Aiden? What that? Oh wait, right. I asked him for his name. Aha, so my summoner is named Aiden? Well, that¡¯s nice. I never learnt my first summoners name, so let¡¯s just forget him and consider this summoning numero uno. Or did I? Doesn¡¯t matter, he wasn¡¯t really a proper summoner anyway.

    My precious musings are once again interrupted by the increasingly more annoying captain as he brings us out into a different room. Admittedly, this one is bigger and much more nicely furbished. There awaits us another person. An old lady, with greying hair sits on a couch as she sips tea.

    ¡°Is that him?¡± she asks the captain while glancing at us. Or glancing at Aiden? Not sure how I should talk about our little duo.

    ¡°Yes, Magus Quinn¡± he replies in a very respectful tone. Almost too respectful.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s have a look at you boy.¡±

    She motions for us to get closer. Aiden does so and stops a meter or so in front of her, fidgeting nervously. She examines him from head to toe, though it doesn¡¯t look like she¡¯s really looking at us.

    After a while, she declares: ¡°Well, you¡¯ve just barely enough mana to qualify. Now then, bring out this alleged familiar of yours so that we can be done with this.¡±

    ¡°Um, excuse me, but how? Er, Magus.¡± Aiden nervously stammers out. Seriously, he has a problem. If he wants to be my summoner, he needs to gain some confidence.

    She sigh, but luckily replies, ¡°You just have to call it forth, it comes out on its own. Seriously, this is not hard, keeping them in is supposed to be difficult.¡± She murmurs the last bit quietly.

    Wait, I could have been out and about this whole time? I didn¡¯t have to be contained to just this one view, with no agency of my own? This is a travesty! A truly unjust world we live in!

    ¡°Um, come forth?¡± Oh, shut up Aiden!

    With a thought I am finally free of my prison. Ooh, this is nice! Took long enough to be able to explore on my own, unconfined by a summoning circle or the summoner. As I begin to flit about the room, exploring at last, she locks her gaze onto me. Ok, sorry Aiden, I never should have doubted you. That analytical stare, as if she were dissecting me with every passing second, is seriously weird.

    Eventually she lowers her eyes back onto Aiden. ¡°You should consider yourself to be so, so, so lucky. That¡¯s one of the weakest Familiars I have ever seen, combined with your mediocre talent you never would have gotten any schooling at all! But the rules are the rules and you do have a Familiar, so I guess you¡¯re coming with me.¡± Wow, she really doesn¡¯t like the situation. Oh well.

    She stands up to leave, motioning Aiden to follow after her. As they¡¯re leaving the room and passing by the captain, he gives a respectful bow to Magus whatever and a look to Aiden. Hmm, should I follow them? Sure, why not. It sure beats being confined to just this room.

    Once we are outside, I realize a very important fact. We are outside and I¡¯m not locked in place! So naturally, I fly up. And up. And up. Once I judge to be high enough, I look down.

    The town below look almost tiny from this view. The streets chaotically crisscrossing each other and the variety of houses all throughout. There¡¯re still fewer stone buildings on the outskirts though. Oh wow, is that a river? It¡¯s my first time seeing a river! It¡¯s running straight through the town! Outside the town are just some fields and even further a forest. That¡¯s all stuff that I¡¯ve already seen though, so much less exciting.

    Then I hear a voice inside my head which sound exactly like Aiden. Which is weird because he¡¯s not here and his voice shouldn¡¯t be able to reach this high.

    ¡°Um, could you please come down here?¡±

    ¡°Sure can buckaroo! I¡¯ll be right there Aiden.¡±

    I quickly fly back down to the sight of a still nervous Aiden and an impatient Magus. I settle to circling around Aiden while observing.

    It doesn¡¯t take long for another person to appear. And I really do mean appear. Like, one moment there was no one and there next, they were there. Honestly, a bit rude if you ask me, but what do I know.

    They wear a purple robe with a long hood. And honestly, that¡¯s all I can see! Stupid hoods and their anti-sight properties.

    ¡°Did you call for transportation?¡± the extremely rude hooded person asks. Which is just stupid, because obviously yes! Still, the Magus lady answers him with a yes, and they nod their head.

    We all gather in a circle around this strange human, at least I think human, transportation. Then, a strange something envelops me and a weirdly familiar feeling washes over me. It almost feels like¡­ like being summoned? Huh, but it¡¯s not quite the same. And that strange something also feels almost like something I know.

    Before I have the chance to dissect the unusual sensations again, the scenery changes. Or more precisely, we change location.

    I, along with my three companions, suddenly find myself in some kind of courtyard. Its floor is made out of smooth stone and all around us are buildings. And yet they are almost unrecognizable from the ones in the, presumable, other town. They are all clean, tall, most are even decorated.

    There are a couple of people who are all moving towards the outskirts of the plaza. And also¡­ Wow! Another group of four suddenly appears. Is this some kind of teleport station?!

    In my astonishment I didn¡¯t even notice that we too started moving out of the way. Our transport is nowhere to be found though. Good riddance!

    And then I notice where we¡¯re headed. A grand gate guards our destination. The gate itself is massive. Mound out of stone and carved with dozens of images of various lizards like creatures. And yet, even with how grand and extraordinary it is, it pales when compared to what lies beyond.

    Beyond it is something that cannot be described otherwise than a castle. And yet it¡¯s even more than that. Yes, it has high reaching towers and is extremely fancy, but it doesn¡¯t just sprawl upwards. Its accompanying building reach wide as well and all of it is, quite frankly, too fancy. Combined with the ancient feeling it gives of, one has to say that it is otherworldly.

    I¡¯m broken out of my admiring but the fact that we¡¯ve just crossed under the gate. Magus I-forgot-her-name turn to us and says:

    ¡°Welcome to the Azunad Academy of the Arcane Arts.¡±

 Ch. 3

    ¡°Welcome to the Azunad Academy of the Arcane Arts.¡±

    After that admittedly dramatic proclamation followed a frankly boring whirlwind of bureaucracy. Registration, accommodation and a seemingly endless amount of paperwork. At the end of the day, we were left inside our new room in the school dorms. Aiden ended up being so exhausted that he immediately fell asleep, without even saying goodnight.

    So here I am, once again stuck waiting for my summoner. Or at least, I would be if I hadn¡¯t learnt that I can move about! It still seems like a huge injustice that I hadn¡¯t known that.

    But first, I have to overcome my first challenge. Escaping this prison of a room. There are only two entrances, at least for me. The big, heavy wooden door and the window. And since I am the smartest spirit alive, I know that it¡¯s going to be easier to flee through the window.

    After a bit of fiddling around with it, I manage to just barely push it open enough to quickly float outside. And off I go, exploring the world.

    The academy ground, as much as they seemed enormous from outside, are even bigger than I first thought. Our room is located in one of the southern dormitories, yet there are dozens more all around. Not to mention the fact that not all students stay here and instead come in everyday, at least according to what I overheard during our registration.

    Exploring further, I realize that the huge castle-like structure visible from the entrance is mostly some come gathering hall or something, and only the higher floors are actual classrooms. Also, I found a basement! Not much I can say about that since it was locked a couple passageways in, but that¡¯s still super cool.

    But the main attraction, the thing I wanted to see since I first spotted the academy-castle, are the towers. Specifically, the highest one. Its base is a bit hidden, behind the main roof, and yet it reaches high up into the sky. Bit of an oversight on the architect¡¯s part if they wanted to keep it hidden, in my opinion.

    I fly higher and higher, circling the tower as I go, until I reach the top. There just beneath the pointy roof is a small circular window. Well, small for humans, more than big enough for me. I float to it and peer inside what has to be the most interesting, or at least important room in the whole school.

    And inside I see¡­ Just a dude. Admittedly an old wizened dude with a long grey beard, but still just a dude. He¡¯s sitting behind a desk, writing something. All around him are shelves on shelves of books. And in front of his desk, on the floor, lies a creature I had never seen before.

    It was a¡­ squirrel? But it had a shell? What? Aren¡¯t snails supposed to have shells? I distinctly remember seeing a couple of snails in the forest during my unmentionable first summon, and that is what they had on their back. Why does a squirrel have one? And for that matter, why is the squirrel so big? It¡¯s almost the size of a wolf! What the-!

    Suddenly, it raises its head and I realize. This is an academy for people with Familiars e.g., spirits. And this squirrel-snail hybrid just simply cannot exist, so it has to be a spirit! Ha-ha, I thought that we could change shape since The Big Snake was so much different from me, but this proves it! Ha-ha, yes! I wonder what I can become? Could I also be so big like the serpent? Or should I instead stick to small and fast, like this sqail probably is?

    Once again stuck in my own mental musings, I didn¡¯t notice the old geezer stand up and approach the window. Then he just opens it and walks back to his desk.

    Ooh, well don¡¯t mind if I do. I zip right inside and start moving about in the room in what is slowly becoming my favourite movement, circling. Though there doesn¡¯t appear to much more to see other than what I could already observe from outside. So, I eventually slow down and focus my attention on the two strange occupants.

    ¡°Sigh,¡± the old man begins quietly, as if only talking to himself even though I can clearly hear him, ¡°newly borne are always such a bother. Anyway, welcome to my office I suppose. I am the headmaster of this academy and this here is my familiar Grintoa. Just for your information, you are currently in a restricted area, but seeing as you are just an unformed, I suppose I can humour you for a while.¡± He continues throughout the whole introduction in a bored monotone voice, as if greatly exhausted.

    ¡°Oh, yes. And if you hadn¡¯t learnt this already, to talk to other people than your contracted you have to actually push your thoughts out, instead of just loosening your hold on them.¡± He quickly adds before going back to his writing.

    ¡°Cool, cool!¡± I manage to shout out almost immediately, ¡°So, mind telling me how I can become something so interesting like you or that big snake I met?¡± I, of course, ask the most important question first. I guess it was bugging me more than I thought.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    The sqail, squirrel-snail hybrid, doesn¡¯t move a bit, yet I know that it is the one to speak. ¡°You grow, practice, and make contracts. Seriously, you would have figured it out on your own.¡±

    At this, I finally freeze my continuous flight around the room. Did it just say grow? Like the mysterious grown my special talent referred to? Am I finally going to figure out what that is?

    ¡°Grow? What do you mean by that, can you show me, how do I do that?¡± I quickly ask, even while stopping a much bigger deluge of questions.

    And yet, the Familiar just sighs, and gives me a non-answer. ¡°You¡¯ll figure it out. I mean you are at the school of arcane arts. Besides, it changes.¡± This spirit is very meanspirited.

    I spend a little more time with Mr. headmaster and Grintoa, but they are both uncooperative, so I soon leave for brighter pastures. Speaking of brighter, the sun is coming out! And I have to admit that they chose a great spot to build the academy. With the sun rinsing right in front of its entrance, it makes for a truly majestic sight.

    And then: ¡°Um, spirit? Where are you?¡± Aiden¡¯s voice interrupts the magical moment. I seem to get interrupted a lot lately. Or maybe that¡¯s just life, I mean I am very new to this.

    Anyway, I should probably go back to him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m right there, just give me a minute.¡± I give quick reply before heading back.

    As I arrive at the window to our room though I realize my mistake. The window doesn¡¯t open from the outside! Which is all well and good when considering break ins, but what about me?

    So, with what is left of my dignity I ram my body into it in the hopes that Aiden will hear and open it for me. And lo and behold, he does! I settle into the room, once more circling, and focus on my summoner.

    ¡°So, um, hi.¡± He greets me shyly.

    ¡°Hi Aiden!¡± I reply in kind.

    He seems unsure, which I still don¡¯t understand, but to each their own. I still slow down a bit though and reduce my trajectory to move closer to him. After a little while, maybe to collect his thought, maybe to collect himself, he continues.

    ¡°Right, so. Hi, I¡¯m Aiden. Thank you for becoming my Familiar. I, um, not sure what exactly will happen now, but this is the Academy of Arcane Arts, where people with magical potential study to become great mages. I, uh, may have been rejected and, um, stolen a manual on how to summon a spirit companion to summon you. So, yeah, here we are. That¡¯s about it.¡± He finishes barely audibly.

    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s pretty cool! So, what now? We go study, right?¡±

    He appears shocked for whatever reason, though this time recovers much faster.

    ¡°Right, um, not exactly. There¡¯s still a bit before the school year starts, and most other student will already know a bunch of basics, so they gave me this,¡± he motions to a book on the bedside table, ¡°so that I can catch up and be more or less up to date when we do start studying.¡±

    ¡°Nice, does it have a section about growing? I was told that that is one of the things we would learn.¡± I don¡¯t let his unexplainably sullen mood ruin mine and focus on the important stuff. Once again, growing.

    ¡°I¡¯m, not sure,¡± he begins hesitantly, ¡°but I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find something when comb through it.¡±

    Aha, he finally gained a bit of confidence there at the end. Good.

    We spend the rest of the day going through the book. I mean, almost the whole day. He had to go eat a bunch of times. Either way, we find a bunch of tips and tricks for us as a summoner-spirit due. Little things like how to talk between each other we already knew, but a lot of stuff was news to both of us. For example, if we concentrate on our bond, we can sort of sense the location of the other one. Or that if we really concentrate, then we can actually share senses. Thought the book does say that it only works for a certain distance.

    At the end of the day, though we¡¯ve been reading the time, we still haven¡¯t finished with the book. We did manage to find one hint to what growing is, but only barely and not by any exact name, and it was that the spirit should stay inside the summoner, at least at night, to improve its efficacy. Not sure if that¡¯s really true, but bye bye my night exploration. Maybe we¡¯ll see each other again, but for now I¡¯ll be locked up again.

    At night, with nothing to do and nothing to observe, unlike in a forest, I eventually too fall into a stupor like state, similar to my worldly companion.

    As soon as the sun starts rising, I quickly emerge once again. I¡¯m a bit sad that I couldn¡¯t see the sunrise, but I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll have plenty of opportunities for that later. We spend the day similarly to the previous one. A bunch of new facets of our connection are revealed to us and we once again spend the time between reading practicing them.

    At the end of the there¡¯s still no mention of the fabled growth, but I¡¯m still hopeful. No one¡¯s come to check on us yet, so I¡¯m unsure about this whole academy, but Aiden assures me that that¡¯s just because school hasn¡¯t actually started yet. Which doesn¡¯t explain why we have to be here, but whatever.

    The next couple days progress similarly, and I¡¯m increasingly more and more suspicious of the length the book. It appears normal from the outside, yet no matter how many pages Aiden turns, there seems to be barely any progress. I pointed this out to him, but he still can¡¯t notice it and refuses to skip ahead.

    Truth be told, even I was beginning to lose a bit of hope when, after a more than a week of continuous studying we reached near the end of the book. And there, although not a chapter on growth, there¡¯s a chapter focusing on something called edification. But it¡¯s contents, well that certainly does sound like growth.

    And honestly, it once again sounds so simple that I¡¯m kind of embarrassed I didn¡¯t figure this out. Apparently, there¡¯s something called mana, some kind of energy, I¡¯m not sure, that the people here use to cast spells. Even the summoning ritual that called me here was powered by it. And apparently, the more you use this, the more you improve in it. Now, of course this most likely isn¡¯t all there is to it, seeing as this is only a basic book to catch students up, but at least it¡¯s something.

    Oh yeah, and dear Aiden here apparently knew this already, the little rascal. Which, makes sense since he had to have mana to summon me, but still. He could have said something! Now I have to learn how to use it, but at least Familiars have a much easier time about it than humans do.

 Ch. 4

    After a brief interrogation, and I mean truly brief, I had my answers. Like everything so far, it seems that even this supposedly supernatural mana was easy to access.

    And so, as Aiden went to sleep, I found myself meditating. Now, he said something about focusing on your breathing and looking inwards, but I don¡¯t breathe and already know that inside me is the soul spark I accidentally got. So, I suppose I¡¯ll have to figure something out on my own. Still, if it¡¯s so easy for humans, and it¡¯s supposed to be even easier for Familiars, then I¡¯ll get it in no time.

    Hmm, so what have I actually seen of mana so far? I quickly run through everything that I¡¯ve experienced so far and eventually arrive at one conclusion. That rude transportation fella that teleported must have used magic, or rather, mana!

    Aha, ok. So, how did that feel again? If I remember correctly, then just before we teleported, it felt like being enveloped in something, something familiar. But what did that feeling remind me of?  Well, there was also a similar sensation to being summoned, and when that happens the¡­ mist¡­ envelops me. Was that mist mana all along?

    Ok, doesn¡¯t really matter if they are one and the same, at least not for now. What does matter is whether or not it behaves similarly. Then again, all I know about the mist is that it swirls around when I pass through it.

    I try to access my mana for the rest of the night, but no matter what I do, I cannot seem to get there. How can I do it if there isn¡¯t any here?! Or if there is, without perceiving it?

    Morning comes and I¡¯m still none the wiser. So, out of ideas, I ask Aiden to release some mana into the air. He agrees, and yet nothing happens. Still, he swears that he did as I asked of him, so obviously the problem is with my perception. We try for the rest of the day, occasionally taking breaks to go over some passages in the book and further polishing our skill in that, yet at the end I am still manaless.

    So, seeing as I am all out of ideas and the book is frankly useless in this, head to the only place I know. The headmaster¡¯s office.

    The flight there is once again magical and exhilarating. Approaching the small window once again, I see the familiar duo inside, so I bump into it to alert them.

    The head master, tired as he is, still lets me in and I begin my signature circling. Eventually, I ask my question.

    ¡°How do I access my mana? Or how do I see it all?¡± And then, directed purely at Grintoa, the squirrel-snail hybrid, I add, ¡°is the mist mana?¡±

    The headmaster is content doing his work and so it is Grintoa that answers me, after a very rude snort. ¡°No, the mist is not mana. Seriously, someone needs to teach to you unformed ones. And you¡¯re seriously having trouble sensing mana? You¡¯re not from a material world, your perception isn¡¯t made for it. Just stop seeing the material and it¡¯ll become obvious. As for accessing your own mana? Maybe try breathing a bit.¡±

    Honestly, that¡¯s just rude. I¡¯ve barely been alive; how can it expect me to know all this? Or maybe it is that my instincts are supposed to guide through this. That would be bad, since I¡¯m not getting anything from them.

    As I¡¯m about to leave though, Grintoa lazily adds, ¡°Just remember that you aren¡¯t from here.¡±

    Frustrated, I leave and settle on the roof of a different tower. After checking if there¡¯s anyone inside of course. Who do they think they are, lording their knowledge over me like that. Do they know no manners? I would have expected more from the academy¡¯s headmaster and his Familiar.

    Still, it¡¯s couldn¡¯t hurt to try what they recommended me. Ok ok, I am not from here. Well obviously, I¡¯m from the noble spirit realm! But apparently this is something called a material world? Weird, very weird. Ok, so let¡¯s just try to see the world as I do when home, that should be hard?

    And as I slowly focus on my perception, I realize that who know when it became all stiff, as if I were constantly straining it. Is this what Grintoa meant? I slowly relax, and as I do my vision starts to¡­ darken? Shatter? I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s slowly replaced by the gently glow of a familiar yet strange mist. Unlike the mist of the spirit realm, this one is much thinner and instead of glowing silvery white, it glows a pale blue.

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Slowly, carefully, so as to not disturb my new vision, I look around and see a completely new scenery. The walls of the academy are practically spotlights compared to the air. The few people about at his hour in the surrounding city aren¡¯t that bright, yet they are magnificent in their own way, the mana moving throughout them at different speeds.

    And as I look inward, I realize that I too am full of mana. Almost too full, I¡¯d say. It¡¯s almost as if I were at least half made out of mana. Is this why familiars have such an easy time of learning magic? Other than the fact that we are built to perceive it of course.

    Ok, headmaster and Grintoa, you are mostly forgiven. This is truly amazing.

    Then, what about your second piece of advice? Breathe a little? What does that even mean? I don¡¯t breathe. Then again, when combined with the fact that I¡¯m not from here¡­ What do I breathe? Was I breathing something in the spirit realm that I stopped here, similarly to my perception?

    I might as well try it. So, I try pull. On what, I do not know. I try to pull something into me, and surprisingly, it actually works. Soon, a mote of mana is absorbed by me, and at that point instincts took over. At least I know that I do have them.

    I pull in more and more mana until I¡¯m full. Then, still guided by my instincts, I slowly start to release it again. This though goes much slower, and I notice that not as much is leaving as went in.

    Happy that I finally figured it out, and with the instinct provided knowledge that I¡¯ll have to wait some time before repeating the process, I head back to our room. Though I once again forgot about the window, so I¡¯m stuck outside ¡®till sunrise.

    Which doesn¡¯t take long to arrive, seeing as I spent of the night outside anyway. I once again bump into the window and soon Aiden opens it and lets me in.

    The rest of the day is normal, back to our routine of practicing with the book, though we do have a little celebration when I share that I figured it out.

    With this little victory of mine, my mind comes back to its previous mystery. How do I get a cool body like the other spirits I¡¯ve seen? Yes, Grintoa said that I should wait and it¡¯ll come naturally, or something along those lines, but I still want to know. And if it¡¯s anything like the mystery of growth, then there¡¯s a good probability that Aiden know a bit about this too.

    ¡°Hey, hey Aiden!¡± I speak and startle Aiden out of his book reading. Seriously, you¡¯ve read that so many time already, you can stop now.

    ¡°Do you know how I can get a different body? Like the other Familiars?¡±

    A brief look of concentration crosses his face, but he soon come out of it with, what is hopefully, an answer.

    ¡°As far as I know it happens simultaneously with an advancement.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, that sound interesting. What¡¯s that? When will I get mine?¡±

    ¡°Oh, um, it¡¯s when you practice magic, edification according to this book, for long enough. At some there¡¯s a jump or something like that, when you suddenly get a lot better. Sorry, most people don¡¯t know much about this stuff.¡± Ha, it¡¯s nice when he goes into lecture mode. He sounds much more confident then. ¡°As for how long till you reach yours. Well, uh, that¡¯s never certain, but most people who only just started practicing expect to do so in less than a month. Just in time for the academy to officially open.¡±

    Good, that¡¯s very good. I won¡¯t have to show myself in front of the other spirits in my unformed state. Hmm, but he did say practicing magic, not just growth.

    ¡°Hey Aiden!¡± I start once again. Maybe that should be my catchphrase? Or maybe some more generic, like: Hey, hear! Who knows, but for now I actually do have to ask Aiden something. ¡°Do you know any magic? You know, to practice so that I can do this advancement thing sooner.¡±

    Turns out that he does know a couple of what he called basic spells. So, the rest of the day was spent with him teaching me magic. And guess what? I¡¯m a genius at it, if I do say so myself. I picked it up after only a couple of tries. Admittedly, they aren¡¯t revolutionary spells, but I now can produce I little bit of heat, cold, push or pull light objects and create a very weak light. Which is a bit useless considering that I am a much stronger light than what that spell can produce.

    And so our time was spent, each day practicing magic, our bond and growth, which I am refusing to call edification. At night I sometimes stayed in the room and imitated sleep, and sometime went out to a night time stroll. Is it still a stroll if I am flying? Slowly the days, and for me nights, passed and the opening day of the academy approached.

    A week before we must have read the book at least a dozen times. We knew all the intricacies of our bond and could cast all the spells Aiden knew even in our sleep.

    Five days till opening day, and I began to slowly grow nervous. I still hadn¡¯t advanced, and my time grew ever shorter. I asked Aiden if I would know if I am close to it, but he just said that before the first advancement most people can¡¯t tell.

    Three days, and I was constantly anxious, awaiting it to happen at any moment. Yet, it never came.

    The last day before the start of the school year, I resigned myself to my fate. All the spirits, nay, all the humans even would know that I¡¯m an unformed spirit, barely out of the metaphorical womb. Aiden tried to reassure me that it was fine, but I could sense that even he was a bit worried about my lack of progress.

    And then, at the morning of the day, when I still hadn¡¯t change one iota, I fully resigned myself to my fate and hid away inside Aiden.

 Ch. 5

    The day began like most others so far. Aiden performed a variety of these morning rituals humans have and then ate breakfast. That is where the similarities end though.

    For the first time in more than a month we were finally visited by someone. I say visited, but it¡¯s more like they came to escort us to the opening ceremony.

    Similarly for the first time, we had the chance to actually see the main building of the academy, the palace, up close. And even though I knew conceptually from my occasional night flights that the building was big, standing under it had a completely different feeling.

    Masses and masses of people were slowly trickling inside through the giant front doors. Most of them looked similar in age to Aiden, probably other students. Some of them though, while they did vaguely resemble the others in shape and age, belong to completely different species.

    Soon, we found ourselves in a great hall with a podium on the far side. On it, there were older looking people, mostly humans.

    Aiden was nervous again, constantly looking around, though I couldn¡¯t really fault him since I was somewhat nervous too. This did give me a chance to look around the room without leaving my hideout. Fortunately, everyone else also had their Familiar hidden as well, so at least I was spared some humiliation for now.

    A couple minutes pass and as it looks like no more people will be arriving, the headmaster steps forward on the podium. Huh, I didn¡¯t notice him there.

    ¡°Dear students, welcome to the Azunad Academy of the Arcane Arts! You¡¯ve all worked hard to get to this point, and we¡¯re all very proud of you for that. Here, your journey continues. You¡¯ll¡­¡± He begins a long speech. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t be a proper speech without the headmaster¡¯s tired monotone voice.

    Barely anyone¡¯s paying proper attention. They could¡¯ve at least provided some chairs for everyone. I mean, I¡¯m not standing and even I feel tired from this.

    Luckily, it doesn¡¯t last that long and soon we¡¯re moving on to more interesting topics. Apparently we¡¯re going take some series of tests to ¡®better judge our capabilities and separate us into appropriate groups¡¯. Then we¡¯ll be given schedules, maps, homerooms and a bunch of other information, the usefulness of which I am dubious of, before they send us home for the day.

    So, with nothing better to do, and still somewhat nervous about having to reveals myself as not having advanced yet, we follow the giant mass of students through the various exits. Some more walking and some more waiting later, we¡¯re in the examination room. Where, surprise, surprise, is the old Magus that delivered us here in the first place.

    She, on the other hand, doesn¡¯t recognize us and dully begins with the various tests. Which I do not understand why they weren¡¯t part of the entrance exams or registration or whatever. Why they though it¡¯d be a good idea to do all the students at the same time on one day I¡¯ll never understand.

    She had Aiden perform a bunch of tests, mostly of the magical variety. Show all the spells you know, how much control do you have, how much power can you exert with your magic, etc. Eventually, with an unimpressed face she eventually prompts him to take me out.

    Which I promptly, though reluctantly, do. Which I immediately regret.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± she asks, a smidge of anger in her voice.

    ¡°My, my Familiar.¡± Aiden, ever the cowards, meekly replies.

    ¡°I know that. What I mean is, why is it still unformed? You should have had more than enough time to advance at least once.¡±

    I knew that, but it still stings. The thinly veiled contempt in her voice doesn¡¯t help either.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you don¡¯t know how to do that, ¡°she start questioning, but quickly adds in a quiet murmur, ¡°no, that¡¯s automatic the first time, that¡¯s not it.¡±

    She throws a suspicious glance between the two of us. ¡°Or have you been slacking this whole time? I don¡¯t even know which one is worse!¡±

    All the while I just float there, ashamed. I don¡¯t even circle around the room as I usually do.

    ¡°Um, miss Magus, we have been training diligently, ¡° Aiden manages to stutter out, ¡°for more than a month, even! The Advancement just didn¡¯t happen yet.¡±

    The Magus scowls at him, but turns to me and beckons me closer. Slowly, I comply. Floating not even an arms width away from her, I feel the unsettling sensation of her gaze analysing every fibre of my being once more. The moment, however long it may feel, eventually passes.

    ¡°Show me your process of edification!¡± she barks out.

    I¡¯m not left with many options, so I start to pull in as much mana as I can and then slowly let it all out. That doesn¡¯t take me too long to do, and since that¡¯s all there is to it, I also add that I know and practice the same spells as Aiden on a daily basis.

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    At this, she orders me to run thorough all the same test that Aiden did, all the while her unsettling gaze pierces my very being. It doesn¡¯t take me long to finish it all. I don¡¯t mean to brag, but I quickly overtook Aiden in my spellcasting ability, at least in most areas.

    At the end of this all, she observes me for a little while longer before falling in thought. And so, we wait. And wait, and wait. When I¡¯m starting to believe that she died, she opens her eyes and declares:

    ¡°You have a defective Familiar.¡±

    Which is just complete bullshit! Like, excuse me, but I am not defective! I am a genius little floating ball of light and you will address me as such! I gained in spellcasting abilities what took Aiden months, if not years! So no, dear Magus, I am not defective.

    Aiden shares my discontent by immediately saying a somewhat diluted version of my own argument. But, as always, his shy delivery lessens the impact and he is quickly interrupted.

    ¡°By that I mean that as much as it may try to absorb mana, it¡¯s reserves will never increase. It¡¯s casting ability is excellent, yes, but you cannot advance purely on that. Furthermore, no matter how complex your spellwork is, it doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t have the mana pool to supply your magic.¡± She declares her verdict, damning me for eternity.

    We both stand there, shocked beyond belief. I can¡¯t believe this. Is she saying that I¡¯ll forever be stuck as this boring ball of light? Never advancing, never becoming better, never becoming more? That, that can¡¯t be possible.

    Aiden too seems crushed by this revelation. I don¡¯t know why, but it almost looks like his entire world has just shattered around him. His sagging shoulders, bowed head and slumped posture make for a sad sight.

    Even the ever-stuck-up Magus softens up at this sight. ¡°Look, don¡¯t worry about it too much. It just means that you¡¯ll have less magic support than other people. You can still become a powerful mage; you¡¯ll just have to work harder.¡±

    After a while, he clenches his fists and gives a determined, if somewhat weak, nod.

    And as that is pretty much that there is to the examination, we¡¯re on our way back to our dorm room. The whole way back both of us remain silent.

    I feel like I¡¯ve somehow betrayed him. Sure, I definitely did disappoint him somehow, what with my limited potential and all, but that¡¯s not exactly my fault. I really hope that he doesn¡¯t blame me for this.

    As we arrive to our room, Aiden sits on his bed, deep in though. I can¡¯t bear the silence long though.

    ¡°So, what now?¡± I ask, trying to lighten the mood.

    He stays silent in contemplation for a while longer, before eventually responding. I guess a should be happy that he isn¡¯t ignoring me.

    ¡°I suppose it¡¯s like Magus Quinn said. I¡¯ll just have to work harder than the other students.¡± He begins, resoluteness climbing back into his voice. ¡°I¡¯ll have to work at least twice as hard, which means I¡¯ll have less time for the non-magical studying, which is where you come in.¡±

    I nod my head, which is my whole body now that I think about it, so I just sort of bob in the air. I¡¯m not exactly happy with where this is going, but I suppose it is something I should do.

    ¡°So, you¡¯ll spend most of your time in the school library studying and when something is absolutely necessary teach it to me, while I¡¯ll focus on magic.¡± He finishes his thought.

    Yup, just like I expected. Once again, I don¡¯t like it, but it¡¯s for the best. If not for my personal development, then for our bond. Though the knowledge I will gain may be worth it on its own. And it gives me the opportunity to do actual research into what is wrong with me.

    I just simply refuse to believe that I cannot advance. Something tells me that that¡¯s impossible, and even my instincts are whispering that there¡¯s been a misunderstanding. So, the first step is to figure out how this whole absorption of mana leads to advancement. If I understand the process, I should be able to figure out what is blocking me from achieving it, and from there it should be relatively simple in fixing it.

    Of course, I won¡¯t be able to focus purely on this endeavour of mine, as I¡¯ll need to still help Aiden with studying. And while I¡¯m doing all that, he¡¯ll be working on mastering magic. Sigh, I¡¯m envious.

    By now night had fallen and Aiden¡¯s already fast asleep. I decide that since I¡¯ll be stuck in a stuffy library for the foreseeable future, I may as well do one last flight through the night.

    I visit all my favourite spots I¡¯ve found over the past month. The big wrinkly tree, a small crack in the school foundations, a large rock, and of course, the headmasters office.

    Why the headmaster¡¯s office? It¡¯s of course because I need to ask his Familiar a very important question.

    Once there, the same thing as every other time I¡¯ve visited happens. He unlocks the window; I fly in and start flitting about until I eventually calm down and settle over Grintoa. I still can¡¯t get over how weird a hybrid of a squirrel and a snail look.

    ¡°Hey, um, Grintoa? I have a question.¡±

    ¡°Ask away, ask away.¡±

    ¡°So, everyone can advance, yes?¡±

    It shifts a bit to look at me. ¡°Yes, every living thing, and some inanimate too.¡±

    ¡°Cool, cool. So that means that if, let¡¯s say, someone couldn¡¯t absorb mana properly or grow their mana pool, they could still advance, yes?¡±

    At this a lot of movements happen, compared to the previous slight shift, and I feel an intense set of eyes on me. ¡°Theoretically, yes. But we¡¯re both spirits, so we don¡¯t have to trouble ourselves with it.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± my hopefulness surely leaks into my question, yet I cannot help myself. This means I can do it after all!

    ¡°Because the reason for the apparent inability to advance is usually caused by a malady of the body or mind. Rarely, it may be cause by a special constitution or bloodline, but once again, we¡¯re spirits. None of that concerns us.¡± Then, with a voice that causes me to shiver, I hear the its voice ask me a question. ¡°Why, are you unable to properly grow? Or is it your summoner?¡±

    I¡¯m not really in the mood for answering that question, so out the window I go! I¡¯ll be stuck in the library for some time, so it doesn¡¯t matter if they won¡¯t allow me to visit either way.

    The next day, the academy¡¯s curriculum starts for real, and nothing much happens. Just moving between a bunch of classes of varying boringness. After the day is over, we head to the library, where I stay while Aiden heads back to the dorm to practice the cool stuff, magic.

    I start my search for information, both for my ailment and Aiden¡¯s studies, but I can already tell it¡¯s going to take a long time.

    The next day differs only by the fact that I am at the library, so Aiden picks me up there, but then the rest of the day follows a similar structure to yesterday.

    And so does the day after that. And the day after that. Just like that, a new routine is established for me, and I can¡¯t decide if it¡¯s better or worse than the month long lead up to it.

 Ch. 6

    As much as I feared the size of the task before me, my fears proved to be unfounded. Barely a month into my search and I already found it. Well, I found a part of what I was looking for. More of a step in the right direction than the whole picture, but I¡¯ll take what I can get at this point.

    Truth be told, at about the one week mark I began to lose hope of ever finding what I needed. Near the end, if you¡¯d asked me I would have told you it was hopeless. My perseverance was, however, rewarded.

    The book about wasn¡¯t anything like ¡°how to fix your inability to advance¡± or ¡°the causes of magical ineptitude¡± or even ¡°a comprehensive guide to advancement and the forces behind it. Eh, technically it was a bit of the last one, but on a much, much lower level.

    The book I managed to actually find covered only a small topic, and that was the basic principles behind edification. Which is basically just the absorption of mana hidden behind a needlessly fancy name.

    Anyway, that¡¯s what I found. And as much as it rekindled my hope, the disappointment that followed upon figuring out it only covered the basics was immense.

    Still, at least I got something out of it. Turns out, it¡¯s another ridiculously simple process that I still can¡¯t help but beat myself over. Like, seriously! You could¡¯ve just told me that, under normal circumstances, the repeated absorption of mana slowly expands your pool of available mana.

    Which leads me to the question, why doesn¡¯t it work for me?

    I spent a long time pondering over this great mystery, trying to observe the process in greater and greater detail, but no matter what I tried, the results were always the same. Somehow, it just doesn¡¯t want to stick to me! Which left me once again wondering the age-old question, why?

    Of course, as it turns out, I knew the answer from pretty much day one. The thing that makes me unique as a spirit. I haven¡¯t thought about it that much until now, it just didn¡¯t seem relevant and I also didn¡¯t know what it really meant.

    But now I know, oh how I know. The stupid, useless first part of my supposed awesome ability quite literally doesn¡¯t allow me to advance. Or more precisely, it forbids me from accepting outside help except for one time. And since getting that soul apparently counted and since absorbing mana is for some unknowable reason outside help, I¡¯m stuck.

    Which left me frustrated for a while. How could I advance and get a real (as much as a spirit imitating something can be considered real) physical form, if the vary act of doing so is judged to be help? It just didn¡¯t make any sense!

    Then, one day, when I was glumly reading in the library, my search for a cure almost forgotten, I reached an epiphany. Two pieces of the puzzle merged to create a more complete image.

    Since outside mana is considered help that must mean that something happened to it for it be judged so, right? I swear I¡¯m not going crazy! And also, since, according to Grintoa, spirits can¡¯t be blocked of from growing, then there must be a way for me to do so. And the last piece fell into place. It was a simple realization, yet a profound one. My mana pool, from where I draw power to cast spells, refills automatically.

    Which has to, just simply has to mean that I produce my own mana somewhere and it can be used to advance instead! It must be true, or else I¡¯m well and truly doomed!

    So started another deep search of the library, this time focused on mana. Specifically, its production and or origin.

    This time it took me even longer. I had to head deeper into the library than ever before, upon which I also discovered that it had a similar effect to the book Aiden received before enrolment. But I digress. The point is that, either this subject is very advanced, unsought, or, for whatever reason, someone doesn¡¯t want people to find it.

    One of reason why is probably because the book was actually a treatise on souls. Yes, as it turns out, mana can find its origins in souls. Sadly that is pretty much all I could glean from it at this time, for a treatise on a subject such as this is apparently shrouded even further in professional jargon.

    So even though I had what I was confident is the end point of my search, I couldn¡¯t actually do anything with it. But now, my hope and determination were fully rekindled and blazing, and I wouldn¡¯t let anyone get in my way.

    I spent the next couple of months searching for the required knowledge to comprehend my target subject. I studied and pored over books on almost every type of magic (or at least the basics and theory behind each one) until, when I opened my prize tome again¡­

    I still couldn¡¯t understand it. What? How is that even possible? Fortunately, my months of research weren¡¯t for waste, as I now recognized the source of the issue. It wasn¡¯t a problem of laymanship, but rather of an enchantment on the book itself which caused the words to become unreadable.

    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    I didn¡¯t let my cool slip. Ok, maybe I did get a bit frustrated, but who doesn¡¯t when a task just gets longer and longer. Still, this was a library, so I managed to stay quiet and eventually calm down.

    This is fine. Completely fine. I¡¯ll just have to learn enchanting, actually learn this time, and disenchant it. Easy.

    At this point, the long hours of wandering the library became something I¡¯d long become used to, so I slipped right back into my routine with a new target in mind.

    This time though, I was lucky. Turns out that enchanting is a great way to make money, which meant that book on it were popular and easy to access. It still took me half a month to read enough for me to consider it enough and that¡¯s not factoring in the time it took me to actually train this skill.

    As such, it was approaching the end of the school year, when judged myself to be ready and headed for the soul treatise once more.

    The enchantment, this time, was finally fully legible (at least after I finished decoding it). I understood it so much, that I even managed to stop myself from removing it, since I noticed that it actually had an inbuilt mechanism for people to register and read the true contents.

    I did so, my name appearing among a list of many others, and the letter slowly rearranged to finally make sense.

    And oh boy, were the contents interesting. I was finally able to understand why the disproportional amount of protection placed upon it.

    Passage after passage filled the book with the secrets of souls. What they are, where they come from, what¡¯s their purpose, and most important for me, what¡¯s their effect. One of which was the answer to my problem.

    Souls, apparently, generate mana. How or why, I couldn¡¯t quite understand, something about dissolution and the outer layer, but I didn¡¯t need to. I now had all I needed.

    I just needed to produce enough mana on my own to qualify for the long unreachable goal of advancement. If only it were that easy.

    I tried to push my mana as it regenerated into going to the same place where absorbed mana usually went. That didn¡¯t work. Turns out that my mana has to be full for that pathway to open up.

    The next logical step was to just not cast any spells for some time, yet that was a bust too. After a couple of day of no magic I checked my progress. It had barely moved. The second problem turned out to be that mana generation slows down upon reaching full mana. It would take me ages to complete just one cycle, let alone the dozens more accomplished in the usual first month.

    Yes, I had all the time in the world, but Aiden did not. So, waiting for eons for a single step of growth isn¡¯t viable.

    After that I figured there had to be a way to increase mana generation. My first step was the soul book again (technically the second, but I doubt a couple minutes of experimentation count). It did indeed contain a basic method to boost my generation by stimulating key parts of it, though it was less than twice the amount. Half an eon is still a long time.

    During all this, I spent very little time with Aiden. Over time we talked less and less until the only words exchanged between us were when he was writing a test. I began to feel lonely after a while. It was, after all, the first time I was alone for longer periods of time. But the search must carry on, so I endured.

    I took the technique described in the treatise and modified it whichever way I could. I still only managed to attain at maximum a tripling of my mana generation. This path was clearly not the way forward.

    But what if I took a step sideways? One soul could only produce so much mana, and the size of a soul (which I¡¯m pretty sure also correlates to the amount of mana it generates) grew mostly with advancement and age, so that was another no-no. But what if, instead on trying to increase the effectiveness of my soul, or enlarging it, I instead had two souls?

    For indeed, that is already what I had for a long time. I even gained it on my very first day, my first summon. It¡¯s almost like I was destined for this. All I needed to do was to take control of the soul spark and incorporate it into my being (instead of just lugging it around).

    Looking inwards, I gazed upon the long-forgotten soul spark near my centre. Is it just me or has it gown a bit? Even if it has, that¡¯s only a good thing and means my idea can work.

    It takes me a little while, but with my instincts guiding me (for the first time in a while) I figured it out. A combination of flooding it with mana, forcing some of the ¡®mist¡¯ I was made from into it and willing it to become me, it slowly became just that.

    Sometime later, could be minutes, could be hours, I looked for my own soul. It¡¯s one of the tricks you pick up when learning about souls and soul magic.

    And there, where until now a single silver ball existed, now two of them rested. One, significantly larger, the other small and orbiting around the first.

    Ha. Haha. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I did it!

    After month and months of work I finally did it! No longer will I be constrained to be a weak unformed spirit! I can finally join the ranks of my fellows out in the open! Yes!

    Waiting for my mana pool to fill, I pondered about what form I should take once I advance. Over the months I¡¯ve seen many more Familiars than just the big snake and Grintoa. Many were just copies of existing creatures with maybe a small alteration, others were a hybrid like Grintoa, and some were creatures I couldn¡¯t even begin to identify. An especially weird one was something apparently called an ooze. Or was it slime?

    Anyway, the point is, what should I become? There are just so many options!

    My mana reached full and I focused back. Upon concentrating, I could now sense two distinct pathways that my excess mana could travel down. At the end of one, a behemoth of a sphere, and at the end of the other a swift marble. It was obvious which one was which.

    I pushed all of my excess mana towards my new soul. Hopefully, with the generation of a bigger one, this one¡¯ll take less time to advance. Then, with two souls, I could hopefully manage to actually advance in a reasonable amount of time.

    If it¡¯s linear then, combined with my boosting technique, it should reach six times increase in mana generation. This isn¡¯t that much shorter, but I¡¯m hoping that it¡¯ll scale in a more drastic way and reduce the time needed to at most a year.

    One can only hope.

 Ch. 7

    The end of the school year approached and I spent the remaining few days in the library. By now it became a comforting environment. I searched for miscellaneous knowledge of anything from plants and monsters to magic and spells. All the while, I made sure to use as little magic as possible, so that as much excess mana as possible could be funnelled towards the growth of my second soul.

    In no time the end-of-year assessment test arrived and passed. And so too did Aiden. Pass the test, I mean. He did not pass on, luckily.

    And so it happened that, for the first time since the start of the year, we were once again both in the dorm room. Wow, I just realized how much time I¡¯ve spent in the library over the past few months. Freaky.

    Aiden was walking about his room, putting all the few belongings he had into a backpack.

    ¡°So, what now? Why are you packing all your stuff?¡± I ask, for once bored since I didn¡¯t have a book to examine for useful info.

    ¡°We leave. The Academy doesn¡¯t allow students to stay in the dorms during break, so I have to pack and get out.¡± His reply is terse, very unlike the Aiden I¡¯ve come to know during the first months. Then again, we¡¯ve been meeting more and more rarely as the year progressed. I wonder if something happened. Oh well, at least he isn¡¯t that stuttering mess as before.

    It doesn¡¯t take him long to finish putting everything away. As I said, very few belongings. Just a few spare clothes mostly and of course the suspiciously long book we received.

    I decide to hide away inside him for once while he goes about. This way I can focus on a new boosting technique that increases my mana generation four times! Sadly, it requires almost my full focus, so I can¡¯t pay as much attention to this new city.

    Soon I get into the zone, my mana flooding towards my soul as the scenery passes by.

    The dorms. Academy gardens. The long walkway towards the main building of the academy. The magnificent lizard engraved gate.

    The plaza where people occasionally teleport to and from. A street. Another street. A public square. More streets and more plazas.

    Occasionally Aiden stops by or visits one of the buildings we pass by, but then the journey soon continues.

    The sun reaches noon and soon also passes it.

    Some more streets and alleys. The occasional wooden house start appearing again.

    Another plaza, another fountain, another alley, another building.

    A crowd of people. Some commotion. A fancily dressed teen. More commotion. Armoured guards and some more streets and alleys.

    Wait what? I pause concentrating inwards and focus on the outside happenings.

    Guards? As far as I know, being escorted by guards isn¡¯t a sign of good times ahead.

    ¡°Um, Aiden? Why are you being dragged by the guards?¡± I send him a quick message. Hopefully this is just a misunderstanding and we can clear it up quickly, but somehow, I doubt it.

    It takes a while for him to respond, though he eventually does answer. Still, even in his mental voice I can hear the anger and frustration. ¡°It¡¯s that bastard Adraldor. Or ¡®lord Levi¡¯ ass he wants everyone to call him. Damn bastard.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, is he important? Wait, wait. Is he in your class?¡± I send back. A bit of distraction may do me good after working for so long.

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you been paying attention? He¡¯s the stupid son of the local lord who¡¯s been trying to take control of the whole class since the very start!¡± Somehow, the thought of this makes Aiden even more angry.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sorry, I haven¡¯t been paying much attention because I was combing through the whole library so that you wouldn¡¯t fail your so called ¡®mundane subjects¡¯.¡± Maybe that was a bit too harsh. Then again, it is the truth and I¡¯d be nice to be appreciated a bit.

    At this, he falls silent. We don¡¯t talk after that, which is frustrating, since I still don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening!

    Let¡¯s see. There was some kind of commotion with a crowd. Then the apparently arrogant Adraldor Levi, son of Lord Levi, arrived. Then came more commotion and soon after the guards were taking Aiden away. Does that mean that Adraldor got offended by something Aiden did and called the guards on him? Seem like it, in which case he really is an entitled prick.

    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    It doesn¡¯t take long and soon we¡¯re waiting in another empty room. Ah, reminds me of my first day on this summoning. We wait and wait. I try a couple of half-hearted attempts to engage Aiden in conversation, but he isn¡¯t feeling it. And to be honest, neither am I.

    It at least gives me the opportunity to once again focus on my mana generation. Which actually managed to increase the size of the small soul twice since I got it. Though since it started so extremely small it didn¡¯t count as a proper advancement. I¡¯ll have to go beyond the size of my original soul to advance, it seems.

    An unknown time later, a single guard enters and takes us out. He leads us all the way to the city wall, where he pauses and gives Aiden a look.

    ¡°Look, man. I don¡¯t know what you did and it¡¯s obvious it isn¡¯t fair, but orders are orders. The lord has banished you from the city for a year. The most I can do is give you this,¡± he hands Aiden a smallish pack, " and wish you good luck.

    The anger bubbles back to the surface of Aiden¡¯s psyche, but thankfully he still takes the pouch. With clenched fists and a steely gaze, he sets out into the wilderness outside the city.

    Ok, that¡¯s a bit exaggerated. The area surrounding the city is mostly grassland and farms, though he does head in the direction of a forest in the far-off distance.

    Which gives me more time to focus on my own growth.

    The second soul is slowly inching its way towards the size of the bigger original one. It gains a small increase in radius continuously even though the vast majority of its enlargement happened due to those proto-advancements.

    By now it¡¯s orbiting around my original one at only half the speed of when I first claimed it. Does that mean that when they¡¯re balanced, they¡¯ll both be still? Hmm, food for thought.

    We enter the forest and I decide that I¡¯ve had enough of being confined for now and start flying about once again. Aiden still appears to ignore me. Whatever, he¡¯ll eventually have to calm down and talk to me if he wants to survive here. After all, I¡¯m pretty sure that they didn¡¯t cover any survival spells in the academy this year.

    We spend the rest of the day trekking through the forest. Well, Aiden did. I can fly.

    As night approaches he¡¯s still going and I begin to wonder whether he has any plan or even an idea of what to do. Eventually, he just looks around, lies down near a tree and promptly falls asleep.

    Dumbass! Is he a complete buffoon or what? You have no idea what lurks in this forest! You haven¡¯t even tried to construct the most basic of shelters or hide. And also, I¡¯m a floating source of light. Don¡¯t you think some creature will be attracted to that!

    Once I¡¯m done mentally shouting at him in my head, I set about fixing at least some of his mistakes. I collect some sticks and underbrush to cover him from any predators. Now, what about my light?

    Actually, that¡¯s an even better question than I thought. Why am I glowing?

    I never really questioned it; it just was one of the things I did and there was no reason to bother myself with it further. But now I wonder. Is it something I even have control over? And why is it happening in the first place?

    All the other familiars, that I¡¯ve seen so far, who went through the first advancement don¡¯t have any sort of glow to them, so what makes me, or rather all the unformed ones, different?

    In one of the books, I read over the past year, the author proposed the idea that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed. Which is obviously false, just look at where mana comes from, but what if it did have something to it.

    I once again focus inwards, but this time I concentrate on my actual mana pool. It¡¯s the most straightforward form of power I know of and I have to make sure that he glow isn¡¯t stealing any of my mana. I need that for my advancement.

    The mana pool has also transformed since I got my second soul. At first it only grew by a little bit, but now I can almost call it a mana pond. Which suggests that by having two souls the combined mana capacity isn¡¯t additive, since, you know, the new soul is much smaller so it makes no sense for my capacity to more than double already. Hopefully the same applies to generation.

    But I digress. I haven¡¯t cast a spell I some time now and my mana reflects that. It is as smooth and calm as can be. If not the pool, then maybe the generation?

    I check on my souls and where all the extra generated mana goes, but once again find no discrepancy. All the generated mana is heading right where it should, towards my new soul. Where does the glow come from then?

    Out of options, I turn towards the one place that had most of the answers to my unanswered questions. My instincts.

    It¡¯s always troublesome when I have to deal with them. They either completely overwhelm me (even if they haven¡¯t led me astray so far), or I have to coax them into action with all of my effort. It¡¯s quite troublesome, really, but what can I do.

    As I focus on my problem while concentrating on the very core of my being, a faint sense of directions whiffs by me. I blindly follow, hoping that this won¡¯t be the time when I¡¯m betrayed by my own instincts.

    And my faith is rewarded. Though I only notice later when I stop my intense focus, my light slowly dims, until only a faint,, barely visible glow remains. Is that a requirement or do just not have enough practice to completely turn it off? Whatever, it¡¯ll be enough for now.

    But tomorrow, tomorrow I¡¯ll have to properly teach Aiden how to survive in the wilderness. Admittedly my own knowledge is only theoretical, but at least the spells I should be able to cast. If nothing else, at least he won¡¯t starve.

    I settle into the crown of the tree Aiden is sleeping under and turn half my attention inward. After all, I can¡¯t have something sneaking up on us in the night. With the other half though, I can do whatever I want. And what I want the most currently is to finally advance. It¡¯ll soon be a whole year late, but still better than never.

    I slowly drift into a mana generating fugue as I ponder that my multitasking abilities also seem to have gained an improvement since my acquisition of two souls.

 Ch. 8

    It doesn¡¯t take long for morning to arrive and Aiden to stir awake.

    ¡°Why the hell am I covered in branches and leaves?¡± he asks out loud, indignant.

    I too rise out of my fugue and circle closer to him.

    ¡°It¡¯s because you decided to just rest in the middle of the forest without checking for anything. What if there were some animals out and about, or even monsters? So, I hid you.¡± I finish proudly.

    Grumbling quietly, but not pursuing the matter any longer, Aiden gets up. He stretches a bit and walks around. All the while I am back to my habits of flying around, circling him.

    I hope he¡¯s not back to ignoring me. Thankfully, my worries are proven unfounded, as, taking a deep breath, he soon speaks up. This time in a proper telepathic manner.

    ¡°Is that what you¡¯ve been reading all this time in the library?¡±

    ¡°Among other things, but yes.¡±

    ¡°Good, then if you don¡¯t mind, ¡°he again takes a deep breath, ¡°please find me some shelter and food.¡±

    ¡°Sure, sure, can do. What¡¯ll you be doing?¡± Finally, I¡¯ll have something else to do than constantly reading.

    ¡°Training.¡± Is all he replies with. Ok, it¡¯s all fine and dandy that he¡¯s not constantly scared anymore, but this is too much. Seriously, what happened to him?

    ¡°Training what?¡± Unwilling to end our conversation, I press on.

    ¡°Spellcasting.¡± Wow, this is getting ridiculous. Whatever, if I get one more one-word reply, I¡¯ll drop it.

    ¡°Ooh, nice. Then do you want to provide your own meal? I found this cool plant growing spell in the library.¡± That¡¯s it, my last try. At least for today. If that doesn¡¯t get him interested, what with his newfound obsession with spellcraft, then I¡¯ll just have to try later.

    ¡°Sure.¡± And so, ends our morning conversation.

    I spend a couple minutes teaching him how the spell works. It¡¯s not that difficult though sometimes it is hard to balance augmenting the growth of the plant with boosting its nutrient intake.

    Soon, Aiden¡¯s practicing his spells and I¡¯m left to my own devices.

    I decide to observe him for a little while. A fire appears in his hands, then slowly spreads in spirals across his body. After that they expand in a cage like configuration and eventually converging into a dense ball a couple meters in front of him.

    I sigh, as much as I can sigh while still not having a body. I wish I could do magic like that. But not only would that waste precious regeneration that could go towards advancing, I also still don¡¯t have a large enough mana pool. Advancement is a truly unfair multiplier.

    I leave him to it and explore the forest. I still have to find, or construct, some kind of shelter. Wandering through the forest, I sink back into a pondering mindset.

    It took me a couple of months of pretty much constant mana generation and my second soul is only just beginning to catch up. Now, of course since it¡¯s getting bigger it¡¯s mana generation should also be increasing, so, worst-case scenario, it¡¯ll take at most another month for both to be the same size.

    Best-case scenario, both sources of mana somehow multiply each other, like it seems happening with the mana pool, and I can hit my goal in, eh, maybe two weeks? Probably more, but then again that is the best-case scenario.

    Then, once both souls are the same size, and my mana generation is hopefully maximized, I can focus on pushing one of them towards proper advancement. With double, or more (hopefully), generation and multiplied by my boosting techniques it shouldn¡¯t take that long.

    And then, once one of them is in the next stage, which as far as I can tell provides a huge boost, it should provide enough mana to also advance the second one. And I¡¯ll have an endless cycle of advancements! Haha!

    Still, while I do have reason to believe it¡¯ll be like that, a sizable part of that theory is still conjecture. Maybe having multiple souls somehow permanently cripples me. Or the mana generation is actually less that doubled, though based on the mana pool this is unlikely.

    Still, there¡¯s no point in worrying about it right now. Then again, what if I can do something now that¡¯d fix whatever problem comes up later, which I won¡¯t be able to fix then. No, no, don¡¯t worry about it. Let me just find a cave or something that¡¯ll serve as shelter, then I can begin to even consider worrying.

    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    Some time later, though not too long, when the sun is almost shining right overhead, I come across exactly that. A cave entrance lies at the base of a hill, its dark mouth open, invitingly.

    I excitedly rush in. It ends barely a dozen meters in, barren. Not even stalagmites and stalactites occupy its space. Oh well, it¡¯ll do for now. And besides, Aiden can practice some earth magic to make it livelier.

    I rush back to Aiden and it¡¯s only when I¡¯m more than halfway there that I realize that I could¡¯ve just called him to me. He can sense my direction as much as I can his, but whatever.

    As I near the point where we split that morning, a place in the forest like ant other, I instead come upon a small clearing. Tree trunks and splinters, upturned earth and a bunch of rocks lie all around. In the centre, Aiden, practicing some wind spells.

    ¡°Hey there, Aiden!¡± I shout, dragging out the greeting. Well, it¡¯s still telepathy, but I shout nonetheless.

    The spells, and with them the carnage, slowly stop. Aiden turns to me, asking: ¡°What is it?¡±

    Aha, success! A more than one word answer! And he doesn¡¯t appear as tense and angry as before. Good.

    ¡°I found some shelter. It¡¯s not the best, but it¡¯ll do for now at least. However, that means you can practice magic while making it nicer!¡±

    At this he just grunts though and starts heading my way. I lead him towards the in silence, though not for long.

    ¡°So, ¡°I begin, ¡°why¡¯d you destroy the forest?¡±

    He sighs, though not in a sad manner. ¡°Look, I have to focus on getting as good at magic as I can. You got me into the Academy, but that¡¯s it. You aren¡¯t like normal Familiars. You cannot support me in my career, you cannot help me with magic, you can just barely cast some basic spells. You are hardly what one¡¯d call a proper spirit companion and it won¡¯t even change. I have to work more than twice as hard as all the other entitled brats in class, so just stay out of my way and try to make yourself useful.¡±

    His words hurt. I want to refute him, to say that I can be useful, that I can research all the books like I¡¯ve done this past year, that I can and will soon change, but I can¡¯t. As much as I want to, it¡¯s just not possible in the aftermath of his words. And then, he puts the last nail in the coffin.

    ¡°And stop trying to distract me from my training. I won¡¯t be dragged down by you.¡±

    With those damning words, he leaves me behind and goes to check out the cave. By now we¡¯ve reached the line of sight of its entrance, so I¡¯m left there, alone and abandoned.

    Should I just leave? No, I mustn¡¯t! A couple months. Yes, in a couple months at most, I¡¯ll have advanced and then he¡¯ll accept me back, I¡¯m sure of it. I just have to advance and everything will be fine.

    I almost start meditating right then and there, but luckily manage to catch myself at the last second. wouldn¡¯t want to repeat the same mistake as Aiden last night. Slowly, I float into the cave and settle down in a dark corner.

    I dim my light and sink into meditation. Maybe I¡¯ll feel better after some focused mana generation.

    Peering inwards, I once again focus on my twin souls. The first, my original, is still the same as ever. Big, majestic, stationary. The second one, the one I raised from a tiny spark is catching up nicely. Its orbit around the first has slowed down noticeably and only extended observation would reveal the truth.

    I begin poking them all around, stretching and flexing them. Soon, the trickle of mana coming off of them both increase. Following the stream, I come upon my mana pool. It¡¯s not quite as serene as usual, but that should return to normal alongside me. The pool is full though and the stream of mana has nowhere to go. It diverts into a new pathway, which splits halfway down. I direct all of the mana into one, leaving the other empty. It flows down and reaches my second, smaller soul. As the mana flows into it, it reinforces the soul and cause it to grow by an infinitesimal amount.

    Time passes and I eventually get bored. As much as I want to advance as soon as possible, my capacity for long periods of time spent doing a single mind-numbing task can only take so much. It¡¯s not like I won¡¯t be making any progress while I¡¯m doing other stuff though, just slower without my mana boosting.

    Opening my perception back to the world again, I start floating. The cave has changed while I was out.

    The walls no longer have the natural look. They are smooth and in one corner I can even see the beginnings of some kind of decorative pattern. A table and a chair, both made of stone, sit in the middle of what is no longer a cave, but a room. In one corner, a bunch of leaves, moss and similar soft forest material form a basic bed. Probably not very comfortable though.

    I wonder how long I¡¯ve been out. It couldn¡¯t have been short with the amount of work Aiden has managed to do in the meantime.

    Floating out of the former cave, I come upon a familiar scene. A dozen, maybe more, meters around the entrance is a scene of utter devastation. Felled trees, rocks thrown all around along with a bunch of upturned earth. Some piles of ash accompany this scene this time though, along with a couple of puddles and mud mounds.

    Aiden is nowhere to be seen, though I can sense him to be nearby.

    I roam the newly made clearing, inspecting the carnage along the way. Many of the tree trunks have deep gashes in them, probably from the wind slash Aiden was practicing the last time when I informed him of the cave. Though judging by all the puddles of water, it could very well have been a water blade instead.

    The upturned earth is probably where Aiden pulled all those rocks from the earth. That¡¯s a ridiculous amount of power. How many advancements has he gone through already?

    The piles of ash are rather self-explanatory, though I do wonder for a second if perhaps he learned some lightning magic. That¡¯s unlikely though, as it¡¯s a more difficult element to master by its very nature.

    As I¡¯m inspecting one of the stumps, this one had its trunk torn off, probably by one of the boulders, Aiden returns. He¡¯s carrying a dead fish in one hand, though no fishing pole. Did he catch it with his bare hands? Ah, no. Probably magic.

    He nears a stone block which I hadn¡¯t noticed. Near it is a small pile of bones and intestines, all of them from fish.

    He sets the fresh fish down and gets to work, magic in his hands. As he does so, I slowly creep away, so as to not disturb him. I should see if anything else of interest is nearby, since I already apparently missed the river.

    I leave the scene of desolation that is the clearing, looking for adventure. Or at least something to distract me from thinking about my situation and prepare me for another session of deep meditation.

 Ch. 9

    I spend the rest of the day exploring the surroundings, though other than the river I don¡¯t find much of interest. So, as night begins to fall, I return to our humble abode.

    Aiden is once again not at the clearing, although this time I sense him much nearer. Right in the cave, actually.

    Floating inside, I see him crouching near the wall that had the beginnings of the engraving on it. He appears to be in a state of intense focus, continuing the carving with some earth magic.

    Heeding his earlier words, I remain quiet as I float over to my corner and settle down. Still, I¡¯m unwilling to just get back to meditating. I should be doing something! Helping him! But how can I do that when he barely even acknowledges me?

    Sigh. All I know is some worldly knowledge that he isn¡¯t interested in and some hyper specific knowledge that won¡¯t help him much. Even the couple of spells I learnt that they didn¡¯t cover in classes are mostly useless. He already has more than enough to focus on as is without me adding onto his pile.

    With no interest in alchemy, enchanting or artificing, as much as my own knowledge in those fields is mostly theoretical, I can¡¯t even help him with that. Am I truly going to be useless for another two months? There has to be something I can do!

    I think and ponder, scouring every recesses of my memory. Over a whole year of pure studying, one learns a whole lot, and even if a bunch of it is non-magical fluff, there¡¯s still a lot to go through.

    As I¡¯m revising all the subjects a read about and watching Aiden inscribe into the stone wall, it hits me. Formations!

    A sub-profession of enchanting, formations focus on more stationary and permanent effects. Now, while I¡¯m more of an expert (I¡¯m not an expert even in this field, but whatever) in normal enchanting thanks to my focus on unlocking the soul book, I still know the basics of formation creation. At this point know the basics of almost everything though.

    And as luck would have it one of the most basic, and therefore first taught, is a mana gathering formation. And what¡¯d help Aiden, who is training as much as possible, more than more mana to train with?

    So, I get to work.

    I must admit that as much as this formation is the first one most students learn, it is in turn also extremely simplified and therefore also inefficient. And this is also going to be my first time trying to inscribe it. What could go wrong?

    Hmm, now that I¡¯ve asked myself that I have a bad feeling about this. Better practice outside for a while before truly starting.

    Ok, now, basics of formations. All the basic ones are in circles, so let¡¯s start with that. My habit of always flying in circles comes in handy as I leave a shallow line in the soft earth behind me, flying as low to the ground as I am. Good. Now a line here, cross this one there, some parabolas here, and then just add this small point here. And done!

    I behold my grand masterwork. It¡¯s sloppy. The line twist and wiggle as they shouldn¡¯t, but that¡¯s about as much as I can expect for my first try. Still, this isn¡¯t the real formation anyway. Almost half the purpose of drawing it is actually in reminding myself of what it looks like and so that I have it right in front of me for visualisation purposes.

    The hard part starts now. I reach out to all the external mana, as I had done all the time before I learned that it doesn¡¯t help me with my growth. This time, I don¡¯t absorb it.

    Holding the mana in my grip, I slowly, clumsily move it roughly into the shape I¡¯d already inscribed into the ground. It¡¯s much harder to control external mana when it¡¯s not just simple movements like sucking it into myself.

    Nonetheless, I press on. Once it¡¯s more or less in the correct shape, I ready myself for the hardest part. Carefully, I manage to get it moving, circulating throughout the formation. As I manage this, a weak force already exerts itself onto the nearby mana, which starts gathering towards it.

    I¡¯m on a time crunch now. If I¡¯m too slow and too much mana gathers around the fruit of my effort, it¡¯ll disperse my carefully constructed mana formation. I reach for my own mana inside me, when suddenly the mana reaches its saturation point and breaks out of my control.

    Damn it! I almost had it!

    A couple tries later, I¡¯m once again at the point where I¡¯m reaching for my own mana. I wrap it all around the formation, further refining it, and connect it with the drawing in the dirt, locking it into place.

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    There we go, finally! It¡¯s not very good and won¡¯t last long even if the dirt were to remain undisturbed, but it¡¯s still my first formation. Mana is slowly gathering around it, the shell of my own mana protecting the formation within itself. Soon though, it¡¯ll become overwhelmed either way.

    Looking around, I see that it¡¯s the dead of night. Aiden¡¯s probably asleep by now. The perfect time to create a proper formation for our cave. It¡¯ll be a nice surprise in the morning, I¡¯m sure.

    How to go about it though. I don¡¯t want to carve it into the floor, since that¡¯s where Aiden walks about. The ceiling I¡¯d rather leave for his own engraving training, just in case. Same goes for the walls. Very well then, I¡¯ll just have to put it below the floor.

    Inside of our hovel, past the cave entrance, it¡¯s even more quiet than outside, the sound of nature barely reaching here. Aiden sleeps on his improvised moss bed in the corner. As silently as I can, which is very silent since I can fly, I move to more or less the centre of the room.

    Preparing a simple enough spell for even me with my small mana pool to cast, I begin crushing stone below the floor. Since it¡¯s stone, the end result is much mor precise than outside, though it¡¯s still far from perfect.

    Next, I dig a small tunnel off the side of the formation, leading outside. Through it, I move all the crushed rock outside with another spell, leaving behind only the hollow lines forming my formation.

    Then, the difficult process of wrangling external mana begins. The formation is much bigger now though, at least a couple meters in diameter, so I¡¯ll have to gather much more of it. A long time later I have enough for the effect to start taking place, though I¡¯m one again too slow in containing it and it disperses.

    The second time too, and the same goes for the third try. Again and again, I construct the formation, getting faster with each repetition. I severely underestimated the difficulty scaling it up brings.

    Eventually, maybe an hour before sunrise, a succeed and am left in a mana formation wrapped in my own internal mana. The binding itself is a walk in the park in comparison. After all that, I¡¯m left with a huge formation embedded in the stone below. And the mana all around congregates around it, already having visibly increased.

    As much as I can¡¯t sleep, this exercise has left me completely drained. Tiredly, I retreat to my corner, where I fall into a meditative trance. This one¡¯s more focused on recovery though, and less on generating mana.

    Some time passes and I stir awake. Even though I wasn¡¯t truly asleep and could notice changes happening around me, such as Aiden waking up and being momentarily confused about the increase in mana, I also wasn¡¯t completely awake.

    Stretching out my non-existent muscles (still no advancement), I head out, where I spot Aiden once more diligently working on his spellwork.

    This time he seems more focused on clean up instead of more devastation. Waves of earth and gusts of wind are carrying the heavy tree trunks onto a pile near the edge. He¡¯ll probably still continue with his demolition once done with this.

    I wait and observe for a while and my patience is rewarded. Aiden, likely noticing the changing position of his bond, stops and turns to face me.

    ¡°What¡¯s with the mana?¡± he asks. No greeting, but that¡¯s fine. At least he¡¯s talking to me!

    ¡°I thought that you could train more if you had more mana to work with, so I created a mana gathering formation for you!¡± I beam at him. ¡°And it should also help with edification too!¡±

    He looks at me for a little while, then clears his throat. ¡°Ok, good, ¡°and with a small voice adds, ¡°thanks.¡±

    He goes back to his magic, but I don¡¯t particularly care. I¡¯m just happy that I could help.

    Satisfied with my work I return to the cave, to my own personal little corner.

    Maybe I should consider adding another formation behind the ceiling? It should increase the rate of mana fathering even more. Though that would also reduce the lifespan of both formations. I¡¯ll decide later. For now, I still want to rest, so what better to do than some focus mana generation!

    Focusing inwards, I repeat the now familiar process. Simulate my souls with the mana boosting technique, follow it into my mana pool. Wait for it to fill up and it¡¯s done, divert it back to my soul. And yet, upon reaching this step, things are different.

    Usually, as soon as my mana pool fills up and I can start sending the rest of my generation into strengthening my soul, the amount of mana decreases. It¡¯s one of the reasons that cause me to take so long to advance, and yet I never found out why.

    But now, as I¡¯m about to send the stream of mana to reinforce my soul, it doesn¡¯t diminish. Or rather, it diminishes by a sizable portion less than usual. My mind immediately jumps to the only feasible cause, the only thing that¡¯s changed.

    My mana gathering formation, or rather the increased mana concentration it caused. I thought that only Aiden would benefit from it, what with me unable to absorb foreign mana. It should have just made it easier for him to absorb more mana, but apparently it has some other effects. Some very nice effects.

    It sort of reminds of another theory I read in one book; I forget its name. It said something about balance, that when there¡¯s more of something somewhere, it¡¯ll naturally move into an area where there¡¯s less of it. Has this been happening to my mana?!

    I suppose it makes sense, but still. It¡¯s supposed to be my mana. And besides, I specifically try to get as much of it as possible to reinforce my soul. Does that mean that others lose even more of it, since they aren¡¯t focused on retaining it?

    Then again, most people just let it all flow naturally, so maybe all of their mana heads outside. Still, I don¡¯t like it. I¡¯ll have to learn some sort of technique later to stop it from leaving even when I¡¯m not in mana rich areas.

    For now, I¡¯ll just accept this as the good fortune this is and grow happily in my corner. After all, this is just cut a lot of time from the expected time until the fabled promised advancement. Maybe I¡¯ll catch up my second soul within the week? That¡¯d be nice.

 Ch. 10

    More time passes, the vast majority of it spent deep in meditation. With the concentration of mana in the surroundings increasing and my mana loss thusly decreasing, the pace at which I raced forward skyrocketed.

    Naturally, it wasn¡¯t all just fine and dandy meditation. The mana gathering formation lasted barely a week before breaking apart and leaving behind a slowly dispersing cloud of mana. I had to build it all anew of course, but I learned a valuable lesson. It¡¯s more worth it to spend a little bit if time maintaining it each day, than spending a long time constructing it from scratch after a week.

    I also took this opportunity to install another one into the caves ceiling. This reduced the lifespan of both, but I though it fair in exchange for even less mana loss while growing my soul. I still only had to spend a couple moments each day with each formation, so no harm done.

    My optimistic prediction of a week for my second soul to catch up to my original turned out to be a bit off, but it still took much less time than I first thought.

    Once they were each of identical size, the orbiting had completely stopped. Now, both of them stood side by side in my soul space, generating as much mana as I could force them to. And oh boy, how much mana it was. Turns out I was right, and the presence of two souls somehow added up into a higher mana generation than just adding them both together.

    So, with my first proper milestone reached, I set out on the proper path to advancement. With a proper source of mana, combined with my boosting techniques and minimal loss thanks to my mana rich environment, I thought I could reach the original prediction of at most a single month before I properly advanced for the first time.

    I sent the river of mana generated back to my original soul. Maybe I was biased, but it seemed wrong to have a soul other than my original one reach such a long-awaited goal first.

    As more and more mana rushed towards the soul, it gradually began to grow. And as it grew, and once again eclipsed the second one, the orbiting began again. My original one remained stationary as it had always. The second one began to slowly circle around it though, at first slowly, but as the size difference increased, so too did its speed. I still wasn¡¯t sure why that was.

    Days passed, filles with meditation and formation maintenance. It seemed we were both focused on our own growth, Aiden and I. I spent all day inside, huddled in my little corner generating as much mana as possible to grow my soul. Aiden spent all day outside, practicing magic and spellcraft. We didn¡¯t talk much, but we both sort of came to a quiet understanding between each other.

    And yet, as it turned out, I wouldn¡¯t need even the full month to advance. Apparently, I was already much closer and expected. Maybe if I could grow like everyone else, I could have set a new record for how fast I advanced. Oh well, perhaps it¡¯s for the best. I am on a better path now, after all.

    Anyway, advancement, yes.

    As I was happily meditating away some kind of threshold was reached. My soul (the main, original one) lurched, contracted and then suddenly experienced brief explosive growth. In that moment its size increased by more than the whole time I¡¯d been feeding it mana.

    As it stabilized, it also solidified, appearing much like my own appearance. A sort of silvery orb. I knew that while it was still my soul, at the same time it became something more. A soul core.

    Along with the crystallization of my first soul, something about my very being also changed. I felt more solid, more here, just more in every way. This feeling of being more was also accompanied by sudden desire. A desire to direct that more-ness in a concrete direction. And yet, something held me back.

    Panicking, I scanned all I could think of to scan, looking for the irregularity that was the last hurdle before my long-awaited goal. I was so close!

    My instincts came to the rescue. I got the impression that I cannot truly become more, and thusly something concrete, without having all of my being ready. And that¡¯s when I realized I¡¯d screwed up. Well, ok, maybe not screwed up. It was more of a minor inconvenience, but still.

    Turns out that the very thing that allowed me to come this far was now holding me back. I would have to advance my other soul too if I wanted to finally gain a form and lose the title of unformed.

    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    So, I set about to it. Filled with restless anticipation it took me three days to notice that although my advancement may have paused halfway through, my soul core still produced the vast quantity of mana that I expected after an advancement. With it, this would be a breeze.

    Of course, I still had to take some time off to fic the formations in the ceiling and floor, but that hardly slowed me down and just a week and one day later, I had finally reached my goal. For real this time.

    The same thing that happened to my original soul happened to my second one. It grew and then crystalized into a proper soul core.

    And then, as it finished forming, all the things holding me back were gone and I was allowed to advance at last. With my instincts free, I rushed head first into whatever process allowed me to gain a form.

    And promptly passed out.

    <hr>

    Except that in the very next moment I woke up in a very familiar land.

    The familiar mists of the spirit realms roiled all around me. The ever-present light shone without a source everywhere and I almost felt like in the very first moments of my birth. Almost. For a part of me knew what was happening and told me that this wasn¡¯t the spirit realms at all.

    This part also slowly became bigger and stronger until I knew exactly what I had to do.

    I used my instinctual understanding and got to work.

    The body which I had used up until now just sort of, dissipated. I caught the resulting mist like substance and reformed it how my intuition guided me. It¡¯ll be my first body, so I need something stable. I briefly apologize to the big snake for not going with a similar serpent body, and instead form four strong thick grey legs.

    For reasons unknown to me my instincts scream at me for the need of some mind of protection. Why would I need that? Nonetheless, they momentarily overwhelm me and a thick shell of hexagonal plates forms upon the main body.

    The size of it all worries me. What if I won¡¯t be able to fly anymore?! Or not even float? In my panic I hurriedly attach some black wings to the shell. When folded they are nicely flush. Hopefully that¡¯ll be enough for flight if I do indeed lose my magical one.

    My mind wanders off to the past, when I struggled to open Aiden¡¯s dorm window. I need something quite dexterous. I remember a quite a few different Familiars at the Academy. They had a bird like head with beaks which they used to manipulate with stuff. Before I can properly think it through the changes are already made.

    Something¡¯s still missing though and since I no longer have much concern over its shape, I let intuition guide me.

    Almost immediately a short tail sprouts from the back with a ball of fluff at its end.

    And there I am, in all my future glory. I recall a book on animals I once read in the library. It described many animals and I wonder if maybe my instincts shaped me based on that.

    Four powerful legs of an elephant connected to the armoured torso of a tortoise. From behind sticks out a short elephant tail and flush with the shell on its sides are two black wings. From the front sprouts a similarly black bird head with a sharp beak. A crow.

    As soon as I accept this as my new body, the surrounding mist all rushes in towards in, locking it in this form until my next advancement (presumably) and strengthening all its qualities, making it more.

    The last specks of mist envelop my new body and once I once more promptly pass out.

    <hr>

    This time though, I actually sleep. It¡¯s a strange sensation, sleep. It feels alien to me, like something to be avoided at all cost, yet at the same time it¡¯s strangely comforting and rejuvenating. Eventually, I manage to fully relax into this strange sensation and fall into a deep sleep.

    Some time later, I wake up. I¡¯m still in the little corner of the room, and yet things are still different. My vision, for one. No longer can I change where I¡¯m looking just on a whim, but now I have to turn this neck. And yet even it is not enough and I have to turn my whole body.

    Which brings to my legs. I shakily stand upon them, not because they¡¯re weak, but because it¡¯s my first time. I do manage it though and start turning around. It¡¯s slow. So very slow. Ah, no matter. I suppose I have a wide enough field of vision.

    Taking a couple unsure steps forward, I step away from the wall. So far so good. Once far enough away, I try out my wings. They raise from my tortoise shell, leaving shallow divots behind, and stretch to either side of me. Turning my head, I behold them. They are beautiful. Almost pitch black they almost give the impression as if they could wrap around the whole world. Magnificent.

    Done checking myself, although I¡¯ll need to do a more thorough one later, I finally focus on my surrounding for the first time as a creature with a form.

    Everything seems a bit¡­ smaller. Apparently, I¡¯m a little bit bigger than I was before. The artful engravings on the walls made by Aiden have progressed a considerable amount. I must have been out of it for a couple of days at least.

    Which reminds me. Quickly focusing on the mana in the room, I check the twin formations. They¡¯re still holding on, even if only barely. Good, I¡¯ll fi them later. For now, I have to show this to Aiden.

    Leaving out cave, I enter the sunlight for the first time. Oh, it¡¯s warm.

    The clearing is much bigger than the last time I saw it. The edges show the usual scene of devastation, but nearer to the cave entrance it¡¯s clean, all the logs piled onto one pile, similarly to all the rocks. Still, there¡¯s no sight of Aiden.

    Our bond pints into the forest, in the direction of the forest. Damn, that¡¯s too far away. Let me see if I can figure this flying thing out.

    My worries of losing the ability to fly are fortunately unfounded, even if I¡¯m clumsier now. At least the wings won¡¯t be useless and will help me in something. Ah, but actually. Hmm, yes. It seems a tiny trickle of mana is being consumed as I stay in the air.

    I can live with that.

    Anyhow, let¡¯s find Aiden. I wonder how he¡¯ll react to my advancement.

 Ch. 11

    The journey to the river bank didn¡¯t take too long. About halfway there I realized that maybe I shouldn¡¯t just fly there. Now that I have legs, it would be good to try and learn how to use them efficiently.

    Setting down onto the forest floor, it is only the second time that I lose the freedom of flight. Fallen leaves and various other forest underbrush flattens as I touch down and sink slightly.

    Looking around, it is the first time I truly appreciate the enormity of these giant plants. The trees tower over everything around and from my position on the ground it¡¯s even more pronounced.

    Observing my surroundings, I am once more left feeling dissatisfied with my current perception range. Before, when I was still just an unformed, I could see almost everything all at once and the bit I couldn¡¯t was just a slight shift of my vision away.

    Now, I¡¯m locked to about 60 degrees. Admittedly, this bird head is very good at quick shift to allow me to see more, but it¡¯s just not what I¡¯m used to.

    I take a slow and unsure step forward. And succeed. Huh. I sort of expected different terrains to be completely different to walk on, but I guess not.

    Step after step, I walk onwards. Soon, I¡¯m as confident with my steps as I am with flight. Not to say I¡¯m as skilled, but definitely confident. I traipse along, heading towards Aiden.

    Walking is much slower than flying though, so my mind eventually begins to notice things I hadn¡¯t observed before. For example, the path I am currently on is actually a very faint trail. Aiden must¡¯ve walked this way a bunch of times to manage that.

    Not long after, but more than double the time it would have taken me if I flew, I arrive at the river bank. There, standing near the river is Aiden, mana roiling around him. Must be practicing magic again.

    As I walk up to him, I notice that I barely reach up to his knees. Yes, I¡¯m longer than tall, but for some reason this still makes me slightly upset.

    Accessing our bond as if to send a message, but not actually sending one, I alert him to my presence.

    And the ignores me. That¡¯s¡­ to be expected. I suppose he did make it rather clear to me to not disturb him. But this is important! I¡¯ve changed! Surely, he¡¯ll be happy about that too!

    So, I alert him again and when that doesn¡¯t work I do it once more. At this he finally reacts, though not at all in the way I wanted.

    ¡°What is it pipsqueak?! Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m training!¡± he shouts. Actually shouts, he doesn¡¯t just send the message through our bond.

    I ignore that though, because I have much more important stuff to talk about. ¡°I did it!¡± I shout in joy. And rather unexpectedly, a strange sound also comes out of my mouth at the same time. Huh, I suppose I would be able to make actual sounds now, what with having a head and mouth and all. Anyway, that¡¯s not important.

    ¡°What the hell did you manage to do? You better not have fu- ¡°Aiden starts, yet falter midway as he turns to look at me.

    Aha! He must be bedazzled by my beautiful form. I flutter my wings, showing them of in all their glory. I know it¡¯s rather splendid, you don¡¯t have to praise me. Actually, praise me, praise me!

    Aiden though, does neither. Well, technically he does the former, but I¡¯m not sure if dumbly staring counts. Either way, it¡¯s kind of rude. And I want him to say something about what I managed to do thanks to my genius.

    I feel a slight tug on out bond. A soft, probing touch. Hmm? Why would Aiden do that? I¡¯m right here.

    ¡°How, how is this possible?¡± he asks while I stay silent. That¡¯s still not the praise I want to hear.

    ¡°You- But- I though you were defective?¡± Sigh, I suppose I¡¯ll have to do some explaining before I get my just praise.

    ¡°Was not! Besides, spirits can¡¯t actually be defective! I just couldn¡¯t advance the normal way, that¡¯s all.¡± Will that be enough? Please let that be enough.

    A brief moment of silence later, Aiden continues our impromptu interrogation. ¡°Wait, wait, wait. There are more ways to advance?¡±

    ¡°Ah, well, not exactly? It¡¯s technically the same way as everyone else does it.¡± I reply sheepishly. I¡¯ll still consider it a different method in my mind though.

    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Aiden¡¯s eyes seem to gleam for a moment before he asks with bated breath. ¡°So, what is it?¡± he sounds so eager. Why couldn¡¯t this have been how our relationship was since the beginnings.

    And so, I give him a brief overview of I achieved my greatest achievement, yet. Though it didn¡¯t stay very brief at all, for as soon as I started talking I just had to relay to him the whole journey of how I got there in the first place.

    I started with the library, though that part I mostly skipped over, as not much happened for most of the time I spent there.

    Aiden didn¡¯t seem to mind this though, or at least he didn¡¯t once I got into the part where I actually discovered how to absorb mana without absorbing mana.

    I explained to him how, whereas normally excess mana is expelled and the mana you absorb is the mana of different beings that they expelled, I reroute my excess mana directly into absorbing him.

    Of course, I couldn¡¯t leave out all the troubles I encountered along the way. Mostly, it was just he problem of horrendous mana production.

    As I explained my solution to this problem, more souls, Aiden¡¯s eyes lit up again.

    And then, after explaining it all, I quieted down. Maybe now that he knows all the hard work behind my transformation, he¡¯ll praise me? I sure hope so.

    ¡°And why did you choose this particular amalgamation of animals?¡± Ok, more questions still, but I¡¯m sure we¡¯re done soon.

    ¡°Oh, well actually I didn¡¯t have much of a choice in the matter. I was in a weird fugue like state and most of it was instinctive. But I¡¯ll do better next time!¡± I quickly add. And I¡¯m sure I actually am going to have more control next time.

    Aiden once again sinks into though. Damnit, let¡¯s hope that¡¯s the last time. My wish is heard, as soon he actually does look up with a smile.

    ¡°That¡¯s great, you did amazing!¡± I beam under his praise. Oh, this feels wonderful! ¡°Do you think you would be able to teach me?¡±

    Oh. Oh! If I teach him, I¡¯ll get to spend more to with him! Yes, yes, yes.

    ¡°YES!¡±

    A satisfied sile appears on his face and if I didn¡¯t have a rigid beak, I imagine my face would also be sporting one. Hooray for hard work!

    We turn back to walk to our clearing. I walk besides Aiden even though I have to use a tiny bit of floating so as to keep up. And along the way, we talk! Aiden keeps asking question all along the way. And even though I spent the vast majority of the past year in a dusty old library (it isn¡¯t actually dusty, on the contrary rather), he still asks all about the stuff I learned there. And I happily explain all about alchemy, enchanting and magic. I mostly talk about magic related things, that interests him the most.

    We eventually arrive and settle into our cave that is no longer a cave and more of a slowly expanding hovel.

    Aiden settles into a comfortable position, which I¡¯m finding to be rather difficult myself on this rocky floor. Just one more disadvantage to having a fleshy body.

    As soon as he¡¯s ready, I begin. I already explained most of the stuff to do with souls that I know of, so I only add a couple of sentences. And then, I instruct. I slowly guide Aiden into a meditative state, almost a trance as the book said. It¡¯s not truly necessary, especially with someone like me who already has a lot of practice sensing my soul, but it help the first time around.

    Once I judge him to have entered the proper state, I simply remind him of what to look for and leave him to it.

    What should I do now though? For the past year, all I did was read and study, never having any time to do anything else. Not that I wanted to do anything else.

    Now, I just want to help Aiden in whatever way I can, but as demonstrated by the very situation in front of me, that simply won¡¯t fill all of my time.

    There were many fields which I could study further. I could focus on magic (or one of its branches), raising plants for alchemy or just alchemy itself, create enchanted items or develop my knowledge of formations more. And many, many others of which I know at least the basics and all of which could also support Aiden in some way.

    Thinking on it a bit more I decided that, even if it wont be my main focus, I¡¯ll still try and improve my formations. Until I learn how to restrict my mana leakage fully, I will be depending on it to advance further.

    And I¡¯ll still need to learn a lot of mundane subjects, like history, unless Aiden decides to learn it himself now that I can be actually useful as a proper Familiar.

    And besides that, there¡¯s also the matter of what kind of magic do I want to focus on. Yes, it may not end up as my field of study, but that doesn¡¯t mean I should just give up on one of the core parts of anything to do with magic.

    Then again, I suppose that the answer to this question is rather obvious. I¡¯ll study soul magic. If for no other reason than to assist me with further breakthroughs.

    Though a lot of books recommended, in one way or another, that a proper mage should be proficient in at least a couple forms of magic, in case one fails to achieve what I desire from it.

    Okay, so I¡¯ll need formations and soul magic, for my advancement and both also help Aiden (even though soul magic does so only very indirectly). Maybe I don¡¯t need to try out anything else then? Ah, but I¡¯ve come to enjoy learning new things over the last year, so perhaps I¡¯ll still try to keep my broad foundations.

    By now, enough time had passed that Aiden starts to slowly stir awake, even though he wasn¡¯t asleep in the first place. Or at least he shouldn¡¯t have been. But judging by the grin on his face, I doubt it.

    I spend the rest of the day guiding Aiden through all the basics of internal mana control. Wait, no that name is already in use for the enhancement of the physical body through careful applications of internal mana, I¡¯ll have to come up with a better name later. But I digress.

    I teach him how to capture the overflowing mana, shift its direction right back to the soul and letting it reinforce it.

    As night come along, he still can¡¯t quite do it, but that¡¯s alright. It took me some time too.

    Aiden settles into his bed and I ready myself to do likewise. But a conundrum strikes me. Do I go into my usual corner or do I lie down next to Aiden? Or maybe I should actually subsume myself into him> I haven¡¯t done that in a while.

    In the end, I plop down next to Aiden and shortly after fall asleep. Having a body sure is tiring.

 Ch. 12

    A deep rumbling splits the silence of the forest. It¡¯s a deep and guttural sound, as if from the pits of hell.

    Aiden, crouching in the thick forest underbrush, slowly sneaks towards it. Hiding in the bushes and behind trees, he prowls after the sound.

    It gets louder and louder until eventually faint thuds come to accompany it. Aiden looks up from his hiding spot and there, just a couple meters to the side, is the monster.

    A large creature, maybe half the height of Aiden himself and as long as he is tall, slowly lumbers through the forest. Its two short front and two big powerful hind legs, along with the rest of its body, is covered in a disgustingly warty hide. A wide head with a similarly wide maw adorns the front of its body. And two, soulless eyes rise out from the head, a clear ooze being secreted from behind them.

    Its strong hind legs push it forwards again. It leaps a meter ahead and lands with another thud. The guttural croak is almost ever-present now, most other sounds completely drowned out.

    It jumps again and just as it¡¯s landing Aiden finally reveals himself, along with a ball of fire that soars through the air and lands on the hell frog, scorching its eyes.

    It lands with a screech even louder than its ongoing droning. Aiden expected this though, so he isn¡¯t stunned and immediately conjures a blade of compressed air. He launches it toward the monster¡¯s neck, where it splits it skin, letting viscous blood flow.

    It doesn¡¯t take long after that for the toad to succumb to its injuries. The forest quiets again, the invader defeated. But not for long.

    It happened only a couple of days after I started teaching Aiden about souls. He¡¯d already managed to fully perceive his own and even achieved some minor success with manipulating his soul-mana (that¡¯s the placeholder name for mana that hasn¡¯t joined the mana pool).

    Then, Aiden had the idea that maybe we could sense the souls of other beings. I never really thought about it, being too focused on finding the solution to my own problem at the time. But it would be useful to locate creatures we couldn¡¯t see, as Aiden pointed out.

    So, we were out and about in the forest, searching for some small critters, to experiment with seeing the souls of other creatures.

    I was just lazily floating around Aiden, trying to see if I can perceive anything similar to my own souls, when a strange sound appeared off in the distance. It was very faint at that time, yet as time passed it quickly grew to ungodly levels.

    At this point even Aiden noticed it. He froze for a second. Without even me having to remind him, he set out back to camp. At least he learned from our first night in the forest. There¡¯s no need to risk an encounter with the unknown.

    And yet, as we arrived at the clearing inn front of our cave entrance, the sound hadn¡¯t abated a single bit. Instead, it still seemed to be getting louder.

    Certain that it was just a coincidence, Aiden settled back into practising his magic, leaving me to do whatever.

    With not much else to do, I flew up high. Maybe I¡¯d be able to see the cause of our recent disturbance. But he trees completely blocked my way, making it impossible to notice anything on the forest floor. I don¡¯t know what I expected. At least I know it isn¡¯t a flying creature.

    Some more time passed, but the guttural droning sound continued to grow all the while. We had to face the truth; it was definitely heading straight to us.

    After that, it only took maybe ten more minutes to come into view. Aiden was ready though, his focus sharp ever since the dull thumps of the creature became audible.

    And then it was there. Flying across the line separating our clearing from the rest of the forest came a giant frog. Or perhaps toad or maybe even a bullfrog. No, definitely not a frog, those are cute.

    The monstrosity landed in front of us, pausing briefly as it noticed us. I¡¯m sure we looked like a very tasty snack to such a hideous beast. Or at least I did.

    It didn¡¯t hesitate for long though and soon its greasy tongue was flying at us. Well, mostly at Aiden because I quickly flew away.

    As surprised as Aiden was, it seems that all his training paid off. Still in his semi-frozen state, he conjured a translucent barrier in front of him.

    And just in time. The tongue barrelled straight at it, shattering it but using all its momentum to do so. Seeing this, the frog quickly retracted it.

    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    By then I had managed to gather my wits and launched a firebolt at it. And with my recent experiences, I knew all (not really) the weaknesses of flesh. The bolt flew true and struck the monster right in its eye.

    Aiden, woken up from his stupor by my success, gathered mana for his own spell. The toad though wouldn¡¯t let him. It didn¡¯t like my firebolt one bit and let its displeasure known loudly. Very loudly, as it¡¯s croaking momentarily amplified, causing Aiden to lose his concentration and his building spell to dissipate.

    A hop later, it was ready to launch its tongue out a second time, this time from a shorter distance.

    Aiden wouldn¡¯t falter again though. He conjures another shield spell in front of himself. This time though, he has time to properly shape it.

    As the tongue hurtles through the air at him, the barrier changes into a conical shape with the point pointing at the tip of the tongue.

    The fleshy appendage suffers defeat and impales itself on the magical conjuration. Said conjuration disappears the next moment, allowing blood to spurt from the shredded tongue.

    Before the toad can do much more, I fire another bolt into its other eye, blinding it completely.

    From there, it¡¯s simplicity itself to down it completely. In the end, we¡¯re both left winded and exhausted, at least magically if not otherwise.

    That wasn¡¯t the end of it though.

    Just a few days later the noise reappears and not long after that, there¡¯s another toad corpse in our clearing.

    A couple of days after that, it happens again. And then again. By then we¡¯ve already learned how to fight them more efficiently, but it¡¯s still exhausting.

    And now, this is already the fifth one. I suppose that there¡¯s truly no denying it.

    In the year that I studied in the library, I didn¡¯t just read about magic and its sub-professions. I also read many tomes about the world itself and the creatures within. One of which are the monsters.

    Now, I don¡¯t know that much about them, the topic didn¡¯t seem relevant at the time, but I definitely remember that they are attracted to large quantities of ambient mana. Mana like in our cave-dwelling.

    I guess it makes sense. The books hadn¡¯t mentioned anything about this, but the again who¡¯d expect that someone would create a formation out in the wilderness. Normally you¡¯d want one somewhere in a city or something defensible like that.

    No matter.

    Floating out of Aiden and towards the corpse, I inspect our former adversary.

    It¡¯s the same type of creature as the other four. Hell frog, bog frog, bemoaned toad, mold toad and many, many more. There were many names for this most monstrous of creature, at least as many as the regions it inhabited. All of them described the same creature though. A lumbering, mindless beast that cause its environment to wither and die.

    The worst thing is that none of its parts are useful for anything. The skin unworkable, the flesh poisonous and the bones too soft (which is strange because they don¡¯t seem soft at all when the frog is alive). It¡¯s just a complete pest.

    And so, we do the only thing there is to do. We set fire to the corpse and watch, making sure it burns completely until only ash and embers remain.

    Our trip back is silent. We¡¯re both still trying to sense souls, though without much luck.

    As we arrive at the clearing, I ponder about how it¡¯d changed.

    Once we realized that the toads were definitely gunning for our cave, we built some fortifications. At first, we tried to dig some moats, but after the very next frog simply jumped over we realize our folly.

    And so, the massive pile of lumber that was just sitting by the cave entrance for almost a month now finally became useful.

    The border of our clearing no longer appeared as an indistinct line between forest and not-forest, but instead sported a sizeable barricade of wooden spikes pointing outwards.

    Rocks supported them, so that they don¡¯t just fall over and become useless, causing the stockpile of boulders to also dwindle.

    Entering our burgeoning compound consequently became a chore. I could just fly over, but Aiden had no such spells available to him yet. As such, every time he leaves, a long chore of ripping out the stakes and planting them back into the ground ensues.

    Of course, I, as the loyal Familiar that I am, dutifully help him out.

    Once on the other side, we separate. Aiden stays there, continuing to work on his magic, and I enter the cave.

    Not much has changed on the inside, at least at first glance. And yet, at the spot where my corner used to be is a small dark tunnel, just large enough for me to fit through. And on the other side is my room. Or rather the room where I experiment.

    The walls, floor and ceiling are all marred with hundreds of squiggly lines. Formations. Eh, technically it¡¯s just one type of formation, but still.

    At first, I wanted to just increase the efficiency of the mana gathering formation so that we could grow even faster. But once the toads started heading this way a new goal added itself to my project. I needed to figure out how to contain the gathered mana so that it doesn¡¯t act like a beacon, attracting monsters from all around.

    And oh boy, is that difficult. Sure, I could technically encircle the whole cave with a containment formation to keep all the mana in. That, combined with keeping the mana gathering formation, should be enough to last a pretty long time with only occasional repairs.

    However, our own internal mana would eventually reach big enough concentrations that this constant amount of ambient mana would no longer be enough to mitigate leakage.

    What I need to figure out is a way for a mana gathering formation to constantly attract more mana without me having to repair it more and more frequently while at the same time keeping all that mana contained. Which produces an additional problem.

    A containment formation keeps the mana from going either way, so it not only keeps it inside, but also refuses to let any more enter.

    And so, I spend the next couple of hours experimenting with minute changes to the gathering formation, seeing how the effect changes. Eventually it gets dark though and I have to leave without much progress.

    As the dark falls and Aiden heads off to sleep, I head outside and remain watchful. Ever since the toads started attacking, we¡¯ve been doing this. I watch in the night while Aiden sleeps and then we switch. And with me needing less sleep than a true fleshy being, I don¡¯t even have to sleep through the whole day.

    Another night passes, this time without a disturbance.

 Announcement

    First of all I''d like to say sorry.

    This story is going on hiatus for the foreseeable future.

    The gust of it is that I didn''t prepare.

    This is my first serious try at writing and I immediately jumped into a story that deserves much more skill and dedication. I had the vaguest of ideas where I wanted it to go and even those were mostly about stuff that happens later on.

    So, it is with a sad but hopefull heart that I''m putting this story on hiatus.

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    I''m going to focus on some smaller and/or less serious stories for now. (even though this wasnt that serious in the first place)

    I would, however, like to say that this wasnt for naught.

    I learned a lot of things, some of which I mentioned above. I also more or less figured out HOW I actually like to write, so hopefully that''ll be apparent in my future works.

    Also, this does not at all mean that Eternal Spirit is gone forever. It may take a while, but I have full intention of coming back to it.

    For now I''m going to focus on other stuff.

    Firstly, a writing competition. It promises feedback for all participants, so hopefully it''ll help me improve even more. (it''s not in english though, so who knows if it''ll translate  ;)  )

    And then, who knows? Well, I do. It be smaller, sillier stories like mentioned above.

    Thanks for reading so far and I hope to see you all again, on a different fiction or a rewrite of this one!