“This One meets Little Miss now?” the familiar monotone voice echoed in his mind.

  Paul chuckled and finally answered, “Yes, Be. You get to meet Phoenix now.”

  As he opened the door to the ritual room, he had to head off his Familiar’s enthusiasm by crifying, “Wait for me to tell you when. I want to properly prepare her.”

  “Prepare for what? This One is beautiful and Little Miss is a Wayfarer from a world more technologically advanced than Makera. Little Miss will love This One as much as This One loves Little Miss,” Orebe said, and despite the ck of inflection, he could feel the confidence in her assertion.

  He shook his head and expined, “I still don’t want to surprise her with a stranger, so just wait until I give you the go-ahead.” She replied with a disgruntled noise that grated on his mind, but his focus moved to the young glowing woman sitting against the far wall, reading her glowing book while she waited. He smiled and spoke aloud this time, “Good afternoon, young one.”

  Phoenix looked up at him with a tired smile, “Good—” Her words got interrupted by a yawn, “Afternoon. Any particur reason you’re getting me up so early?”

  He raised a brow at her, “It’s after noon, hence the greeting.”

  She rolled her eyes at him, “We were up all night taking a shift as part of the Wall Response this week. It was the bit of compromise we did in order to get the night off for my Noble Reveal three nights ago, remember? I thought the increased Mind attribute meant you wouldn’t forget things as you got older—”

  “If you call me ‘old man,’ I will actually ground you now,” he interjected, the amusement in his expression instantly giving away the empty threat, but at least he got a ugh out of her for it.

  “Then Agatha will try to make you an Inquisitor again for keeping me from my missions,” she retorted while trying to calm her ughter.

  “Oh, you can still do the missions,” he said, leaning against the wall to slide down it and sit next to her, “I’ll just cut off the access to the crafting rooms, ritual rooms, and private library.”

  Her head whipped up to lock eyes with him as she said aghast, “You monster! You wouldn’t be so… so… cruel for a simple joke!”

  It was his turn to ugh at the indignation as he shook his head, “You’re right. Forgive my cruelty. I am a wicked Padin that I’m sure will be made all the more apparent with this.”

  He lifted the small silver augment she had given him that appeared like tiny wings.

  Item: Wings of Zeal

  An Augmentation cultivated from the conversion of a transfiguration ability into an item.

  Caste: Emerald.

  Avaibility: Legendary.

  Type: Augment, back.

  Requirements: Emerald Caste.

  Effects:

  Can use an Augment Ritual to embed the item into the wielder’s back. The wings will take on an appearance that reflects the zeal of the wielder’s soul. This Augment type can be removed via an additional Separation Ritual without harm to the wielder.For no mana cost, the Augment can remain in [Passive Mode] which grants the wielder the ability to hover idly in the air and increased resistance to negative Elemental effects.For a low mana cost per second, the Augment can remain in [Flight Mode] which increases the size of the manifested wings and grants the wielder freeform flying capability.For a moderate mana cost per second, the Augment can remain in [Defensive Mode] which greatly increases the size of the wings and further solidifies them into interlocking shields, granting greatly increased resistance to negative Magical and physical effects.For a high mana cost per second, the Augment can remain in [Offensive Mode] which disperses the wings into individual feathers which move as high-speed projectiles that explode on contact with a targeted enemy for a high amount of Radiant damage. Once all the feathers have been expended the wings automatically return to [Passive Mode] and incur a 1-hour cooldown to replenish the expended feathers.

  Phoenix’s eyes widened in recognition before a grin stole across her face and she excitedly asked, “You’re going to show me how to do an Augment Ritual? Is that why we’re here?”

  “Waynd is supposed to be introducing This One!” Orebe’s voice rang in his head.

  He almost winced as he replied to his Protégé, “Yes and no. You’ll get to see it, but it will be Orebe helping me perform it.”

  Phoenix wrinkled her nose in confusion before her eyes trailed up to his forehead where the metal pte Orebe became when merged with him sat, “Why your Familiar?”

  “For two reasons, the first is that it will be the Emerald Caste version of the ritual that would kill you. They’re usually not meant to be performed by the person being augmented,” he expined, then gave her a small smile, “The second is that she’s been wanting to officially meet you for a while now.”

  Phoenix perked up a bit at that, “She can talk? You made her sound like some kind of object or symbiote. I didn’t realize she could speak with you.”

  “This is all Waynd’s fault,” his Familiar grumbled without inflection.

  Paul mentally rolled his eyes back at her as he responded aloud to his new daughter, which he was still trying to adjust to thinking of her as such, “She speaks telepathically. Like your leader’s communication ability.” He hesitated slightly before prompting, “You’ve mentioned that your old world had more technology than ours does since we have more magic. My Familiar comes from a realm where technology and magic are symbiotic. A lot of the locals don’t seem… fond of her form, and are afraid of her even more than some monsters, but I don’t want you to think for a second that she would ever hurt you.”

  Phoenix raised an eyebrow at him, “She’s not some kind of killer robot that can travel through time is she?”

  He narrowed his eyes, “I’m going to assume that’s a reference to something in your world and not ask for details, but no… she can’t travel through time.”

  “But she is a killer robot?” she crified and he noticed the slight smirk of amusement.

  Paul just shook his head and gave his Familiar the mental go-ahead to manifest as he said, “Phoenix, meet Orebe.”

  He felt the metal pte on his forehead melt away in an instant and his lovely Familiar appeared hovering in the air in front of them. Her body held a feminine figure but was smooth liquid gold that glinted in the light of the glowstones embedded in the ceiling. While the shape was roughly humanoid, that was where the simirities stopped as the hands and feet were much smaller, with the legs and arms tapering down much more than humans.

  The most disturbing difference, however, was the ck of a face. Only a thick, softly glowing, golden line in the shape of the bottom half of a circle was pced where eyes should have been; which gave an observer anywhere to focus on at all. While she definitely gave off an alien appearance with an aura to match, something about it all had been soothing to him rather than scary.

  “Woah,” Phoenix said in a whispered breath, openly staring and taking in the sight of the Familiar, who was csping her tiny hands together. Despite not being able to fully express it, Be appeared nervous to him.

  “This One is pleased to see Little Miss with This One’s own sight,” the Familiar spoke telepathically to both of them at the same time with her usual monotone that he worried might throw his apprentice off even more.

  Phoenix gave a wide smile, “I’m pleased to finally see you too, Orebe. You look incredible. I’ve never met a talking Familiar before.”

  Ta appeared suddenly, manifesting in Phoenix’s p and cheeping angrily up at the summoner. Phoenix chuckled and gave the small bird some pats on its fluffy head, “I know we have a system, Ta, and I hope you can gain more vocabury in the future.”

  Paul smiled and felt the weight lift off his shoulders when he realized his Protégé wasn’t going to panic or hurt Orebe’s feelings. Despite the Familiar not being able to show them with her face or voice, Paul knew she still felt emotions. He doubted she would have bothered to stay with him through all his blundering if she didn’t.

  “What all can you do?” Phoenix asked Orebe.

  “This One can touch Little Miss’s [Guide Book],” the golden Familiar answered and Phoenix excitedly produced it for the small fingers to brush against.

  Name: Orebe

  Species: Child of Theia (Familiar)

  Machine and magic hybrids not of this world that are attuned to Light and Radiant magic.

  Caste: Emerald

  Can speak with multiple allies at once and perform verbal components of rituals and cantrips telepathically.

  Can construct and wield two melee weapons imbued with Light magic.

  Can empower a weapon, including Construct ones, to inflict additional Light damage.

  Can greatly boost Agility for a moderate mana cost and low cooldown.

  Can freely fly through the air when manifested.

  When merged within the summoner:

  The summoner’s eyes become golden and a third eye guard appears, granting additional resistance against Magical and Elemental damage.The Familiar can perceive in a rge radius around the summoner.Movement abilities have increased effect and reduced cost.The summoner gains a slow fall effect and limited control when moving through the air.

  “That’s awesome!” Phoenix excimed, turning to him to say something else but halted suddenly, staring straight into his eyes.

  “What?” he asked in confusion.

  She grinned, “Your eyes are blue?”

  “Ah. Yes. It’s a trait that’s been passed through the Waynd line since its beginning,” he answered with a gesture towards the brilliant blue color that matched his sister and the rest of his immediate family, “And while blonde hair can appear in our line sometimes, I was born with a dark brown. It turned golden when I was blessed by the Purifier and first became a Padin. Now, before the distraction, what were you going to say?”

  “Oh.” She seemed to shake herself from the tangent and asked, “I was wondering if I could see the ability description? After Saiya hit Sapphire, I’ve been curious how Spirit Gems are meant to interact with summoned Familiar abilities like mine.”

  “Ah, they basically give an additional effect depending on the gem that gets bonded,” he expined, reaching his own hand out to provide the information to her book.

  Ability: Shining Companion

  Type: Familiar (ritual, summon, magical, covenant)

  Cost: Severe mana.

  Cooldown: None.

  Current Caste: Emerald 10

  Crystal Effect: Summon a [Child of Theia] as a Familiar.

  Sapphire Effect: When manifested, the Familiar can create a rge barrier of light that absorbs a rge amount of damage for a high mana cost and long cooldown.

  Emerald Effect: When manifested or merged, the Familiar can slowly convert light into stamina or mana for both the Familiar and the summoner.

  “It bonded a Light Spirit Gem at Sapphire Caste and then a Harvest Spirit Gem at Emerald,” Paul added, thinking back to those rituals; which reminded him of the ritual he still needed to do today, “Ready to watch me get some wings now, so I can fly around with Be?”

  “Yes!” Phoenix replied excitedly, then gnced at the hovering Familiar as she asked a bit hesitantly, “Can I call you Be too?”

  Paul almost ughed aloud at the adorable response of the tiny hands rapidly cpping together without making the sound as the Familiar responded, “This One would like that very much. May This One speak with Little Miss without being manifested?”

  “You can do that?” Phoenix asked, tilting her head to the side.

  “Yes. Waynd thought it would startle Little Miss if This One did so before asking like this first.”

  He gave a weary sigh, “Nobody likes hearing unfamiliar voices in their head, Be. Even if you tried expining who you were. Remember how Jerem reacted? That was a completely normal reaction.”

  “Oerwynt deserved it,” his Familiar replied bluntly and he couldn’t disagree with that.

  “That doesn’t disprove my point,” Paul retorted, then stood up from his spot against the wall. He began making his way towards the center of the room to begin drawing out the ritual diagram they would need next.

  Phoenix made her way over a moment ter, grinning down at him as he drew with the magically infused chalk he liked, and asked him, “So, let me get this straight. Since the day we met, you’ve had a woman in your head giving you advice about what to do?”

  He shrugged, “She gives good advice sometimes. Better when fighting.”

  The metallic Familiar made an odd sound at that which was hard to describe except that it was extremely grating and made him wince as he amended, “Despite her apparent track record of being right, I’m not always the best listener.”

  “This One’s predictions are 98% accurate,” Orebe seemed to say proudly despite the ck of inflection and he was still amazed at how she managed to do that.

  “Did that go up?” he idly asked as he continued to quickly draw out the diagram.

  “This One was correct again about Little Miss’s reaction.”

  Phoenix’s snort of ughter caused him to smile before gncing up at the pair of women next to each other. Watching them share a new sense of camaraderie, he didn’t even care that it was at his own expense.