The Nightwing followed behind Hazel and Astrid as all three of them left the summoning chamber. Once out, the familiar stretched its wings, expanding them in the air before retracting them right after.

The Nightwing scanned his surroundings, observing the final floor of the Fort curiously.

“Is…this your home…master?” The familiar asked, shifting his crimson eyes on Hazel.

Hazel shook her head nervously. “No, we’re currently in a dungeon. We’re currently undergoing our tutorial.”

“I…see…” The bat monster blinked.

“By the way…” The mage spoke up, nervously staring at her Familiar. “What’s your name? I assume it's not Nightwing, right?”

Nightwing was the name of its species. As for what this Nightwing’s name was, Hazel had no clue. Not even the description during the summoning ritual told her.

“My name…is Nycteris.”

“Nycteris, huh? That’s a nice name,” Hazel smiled.

“Thank…you…” Nycteris bowed his head in response.

Out of curiosity, Hazel decided to check his status to see what it showed.

Race: Nightwing Bat

Master: Hazel Thatcher

|Level 1

A demon bat monster that has never explored the mortal realm before, due to being stuck in the Demon Realm its whole life.

Hazel narrowed her eyes at the description. He’s been stuck in the demon realm for his entire life? That sounded a bit sad.

She was a bit intrigued by the new information which showed that she was Nycteris’s master. Could that be because he was now a Familiar and in a contract with Hazel? It certainly made sense.

“Well, Nycteris,” Hazel said while placing her hand out. “It’s nice to properly meet you.”

The Nightwing familiar stared at Hazel’s hand, his head twitching to the side. Then, it brought its head closer and nuzzled against her palm…and began to purr like a cat.

Hazel’s heart skipped a bit, not from fear but excitement and joy. She stared lovingly at her familiar, completely overwhelmed by his actions.

“Aw, you’re so cute…!”

Hazel then got closer to the Nightwing and hugged it. Her hand reached over to his bat head and started gently scratching as if it were a dog. Nycteris responded by closing his eyes and purring more, moving his head around to let Hazel scratch other spots.

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Despite Nycteris’s monstrous appearance, Hazel couldn’t help but feel attached to her Familiar. It was like she just got a pet for the first time and was reveling in the joy of having one.

As Hazel continued to rub and scratch Nycteris, the Master and Familiar Duo heard a loud cough originating from behind them. Turning around, they saw Astrid standing there with an eyebrow raised as she stared at them.

Realizing what she was doing, Hazel moved away from Nycteris. She wore a wry smile and rubbed the back of her head nervously.

“M-my bad,” She apologized. “I just…couldn’t really help it, you know? He’s just so cute…”

Astrid glanced at Nycteris with a doubtful gaze. “Cute, huh?”

Hazel paused. Did the dark elf have a different opinion regarding Nycteris’s appearance?

Before Hazel could question Astrid about it, the dark elf spoke up first.

“Well, since you managed to summon a familiar, that will make things easier for us. Of course, after checking his description, we’ll have to get him stronger before attempting to find and kill a Sub-Boss.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that.”

Although Hazel now had a familiar, Nycteris was only level 1, while they were ten levels above him. In a way, he was technically weaker than them and that won’t do. So, their next goal was to help her familiar level up and get strong enough to assist them in battle.

And Hazel and Astrid knew just the place to help Nycteris get stronger. And that was the City Island. The place that the dark elf wanted to go to before Hazel convinced her to check out the Tower Fort first. And thankfully, it was worth their time considering what they obtained from it.

“I guess our next stop is the City then, huh?” Hazel brought up.

“Yeah,” Astrid nodded. “But before that, I want you to check out the other item from the chest. That and we should also take anything interesting or useful in this fort.”

She then pulled out the items and gave them to Hazel to identify them. The mage stared at the ruby-studded wristband.

Rare Item

A Wristband that lets the user summon a shield to protect them. The shield will last for around five seconds and can be redeployed after ten seconds.

A wristband that could summon a shield to protect the user. It was much like Hazel’s Mana Shield skill. In this case, the item was completely useless to her. Much like the Magic Armor skill she came across during her first marker, having a second defensive skill seemed a bit pointless to her.

Plus, unlike Hazel, Astrid didn’t have any defensive skills to protect her from danger. So instead of her having it, it would be better if the dark elf possessed the item.

With that in mind, Hazel gave the wristband back to Astrid. “You’ll need this item for than me. Besides, I already have the necklace and my Mana Shield skills. You, on the other hand, have no form of defense whatsoever. Case and point, that wristband will be more useful to you than to me.”

Astrid smiled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She then began to equip the wristband.

Raising her arm for a second, the dark elf closed her eyes. As she did, the gem on the wristband flashed brightly. Then, a large red shield materialized in front of Astrid, hovering in the air while keeping her behind it.

The three marveled at the shield for a moment before Astrid dismissed it, watching it disappear just as fast as it showed itself. The dark elf laughed while staring at her item.

“Oh, I like this item,” She said with a grin.

Seeing her reaction, Hazel couldn’t help but smile as well, glad that she decided to give her partner the wristband.

“Alright, before we head out, let’s go and double-check this floor.”

“You got it.”

Declaring this, Hazel and Astrid decided to do one more sweep around the final floor.