Roge’s eyes bugged out more and more as he watched Carmon work, keeping all of his questions to himself. It started out with all of the herbs and gems sorting themselves in midair, the gems all turning to dust with a loud crack. He then waved almost all of them into the cauldron, not seeming to care about turning it all into a sludge and simply stirring the concoction with a giant spoon. Every minute or so a crack of [Magic] would eject into the air, being caught by a glass vial and stoppered before being gently placed on the desk.

[Lesser Healing Potion]

[Medium Magic Potion]

[Lesser Stamina Potion]

[Lesser Cure Potion]

…

[Inspect Skill increased in Rank! → Rank 3]

More and more potions stacked up on the bench, so many that Roge had received a level in [Inspect] by the time the djinn was done. Most of them were on the lesser end of quality, but the fact that he’d brewed that many potions in one go astounded Roge. He’d never been interested in potion making, but he respected the craft nonetheless.

“There we go! Should be enough potions for the [Guild] this week,” Carmon exclaimed, the potions filing out the door as he walked over to sit next to the dragonkin on the couch. “Can only use that [Skill] once a week, but it’s so worth it so I can work on my other projects in the meantime.” The door slamming made Roge slightly nervous, Carmon having noticed his frown. “So what do you do you specialize in? With the green and blue scales I’d say it’s probably [Water] or [Earth Magic] right?”

“It’s… uh… [Plant Magic] actually,” Roge muttered, shaking himself so as to not get nervous by Carmon’s manic energy again. In a louder tone of voice, he continued, “So I know it’s nice for you an-”

“Oh that’s awesome! You think you’d be able to help me with my herbs? Maybe-”

“I think I need to go now!” Roge blurted out, cutting the djinn off before he could carry the conversation away again. “You seem like a nice guy and all, but my friends are going to be looking for me after they find the potions. And I need to go back to the city for more training…” He trailed off this time at the piercing look the djinn was giving him, unnerved all over again.

“Okay,” Carmon stated neutrally, causing Roge to grow confused. “I’ll just become another of your [Familiars] then.” He nodded at that, blatantly ignoring Roge’s shocked expression. “You accept?”

[Carmon the Djinn had requested to become your Familiar. Accept? Y/N]

“Now hold on a second! We only just met!” Roge scrambled up out of the couch, Carmon elegantly getting up and not giving Roge any space. “Besides wouldn’t you have the same problem with your [Charm] or whatever?”

“Oh, that.” Carmon waved away the thought. “If you are immune to it, I can use a [Familiar Ability] I gain to make it so we can nullify it for other people. Not a problem.”

“Still! Only just met. I don’t want to be tied to you forever if we find out we annoy the crap out of each other!”

Carmon gave the dragonkin a confused look for a moment before he let out a sigh. “You don’t know how [Familiars] work? And you have one?” He shook his head. “[Familiar] contracts are voluntary from both sides, not a Master/Slave relationship.” Roge frowned at that, having not known that tidbit as he generally forgot his [Familiar] was around. “So if I annoy you, you can annul it and I’ll come back to my hut out in the woods. Simple as that. And I highly doubt you want to get to know each other while trapped in here and it’s the best option for me to go see the populated world again.”

Grimacing at that last sentence, Roge gave a sigh as he thought it over. “I need to go confer with my party first. Make sure you’re not lying about the [Familiar] contract and all.” Also to make sure I wouldn’t be doing something potentially dangerous.

“Ugh. Fine. But after five minutes I’m coming out and they won’t be able to pay attention then. So you have that amount of time to talk to them.” The door swung open at the last word, Courage getting up from the couch and flying out as Roge sprinted out as well. I hate this world sometimes…

~---~

Within seconds Roge skid to a stop in front of his party members, Sean being the first to notice and raise an eyebrow. “Don’t have time. Five minutes. How dangerous is a djinn and can [Familiar] contracts be broken at any time?” All three gave him wide eyed looks and he immediately spoke again before they could ask any questions. “Again, don’t have time. Go.”

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“Djinn are very dangerous,” Hops quickly spoke, getting to his feet with a bit of a panicked look on his face. “Very powerful in their chosen field and master of their domain. Combat focused and you’re screwed.”

“Alchemy as far as I can tell.”

Marge of all people cut in at that point, her perpetual smirk wiped off her face. “[Familiars] are bound by the contract. If you want it to be temporary or only consensual, you can agree to those terms beforehand.” Roge nodded, not happy that he’d gotten Carmon in a lie already.

“Why does the witch want a [Familiar] contract anyway?” Sean finally asked, Roge cringing at how quickly he put that together.

“Complicated. Need to think,” he said shortly, pacing back and forth as he thinks over the situation.

“If you don’t accept, the djinn may try to force the issue,” Hops stated, causing Roge to groan at his words. “We are still within their sphere of influence and if they have any mind powers, they may try to hostage us…” Hops trailed off at that, all three looking behind Roge as he felt a sinking feeling in his gut.

“It has not been five minutes!” he complained looking back towards the hut to see Carmon leaning against a nearby tree. His party mates were all staring at the djinn entranced, all vacant smiles and relaxed stances.

“Too bad. What’s your answer?” Carmon asked, the three enthralled sighing in unison at his enhanced voice.

“Fine! Temporary contract where either one of us can break it at any time, unless you’re under mind control.” Roge tried to think of any other conditions, Carmon actually giving him time with a raised eyebrow. “No [Charm] without my permission or unless my life is in danger. You try to the best of your ability to follow my lead. Deal?” He couldn’t think of anything else to offer, hoping something he forgot wouldn’t come to bite him in the tail.

“Deal!” Carmon abruptly appeared in front of the dragonkin and shook his hand, Roge feeling a connection form between the two.

[New Familiar Bond accepted. Contract can be seen in the Status menu.]

[New Ability Gained: Djinn Familiar]

Roge grunted under the exchange of energy, feeling his [Magic] leaking out and Carmon’s [Magic] rushing in from the bond. He almost passed out from the process, feeling his body nearby exploding with energy before the process stopped. Roge immediately let go as steam came off of him in waves, his breath coming out a mixture of green and blue.

[Water Affinity Unlocked! Use Water with Magic based Abilities to unlock new Skills!]

[New Class Available: Draconic Mage (Water)]

[New Class Available: Draconic Mage (Ice)]

[New Categories available in Draconic Magic Skill Tree]

He couldn’t even look over the options his notifications had mentioned as his party members snapped out of their trances, each crying out with the appearance of Carmon. Marge and Hops took steps back, while Sean took a step forward with a paw on his hilt.

“Don’t,” Roge warned, giving the djinn a glare. Not that Carmon had noticed any of it as he looked at the new sweeping tattoo on his right arm. It almost looked like flames running up from his wrist, painting his skin the exact green of Roge’s scales. “Hey! Carmon!” The djinn paid attention to that at least. “Your [Charm] isn’t active.”

“[Charm]?!” each of his team members cried out, and of course Marge would be the one to look excited. Carmon, meanwhile, looked at the three with a growing look of elation.

“It worked! It worked!” He jumped around at that, flying through the air as Sean slowly walked up to the dragonkin.

“Now can you explain?”

~---~

Paul grinned at the report he’d pulled together, finally ready to take it to his bosses. Exposing a changeling and getting that idiotic dragonkin off my record? Today will be my lucky day. He quickly sauntered the few doors down to his direct superior’s office, knocked on the door, and sat on the bench next to it. It usually took a while for his boss to finish up enough work to let him in, though today he was visibly impatient.

“Come in!” came from the door almost a half hour later and Paul breezed through the door while holding up his report to his elephantkin boss.

“Have a report on a suspected changeling sir,” Paul stated calmly, giving his boss the deepest amount of respect as the report left his feathers. “Amnesia cover. Odd changes to his [Status]. Had him scanned for the past few weeks and he has an odd growth rate.” His boss nodded at that, thumbing through the report with his trunk.

“I’ll take a look at it and get back to you tomorrow.” Paul knew there would be a wait, so he responded with a nod and walked out of his boss’s office with his beak held high.

Charges should take a day to file after that. Maybe a day or two before he can be brought in if he’s on a mission. Four more days at most and my biggest annoyance is gone.