When i woke up, sunrise was upon me, bathing the trees in a deep yellow light. My snakebody slowly rose from its hidingspot, sticking out its tounge to taste the air. I felt very different from before i fell asleep, almost as if i was stronger now, but still failed to take control of my rebellious body. A loud explosion abruptly broke the silence of the woods, and my snakebody quickly slithered in the opposite direction to the source. As i slithered along the uneven forestsuface, my body once again picked up a sound, and my mind went blank.

People! the voices i heard were unmistakenly those of my fellow kinsmen! With a burst of willpower, i forced my body to turn around, while supressing my own excitement.

Small creatures were still fleeing from the explosions, but even my gnarling hunger was insufficient to keep me from finding my kin. I dodged a fleeing ratlike creature, way to impatient to even atempt to consume it, and almost ran into a small rockformation. The rocks were in fact rather small, but were boulders from my perspective, and took a painfully long amount of time just to get around. When i finally managed to get a glimpse behind the formation, i abruptly stopped.

In a large clearing, maybe five meters across, a small camp was situated. A man in dark robes was sitting on a log in front of a small bonfire, which had clearly been burning for a while, and my snake body picked out two more under the pelts which were lying behind him. The man examined a burning patch of forest with a huge grin, and proceeded to snap his fingers. I recoiled back in fear as a fire slowly grew from the mans palm, casting an eerie glow upon his already creepy smile. The mans eyes had locked with mine for a second, and he'd seen me! i shivered in my hidingspot under a bush as i imagined him turning towards my direction.

"Show yourself, beast, and submit yourself before me, or face the power of my fire!" A loud voice, imbued with fiery power, rang out. It didn't seem as if i could escape without being burned to a crisp, and so i obliged. With my body still stiff with fear, its usual resistance was gone, allowing me to freely control it, and i quickly crawled up towards the clearing. When i emerged, i could see the mages suprise in his face, and surmised that i might have made a big mistake. i was ready to turn at any second, but then the mage broke into a big smile.

"Girls, wake up!" he shouted, "i've got one!"

The previously unmoving pelts started to shake, and within a moment, two more humans emerged.

They were both beautiful, with short hair clearly cut for convinience rather than beauty, and slender, muscular bodies matching the leather armour they wore.

As a snake, i obviously didn't react to their alluring appearances, with my new preferences involving large bodies and fearsome fangs, but my formerly human spirit could still evaluate them fairly. They were fairly similar, and i directly concluded that they were twins. One was slightly shorter, with a slightly more round face, while the other was tall and willowy, with sharper features and a gaze that seemed to register even the most minute details in her surroundings.

"what is it, Bergand? did you scorch your own hand again?" the shorted one muttered, while the willowy one just glared at him.

"Very funny, witch, i'll make sure to be more careful when i burn you at the stake!" the man named Bergand replied angrily, lifting his left hand which still held the ball of fire, and pointing it towards the girl.

"Stop it, both of you! you'll scare it!" the willowy girl suddenly shouted, silencing both her sister and Bergand.

"come here, little guy, we wont hurt you" she then said in a much softer voice, now focusing her attention on me.

I slowly approached the girl, who had taken a chunk of fresh meat out from her satchel, and she smiled.

When i came close enough to snatch the meat away from her, she visibly tensed up, waiting for me to lunge at it and then quickly retreat. Betraying her expectations, i made my way towards her arm, and put my head on it. She watched with an incredulous expression as i slowly coiled around it, stretching my neck towards her satchel, and when my head eventually emerged from the opening, still gulping down pieces of meat, she laughed. It was a beautiful laugh, pearly and pure, and as i laid my head to rest on her shoulder, my body around her arm, a window appeared once again.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

A sapient being has requested a contract be made.

(Type: Familiar)

Do you wish to accept?

Y/N

I stared at the window for a moment, and then chose Yes, tightening my grip on the girls arm.

The girl stared at me for a moment, shocked, and then burst out in tears.

"He accepted!" she screamed, seemingly dilirious in her joy. "we wont have to leave the academy!"

The girls sister and Bergand quickly joined in, laughing and crying amongst themselves, while alternating between hugging each other and myself.

I couldn't help but feel happy for them, despite not having any idea of what was happening, and licked my new masters' ear to get her attention. She squealed in suprise and delight, taking my prodding lick as a show of affection, and i sighed inwardly. There was no way they'd understand me, and a glance at the writing on the scroll the other girl was tucking away told me that written language was very different in this place.

"Aww" the other girl pouted, "i wanted to be the one to make the contract".

"We aquired a familiar, and that should be enough for you, Adalia" My master said with a sigh. "Not only that, snaketypes are rare around these parts, and those that are found here are often above D-rank. Our new friend here might even be a Galeviper or an Eldergrass snake!" When speaking about me, she looked towards the shoulder on which my head rested on and affectionately patted it.

Having found both physical and emotional safety with my fellow humans, i could afford to relax. My bet had paid off, i'd been taken in as a pet instead of being killed for my hide, and i'd be safe from the many predators i knew were lurking in the forest. Now i'd just have to wait and see how it played out.

As the day progressed, i learned much about my new master, her friends, and the world i had found myself in. The three friends spoke of a war in the east, where humans had invaded dwarf territory, of the academy, which i learned was a sort of military academy focusing on teaching magic, and of the assignment they almost failed. Appearently they were first year students on their very first field mission, to contract a familiar. Each group needed to contract at least one familiar within the span of a week, and Bergand had scared away all the fauna in proximity by hurling fire at everything until i came along. I quickly learned that Bergand was a very competent pyromancer, and a severe case of pyromania, which was the reason for him still being a first year student despite being two years older than the girls. The girls mentioned an incident where he'd set fire to his teachers robe, forcing him to strip in front of the class, and sending Bergand straight back to year one. My masters name was Ariena, and as i'd guessed she was the twin sister of Adalia. They were both spiritmages unlike Bergand, who was an elemental summoner. As i understood it, elemental summoners were humans that were capable of hosting elementals within themselves, wielding their powers in exchange for feeding them mana. Spiritmages however, wielded magic related to life, such as healing, illusion and binding.

When night finally fell, Bergand upprooted several big trees, piled them on top of each other, and set fire to them. The result was a splendid, flaming tower which lit up the surroundings like a beacon, and i couldn't help but admire Bergands power. The girls set up their odd pile of pelts again, put up a barrier to keep Bergand out, and then promptly went to sleep, clutching each other. I stuck my head out from in between the girls, looking out towards Bergand who was lying down on the ground. The poor sod had been forced to sleep directly on the ground ever since he set fire to the pelts, and was probably even now regretting it. Turning back towards my beautiful master and her sister, i stuck my head back in between them. There, basking in the intense heat coming from both girls, i finally fell asleep.