All my life I had been told that if you wanted to live well you would have to graduate from Myst Academy. Everyone from merchants to kings once attended the academy, it was considered a necessity to attend for anyone who wanted to be more than a simple tradesmen. Myst Academy was an unshakeable pillar in both society and culture, and it was always my intention to enroll there.

I had no illusions about who I was, I knew myself better than anyone. I was the son of a farmer, a commoner with no status of any kind and no connections worth anything. For someone in my position it would be laughable to have a chance to enroll at Myst, but I had a chance. I had devoted my all for the opportunity to get into Myst, worked myself ragged doing things others wouldn’t bother to do. I was the kid who was treated differently because he taught himself to read instead of playing outside with friends, the kid who sat quietly under a tree everyday trying to condense a mana pool, the kid who saved every coin he ever made and kept them safe in a hidden spot behind his desk.

I may not have much to my name, but I can read, write, and manipulate mana. I was the son of a farmer, but I dreamed of being so much more. I wanted fame, status, and wealth. I dreamed of becoming nobility myself and having my own land and my own mansion. I’d have servants and slaves by the dozen, as many wives as I could handle, and a whole bunch of children to treasure. I wanted a grand and luxurious life, and I had worked my ass off to take the first step towards my dreams.

Looking down at the desk my older brother had made for me so long ago I felt a hint of reluctance spring up inside me. My family didn’t like my decision to leave the farm, they didn’t think I would be able to make it into Myst next year and wanted me to stay home.

I loved my family, but they just didn’t get me at all. I had made a plan years ago, and I had never hidden that plan from them. First I would learn to read, then write, then I’d learn to use mana, and then I’d leave home. For years I had stuck to the plan, and now that I was fourteen it was time to leave home. I felt reluctant to leave, I knew I would miss my family once I left, but I had to go.

Myst Academy had many branches of study, but as a commoner I was fairly limited in what I could enroll for. I just didn’t have the resources to prepare myself and qualify for the more scholarly entrance exam, and that meant I had to shot for the combat exam. Living on a surface farm didn’t lead to me gaining much combat experience, so my best chance to gain that experience was now. I’d spend my next year training myself in the art of battle by entering the three lesser dungeons, and then hopefully I’d be ready for the combat exam next year.

With a sigh I slung my pack over my shoulder and made my way out of my room. Keeping my steps as quiet as I could not to wake anyone I went down the stairs and through the parlor. Standing at the front door I felt my heart sink as I realized I was really leaving home for good.

“And where do you think you’re going, squirt?”

I almost jumped out of my skin at the sudden question breaking the quiet stillness of the house. Turning around I saw my eldest sister leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

“Really? You were just going to sneak out just because mom and dad said you couldn’t leave?”

Her expression was a mix of sadness and disappointment that I had come to know quite well over the years. It was the expression everyone in my family wore when I spoke about my plans to attend Myst.

“Well… Yeah.”

There was no other answer I could give. I knew I was being selfish, but I couldn’t abandon my dreams for anything. Not even family.

“You know Lux, you really are a rotten little brother…”

I felt a small sad smile cross my face at Elle’s words.

“Yeah, I know.”

My sister shook her head as she sighed.

“Always so selfish, spoiled too. It always had to be your way or no way at all, you’re more stubborn than a damn bull!”

I winced as Elle’s voice began to raise and wondered if anyone else in the house had heard her.

“Mom knew you’d do this, she said you wouldn’t let anything or anyone hold you back once you set your mind to something no matter how stupid the thing you’ve set your mind to doing actually is. I didn’t want to believe her, I wanted to think my baby brother would actually listen for once and do the right thing for our family. I guess I know which one of us was right now, don’t I Lux?”

I don’t think she could have hurt me more if she had slapped me. My sister was right, I was being selfish and leaving the farm right before planting season started. Still, I couldn’t let her guilt me into staying home. All my life had been spent for this opportunity, and I would die before I gave it up myself.

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Seeing my look Elle just sighed and let her arms drop powerlessly to her sides.

“Damn it Lux… Fine, whatever. Do what you want, I won’t stop you anymore…”

As my sister turned around and began to walk up the steps to her room I could hear her quiet sobbing. Turning around I opened the door with a leaden heart and stepped outside.

*

The sad truth of things was that traveling on foot sucked. It was a tiring and slow thing to do, and it was literally my only option to get where I was going. The farmhouse was a ways out of the village, and the village was miles from any major city. The simple truth was that I was stuck walking to wherever it was I wanted to go from now on. Well, that is until I have enough spare money to hitch a ride on a carriage.

I figured it would take me at least a week or two of walking to get to the city of Dunstop, but that was only if I stuck to the road. Going through the forest and cutting through in a straight line to Dunstop would save me a day or two at least, but it would also mean dealing with the dangers of the forest. The road was patrolled fairly regularly and that made it a pretty safe way to travel, but the forest was full of wild animals and even a few monsters.

I decided on making my way through the forest without hesitation, after all I was looking for combat and survival experience in the first place. Besides this was surface and there were no wild monsters of any real strength up here, at most there might be a rank 1 monster lurking in some forgotten corner somewhere. More than likely I’ll be dealing with rank 0 monsters and if I was really unlucky a bear, I felt confident I could handle that.

I had a, well it was more of a trick than any sort of spell, but I had something I could use to hide and escape if I needed it. Plus there was a real chance that I’d be able to get a few monster cores if I was lucky, and any 0 ranked core I picked up would be worth a few copper when I sold them. Going through the forest was a win-win for me.

It took me until daybreak to get to the edge of the forest, but once I got there I felt like I needed a quick break before I went in. I remembered all the survival rules I read in the Raider’s Survival Handbook, and an important one was ‘Rest while you can, a tired raider is a soon to be dead raider’ which seemed like great advice. Plopping down on the grass I unslung my pack and uncorked one of my three water skins. After taking a few small sips of the refreshing water I recorked the skin and simply stared at the forest before me.

“I’ve read a book on surviving in the wild, but reality really can’t be compared to what you read…”

It was starting to really sink in. I was alone, and there was going to be no one to rely on but myself from now on. I would need to conserve my food and water supplies while looking for ways to replenish both. I’d never really been hunting, and I knew next to nothing about plant life that wasn’t corn or wheat. I was woefully unprepared for this, but I wouldn’t turn back. It was now or never, and I refused to let a little thing like being underprepared for the situation hold be back.

Maybe mom and Elle were right, I might be too stubborn for my own good.

*

The forest got thick quicker than I expected, and if I didn’t know how to use my mana as a compass I would have gotten lost. A simple command to my mana to flow out of me and to the north would let me immediately orient myself, and I knew that Dunstop was to the east so that was the direction I headed.

The forest was full of life, I could see all sorts of plants growing around the trees and could hear plenty of animals around me. It was actually a bit unnerving as I could hear plenty of things that I couldn’t actually see, and on more than one occasion I froze and used my light bending trick to make myself invisible. To say that walking through the forest on my own was easy would be a lie, but I did discover that it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. Three hours of walking and I hadn’t encountered anything besides birds and squirrels. Regardless I had my knife unsheathed and in my hand just in case.

About midday I got hungry enough that I decided to dig into my food supplies. Reaching into my pack I pulled out one of the bags of trail mix I had put together and ate a few handfuls of dried nuts and fruit as I walked. After finishing my lunch I decided that another few sips from my water skin were in order as well, so I sat myself down by a tree for a short break.

As I sipped my water and reflected on how easy my trip through the forest so far was I heard a rustling coming from above me. Without hesitation I used my mana to bend the light around me and disappear. Right as I faded from sight I looked up and found myself staring at the back of a very large green cat. It looked like a mix between a lion and a tiger with its mane and dark stripes, and I felt very happy that it wasn’t facing my way.

In that moment I realized that I had a fundamental misunderstanding of what rank 0 meant for monsters. Sure there were a few rank 0 monsters that weren’t too difficult for a normal person to beat like slimes or skriters, but there were also things like Mr. Green here that could kill a normal person easily. Hunters and raiders trained to fight these monsters, and they spent years honing their skills in battle before they were considered ready to enter the grand dungeon. I was just now beginning to realize that the grand dungeon might be a lot more dangerous than I originally thought, and Myst’s combat exam took place on the first floor of the grand dungeon.

I would need to pass the combat test, so that meant I would need to accumulate the battle skills that hunters and raiders trained for years to acquire all in one year.

I felt myself gulp. There was no way, simply no realistic way I could gain enough strength to survive in the grand dungeon in a year. I wouldn’t have time to learn more than the basics in any weapon I decided to train in, and I wouldn’t have the time to make enough money to buy myself a spot amongst the new students enrolling.

Just as my frustration began to set in a flash of brilliance came to me, a sudden realization that could solve all my problems. Sure, maybe there was no way for me personally to become strong enough to survive on my own in the combat exam… but then what if I wasn’t on my own. What if I brought with me a monster strong enough to not only protect me but to also earn me a top score in the exam.

Familiars. The answer to my problem was Familiars.

Now all I needed to do was figure out how I could get my hands on a strong enough monster.