I missed a step when the first sparks of connection touched my soul. A moment later a System alert flashed on my vision.

Attempting to initiate enhanced familiar bond…

Error

Target is not safe.

Target is not resting.

Please relocate to a safe, comfortable environment. Prepare for sleep.

The System phrased it as a request, but my limbs began to feel heavy the moment the message appeared. It was all I could do to keep pulling the cart long enough to get it to the side of the wide road we had been traveling down.

The moment I was no longer moving, the sleepiness the System had inflicted on me doubled. I almost wanted to lay down right where I was.

“Good idea!” I heard Torill call out. “We should rest so you're at least a little fresh when we reach Brightwood tomorrow!”

I nodded, grateful that I didn't have to explain my stop. I dismissed the harness, and forced myself to walk a little further off the road before I followed the strong impulse to curl up into a ball and sleep.

I found myself floating in a rather familiar void, but it was not empty, there was someone with me. I recognized the formless glowing energy as a soul, though it was rather small. I knew, without anything having to tell me that it belonged to Thorn.

I wanted to greet them, but I had no idea how to do so, considering the fact that I too was nothing but a ball of energy. I observed as the System poked and prodded the essence of my being.

My soul had changed quite a lot from the last time I had been able to see it in such an exposed state. It was far larger, and I could sense the Concepts I had picked up latched onto it. They weren't yet fully a part of me, though they had merged into me enough that I could imagine the damage any attempt to remove them would do to my soul.

The biggest change was how much more aware I felt. Before, when the System had drawn me out of my body in this way, my mind had dulled. I recalled how I had been almost disinterested in anything that did not impact the integrity of my soul.

This time, I paid rapt attention to the System's prodding, and I had a strong desire to greet Thorn. I wanted to let them know that I had missed them. The change didn’t mean much, as I still had no ability to do anything but silently observe the System's actions.

I felt like I had a new insight into why Concepts were important. They built who you were when you were divorced from the influences of a physical brain. That insight made it all the more important to me that I was careful of the impressions that I made now that I was going to be bringing attention to myself.

The System interrupted my self evaluation by finally taking action, it cut into the protective layer that surrounded my soul. I could do nothing but endure the feeling of violation that came.

Then I was forced to watch as it removed a core section of Thorn's soul. My frantic need to do something, anything, to protect my companion, actually caused my soul to move towards them. The System clamped down on me before I moved very far.

Moments later the piece that had been removed from Thorn was placed in the cut that had been made in the shroud that protected my soul. The moment it touched me I felt Thorn's presence.

Despite the fact that a part of them was being sealed into the outer layer of my soul, they felt like they were more separated from me than they had been before their evolution. I didn't have much time to inspect things before the System slid me back into my unconscious body.

When I opened my eyes, I was in my bed in Belua's realm, the goddess herself was standing in the doorway. I could feel my new connection with Thorn. I could tell where they were, and I could tell that they were going through some final stages of their evolution, but I had no insight into what they were thinking.

“Took you long enough to come here, I thought I told you that we would need to talk before you got to Brightwood.”

She shifted my form to demihuman to allow me to respond without me having to request it.

“There's still most of a day's travel till we get to Brightwood, I didn't think it would be a problem.”

The goddess sighed. “I suppose you're not wrong, but I'd have appreciated it if you had come sooner. Thankfully I had already sent a speaker to that temple for a different reason. They will meet you at the gates, and escort you and those you rescued to the temple.”

“Thank you. So why did we need to talk?”

“I wanted to prepare you for the fact that you will have days at most before the mana beast manifests. Once that is taken care of, I have a new location I would like you to go to. It's a much larger city named Vidare. I have sent a keeper who has recently acquired the ability to hear my voice there ahead of you. I recommend that you research the city, and say your goodbyes quickly.”

I looked down.

“I see. So soon.” A few days, that was it. I'd been mentally preparing myself for it, but my heart broke to hear it. My heart dropped to my stomach when I realized that I had already made plans for after the mana beast. I took the time to explain them to Belua, and why I thought they were important.

“I see, both ridding yourself of that contamination, and making a connection with one of the more powerful spirit beasts on the planet are both good reasons to delay. The situation in Vidare is not time sensitive. It’s just the best tier two location for your contract.”

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“What situation?”

She waved her hand. “Just a small conflict between the local spirit beasts and the city over some land. It is my hope that you and my keeper will be able to help them come to an agreement. It will keep though, I already intended to allow you time to establish yourself there as an adventurer before I set you on that particular task. A month or two more shouldn't make much difference, they've been in a stalemate for years.”

“I see, okay, I'll ask Nefen for books on Vidare, anything else I should do?”

“Buy some books on tier two mana, and read as much as you can, I don't think you want it to be a surprise.”

“Is it that different?” I knew it was much more powerful than what I was used to, and there were a few mentions of advanced mana types in the books I'd read, but the ones Nefen had given me were meant for people learning tier one magic.

Belua nodded. “The mana in higher tiers tends to diverge from the base elements you have access to now. I don't think either of us wants to waste our time on an in depth explanation when you can read about it later. Torill will be joining you shortly.”

My ears perked up. “Yeah, no need to spend time on that.”

I'd just spent a few days pulling her around like a glorified cart horse, enduring the stares of people on the road as they passed by. I just found out that I had even less time left with her than I thought. I wanted some alone time with my mate.

Belua gave me a knowing smile, and left as Torill appeared.

After an appropriately fond greeting, I told her everything that had happened since I fell asleep. She was happy to hear that Thorn finally woke up, but we both forgot about everything else when I broke the news of how little time I had left in Brightwood.

We spent the rest of the night reminding each other that we'd still be able to spend plenty of time together, it just wouldn't be in the real world.

When the morning came, I took the time to hunt. To my dismay, it seemed that hungry was starting to spark back to life. I consoled myself that the one good thing about the current timetable was that I wouldn't have to deal with it for much longer.

I was hooked up to the cart once more, and about to set out when Thorn sent me a telepathic message.

“Good morning creator! I missed you!” The message wasn't quite mind speech, but it was close, it came to me straight through our bond.

It took me a moment to figure out how to respond, during which my enthusiastic companion sent me several more excited messages.

“I didn't think it would ever end!”

“I sure changed a lot”

“Those two administrators were funny, one of them was so nice! He tried to give me everything I wanted! The other one kept yelling at him about ‘balance’ I didn't understand! I do now though, I learned a lot for my new class. Heaps and heaps, I bet I know more than you!”

“They had me live a pretend life and everything, it was so interesting! I'm a person now, just like you wanted.”

“They say I get to be with you as long as I want, the mean one called me an experiment for his experiment.”

“The nice one called him an asshole, but I don't mind being an experiment if it means I get to be what you need.”

“Hello? Am I sending this right? I think I am.”

“I hope you aren't mad at me that I asked to change our bond type. It should make us both happy. I get to stay with you forever, but I'm not connected to your mind anymore.”

When I finally figured out how to send a message, it was not much more than a reassurance. “I'm not mad, I missed you too. I can't wait to find out how you changed!”

“Where are you? You feel far away.”

When I told them how it would be most of a day before I got back, they responded with, “That won't do! I'm going to come to you.”

I felt them tugging strongly on our bond, before I heard a sudden pop of displaced air, and felt a light weight on my back. Torill, bless her heart, sprang into action before I could do anything. She landed on the ground in front of me, on top of a slender human figure, holding them down by their arms.

A wheeze came from the very human seeming Thorn as they laid on the ground under held completely immobile by my protective mate. I sent her a quick message telling her to let my poor companion up. Whatever their evolution was, one thing was for sure, they weren't suited for physical combat.

Torill got off them immediately, but stood there staring at Thorn.

“I've heard stories of legendary intelligent weapons evolving to be person shaped, but I never thought I'd see it, and they usually took on classes that complimented their old form.”

I inspected my companion.

Level 220 Attendant

It definitely wasn't a combat class.

As Thorn shakily sat up, and regained their breath, I looked at their new form. They had well made clothes, almost too well made. The white jacket with stylized black stripes was a bit much, but the rest of it wouldn't be out of place on a rich man's servant.

They appeared to be male, though they were slim, and had slender, almost dainty features. They reached up to brush an errant strand of long dark hair out of their face.

In a voice that was much deeper and more masculine than I had expected, they answered the implied question.

“I asked for an evolution that would allow me to be what my creator needed. He doesn't need a weapon. He needs hands, and someone who looks human standing easily at his side. He needs an easy to accept voice to speak for him when he is in his true form. That is what they said.” Thorn looked down. “He outgrew me as a staff before I even had a mind of my own.”

Torill giggled. “I guess I can see that, but an attendant? You're barred from combat entirely, aren't you? Helluva thing for a weapon to accept.”

“It's not so bad, I could have kept my form and become an elementalist, they gave me that option. But the path I chose will allow me to always be what my creator needs. Our fates are linked until I choose to sever our bond. So long as he lives I live. In this life, and…” Thorn coughed, and looked around for a bit in confusion, Islon was well within hearing distance, so he couldn't complete the sentence. But it seemed like Thorn's senses were lacking, because he didn't notice the little turtle looking down at him curiously from the cart.

I stared at my companion as their interrupted statement completed in my head. In this life and the next. Thorn had signed up to be my partner in a way that I didn't know was even possible. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, on one hand, it meant I would never be truly alone again in any life, something I was grateful for. On the other hand, they were far too young to be making such a commitment.

But it was their decision to make, and they did say they could sever the bond. I walked to my companion, barely remembering that I was still hitched to the heavy cart, and nosed them gently.

“You didn't have to choose this path, I'd be perfectly happy to see you live free of me. But thank you.”

Thorn smiled, whatever stats they had, it was obvious that their charisma was very high, because that smile lit up the whole damn forest. It occurred to me that my companion was going to break a lot of young ladies' hearts.

I sighed to myself, thinking about all the ways such things could go wrong.