373 days until the Arkon Shield falls

High Shaman,

I share your concern about the human Jameson Sinclair and have exhorted my men to greater effort in finding him.

I am writing to you, however, on another disturbing matter. Shaman Jhaven has detected svartalfar mages snooping about our northern base in the mountains. I’ve ordered him to erect a scrying ward around the valley, but I fear it will not hold the dark mages at bay for long. We can expect further interference from them.

—Chief Zel Foghorn.

I left the temple still dazed by the implications of Aurora’s last words. Had she been trying to warn me? I wondered. And if so, of what?

I had known the Trials was a part of me, yet the idea of it listening in on my every thought was disturbing. Now was not the time to ponder the matter, though. I still had a lot to get done before tomorrow.

Glancing inwards, I focused on the Trials message, heralding the changes to myself.

Your skills in air, death, earth, life, water, sorcery, anatomy, light armor, staffs, and lore have advanced to level 68.

Your spellpower and channeling have increased to level 68 and your constitution to level 51.

Your skill in dragon magic has advanced to level 108 and reached rank 3, Seasoned.

I dismissed the alerts and hurried towards my cabin, but after a moment’s thought, I changed direction and headed to the craft hall instead. My gear and my armor required mending again, and there were other things I needed too.

✽✽✽

I passed through the craft hall in a whirlwind, speaking first to Melissa, then Anton, and Albert in quick succession. Not even with Anton did I pause for a longer chat. Time was in too short a supply.

After leaving the three crafters with terse instructions on what I needed, I rushed back to my cabin. Melissa had promised to see that my order was delivered, and I had faith that she would.

My cabin was undamaged, and it didn’t look like anyone else had been inside since I’d left for the fort. Seating myself cross-legged on the fur rug, I considered the tasks before me.

First and foremost, I wanted to take a stab at golem crafting, then I needed to improve my arsenal of dragon spells, and lastly there was my staff to see to. It was going to be a long night.

Best I get started, I thought, placing the elemental stone of fire on the rug. Beside it, I laid down the champion core. Cupping my chin in my hands, I stared down at the items.

How do I go about creating a golem?

Eric’s message had made clear that a core served as the means of communication between a player and his pet. I have to combine stone and core. But how? Reaching down, I nudged two closer together. Nothing happened.

Hmm…

Gathering my will, I analyzed both items again.

The target is a full champion core. The special properties of this item are unknown. Your lore skill is insufficient.

The target is an elemental stone of fire. Current state: dormant. No enchantments are contained in this crystal. This stone may be etched with the spiritform of rank 4 spells from the Discipline of fire and is large enough to be attuned as a Focus. The spirit within this stone is gifted in Magic, has mediocre Resilience, exceptional Might, and no Craft.

My brows drew down as I read the last Trials message. My lore was finally sufficient to get further information on the elemental stone, but frustratingly not on the core. Still, the newly revealed stone data was interesting.

I wondered what the effect of casting my magic through an attuned crystal would be. The stone belonged to the element of fire. Would it enhance my fire magic? And possibly even my dragon magic? It was an attractive idea, and I was curious to explore it further, but not today and not with this elemental crystal. Reining in my wayward thoughts, I turned back to the subject at hand: golem crafting.

Perhaps I need to awaken the stone first?

It was worth a shot. Drawing on my magic, I fed mana into the crystal.

The stone grew warm, then hot, and the rug beneath began to spark and smolder. Hastily, I moved the stone onto the bare floor. The wood underneath blackened but did not catch alight, and reassured I wouldn’t burn the cabin down around me, I channeled more mana into the stone.

You have awakened an elemental stone of fire.

The crystal’s heart flared to life, and I sensed the elemental spirit stir. Unlike the first time I’d interacted with it, the elemental did not recoil from my touch. In fact, the only emotion I sensed from the creature was tiredness and a strong desire to return to its slumber.

“I promise I will not keep you long if this fails,” I murmured. Picking up the champion core, I rolled it closer to the elemental stone until the two objects were touching.

I sensed curiosity flicker in the elemental as the core’s diamond-like surface touched its own.

“Go on,” I whispered, “absorb the core.” I had no idea if such was even possible, but I had to believe the process was similar to my own induction into the Trials. In what seemed a response to my urging, the elemental spirit sent a tendril of itself into the core.

The core began to glow.

I sat up attentively. Something was happening! A Trials notice unfurled in my mind.

Champion core installation initiated. Basic interface installed. Analyzing host and target entities…

Child species… fire elemental.

Parent species… human.

Existing spirit bindings… none.

Parent sorcery… present.

Control core size… adequate.

Analysis complete. The parent and child entities comply with all requirements.

Jameson Sinclair, do you wish to transform a fire elemental into a creature champion and meld it to your spirit? Beware, as a living creature with free will of its own, a fire elemental may reject the melding.

“Ah,” I breathed, my thoughts racing as I considered the alert. I didn’t entirely understand the Trials’ latest message, but I had no doubt now that I was on the right path.

Yes, I thought emphatically.

Champion core activated by player Jameson Sinclair. Commencing metamorphosis…

Pure white light burst from the core, forcing me to squint against the sudden glare. The light coalesced into a beam that swept the room like a searching spotlight before coming to rest on the elemental stone.

The crystal pulsed scarlet in response to the harsh light bearing down on it, and for a moment, it seemed intent on resisting the intrusive white light, but then red and white intermingled, bathing both stone and core in a rosy glow.

The core shrunk, and the stone expanded. My eyes widened. The elemental was absorbing the core! The process didn’t abate until the stone was larger than one of my closed fists and nothing remained of the core.

Then the elemental crystal contracted.

I stared at it in consternation. What? Why? Is the stone rejecting the core?

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Insufficient energy available. Cannibalizing child entity’s matter.

“No, no, no!” I shrieked. “Don’t do that!”

The Trials paid my protest no heed, and if anything, the crystal’s shrinking only accelerated. Doing the only thing I could think of, I flooded the crystal with mana. The elemental stone’s rapid contraction slowed but did not stop.

I kept pouring energy into the crystal but feared I’d just made a costly mistake. I wrung my hands in worry.

When the combined object was the size of a marble, another Trials message scrolled across my vision.

Core embedded…

Creature primary data updated…

Traits revised…

Status modified…

Verifying configuration…

Metamorphosis completed. An elemental stone was degraded during the transformation and shrunk into a sliver.

A new entity has been born. Identity: unnamed. Species: fire elemental. Designation: elemental seed. Meld status: not started.

Warning: Melding of the parent and child is incomplete. If the meld is not established in one hour, the core will be destroyed, and the elemental seed will lose its creature champion Traits.

I blew out a heavy breath. For a moment, I’d thought I had lost both the stone and core, but the metamorphosis was successful, if barely, and now the crystal was a seed. And what exactly is that? I wondered.

Opening my magesight, I studied the object on the floor. The elemental within was awake and moving about energetically. But despite the physical transformation of its housing, the spirit was little changed. It remained nearly the same as when I’d first beheld it. I frowned. So how was it a creature champion now? And how did I complete the melding?

Thoughtfully, I reached out and picked up the marble-sized object for a closer inspection.

Physical contact established. Attempting meld…

I snatched back my arm at the unexpected Trials message and almost dropped the elemental seed but managed to close my fist around it in time. Another sensation drew my attention.

My own core was awakening.

Roots, the Trials had buried long ago in my mind during my induction, lifted free and reached out to the seed in my hand. I half-sensed messages race between the two cores but their contents remained opaque. Connections snapped into place, core to core, and I felt my heart lift. This, I realized, was what the Trials had meant by melding and, so far, the process appeared to be proceeding smoothly.

Meld failed. A fire elemental seed has rejected your offer.

Huh?

Opening my palm, I stared down at the crystal in my hand. It was pulsing sullenly. It had rejected the advances of my core. But why?

In my magesight, the elemental spirit continued to flutter. This time though, its movements had an angry air to them. Reaching into the crystal with my magic, I tasted its emotions.

Hurt.

Betrayal.

Fury.

I sighed. The fire elemental had perceived the melding as an attempt to leash it, and it most emphatically did not want that. The creature desired only to burn free and wild.

Now what? I wondered.

Setting the crystal down on the floor, I drummed my fingers against the wood. In hindsight, I realized I should not have found the spirit’s refusal surprising. Like all forms of fire, the elemental was filled with an unquenchable thirst for destruction and would resist anything that sought to shackle it. In that respect, it was similar to my own dragonfire.

I smiled wryly. After dealing with the same tendencies by the dragonfire in me, I should have known better than to expect the fire elemental to be easily tamed. In fact, the resemblance between the two was almost uncanny. At the comparison, I felt a tug from the magic within me.

I stilled. What’s woken it now?

My magic pulled at me again. It wanted me to call on it, I realized. I hesitated. I was warier about giving my mana free rein after the near-disaster with the orc commander and almost ignored its stirring. But something told me that this time my magic wasn’t angry.

It was… intrigued.

Hmm.

What had caught its interest? The fire elemental? It had to be. I did not know what my magic wanted, but more often than not, it had guided me true. Let’s see what happens, I thought and opened the wellspring at my center.

Mana rose out from my center.

My eyes widened, but I didn’t react. Forming into thin filaments, my magic wove itself into a shape I knew well. Dragonfire. When the construct was completed, the flames sat still within me, as if waiting for further instructions.

What does it want me to burn?

The elemental sliver on the floor glinted.

I glanced down at it. The spirit within was pressed up against the walls of its crystal housing, giving rise to tiny sparks along the surface. The elemental had sensed the presence of the dragonfire within me, I realized, and it too threatened to burst into flames.

Understanding dawned. Fire did not only burn to destroy but also to touch, take, and feel. That’s what my dragonfire wanted. To be introduced to the fire elemental, and perhaps that’s what the elemental wished for too.

I willed dragonfire out of my hands.

Almost before I could complete the thought, flames leaped from my palms and towards the elemental. In response, fire flared out of the crystal. The two blazes comingled, and soon I could not distinguish between them.

The small inferno turned first bright red, then blinding white before disappearing within the crystal confines. Inside, spiritform and spellform intertwined as elemental and dragonfire inspected each other.

A heartbeat later, the elemental pulsed with new emotions.

Surprise.

Joy.

Happiness.

I sucked in a cautious breath. My dragonfire was doing what I’d failed to, it was wooing the elemental. Almost afraid to hope, but knowing that if ever there was a moment, it was this, I picked up the crystal.

Attempting meld…

Communication flashed between the cores again and new connections formed. This time, they were not rejected and quickly multiplied.

A second later, threads of my own spirit unraveled to join with the fire elemental. Ties were forged, and emotions coursed between. The spirit weave of the fire elemental’s being fused to me, thread by thread, until it was as much me as my magic was. But like my magic, it withheld a kernel of itself separate, making it both part of and apart from me.

When the process ended, I could sense the elemental in me, and it, me.

We were spirit-bonded.

Melding completed. Child entity successfully joined to parent entity. This spirit binding is permanent and can only be undone by death.

Congratulations, Jamie Sinclair, you have gained an elemental seed as a familiar. You are the first human to have acquired a familiar. For this achievement, you have been awarded: lore.

Lore note: Familiars are sorcerous pets that are bound to a player by ties of spirit. Every familiar is different, but they all have some Traits in common. Each pet is both companions and Focus and can channel its owner’s magic through the unique bonds forged between their spirits.

Familiars are also creature champions and advance in level as they gain experience. Unlike a wild creature champion, though, a familiar’s growth is capped by its owner’s level and its own core type.

Familiar Data.

Name: unnamed. Base species: fire elemental. Growth Potential: unlimited, full core installed. Designation: elemental seed, rank 1. Level: 1.

Known Techniques: none. Etched spells: 1 of 1, flare. Traits possessed: creature champion, sorcerer’s pet, fire spirit, elemental, crystal-bound, and dragon-touched. Current rank cap: elemental seed. Current spell cap: common spells.

Trait: Creature Champion. Rank: 2, uncommon. As it advances in level, your familiar will automatically gain Traits, Attributes, and Techniques according to a predefined pattern determined by its base species.

Trait: Sorcerer’s Pet. Rank: 3, rare. As a creature bound to you by ties of spirit, your familiar can act as your eyes and ears.

Trait: Fire spirit. Rank: 2, uncommon. Given its innate nature, your familiar can only cast fire magic spells, cannot itself be harmed by fire, and is more susceptible to water damage.

Trait: Elemental. Rank: 3, rare. Unlike other familiars, elemental familiars cannot channel their owner’s spells. However, they are creatures of magic themselves with their own mana pools and can cast their own spells. These, though, must first be etched onto their spiritforms. The number of spells that your familiar may hold increases with its rank.

Trait: Crystal-bound. Rank: 4, epic. Most familiars possess a body. Yours, however, does not. This comes with both significant benefits and drawbacks. Your familiar cannot be killed as long as its crystal housing remains unbroken, although it can still be drained and banished when manifested. Additionally, your pet’s growth, and the spells that may be etched in its spiritform, are limited by the size of its crystal housing.

Trait: Dragon-touched. Rank: unique. Your familiar has absorbed the essence of your dragonfire and is no longer only an ordinary fire elemental. Its spirit can be etched not only with fire magic spells but also those of dragonfire.

I rocked back, overwhelmed by the avalanche of Trials notices.

“A familiar,” I murmured in awe. I had believed myself conversant in the Trials’ mechanics, yet somehow Overworld still managed to surprise me at every turn. I shook my head, amazed that I’d gained a familiar. And an unusual one, too, if its Traits are anything to go by.

At the thought, I sensed a flicker of irritation pass through the elemental. Wondering at the cause, I glanced down at the sliver on the floor. The blinding-white light emanating from it had faded to a luminous amber. The color of the crystal itself had changed too, I noticed. No longer was it dull-red but gold.

It’s the color of my dragon magic.

I sensed annoyance again.

My brows drew down. “What’s wrong?”

Images flickered across the spirit bond that tied us together.

“Oh,” I said aloud as I realized the source of the seed’s irritation. The elemental took offense to being considered an ‘it.’

My familiar was female.

“Pardon me,” I murmured and picked her up, triggering another Trials alert.

Do you wish to name your familiar?

I rubbed my chin in thought. “Ash. How does that sound for a name?”

I felt the seed taste the name and pulse her acceptance a moment later.

An elemental seed has been renamed Ash.

I rose to my feet. “Well, Ash, let me show you more of your new home.