My Blind Familiar_The Ash Golem

by Nathan Valerio

  Although she had wanted to give it back he didn’t accept so she summoned her tiny fist sized gem spirit and presented the mana stone for it.

  The thing flew at it and connected to the mana stone and from the opening one could see the mana going in. What was most curious was that after no more than a minute, the spirit began to tremble and after another ten seconds it flew up and shattered releasing all the mana it had pent up and returned to the seal.

  The mana also returned and when it self summoned once more the form had been rebuilt but the smooth circle gem now had a few edges looking like an actual gem. Jasmine even covered her mouth as she watched and felt the mana move and hit the mana snags gathering more and more along them and then burst.

  It did this unceasingly as it absorbed the mana from the mana stone, only after breaking 10 times the spirit summoned itself and landed in Jasmine’s lap while the blinking spirit light inside kept pulsing. She was crying because she said the mana was flowing very naturally in the mana channels of the gem spirit. The spirit had consumed 20% of the mana in just that small time and everyone estimated that it had raised at least 3 levels.

  In the magical world only demons and Spirits self destructed to improve. Spirits are souls formed from mana and the body is simply a vessel so when they absorb enough mana they burst the body and rebuild a stronger one. It is the only creature comparable to demons in the regard where they don’t fear death as the soul is mostly intangible and it will simply rebuild its body should it be destroyed.

  What is more, she also developed a skill and fixed it herself since she had the knowledge and created something called Gem Ray. It seemed to be a kind of mana beam type attack but when tested, it made a small gem stone highly compacted with high intensity mana and shot it a blinding speed. The gem did not explode but it possessed immense penetrating power.

  Now in the morning, Nil, Zip and Xero were on board of Xero’s flying Great sword flying to Gravlin. The purpose was exactly what was said the previous night, with Nil’s familiar surpassing level 30 he had the right to possess a low ranking noble title.

  The two were very surprised about the flying skill Ashley had but when Xero asked about the noble rankings, since he heard it once but didn’t understand, his father explained. A rank 1 noble title is a Lower Knight, they can command a small village and manage it, imposing taxes for the state and managing the crime rate while dealing with the daily problems of the village residents.

  Rank 2 is gained when someone surpasses level 40 and is called a Great Knight, these can command a small platoon of 300 commoner knights, knights who have no rank, they are put in charge of villages, they do the same as Rank 1 but normally they are permitted to keep 10% of the tax money while rank 1 can keep only 5%.

  Rank 3 is a Baron, normally this title is gained when a rank 2 reaches level 50 or his town reached a significant size or he did large merits for the state. They usually command small towns or forts, normally in command of 4 to 10 platoon of 300 knights each, all trained within the city itself, they also command rank 1 villages within a range of their town. Normally a town of a Baron will always have the roads developed into main roads and as long as there is benefits to it the city will grow. They get the right to keep 20% of the tax pulled in from the surrounding village and the town itself.

  Rank 4 for is Viscount, these command territories and towns of moderate size, normally there are between 10 to 20 Baron serving under a Viscount due to being within their territory. The Viscount is in charge of protection of all the area it is commanding as well as keeping general order, removing bandits that appear and normally regional development including rural development. They can keep 10% of the revenue coming from all the territory they run.

  Rank 5 is Earl, the noble is granted a position in the royal court as well as being in command of 5 Viscount rank officials. These normally manage greater affairs that begin to pertain to the state, and speak directly to the king or emperor about the problems.

  Finally Rank 6 is Marquess who are normally generals or very powerful officials. They command a large amount of business and trade both in and out of the state and work to maintain the inner and outer affairs working. Rank 7 is duke but only royal family can become such a title.

  All the titles are usually gained every 10 levels starting at the 1st besides rank 7 the duke. A Marquess needs to be a level 80 powerhouse to not have any political problems arise from internal affairs. This is the meaning of ‘might is right’, only with strength will the stability of the nation be guaranteed.

  Lurian empire was a relatively strong nation with 6 Marquess, 40 Earls, 300 Viscount and many more of the final two. Under this kind of management, the strong will gain the resource to obtain what is needed and improve and there is a yearly report where nobles of will be rewarded generously for improving the overall development of a village or town.

  As they near the gate, Xero lands and everyone gets off, there is a clear law were only ranked nobles could fly over the city, of course, if someone with power came and they had the ability they would obviously come as they please but most people tend to not push it.

  The three jumped off the sword and Xero shrank the sword before pocketing it before they moved to the gate with Nil grinning. The guards were interested about the grin and the fact that they came flying, since flying abilities are far from common.

  “Oi old Nil, what is with the big grin? Did you find a good herb or catch a good beast?” The guards asked.

  Nil laughed and his Familiar seal shined, “No boys, my baby evolved!” He said and suddenly all the snow began to pick up and when it finally settled down behind Nil, the huge Ice covered silver wolf stood and the jaws of the guards had dropped.

  All of them respected the old hunter because of the familiar but it was well know that he had bottlenecked, how he surpassed it, no one will be able to guess but right here the beast stood with a very striking and intimidating aura.

  “I’ve come so that I can be examined by the identifier and get a nobles title!” He said

  “Old man, what kind of bloody luck chance did you have to evolve your familiar this far into the game!” The guard said in awe.

  Nil laughed, “Thats a secret I'm taken to the grave. Nah what am I kidding! My little boy, Xero, he is an Everlight Academy student and had some good herb and food on him that helped Silver push through the last step.” he said. A man this age would never say that his son’s familiar could sniff out magical herbs in the forest as if walking through a garden.

  The guards started to laugh, “Old Null, you finally made something of yourself! Don’t go forgetting us commoners when you are living it up in command of us small people!” the guard laughed.

  Nil, Zip and Xero all laughed as they walked into the city. By law, Familiars aren’t allowed into the open so Silver and Ashley were called back while the three began to move through the city.

  Gravlin has an estimated population of around 10,000 of which 5% have familiars of any level while those beyond level 30 are only within the noble ranks.

  For a commoner to identify themselves and earn the most basic title, they must proceed to a specific office in the outer city along the main road. Its called the nobles office because it deals with all things related to this particular subject. All people with familiars are familiar with this building because it is here that there are some rare Identifiers, people who can identify the proper level of all features of a person and familiar.

  The building itself was quite large, even if it was the size of a 4 story building, it was only a two floors because the first floor takes up three fourths of the space due to having to summon the familiar and most at level 30 or 40 are quite large.

  The layout looks like a large greek style building with large pillars and lavishly decorated walls while the floor was very strong stone of some unknown material. Xero was quite curious about the floors material because it seemed quite powerful rocks and making a sword of it would be interesting.

  “Hel
lo sirs, what may I help you with?” an old butler asked with his hands behind his back, his chest puffed out and his nose held high. On his face was a pair of glasses and he wore a silk butler suit.

  "I would like to consult the lord identifier, last night my Familiar evolved and I believe we are above level 30 now.” Nil said.

  The brow of the old butler rose but there was a hint of mocking since Nil was getting excited over a simple breakthrough to level 31. It is said that level 30, level 50 level 70 and level 90 breakthroughs are the hardests. After that the level 90 level ups are a whole other realm.

  The old butler looked mockingly at the man but turned his eyes to the younger male and the boy and his eyes opened wide as he saw the boy. Obviously this old butler has long since learned how to feel the strength of each person, not only that but he himself has a familiar but he is a servant figure of a big figure so he did not go for any noble rank.

  Still he had some level of ability to identify the strength of a person because of a distinguished trait he got from his familiar where he sees the aura of a person and Xero had a large aura for his age.

  Looking at the three, he figured that the boy was the son of the man and with that in mind, the butler’s manner completely changed as he felt the potential the boy had.

  “Please wait while I find my lord.” He said and did a small bow and turned on his heel and quickly walked out into another room.

  The three waited for a very short while before an old man walked out, “You are the ones who wish to be identified?” He asked and looked at all of them. He nodded and waved, “Come, I shall give the service to identify all three.” He said.

  The three were surprised but followed the old man into a room where there was a large demon standing behind the seat. The body was four legged and it sat like a dog while it had two muscular front arms. The head was strange and lacked features besides a mouth full of sharp teeth that were in a permanent grin while its head had several eyes. On the back there was a tail with a tail as well and it kept moving around keeping watch on everything.

  “Sit in front of him and don’t make a sound.” The old man said.

  Walking forward Nil sat down and the many eyes fixed on him. They all shined different colors and around Nil, lights began to spin like wisps which lit his body up seemingly passing his skin and reaching the depths.

  Slowly it spun around before the demon opened its jaw and the light were sucked in and it closed its eyes.

  “It is done, the next may sit.” the old identifier said.

  Zip walked up as Nil walked to the corner where Xero was.

  Once more the demon had that lights flash and soon it was Xero’s turn. The demon looked at him deeply as the lights flashed. It was very different from the other identifier who had the strange goblin with the eyes on its body. Even so any creature with this ability is greatly coveted. One can find their weaknesses and strengths with this.

  “It is done, come and I shall show you your results.” the old man said turning and leaving with the three and entering a new room that possessed a large crystal glass orb. Every identifier has his own means, while the identification professional in Niska could display directly with his familiar, this one required tools to display.

  The three sat in front of the old man as he placed his hands on the orb. Mana slowly flowed and soon the figure of Nil appeared, words soon followed.

  “Nil Null, your strength is your cunning, speed and strength, your weakness is your age, inflexibility and straightforwardness.” The identifier said, “Learn to fight more cautiously from now on…” He said and turned back as many aspects appeared and a level followed. “Your overall power indeed surpasses level 30, hm?” He muttered, “Your magic power has awakened greatly, take the chance to hire a magic teacher and learn the knowledge you did not in your youth and further improve if you wish to surpass the level 50 threshold.” He said. “You have indeed passed the level 30 threshold.” the old said.

  Nil grinned as his image vanished and Silver appeared, “You're Familiar, it has evolved from an Elder Silver Wolf into an Alpha Silver Ice Wolf, the aspects of the wolf are all superior to common Ice Wolf. There is no doubt that the empire will grant you the Rank 1 title. The level of the beast is 34, it has grown a bit old before it’s evolution but it has potential to grow still, look for bone restoration herbs and potions to restore the bone strength which would greatly revitalize his strength. Have it train in commanding its pack, teach it better tactics beyond common wolf pack tactics to improve efficiency. The weakness of this familiar is fire magic, resistance can be gained only through experiencing the pain of fire making him alert against it.” He finished.

  “Hahaha! Thank you Xero, you really helped this old man!” He hugged Xero.

  The old man did not mind the outburst and the image vanished showing Zip.

  “Zip Null, your strength is considerable, your muscles are tempered due to smithing, your weapon of choice, the hammer. You lack in agility and combat experience that has not been engraved into your bones. That said, your overall level is 20 though you lack greatly in magical talent. As long as you learn breathing technique and gather a bit of mana, summon a familiar before you reach 25 years old, you can still easily reach level 40 within your lifetime and possibly higher if you are lucky enough.” the old man said and nodded approvingly to the young man. This was already a high appraisal. After all normal people would at best get to level 30 by themselves unless they are monster genius at something. The familiar is a massive boost of talent as it evolves.

  “Finally, Xero Null, your strength is impressive for your age group, overall level ranging between level 15 and 16. Your jumping power is even higher at level 18 due to your familiar’s boost. You lack in combat experience and magic exercise as your mana pool is too small compared to how perfect your mana channels are. Find a better meditation technique and breathing technique so that it will help your mana pool grow more or you will suffer during drawn out combat. Your talent, as of now, can already give you Rank 1 status as a genius of the nation being only 12 years of age. Not to mention the kind of Familiar you possess. This is something I shall report to the Earl as well.” He said and Xero’s image vanished.

  The three were in shock because they did not think that Xero’s strength would grant such a result, it is true that at 12 years old, level 15 is an impressive figure, it should be known that his own father was only just surpassed level 30 meaning he was halfway to catching up to his father.

  Finally Ashley’s image appeared, “Finally, Ashley Null, Lesser Sword Devil Infant, muscle strength at level 22, jumping strength at level 24, swordsmanship can be regarded as level 20, overall power at level 22. Magical capability is truly top class and mana pool is immense with enough power to advance in stage already. Her weakness though…” The man frowned, “Overconfidence, laziness, disobedience. These are grave problems child that must be fixed even if she has the capability to fight creatures a few levels above her own.”

  "I understand sir.” Xero nodded.

  “Good, one thing to note child, this devil holds hidden skills, her race revolves around the sword, both summoning of swords spirits to form swords and merging them to form more powerful swords but that is the end of it as they will not merge more than once. She requires the forge to grow stronger. Also a tip from an old man, skills have a capacity of merging, learn from that.” he said.

  Xero was confused by that but still nodded as he kept thinking about what it was supposed to mean.

  "I have obtained your information and shall report, Nil Null, you will receive Rank 1 nobility status, you will also be appointed a village within the empire for you to lead, there are many mining and hunting villages that need development so it is up to you. You will be allowed to train your own guardsmen. Your family will also get a discount price for summoning a Familiar for family members that could not go to any academy and obtain one originally. The price is 2 uncommon mana stones which equals 10 gold coin each mana stone. Sh
ould you wish to have family that have surpassed the age to study at an academy summon a familiar go to the inner city gate and present your nobility medallion along with your family and the payment and you will be guided in how to do the spell and how to perform the familiar binding.” the elder explained.

  “Thank you for your help sir, we shall take our leave.” Nil said with a grin bowing to the elder.

  The old man nodded and the three left for home to pass on the good news.

  ***

  News of Nil’s advancement into lower nobility swept the town. The hunter with the Silver Wolf familiar was quite famous because of the fighting power of the wolf and his own sword, especially among the common guards of the city since he had once been a guard himself.

  Although many people did not think much of a Rank 1 title, it was still a title, every year they would get resources from the state, though not much, and they are put in charge of small villages with potential resource nodes for them to develop so they will have money coming into his family at much greater pace than commoners.

  The nobility ceremony was small because it was only Rank 1, it would be far different if it was a Rank 3 because Barons are considered high nobles much higher than low noble knights.

  At the ceremony even Xero was given an honorary title of Rank 1 Lower Knight because of his talent.

  The family itself was giving a title of nobility and after that they went and decided on the village the family would run as lords. Eventually it was decided on a nameless village, for now, at the northwestern area where there was lots of forest and less mountains but there was still plenty of mineral nodes that have been discovered but not tapped into.

  To help the family set up and secure their dominance, the city of Gravlin allowed the control of 30 guards, common guards are level 20 but to a small village that is top class, and they funded lumbering, farming and mining operation. The village was in the far corner of the Earls field of influence but it was still his influence, Nil and Xero became knights under his flag by being made knights within his territory so he is their lord until they out rank him so it was obvious he would use them to develop his own land.