My Blind Familiar_The Ash Golem

by Nathan Valerio

  “Master?” A voice came from the puppy as it looked up at him wagging its tail.

  Everyone was in shock but the two Ice church priests were grinning as if they found definitive proof about something.

  “What is that? A puppy?! This just proves anything but the fact that he could kill Tiger Scar.” Reeve said but this time not in an exaggerated manner. But suddenly a burst of cold shot out and the puppy began to grow as it circled Nil and turned to face the fat man. The size instantly exploded to several meters big covered in ice.

  Silver was growling while glaring at the fat man.

  “That’s enough.” The Viscount said and a pressure coming from his body caused the Wolf to be wry of the man as it shrank but when it did it began to huff and shook itself. “What kind of creature is that? Only mythical creatures and those of fabled legend possess the ability to shrink to a form that stresses their body less.” Viscount Warren said.

  “It does not really matter at this time, Lord Viscount should be able to easily gauge its aura as it is, there shouldn’t be any problems what so ever now I believe?” The Dark Holy priest said.

  The Viscount had a solemn expression but nodded, “Reeve, hand over the 18,000 gold coin for the bounty.” He ordered.

  Reeve who was on the ground, trembled as he took out a few small bags, each holding 5000 except the final bag. Nil claimed the bags and stored them in Xero’s bags and bowed to the Viscount, "I thank Lord Viscount.” He said out of etiquette requirements.

  Warren snorted and pulled out a medellin, “Present your Nobility Medallion.” He said.

  Nil pulled out the medallion that was given to him and Warren took it before separating a piece that sat on top and replaced it with a new one. The first one had been a silver star and this one was a Golden star now. He handed it back, “From this day forth, your are a Rank 2 Great Knight, by decree of the international treaty of nobility, you have the right to command a 300 knight unit and can formally establish a city guard barracks within your village. Yearly wage for your family is in 5000 gold and you're allowed to keep 10% of tax money flowing through your village.” He said as custom though his face was not happy as he handed the medallion back.

  "I understand.” Nil said simply and carefully stored the medallion as it was the representation of his status.

  “Haha! Good job Sir Nil, as the Representative of the Knight’s Order, I am happy to see our fine Lurianian people grow stronger with another great noble family on the rise. I must advise you, the 300 knights aren’t assigned, besides an elder knight from the Knight’s order and priest of the Warrior God, Rein, the Knights are trained from your fair villagers. The same for the City guard. Also the Knight’s Order is a separate establishment meant to train the knights, besides the 300 recruited knights, we would train our own knights as time goes by.” He said.

  "I hope to work with Sir Tristan. I have always admired the Great knight’s order of the War Gods so I shall try to meet the expectations of the great gods.” He said.

  Tristan grinned even wider and clasp the man on the shoulder, “It’s not cheap to train a knight, each one a familiar master to be trained to the peak of level 30 or higher.” He laughed. “You have to earn their trust though, you may be a good hunter but it takes a lot of work to be a great leader. I wish you luck, I shall take these corpses and display them upon a post while proclaiming to the entire nation the fall of the Seven Cat’s!” he burst into a laugh as he grabbed the seven bodies and put them into a bag to preserve them as long as possible.

  Tristan bowed to the priests and left in a good mood. The Viscount called the financial minister to leave and the head priest of the Ice goddess saw them off and soon returned. “Sir Nil, I must say that the display of your familiar is quite genial, that said, please be careful from now on. Your village is still under the territorial rule of Viscount Warren. The nobles of Baron rank would still be commoners but more than half are under his campain rule. It is easy for him to pay bandit raids and assassins to attack.” He said.

  "I should probably return home to calm my villagers and family.” Nil said.

  "I shall arrange for some guards to escort you back, I do not trust the Viscount to not try something.” the Ice goddess priest said.

  “We can return home flying, there is much less danger.” Nil replied.

  “Your son is not the only one that can fly, Sir Nil. Although it removes a great deal of danger, I will not put you all in danger for negligence. Her Holy Saintess would never forgive me.” The head priest said.

  “Fufufu, your are correct, I would not.” A voice like spring water dripping down a stream sounded in the room. Standing at the door was a beautiful woman stood and on her shoulder was a very tiny blue bird no bigger the palm of the hand but the eyes held a very intelligent glint. “Sir Head Priest, you have done a good job. I thank the two sir’s for your assistance in this affair.” the woman said.

  The two bowed, “Anything for deep Saint Priestess Madrid.” the two head priests.

  “Miss Madrid?!” Xero exclaimed.

  “You man, this is the Saint Priestess of our esteemed church, you should properly refer to her a Saint Priestess Madrid.” The amiable Head priest suddenly said in a serious tone.

  “Oh please, there is no need. Xero, you are Grunt’s favorite little disciple so I will let you call be Aunt Madrid or Auntie.” She said.

  Xero smiled wryly, “Miss Madrid, I do not believe that would be appropriate.” Xero said.

  “Oh please, all that formality is too stifling for a child, come come, I shall personally escort you, I already arranged a few priests to set up the Temple anyway and a few temple knights and paladins are already ready outside. Just pick up your brothers and I shall personally take you all.” She said.

  “Your Holiness, for such a child you would…?!” the head priest asked.

  “It is not only my choice but the Popes, now Xero, Sir Nil, come. Get the two boys that are asleep.” She said and grabbed the two men by the wrist and dragged them.

  “What!?” The two exclaimed as they were dragged off balance until they were outside and found a few priests and a few dozen heavily knights and some white armored but less heavy, paladins standing there.

  Some priests brought out the two Null brothers and some paladins carried them. The blue bird suddenly grew into the giant Ice Phoenix and all the men climbed on before the amazing creature took to the air leaving behind a glitter of ice in it’s wake. All the while Madrid hugged Xero as if using him as a replacement for Grunt as she asked about him and still trying to have Xero call her Aunt and even once big sister.

  Chapter 31

  When the Ice Phoenix landed and everyone came off, Opal came out crying while hugging her husband and son and nearly fainted when she saw the fainted Zip and Void until the two explained that they were just unconscious because they were exhausted.

  Nadir soon came out bawling as she hugged her father while Jasmine was helping her unconscious husband into the house so that she could tend to him.

  After Opal was able to calm down she finally noticed the many Paladins and Knights as well as the beautiful as a Goddess, Madrid with her Phoenix in it’s small form.

  “Um… honey, who is this beautiful miss and these men?” She asked.

  Nil took her hand and pulled her over, “This is the Saint Priestess of the Light Ice Goddesses Church, Madrid and these are Priests and paladin of the church. They came to set up a temple in our village.” Nil said.

  “My my, the Sainte…” Opal froze after she put her two hands clapped together and looked at her husband, “Honey, did I hear wrong? The Saint Priestess? As in the Ice Swam of the Ice Goddess order?” She asked. “Honey… have I really grown so old?” She asked hugging him with tears in her eyes.

  “WHAT!?” Nil sudden shouted upon hearing her wife’s sudden and very dangerous group of words. “W-wait what are you thinking?!” He said.

  “Even though we have six children, have you already tired of me now
that we have noble ranks?!” She was nearly crying.

  Suddenly a childish laugh came and she looked at the laughing Xero.

  “Mother, it’s not like that, Miss Madrid is madly in love with my PE teacher at the Magic academy, she doesn’t think of father like that.” Xero laughed at the ridiculous scene that showed to him. He was almost out of breath from laughing.

  “M-my my…” She said taking a step back and liking at Madrid, “I-i think I said something wrong in my confusion from my worries.” She said trying escape.

  Xero began to laugh harder, he knew his mother was airheaded and a little dumb but she still felt embarrassed when she realized something.

  “Would you like to come inside, we have freshly dried and prepared Winter Sunshine Herb Tea and Cold Heat Flowers and Winter Sunflower cookies.” She said with a smile while a few drops of sweat appeared on her head.

  Madrid just smiled as if she did not hear, “Men please go around and survey the area. I'll deal with choosing the location after looking at the map of the area and speak with Sir Nil.” She said as she felt some of the temple knights getting aggresive so she shooed them away before they could cause trouble.

  Only after most of the temple knights and knights had left did they proceed inside while Madrid made sure to keep them outside. That said the Priest still followed but she did not mind. The Priest was amazingly a level 60 Head Priest dispatched by the headquarters to administer and protect Nil and his family. They were quite serious about the protection of the family though that was a hidden mission.

  “Wow, these herbal tea aren’t that bad, although I've drunken quite a number of higher quality tea, nothing really beats fresh mountain herbs found in nature and cultivated by nature itself.” she sighed as she drank the tea.

  “Your holiness…” Nil began but she raised her hand.

  “Just Miss Madrid, you can call me Holiness when in front of those brainwashed or braindead fanatic’s like those Temple Knights who believe only in praise towards the goddess and even imagine me as the incarnation of the goddess Polarie herself.” She snorted.

  “Saintess, it isn’t good to insult our own subjects.” The priest said in a casual manner while drinking.

  Madrid snorted to that.

  “... Miss Madrid, exactly why are ‘you’ here?” Nil asked.

  It seemed like a simple question but the person to whom it addressed was not simple at all. As the Saint Priestess, she was the second highest power in the Ice Goddess’s Order. She was the symbol and idol of the order alongside her familiar.

  “Because the Pope sent me to ensure your family's safety. In fact, he wanted to make a big commotion with me moving personally to draw in several Light and Dark Church to this village so that the Holy Church does not move against your family.” She explained.

  Jasmine, who had joined after making sure that Zip was properly in bed, made a desperate expression when she heard that. “What has our family done to enrage the Holy Light Church?!” She asked with apparent resignation.

  “Nothing but the fact that the children of this family summon Demon familiar that have all developed into Devil’s is a fact. You should know, demons may not have the potential to reach the peak of the world besides a few ‘Mythological Beasts’ of legend, Devil’s are different. Almost all Demon lords are devils and an existence such as a demon lord is at the peak of hell.” Madrid said.

  As they heard this Opal, Xero, Nil and Jasmine exchanged glances before looking at Nadir.

  “Um… Miss Madrid, I think it might be wrong, after all my sister summoned a Spirit.” Xero said.

  “Oh? Now that you mention it, we know of the familiars of the men but not the women, please can we see them?” Madrid asked.

  The three looked at each other before they lifted their hands and from it, three small things appeared. One a fairy with a farmer’s hat and overalls that Opal had stitched together making the blonde haired fairy look cute. White stone Jar with the words ‘Spirit Pot’ spinning in the air and a fist sized gem with an ‘eye’ in the front. The body was no longer smooth and had shattered and reformed into a complex crystal and had a pink color now.

  The flow of mana in the gem spirit was many times smoother than it had been at the beginning after two months of constantly sucking up mana from the Uncommon Mana stones. Along with the meditation and breathing technique that she once had, Jasmine’s own channels have been steadily opening and her Mana pool expanding by using the effect of the familiar to loosen her channels.

  “Oh my.” Madrid giggled, “It seems the devilish men only look for fairies and spirits.” She laughed.

  “Saintess, please be a bit more considerate for the situation they are in and their current worries.” The head priest said a bit ashamed that he had to correct her.

  Madrid smiled, not taking into consideration at all what he said. “This is interesting though, if you had more girls it would be interesting to see if the family was not just a Devil family.” She said.

  “W-what do you mean?” Nil asked.

  "I mean to say that if males summon demons and the women of your family summon spirits and fairy, your family will prosper greatly in the future. Sadly there is only one girl and we cannot see such a thing at this time.” Madrid said and looked at Jasmine smiling.

  The young woman soon blushed as she realized what Madrid was insinuating.

  “Miss Madrid.” Xero suddenly called out and drew her attention to the boy that was sitting on the edge of his seat, “I’ve always been wondering since I met Ernest and Silvia at the camping trip and even more now that I met the Head Priest of the Dark Holy Order. What is the difference between the Holy Light and Light Church and the Dark Holy and Darkness God order?” Xero asked.

  The Head priest smiled and answered for Madrid, "I can answer that with more certainty than miss Madrid, she spent most of her time training while I am more of a scholarly figure. The difference between the orders with the world Holy in their name pertains to the presence of Holy magic. Not all gods use holy magic, they may have it forming their body but they cannot use it. That is different from the Dark Holy order’s god and the Holy Light Churches god that they forcefully proclaim is the king of the Gods. Both gods are the only ones known to use holy magic.” He explained.

  “Eh? Then is it similar to what Ernest did to Night Gale? Form a Devil by mixing Light and Holy magic when creating it?” Xero asked.

  Madrid giggled, “Although the boy wishes to join the Light church, the Dark Holy Church really wants him because Night Gale would function as an Idol for the Dark Holy Church. He is even more eyed by the Holy Light Church because of his familiar threatens their order. Until now there have only been one other Idol in the Dark Holy Order while they simply need to have Angelic creatures as their Idol.” He said.

  Xero frowned a bit.

  “If you want to add Holy Magic to your devil, I suggest against it, it might ruin her path that was already set. On the other hand if it was done to an Imp it would have been better since holy magic would burst the body and make it resistant and attune to it.” She said.

  “Is it hard to merge Holy and Demon magic?” he asked.

  The head priest and Madrid both nodded in sync, “Think of it in this manner, try to merge Fire magic and water or ice magic, what would be the outcome?” The Head priest asked.

  “Obviously they would cancel each other out.” Jasmine said.

  “That is the normal course but what happens when you're forcefully merge fire and water mana? I mean truly merge it.” The head priest asked.

  “It blows up, it was taught in school.” Xero said.

  “That is the learning period, have you ever seen the power it can produce if one successfully merges it?” the Head priest asked.

  Everyone shook their head.

  “Okay, let's put it in this perspective. We shall take Sir Nil as an example, your familiar is level 41 and you should have an idea of its full strength. Now it is Ice type, if you made a spell like the In
ferno Howl and activate both breaths together, more than 80% of the mana channels used are the same and the two mana would have to merge. It would blow up but what happens if it merged and created the spell.” The head priest said, “This kind of spell has been dubbed ‘Chaos Spells’ because if a level 41 monster successfully uses this spell, a creature or maybe even 15 levels above them would not get out of it without some moderate or even serious injuries.” The Head priest said.

  The Null family sucked in a cold breath when they discovered this kind of power but they also realized that there was a large price to pay in the form of mana that was a huge cost not to mention to time needed to train such things.

  “Can you understand now exactly why the Dark Holy order is so powerful? Many of their familiar users have normally dark or demon creatures and they train these people to merge Holy or Light magic into the creatures so that it creates unique light attribute dark creatures or even Holy Dark creatures such as what had happened with Ernest who unexpectedly did everything himself without realizing how big his actions were.” Madrid chuckled.

  “Wouldn’t the Dark Holy Church get more powerful like that then?” Jasmine asked.

  “Of course but of course the Holy Light church does the same but they follow their God allowing only Light attribute creatures merge with Holy Magic. Silvia is one such person as her Cherub had been a Holy attribute familiar and she self inserted Light magic spells.” She said.

  “Self inserted?” Jasmine muttered.

  Madrid looked at her and at her gem spirit. Her eye shone momentarily, "I can see into your Gem Spirit, it has only one spell. It lacks incentive to develop into other creatures as it lacks innate spells. It's not a native creature so it requires you to create spells to develop it. As a spirit it would probably develop into human shaped creatures or into something else.” Madrid said.

  “You have an identification ability?!” Xero said.

  Madrid chuckled, “Of course not, all I did was simply build a simple spell formula for a spell called Analyze that is used to see basic information and how many Innate skills exist inside a creature. Young miss, your spirit is level 15, this is almost its full potential if you just rely on mana stones to develop it. You need to create some spells to open more mana channels and train it a bit more.” She said.