Chapter Twenty-Nine: Familiarisation

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Familiarisation

Tom stalked through the gloom, feet stepping lightly over covered ground, spear cocked under his arm. The autumn wind danced through the trees, fickle and cool, teasing his hair about and bringing him the scents of the forest. A muffled grunting sounded in the undergrowth ahead of him, and a sour grin spread across his face.

He had been tracking this boar for hours now, part of the training program Val had devised to get him used to fighting as an Idealist, and to hopefully manifest the rest of his skills. It reminded him of the boar he had fought not so long ago, that had tossed him about like a ragdoll. This time would be different. Soon, he would make his move.

He followed the sounds through the gloom for some minutes longer, assured now that there was only one boar. Big, if not as big as the monster leading the herd that his unit had fought. He began to wish he had a perception skill, it would make tracking easier, maybe even give him a clue as to whether the boar was a mana beast, and if so, what to expect from it.

The sheer size of the thing made it very likely it had some kind of ability. Regular animals didnt grow so large. He heard a curious whiffling noise from it, and immediately after felt some impressions from his familiar: caution, tension. It was time.

He and Val had spent several hours last night feeding essences to his tattoos. After sifting through all of the essences hed bought, the odd ones hed been given from Bubbles, and the huge range of varied and esoteric stones Val had collected over years, hed still only managed to meet the requirements for one of them.

His Quiet Under Moonlight was missing a single silence essence, everything else accounted for. They were rare, obviously, given that Val had found merely a single one in all her years in the Deep, but he had hope hed be able to ferret out another with his Ideal somehow.

Hed also fulfilled all of the requirements for his Wings of Grief, bar the swarm essence. Val stayed well away from any swarms, even those not large enough to sweep a village, and for good reason too. Unfortunately, near a village-killer swarm was likely the only place you could find them. Apparently, according to Val, they manifested in Wayrest very, very occasionally, given the sheer density of human life in the city, but were invariably sold for exorbitant sums. Rare as collective rituals were, swarm essences were rarer, ensuring demand always outweighed supply.

He had manifested one familiar, though. And the huge collection of essences they had between them had come in handy in choosing how to aspect it.

Tom slunk through the trees like a wraith, positioning himself. His month-long flight through the Deep had been an excellent crash course on moving through the forest quickly and quietly. Autumn had brought some changes to the forest, and he was still making adjustments.

He rounded the trunk of a large tree, stepping gingerly on its raised roots. He paused as the massive boar shuffled into view beyond it, snuffling about in the deadfall, sloppy noises issuing from it as it gobbled up some mushrooms from the soil at the base of a tree.

Tom smiled wryly. Hed found more than a few mushrooms while tracking the boar himself. He could feel strength and vitality surging in his limbs as his passive skill did its work.

Skill activated: Sweet Suffering.

Elf Fingers Mushroom Poison - Negated: Major buff to dexterity. Major buff to reflexes. Minor buff to illusion resistance. Duration: Short.

Blue Bearded Moss Poison - Negated: Major buff to strength. Moderate buff to health regeneration. Duration: Moderate.

Hed forgotten how amazing it felt to have random buffs stacking up. Above and beyond his new Idealist temperings, his body felt incredible. It was something he very much needed practice with though.

He and Val had talked long into the night about the specifics of his skillset. Sweet Suffering was a huge boon, but a random and somewhat unreliable one. He couldnt always count on having it active, or being able to control which buffs he got. Part of his training, from now on, would focus on fighting with different combinations of buffs active to acclimatise to them.

Tom settled himself, calming his mind and focusing, training it on the boar. Then he made his move.

Agony, he thought, loosing the skill at it.

Immediately the boar gave a sharp squeal at the pain flowing through it, bucking and kicking around itself. The actinic arcs of miniature lightning wreathing it threw bizarre, flickering shadows and tiny flashes of pink light as the pig thrashed spasmodically.

The boar calmed itself quickly, although calm perhaps wasnt quite the right word to describe it. It swept its massive head back and forth, searching for the source of the pain. Its furious little eyes found Tom soon enough, and the muscles bunching in its shoulders was more than enough warning for him.

It exploded forward at it, churning the soft soil as it launched itself into a charge. Tom tensed his legs, readying himself, and fired another skill at it.

Misery.

Four muscled legs, ending in pitch black, razor sharp claws, each as long as Toms hand, dug furrows in the earth. Its dense black fur shivered and bristled, standing aggressively between thickly muscled shoulders. Its head, big and blocky, hung low, its short snout set in a snarl revealing long, glassy, black teeth. Its eyes, pitch black too, remained fixed on the boar. A low rumble sounded in its barrel chest.

Sesame, his bear familiar. Named for the tiny black seeds that came from the far west beyond Horizon. He was larger than any bear Tom had ever seen - and he had seen several mana-attuned versions of the brown bears that made their homes in the Deep across his various Reapings. Its haunches rose above Toms shoulders, and it towered over him by several feet, at least, when it stood. The bear was thick too. Two of him couldnt link arms around its middle, and Tom was doubtful three of him could either. He and Val were thankful they had gone outside for the occasion when he had summoned it for the first time last night.

Okay? Was the thought Tom received from it, and he quickly sent it mental confirmation that he was alright. It twitched its small round ears at him in acknowledgement.

Pig bad. Pig hurt you. Kill pig, it sent.

Yes, he replied, finding his balance again.

The boar had wriggled to its feet again, a laborious process for such a big creature, and currently had its wounded side turned to them. Green light was beginning to shine from its wounds again. Tom quickly checked his wisp and found Hush still on cooldown.

Go, Sesa, he sent.

With that, Sesas chest worked like a bellows, and he reared up on his back legs, his two long forelegs hanging just off the ground. As he dropped to the ground he unleashed a mighty roar, so deep and loud Tom felt like his ribs would shake apart. But that wasnt the best part.

The air, previously quiet and still, was filled with a storm of razor sharp shards of obsidian. They flitted through the space, thudding into the side of the boar in a rapid staccato, like a violent gust of wind on a glass window in a downpour.

He and Val had thought long and hard about how to aspect his familiar, and had eventually settled on fire, sand, stone, and two dark essences. The combination produced an obsidian aspect. They had chosen it for three main reasons. The first, because the familiar was likely bigger than average, based on its life essence requirement, and a stone-based aspect would increase its defence. The second, because its aspecting would affect its magic ranged attack, and seeing the result, Tom was more than happy. Thirdly, the ability mentioned bleed damage on its physical attacks, and what better to make wounds than razor sharp claws and teeth.

Tom charged in as soon as the deadly hail finished. Sesa lumbered alongside him. At a mental nudge from his familiar, he swerved sideways, allowing the bear space to swipe. One of its huge paws crashed into the boars head, its claws raking deep gashes. Tom circled to its side, happy to let Sesa hold its attention, and began thrusting into its haunch, again and again.

The boar put up a valiant fight, its mindless rage and persistent regeneration carrying it through until Tom cast another Hush. After that, they made short work of it.

~~~~~

Tom collapsed in a heap when they were done, the gash on his ribs stinging. Blood ran down his mail, dripping to the soil. Sesame ambled over, nuzzling him gently, and then sat down on his hindquarters in an incongruously human-like fashion. His ears and nose twitched as he sifted information from the wind.

Tom marvelled at his new familiar. Sesa was incredible. Hed never imagined having such a powerful companion to fight alongside. The big bear sat placidly, completely belying its earlier terrifying display. He was incredibly strong, and faster than he looked, though not particularly agile. He was even quite difficult to see in this environment, being completely black aside from a grey bib and muzzle. His melee attacks were devastating, to say nothing of his roar.

They still needed to work on their coordination, though. Newly formed familiars took a little bit to get up to speed, according to Val. The Instructors at the Academy said it was the intelligence The World provided them acclimatising to a physical body. In time, he would even develop a personality, beyond being fiercely protective of his summoner.

They had originally planned for Sesa to ambush the boar during its initial charge at Tom, and he wasnt quite sure what had gotten lost in communication there. Overall, he was still happy. Ecstatic even.

This was what it was to be an Idealist.

After a few minutes Smitten came trotting out from behind a nearby tree, tail wagging happily. Val was not long after her.

She nodded at Sesa, and immediately set her hands to Toms ribs. All of a sudden, he felt like he was a piece of joinery tapped gently into alignment by a carpenter, except that the angle he was aligning with was Val. Or maybe her mana. It felt bizarre, to say the least. Over the next few minutes, the stinging gash on his ribs sealed up, and soon enough he felt good as new.

Val stood and turned to Sesa, pausing briefly with an eyebrow cocked at him. He gave a low chuff, and bobbed his head at her. She pressed her hands into his thick black fur for a few moments before pulling them away, a satisfied look on her face.

Good job, Tom. You too, Sesa. Not a bad first day of training. Plenty more to come though, she told them, a sly grin on her face.

Tom felt a grin steal over his face. He was an Idealist, well and truly. He would rise to the challenge.