"Really?" Athos gaped at the sudden good news. He dropped his new sword and jumped to embrace Khali.
"You are the best, teacher!" Athos hugged him as tightly as he could.
"Okay, okay, now let go of me before you break my spine." Despite his seemingly hasty decision, Khali had a reason to hurry.
"If you continue at this rate, Athos may awaken the darkness while I am gone. He needs something or someone to keep him in check. A pet monster can help you regain some of the humanity he lost. It was Khali's thought.
Khali noticed that Athos was indifferent to people and wouldn't even blink when he saw a massacre, but he cared for him as if they were family, to the point of making potions to take care of his health, even without him asking.
"When can we go?" Athos had released him before he knew it and was pulling him by the arm towards the forest.
"We can go as soon as I teach you the binding spell to form a pact with a monster and make it your familiar." Khali smiled at his excitement. Athos nodded, and sat on a nearby rock, waiting for instructions.
Khali was used to his attitude, so he didn't mind. "The binding spell is a non-elemental spell used to link two living beings. The spell creates a bond between two beings, forcing the weakest into submission. When used, both beings temporarily lose their mana signature, and the one with the greater amount of mana and the strongest willpower prevails. You are still young, so I recommend a docile monster."
The spell was as simple as it was cruel. After incapacitating a monster, Athos would send a stream of mana mixed with world energy into the monster's core, and it would naturally release mana as a form of defense to try to drive it back. Both users' mana would mix with the world's energy, until their energy signatures became one, forming a link between the two cores.
After that, it would be a tug of war of willpower between him and the monster. The more mana he had in the core, the more similar to his original energy signature the link would be and the more willpower he could exert.
When one of them ran out of mana, or lost the will to fight, the core would disintegrate and the life force would be absorbed by the victor and could be summoned at will.
"The monster's body is absorbed and transforms into a form of energy other than mana, called life force. Our life force is what forms the layer of life and our energy signature, forming our core. It is also the life force that defines how long each person can live. That's why our life expectancy increases with each layer of life formed." Khali finished his explanation.
"Then it must be easy to subdue a monster." Athos said excitedly.
"It's not as simple as it sounds. Monsters may not be very smart, but their willpower and survival instinct is extraordinary. Many mages and monster tamers have tried to arrogantly tame monsters, only to become their puppets.
You must seriously injure the monster or make it tired before using the binding spell. All the willpower in the world is useless without mana and all the mana in the world is useless without the will to guide it." Khali warned him seriously, fearing that Athos might make an irreversible mistake.
"Is it possible to free yourself from the binding spell?" Athos began to find the idea of having a family member less and less attractive.
"The only way to free someone enslaved by the binding spell is to kill the dominant. Because of this, in some countries this spell is also called a slave spell." Khali said seriously, before smiling and comforting him. "But don't worry, even if you fail, I'll kill the monster and set you free."
"Is it possible to use this spell on other people?" Athos asked, curious to know the spell's limits.
"It's impossible to use the spell on beings of the same species as you." Khali cut him off when he noticed an evil glint in Athos' eyes.
"How many familiars can I create using this spell?" Athos asked.
"Um...I think I get it. But if they don't have a core, aren't they kind of useless?" Athos asked confused by the usefulness of a familiar.
"Think of a familiar as a second body that serves you. They don't have a mana core of their own, but they can draw mana from your core to use racial abilities that would be impossible for humans to use."
Athos spent some time thinking about the details he heard and what kind of monster he wanted.
"A suggestion, Athos. You are a warrior and a mage, not a tamer, so you need to constantly use mana to fight. When you choose a monster, choose for its utility, not its strength." Khali said.
"Professor, how did you choose your monsters?"
"I only have an affinity for water, so I chose monsters with abilities I might need, like rock worms that are able to create underground tunnels." Khali summoned three monsters, one for each layer of his core. Three lights of different colors were summoned and took the form of a rock worm, a night owl and a brown jackal.
The rock worm was eight feet long and brown-skinned, with a circular mouth with three rows of teeth at either end. The night owl was 35 centimeters tall with white feathers with black spots on the tips. The brown jackal was the only one Athos didn't understand why he was there. It was such an ordinary monster that he didn't even bother to take a second look.
"The rock worm you already know, but this is your first time with the night owl and the brown jackal. The night owl has an affinity for light and can make things invisible. The jackal is just an ordinary monster, but it has an excellent sense of smell and sense of danger.
"Think carefully before turning a monster into a familiar, because once the bond is formed, it can only be undone with your death. Even if the familiar dies, it will still regenerate after a while." Khali warned him. After explaining the spell's effects and dangers, he began teaching how to cast it.
"Okay, I understand everything I need to know about the spell. I'll postpone the decision until tomorrow. For now, I'll stop by the guild and get a bestiary on the monsters around town. There must be some useful monsters for me in this forest." Athos got up and started walking towards the city.
"Very well, there is no reason to rush the decision." Khali agreed with him.
******
Athos spent the entire next day studying the bestiary he had obtained from the guild. It got to the point where he missed daily training, something he hadn't done in two years of training. Unfortunately for him, the monsters around him were all damage dealers, there was almost no diversity in the species.
"If I continue at this rate, I'll be forced to hunt an aurora frog. It's one of the few monsters that doesn't rely on physical attack and can alternate between secreting paralyzing poison, acid, or healing liquid, similar to a potion. It can help me with my alchemy. What do you think, captain?" Athos muttered in his room, inside the underground base.
He had reconstructed his face before stuffing it, keeping it as a trophy.
"What did you say? Do you want company? I'm sorry, but it's going to be a while before I bring the others. Be patient, okay?" Athos laughed as he chatted with his stuffed head.
"Really?" Athos gaped at the sudden good news. He dropped his new sword and jumped to embrace Khali.
"You are the best, teacher!" Athos hugged him as tightly as he could.
"Okay, okay, now let go of me before you break my spine." Despite his seemingly hasty decision, Khali had a reason to hurry.
"If you continue at this rate, Athos may awaken the darkness while I am gone. He needs something or someone to keep him in check. A pet monster can help you regain some of the humanity he lost. It was Khali's thought.
Khali noticed that Athos was indifferent to people and wouldn't even blink when he saw a massacre, but he cared for him as if they were family, to the point of making potions to take care of his health, even without him asking.
"When can we go?" Athos had released him before he knew it and was pulling him by the arm towards the forest.
"We can go as soon as I teach you the binding spell to form a pact with a monster and make it your familiar." Khali smiled at his excitement. Athos nodded, and sat on a nearby rock, waiting for instructions.
Khali was used to his attitude, so he didn't mind. "The binding spell is a non-elemental spell used to link two living beings. The spell creates a bond between two beings, forcing the weakest into submission. When used, both beings temporarily lose their mana signature, and the one with the greater amount of mana and the strongest willpower prevails. You are still young, so I recommend a docile monster."
The spell was as simple as it was cruel. After incapacitating a monster, Athos would send a stream of mana mixed with world energy into the monster's core, and it would naturally release mana as a form of defense to try to drive it back. Both users' mana would mix with the world's energy, until their energy signatures became one, forming a link between the two cores.
After that, it would be a tug of war of willpower between him and the monster. The more mana he had in the core, the more similar to his original energy signature the link would be and the more willpower he could exert.
When one of them ran out of mana, or lost the will to fight, the core would disintegrate and the life force would be absorbed by the victor and could be summoned at will.
"The monster's body is absorbed and transforms into a form of energy other than mana, called life force. Our life force is what forms the layer of life and our energy signature, forming our core. It is also the life force that defines how long each person can live. That's why our life expectancy increases with each layer of life formed." Khali finished his explanation.
"Then it must be easy to subdue a monster." Athos said excitedly.
"It's not as simple as it sounds. Monsters may not be very smart, but their willpower and survival instinct is extraordinary. Many mages and monster tamers have tried to arrogantly tame monsters, only to become their puppets.
You must seriously injure the monster or make it tired before using the binding spell. All the willpower in the world is useless without mana and all the mana in the world is useless without the will to guide it." Khali warned him seriously, fearing that Athos might make an irreversible mistake.
"Is it possible to free yourself from the binding spell?" Athos began to find the idea of having a family member less and less attractive.
"The only way to free someone enslaved by the binding spell is to kill the dominant. Because of this, in some countries this spell is also called a slave spell." Khali said seriously, before smiling and comforting him. "But don't worry, even if you fail, I'll kill the monster and set you free."
"Is it possible to use this spell on other people?" Athos asked, curious to know the spell's limits.
"It's impossible to use the spell on beings of the same species as you." Khali cut him off when he noticed an evil glint in Athos' eyes.
"How many familiars can I create using this spell?" Athos asked.
"Um...I think I get it. But if they don't have a core, aren't they kind of useless?" Athos asked confused by the usefulness of a familiar.
"Think of a familiar as a second body that serves you. They don't have a mana core of their own, but they can draw mana from your core to use racial abilities that would be impossible for humans to use."
Athos spent some time thinking about the details he heard and what kind of monster he wanted.
"A suggestion, Athos. You are a warrior and a mage, not a tamer, so you need to constantly use mana to fight. When you choose a monster, choose for its utility, not its strength." Khali said.
"Professor, how did you choose your monsters?"
"I only have an affinity for water, so I chose monsters with abilities I might need, like rock worms that are able to create underground tunnels." Khali summoned three monsters, one for each layer of his core. Three lights of different colors were summoned and took the form of a rock worm, a night owl and a brown jackal.
The rock worm was eight feet long and brown-skinned, with a circular mouth with three rows of teeth at either end. The night owl was 35 centimeters tall with white feathers with black spots on the tips. The brown jackal was the only one Athos didn't understand why he was there. It was such an ordinary monster that he didn't even bother to take a second look.
"The rock worm you already know, but this is your first time with the night owl and the brown jackal. The night owl has an affinity for light and can make things invisible. The jackal is just an ordinary monster, but it has an excellent sense of smell and sense of danger.
"Think carefully before turning a monster into a familiar, because once the bond is formed, it can only be undone with your death. Even if the familiar dies, it will still regenerate after a while." Khali warned him. After explaining the spell's effects and dangers, he began teaching how to cast it.
"Okay, I understand everything I need to know about the spell. I'll postpone the decision until tomorrow. For now, I'll stop by the guild and get a bestiary on the monsters around town. There must be some useful monsters for me in this forest." Athos got up and started walking towards the city.
"Very well, there is no reason to rush the decision." Khali agreed with him.
******
Athos spent the entire next day studying the bestiary he had obtained from the guild. It got to the point where he missed daily training, something he hadn't done in two years of training. Unfortunately for him, the monsters around him were all damage dealers, there was almost no diversity in the species.
"If I continue at this rate, I'll be forced to hunt an aurora frog. It's one of the few monsters that doesn't rely on physical attack and can alternate between secreting paralyzing poison, acid, or healing liquid, similar to a potion. It can help me with my alchemy. What do you think, captain?" Athos muttered in his room, inside the underground base.
He had reconstructed his face before stuffing it, keeping it as a trophy.
"What did you say? Do you want company? I'm sorry, but it's going to be a while before I bring the others. Be patient, okay?" Athos laughed as he chatted with his stuffed head.
