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Chapter 21 - Valtherion
🕑 Added 2024-10-29 01:57:03 +0000 UTCAlex scrambled to his feet, making incomprehensible noises as he fought down the desire to attack the odd beast that had appeared.
While he knew to expect something to show up, he wasn’t quite prepared for it to be this… ugly.
He looked over the back of his couch to see the floating, eel-like creature in the same position it had been in before his totally manly and dignified reaction.
Jesus, what are you?
Alex’s fascination grew as he looked at the blue floating beast. Its head looked almost like a piranha, with big bug-like eyes and teeth that protruded slightly from his lower jaw. Except, instead of a fish’s body, it had one more like an eel. The companion floated in the air, its long body lazily moved as if pulled by an unseen current. On the top and bottom of its body were some very thin-looking membranes, like long transparent fins.
Oh, right, I can check its Status.
Alex remembered that the companion posts mentioned the first thing you normally wanted to do was to give it a name, then he would be able to access the Beasts Status Window, similar to his own.
Well, shit. I have no idea what to name you…
“There’s really only one thing to do here. I’ll pick your name, the same way I pick everyone’s name in games that I’ve played.”
Cautiously, Alex moved back around the couch to grab his phone.
Doing his best to keep one eye on the floating monster, Alex opened his phone and went to his browser to open a fantasy random-name generator.
Sylphor, Aegirion, Vireon, Kytheris— Blah. All of these sound so pretentious. We want something cool sounding, but we need something that can at least be shortened.
Alex continued to scroll through names.
I refuse to name him something like Chompers or Jerry.
“Ah, here we go. This one sounds pretty noble, but we can always just shorten it.”
Alex smiled and looked up to the small companion which was still floating passively where it had appeared, watching him intently.
“I’ll name you Valtherion.”
As soon as he finished the sentence, a golden light enveloped the floating eel monster, and Alex heard a sound in his mind, something akin to a dolphin’s call underwater.
He reeled a bit as he realized that it had made the noise directly into his mind, rather than out loud. Before he had fully recovered, the two foot long animal had floated over and was gently running its forehead into Alex’s chest.
Alex froze, unsure of how to respond and not wanting to anger the little beast.
A few tense moments passed before it swam through the air and did two laps around Alex’s head.
Uhm. Okay. That was kinda cute.
“Uh- Status Window,” Alex said, somewhat uncertain. As he would normally use the same command on himself, this time, he attempted to direct his will toward the little creature above him consciously.
Without issues, the window appeared.
***
Status
Name: Valtherion - Level 1
Race: Mana Wyrm (Tier 1)
HP: 100/100
MP: 300/300
Traits: (1/6)
{Mana Glutton}
Physical Stats:
Strength: 5
Agility: 12
Constitution: 10
Vitality: 12
Magical Stats:
Intellect: 18
Willpower: 15 + 19
Mana: 30
Wisdom: 21
Bond Skills:
[Mana Infusion] (Novice - Level 5)
Primary Stat Shared - Willpower
Active Skills:
[Mana Siphon] (Novice - Level 1)
[Create Lesser Illusion] (Novice - Level 1)
Passive Skills:
[Magical Resistance] (Tier 1)
***
Alex’s eyes threatened to jump from his skull.
What?! This little beast has better stats than me in almost every single category.
He slumped down against the couch and stared at the blue window floating before him.
I’ve reached Level 5 after a few weeks of actually putting my life at risk, and…
Fuck.
Alex simply absorbed the Status window for several minutes. Noting the increased trait slots, the significantly higher stats, and the fact that it had three skills at level 1.
He noticed that there was a section above Active Skills that was labeled Bond Skills. This must have been what the posts were talking about in the AG app. The Bond was two-way, and the companion could use one skill from Alex, and the highest stat would be shared at 50% of his current total.
Curious to see what he was receiving, Alex pulled up his own Status Window. Once there, he saw that there was also a Bond Skills section, but it simply showed that the Primary Stat of Mana would be shared, not anything about skills.
Maybe I get to choose it?
Alex looked back to the mana wyrm’s Status and decided to poke around the skills and see which one he thought might be best to use.
Just as he did so, his phone dinged, and he received a notification reminding him that he would be meeting with the recruiter in a bit.
“Shit.” Alex stood.
What am I going to do with you?
Alex looked around the living room as the little wyrm continued to swim around in the air. It seemed curious about things around the room. Approaching them cautiously before elongating and sniffing them as if trying to keep its tail as far away from the object in question as possible.
There’s no way I can get into a subway car with you. Could I take my car? There’s probably not going to be too much traffic this late.
What’s my other option? What would I do with a dog? The bathroom?
Alex walked from the living room and through his bedroom to open his bathroom door.
There’s only so much in here that it could mess up if it’s angry for being alone…
The thought of leaving it here made him feel somewhat bad.
Alex looked over his shoulder to find the two large eyes only an inch away from him, floating silently.
HOLY-
He stumbled away.
“Jesus, you scared me. You’ve gotta give a guy a warning.” Alex said.
To his surprise, there was another noise in his mind.
“What? Can you understand me?”
There was no response this time.
“Uhh- can you go over there?” Alex asked while pointing over his bed.
The wyrm looked in that direction before silently drifting to float above his bed. It turned back and looked at Alex.
Fuck.
Well, I guess that’s helpful. If it can listen, then I guess I’ll have to take it with me.
Thinking about how he might get it to the car without anyone seeing him, he looked around his closet until he found a shoe box. Alex walked to the kitchen and punched some holes in the box and looked at it.
The creature had followed him into the kitchen and seemed to be observing what was happening.
Creepy.
Alex kept looking at it, and the wyrm blinked back.
I guess I should start thinking of it as Val?
“Are you a boy or a girl?” Alex asked.
There was a noise in his head, again sounding like a distant dolphin’s call under the water.
“Let’s try again. Are you a boy?”
Val gave a response in a similar tone.
“Or a girl?”
Once again, Val responded in the same way.
“Fuck. Well, I don’t know how to understand that. We’ll just go with Val for now and figure out some way to communicate later.”
Alex looked down at the box and then back at Val. He felt a bit guilty and decided to pull a fresh washcloth from his closet and fill in the bottom of the box.
“Can you get in this and lay down?”
There was a pause as the two stared at each other, and as Alex was about to rephrase the question, he could swear that he saw the little wyrm’s head droop. It then flew down and curled into a tight ball with its head sticking out of the coil.
“Perfect. Alright, let’s go,” Alex said.
It took close to twenty minutes for Alex to park in the lot near the meeting spot. He was early and decided to take the lid off the shoe box so Val could move around in the car.
To kill some time, Alex pulled up the description for the three skills that Val had at level 1 and his Trait.
***
{Mana Glutton} - Grants the ability to store absorbed mana beyond normal capacity.
[Mana Siphon] - Draws mana from the surroundings or opponents, replenishing one’s own mana reserves while gradually draining the target’s mana.
[Create Lesser Illusion] - Can create simple illusions with limitations.
[Magical Resistance] - Provides a natural resistance to magical attacks, reducing their effectiveness.
***
While it was interesting for Alex to see the descriptions, he found himself slightly annoyed at the lack of real information that they gave.
No shit, [Create Lesser Illusions] can create simple illusions? Who would have thought?
It reminded him of the first time he’d read his {Primordial Will} trait description. It had largely left him in the dark on what ‘Stat Weights’ was and only vaguely gave him the idea that he wouldn’t be able to put Stat Points anywhere but Willpower.
“Ugh.”
Alex almost jumped as he felt something on his arm before he realized that it was Val. The small wyrm had brushed past his arm, much like a cat might.
He was surprised to note that if he focused his attention on the idea of Val, he could feel a small awareness in the direction that the beast was floating.
That’s interesting.
Alex closed his eyes and could easily sense where the small wyrm was in the car as it made lazy laps. This only seemed to be the case if he was actively thinking about the companion, if he let his thoughts stray, the connection seemed to get muted.
That same connection was dropped moments later as his phone chimed to let him know that the Guild representative had arrived as well.
Alex shooed Val into the box again before getting out and opening the back door of the car. He rummaged through the pocket at the top of his camping bag and pulled out the ten Mana Stones that he needed to trade.
When he approached the other car in the lot, he noted it was Andrew again. Two others got out of the vehicle with the friendly Recruiter, which caused Alex’s steps to falter for a minute.
Andrew seemed to notice and waved exaggeratedly at Alex.
“Alex, it’s good to see you again. Sorry, I’m sure it’s a bit alarming to have three of us meet you here after dark.” The man smiled disarmingly and raised his hands as he approached.
Alex was acutely aware that he’d left his wand in the pack in his back seat.
“It is a bit intimidating,” Alex answered, looking between the three men.
“No need to worry. They’re here as my protection. There have been some incidents of local gangs using Awakened to attack Guild members and steal Mana Stones. These are two of the local Peacekeepers who are here to make sure that your payment gets to the right people.”
This explanation put Alex at ease.
“I see, that makes sense. Sorry, you guys have to deal with that.”
Andrew smiled in response, “Not a problem. We’re expecting there to be some hiccups as the powers begin to settle. The Peacekeepers go a long way in ensuring that Guild members are safe.”
Alex nodded, curious to know what level the Peacekeepers might be.
Would it be rude to ask?
Yes, idiot. That’s part of the Guild rules, no asking for names or levels. Just ID’s if it’s needed.
Andrew coughed, bringing Alex out of his thoughts. “So, we’ve got your purchase here. Please take care to keep it safe. The Guild can not be held responsible if something happens to it or you report it lost. We can offer to escort you back to your place, but most people don’t want Guild reps to know where they live.”
Alex reached into his pocket and removed the small bundle of cloth that he’d wrapped around his 10 Mana Stones. It felt strange to hand over a few thousand dollars so casually.
“Don’t you already know where I live?” Alex asked, thinking back to his registration form.
“Ah, no. While the Guild has information like that on record, we try not to pry into people’s details. That is only accessible if there is an emergency.”
“Makes sense,” Alex said. He accepted the small, hard case that looked like it could be holding a pistol.
The two exchanged a few more pleasant words and Andrew wished Alex well, saying that he was happy to see the younger man was doing well in this crazy new world. The parties went their separate ways and Alex walked back over to his car.
When he got into the car, he felt a bit nervous after all of the talk about Awakened being robbed for valuables. He locked the car door and looked at the case in his lap.
Unlocking the latches, he opened the lid and was ecstatic to see the leather-bound tome within.
Basics of Ritual Magic was written across the front of the book in flowing gold cursive.
Excitement built in his chest, and Alex could not wait to get home and begin learning how to do something with his magic other than use the wand he had gotten from a quest. He closed the lid to the box and reached over to set it in the passenger seat.
Alex froze.
The lid to Val’s box was tilted and fallen off to the side. The little beast was nowhere to be seen. Alex looked around, focusing his attention on the companion.
He breathed out a sigh of relief as he realized it was directly behind him and in the car still.
“What are you doing back ther- Shit!” Alex yelled.
As he looked in the rearview mirror, he caught a glimpse of Val sitting on top of his pack, entwined in the upper lid and compartment. He watched as it lifted its head back, a Mana Stone between its sharp teeth before it swallowed the walnut-sized stone whole.
“Hey! No! Bad!” Alex called, trying to undo his seat belt and turn around.
It took several minutes of berating the small companion and ordering it to come back to the box for it to do so.
Alex got out of the car and looked at Val curling up into the box.
Why do I get the feeling it’s not remorseful at all? It looks like a damn Cheshire Cat, full and pleased as can be. Look, it can’t even coil up properly because of the bulge in its small belly.
Alex had seen some videos of snakes eating a rat and how the process was visible even from the outside. It looked much the same.
He quickly opened the backdoor and began to count his remaining Mana Stones. After spending ten on the ritual book and losing two to Val, he was down to eight remaining Mana Stones.
Not a bad haul for a week, especially with Val and the book as rewards. But still…
Alex went to turn a glare on the small wyrm and couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Hey! No! Get back in there!” Alex called, closing the rear door quickly, he jumped back in the front seat.
Val had, very quietly and very stealthy, begun to elongate himself and reach out of the box. The companion was showing an interest in the hard briefcase that sat on the seat in front of the box.
“I swear, if you try to eat that book, I’m getting rid of you tonight. I bet some rich prick would pay a ton for a magical flying worm.” Alex said. He reached over and pulled the case, holding the book to rest under his seat.
There was a keening noise in his mind, and the companion curled back into a ball within the box while tucking its head into itself.
“Mana Glutton, indeed…” Alex grumbled as he drove back home.
Comments
Al
I LOVE illusions...but if he gets to pick one of Vals skills...theres only one choice >_>
lenkite
Mana Wyrm will need a [Mana Heavy] diet. Its like berating a Cat for eating meat.
