Grand Game 451: Dealing with the Familiar (Patreon)

No more Blades emerged from their hidden base in the hills. 

Perhaps there were no more inside to do so, or perhaps those inside were unaware of the deaths of their fellows. I didn’t know, but nor did I make the mistake of approaching the base again.

I had eight hours. 

That was about how long it would take the Blades to resurrect and report what had happened, and I had a lot to do in that time. “Let’s go, Ghost,” I said, plotting a course southwest.

The pyre wolf looked at me curiously. “Where are we going?” she asked, clearly realizing we were heading deeper into Blade territory and not back north to the Rider sector where Adriel and Nyra waited.

“To the river,” I replied. From the mental map I had of the region, I knew the river flowed due south until it reached the lake at the heart of the Marches. If we kept heading south, we’d eventually hit the lake and cross into the lowlands, but I had no intention of going that far yet.

“You plan on doing as you told the orc?” Ghost asked, guessing my intentions.

“I do,” I replied. “We’ll wait on the banks of the river for our visitors.” Assuming Yara’s superiors took up my invite, of course. It was maybe optimistic to believe that they would, but I was still hesitant to head into the lowland cities.

“What if they prove hostile?”

I shrugged. “Then it’s only a short hop into the river. Once we’re in the water, even if the Blades do kill us, we should be able to die outside their zone of control. But let us hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Bobbing her head in agreement, Ghost followed silently in my wake.

✵ ✵ ✵

It took us three hours to reach the river. 

Drawing to a halt, I surveyed the dark expanse of water. Both it and the adjacent shores were empty. Ghost and I were likely the only people in miles. 

It seemed we were far enough south to have passed beyond the reach of the Blade and Rider cordon facing off against each other across the river, but not south enough to encounter the Marches’ more populous regions yet. Good.

Standing on a slight rise, I studied the length of the river. “That’s a good spot,” I said, pointing out a dense clump of river reeds less than fifty yards away.

Ghost studied the waterlogged area dubiously. “I really have to hide in there?”

My lips twitched. “I know it looks unappealing and it’s probably going to be uncomfortable, but me teleporting onto you is my best hope of getting away from the Blades if things go awry.”

The pyre wolf’s shoulders sagged as she began heading down the hill. “Very well, Prime.”

I called her back. “You don’t have to go just yet, Ghost,” I said, sitting down cross-legged in the grass. “We’ve ample time before our guests arrive, and in the meantime, we can see to your leveling.”

The pyre wolf’s ears pricked up curiously. “My leveling?”

I nodded. “Yes, I think it’s past time we used some of those Class points of yours, don’t you?”

Ghost’s mouth dropped open in a wolfish smile. “I do,” she said, flopping down beside me.

Grinning at her eagerness, I turned my focus inward and called up her Class upgrade interface.

Assessing familiar’s suitability for a Class upgrade...

Class points available: 10.

Familiar’s rank: 3.

Upgrade requirements met.

Your familiar may advance her Class to rank 4 at this time by improving an existing Class benefit or by selecting a new one. Do you wish to proceed?

Ghost had been in more than a few scrapes since becoming my familiar, and I had gained a fair sense of her capabilities and weakness. Honestly, I should have upgraded her abilities before this, but for one reason or the other, I’d not had the chance to do so. 

But better late than never, I thought, willing my response to the Adjudicator.

Commencing Class upgrade…

3 new Class benefits are available, and 2 of 5 existing benefits are upgradeable.

New benefit: maul. This ability increases the damage Ghost does with her claws for a limited period by a multiplier determined by her Strength. 

New benefit: gnaw. This ability increases the damage Ghost does with her maw for a limited period by a multiplier determined by her Magic.

New benefit: death magic. This skill grants Ghost access to death magic.

Existing benefits that may be upgraded: manifest and born again II.

Existing benefits not available for upgrade: astral bite, diresight, and direshield. These abilities require a telepathy skill of rank 10 to advance.

Choose Ghost’s rank 4 Class benefit now.

“Ah,” I murmured.

“What?” Ghost asked, looking at me expectantly.

I recited the Adjudicator’s response to her, describing the options on offer. “It’s curious that manifest can be upgraded,” I said. “I wonder what doing so will do?” 

“Make me bigger?” Ghost suggested, her tail thumping excitedly at the notion.

I chuckled. “That’s possible,” I allowed, “And upgrading the ability is certainly something we should keep in mind, but what do you think of the other options?”

Ghost scratched the back of her ear with a hindleg as she pondered the question. “Maul and gnaw sound useful….” she began, even while sounding distinctly unenthused by the prospect of both.

“But?” I prompted when she didn’t go on.

“But I do enough damage with my claws and teeth as it is,” she replied.

I nodded, unsurprised by her response. “And how do you feel about death magic?”

Her ears perked up. “Now, that’s more interesting!”

I hid a smile. I was just as intrigued by the idea of Ghost possessing death magic as she was, but… “Another skill, Ghost? You sure you want that?”

She shrugged. “If I correctly understand everything you’ve told me about how my Class upgrades work, acquiring the skill will cost only one Class point.”

“That’s true,” I said, nodding thoughtfully. “It’s certainly one of the advantages of using your Class points on skills. Unlike abilities, they won’t require further and ongoing investment.” I paused. “But what about manifest?”

“The chance to upgrade it will come again, won’t it?” Ghost replied. When I nodded, she went on, “But the chance to acquire death magic might not.”

“Also true,” I conceded. “Alright, you’ve convinced me. Death magic it is.” Closing my eyes, I willed my response to the Game.

Upgrade complete. Class points remaining: 9. 

Ghost’s Class has advanced to rank 4. 

Ghost has gained the advanced skill: death magic. 

Given the manner of Ghost’s creation and the time she spent as a spirit wolf, your familiar retains close ties to Death, allowing her to learn the death magic skill. However, as a familiar, Ghost does not have access to the full school of death magic spells. She may only cast touch-based spells and those without any verbal or somatic components. 

Note, your familiar may possess a maximum of 6 skills. Remaining skill slots available: 1 / 6.

“Well, that’s frustrating,” I murmured after relaying the Adjudicator’s response to Ghost.

“But the skill is still useful, isn’t it?” she asked worriedly.

“Definitely,” I assured her. “Although its use is more limited than I anticipated.” I had envisioned the pyre wolf as one day being able to cast spells of the same magnitude and power as Adriel—unfortunately, it looked like that would not be the case. 

Shrugging off my disappointment, I I turned back to the familiar. “We still need to get you an ability to train the skill. Shall we go again?”

Ghost nodded, and without further ado, I called up her Class upgrade interface once more.  

After a moment, a new list of benefits appeared.

3 new Class benefits are available, and 2 of 5 existing benefits are upgradeable.

New benefit: bruiser. This trait makes Ghost stronger.

New benefit: fire magic. This skill grants Ghost access to death magic.

New benefit: gnaw. This ability increases the damage Ghost does with her maw for a limited period by a multiplier determined by her Magic.

Existing benefits that may be upgraded: manifest and born again II.

Choose Ghost’s rank 5 Class benefit now.

My lips turned down at the options on offer. “Urgh, none of these look appealing.”

The pyre wolf bobbed her head in agreement. “What do we do?”

I rubbed my chin. Ghost didn’t need fire magic—magma maw already gave her access to touch-based fire spells—gnaw was a repeat, and bruiser looked like a straight Strength boost. “Time to see what upgrading manifest does, I guess.” I glanced at her. “You happy with that?”

“I am,” she replied.

“Upgrade manifest,” I murmured, directing the thought to the Adjudicator.

You have upgraded Ghost’s manifest ability to greater manifest. The second tier of this ability allows your familiar to leave her spirit vessel and take physical form as a greater stygian pyre wolf. Additionally, greater manifest increases the distance from you that your familiar may materialize to 10 yards and further reduces the psi consumed by the spell. Note, there is no restriction on unmanifesting.

This ability consumes psi and can be upgraded with Class points. Its activation time is average. This is a Class ability and does not occupy any attribute slots.

As a greater stygian pyre wolf, Ghost gains the trait: pyreborn. The essence of the mature phoenix woven into your familiar’s being has pushed to the fore, granting her +50% fire magic resistance, +50% damage with all fire-based attacks, and the special manifest variant: explosive entry. When using explosive entry, Ghost will emerge in the physical plane amidst a concussive blast 5 yards in diameter. 

Upgrade complete. Class points remaining: 8. 

Ghost’s Class has advanced to rank 5. 

I rocked back. “Well, well, now that is more like it.”

This time I didn’t need to tell Ghost what changes the Game had enacted, she’d sensed them for herself. “I feel… different,” she marveled, running her tongue along her magma-formed teeth. 

They looked noticeably bigger… and sharper. Her coat, too, had changed, gaining a half-seen shimmer of red. “You are,” I confirmed, “and deadlier too. That Class point was certainly well spent.” I paused. “Shall we upgrade manifest again?”

Ghost’s eyes twinkled. “Yes, please.”

Closing my eyes, I called upon the Adjudicator again.

3 new Class benefits are available, and 1 of 5 existing benefits are upgradeable.

New benefit: sneaking. This skill grants Ghost access to stealth.

New benefit: draining bite. This ability lets Ghost leech a portion of her foes’ life with each bite.

New benefit: pinning paw. This ability allows Ghost to knockdown her foe in a single hit.

Existing benefits that may be upgraded: born again II.

Existing benefits not available for upgrade: astral bite, diresight, direshield, and greater manifest. Greater manifest requires a magma maw, stygian claws, and ash armor skill of rank 10 to advance.

Choose Ghost’s rank 6 Class benefit now.

I exhaled noisily. “Well, so much for that idea,” I muttered, then went on to describe the options on offer to Ghost. “I’m afraid its going to be a while before you can upgrade manifest again.”

“That’s alright, Prime,” she assured me. “Greater manifest is powerful enough on its own.”

“True,” I agreed reluctantly. “What do you think of the other choices?”

“Sneaking sounds—” she began.

I shook my head, stopping her. “I don’t think choosing another skill is a good idea.”

“Why not?” she asked, lowering her head in disappointment.

“Well, for one, you have only one skill slot left, and two, while I admit sneaking is a great skill to have, you don’t really need it. We’ve been managing well enough without it, and truly, any time we need to stay concealed, it’s better if I do the sneaking and you stay unmanifested.”

“Oh. That makes sense I guess.”

“Besides which,” I went on, “draining bite is the ability you want. Unless I’m very much mistaken, the spell is from the school of death magic. Not only that, but it will also grant you a form of life leech.” I met her gaze. “It’s the healing spell you’ve been missing.”

Ghost didn’t look fully convinced but I could tell my words had piqued her interest. “Alright Prime, if you think it’s the right choice…”

“I do,” I said firmly.

“Then, let’s do it.”

Saying nothing further, I relayed our wishes to the Adjudicator.

Ghost has gained the basic spell: draining bite. 

This ability allows Ghost to leech 10% of the damage she inflicts from a single bite attack, restoring her own health in the process.

This spell has no verbal or somatic component. Its activation time is very fast. It consumes mana and can be upgraded. You and Ghost have 45 of 46 Magic ability slots remaining.

Upgrade complete. Class points remaining: 7. 

Ghost’s Class has advanced to rank 6. 

I peered at the pyre wolf. “What do you think?”

Ghost’s eyes were closed as she absorbed the new knowledge the Game had gifted her with. “It was the right choice,” she pronounced.

I nodded in satisfaction. “I think so too.” 

Ghost opened her eyes. “We go again?”

I narrowed my eyes in thought. The pyre wolf still had seven Class points remaining—a sum that seemed ample—but upgrading just one of Ghost’s abilities from basic to elite would require four points all on its own. “Better not,” I decided. “Let’s see how your new abilities perform before deciding anything further.”

She rose to her feet. “Then, I guess it’s time for me to head into the reeds.”

I smiled at her obvious distaste at the notion. “It is. And get what rest you can. It will be at least another five hours before we can expect company.”

“Will you rest too?” the pyre wolf asked as she slipped down the slope.

“I will,” I confirmed. “As soon as I take care of my own leveling.”