Grand Game 390: A Familiar Companion (Patreon)

It took only a handful of seconds to reduce the second elite to the same state as the first.

You have crippled your target!

A level 210 basilisk has been permanently blinded and can no longer cast petrifying gaze.

My work done, I somersaulted off the creature and backed away. There was no further reason to stay in such close proximity to the big lizards and risk grievous injury from a lucky blow. Now that I had disabled their only ranged attack, it was much better to kill them from afar.

Drawing psi, I manifested a pair of astral blades in my hands and flung them at the closer basilisk.

Both daggers hit their mark, striking the elite’s snout dead center.

You have injured your target, inflicting psi damage.

You have injured your target, inflicting psi damage.

I laughed. It worked! I hadn’t been sure it would, especially given the spectacular failure of my slaysight spell.

“What’s happening?” Ghost asked for what felt like the hundredth time. Understandably, she was eager for the battle to end and for the promised freedom becoming a familiar would give her, and I didn’t judge her harshly for it.

“It’s the beginning of the end,” I replied. “The astral blades have worked, and now I need only wear the elites down—cut by cut.”

Forming another pair of violet psi daggers in my hands, I cocked back my arms, took aim, and threw.

✵ ✵ ✵

The giant lizards were more stubborn than I expected.

While at no point had the outcome of the battle been in doubt, that didn’t stop the basilisks from obstinately pursuing me around the canyon. Three times, I had been forced to break off from the fight and renew my psi, and it was only around evening that the two creatures finally perished.

You have killed a level 213 basilisk.

You have killed a level 210 basilisk.

Exhausted, but elated, I sank down in the middle of the canyon.

“Is it done? Is it done?”

“Yes, Ghost,” I replied wearily. “It’s done.”

“Finally!”

“I feel the same way,” I said, flopping back to rest with my back pressed against the ground.

A drawn-out moment of nervous silence followed.

“And?” Ghost finally blurted. “Did you get the levels you need?”

I chuckled. The question was not unexpected. “Let me check,” I murmured. Turning my focus inwards, I queried the waiting Game messages.

You have reached level 201!

Bold blood activated. You have been awarded 2 additional attribute points.

Your dodging and telekinesis have reached rank 17, your two weapon fighting rank 16, and your thieving rank 12.

Congratulations, Michael. You are now a tier 5 player and have joined the ranks of the Game’s elite! For achieving rank 20, you have been awarded 1 additional attribute point and 1 Class point. Furthermore, your experience gains have decreased, the level cap on your skills has been removed, you may now learn tier 5 abilities, and time you require to resurrect has increased to 16 hours.

My amusement faded as I read the Adjudicator’s message.

Most of it was nothing out of the ordinary, but the increased time between respawns was troubling. It would give any halfway knowledgeable foe ample time to prepare for my resurrection, which made dying an even more unappealing proposition. There was nothing to be done about it though, so I stopped worrying.

Turning my attention to my skill gains, I felt my smile return. Four of my skills had ranked up, and even deception had advanced, if not enough to reach the next rank.

That clinches it, I decided. From now on, I travel everywhere as Taim. If I was fortunate, I could maybe get the skill up to rank twenty before I left Draven’s Reach.

“Prime?” Ghost prompted.

“Sorry,” I muttered. “I got sidetracked. But yes, I gained a Class point.”

“At last,” she whispered.

A pause.

“Will you do it now?”

“I will,” I replied firmly, determined not to keep her waiting longer. Heaving myself upright, I dropped into a cross-legged stance and called up the Class upgrade interface.

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

Class points available: 1.

Player rank: 20.

Upgrade requirements met.

You may advance your Class to rank 11 by improving an existing Class benefit or by selecting a new one. Do you wish to proceed?

I willed my intent to do so, then waited as breathlessly as I sensed Ghost to be for the offered list of benefits to appear.

Commencing Class upgrade…

Seconds ticked by. Then sure enough, the trait Adriel had mentioned appeared. Ignoring everything else, my eyes fastened on it.

New benefit: spirit familiar. This trait allows a mage to form a familiar Pact with an entity housed inside a spirit vessel. Note, the spirit in question must accede to the binding, and once the Pact has been enacted, it cannot be renounced.

I read the trait’s description twice over to make sure I understood it, then aloud once more for Ghost’s benefit. When I was certain she had digested the implications, I asked, “Last chance, Ghost. Are you sure you want to go ahead? There will be no turning back after this.”

“I am,” she replied without hesitation.

I inhaled slowly. There was no need for further discussion. Ghost was certain about her decision, as was I. “Alright, here goes.” Closing my eyes, I willed my choice to the Game.

You have gained the trait: spirit familiar. This trait allows you to bind a spirit familiar. A spirit familiar is a spirit who has been co-opted as an ally by a mage-type player. Familiars can serve multiple roles from that of a meat shield to a healer and are often viewed as indispensable by their hosts. Beware, though, once bound, your familiar’s spirit will become permanently intertwined with your own.

Upgrade complete. Class points remaining: 0.

Congratulations, Michael, your voidstealer Class has advanced to rank 11!

Spirit vessels detected: 1, Cloak of the Reach.

Contained spirit: stygian pyre wolf named Ghost.

Do you wish to offer Ghost a familiar Pact?

If she accepts your offer, the stygian pyre wolf will become your spirit familiar forevermore. This Pact may not be terminated. Note, too, that as a result of the spirit binding, the item, Cloak of the Reach, will become soulbound if it is not already so.

“I do,” I said, both for the Game’s benefit and Ghost’s, then holding myself still, waited for her response.

It was not long in coming.

Trails of smoke surged out of the Cloak of the Reach until it fully encompassed me. I held out my arms, sensing Ghost in the cloud. She bubbled with excitement and joy, and I knew if she had feet, she’d be dancing. This was her long-awaited moment.

Bright weaves of fire appeared.

Darting out from the stygian thundercloud, they slipped towards me, and instinctively, I reached for them.

Flesh met fiery weaves and a connection was forged. A second later, the bonds deepened, surpassing the physical.

Our spirits touched.

Then merged.

Initiating a familiar Pact between the player, Michael, and the stygian pyre wolf known as Ghost. Commencing spirit binding ritual…

Tendrils of spirit broke free from the greater whole that was me. And from Ghost too.

They mixed. Roiled. Meshed.

I felt her change. And myself as well. Its part played out, the errant tendril returned to me. Then another split off. And the process began anew.

I wasn’t sure how long it went on for. Minutes at least, perhaps hours, but finally I felt the ritual draw to a close and our spirits separated for the last time. The binding was at end.

Ritual completed. You have sealed a Pact with Ghost. She is now your spirit familiar.

I exhaled. The Pact with Ghost was nothing like the one I’d formed with Gnat. That long-ago binding had been fleeting and had left me unchanged. This was different. Some small part of me had changed. Ghost had as well, but I suspected the changes the Game had wrought in her were larger.

Lifting my gaze, I studied the black smoke hovering about me. It was moving again. Surging inwards, the cloud imploded soundlessly, and when it was gone, a wolf stood in its place.

Ghost. My familiar.

I examined the pyre wolf closely. Her form was nearly identical to the one she had assumed before our binding.

But only nearly.

Squinting, I tried to pinpoint the differences. Ghost looked more… present. Her form was denser, solid. Her eyes glinted acutely and with greater awareness. Her muscles rippled with new strength. And all about her, weaves of magic slipped into and out of existence.

The pyre wolf before me was at one time, stronger, faster, wiser, and more formidable than she had been previously. Whatever Ghost was now, I knew she was no longer a lowly level one creature.

As if in confirmation, a Game message unfurled in my mind.

Ghost has cast manifest and has taken the form of a level 201 stygian pyre wolf.

My eyes grew round. Ghost was level two hundred and one? That was the exact same level as me, and I didn’t think that was by coincidence.

Before I could pursue this surprising revelation further, Ghost spun into motion, twirling on the spot so fast I could barely follow her movements. Then with startling suddenness, she froze to face me.

Ghost’s lower jaw dropped open, and her tongue lolled out. “Wow,” she exclaimed in my mind. “I feel… different. Powerful!” Her eyes glinted mischievously. “And strong enough to defeat even Duggar!”

I smiled, the trepidation I hadn’t even been aware I was feeling, easing in an instant. No matter how much my companion had changed, she was still the same-old exuberant Ghost, and that gladdened me no end.

I opened my mouth, a reply on the tip of my tongue, but before I could get the words out, I was interrupted by a veritable wall of text.

You have gained the trait: mage-host. As a result of your bound spirit familiar’s nature, your Mind and Magic have each increased by +10 ranks.

You have gained a stygian pyre wolf for a familiar.

Unlike companions, familiars are not separate Game participants. They do not level independently, they don’t accumulate attribute points, nor can they read skillbooks and ability tomes.

Instead, courtesy of the Pact sealed with their hosts, familiars will advance in level when their host does. They mirror their host’s attributes and share their ability slots as well. It is only a familiar’s energy pools, skills, and abilities that are separate from their hosts.

Every familiar, depending on their innate nature—or Class—has a set pool of abilities they may learn. These can be unlocked or improved by spending their Class points. A familiar gains Class points in the same manner that a player does, at a rate of 1 every 20 levels.

Note, all familiars have finite lives. In the event they lose their last life, or their spirit vessel is destroyed, your familiar will suffer final death. A familiar’s lives may be increased by expending Class points to acquire the trait: born again.

Ghost has gained the trait: psionic heritage. Your familiar was once a dire wolf, creatures renowned for their psionic abilities. This knowledge has carried over to her new form, granting Ghost the telepathy skill and 3 telepathic advanced abilities.

Ghost has gained the trait: free spirit. Due to the excessive time your familiar spent as an unbound spirit, she is not limited as other familiars are in the distance she may travel from her mage-host. She must, however, remain in the same sector as her host at all times.

Ghost has gained 1 advanced skill: telepathy and 3 master skills: magma maw, stygian claws, and ash armor.

Magma maw is a unique skill that only Ghost possesses. Nowhere else has the essence of the phoenix, Sunfury, been more deeply ingrained in Ghost’s being than in her jaws. As such, unlike ordinary gorge and bite attacks, your familiar’s maw attacks are magical in origin and deal fire damage. Additionally, this skill allows Ghost to cast touch-based fire magic spells through her mouth.

Stygian claws is a unique skill that only Ghost possesses. Your familiar’s claws have been formed from the fragments of dead stygian seeds, making her paws potent weapons for dealing both physical and necrotic damage.

Ash armor is a unique skill that only Ghost possesses. The natural armor of most creatures increases their physical damage resistance. Not so with your familiar. Due to her innate nature, as Ghost’s ash armor skill increases so too does her ability to resist nether, fire, and physical damage.

As a stygian pyre wolf familiar, Ghost has gained 3 advanced abilities: diresight, astral bite, and direshield. Diresight and direshield are Class abilities and do not occupy any ability slots.

Diresight is a variation of the mindsight ability and allows Ghost to sense, communicate, and even read the thoughts of any nearby unshielded mind.

Astral bite is a variation of the astral blade ability and allows Ghost to buff her melee bite attacks, so that they also deal psi damage.

Direshield is similar to the mediation-based ability, mind shield, but it is a more active variant that allows Ghost to detect and repel unwanted mental intrusions.

Familiar Profile: Ghost

Level: 201. Rank: 20. Current Health: 100%.

Stamina: 100%. Mana: 100%. Psi: 100%.

Species: Stygian Pyre Wolf. Lives Remaining: 1.

Attributes (mirrors hosts)

Strength: 21 (13)*. Constitution: 27 (19)*. Dexterity: 95 (71)*. Perception: 53 (49)*. Mind: 129 (117)*. Magic: 58 (38)*. Faith: 0.

Classes

Available: 11 points.

Class: stygian pyre wolf familiar (unique).

Familiars only have a single pre-defined Class.

Traits

spirit familiar: mirrors player attributes and level, and shares ability slots with them.

psionic being: retains telepathic skills and abilities from her former incarnation as a dire wolf.

free spirit: can roam an unlimited distance from her host, but only within the same sector.

Skills

magma maw (current: 1. max: 380. Magic, master).

stygian claws (current: 1. max: 130. Strength, master).

ash armor (current: 1. max: 190. Constitution, master).

telepathy (current: 50. max: 1170. Mind, advanced).

Abilities

A familiar can only gain or advance their abilities through Class upgrades.

Mind ability slots used: 71 / 117.

astral bite (5 Mind, advanced, telepathy).

Other abilities:

manifest (Class, basic).

diresight (Class, advanced, telepathy).

direshield (Class, advanced, telepathy).

“Yikes,” I muttered and promptly threw myself flat against the ground again. The Adjudicator had dumped a mountain of information on me, and I had a feeling it was going to take me a good while to digest it all. “Keep watch for me, Ghost,” I murmured. “We’ll talk in a bit, but in the meantime, I’ve got to review your Game data again.”

“Alright, Prime. Is it okay if I explore?”

“Don’t go too far,” I cautioned. “You still only have one life.”

Receiving her nod of assent, I squeezed my eyes shut and began scanning through the Game messages a second time.