Lillian waited, sitting on a bench in her new school's quad. Students walked by in both directions, chatting and hurrying to their classes. Nobody took notice of the nondescript girl shyly looking around, avoiding eye contact with the strangers who passed by. Her looks didn't stand out either, which she was thankful for. Shoulder length straight brown hair, cut in the most popular style of a few months ago. Light skin, neither pale nor tanned. Just enough freckles across her cheeks to keep her complexion from being noticeably perfect. Her pure white robes and green quarterstaff carved with runes might have drawn attention in another setting, but here in the heart of the Academy, it was a fully unremarkable uniform.

Each of the mages walking past had robes in their own color. At any given moment you could find a complete rainbow on the quad, and then some. The upperclassmen often wore robes in two or three different colors, symbolizing their mastery of multiple types of magic. Some of the teachers even wore plain black robes embroidered with colors invisible to mundane eyes. Among this riot of color, Lillian's plain white robes, signaling her positive energy affinity, were among the least interesting.

While her spellcasting focus was of moderately high quality, the simple green staff also lacked in comparison to the diverse foci around the well-kept lawn. There were skulls, floating orbs, weapons, armor, and every type of jewelry, all covered in runes. There were intricate tattoos, musical instruments, and holy symbols. But most of all, there were familiars.

All but the greenest mages used an animal companion to focus and enhance their spells. For the normal students that usually meant a mundane animal such as a newt, an insect, a fox, etc. There were occasional students with less portable familiars such as fish and horses, but they were in the minority. In contrast, the teachers and the most talented upperclassmen were followed by more magical creatures. Floating wisps, flame-wreathed salamanders, crystalline turtles, the variety was even broader than that of the robes. Compared to the crowd here at the Academy, Lillian had so little presence that avoiding eye contact was really overkill.

The only person in the area she did not appear intimidated by was a handsome boy walking quickly down the path towards her. He was a step behind a girl, talking animatedly at her and trying to catch up. The girl wore the brilliant crimson robe of a fire mage and had an irritable-looking horned lizard on her shoulder. The boy was clad in a vibrant purple robe bordering on pink, the color of enchantment specializing in charm. He had fair skin and blonde hair, a strong jaw and noble cheekbones, and a radiant smile on his face. A colorful butterfly flew along beside him and around the girl, occasionally landing on her only to be brushed away.

Lillian looked at the boy with obvious scorn and pity. It was a much kinder expression than that of the girl he was walking beside, whose face was a textbook example of disgust, quickly being overtaken by rage. The pair speed-walked down the path towards Lillian, and as they got within earshot she opened her mouth, fumbling for words. By the time she managed to put together the right thing to say the pair had already passed her. "Lexi, could you please not do that, you're making her uncomfortable. I think." She called out after them, trying to speak loudly but barely managing to achieve a normal speaking volume.

The boy turned around and glared at her for a moment before his expression softened into surprise. "Lilly? I told you not to call me that, it's demeaning, especially in front of- Hey wait up!" he hurried after the girl, but the moment his attention had been diverted she had taken off at something just short of a jog, and he gave up the chase after a short distance, storming back towards Lilly. "What the hell Lils? I had her eating out of the palm of my hand before you went and cockblocked me!"

Lilly shrank back from her irate friend, mumbling out stammered excuses before settling on, "She clearly didn't like you, she was almost running away! Right?" She summoned up just enough courage to glare back at him, but the mild-mannered girl looked back down as soon as she made eye contact.

"Well yeah, she was upset at the moment, I was trying out this negging thing. She was upset because I was talking about how hot her sister was, but before long she would have been trying to prove herself to me! I would have had the princess of Astoria chasing my affections!" The deluded young man rambled on about the details of his foolproof seduction plan as Lillian tried to interject politely.

"That's not- I don't think- You know- I- THAT'S NOT HOW GIRLS WORK!" After failing to interject in the conversation for a full five minutes, Lillian finally built up the courage to shout over him, before immediately shrinking back, covering her mouth and looking even more surprised than the boy.

He quickly recovered though, and shot back with, "Says you! My plan was foolproof. I would have been a little late, but it would have been worth it, you know? I can't let a chance meeting like that pass me by!"

He was building up steam for another rant when one of his expansive gestures seemed to send him off balance, arms flailing for a moment before he tilted and fell forward onto Lilly, his face landing in her lap. A voice came from behind him as a girl walked up. "Oh my, I knew Lexi was a dog, but I never thought he would go and assault our innocent little Lilly. In broad daylight no less!" The speaker was a petite girl in earthen brown robes. Her rich auburn hair was styled into a pair of childish pigtails hanging forward over her shoulders to frame and accentuate her otherwise unremarkable modest bust. She had large brown eyes that gave her a permanent look of mild surprise, only exasperated by the fact she wore a rather convincing expression of shock and horror, which she covered with a well manicured hand. A pure white dove perching on her shoulder completed the appearance of angelic innocence.

The boy pushed himself up off of Lilly, a moment of panic flashing across his face before he saw who it was. "Damn it, Angela, would you just stop pulling this shit? We all know perfectly well what it feels like when you're messing with the ground under us, no one is fooled anymore. And I've told you both, it's Alex, not Lexi! Lexi is a girl's name, and it's not even a shortening of Alex, I don't know why you two insist on using it!"

As Lexi worked himself up into another hissy fit, Lillian gave Angela a pouting glare, her face flushed pink. "That was mean Angie, it may have been his face, but you were the one who shoved it in my lap!"

Angela similarly ignored Lexi's whining, countering with, "Yeah but come on Lilly Pad, did you see the look on his face before he figured it out? Completely worth it, don't you think?" She smirked smugly, and Alex started drifting away from the pair, the earth under his feet sliding away from them. He tried to walk back towards them, but he ended up walking as though on a treadmill, greatly determined but going nowhere.

Lillian opened her mouth to answer, then paused to think, looking at the drifting Alex before replying, "I guess… It was pretty funny. But it was still mean! Embarrass Lexi on his own, don't bring me into it!"

Angela waved off her complaint. "Lexi is way too good at embarrassing himself for me to embarrass him on his own, you know that. Anyway, get up. Charlie decided his meal was too important to leave, so we're meeting him at the cafeteria before heading to the portal hub. You both have everything you need, right?" Lillian hefted her quarterstaff and patted the bag of herbs at her belt, while Alex gave up on attempting to chew them out and motioned to the shortsword on his belt and buckler on his arm. They both nodded, and the three of them made for the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was the official title of the building, but it was more of an open food court. As an institution primarily dedicated to nobles and their spawn, the Academy had tailored their dining facilities to the pickiness discerning palettes of spoiled brats noble children. There were about two dozen stalls with various cuisines from around the known world, and one stand which sold simple stew and bread for the less financially gifted. Angela led them to a Vicali food stall, where they found the last member of their party sitting next to a half dozen empty plates, and working to finish off a plate of hot peppers stuffed with fried swallow tongues, a delicacy in the hot desert nation of Vical.

Charles Bacchano was, to put it nicely, heavily built. To put it less nicely, he was a fat little piggy. His face was pudgy (It was also currently flushed and sweaty from the spicy food he was wolfing down.), and his whole body was soft and rounded. He was in the uncertain gap between chubby and morbidly obese. He did not waddle when he walked, but he did most certainly jiggle. He had no trouble getting up or moving about, but any extended exertion had him turning red and panting for breath. He wore the sanguine red robe of a blood mage, which thankfully had been enchanted to resist stains, or it would be a distinctly different color by now. He had a spear propped against the back of his seat, and next to it was a backpack positively overflowing with nonperishable snacks. He looked up once they approached his table, and popped another pepper into his mouth while still chewing the last. "Hey guys, ready for our first big test?" He spoke clearly and without spitting any food despite his continued chewing, a product of living the majority of his life with a full mouth. The large python under the table flicked an eye towards the newcomers, before ignoring them and continuing to work its jaw down the whole roast chicken it had under the table, another similarly sized bulge already visible further down its body.

Angela nudged the backpack with her foot once she reached the table. "We are. You do know they're providing us with rations and basic equipment right? You didn't need to pack enough food for the whole squad."

Charles leveled a flat stare at Angela. "Come on Angela. We've known each other for six months now. After all that time, do you really think I would live off of trail rations for a day, let alone a week?" He popped the last pepper in his mouth.

"Of course. I don't know why I even asked." She started quickly walking away, Lillian keeping pace at her side. "You'd better hurry up, I hear Ms. Aurelia is running the portal today, and our assigned time-slot is in five minutes."

Those words caused Charlie's flushed face to pale, and he hurriedly stood up, grabbed his things, and ran after the girls at a jiggling jog, still chewing. Alex paled as well and started pushing him from behind. "Oh no, I am not dealing with an angry Aurelia because you couldn't get your fat ass in gear, she's scarier than the headmaster!"

The group rushed to the teleport hub, arriving at the large stone courtyard right at the five-minute mark. The courtyard was divided into a number of stone circles, each surrounded by a number of pillars. Standing next to the nearest was a small, flaxen-haired gnome with her arms crossed and her foot tapping. "F Squad, testing my patience again as usual. What was it this time? Too much food? Off chasing tail? Stopped to bully some upperclassmen?" she drawled, irritation clear in the tone of her voice.

Alex replied, "Um, actually Ms. Aurelia, we were right on time, precisely because we didn't want to try your pati-" he trailed off as the woman glared at him with slitted, golden, reptilian eyes.

She slowly advanced on Alex, growling, "Did I ask if you were late? You should have been early so that right now you could be on your way, yet you decided to show up when you please, so now I have to waste more of my afternoon playing chauffeur for you spoiled brats so you don't need to take any actual risks. Grab your packs. And if I hear another word out of you blondie, you're getting remedial lessons, understood?" She gestured at a pile of four backpacks, then prodded Alex in the chest with a sharp-nailed finger, glaring pointedly at him.

"Ye-" Alex cut himself off and nodded. The gnome looked mildly disappointed that he hadn't fallen for her trap, but she turned around, storming off to align and charge the teleportation circle's runes. The group grabbed their packs, snickering slightly at Alex's misfortune (though not loudly enough to be overheard).

They finished preparing before Ms. Aurelia finished charging the runes, earning them a shouted "If you've got time to stand around like a bunch of slack-jawed trolls, you should be going over your game plan. This is some of the easiest experience you're ever going to get, you brats better make the most of this week if you want a chance at the good classes." The party agreed and began discussing strategy, but didn't get any further than 'Kill everything and be smart about the big monsters' before they were interrupted again. "All right, enough inane jabbering, circle's ready, hop in. Try not to die, or I'll have to keep opening this stupid gate all week. And don't you fucking dare be late."

The group gulped as one. If the rumors were true, it really might be preferable to stay lost in the wilderness rather than coming back to the Academy on Ms. Aurelia's bad side. Given their experiences with her so far, no one present doubted those rumors. The woman radiated terror the way a volcano radiated heat. They quickly rushed into the middle of the glowing pillars, and a flash of blackish-violet mana hurled them off into the void.

Teleportation was a disconcerting experience the first time, but F Squad was familiar with the process. They knew to close their eyes to avoid the sickening psychedelic visuals, knew to stay spread eagle to avoid spinning too quickly, knew how to prepare for the sudden and random shifts in G-forces. Nonetheless, when they punched back into reality a half-minute later the entire party immediately bent double, panting and catching their breath. Charles was clutching his stomach, desperately forcing his rich breakfast back down. The familiars were less prepared for Mr. Warp's Wild Ride, and they were all writhing around on the ground in confusion and discomfort.

Lillian quickly regained enough composure to access her mana and channeled a bit into her body, relieving her disorientation further before beginning to weave a proper spell. A glowing sigil appeared at the end of her staff before a pulse of healing mana washed out from her to cover her squad, calming their disorientation, though Charles still seemed a bit green around the gills. The familiars recovered even more quickly than their masters, and they were acting as though nothing had happened within seconds of the pulse.

As their masters took stock of their surroundings and gathered nearby to start checking maps, the dove, the python, and the butterfly gathered around a small red pebble on the ground. The butterfly landed on it, then took off as its legs tingled unpleasantly. The dove pecked at it, sending it skittering across the stone, then hopped after it. The python swung its head around and flicked its tongue at the rock, then seized it in its jaws, ready to swallow it down.

Out of nowhere, a blur of black fur appeared from above, gouging out deep cuts from the python's scaly snout, forcing it to drop the gem in surprise. Fang arched his back and hissed at the snake, drawing the attention of the humans, before swatting the stone away from the group of familiars and chasing after it. The python began to give chase, before turning back to the humans as they rushed over, with Charles shouting, "Ori! What happened? Stay! Don't go running off!" Ori gave the best impression of a pout his serpentine visage could manage before coiling up, resting his head atop the first layer and piling the rest of his coils over his face, leaving just his injured snout exposed to the outside world. "He says a black fuzzy thing hurt him and stole his magic stone," Charlie relayed to the others, before looking with concern at the cat chasing his marble around the dais. "He probably means that monster. The magic stone is probably a creature core, but any monster at a core-forming level shouldn't be able to get inside the teleporter barrier. That's... Worrisome."

Alex looked at the streak of black fur chasing the marble in circles, and he put his hand on his sword. "What if it's high level but just non-magical, so no core? Should we get ready for a fight?" As they talked, Lillian crouched down beside Ori the boa and prodded his nose with a mana-laden finger to cast Healing Boop Touch, quickly mending the scratches. Ori showed his appreciation by shifting a coil enough to show an eye before flicking his tongue out with a low hiss.

Charles shook his head, "The barrier is keyed to intelligence, not a core. And since anything under a certain level of intelligence gains it automatically with leveling, any monster that could take down a beast with a core would definitely be affected by the barrier. Other monsters wouldn't leave behind a kill's core either, that's always the first thing they eat." He pondered while staring at the kitty conundrum in front of him. Fang had finally caught his marble and was now lying down on it, keeping a watchful green eye on the humans and their familiars from across the dais.

Lilly meekly chimed in while petting Ori, "What if it's actually just powerful enough to ignore the barrier completely? That should be possible. Right?" The group of four turned as one to contemplate the sleepy feline. Currently, he was struggling to keep his eyes open, surrounded by comfy warmth but wary of the party. After a moment of contemplation, the three others simultaneously reached a conclusion as Fang's sleepy head dipped down to his paws, before jolting up again.

"""Nah."""

After a few more moments of contemplating the cute cat, Angie posited, "What if the last squad to come here dropped a core as they were leaving? It would be a pretty stupid move, but we have some pretty stupid classmates." The others thought about it, then nodded one by one.

"That probably makes the most sense," mused Charlie, "But that core looked mostly depleted. If that little monster absorbed all the energy from it, that would give it a massive mana pool for a creature of its level."

A mischievous grin spread across Angela's face before she adopted her trademarked look of angelic innocence. "Hey Lillian, you don't have a familiar yet, right? And you know the familiar binding ritual, don't you Alex? I think it's about time for our little Lilly Pad to finally get her familiar!"

Lillian stood up sharply, stammering, "Wait, what? Aren't you supposed to like raise the creature yourself? And it's a vicious monster! It attacked poor Ori out of nowhere, it's clearly a carnivore. Besides we don't know for sure it isn't secretly a super powerful monster that broke into the circle!... Right?"

While she was speaking, Alex had already begun drawing a chalk ritual circle on the teleportation platform, and Charlie had fished out a piece of meat from his backpack, attempting to use it to draw Fang over to the ritual site. Angela let them do the work and patted Lilly on the shoulder. "Don't worry Lils, all that's just tradition, it doesn't actually matter for the magic. And it's clearly just a first-tier mundane animal, nothing to worry about. Besides, you'll love having a familiar. Delivering spells at range, another viewpoint to watch your back, not to mention the extra mana pool. I can't imagine how I would get by without my Flit." She held up her finger and the white dove fluttered up to perch on it, cooing happily as it nuzzled against her cheek.

"B-but I was thinking I would get something small and cute, like a mouse I could carry in my sleeve, or a bird, like yours, or a moth. I don't know if I want a predator, what if it grows up like Mr. Andrassi's familiar and really hurts someone? I don't know what I'd do!"

Angela's eyebrows raised, and she turned to the others. "Hey guys, I think she might be right, doesn't it look a bit like Mr. Andrassi's familiar?"

Alex looked up and gasped. "You're right! Way smaller and softer, but after a few evolutions it could totally be the same! Man, it's almost enough to make me wish I didn't have a familiar yet."

Charles shook his head though. "No, Mr. Andrassi said he got his familiar in Trento, and that it was this huge jungle predator he had to wrestle before it would sit still long enough for the ritual to take."

Alex shot back as he resumed drawing, "Well it could be a baby version of that you know."

The two bickered back and forth about what sort of monster Fang might or might not become, Lillian's complaints completely forgotten. Angela pushed her into the circle as it was completed, and there she waited, still waiting for them to circle back to her previous complaints, but too shy to interrupt the boys' conversation and bring up her concerns again after having them so soundly ignored.

Meanwhile, Charlie's attempts at bribery were failing miserably. Fang hadn't moved from his spot, and barely even glanced at the slabs of dried and seasoned meat the boy was waving at him. Once he was done drawing the ritual circle, Alex came over to watch. After a few minutes of teasingly mocking his failure, Alex snatched the piece of meat Charlie was using and announced, "All right, enough amateur hour, let a pro show you how to coerce a beast." He started waving the meat around, along with his other hand, and visible streamers of magenta light wove into a 3D geometric figure, before sinking into the meat. "OK beastie, you see this? This is the most delicious piece of meat you've ever seen. You want this meat so bad you're drooling. You would go to the ends of the earth for this amazing slab of meat you know?" Fang's eyes were definitely tracking the slab of meat now, his ears flat to the sides, but he made no other movement, apart from twitching his tail.

Angela sighed to Lillian, "He really can't even talk to an animal without being a creep, huh?" She called out to him, "I didn't know you were into animals that way, Lexi!" She was holding a position next to Lillian, just outside the circle, ready to herd her back in if she started getting thoughts of rebellion.

Lilly giggled despite her anxiety, while Charlie quietly grumbled about Alex ruining a perfectly good piece of meat with magic. Alex turned around to complain, "Well how would you put it then little miss perf-YEOWCH!" As he was complaining, he gestured a bit too low with the meat, shoving it in Fang's face. Quick as a bolt, Fang's claws lashed out twice, scoring eight deep, crisscrossing cuts on his hand and forcing him to drop the meat. With a muttered curse, he snatched it up with his other hand and chucked it into the ritual circle. "Go get it if you want it that bad, you little shit." He then rushed over to the circle, cradling his hand, but he stopped outside of the chalk, not wanting to mar his lines with blood. Fang didn't move, except to lick the blood off his paw.

Lillian moved toward him, but Angela stopped her. "Oh no Missy, you're not stepping out of that circle until you've got your familiar. I know you can use your healing at range, you need practice with that anyway." Lilly whined a little bit, but stepped back into the center and focused on her spell, streamers of bright white magic forming a sigil in the air, before encapsulating a blob of energy and floating over to Alex's hand. Fang's ears perked up when he saw the light, and when he saw the energy sinking in and healing Alex's cuts, he finally stood up and walked over, trotting confidently into the circle and up to Lillian, who was nearly petrified with fright. He lifted the leg the bat had bitten and placed it against her leg, meowing plaintively.

"Aww, it sounds a bit like my baby niece, so cute," commented Charlie, currently munching on one of the pieces of jerky Fang had snubbed.

Alex ignored the rest of the party, focusing on instructing Lillian, "Okay, now channel your mana out into the air. The circle will contain it, and once it's dense enough the ritual will trigger." Lillian followed instructions, channeling her mana slowly out into her surroundings. She didn't give it any purpose or direction, simply letting it float and dissipate from her control. Fang kept meowing but was ignored, even as his whiskers started to twitch from the heightened ambient mana concentration. The air in the circle started getting heavier, and the air itself began to glow before all the mana was abruptly sucked down into the drawn circle. The chalk glowed bright white, dazzling everyone involved, and a blue box popped up in front of Lillian. Alex called in, "Perfect! Now just select yes, and the bond will be complete!"

Lillian looked out of the circle at him with a dumbfounded, shocked expression. "Lexi. What in the nine hecks did you do?"

Congratulations!

You have become Chairman Meow's familiar!

From this day forth, your paths through life are intertwined inseparably. Pursue your destiny together!