Unlike Sarrius, Pilus seemed to feel bad about hurting Gavrus. But hurt him he did. Over the course of three hours that felt like three centuries, Gavrus and the Neverwas were “tested” by a litany of damage. They were burned, scratched, poisoned, stabbed, shocked, frozen, bludgeoned, cut, melted with acid, and hit with stuff that Gavrus didn’t even have a name for.

 The testing facility looked like what Gavrus had always thought an alchemist shop would look like. Strange contraptions hung from the ceiling and lined shelves, beakers of foul-smelling liquids and jars of bizarre monsters and/or parts were haphazardly stored about the room. Pilus’s laboratory had none of the masterful organization that Lady Amatia’s workplace had. And it smelled awful.

“Again, apologies for the pain young master.” Pilus said for the seventh time, dabbing antidote over a painful blue rash on Gavrus’s arm.

Gavrus didn’t respond. There wasn’t a point; it kept happening.

“As much as I would love to keep you here all night, I believe you have other duties to attend. But before you go, first let me tell you my preliminary findings. All of this was ultimately done for you, after all,” Pilus said.

Of course, it was for his benefit, Gavrus wouldn’t have let the man torture him for three hours if it hadn’t been. Sarrius was right that he needed to know his limitations. Particularly when there were people that he had to see every day that wanted him dead.

“The skin of your summon is highly resistant to all forms of physical damage. It is completely immune to frost, bludgeoning, and necrotic energy. Admittedly, the bludgeoning immunity could be due to a synergy with your malleable bones’ trait. The creature itself appears to feel no pain and heals remarkably fast, giving you an incredible defense. Probably better than a ward shield, if I’m being honest. However, the skin is semi-porous in places making you susceptible to poison, acid, and elemental water or liquid based attacks. A concentrated blast of fire in such a location would also singe the skin underneath if exposed for any significant length.” Pilus said.

Well, that sucks. Velia is a magma user which means her attacks would be both liquid and concentrated fire. Gavrus thought. 

 “Most surprising of all, though is the shared consciousness you seem to have with the creature! Even with my soulgaze mask on, I am unable to read any of your thoughts, feel any of your emotions, or even see your soul. Whether you have the symbiote summoned or dormant, it is like looking into a murky lake. Your sigil and your chakras are the extent of what I can see. Aside from the heads of the great houses, and the imperial family you probably have the best mental protection in the empire! It’s simply marvelous!” Pilus said with a dramatic flourish of his hand.

 Gavrus stood from his chair and let out a long stretch. “How does it compare to typical summons? I haven’t seen anyone else with one yet.” Gavrus asked.

 “As you and your classmates gain strength, you will begin to see summons with more regularity. House Day, House Sunset, and Spirit members of House Dawn all have access to the Summon discipline. It is a very uncommon starting discipline for first years because most people don’t have a high willpower. Especially the enclave children that had largely pampered lives.

 To answer your question: It is hard to say. Ether creatures are usually a reflection of the personal characteristics of a user. One might be a dumb rock-like beast, and another a highly intelligent lightning bird. Which is nothing to say of the more abstract Loci like you have. A heaven Archon might have a summoned sword, a death Archon a hungry wraith spirit. I’ve even read an interesting case of a Time Archon that ended up summoning himself. Apparently, the Archon in question reported being able to jump back and forth into an alternate past with a version of themselves. They disappeared permanently, shortly after the report was made. Many investigators suspect that this case was just a temporal ether entity playing tricks. It’s a fun one to speculate on.

 Anyways, summons are not always benevolent. Demons for example. Many hell users skip the summon discipline altogether. As I said, things always become more dangerous with Empyreal and Eldritch loci. That is part of the reason for the necessity of this testing. This creature you are bonded with could have ignoble motivations and designs on your soul.” Pilus said softly, a warning in his voice.

 Gavrus didn’t bother telling Pilus, but the Neverwas was probably the only soul besides Lilion that he absolutely trusted. He knew with a degree of honesty that could never be achieved with any other person or thing what its motivations were. To just be.

 They connected because they were both survivors. He’d already caught glimpses of the mind-breaking place from which it had emerged; where only willpower existed. “Place” was the only word he could use to describe the “void”, because he instinctively knew words like dimension, or world wasn’t apt enough. The Neverwas, a once nascent God, had held on to its concept of self for eons. It sacrificed that to give Gavrus life, to give them both a chance at life. Pilus incorrectly believed that the two were separate. The Neverwas was another layer of his subconsciousness. Gavrus decided not to correct Pilus on that misconception either.

 “Well, if that is all?” Gavrus said, a little too optimistically.

The tall Runist laughed heartily, then said, “Yes, yes, you may go. We may have to do some further testing if you ever decide to use your anima to upgrade it. But this should be adequate information for the codex. I just have one question: what does that rune do? I’ve been meaning to ask you since the ceremony but haven’t had time.”

 Gavrus looked down at his arm at where Pilus indicated. “I have no idea? I mean, I can look on my codex and see a list of the four different inscriptions that I have, however I don’t know what any individual one does.” Gavrus said.

 “Ah, pardon,” Plus said. “I know that you have a Basic Language on your face. Two on your arm are an Imperial account and access to your personal codex. The fourth one escapes me.”

 “Oh, in that case you must mean the Deaden Pain rune.” Gavrus said.

 “Deaden Pain? Who gave this rune to you?” Pilus said, with a gleam in his eye.

 “Lady Amatia, she is a Runist from where I came from. In fact, she gave me all of these runes.” Gavrus said.

 “Fascinating. It must be a personal discovery of hers. Would you mind if I studied it sometime?” Pilus asked.

 Gavrus liked Pilus, and it was always good to have allies. Lady Amatia had never even made mention of the rune, so he didn’t see the harm in letting Pilus study it. “Sure, I’ll try and meet up with you when I get some free time.”

 After leaving Pilus’s lab, Gavrus practically ran to his apartment for a much-needed shower. Between several hours of sweaty combat training, then three hours of being bled for testing in Pilus’s disgusting laboratory, he smelled awful. Dexsia would probably be able to smell him in their shared hallway for days. 

 The steamy water felt great for his exhausted muscles. Arcanist crafted symbols were grafted on to a marble wall as bath and shower controls for summoned water. Even after over two weeks of using the magical technology, Gavrus continued to be amazed by it. Controlling the flow and temperature of the water was as easy as tracing a crescent moon shape or two in the air with his finger. Wards on the ground detected him and stopped the flow the moment he stepped out of the shower. The first time he had used the shower was deeply embarrassing because he couldn’t figure out how to make it stop. Only after he left the shower to try to get help from Piron his seneschal, did it turn itself off leaving him to feel righteously stupid. 

 As Gavrus made his way through the obscuring steam that had filled his bathroom, he spotted the unexpected shadowy silhouette of a person. A sense of fight or flight came over him, as he considered the possibility that Velia caught him off guard again. Fight won out, and Gavrus lunged forward grabbing the intruder with the expectation that the Neverwas would give him a grappling advantage.

 Gavrus and the intruder collided to the ground in a heap. He was shocked to discover the naked form of lithe Nessa, his keeper, lying underneath him. Fortunately, neither of them had been hurt by the tackle due to the thick rug that adorned the bathroom floor. Nevertheless, the situation still left Gavrus stunned.

 “Ho-wha- you doing!?” Gavrus yelped, moving off the naked concubine as if she were a snake.

 “Milord, I just thought you might want some company. Maybe help you relieve some stress from your first day. I heard you had to go to the infirmary and...” Nessa said, dropping her head down sadly.

 A spike of rage flared in Gavrus. With a deadly whisper he leaned forward, “I thought I instructed you that I would not need your services. Since it didn’t seem to take, let me try again. If you ever attempt such an action again, I will throw you out the window into the fucking hell desert! Do you understand? I am WITH someone. I do not want to fuck you!” By the end of his tirade spit was flying. A part of Gavrus knew he was going a little overboard, but the pain of Lilion’s kidnapping came rushing back at Nessa’s advance. He’d try to unpack the emotion later, for now he felt justified.

 Unexpectedly, instead of fear at his emotional rebuke, Nessa gave him an almost defiant look. No, it was a hard look. The kind of dead eyed glare he’d seen from the black hearted murderin’ type of bastards he’d known on the streets. It had only been for a split second, but it was enough for Gavrus to be cautioned. Enough for him to take a step back and reassess.

 “I’m sorry Milord! I promise I’ll never do it again,” she said looking scared and hurt. Those emotions came too late to convince him. She grabbed a robe hanging next to the door, then ran out the room.

 He watched her go, no longer feeling angry. Instead the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. Was she an assassin? No, not likely. An unarmed naked girl a third his weight wouldn’t pose much of a threat. Maybe she had just reacted poorly to the threat of abuse. He’d seen plenty of that before too from those that had been abused. Probably even given it. Either way, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was afoot with his keeper, and his instincts were rarely wrong. 

 Then it hit him. She had been hiding in the steam. She might have been naked, but she hadn’t expected him to spot her. Nessa had been completely surprised that he was aware of her. What the hell was going on?