Eli POV

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The next morning, I headed out to a doctor that had a stall in the local market, a sprawling sea of stalls and hawkers at the left and right side of the main road that went right from the bridge straight towards the academy. Sure, they couldn’t hold a candle to the medicine of my world, but this chest pain was becoming too severe and I needed to see if this was a well-known issue. Sadly, the herbalist didn’t have anything in her jars of greens or medicinal balms for chest pains. At least chest pains for young healthy men.

Bereft of an answer, I went out towards the academy to get looked over by the medical staff there early-morning. Unfortunately, the hospital by the carriage station on the inside of the walls was full and it would take longer to see a doctor there than it would to go to the medical station at the classroom towers.

As I came through the huge, metal, double front doors a male student, large with a wide forehead, brown eyes and an arrogant scowl on his face spat at me to the grins of some of the surrounding girls but as I walked past him something different happened this time.

“Oi! What do you think you’re doing?” An older staff member said from inside the doors leading to ground floor. Aki, I believe his name was. The old man’s cheeks that peered beyond his mustache and beard were red as his brown eyes showed clear disdain. His egalitarian spirit shined through as he moved forward and knocked aside staff and students, men and women, with all receiving a portion of malice no bigger or smaller than any other. A lot of the people on the sidelines pulled back as he stalked up to the now pale youth.

“I…I uh” The kid stammered out as he visibly shrunk before the seemingly frailer man.

“Well, it’s great to see our literature studies are doing so much to enrich your vocabulary.” Aki said, as his hand lashed out like a viper and caught the student's ear.” Come on boy, we need to have a long talk.”

“Ow. Fuck!” The student said as Aki dragged him back through the crowd into the academy towers, the crowd having now been cowed and quite eager to get out of his way. The rest stopped to look at him but I used the gap in the crowd to get past the entrance and up the stairs to get over to the practice tower.

The two floors below the roof where scions and casters practiced was the medical floor, dedicated to a quick and professional emergency response to any training accidents or right down conception attempts so the father could be established. This medical station wasn’t busy, which was the usual pace for them considering how many other protections were in place for those most precious of mages. They saw me in easily and I sat on a simple wood table that was specially curved for patients to lay on in a plain room with dark oak floors and grey stone walls.

A doctor wearing the staff robes with a pouch of medicines and a notebook on his side greeted me after a minute. His grey hair and green eyes combined with his easygoing manner told of a man in his element. Unfortunately, my condition wasn’t one he ever heard of, but he still prescribed me a regular regimen of rest and to stay away from alcohol.

Disappointed, I went back towards the main tower and went over a recent map made to depict the southern area. That, along with several public reports on the military situation there told me they had four mini forts that were all built to the same standard design. The soil in the area was also much looser and didn’t allow for the underwater tunnel system that the orcs relied on in the north.

More than that, the villages that had been there were cleared out years ago. In fact, the whole southern section, aside from those that stood in or behind the fortresses, had essentially been abandoned by the civilians.

‘Well, at least there won’t be any innocents in the line of fire.’ I thought idly to myself as I put the map back on the shelf. Still, if the forts weren’t up to the task it wouldn’t matter if the civilians were behind them. I made my way down the staircase and looked down at the double wide metal doors. A few yards to the left of the main entrance was the big oak door that contained the main gathering area for the staff. I saw Aki storm out of there and go out the front entrance, with several wobbly and quite pale staff members forcing their jelly like legs to move them out of the room Aki had just left.

Leaving the classrooms, I went back towards my house to put the finishing touches on Salamedes’ suit. The second air gun wasn’t finished but the second vine suit had its grass and vines move with sufficient speed. Now Salamede wouldn’t need to ride my back when we travelled. Our next target was either scouting out the forts to get a firsthand assessment or going to the human village in the orc territory to see how they’re treated.

The bark crafts molding the pieces of metal just needed more mana so I got the special knap sack that would let me push mana into it through my thigh as we traveled. Since this was strictly a scouting mission, we needed speed more than killing power so I could forgo getting my gun for this trip. Leaving the basement, I walked over to Salamedes’ two story house and knocked on the door. She came after a few minutes wearing her green dress with white undershirt.

“Hey, I’ve got a scouting mission towards the south and I got your suit working. Want to go with me?” I asked.

“Oh sure.” She said in a miffed tone.

I raised an eyebrow above the chain mail veil.

“Sorry, it’s nothing to do with you. I went to another meet this morning and-“ She waved to her mother who was on the couch knitting and got down from the stone steps. She took my arm and walked back towards the house with me.

“I got this great job offer to work at the academy today, but there was another meet to discuss Necrosis preparations. Afterwards, we all stopped to talk for a while and Gert was there talking about her husband and his other wives again. It was all so irritating.” She said.

I could understand. Being stuck listening to someone complain about having to share a husband would grate your nerves after a while, no matter how much you sympathized with them. But staying on this conversation would only dampen the mood.

“What was the job offer for?” I asked.

“Commission work for cleaning the dorms. Nothing too exciting but it pays a few silver a month even if I just work a few rooms a week.” She said with a renewed sense of vigor.

“Excellent.” I said with a congratulatory pat on the shoulder. Of course, it occurred to me that the rate they were paying was ludicrously over the top but I couldn’t guess what the angle was by the time we got to my house.

We went down into the tower and changed into our vine suits, with me changing into my white shirt and brown pants in the upper room and her changing into the leather armor with iron breast plate down in the basement. It was a little bit before lunch, so I took some of our traveling supplies for a quick meal as we left down the hall in the basement.

It took a little bit but after a good hour of practice Salamede got her skill using the vine suits advanced jumping capabilities up to an... acceptable degree. I patrolled the grounds outside the troll nest that I used for a hidden base exit while she familiarized herself with the procedure. After a quick lunch of nuts and granola bars under a tree, we headed out towards the southern forts. The human town was too far away to get there and do a thorough investigation before I had to come back to take my customized crafting class tomorrow but checking out the southern forts would give me just enough of a window to do a thorough inspection.

With Salamede now able to do the elongated jumps by herself, we made much better time than when she had to ride on my back. Even so, she still wasn’t comfortable doing the near-flight jumps. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea for her to try out those heights and speeds on our first mission together anyway. We made our way down south following the general layout I remembered from the map. Moving along for two good hours we finally came to the intersections of the various roads towards the Bulwark, the northern territories and other smaller nearby villages.

We were in a particularly large tree looking out over the vast trails and seething masses of hand pulled carts, foot travelers and caravans carrying goods of every description going back and forth to the coast as several large branches forked off from the huge main road of solid granite. It wasn’t hard to find our needed direction even without being able to get close to the signs considering the road we needed to follow was the only double wide stone path of smooth, magically crafted granite that was going south. That and the other granite road going more towards the north served as the arteries that allowed for the movement of troops and supplies the forts and the Bulwark depended on.

As big of a pain in the ass as it was to circle around, the main road eventually split off into smaller branches and we got through some of the more heavily wooded sections. It was kind of disappointing to not be able to talk to Salamede as we travelled, but silence can be its own kind of company. We were making good time jumping through the trees with the sun of midday beating down on us. Until my medical issue cropped back up and it came back worse than it ever had been

It was about half an hour into our travel through the southern region in the middle of a high jump when my chest started hurting again. This time it started with an almost low rumble of pain, but it gradually grew and grew until it went far beyond anything it had been before. As I fought to stay awake, I lashed myself to the tree I landed on in a sloppy hammock. I felt the spirit connection from Salamede to my right as my vision started to fade.

“Eli! Eli, what’s wrong?!” She said frantically through the link. But I only saw the molded wood helmet around her head as my vision faded completely.

Blood

I tasted blood.

Gradually opening my eyes, I blinked several times as I looked around. It was late afternoon with the sky above me washed in colors of red and deep orange. Off to my right was Salamede who was looking at the bits of vines I lashed into a hammock. The sensation in my mouth told me I had bit my tongue. A quick healing spell and the bleeding stopped as I sat up in the rough hammock.

A light cough and Salamede lightly turned her head towards me.

“Ah, you’re awake. Good.” She said with a mix of heavy nervousness and relief.

“Yeah noth-“ I stopped when I registered a sensation along my neck.

Along my right shoulder I saw an odd, almost metallic substance of pitch black that had a shine to it in the late afternoon sun. It curved around the vines and grass of my suit almost like a layer of second armor crafted to match the curves and bumps it covered down to the finest details as it draped all along my neck

Only this armor moved. It jiggled back and forth a few inches in each direction, all the while keeping a perfect film of black metal over any features it moved over. On closer inspection, my eyes told me there were small pyramids on the black metallic surface moving in a hundred different directions. These would sometimes collide to form diamonds which would either remold to form cubes or come together to produce small star like figures. My mind registered hundreds of other shapes and combinations beside these few but they were too numerous to give proper attention to. Around the edges of all these shapes were soft, barely noticeable colors in a wide range from yellow to deep rich gold from green to silver and all the other colors, it occurred me, that were representative of the elements used in a spell.

The realization that it was alive came to me when I registered the fact that it was keeping a spirit connection with me and snapped me out of the staring contest I as having with this sea of geometry. I fought down the urge to yell or swat it away.

‘No, Eli. Don’t aggravate the thing currently attached to the base of your skull that could very well blow your head off if you upset it’ I said in a calm measured tone to my self

“What is this… creature?” I audibly asked Salamede with a note of caution.

Her head jerked back in surprise before she responded with a spirit connection of her own.

“Eli, that thing came out of your chest when I was looking you over to see what was wrong. When it slithered out of the vines it suddenly put up a wall of fire when I tried to touch you. Why are you asking me?” She asked incredulously in a spirit connection.

On the tip of my right shoulder I saw a black sphere with a light in it that turned towards me. The light was shifting between the silvers, golds, blue, and all the other colors mana produced when used in spells. Then I felt it expand its spirit connection to also encompass the area Salamede was talking with me through.

But instead of words I got an impression. The vague feeling of curiosity was sent through the connection and with a slight jerk of surprise I could tell Salamede was feeling this odd sensation as well.

“Can you understand us?” I asked it.

I got the mental impression of agreement.

“What are you?” I asked in a calm placating tone.

That produced a sensation of… me? I got the distinct impression it was referring to me.

But Salamede got it when she gasped and put a hand to her mouth under the helmet.

“A familiar,” She almost whispered

A sense of unsure agreement was felt as the thing withdrew the black substance into a square beneath what I assumed was its spherical head and launched itself onto Salamede’s arm with a burst of wind magic.

“Scion. Eli, you’re a scion and this is your familiar.” She said excitedly with her hands waving up and down making the sphere in her hand wobble back and forth. Its light kept moving up and down when Salamede stopped but eventually it came to rest back on me.

The impression of greetings was sent towards Salamede.

“Ah, I’m Salamede.” She said. The familiars spirit connection was still attached to me but I could tell from Salamedes movements that they began talking but it wasn’t sending its impressions towards me now.

“Ugh I feel like crap,” I said to no one in particular. My bones ached and I felt tired even though I had just spent a few hours asleep.

“Well, you did just give birth,” Salamede said with a mischievous tone.

I puckered my lips and grumbled some string of vowels that didn’t mean anything as I got my suit back in working order. After getting my helmet and suit back together I interrupted their conversation.

“So, were we spotted during my nap?” I asked as I rested on a branch to the left of Salamede and the… my familiar.

“No, just a few birds flipping back and forth but nothing that was dangerous or would go run off to give away our position.” She said.

My limbs were worn out and I felt like I had been hit by a commuter shuttle flying at top speed. There was no way I was about to risk scouting out a military facility in this condition.

“Dammit, give me a few minutes and we can head back home,” I said through the spirit connection.

Salamede turned towards me with her white eyes barely showing in the molded wood in her helmet.

“Sure. But Eli, how long have you been a Scion?” She asked with a hint of nervousness.

“Not a clue,” I said as my familiar did another wind spell jump and landed on my shoulder. This time, it molded through the vines sinking in between the rope like plants and grass leaving only its head out of the vines. The light looked up at me and I moved a few leaves to help cover the sphere while giving it just enough to see out of the hole as the rest of the body wrapped around my chest. It sent a wave of contentment towards me

I looked up to see Salamede looking at me with her pose shrinking back slightly as she looked into her lap.

“What?” I asked plainly.

“It… it’s. Never mind. It’s late and we need to get home.” She said with a stiff tone and got to her feet.

I nodded. Typically, it’s better to talk out problems as quickly as you can but I was too dead beat tired for whatever she wanted to talk about. I headed back towards home with Salamede, the trip taking far longer than it would have if I had been at peak condition. It was dark when we got back with only a few stars peeking out beyond the clouds.

We were back in my underground workshop with no incidents and Salamede went back up to the main floor to change. For a few minutes I sat at the worktable with the bark pieces putting the finishing touches on the gun and generator pieces. In a back and forth conversation I found that my little guy could do math, do puzzles and perform the spells of all the elements. But for whatever reason speech was still beyond… it. I asked itabout it’s sex several times and from different angles but there was nothing gendered I could attribute to it in the vague conversation.

As I was going over some geometry problems with it, Salamede came back down the stairs.

“Hey, how you are you feeling?” She asked as she stepped off the stairs and rested her right hand on my shoulder. She wore her green dress and held her leather armor and metal chest piece in her left arm.

“Tired and still sore but I think I’ll be good by morning.” I said as I idly fed my familiar some toasted nuts. At least I think he was eating them. They disappeared into the black sea of shifting shapes and gave a loud crunch as they sank in the abyss of the black square my familiars spherical head was resting on. It sent out a wave of satisfaction when I put in the last nut.

“Good” She said before turning away.

“Salamede.” I called audibly.

She stopped by the stairs and turned her head slightly back towards me.

“What’s wrong? “I asked plainly.

She sighed but didn’t say anything for a moment.

“I… let’s talk about this in the morning. You’re tired, I’m tired and it's been a long day.” She said before heading up the stairs.

“Goodbye,” I called.

“Goodbye” she called back before I heard the hatch of the false floor panel shut close.

I spent a few more minutes going over a few more math problems and seeing if my familiar could understand certain mechanical principles as I roughed out crude sketches of pulley systems and other simple machines.

It understood all of it as far as I could tell, but still speech eluded it. But it was late and my body was running on fumes as I pushed my limbs to work in spite of their cries in protest. Going upstairs I laid in the rope hammock and I felt the smooth metallic body of my familiar slide over me as it laid over my bare chest. It wasn’t … uncomfortable and I found myself drifting off until sleep took me and my aching body.