Several days have passed since Samiel entered the desert in search of the Altar of Ubaste, which was located in the center of the desert. Samiel was forced to cross the merciless hot desert, and in truth, he hated the hot; he hated this desert and everything about it.
He preferred winter, coldness, forests, and mountains covered in snow and ice, not this scorching hell. And he wasn't thinking this because of his Class Knight of Niflheim and his Ultimate Ability Winter Ruler, but because he had preferred winter to summer since he was a kid.
Fortunately for Samiel, the heat and the scorching sun didn't really bother him at all, mainly due to the protections of the Rao's Vengence. Because Rao's Vengeance was forged from the corpse of the Ancient Sun God, it provided him natural resistance against a certain level of heat.
Thus he was not that bothered by it, not to mention that he could also use the Winter Ruler to cool himself down a bit if it was needed.
Though it still didn't forbid Samiel from cursing the enviroment here and the desert as a whole. Fortunately, this desert was largely abandoned; there were not many Monster or Magical Beasts living here, and not any Sand Worms, which were usually inhabiting deserts of the Mana Rich worlds or deserts in the Tower.
As he was going through the desert, Samiel soon arrived at the place he was looking for, the Altar of Ubaste, or as he called, Altar of the Elder Cat, as the entire Alter resembled the head of a giant cat.
He came in front of the Alter, dropped on all of his Tokens he had, and waited. He didn't really know what else to do, and he also didn't get any more information from the Akashic Records.
As the sun was exactly above the Altar of the Elder Cat, a sunbeam struck down at a small horde of Tokens and melted them down, fusing them with the Altar as an earthquake started, shaking through the entire desert.
Suddenly, Samiel felt an enormous amount of Mana stir in the desert as something descended down onto the 2nd Floor. And not only mana, because Samiel also senses a high amount of a Divine Power used by Gods in the play.
[Hidden Mission: ??? in the Desert has been completed.]
[You gained the attention of Elder Goddess Bast.]
[Elder Goddess Bast is descending into the 2nd Floor.]
As Samiel read that message, he was washed by dread, as suddenly sand started rising and creating a silhouette of a cat from it, as the Elder Goddess has descended down in the form of Avatar, though it was not Avatar, but rather some kind of an Incarnation.
Elder Gods were one of the strongest types of Gods; not only were they one of the strongest types of Gods, but they were also one of the oldest, who had seen many Epochs pass, and many civilizations rise and fall.
And Bast was one of the oldest Elder Goddesses in existence. Her sand cat avatar looked at him with scrutiny before it flinched.
"You are one of his..."
Said the Sand Cat Incarnation of Elder Goddess Bast.
The Sand Cat Incarnation of the Elder Goddess Bast looked like the enormous head of a panther cat made from the sand, with glowing blue eyes, giving it rather an intimidating appearance.
"Hmm... indeed, you are suitable for that."
Muttered she, as suddenly a small portal opened and this time a cat exited it.
It would be more suitable to call it a kitten; it was pitch black like the deepest parts of the abyss, with orange-goldish eyes, and most peculiarly, it had a small part of wings. Though what he noticed immediately, the small kitten exuded the Divine Aura of Gods.
Samiel nodded at the Elder Goddess Bast as he went to the kitten, which was looking at him with a mixture of wariness and curiosity, as Samiel knelt down and stretched his right hand towards the kitten.
"Hello, little one, my name is Samiel; I hope I can contract you as a familiar."
He said sincerely as the kitten scrutinized him.
In truth, cats were his favorite animals, and he loved them very dearly; his cats were his best friends and family when he lived on earth. When he was young, his cat was probably his only friend for a very long time during his life on earth.
Because of that, he often took the hobby of donating large amounts of money to animal shelters, especially cat shelters, and torturing to insanity animal abusers, which was also one of his favorite hobbies.
The small kitten flapped its wings crudely as it flew a few times around Samiel, sniffling him, before landing before his hand and biting him on the finger as it licked up his blood. The kitten could see the truth in his words, and the man would be the perfect servant for the almighty cat and fulfill each of its wishes.
'Hooman, I am hungry; bring me something to eat.'
Samiel heard the voice of the kitten in his head as he knew that the Familiar Contract had been successfully established.
[You have established a Familiar Contract with Elder Wampus Cat Nefertari.]
[You can now view the record of your Familiar Elder Wampus Cat Nefertari.]
Samiel read the notifications from the Akashic Records, and soon after finishing that, he opened the records of his familiar. He was very curious what her Record would look like, considering her origin as Elder Wampus Cat and direct descendant of the Elder Goddess Bast.
[Name: Nefertari
Race: Elder Wampus Cat
Class: Shadow Monarch (Eternal)
***
Tier: Steel
Level: 25
***
Abilities:
Shadow Rule - Ultimate Ability
??? - blocked by the Elder Goddess Bast]
Samiel looked at her record, or rather at what was shown as part of it was blocked by the Divine Power of the Elder Goddess Bast. Apparently, it was either some kind of sealed ability or something that the Elder Goddess Bast didn't want him to see yet.
Samiel knew that he obtained a powerful Familiar with unique abilities and great potential for growth, and on top of that, it was a cat. Not to mention, Nefertari had an Eternal Class, which was the highest grade of Class possible.
"You will get your food after we arrive on the 3rd Floor."
Nefertari jumped on his shoulder; Samiel looked at Elder Goddess Bast; as he gave her a slight bow and watched the sand avatar of Bast disperse back into the desert.
After the Sand Incarnation of the Elder Goddess Bast dispersed, Samiel stared a bit at the sand and then at the Altar as he was thinking about his Familiar. The fact that she had an Eternal Class, something which was rare even among Transcendents, filled him with happiness and dread at the same time.
He guessed that Nefertari must be very special even among the children and descendants of the Elder Goddess Bast. Perhaps that was why she sent her to the Mortal Plane from her own domain.
"I think I should go onto the 3rd Floor."
Said Samiel, as he was teleported to the 3rd Floor by the Tower's System.