Some part of her was hesitant to go through with it. [Summon Familiar] was 1st Order spell, but its trait in that it could only be used once. After she cast it she would never be able to take back the action.
The way the spell worked was not like in video games. One could not cast the spell and choose what kind of familiar they wanted to summon. A plane of existence so convenient you could pull the magical animal that you desire from it did not exist. [Summon Familiar] allowed the summoner to pull a tiny piece of the chaotic Primordial Plane into the Main Plane and bond with it. This Primordial fragment would then take a form and awaken a will that was convenient for the summoner.
However, this convenience was not always welcome. When one wanted to summon a dragon familiar and instead ended up with a rat, they would likely not be happy. Such situations were common where summoning familiars was involved. The worst part about this was that those mages were stuck with those unwanted familiars for the rest of their lives.
Naturally, this was the reason for Sage's hesitation.
It was not that the spell was bad, otherwise it would not be considered precious by almost all mages. No matter what, the summoned familiars were always tailored to the summoner, so it was impossible that they would not benefit them.
The biggest concern with the spell had always been the fact that mages had no say on what form and personality their familiars would adopt.
Therefore, if one was prepared to cast this spell it was better to throw away all expectations. Sage thought she had that part down, which is why she wanted to do it. However, the thought of getting a disgusting creature like a toad as her familiar killed that desire just a tiny bit.
It's just a pet, she tried to encourage herself. If I don't like it I will send it away and enjoy the benefits it provides from a distance.
With that thought she made up her mind and stopped hesitating. Then, to prevent herself from having second thoughts once more, she immediately raised her hand and cast the spell.
At first nothing happened. Then, the ground suddenly parted, revealing a dark void. An orb was released from this void and after that the void closed up, almost as if it had never been there in the first place. Her concentration shifted from where it had been to the orb that was now floating in the air; black in colour, a clear sign that her familiar would be of the darkness element.
Being who she was, that was to be expected.
She observed the floating orb as it began to take form. First it was a set of paws, four tiny ones the size of her knuckles. After that she saw a tail take form. Then ears. Initially these parts were mixed together randomly, but as the familiar's shape became more defined they moved to their rightful place. A moment later the transformation was done and the fully formed familiar landed on the ground.
It was a cat.
Its colour was pitch black, almost as if made from darkness itself. It looked at her with large green drowsy eyes, its expression belonging to someone who had just woken up.
Are you my master? It asked.
The question had been asked nonverbally. The cat's voice had been directly transmitted to her mind. It was a deep and smooth voice, the kind that would put others at ease.
She looked at the creature, using the {Index} to glimpse information on it.
Race: Familiar (Elemental- Dark)
Physique: Grade 5
Mana: A (Brown)
I doesn't look strong, she thought as she gazed upon it. Maybe it has some amazing abilities that can aid me in battle.
Thinking this, she could not help feel a little excitement coming on. A pet that could support her in battle would be invaluable. One of the reason why [Summon Familiar] was used was because mages desired such a helper. Sage was almost unable to control her excitement just thinking about it.
"Yes I am," she replied, displaying a kind smile. "My name is Sage."
The cat did not respond. Instead, it looked her up and down in a scrutinising manner. When it finally responded it did so with two words.
You're ugly.
She heard its voice loud and clear in her mind. It sounded like a sneer with a pinch of disgust snuck in.
For a moment Sage did not know how to react. Had she just been insulted by a cat?
Looking at it, the creature's gaze was firm, indicated that it meant what it said and she had not misheard. This caused her to drop her smile and glare at it.
"What would you know of human beauty?" she asked disdainfully.
"Nothing," the cat replied, this time in a clumsy verbal way. It was probably just learning to speak now. "But I know about universal ugliness."
"Okay that's it!" she decided.
Fiercely, she grabbed the feline by the scruff of its neck and lifted it to eye level. Then she closed her eyes and let her mind flow into, going deep in its mind and skimming through the kind of abilities it possessed.
The first of these was {Void Space}. It was an ability that opened an extra-dimensional pocket space where the cat could store things. It could literally be anything that was not living, even multiple things; however, their combined weight could not exceed one and a half tonnes.
When she saw this Sage nodded her head in satisfaction. It was a good ability, just the kind she needed. If she hunted another boar, instead of carrying it and suffering like the previous evening she would just let the cat put it in its {Void Space}.
The second ability of the cat was {Shadow Travel}. It was an ability that allowed it to travel between shadows, a truly self-explanatory ability. As long as there were shadows within a hundred metres the cat could move to them using this ability.
The third ability was {Devour}. This cat could consume the corpses of beasts to assume their form. Unfortunately, it could not consume a creature with a physique above Grade 4.
The fourth ability was {Misfortune} which basically made everyone around it unlucky. Sage frowned when she saw this ability. A major problem with it was that if it was used even she would not be spared from it, which was ridiculous considering the cat was supposed to be her familiar.
As for the fifth ability, it was-
-there was no fifth ability. That was it
Are you fucking kidding me? She exclaimed internally. Most familiars usually have six abilities and some of them are offensive ones. This cat though…
The thing about familiars was that once they came into being, the abilities that they had were the only ones they would ever have. This meant that the cat would never be able to comprehend a fifth ability.
Dammit! Fuck! She exclaimed internally.
She felt like she had been cheated. Other mages got pets that could aid them in combat and she got a rude little shit.
"You're useless aren't you?" she asked scornfully.
"Don't pin this on me," the creature whined. "The biggest deciding factor of a familiar's abilities is the summoner. If you don't like my abilities blame yourself!"
Hearing this caused her to frown. "Whatever."
This cat was unlikable. It was a much different view than the one she had when she first saw it. Originally she had been glad it took the form of a cat instead of a toad. Back in her old life she had always considered herself a cat person so she had no complaints.
Or so she believed.
This rude cat alone was destroying all the fondness she had for cats. At the moment she began to wonder if maybe getting a frog would have been a better outcome. Such a creature might be uglier but it would probably have been better-behaved as well.
"What's your name?" she asked the cat.
The cat seemed to ponder this question seriously. "My name is… my name is…" but it came out with nothing.
Then it looked at her with pitiful eyes. "Master, can you give me a name?"
"How about Worthless?" she responded, annoyed.
Hearing this caused the newly summoned familiar to frown.
"Is that really what Master wants to call me?" it asked in a soft voice.
Sage shrugged. "Why not. I can't think of a name more suitable for you."
The cat looked dejected at this statement. With pleading eyes it looked at her.
"Master, is the only reason why you're saying that because I said you're ugly?"
"Not at all," she vehemently denied, her free hand reflexively feeling the stitches on her face. "It's just how things are. You only have one ability that is useful to me while your other three abilities do not help me. One of them is even be harmful to me. Other familiars have six abilities that are all useful to their masters." Her eyes narrowed at the feline as she continued. "Do you see now how worthless you are compared to them?"
"I will be more useful than them," the cat responded haughtily. "You just wait and see."
She shook her head. "That doesn't sound convincing so I'll just keep calling you Worthless."
"Master please!" the cat looked desperate now. It really did not want to be named Worthless.
Not that Sage was really planning on doing so, but she did not like its smug personality. After its comment on her appearance she had already decided to bring it down a peg. Now, with that having been done there was no need to continue with the charade.
"Your name is Nyx," she declared. "Like the night. It matches your black fur."
The cat was quiet for a moment, seemingly pondering the name she had just given it. Then it looked at her and gave her what appeared to be a smile.
"I like it!" it declared cheerfully. "My name is Nyx!"
"Great," she said. Letting go of its neck, causing it to fall and land on its feet. "Why don't you-"
She never finished what she wanted to say.
Underneath her feet a circle suddenly sprung up. It was a very familiar circle that she had not seen in a while. Confused, her gaze swept across the clearing and saw that the two warrior skeletons who had been turning her meat too had had similar circles under their feet. Her heart skipped a beat as she realised what it meant.
Bori was summoning them…
… and there was a likelihood that he was in trouble.