Finally, I went ahead and chose to give the bat my bloodline. As if sensing my intention, the bat flew down and landed on my shoulder, knocking me off balance. For the second time today, I fell face down onto the ground. Before I could even think about how I would give the bat my blood, it bit my shoulder and started drinking like a vampire. Although I wasn't sure if I needed to do so, I concentrated on condensing my bloodline into the blood she was drinking.
I was half expecting an announcement about gaining more evil favor by enslaving another creature on the first day I was hatched. Because of this, I wasn't surprised by a notification appearing. What did surprise me was the contents of the notification.
YOU HAVE TAKEN DAMAGE DUE TO BLOOD LOSS AND FALL DAMAGE. Your maximum number of health points has been temporarily reduced.
After glancing at my information screen, I noticed that I had only lost two health points, but also that my maximum health point total had been reduced from six to five. I guessed that one of the points of damage was from when I fell on my face and the other was my new pet's attack. Dang, she was draining my blood almost as fast as my ex-wife's lawyer drained my bank account.
Worried that I might need a heal later, I decided not to try using the Shape Magic feature to cast a healing spell. While I knew I was taking a risk since I was down to almost half my health points, I didn't really expect anything to happen anyway. I did hope that the blood loss wouldn't continue though and was ready to use it if my health dropped too low.
Luckily, the bat soon finished drinking and started to get drowsy. Fearing that it would fall on top of me and crush my little body, I quickly gave it some space since I didn't want to be used as a pillow on the cold, hard, uncomfortable stone floor.
I raised an eye when I noticed that the skin of the bat was rippling and that it was shivering. If I had to guess, I would assume it was evolving. Absently, I wondered how long it would need to evolve. I waited and watched, curious to see what was happening.
I would have felt like a fool if I stood there holding the bat for hours and then found out the evolution would take days. Fortunately, it didn't take too long. After a few minutes, the bat shook itself awake and jumped into the air before flying in circles around me. "Well, since you are being reborn from my blood, I guess I need to give you a name. Hmm, how about Alsvartr? That sounds like a good name for you."
I was curious about what effect my blood would have on it, as well as any information about it. I wished there was a way to look at its information the way I looked at my information. I almost had a heart attack as the system actually helped me out and showed me his information screen.
Alsvartr
Evolution: Tiny Pup (1st Level Familiar)
Race: Tenebrous Bat (Nóttormr Bloodline)
Armor Class: 13
Hit Points: 9/9
Magic Points: 4/4
Strength 6, Dexterity 16, Constitution 12, Intelligence 6, Wisdom 14, Charisma 10
Racial Abilities: Echolocation, Darkvision, Keen Hearing, Shadow Form
Languages: Common, Draconic
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Wisdom
Skills: Acrobatics, Insight, Perception, Stealth, Survival
Cantrips
* Shadow Control
* Sonic Blast
1st Level Spells
* False Life
* Sleep
"Nice," I said after reading over the statistics on my new familiar. I was especially interested in the abilities it had. In fact, I was a little annoyed. I felt a little insulted that my familiar could use magic almost as well as I could. I was tempted to send a letter of complaint to the system.
Then again, I did have some advantages when comparing myself to my new companion. However, I didn't feel quite as godlike after seeing the bat's information screen. Although Alsvartr seemed to know a limited number of spells, it still seemed quite powerful. I wouldn't want to run into it in a dark alley or cave.
"My goodness, with such a creature here, I do wonder if the chieftain is trying to get rid of any possible future competition," I said, although I didn't really believe it. He probably really thought the area as mostly safe. The only reason the bat could get in was most likely because of its ability, shadow form.
Speaking of powers, the sonic blast was probably from echolocation. The shadow control and shadow form probably came from being a tenebrous bat. After all, tenebrous did mean darkness. Alsvartr was surprisingly powerful, especially since it seemed to be a baby bat.
"This is weird," I said to myself. "I had flight listed as one of my gifts. However, the bat doesn't have that listed as a gift. However, I can see that he can fly. Why would flight be listed as a gift for me but not for the bat? Is it because my flight is an unnatural draconic gift? Maybe it is because my wings will not be big enough, or strong enough, to actually allow me to fly? I guess it doesn't matter too much though," I said as I decided to think more about it later.
It was younger than I expected. For a baby, it seemed quite large. I wondered how large it would get. Alsvartr just stared at me as if it had no idea what I was talking about. Then again, it probably didn't. I had Common and Draconic listed as languages, which it also possessed. I really doubted my familiar had them before, so it was probably gained when it became my companion.
"Yeah, that's right. That's why high kobolds are such a superior race. We rule!" I nodded to myself at this thought, feeling quite pleased. "I taught him two languages. I'm an amazing teacher. Hey, wait a second. Is it a guy?"
I motioned for the bat to land near me. Fortunately, I remembered before I tried to get him to land on my arm like a falconer. Unfortunately, its intelligence was going to be a problem. Alsvartr instead flew away to hang upside down on an outcropping rock. Sighing, I sent a telepathic command telling it to land near me.
This time Alsvartr actually listened. After looking closely between its legs, I realized that it was a she. "Okay, that's good to know," I told her. I was tempted to try changing her name, but I was pretty sure the system wouldn't allow me to do that. "Oh well, I guess it isn't that important anyway."
Telepathically, I sent her my thoughts, "It's nice to meet you. My name is Nóttormr. I hope that you don't mind, but I will call you Alsvartr. Is that okay with you?"
She responded with "Yes?" Her thoughts seemed confused, but she definitely seemed to want to make him happy.
Remembering the trapped bridge, I was curious how she entered this area. Was it really as easy as flying into the cave? I decided to ask, and sent her a telepathic message again, "How did you get into this cave?"
She responded with an image of her flying as if that answered everything. Wondering if it really was that simple, I asked about the traps, "What about the traps? How did you avoid them?" After all, if she could make it into the cave, other creatures might be able to get past the traps too. She took a moment before responding, as if she didn't quite understand, and again showed me an image of her flying.
"Okay," I muttered to myself. "We are definitely having a failure to communicate." I decided to try again and sent another telepathic question, "How did you avoid getting hurt by the traps on the bridge?"
Alsvartr responded with an image of her flying in the dark. I felt like beating my head against a wall for a moment. Then I had a moment of inspiration. Maybe she did fly through the traps but was in some type of darkened shadowy form. After all, wasn't one of her gifts called shadow form? "Sure, I'll accept that as an answer," I muttered to myself.
For some reason, I wasn't exactly eager to try to ask her too many questions. It felt like I was trying to talk about algebra to a kindergartener. I sincerely hoped that she would get smarter as she grew older.
I moved my arm up, curious to know if she would be wise enough to guess what I wanted. I smiled when she took off and flew around in circles a few times before finding a place to perch on the cave ceiling once more. "Excellent," I said to myself, pleased that although she might not be smart, she was able to sense what I wanted without me having to tell her.
"Now then, although I am not tired physically, I do feel a little fatigued mentally." I decided to glance at my information screen and noticed that my mental energy had dropped from two to zero. "Curious, I wonder why the mental alteration cost two points instead of one."
"Speaking of tiredness, it looks like my new familiar is still a little sleepy despite her earlier activity," I said as I noticed her going back to the spot where I first saw her. I was fairly certain that she was asleep the moment she started hanging upside down again. I was tempted to use telepathy to check and see if I could read her dreams. Finally, after two or three whole seconds, I gave in to the impulse and checked to see if I could sense anything from her dreams.