Chapter 452 – Wind Familiar Part 1

For Elicia memorizing a tier 2 magic seal was easier said than done. She desperately wanted her own bound familiar, but she stopped herself from relying on her grimoire. She had memorized tier 2 spells before, however, this time her anxiousness was slowing her progress, and it took nearly three weeks for her to succeed.

While Elicia was working on learning the Wind Familiar spell, Damion was working on the creation of mana absorbing artifacts. A shipment of Magic Absorbing Crystals had arrived, and he could now experiment with creating the artifacts that he hoped would aid the weaker of his expedition members.

Once he had a few prototypes, Damion took them and the plans for the artifacts to Leland and Flannery for production of artifacts for the expedition. Unfortunately, with the time he had already spent developing them, he likely would not have many to pass around to the A Rank mages. Though, with Leland and Flannery making more they would be available for any B Rankers that took missions to resupply the expedition as they continued to go deeper into the labyrinth. Leaving the task in their hands would hopefully net him enough for use in the expedition and Mother World, though, with those two you never knew if they would come up with something entirely new while they were working. Damion just hopped that if they did it would be useful.

Being focused on their individual projects, neither paid attention to the S Rank mages that arrived in Atlantis. For the citizens it was an impressive sight, seldom had so many of the top mages of the world gathered in one place and when these mages stepped out of Mage Fletcher’s Portal it caused quite a stir throughout the city.

Despite the public wanting to chat up the S Rankers, none of the top mages hung around. Instead, they all headed directly to the Avalon labyrinth. They were here to train on the SS Rank floor and perhaps to advance to that Rank themselves.

Once the S Rankers began their training, Damion arranged for the A Rankers who had accepted his mission to come to Atlantis as well. While there might be less than forty S Rank mages in the world, the same was not true for A Rank mages. Still, despite the fact there were several thousand spread out around the human controlled zones, only ninety-three accepted, or qualified to accept Damion’s mission. While this was a small fraction of the total number of A Rank mages, it was still enough to make a significant difference in the fighting force of the various cities these mages hailed from. Damion just hoped that enough of them would advance to S Rank and be able to make a real difference during the expedition.

“Thank you all for coming,” Damion greeted the group of fellow A Rank mages. While he might be the same Rank as them, most of these mages were at the peak of A Rank and most were at least four times his age. “The mission I posted has two phases, phase one, is to venture into the Avalon labyrinth, to the S Rank floors and train. Hopefully, many of you will be able to use this opportunity to advance to S Rank. Phase two, will be venturing further into the labyrinth and join the contingent of S Rank mages already there who are attempting to clear the SS Rank floors and potentially open this labyrinth up for passage to the Mother World.”

Unsurprisingly, the A Rank mages all looked a bit bewildered by Damion’s claim. Use the labyrinth as a passageway to where? What was the Mother World?

“Could you elaborate further?” a Wind mage asked.

“I could, but it will likely just result in all of you having questions or doubts,” Damion responded. “I am transmitting to you all the same briefing presented to the S Rank mages, who, I might add, all believe in the accuracy of this information, so please do us all the courtesy of not doubting it simply because you find it too unbelievable.”

Damion transmitted the briefing, outlining the true history of Nerotath, the Mother World, and the plan to proceed through the labyrinth to shut off the enchantment that was causing Realm Breaches. It would take most of them a while to read, but he felt it would give them something to do on the journey to the S Rank floors.

“I have granted you all access to the auto-map network setup inside the labyrinth, so it should not be difficult for you all to reach the S Rank floor and begin your training. I will meet you all there and a member of the S Rank Assembly should be there waiting for our arrival as well. If any of you want to back out, now would be the time.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Damion looked to each of nearly a hundred faces in front of him, but none showed any sign of wanting to forfeit this opportunity. Even if everything they had just received was outrageous and hard to believe, this was still their best opportunity to train in an S Rank environment and advance to S Rank themselves. If what Mage Wells said was true, then they could also get exposed to an SS Rank environment and possibly make great progress on their personal paths of power.

“Very well, I will see you all on the forty-first floor.”

The A Rank mages surged forward and began heading into the Avalon labyrinth. Damion let them go, he knew from experience that with the aid of the auto-mappers there was nothing below the S Rank floors for these mages to worry about. He would join them in training there, but first, he wanted to help Elicia form a bond with a familiar.

With Nyx tucked into his shadow and Phil hidden away inside his Familiar Space, Damion led Elicia into the labyrinth. She was C Rank now, having worked hard to push herself into the mid Rank of mages. Being C Rank also meant that she could train on floors sixteen through twenty, which happened to be the perfect place to find a Wind affinity Demonic Beast for a familiar.

The C Rank floors of the labyrinth were large forests and had a variety of common Wind affinity Demonic Beasts to choose from. Ranging from the ordinary, Wind Rabits, to the more powerful and fierce, Wind Wolves. Though what both Damion and Elicia hoped for was to encounter a Wind Griffin. The Demonic Beast was similar to the White Griffin of the Holy Forest dungeon in Argentum, except C Rank instead of peak B Rank and of course having a Wind affinity.

The Wind Griffins had been discovered by a group of adventurers exploring the far reaches of the labyrinth floor. Damion, having mostly traversed only the path from entrance passageway to exit passageway had not seen one. However, he had the data on the groups that had encountered them, not that most of them were capable of fighting them. After all, most of the teams on this floor were only C Rankers at best and could not fly after a Wind Griffin if they did happen upon one.

“Do you really think I will be able to bond with one of the Wind Griffins?” Elicia asked worriedly.

“Yes, I think you can. With Phil, we built up trust overtime, and I think it was attracted to my high Ice affinity. But with Nyx, I showed sincerity in my approach by not attack it and offering it the choice of the bond and the opportunity to grow stronger.”

“But your Shadow affinity still would have played a part in Nyx making the choice to bond with you.”

“In part, but I think my intent to help Nyx become my friend as well as to grow with me also played a role.”

After nearly an hour of searching while flying on Damion’s Ice Sword, the pair spotted a group of Wind Griffins flying in the distance. Since they did not want to appear to be aggressive towards the Demonic Beasts, they did not fly directly towards them. Instead, they flew on a course that would let them slowly intersect with the Wind Griffin’s course. Hopefully, Elicia would be able to acquire a willing companion.

Thirty minutes of flying later, the Wind Griffins decided they did not like the approaching humans and sped off. Not wanting to let the opportunity go, Damion increased his speed and quickly overtook the flying Demonic Beasts. Passing them and then coming to a stop ahead of them.

The Wind Griffins beat their wings to hover in the air, unsure of what to do. One of the humans in front of them was only C Rank, as strong as the leader of their convocation. However, the other they could not detect the strength of, but they could all feel a strong since of familiarity with the mysterious human.

“Would you land? So, we may talk,” Damion asked loudly to the Wind Griffins, pointing to a clearing not far away. In his experience wild Demonic Beasts did not always understand him, but Phil had been fairly intelligent, as had Nyx, so he hoped these Wind Griffins would at least understand his intention.

To make sure the Wind Griffins understood him, Damion slowly turned his Ice Sword and flew towards the clearing. At first the Demonic Beasts did nothing, but after the largest one started after Damion, the rest followed as well.

Once on the ground, Damion dismissed his Ice Sword and waited for the Wind Griffins to all land. Even though they were wary of him, the Demonic Beasts landed and surrounded the pair of humans. Of course, Damion was not worried, the strongest was only C Rank while the rest of the convocation were D Rank or E Rank.

“You are on, show them the seal and ask if one of them would like to become your companion so you can both become stronger,” Damion told Elicia.

Mustering up her courage, Elicia stepped forward and held out her hand, palm up, and channeled mana to reveal the Wind Familiar magic seal. The E Rank Wind Griffins all took a step back as Elicia stepped forward, but neither side made any aggressive moves.

“I would like one of you to become my familiar. We can grow stronger together. Maybe, stronger than anyone else ever,” Elicia said, looking to each set of eyes around her in turn.

However, none of the Wind Griffins came forward to touch the magic seal as Phil and Nyx had done in the past to seal the pact. This left Elicia feeling a bit distraught as she began to wonder if it was possible for anyone other than Damion to use his spell. Just as she was about to turn to Damion, the C Rank Wind Griffin let out a screech that caused Phil and Nyx to emerge from their hiding places.