Chapter 453 – Wind Familiar Part 2

‘Leader asks why mate and not you,’ Phil sent to Damion through their bond.

Damion instantly understood the question. The C Rank Wind Griffin wanted to know why one of their convocation should bond with Elicia when he was the better choice. This posed a problem for him, while he knew the spell, he was not prepared for another bound companion at the moment.

For one, the Wind Griffins were larger than Phil and while he now had the Familiar Space, he could not have both Phil and a Wind Griffin inside it, making passing through the Fire Caves on his way to the S Rank floors difficult. It was already going to be hard for Elicia to get one of the Wind Griffins out through the catacombs of the fourteenth floor.

Another reason was that he did not want to steal Elicia’s thunder. This was her moment. He wanted her to succeed with minimal effort from him. If he formed a bond and then[i] formed one as well, would she question if it was her achievement or his?

“My mate, Elicia, needs a companion more than I,” Damion said to the C Rank Wind Griffin. “I have Phil and Nyx here to protect me, but she does not have a protector yet and I would not ask to separate more of you.”

The Wind Griffin let out a series of chirps and rustled its feathers, indicating that something Damion said had upset it.

‘Leader says to go alone would mean one would not have a mate,’ Phil relayed.

This gave Damion an idea and he was not quite sure how to best approach it, but he decided to go straight at it and hope for the best.

“If a female wishes to bond with my mate, I will bond with that one’s mate, so neither are alone.”

Elicia, only being privy to Damion’s end of the conversation since she could not hear Phil, was a bit confused by the proposal. She had wanted to do this herself, but now here he was convincing the Wind Griffins on her behalf. However, even after the proposal, none of the Demonic Beasts around them stepped forward to make a bond with her.

After a long moment of silence, the leader of the Wind Griffins broke the silence with another set of chirps for Phil to translate.

‘Leader asks why you don’t force the bond.’

“We do not force the bond because we want a willing companion, not a slave.”

The Wind Griffins seemed to consider Damion’s words as they each looked back and forth between each other. In a moment of inspiration, Damion suddenly realized why the Wind Griffins were uncertain. They could not feel his magic power. Sure, they felt he was strong, but they were not sure if following him would truly make them strong, after all, he already had two peak B Rank Demonic Beasts as companions, what could one of them possibly contribute.

To break the stalemate, Damion deactivated Concealed Aura and let the Wind Griffins feel his A Rank aura. Most took an involuntary step back with the leader being the only one to hold its ground. Still, the C Rank Wind Griffin lowered its head in respect, showing that recognized Damin’s superiority.

“If you choose to come with us, you will be able to experience a wider world,” Elicia said looking to each of the Demonic Beasts in turn, hoping one of them would come forward. A moment later her hope was rewarded.

A smaller Wind Griffin came forward. This one, while smaller, had shinier feathers and even its beak and talons shone brighter than the rest of the convocation’s. True Sight told Damion it was D Rank, but on the lower end of the range than many of the other Wind Griffins. Neither Damion nor Elicia knew what this meant, but they both suspected this Wind Griffin was the pride of the group.

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Elicia held out her palm with the Wind Familiar magic seal displayed and the Wind Griffin gently touched its beak to it. The magic seal faded and a second later, Elicia smiled.

“I can hear it in my head,” Elicia announced. This told Damion that the bond was formed. Now he supposed it was his turn.

Damion held out his own palm and summoned the Wind Familiar magic seal and waited to see which of the Wind Griffins would be choosing to come with him. However, to his surprise, none of the Wind Griffins stepped forward.

“Azura says none of them feel worthy of her,” Elicia told Damion a moment later.

Considering the differences in appearance of the Wind Griffins, Damion guessed that Azura, as Elicia called her new companion, was considered beautiful by griffin standards.

“Perhaps, then, Azura can choose,” Damion suggested.

There was a moment of hesitation while Elicia and Azura appeared to communicate with each other before the Demonic Beast turned its head and looked to each Wind Griffin in turn. After a moment, Azura chirped a few times and a Wind Griffin smaller than it came forward.

Damion was not sure if Azura was selecting this one because it was smaller and less likely to be a bully or if there was some special friendship between the two. However, he held his hand out and the Wind Griffin diligently touched its beak to the magic seal, completing the bond.

Now that he had three Demonic Beast companions, Damion was not sure how best to proceed. He needed to go to the S Rank floors to train, but he knew this E Rank Wind Griffin would not be able to tolerate the mana density on the S Rank floors.

“Why don’t we stretch our wings,” Damion said, summoning his Ice Sword. “Phil you can stay out for a while and fly. Nyx, why don’t you hop back into my shadow. And you, I think I will name you… Peter. Fly along with us.”

The newly named Wind Griffin looked to Damion and then took the sky as Nyx vanished. As they began to rise into the air Elicia, at first, ran over to get on his Ice Sword, but then stopped when Azura called out to her. The Wind Griffin was more than large enough to carry her. Damion hovered for a moment while Elicia climbed atop her familiar and then their group flew towards the passageway to the previous floor.

“Elicia, take out your grimoire and record this passive spell, but only activate it when you can’t let your familiar be out in the open. It should let you transport Azura through the catacomb floors more easily.”

Elicia imprinted the Familiar Space magic seal in her grimoire and focused on learning about it as they flew towards the exit.

“This spell, it costs so much mana to keep active. You had this active the whole time we’ve been in the labyrinth?”

“Until Phil left the pet space when we met the Wind Griffins.”

“I don’t know if I will be able to use this spell for more than a few minutes. I don’t have your mana regeneration or the amount of raw mana you have.”

“I know, for now, the spell is outside of your grasp, but by having the spell active, it will help train your body to be used to greater flows of mana. Over time, that should help to ensure you have higher endurance, and I think it may aid in increasing your mana capacity in the long run. Maybe, when you advance to B Rank you will get a big boost to your mana regeneration because of your higher endurance.”

“Is that what you received, at B Rank? Higher magic regeneration?”

“Yes. Though, I don’t know if everyone receives the same boost, might be a question for Mage Teft or Mage Thresbane.”

Once the group reached the passageway to the previous floors, Damion came to a stop and pulled Phil into the pet space, leaving Peter and Azura as the only two Demonic Beasts out in the open.

“Peter, I want you to go with Elicia and Azura to the outside world. I am going very deep into the labyrinth, and it will be too strong for you. But outside you can protect our family with Elicia. Here, eat this, it will help you grow.”

Damion tossed the Wind Griffin a C Rank Wind affinity core. He had a few higher Rank cores he could feed to it, but he felt it would be a waste. These were cores he had been saving up for Elicia to train with. He had only brought a few with him, the majority of them were still back at their home.

When Azura saw Peter get a core to eat the Wind Griffin looked to its own companion for similar treatment, unfortunately, Elicia had nothing to give Azura. Damion quickly tossed out another C Rank core to make sure there would be no strife among the two.

“Be careful in the catacombs, these two will fit, but it will be tight. I’ll be heading to the S Rank floors to train, I’m hoping both Phil and Nyx can advance to A Rank, I feel they are both very close.”

“When will you be coming out?” Elicia asked, worry evident in her voice.

“Hard to say. We want to clear the midpoint. Once we do that, everyone will withdraw and return to Atlantis to rest and prepare for the journey to the Mother World.”

“Alright. Azura and I will train hard with Peter until you get back.”