Chronicles of the Red Sovereign

A week had passed and I was finally spending my first weekend as a student of the Imperial Academy. Well, the past week was quite uneventful. Too uneventful for my liking. It probably had something to do with the fact that I pissed off Freya, who was a noble, so my friends and I were isolated by most of the students in school.

-There’s no such thing as equality. Such words ring true.

Of course, I felt guilty about it since I technically dragged Thomas, Andrea and even Bernard in it, but somehow they did not mind it and continued being friends with me. I was so lucky to have befriended them.

Anyway, it was the weekend and students could go home, if they live nearby. Thomas and I decided to stay in the Celestine Manor for the weekend. Meanwhile, Andrea invited us to hang out in her family’s restaurant.

“Miss Luna, where are you going?” asked Thomas as I was on my way to the gates. It was still early in the morning, yet he was already awake. He was probably out training.

“Outside the city. I need to meet with Vyfal. I left her running around outside the capital since last week.”

“Oh. Are you going to bring her inside the city?”

“Depends.”

“Very well. Please remember that we have to meet with Andrea and Bernard at lunch.” he reminded me.

“I know.”

I said my goodbye to Thomas and walked towards the direction of the west gate. Once I arrived, I was stopped by a guard.

“Where are you heading this early in the morning young lass?” he asked.

“I’m meeting my familiar.” I answered honestly. Well, there was no harm in telling them. “I’m planning to register her so I can bring her inside.”

“I see.”

After presenting my city pass, I was allowed to go outside. I made a beeline to the dense forest not that far from the capital. The forest was just a normal forest called West Forest. It had regular animals and the occasional monsters but the city guards made regular patrols to make sure not to let a dangerous monster near the city.

I found a small clearing after a ten-minute walk from the edge of the forest. My hand went to my right shoulder where my contract symbol with Vyfal was etched; a pair of antlers inside a hexagon. I feel it heat up at my touch.

“Vyfal.” I called.

I waited for about five minutes then Vyfal landed in front of me. When my eyes studied her from the ground to the top of her head, I stiffened because of surprise.

“Vyfal?”

<”Yes?”> my eyes widened at the childish yet feminine voice that rang inside my head.

“You can speak to me mentally now?” I asked.

<”Old Bai taught me!”> she replied in a cheerful tone.

Bai was Aunt Zaira’s familiar. He was a white owl with occasional golden feathers, but despite his small size Vyfal seemed to treat him as an esteemed teacher. Sometimes, during summer, I would even see Torii’s contracted sylph, Ilra, listening in when Bai gave out what seemed to be lectures. Although the only thing I could hear from him was hooting like a regular owl.

“Bai can do that?”

<”Yup!”>

“By the way, I see you’ve gained some weight…. And height… And width.”

Previously, Vyfal stood at six feet, nearing seven, when she’s on all fours, eight when she’s sitting, but I hadn’t seen her for almost two months yet she looked entirely different. She now stood at eight feet, dwarfing me considering I was only five feet. Yeah, I was on the shorter side.

<”I went hunting and ate a lot of monster cores!”> she confessed.

“Monster cores? Right.” I sighed and shook my head.

<”What’s wrong Luna? Aren’t you glad?”> she asked.

“Of course I’m glad. You can speak now and we can totally have a conversation. I no longer have to guess your mood.” she let out a sound that seemed to be a laugh. “Unfortunately, how can I walk you around Azte City?”

I had seen familiars roaming around the city with the people they were contracted with. Even tame monsters that were used for a whole lot of other things, but they were smaller compared to Vyfal’s current size.

“You’re… big, you know?”

<”Hmm… Would it be better if I was smaller?”> she asked again.

“I guess so. Maybe even like the size of a puppy or something. That way people won’t be too surprised and wary when seeing you.”

<”Got it!”>

I was a little surprised at her response and all of a sudden, she started glowing. The light blue glow, very similar to the color of my own aura/energy, encased her and slowly started shrinking. It shrunk and shrunk until it was the size that I could scoop up with both my hands. When the glow died down, I saw a small white fox cub on the spot where Vyfal was just standing.

“Vyfal?” I called.

<”Yes?”>

“How did you-“

<“Old Bai taught me!”>

I laughed awkwardly.

-If Vyfal has a lot of tricks on her sleeve, it’s Bai that’s responsible for it.

<“He said I have a peculiar form and it’s not something found in this world. He also said I am the first of my kind in Afasia so people will really keep an eye on me.”> she floated upwards and landed on my head. <”Old Bai taught me a transformation skill so I can change my form for convenience!”>

“Why a fox though?” I asked.

I gingerly took her off my head and studied her closely. Even though the majority of her fur was white, I could see the tip of her ears, tails, paws and even her eyes were the shade of her original color; dark blue.

<“It’s because you’re fond of foxes!”> I couldn’t help but smile at her response.

In all the years Vyfal had been with me, she probably noticed how I cared for the foxes we came across with. Whether it was a regular fox or a fox spirit, I would be merciful and careful at it. It was probably because I was originally a fox deity.

I looked at my fox-turned familiar and smiled again. I hugged her tight, but not enough to suffocate her, and kissed her forehead.

“You’re the best.” I said. “Now one last thing.”

I fished out an item from my inventory and showed it to her. It was a golden ear-cuff with a small ruby embedded on the front of it. Carved behind it were two small symbols; that of the Celestine House and the same pair of antlers inside a hexagon which was on my right shoulder. Although the connection between a familiar and its master was established through a contract, a familiar could only roam around a city or a town if they had the symbol that identified them as one. The ear-cuff was one of those symbols. There were others like a collar or a bracelet, but I chose an ear-cuff. Apart from the magic that could let it adjust to the size of the familiar, it made me feel at ease. Plus the ear-cuff was special even by regular standards. With the help of Aunt Zaira and Eliza, I was able to enchant it to hide Vyfal’s strong aura.

I placed the ear cuff on one of Vyfal’s ears. She grumbled a little but gave in anyway. Once successfully put, her massive aura vanished, and she felt and seemed like a regular fox cub.

“Remember, this ear-cuff is more than just a symbol for a familiar. Aside from hiding Vyfal’s aura, it can also block anyone from seeing her true form.” I remembered Aunt Zaira reminding me after giving me the ear-cuff. I thought it was strange, it's like she already knew about Vyfal’s transformation skill.

Maybe Bai told her?

I shook my head and returned to reality. Vyfal made her way back to my head and made herself comfortable. Memories flashed in my mind when she just came out from the egg. She was the same size as her fox cub form and liked sitting on my head. When she started growing and getting heavier, I used to feel her annoyance about not being able to sit on my head anymore.

“You must really love sitting on my head.” I commented as we headed out the forest.

<”Your shoulders’ are fine too, but my most favorite spot is still your head.”> she replied.

“Sure. Just make sure you won’t fall.”

<”Old Bai taught me a magic called Gravity Magic. It’s useful for something like this.”>

“What kind of things had Bai been teaching you?” I asked.

<”A lot.”>

I just shrugged and decided not to dwell on it. When I reached the gates, I immediately asked the guard to register Vyfal under my name.

“Is that a fox cub?” he asked.

“Well…”

“And you left it alone all this time?” he asked again, as if he could not believe it and I just committed a grave sin.

“Uhm… She was with a parent until I picked her up?” I reasoned. Well, it wasn’t technically a lie since Vyfal spent most of her time either hunting or with Bai.

“I see. Well, give me your card.”

I gave my city pass and the guard asked me to have Vyfal out her paws on it. I did what he asked and the pass glowed. He returned it to me and I noticed that a section at the bottom part was added to it. It read:

[Familiar name: Vyfal

Familiar race: ???

Age: 8

Class: ???]

I became really worried about the question marks. It made me realize that her kind, or race rather, qilin, really was unknown in Afasia. And her class… was it because she was incredibly strong? I shook my head and decided to find out about it later. I thanked the guards and returned inside. Once I was back at the manor, Thomas marveled at the sight of Vyfal.

“She can transform?” he asked, wide-eyed.

“Yeah. And I think we should keep her real appearance under wraps for now.” I answered.

“Well, if you say so.”