Birgit
“My, you are certainly looking handsome this morning, Niles," Uma greeted, as Birgit and Niles joined the cyclops and Hilaria for breakfast.
“Yes, you cleaned up quite nicely,” Hilaria agreed, reaching out to run her hand over Niles' freshly shaved cheek.
Brigit was glad her friends got along with her new familiar, but she was going to have to have a talk with Hilaria about keeping her hands to herself. At least she was not as bad as Susi. Her sister had volunteered to shave Niles with his new razor this morning and had done so with Niles shirtless, of all things. True, he only had one good shirt until his new clothes were ready, so it made sense for him not to want to get anything on it, and Niles claimed the razors on his world were different, so he had never used a simple straight razor himself, but it still hardly seemed appropriate.
“And you are both looking as lovely as ever,” Niles replied with a smile. Both Birgit’s friends smiled back, and Uma even blushed.
“We had better order our food and eat quickly, Niles,” Birgit directed. “I want to get to my Applied Arcane Theory class early so that I can talk with Professor Fenhopper. She is my faculty advisor, and I am hoping she can give us some insight into your special abilities.”
Niles followed her instructions well enough, though he continued to talk with Uma and Hilaria between bites. He was not exactly flirting, but he certainly had grown quite comfortable with the pair over their weekend hunt.
As Birgit hoped, Professor Fenhopper was extremely interested in Niles. Word had already reached her about the accident that had led to his summoning, and she was more than happy to set up an appointment to study him later that morning. The elderly kappa had been almost like a grandmother to Birgit, and she was a brilliant mage and scholar. Hopefully, she could provide some insight into Niles' nature that would help Birgit find a way to transport him between planes, as well as use him to full effect here. If nothing else, it would show Niles that she was working toward returning him to his home.
“How much should I tell your professor?” Niles asked as they walked toward Professor Fenhopper’s office.
“I trust her more than any other faculty member here at the academy,” Birgit answered. “I do not think she would ever do anything to harm me. However, should she find out that you are trapped here, she might feel ethically bound to report that fact to higher authorities who might not be as concerned about my or your happiness and well-being. It would be best to let me do the talking.”
Niles glanced at her out of the corner of his eye with his eyebrow raised, but he did not reply. He had been acting less suspiciously of her lately, but obviously, Brigit did not yet have his complete trust.
Brigit knocked on the door to Professor Fenhopper’s office, and the age-roughened voice of her faculty advisor invited them in. As always, the professor's office was a chaotic mess, with books and arcane paraphernalia everywhere. A space had been cleared out beside the professor's desk, however, and a single stool sat in the center of it.
“Ah, Birgit, such a pleasure to see you, as always,” the ancient kappa greeted. “And I am so excited to examine your familiar. As old as I am, it has been a long time since I have seen something genuinely new. Have him sit here, where I can see him.”
Birgit nodded to Niles, who furrowed his brow but sat on the stool. Professor Fenhopper walked slowly around Niles, examining him from every angle.
“Well, he certainly is a big one,” the professor noted once she had finished a circuit around the hu. “He looks strong. Is he strong?”
“Yes, he is very strong,” Birgit confirmed.
The professor pointed at Ruby. “That is your life elemental familiar around his neck, is it not?”
Brigit nodded. “It is. Ruby has become quite attached to him. They are practically inseparable now.”
The professor tapped her chin. “Interesting. Walk me through what happened during the summoning. And have you noticed anything unusual about him since then?”
Birgit carefully described all that had happened during the summoning, including the discovery that the space element crystal she used had a flaw in it. She skipped their contract negotiation and the discovery that Niles could not go home, but described his remarkably quick healing, his ability to see magic, and the amazing speed he had shown in his battle with the time-tainted squirrel. She also related his failed attempt to cast even a very simple light spell. The professor listened attentively, asking occasional questions and requesting clarification on certain points. For his part, Niles remained silent, looking rather annoyed.
“Fascinating,” Professor Fenhopper said once Birgit was done with her presentation. Turning from Birgit, the professor rummaged through the cluttered shelves behind her. “I think it should be here somewhere… Ah, here it is… Do you recognize what this is?” She held up a glass cylinder suspended by a string at the end of a long wooden pole. Inside the cylinder were sixteen small silver arrows, and each arrow had a small, glowing crystal at its tip.
“That is an arcane flow meter,” Birgit answered, remembering using one in labs during earlier classes she had taken from Professor Fenhopper. “It is used for measuring the flow and direction of magic for each of the sixteen elements.”
“Very good,” the professor commended, and studied the device for a moment, slowly moving it around Niles. “Do you notice anything strange about it?”
It took Birgit a moment to understand what her instructor meant, but then her eyes went wide. “All the arrows are pointing in the same direction, and the intensity of the glow indicates a fairly strong current.”
The professor beamed. “Exactly! As you no doubt remember from class, magic is all around us. Normally, it just floats in a uniformly distributed, stationary state unless there is something encouraging it to move in a certain direction. Mages attract and absorb magic, but usually the attraction is so weak that it has very little influence on the flow of magic more than a handbreadth from them, though that is why we dangle these meters from poles, to make sure we do not influence our measurements. Elementals absorb magic much quicker, and powerful elementals can influence the flow of their particular element for as much as a pace or two around themselves. There are various other natural phenomena that can also influence magic flow, and of course, when the currents of a particular element remain consistent long enough, a magic crystal will form in the flow. In fact, you may remember me discussing some experiments that have been conducted to artificially create the conditions necessary to make magic crystals, but sadly none of those have discovered a cost-effective way to accomplish that.… but I digress. Look at where the crystals are all pointing.”
Birgit gasped as Professor Fenhopper walked around Niles, and all the arrows turned, continually pointing directly at her guardian familiar, growing brighter the closer the meter came to him.
“You see it, don’t you?” the professor said with a broad smile. “Your familiar is drawing magic to himself at a prodigious rate. I believe that is why your initial summoning spell faded so quickly after he arrived. He was absorbing the magic. That could also explain why he cannot cast magic. His internal magic draw may be so strong that he cannot cast magic out from himself. However, I believe he is storing the magic in his body and that is how he heals at such a prodigious rate, matches the speed of a time tainted squirrel, and survives being struck by powerful magic like that lightning spell your classmate shot him with. He is tapping into the reserve of magic he has stored in his body on some instinctive level to protect himself. It is possible that, in time, you may be able to train him to use it on a more conscious level.”
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“And that is not all,” the madly grinning professor continued after a dramatic pause. “Have you measured your life elemental familiar lately, or noticed any size change in her?”
“I thought she felt a little heavier the other day,” Birgit admitted, “but it could have just been my imagination.”
“Ah-ha!” the professor exclaimed. “Would you allow me to perform a minor experiment on your familiar?”
Niles gave Birgit a worried look, and she tried to reassure him. “I am certain Professor Fenhopper will not do anything to harm you.”
“Of course,” the professor promised quickly. “It will not be dangerous or harmful in the slightest, I expect. All I need is for him to take my hand.”
The old kappa held out a wrinkled hand to Niles. The hu looked at Birgit, and she nodded encouragingly to him. Tentatively, he held out his own hand, and the professor clasped it. Closing her eyes, Professor Fenhopper gave a look of intense concentration for a long moment before letting out a loud whoop and releasing Niles’ hand.
“Ah-ha! Just as I expected,” the professor crowed. He may not be able to cast magic out of himself, but his magic can be drawn out, in much the same manner you would pull magic out of a magic crystal. I believe that is why your life elemental is so attracted to him. She is drawing off some of the life magic he has been pulling in. I suspect that if you measure her and she continues to ride around on him like that, you will find out she is growing at a much faster rate than normal. Now, why don’t you try it?"
Birgit hesitated, but her professor pressed. “Go on, just take his hand and pretend he is a magic crystal."
Slowly, Birgit reached out, and Niles took her hand. His hand was warm and his grip firm but gentle.
“There you go,” the professor said. “Now, choose a type of magic and draw it into you. It may be a little harder than pulling it from a crystal at first, but I imagine if the two of you practice it enough, it will become easier. You can probably train him to help push the magic to you, or at least not resist it as strongly. After all, it appears your life elemental is sleeping on him. They have probably spent so much time in contact that it now just flows naturally.”
At first, Birgit was distracted, holding onto Niles' big hand, but she closed her eyes and tried hard to imagine she was just holding a magic crystal. Deciding air mana would be a good, safe choice, she focused on that and willed the magic to her. At first, she felt nothing, but as she extended her awareness, she felt a great reservoir of magic larger than anything she had ever felt before. She pulled, and suddenly, as if a dam had burst, magic poured into her, quickly filling her core. The sensation was exhilarating and rather pleasant, but she quickly let go.
Professor Fenhopper laughed. “Quite something, is it not? It is hard not to be overwhelmed, so you will have to practice, but just think of the possibilities. Your familiar is like a constantly refilling magic crystal that contains all sixteen types of magic. I want you to try another experiment for me. Draw on his magic again, but this time have him hold on to you while you cast a simple spell and channel his magic directly into it.”
This was even more awkward as Birgit needed her hands free for the spell, so Niles ended up touching the back of her neck. Birgit chose to cast the simple light spell she had tried to teach Niles. As normal, she said the incantation, made the proper gesture, and drew the symbol in the air, but instead of pulling light magic from her own core, she tried to pull it through her connection to Niles. It took her several tries, but finally, she felt the magic flow into the spell at just the right moment, and light burst out brighter than any light spell she had ever cast in her life.
“Now see how long you can maintain it,” Professor Fenhopper called out quickly.
Birgit kept the flow of magic going, feeding the spell. It just kept going and going. The light did not fade. If anything, the light became brighter. It was too bright to even look at directly. Was this what it felt like to wield real power, like some of the truly gifted students at the academy could? No, she doubted even the most powerful student in the school could keep this bright a light going for this long. The feeling was exhilarating at first, but soon a burning sensation began to grow inside her, as if she were exercising a muscle to exhaustion. Not wanting to harm herself, Birgit stopped pulling magic from Niles and let the spell fade.
“Amazing,” her professor said as the light faded. “Tell me, what did it feel like?”
“It was almost overwhelming,” Birgit reported. “There was just so much more magic than I am used to. Near the end, though, I started feeling a burning sensation, almost like muscle fatigue, so I stopped, not sure if I was doing some sort of damage.”
“Ah-ha! That is wonderful,” the professor exclaimed. “You know how people say that a person cannot change their magic potential? Well, that is not entirely true. It was a topic I researched in my younger days, and I found some old records from before the founding of Deca that claimed that high elven nobles would increase their potential by draining massive quantities of magic crystals. Of course, that was back when they had our people practically enslaved and would send out thousands of our ancestors to gather magic crystals for them. I could never perform experiments to prove or disprove this, however, because I never had access to enough crystals. But you now possess a virtually endless supply of magic. Potentially, you could even exceed what the ancient elven high nobles were able to achieve and grow your potential enough to rival the greatest mages of our age."
“So, the first assignment I have for you is to practice pulling magic from your familiar constantly. Pull on it to cast spells when you can. When you cannot, then just cycle through all the different magic types and hold as much as you can for as long as you can. Have your familiar practice helping you access the magic more easily. I want the two of you to be in contact as much as possible. Hold his hand in class and when you are walking around campus. Have him hold you while you do your homework and practice your spellwork. Eat next to him. Sleep next to him. Do whatever you can to keep the magic constantly flowing into you. If anyone gives you any trouble about it, have them come talk to me. I am not sure what sort of familiar contract you have, but if there is any way to get your familiar to spend more time on this plane with you, do whatever you have to, to make it happen.”
“My, you two look cozy,” Hilaria’s voice said from behind her as Birgit walked down the hall, holding Niles' hand.
Birgit pulled free of Niles grip and spun to see both Hilaria and Uma. “It is not what it looks like. I am only holding Niles hand because Professor Fenhopper made me.”
“You do not have to make up an excuse,” Uma said softly. “It is alright if you are growing close to Niles. He is so nice and very handsome. Many mages with other-planar entities as familiars become attached to them. It is important to bond with your familiars.”
“No,” Birgit objected. “Professor Fenhopper really did assign me to do this."
Birgit explained the meeting they had with the professor as they resumed their walk to the Great Hall for lunch.
“Oh, can I try, please?” Hilaria begged once they reached the hall and took seats at their usual table.
Birgit wanted to say no, but if Hilaria did not experience this for herself, she might not believe it. “Fine, but I am supposed to keep doing this every possible moment, so do not take too long.”
Hilaria claimed Niles’ hand in both of hers and clutched it to her chest. She concentrated for a moment and then gasped. “That is amazing. Uma, you have to try this.”
Hilaria got up and gave her seat to Uma so she could sit next to Niles and try it. The two seemed to have forgotten Birgit even existed.
“Oh!” Uma exclaimed once she had her turn. “You are right. That is amazing.”
“Just think about what you can do during our Combat Casting practice tournament next week,” Hilaria pointed out. “You are allowed to have your familiars with you, so you can cast all day without expending a single magic crystal.”
“You are so lucky, Birgit,” Uma said, sounding like she was actually a little jealous. “Maybe once you have built up your potential, I could borrow Niles for a while.”
“Oh, I know, what if we put Niles in the middle of us, and we all draw on his magic at the same time,” Hilaria suggested. “We could all draw on different elements so we do not drain him. You would not mind that, would you, Niles, having three lovely ladies all holding you?”
Birgit spoke up before he could answer. “Let me work with my familiar on my own to see if this even works to build up my potential first.”
Hilaria let out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine, but do not take too long. I cannot wait for my turn to spend all day holding Niles.”
